I tell you, I don’t know where I’ve been lately, but I came pretty close to missing out on this one. Today is the launch date for Windows Server 2008!

Also included in this launch is SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Microsoft is hosting launch events all over the World, and I’ve heard they usually give out some decent swag there too.

If, like me, you just can’t get away for one of these events, you can visit the launch web site, titled “Heroes happen {here}”. They have a “Virtual Launch Experience site, where you can see key notes and other neat things.

I’ll have to admit that, like Vista, I wasn’t really waiting for Server 2008 to come out. I didn’t have a whole lot of anticipation built up, and although I’ve installed it a couple of times, mostly release candidates, I just haven’t had much time to play with it. It doesn’t help Server 2008′s cause that I’m really a big fan of Windows Server 2003, and to be honest, it works extremely well. So I’m in no hurry to replace it.

Wait a Second, did I mention the Virtual Launch experience?

Yes, I sure did (third paragraph), but that was before I took a look at it. Holy Cow did Microsoft go to a lot of trouble to set the Virtual Launch Experience site up. Not only is the site really slick looking, almost like a virtual tour, all of the sessions are viewable from the site, including the keynote. You can bookmark sites, and even put content into your “BackPack”, which you can then download later. Pretty neat!

Does this mean anything for Microsoft Certifications?

If you are one of those types who goes chasing certifications, then this is also a milestone for you, since the products that will enable you to get the new Microsoft certifications are now available. Now you can get some hands on experience with them.

If you already hold a Microsoft Certification on Server 2003, then you can upgrade, or keep going with other certifications, but in my book, this is a good time for those who don’t currently hold any Microsoft Certifications.

Once you take and pass one of Microsoft’s tests, the clock starts ticking. When the product you are certified on goes away, you have to take an upgrade test, or take a totally new test. Either way, that means you have to start studying again.

With 2008 just being released, then that should mean you have a bit of time before you have to worry about it. Since Microsoft has re-structured their certifications, I was waiting for Server 2008 to finally be released until I considered doing anything.

As with any product release, I’m really curious to see what the word is about compatibility, and if anyone runs into issues with it.

Posted in Certifications, Development, Microsoft, Server 2003, Server 2008, Windows Comments Off

Shaftoe’s Haikus come

Plentiful in first pages

None after. Blame Morphine?

According to Wiki How, those lines don’t technically qualify, since they aren’t relating an abstract concept, nor it is about imagery or nature. If you haven’t read the book, then you probably won’t get it.

As I mentioned in my “Books I would like to Read” post, I’m working on Cryptonomicon right now. Great book so far! I really love Stepehnson’s writing. There are a  bunch of books that I am going to put at the top of the list that I have already read, but want to read again, and Snow Crash, also by Stephenson, is one of them.

The downfall of Cryptonimicon is that it is a lot of words. The book is over 900 pages, and it has to be one of the smallest fonts that I’ve seen in a book. Really, I’m not getting old, the writing is small. I’m about a third of the way through it, but it could be months before I finish.

One thing from the book that puzzled me, and I discussed it a really strange guy I know, is that the Japanese are referred to as Nipponese, and I guess it is accurate, at least for the time frame. Evidently the Japanese referred to their homeland as Nippon. Or at least they did in the World War II Era, I don’t know if that is still true. At the time, anything of Japanese origin was Nipponese.

That also explains the line from the Pink Floyd song “The Postwar Dream”. The song was on the album “The Final Cut”, and you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a historical reference. Great Album.

Seems like I’m getting a little random though, so I better stop here. I was re-reading yesterday’s post, and it seemed more like a jumble of random stuff, rather than just some interesting links. I had better stop while I’m still within 3 subjects of the title.

Posted in Books, Rambling, Random Comments Off

Whew, long time no type. I’m not sure if it’s winter, or the tape worm, but I just don’t seem to have any energy to do things. I usually wake up at 05:00, knock out some PT (Physical Training), and hit the ground running. Not lately.

I’ve been pulling myself out of bed at the crack of 6:30, then in the evenings, after the kids go to bed, I’m in a semi-comatose state.

Of course, I haven’t been keeping up with my news feeds, so I apologize to everyone who has been posting.

I figured the least I could do for you is share a couple of links that I’ve ran across lately. Here we go:

Big Think – This is a pretty neat idea. Site visitors ask questions, and Big Think asks various experts. The answers are shared in video. I can’t honestly say that I’ve spent a whole lot of time on the site, but it does look cool.

10 Ways to eat Quick, Healthy and Green Breakfasts – I am a huge fan of eating breakfast. Heck, I’m a big fan of eating.

Some of the suggestions on that list are pretty good, they even have a link to make your own Fruit and Granola Bars, if anyone makes them, you’ll have to let me know how they turn out.

Now, I said that I’m a huge fan of eating breakfast, I didn’t mean that I’m huge, and a fan

I find that if I want to lose weight, I have to really start eating a lot of good foods. Ask Art, I eat like 6 times a day. Granted, they are small meals. At first it’s a lot of work to get myself to eat like that, but if I keep it up, I notice that I start to really get hungry every couple of hours. Then, I have to make sure that I have enough food around to eat.

Popcorn Hour is a stand alone Video file player. You load it up with your AVI files, as well as a million other supported formats, and you can watch the files on your TV. Retails for about $179, without a hard drive. Of course, people are buying them up like, well, popcorn.

I hate watching videos on my computer, and I haven’t been able to afford a computer to put in my living room, this is a really nice alternative. It has Wi-Fi, and supports streaming video, like youtube, google video, etc.

Of course, if you convert the DVDs that you legally own to some open format, such as xvid, then Popcorn Hour will play them too. I’m going to keep an eye on them.

That’s all for now, let me know if any of you are playing with video files on your TV.

Posted in Random 3 Comments »

I have been meaning to create this list for quite awhile now, and decided that I just might as well get on with it. Thanks to this post by Scott. This is the list of books that I want to read. I’ll try to re-arrange it so that I have what I want to read most on top.

If you have any recommendations, feel free to give them to me. Please don’t be offended if I re-order and end up placing your recommendation at the bottom, or if I don’t include it at all.

After all, we all have different interests. Also, feel free to ignore any of my recommendations, or to place them at the bottom of your list

Reading

- CryptoNomicon – Neal Stephenson (Recommended by Art)

To Read:

- Zombie Survival Guide – Max Brooks (Recommended by Art)

- Pandora’s Star – Peter F. Hamilton (Recommended by Art)

- Judas Unchained – Peter F. Hamilton (Recommended by Art)

- Lord of the Flies, by William Golding (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos) I’ve Read this one before, but I can’t remember it too well.

- The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos) I’ve always wanted to read this one.

- Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

- Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal, by Christopher Moore (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

- The Lazlo Letters: The Amazing, Real-life, Actual Correspondence of Lazlo Toth (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

- American!, by Don Novello (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

- Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos) Another one that I’ve always wanted to Read, and never have gotten to.

- Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

- In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote (Recommended by Scott at My Thermos)

Finished Reading

- World War Z – Max Brooks

- I am Legend – Richard Matheson

Posted in Books 18 Comments »

I hadn’t really given it much thought, until I started reading World War Z, but when you watch your standard Zombie movie, you usually only see the perspective of the main characters in the plot. Sure, there may be a TV in the background which mentions that the whole world is being overrun, but that’s the most you get. If your lucky, maybe the Zombies get the newscaster while you watch.

Max Brooks really put a whole lot of thought into the global repercussions of a Zombie Apocalypse, including how various countries would try to contain the epidemic, as well as the ecological ramifications of the plague.

In the world of the book, a UN representative was sent to various locations around the world, after the epidemic has been contained, and he took accounts of what people experienced. After completing his work, the UN was glad to publish the facts and statistics of what happened, but didn’t want to publish the "human element" of the report. That is how this book came about (in the books fictional world).

The books is arranged into a series of interviews, organized chronologically. This was a really new take on your typical Zombie thriller, and I not only enjoyed reading the book, but I liked how the interviews gave adequate breaking points in the book.

Like any Zombie story, it isn’t something you would want to read to your children. I found some things in the book to be pretty disturbing, but totally believable. The only negative I can think of is that since there are no real main characters that you follow through the book, there wasn’t much of an attachment to any character, and there wasn’t a urgent need to see what happens next.

Overall a really good read, even if just for the interesting story telling style. I say 4 out of 5 stars.

Posted in Books, fiction, Zombies 3 Comments »