got a haircut...

now dad says i have to get a real job...

x-mas photos

computer vs. me: i won!

well, it took giving in and doing a complete wipe of my machine, but i've finally fixed the damn laptop. naturally, during the systematic reinstallation of all the applications i use, the problem came back and i was actually able to find the root cause. AND IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!!!

dramatic overtones aside, this was a pain in the ass and the fix is easy. sure, it turns out i didn't have to wipe the machine, but from my pain i pass on my knowledge. the short and dirty is this: on vista and win7 (at the least) zone alarm (freebie version) and norton anti-virus 2010 do not play nicely together. the symptoms are random encoding errors in any browser and all downloaded files erroring out as corrupted (or "not a win32 program"). neither norton nor malwarebytes ever found a virus and the errors did not surface running in safe mode.

anyway, long story short, the problem reared its head as soon as i reinstalled zone alarm. a quick (and more finely tuned than my prior) google search found the same symptoms noted in the zone alarm support forums. i gave the latest beta for zone alarm a try, but it doesn't fix the issue, so it had to go.

i feel manly! oh so manly!

okay, perhaps show tunes are not the best way to express that.

new garbage disposal installed! hooray! sure, the only reason i had to install a new one is cause i personally burned out the motor on the old one (should have cut that potato up). but that is beside the point. the point is, i have successfully completed a home repair task that was only slightly more difficult than changing a light fixture. go me! go basic plumbing and electrical skills!

being on call sucks

yes it's 2:30 in the morning. yes, i'm working. meh.

ominous portents

system restore...that'll fix my problem(s)! yeah!

oh, wait, the restore failed...that cannot be a good thing.

looks like it's time to dig out the vista disks and reinstall the fucking OS. joy.

dear garmin mapupdater

you suck. you may well be the shittiest piece of software i've had to use in a long, long time. here are a few tips:

1. if i select "download to computer only", then you should continue to function after i've unplugged the fucking GPS from the USB cable. one would think the entire purpose of this option is to allow the download to proceed without the device attached. otherwise, why offer it?
2. did you implement the windows file copy status bar for your download progress? newsflash, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO GO BACKWARDS
3. is your server actually a decrepit laptop running a pentium 2 chip in some admin's basement in taiwan? seriously, i just ran a network speed test and my current download speed is 21 Mbps. why is my download speed from your server ranging from 24 Kbps to a max of 2 Mbps?
4. related, are you just not telling me the file size because you know i'll be wondering why it is taking more than a few minutes to download?

really, this is awful. i left the fucking thing running all night, and of course it errored out. this is painful and makes me hate those who created it. i had no idea it was possible to complicate a fucking file download this much.

EDIT: okay, so maybe it's not all your fault, map updater. a big fuck you to vista as well. and possibly my network adapters. at least at work i get paid to try and figure this shit out.