The first day of holiday - Waterbury, Vermont, United States

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Waterbury, Vermont, United States

First day of travelling, how do i think of it? Early, tiring, and exciting and trying to get used to the time zone! Like Ken say we went to the future in Amsterdam, but gone back in time when we arrived to America. Jus hope i dont get jetlagged.

Can't believe i'm been up for soo long! from 4am in uk to now in america 7pm ... and the night is still young.... god knows when i get to sleep, i'm sure its bedtime for me if i was in uk, but oh well i'm on holiday!

Well let me go back to the beginning... went to Manchester airport at 6am, and did all the necessary things i.e check in, go through security, which went very swiftly.  Had breakfast, which was rather expensive, £7.99! but worked out ok as i shared it with Ken. But like Ken say whoever thought of the idea putting shops in airports must be really rich, ppl in holiday mood, jus pay for anything extortionate amount for something that would be very cheap outside.

Anyway, flight to Amsterdam was really good, i didnt feel anything... very smooth take off and landing... u see how much i love going on holiday, the take off n landing always make me feel a bit nervous. So when its a smooth flight, which i fell asleep for most of it, thats really good! ;p

From Amsterdam we didnt do much jus walking ard to find the connecting flight for Hartford Connecticut. However, although the flight was 1pm with Northwest Airline, i had my first experience of America security. I mean i cant blame them for being cautious and strict, but i must admit, it did feel really uncomfortable with all the questions, for example, why are you going to america, how long & where u staying, who arranged the trip, and did u pay for it, how did u pay for it.... how many luggage do u have, how many bags u have now on you,  who packed the cases....so u can it did make me feel like i'm a criminal and also did feel a tad like i'm not welcome. But hey i done nothing wrong, so no skeletons hiding behind the cupboards so nothing to be scared abt being asked. But it did take up 1 hr, i make a mental note of that for future. But once on the plane it was great.The cabin staff was very friendly, 2 meals and lots of snacks, it tasted good too for aeroplane food and i had a few naps now and again. Flying does make me feel abit drowsy.  But Ken was a great pillow.. the shoulder hehe;p

Finally, got to Hartford/Bradley Airport in Connecticut. I am finally in America! First impressions... hmm very grey, cold, feels bit like UK, but one thing its not raining! Anyway, again going through passport control was very strict, the queue for the Non-US citizen was very short but it took, what feels aaages! Once been seen, had to give finger prints and let them take a digital photo. With me

GGGRRRand Canyon! - Flagstaff, Arizona, United States

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Flagstaff, Arizona, United States

Very expensive place to stay but we had no choice. A bit like for Niagara Falls, there are tourists everywhere!!!

We had a glimpse at the Canyon yesterday but the dogs were our first worry... remember Fletcher's adventure in the "mare aux crocodiles", so we are doing it today... leaving the dogs in the trailer with air conditioning.

We checked the weather in Bromont and saw that around the 10 will be about 10 degrees, so we should be home for this date.

Dev Shed Forums - Social Networking Portal

Date: March 28th, 2008 06:37 PM - curious07 - Social Networking Portal Post: Which is the best PHP social networking portal out there. I.E. Hand Shakes and the likes. Can some one tell me the pros and the cons. Thank you....
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Alajuela Costa Rica - Alajuela, Costa Rica

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Alajuela, Costa Rica

The bus journey from Granada Nicaragua to Costa Rica was a long 10 hours. All the border crossings
up to now have been fairly painless. Not this one!! It only took half an hour to do the formalities to leave Nicaragua but when we reached the entrance to Costa Rica there were at least 500 people in thé line.
We had to wait out in a big yard under the sun. I felt like I was in one of those Japanese prisoner of war
camp movies. One and a half hours later I reached the desk for a stamp that took one minute. Then it was back in the bus for another half an hour wait until the border police came to check the baggage. Out of 50 passengers
guess who was the only one they picked on to open her bag. Yes well I really look like a drugs or arms smuggler.
The other passengers commisserated with me afterwards,saying I was a symbol- not quite sure what they meant by that.
Anyway I am now staying in a lovely town-Alajuela -in Costa Rica,s Central Valley-half an hour from the capital,San Jose, and only a few minutes from the airport. It has a lovely leafy central plaza where I shall enjoy
chilling out. I am also in a bit of culture shock having spent the last couple of months in 3 very poor countries.
Costa Rica is much more developed and the shops here are full of consumer goods. I popped in a nearby supermarket last evening and it was on a par with anything in the States or Europe. My eyes were on stalks.
I was hoping to visit the caribbean coast of Costa Rica but haven´t left myself enough time. I think I have packed quite a lot into these 3 months but of course only scratched the surface of Central America and Mexico. You often get people posting questions on the lonely planet thorn tree forum asking if 2 weeks is enough time to see Central America. What ARE they thinking!!
Yesterday I did my last excursion of the trip to Volcano Poas=the second largest accessible volcanic crater in the world= and also to a beautiful coffee plantation and a waterfall park. The scenery on the way was stunning. Lush green rolling hills very reminiscent of Europe with herds of jersey cows and sheep but also with large coffee and tropical fruit plantations.
The crater was at about 9000 feet with a small lake in its centre which was steaming away at a temperature of 40 degrees centigrade. They keep a close eye on it for eruptions and last year it had to be closed for a while because it was getting quite active.
The waterfall park was beautiful with a huge aviary and separate butterfly and hummingbird enclosures. I just regret I don´t have longer here in Costa Rica.
On Sunday I begin the long journey back and hopefully arrive in Lanjaron Tuesday afternoon tho whether my luggage will be with me is a moot point. I am due to fly into the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow which opened yesterday before flying on to Madrid.I hear however that the opening was an absolute disaster with lots of baggage missing. Oh well not to worry.
This is my last post and to all of you who have been reading them thanks for being on my trip with me.

Playing tourist in Toronto - Toronto, Ontario, Canada

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Toronto, Ontario, Canada












Today we took advantage of touring Toronto as tourists.  Bonnie, Derek, Shelley and Diana and I went tothe CN Tower around 11AM. 
We took the elevator up to the observation deck for a 360 degree view of the city.















Later in the afternoon we met up with cousins Mathew and Samantha and we went to the Royal Ontario Museum.  It was a great museum with numerous exhibits.  We started by viewing their large display of dinosaurs.  They also had good displays of Greek and Egyptian artifacts.

















We took an hour siesta back at Bonnie's place in the late afternoon before heading out for an out-of-towners dinner at an Italian restaurant.

For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant with 22 family members.  The food was delicious and we all ate too much!















The big joke of the day was that when I woke up I discovered that I hadn't packed any boxer shorts for this trip.  My mistake was that I had been packing for this trip and next week's Peru trip at the same time and as a result I packed boxers for next week but not this one.  Of all the days to not have boxer shorts, today just happened to be Good Friday which meant that no shops were even open!  When we visited the CN Tower in the morning we joked that maybe we would find a pair with a large tower on the front.  At the end of the evening after dinner, Diana spotted an adult Love Shop.  Here I am entering the store with my wife, sister and cousin in hopes of finding boxer shorts.  I think we found everything except that!

Cantwell and the sled dogs - Cantwell, Alaska, United States

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Cantwell, Alaska, United States

So I started out the morning early hopeing to see the sun come up and make some cool shadows on Denali, unfortunatly couldn't see Denali yet but I still got some cool photos.

Then, after some breakfast, I headed to this spot to do some snowshoeing. As I was getting ready this guy pulled up with his sled dogs and told me about a trail where I wouldn't have to use my shoes. So I said thanks a bunch and headed off. Well as I passed him he said, "well you could just ride wt me on the sled for a bit, only a mile or so cause then I gotta let ol Eli ride cause he's old and needs the rest"...so I said Hell yeah I'll ride wt you in the dogsled!!!...so he hooks'em up and off we go ....so we get about a mile into it and i'm having a ball...and he says well you could just finish the loop with us and if Eli gets tired we'll just toss him on your lap there in the sled.... ...so for like three hours I got to ride on a dog sled all over. We went down a canyon , which was sweet and pretty much straight down at one point...then we went along and on a frozen river for a spell...then we went around a mountain and up out of a canyon. It was Awesome!!!


After some lunch I did a bit of snowshoeing, which was harder than I expected,  but fun enough. I got to see some great vistas and play in the snow...30 inches of snow.

Then after cooking myself dinner and resting for a bit I headed back to the dog sled jump off point to check out the norther lights. ...which were amazing. Even cooler though was the fact that as I was standing there checking out the lights I started to hear what I thought were footsteps...quadraped footsteps...then out of the corner of my eye I saw what was making the noise...Caribou...they were all around me...apparantly they were crossing the road where I was parked...I couldn't get any pictures because it was pitch black...but they were everywhere!!!

Road from Cantwell to Anchorage - Anchorage, Alaska, United States

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Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Made it to Anchorage

Budapest - Budapest, Hungary

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Budapest, Hungary

Getting off the train in Budapest I felt instantly on my guard, as a plethora of sellers gathered quickly around me like vultures over carrion. Old women barked at me and tried to sell rooms, taxi drivers hawked the scene and tried to sell rides, all before I'd reached the end of the platform. I made my escape and headed for the hostel. Arriving there a half hour later to find it deserted, I was informed by the (Cockney) shop owner next door that it was shut for renovations. He gave me a city map and circled another hostel around the touristy Vaci utca down by the Danube that he had heard was good. With no plan B in mind, I thanked him and headed off in search of it. I arrived there after a twenty minute walk and, after initially failing to spot it, I realised to my dismay that it was inside a dilapidated building right in front of me. I looked around and saw no signs of life and, unimpressed by the wrecked facade of this town house and unconvinced the hostel was even open, I decided I'd take my chances elsewhere. I picked out a couple of alternatives from the guide and headed off toward their general vicinity. My efforts eventually brought me towards the city's other train station, a built-up and commercial area that seemed less well-located than the previous areas. After another frustrating hour of searching, and with the light now fading, I found a hostel. It was as obscurely located as the previous one, similarly occupying a single floor of an old town house. As I made my way up the dank stairwell, it dawned on me that this town house style of hostel was very much the norm for Budapest, and I regretted having not just stayed at the first one and saved myself two hours of sweaty anxiety and frustration.
 
Inside, the hostel itself was very homely and clean. Too much so in fact, as it felt rather like I was intruding in someone's own living space and it was all rather too quiet. I dumped my bags in the dorm and, as I looked out the window into the cold evening darkness, I let out a long sigh of relief that I had a roof over my head at last. I took a long shower to wash away my little ordeal, and found upon my return to the dorm a room mate. I offered him an enthusiastic hello, but received in return only a cold silence and a look that said "don't you know this a hostel for people with absolutely no social skills?" I sat on my bed and observed the implied silence. Outside, a chilly wind was stirring, and I wondered if it might offer me more warmth than this unfriendly dorm. After an unproductive little wander around the city that first evening, I returned to the hostel and retired early to bed with my Theroux. It was a lonely existence, and would come to characterise my time in Budapest and much of the rest of trip. 
 
I awoke the next morning to a sterile winter sky, but was determined to make this my day of sight-seeing. Of all the cities I visited on the trip, Budapest's sights seemed farthest and widest spread. And while I had grown fond of aimless wanderings, so too had nine days of endless walking taken their toll on my limbs. I still covered fair distances by foot in my two and a half days, but I also indulged heavily in the city's superb public transport system, which I found to be a delight of convenience and reliability. Such wanderings that first morning brought me to the Great Synagogue. Despite its inauspicious surroundings next to a large and busy traffic junction, inside it maintained a silent elegance, while the adjoining museum housed a harrowing photographic account of the Holocaust. I felt rather like an imposter, though, having been instructed to wear a skullcap inside the synagogue.
 
For lunch I headed to the Great Market, which a Hungarian friend back home had recommended as a good place to get a cheap and authentic meal. This grand indoor market lacked the elegance and labyrinthine intrigue of the bazaars and souqs of the Middle East (to which I have become so accustomed), but it captured within its harsh metallic shell the sounds, smells and routines of local life, and I floated gratefully within it. As I sat enthusiastically slurping my goulash, I noticed too that I seemed to be the only tourist in the market, which in that moment was a welcome change.  


In the afternoon I headed across the Danube to Buda, the picturesque half of the city. There, in spite of a sterile sky as its canvass, the city seduced me for the first time. The beeping sounds of city traffic and the nagging pollution it brings were replaced by the serenity of the Old Town, its narrow roads spared of cars and people, its monuments and palaces stood in perfect stillness and its air as clean and crisp as the lush mountainside on which it stood. Even commercial Pest, from Buda's towering eyes, inspired a prolonged gaze; the city's many landmarks rising like grand reflections from the Danube. The Chain Bridge, elegant and historic, joined the city as one, and beyond it rose the great dome of St Stephen's Basilica; further along the river bank stood the Houses of Parliament, their neo-gothic turrets strangely reminiscent of Westminster; and perched in the depths of the Danube was Margaret Island, wintered but inviting, literally half-way between the old and the new, between history and modernity.  
I spent the remaining daylight in an aimless ramble around Margaret Island. My feet were shot by this stage, but the sheer enjoyment of feeling so far from the big city (yet only five minutes from it) spurred me on through its considerable depths. My only regret was that I was not there in spring when the park would regain its life and colour and I could have lay down amid its vast spread. But I contented myself in the contentment of others; kids playing football, hand-clasped couples in their own worlds, winter-clad pensioners wiling away the hours with chatter. It was beautiful scene.  
Later on I headed to the Terror House, a kind of interactive museum documenting Hungary's fraught past under occupation. My general policy at museums in the past has been to take the cheap option and avoid audio-guides. Yet, I found myself convinced by the ticket-man into paying extra for such an audio guide on this occasion, a decision I would come to bitterly regret. I found the whole experience of the museum deeply frustrating. On the one hand, it was highly innovative, interesting and informative, and each room of the museum documented the various stages of Nazi and Soviet occupation, and offered succinct worksheets to read as supplements (which off-set the need for the audio-guide). On the other hand, the 'interactive' elements of the museum, the noises, video footage and archive tapes, simply gave me a headache when combined with the audio-guide I'd been duped into purchasing. It just turned into an assault on my senses. If I could go again, I would steer clear of the audio-guide, read the worksheets instead and fully appreciate the aural and visual accompaniment of the museum.
 
Back at the hostel that evening, I hoped to find more stimulating company than the loser of the previous night, but none was forthcoming. I dined alone again and, after taking some notes for my blog, I retired to bed once again with my Theroux and, as I read, found myself enviously wondering how it was he always found himself in stimulating company. The complete lack of companionship was the bitter disappointment of my time in Budapest, as it is a city known for its nightlife; yet without initial company from the hostel, I never felt confident to go out and sample such a scene. 
 
The next day, awaking to a perfect blue sky, I had only one firm priority: to sooth my aching body at a thermal spa. First, though, I headed to St Stephen's Basilica to see it from the inside, having seen its beauty from distant Buda the previous afternoon. Afterwards, I headed back down to the Great Market for another generous portion of Goulash. As I sat with my head buried like a cave man in my bucket of goulash, I heard the broad Canadian tones of Saskatchewan. I looked up with pleasure to find both him and CSI-bashing Brummie Mike (whom I had last seen at a wine bar in Vienna) standing over me. It was such a welcome relief to see some familiar faces from my travels. I had known that Saskatchewan was in town, as he was following me to Budapest after an extra day in Bratislava, but Mike's presence was unexpected. My pleasure at seeing them, though, was tempered by my disappointment that I only met them on my final day - had the original hostel (which we'd made tentative plans to meet at) been open, I would have had Saskatchewan's company sooner, and could perhaps have enjoyed a real night out in Budapest. We sat and talked a while, and it transpired that they'd bumped into each other at a different hostel and had arranged this day to go on a caving expedition. My disappointment deepened, as I knew I couldn't realistically go on this trip and be back in time for my train. We said our good-byes for the final time, and I headed off to Heroes Square and to City Park beyond it where lay waiting the thermal spa.
 
Heroes Square, with its arched monument and grand museums, was a picture. Later, when I passed back through it after the spa, I found the sun setting in the distance, and the square basked in the unmistakable amber-purple of a dying winter sun. City Park too was inspiring, housing at it's centre the kind of castle conceived of a child's imagination. And from a distance, vast puddles of melted snow drew perfect reflections of the castle, and added to its fairy tale mystique.   
 
Within the park lay the thermal spa I had picked out. It was one of the more expensive options in a city replete with spas, but I had taken one look at it in a brochure and vowed to go. It did not disappoint. And, for once on this Euro trip, the winter setting seemed to add rather than detract from its beauty, as outside the harsh air created clouds of steam from the hot pools, while the low sun bounced effortlessly off the yellow facade of this grand building. As I crouched in the warm water and watched the steam build around me, I was awash with childhood memories of trips to Centre Parcs. They seemed apt recollections, as those trips had always been shared with my closest and oldest friends, who are themselves of Hungarian dissent. I spent several hours soothing myself back to health in the 15 or so pools, as well as the steam rooms and saunas. It really could not have come at a better time, as I was truly exhausted physically from my trek thus far through Europe and the ten-plus days of continual walking.
 
Both the spa and its idyllic setting were a perfect end to my time in Budapest, but in truth I did not enjoy my time in the city as much as I had hoped. Perhaps beyond all other destinations on my itinerary, I had most been looking forward to Budapest; but it left me feeling slightly disappointed and underwhelmed. However, I would attribute my disappointment more to my lack of companionship than to the city itself, though the entirely incomprehensible language added to my sense of isolation. In terms of the city itself, I felt most content when in the higher reaches of Buda away from the bustle and the throng, rather than the noisy, often-unattractive streets of Pest. But, should I go back (and I would love to do so again with friends), it is the noisier aspect of it, and Pest's social scene, that I would wish to sample next time around. 

Netware 4.1, VMware, and What to do?

Here's the deal, I have an old Novell Netware 4.1 server and it is dying a slow painful death.

I have a ghost image using Ghostcast in a .gho format and copies of all the data files I need. Also I have all the user info in an Access database I can spew out at will easily. So restoring the essential data is not an issue.

My current incarnation of this server works, the hardware is roughly 10 years old and we've been having drive issues lately. It's using 2x 9gb SCSI drives with a small DOS and larger Novell (I assume) partition. Unfortunately the program that it serves over the network is essential to our operation. The unlimited user version of the btrieve database included with 4.1 is essential to our software. It will be replaced, but not for a few months (ugh years?). You might think, upgrade to 4.2 since it's supported or a current version. No can do, this system is planned to go away thus little to no money is there to upgrade.

I have copies of VMware Server and ACE Workstation, plus other older versions.

My dilemma is how to make Novell 4.1 work in VMware. If I install from CD it comes up with issues saying there are no accessible disk drives. I can't seem to find any sort of walkthrough on how to install.

Re: ESX 3.5 new patches released

Keep in mind that if you are running DRS and are leveraging update manager, you may want to modify the default memory cap;

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/1003638

Excerpt-

Starting with ESX Server 3.5 and VirtualCenter 2.5, VMware DRS applies a cap to the memory overhead of virtual machines to control the growth rate of this memory. This cap is reset to a virtual machine specific computed value after VMotion migrates the virtual machine. Afterwards, if the virtual machine monitor indicates that the virtual machine requires more overhead memory, VMware DRS raises this cap at a controlled rate (1MB per minute, by default) to grant the required memory until the virtual machine overhead memory reaches a steady-state and as long as there are sufficient resources available on the host.

For VirtualCenter 2.5, this cap is not increased to satisfy the virtual machine's steady-state demand as expected. Thus, the virtual machine operates with an overhead memory that is less than its desired size, which in turn may lead to higher observed virtual machine CPU usage and lower virtual machine performance in a VMware DRS-enabled cluster.

I hear that they are going to address this in VC 2.5 SP1

Peru at last! - Piura, Peru

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Piura, Peru

After two months in South America, we have FINALLY made it to Peru! The border crossing was easier than we thought it would be, and the differences between Ecuador and Peru are more distinct than we thought they would be. There is a whole new sort of learning curve with vocabulary, practices, customs, money, even transportation.Just when we thought we had the hang of it! :)

I am sure that this will lead to some good (mis)adventures. Stay tuned!

Re: Any suggestions?

To update the story so far, we ended up getting Cisco involved since they monitor our WAN and they saw no problems with congestion or anything like that. I then opened a Support Request with VMware just to see what their recommendations would be. After it is all said and done, the problem seems to lie with our WAN in that it is a frame relay network. Apparently this network topology is not conducive to good RDP performance. We are scheduled to upgrade to MPLS and refresh the WAN routers but that is still a few months off. We looked into the solution from Expand Network but the prices involved were just too much for an unbudgeted expense. Come to find out...a company called Circadence had just opened an office here in Tupelo, MS and their specialty is WAN acceleration. We have met with them twice now and are preparing to test their technology to see if it will improve the RDP performance next week. I really hope this solution from Circadence works out, if not, we are going to be forced to bring Citrix back into the mix.

Grant

2 March - Chiang Mai - Chiang Mai, Thailand

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Chiang Mai, Thailand

We took the overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai.  Second class on the way there.  It was pretty comfortable overall, though the ventilation of the sleeping compartments hasn't been designed to cope with the effects of Thai curries.

Our first night we wandered down to the Sunday walking market.  A huge popular event with all sorts of goodies, we had lots of fun until a swarm of moths descended over the entire town.  Everyone around started choking on them.  We went for a late Japanese dinner and maggots were still falling from J's trouser legs.

The next day, we take a cooking class with the sister of Mai Kaidee (a well known cooking personality in Bangkok).  Was very informative and lots of fun.  At the trip to the market we learnt plenty of interesting facts about chillis, eggplants, mushrooms, banana flowers, etc.  In 2 hours we made 12 yummy dishes including curries, soups, spring rolls, etc.  At the end they expect you to eat it all, so we gave it our best effort but admitted defeat and took the leftovers home.  Unfortunately we couldn't face eating them and ended up throwing them out a day or so later and kept away from Thai food for a few days until we recovered.  Sometimes you can have too much Thai food! 

We spent an afternoon wandering around some of the many temples in the old city.  Chiang Mai is very well known for its abundant supply of temples, especially in the old part of the town.  All very impressive, but there does seem to be a lot of focus on who has the biggest, shiniest, most revered golden Buddha effigy, coupled with a subtle sense of wanting in the energy of the place.  Doubt Gautama the Buddha would be impressed with all this idolisation is his name.

We try out a few of the local massage specialties.  First up, J opts for a 1hr massage from the blind at a bargain rate of 150 Bhat.  The lady pretty much just pressed five points on each foot repeatedly for an hour while talking very loudly with the other 6 blind masseuses in the room.  There were no other clients.  The next day we decide to make use of one of the rather dodgy sounding activities listed in the Lonely Planet.  We both visit the Woman's prison for 1 hr traditional massage by inmates! It was the best massage yet and at a very good price.

Chiang Mai's night bazaar, would have to be the best, as well as the streets there are buildings with shops of home decor.  Eager to add to our meagre package waiting to be shipped back home we buy a wooden decorative carving and some large lamps.  It was going to be fun trying to take these back to Bangkok.

5th March is Louisa's birthday, so to celebrate we venture over the road for a nice breakfast then take a rickshaw into town to the markets.  Bit of shopping then find a spa where we both get 2hr treatment including herbal steam, body scrub and aromatherapy massage. 

For dinner we head to Riverside bar and restaurant for their river cruise.  We make our way over the rickety pier, noting that they mustn't have OSH in Thailand.  We were rushed to order food so they could cook it before we set sail.  Then they deliver all three courses at once, including ice cream dessert! Manage to send that back...  Sink a bottle of wine enjoying the sights along the river.  When we arrive back at the pier, we depart and J attempts to take a photo of the boat of L from the wharf.  Leaning against a bamboo balustrade it gives way.  Somehow J manages to avoid tumbling into the river with the camera, impressing the patrons sitting outside who are witnessed the entire event. 

Recapturing our breath we head inside and the restaurant / bar covers band started up with a superb rendition of a Joe Satriani number.  We settle in with another bottle of wine purely to calm those nerves.

Louisa spots girls from the big night out on Koh San Road and they join our table.  By request, the band plays happy birthday and another birthday girl is identified in the audience - 51 year old Sara, a teacher who lives in Chiang Mai, and her three daughters.  Louisa breaks the ice, their table joins ours and the party really gets going. 
Great music from the 2 covers bands including numerous Radiohead songs, the best version J's ever heard of "With or Without You" by U2 (even better than the original he reckons!).. and great rendition of " Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix.  J almost in heaven.  But they don't know Radiohead "Creep".

At Sara's suggestion, we head to "Bubble", a club a few blocks away.  Dance a couple of hours away to trashy techno and neon strobes.  It seemed the night would never end.

Finally a rickshaw home with the Khoa San Rd girls, who we discovered were staying opposite us.  Louisa befriends a very cute but who-knows-where-its-been dog.

Slightly hungover we meet the girls for breakfast the next morning and spend the rest of the afternoon at the local cafe making use of their wifi before heading off to catch the train back to Bangkok.

Phew glad birthdays only happen once a year, it generally takes a year to get over the last one.

Thankfully we took first class on the way back - the extra room came in handy for all our extra purchases in Chiang Mai.

Minsk to Warsaw - Warsaw, Poland

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Warsaw, Poland

This morning we got onto the bus and had to say good-bye to Minsk. I'm sure that I'll never make it back to Belarus again, as there are too many places in the world I want to see, but I really enjoyed my brief visit to this picturesque country. As we were driving towards the Polish border, Rhian was not feeling very well, and at our first break of the day he made a mad dash to the bathroom. We had about 20 minutes at the rest stop and some people tried to use of the last of their Belarussian rubbles. David and Rhian had taken out about 50 Euro... and had thousands of rubbles left over. At the rest stop they looked, and they could have purchased a tire if they wanted! For myself, I took out 15 Euro worth of rubbles, and still had a little left over, after buying snack food for the day, about 4 drinks the night before, a metro ticket, and McDonalds!

Our first sightseeing stop this morning was at the Brest Fortress, which was absolutely beautiful. The Brest Fortress is one of the most important Soviet World War II war monuments, commemorating Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22, 1941. Approximately 7,000 Soviet military personnel gave their lives over the course of several weeks defending the Fortress, where the resistance "ceased to exist with the building itself". Because of the valiant efforts of the people who gave their lives, the Brest Fortress has been given the status of Hero Fortress, which has only been awarded to a total of twelve Soviet cities. Jenn and I decided to go to the souvenir shop before looking at the Fortress so we could spend the last of our last rubbles. Jenn also needed to buy a bottle of Brest Vodka for her brother-in- law who was originally from Brest. I had 2,500 rubbles left, which is about $1.25, and couldn't figure out what to spend it on. I though perhaps I could buy a bottle or two of beer, and when I wandered to the alcohol counter I saw a bottle of white wine for only 2,400 rubbles... sold! As I was trying to point to the bottle I wanted the lady kept grabbing at the bottles around the one I wanted. Finally when she got my bottle I nodded, and she gave me a look that seemed to be disgust coupled with "how stupid are you?!?" Once back in Canada when I drank the wine I understood the look. The wine tasted like a combination of bad port mixed with rubbing alcohol! After we had our booze, and were out of rubbles, we ran into Tom and walked to the Fortress. We only had about half an hour here, and could have used a lot more time! The memorial is large, and there's a lot to see inside it.

After our short visit we were on our way to the Polish border! Che warned us that this was the worst border crossing of the entire trip, and we had to be prepared for a long wait. The longest he had heard to take crossing the border was 16 hours, and the shortest was 3.5 hours. In Moscow, Galina had arranged for us to meet a Belarussian fellow who was going to help us bribe the right people and get through faster, but it was still anybody's guess at how long it would take. As we were waiting on the bus, Reky decided to start a pool on how long it would take. We had to pay in 50 Euro cent, could choose a ten-minute block. If we crossed the border during that time we won the pot! Pretty much everyone got in on the pool and it helped the time go by. At the border we all had lunch (from the store the day before), and sat outside and chatted. Rhian still wasn't feeling very good... and it was probably a good thing that we had a long border crossing, as he was able to spend a lot of time in the bathrooms! After about 3 hours at the crossing we were all told to get back on the bus, and it looked like we were going to get into Poland in no time at all. Laura V had 3 hours to 3 hours and 10 minutes, and it looked like she was going to win, until we had to turn back to get a road pass. Her time slipped by and Troy was up next. We slowly inched forward, and around 3 hours and 15 minutes we passed into Poland and Troy won the pool! As for myself, I was hoping we would take another hour... but sadly we went through too quickly!

We arrived at Warsaw and checked into our hotel around supper. The hotel in Warsaw was beautiful and I was really impressed! We had an amazing supper that night, and then a group of us went across the street to grab some money from the ATM. When we got back, I wanted to use the Internet quickly, and Jenn showed me to the hotel next door that had a computer. You had to pay for the Internet, but the guy at the front desk didn't have any change, so he let us go on for free! I checked e-mail quickly, and wrote mom a quick message, then Jenn did the same and we headed back to the hotel to wash up before meeting with everyone.

A bunch of us met in the lobby, and headed out to see what there was around the hotel. We walked past the central train station and saw a live band that we listened to for a song or two. Then we headed over to an outdoor bar that had swinging benches and we had a drink there. After the bar some people were heading to "Lemons", but I was in the mood for an 'early' night, and Reky was heading back, so we walked with everyone to the bar, then headed back the long way to the hotel. (I say 'early' because I think it was midnight at that point.) Reky and I chatted the whole way back, and somehow ended up talking about our flaws (I'm too cheerful... he's too protective), and relationships (both have commitment issues), and a bunch of other random topics! Our walk probably took about 45 minutes, but it was a nice relaxing time. Reky is a great guy, and I'd enjoyed getting to know him along the tour.

ESX3 Virtual Disk Modes - Performance, Snapshot and Backup

Hello,

I'm using ESX 3.5 and all our VM's were created with Independent -> Persistent disks because we believe that this was the best practice concerning performance.
Now we wish to backup the .vmdk's files online but in order to do so we need to create snapshots (with the memory option) so that the vmdk can be accessed by the backup software.
I believe that this can only be accomplished by changing the disk mode to snapshot (removing the check from "Independent" in the disk properties of the vm). So my questions are:

1. Is there any other way to backup the files without changing the disk mode?

2. And if we do have to change the disk mode, what effect could that have in the VM's performance? According to this: http://www.vmware.com/pdf/vi_performance_tuning.pdf in page 9 says: "Independent Persistent - Changes are immediately and permanently written to the disk, so they have high performance."

Best Regards

QBiM's March Conest Maddness!

Happy March 1st, everyone, and welcome to QBiM's month of contests, giveaways and reader appreciation! Things started a bit early with the return of a "4 for the Weekend," a regular feature that's been away for awhile. To celebrate its return, we're giving away all four CDs featured in the post! To learn more and get your name in the mix for the free discs, click here:

4 for the weekend, vol. 31: The Return

All month, there'll be special giveaways for members of Quick Before It Melts' Facebook Group, too. Not a member? Well, what are you waiting for?

Today's giveaway features an album we never really talked about last year, but did feature awhile back. Fred Thomas is the brains and mastermind behind Saturday Looks Good To Me, whose album Fill Up The Room, is up for grabs today. SLGTM blend some lush sounds and layered arrangements with a straightforward pop sensibility that takes you in surprising directions and requires multiple listens. Thomas is joined by an ever-rotating cast of musical accomplices who help flesh out this awesome record.

Saturday Looks Good To Me "Make A Plan"
[Fill Up the Room, 2007, K Records]
myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws

For today's giveaway just tell us what you love about Saturdays by leaving a post in the "Saturday Looks Good To Me" discussion on the Quick Before It Melts' Facebook Group. This contest closes when the weekend is over!

Happy Saturday, folks!

You want the candy

photo: Oeren Solkaer Starbird
I've never been greatly impressed by The Raveonettes in the past, but I have to say that I've been taken with "Aly, Walk With Me" from their latest album, Lust Lust Lust enough to give the, erm, lustful duo another chance to get down and dirty with me.

It's swaggering opening and chant-like vocals make "Aly..." a mesmerizing affair. The spaghetti-western instrumentation and cinematic-scope of the locales (walking in the summer, walking in dreams, walking in New York, and Portland, is it?) adds the making of a sultry love affair. It's almost Portishead-like, if Portishead were backed by a fuzzed out guitar band who'd been listening to Darklands or Psychocandy. I think it's fair to say you'll either love it or you'll hate it. And if you hate it, perhaps you'll like Ruby Isle's cover of the track more.

The Raveonettes "Aly, Walk With Me"
[Lust Lust Lust, 2008, Vice]

myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws

How Do You Control Your Cravings? [Ask The Readers]

Reader's Digest rounds up 10 tips to control your cravings and stay on point with your diet, including a simple and excellent craving killer: a handful of nuts and water.

Go nuts. Drink two glasses of water and eat an ounce of nuts (6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts). Within 20 minutes, this can extinguish your craving and dampen your appetite by changing your body chemistry, says RD's "Health IQ" columnist Michael F. Roizen, MD.

The article includes several other tips for curbing your cravings, from brushing your teeth to de-stressing. If your cravings are strong and persistent, you may also want to find out what your cravings are telling you and supplement your diet with the missing ingredients. Let's hear your favorite craving-killers in the comments.
10 Ways to Control Your Cravings [Reader's Digest]

Quickly Focus on Your Active Window with MinimOther [Featured Windows Download]

Windows only: Free, open source application MinimOther takes an aggressive approach to distraction by automatically minimizing every window except the currently active window to give you a clutter-free workspace that allows you to focus on the task at hand. As soon as you activate one window, the last active window will minimize, so essentially MinimOther is endlessly minimizing every window but one active window. Granted, one of the great things about the personal computer is its impressive ability to multi-task, but if you ever need to get really serious about focusing on one app at a time, MinimOther might be worth a go. MinimOther is free, Windows only.
MinimOther [Donation Coder via Shell Extension City]

Access USB Drives in Parallels and Your Mac Simultaneously [How To]

If you run Windows and Mac apps side-by-side with Parallels, you may have been annoyed in the past that you can't use removable volumes (like USB drives) simultaneously in OS X and your Windows virtual machine. Web site Mac OS X Hints details how to remedy this problem with a simple solution: add a shared folder in Parallels that points to /Volumes. Not only will the new shared folder give you access to USB drives, but also your DVD drive and all other mounted volumes on your Mac—and you get it all without having to hassle with individually connecting and disconnecting drives from your virtual machine. I tried to duplicate this method in VMWare Fusion but wasn't able to select the /Volumes folder. Either way, the Parallels hack is smart and saves a ton of time.

Use external drives in both Parallels and Mac OS [Mac OS X Hints]

Hoover-Era Spying on Father Motivated Anti-Wiretapping Plaintiff

For Tash Hepting, the lead plaintiff in the pending anti-domestic wiretapping case against AT&T, government spying runs in the family.

"The biggest reason for me for getting involved has to do with what happened to my father when he was a teenager," Tash told THREAT LEVEL.

As the 36 year old Tash tells it, his father Rick landed himself on a government watch list when Rick was a thirteen year-old into ham and shortwave radio. In the late 1950s, Rick managed to tune in a station in China, and sent off the customary postcard that says to a shortwave station, "Hey, I pulled in your signal."

Like any other station, the one in Communist China sent back a QSL card -- giving Rick bragging rights that he pulled in a Chinese station -- and then added his name and address to a Communist party propaganda mailing list. Soon after the 13 year-old got another note in the mail, this one from the U.S. government saying he was now under surveillance.

The monitoring continued for years, Tash says, and a childhood friend of his mothers inexplicably cut off contact with the couple, who married straight out of high school, when he joined the ROTC, won his officer's commission and shipped off to Vietnam.

When he came back and left the military, he apologized to Tash's parents, saying he was told that he had to cut off contact with them before he could get his stripes.

Another family friend applied for a job at the defense contracting firm Lockheed Martin and needed to get a security clearance. Without checking first, he listed Tash's parents.

"Obviously, he did not get the job," Hepting said. "They also never bothered to contact my parents as a reference check."

"It wasn't that I was sat down one day and my parents explained to me that the government had monitored my dad," Tash said. "It was just a kind of a fact of life in the household and obviously my parents did their best to teach me to respect civil liberties and that there should be checks and balances on authority."

That belief, not the promise of a big pay day, is why the Bay Area native and father of two says he decided to become a plaintiff in the case the San Francisco-based civil libeties group known as the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed against AT&T in January, 2006.

That case is known as Hepting vs. AT&T, and accuses the telecom giant of letting the government wiretap the internet's backbone via special rooms in their internet switching facility and turning over phone records of millions of Americans for government data-mining.

The suit contends that that sharing means that AT&T violated the privacy of all of their customers, even a given customer wasn't targeted by the NSA specifically.

The suit has defied court watchers' expectations by surviving multiple court rounds in front of a judge appointed by former President George H.W. Bush.

Its fate now currently lies in the hands of both Congress and the U.S. Ninth Circuit Appeals Court.

Hepting has mostly been just the name on a docket sheet for the past two years.

But Tash decided to step forward in the last few weeks as he watched Congress taking steps to provide retroactive amnesty to AT&T and heard the President repeatedly deride the lawsuit with his name on it as a money-grab by sleazy plaintiff attorneys.

"The president is saying this is all about trial lawyers and money," Hepting said. "I feel a little slandered about that. That devalues everything I believe in [...] and basically says that I am greedy and doing this for monetary reasons ,instead of why I am really doing this. This is about the rule of law and there being consequences when you break the law."

Hepting, a longtime techie and EFF supporter, responded in January 2006 to an email to EFF supporters asking for people who lived in California who used AT&T services to contact the group.

After long discussions with his wife, Hepting decided to join the suit, despite calling himself a "relatively private person."

He doesn't want the name of the Silicon Valley start-up he works for publicized, though some of his co-workers have discovered his participation.

One benefit? Old friends have tracked him down after figuring out he was the Hepting suing the giant telecom.

Hepting doesn't claim he was spied on specifically or that his stepping forward got him marked for surveillance, despite all the jokes people make when they find out about the suit.

"I don't think and certainly hope that speaking up for civil liberties is enough to land you into active spying," Tash said. "But there is a chilling effect when you see what is going on."

Tash has only attended one of the hearings that featured his name -- the 2007 hearing where the Ninth Circuit heard arguments about whether the "state secrets privilege" required that the case be thrown out.

That power lets the government have suits dismissed if the proceedings are likely to spill government secrets, but the federal judge handling all the cases against the telecoms ruled that the government had admitted some of the alleged wiretapping actually happened so the case could proceed.

At that August hearing, Judge Harry Pregerson responded to the government lawyer's argument that the courts needed to trust the executive branch that secrets were at risk, by asking "We have to take the word of the members of the executive branch that something is a state secret?"

Tash is patriotic about that moment .

"That makes your proud to see the interplay of the branches of government in action," Hepting said.

Though the three appeals court judges ruled in November on a related case argued the same day as Hepting, they have yet to issue their decision in Hepting -- which is either a decision to play politics or stay out of politics, depending on your view point.

Hepting originally began talking to the media out of desperation that the case would be killed by Congress -- nervously doing interviews last week with the Wall Street Journal and National Public Radio on the same day.

He's more optimistic now with the publication of an investigative pice in the Wall Street Journal  Monday that elucidated the sprawling nature of the government's domestic spying and with the unveiling Tuesday of a new anti-immunity spying bill. That bill is scheduled for a vote Thursday.

That bill proposes to let the telecoms to defend themselves by showing a judge in secret any orders or legal documents given to them by the administration, which has blocked them from showing those documents, saying they are too secret for even a federal judge to see.

"This week has been a great swing and everything is turning in a great direction," Hepting said. "The House is trying to fight against immunity and work for a compromise. I am really proud of them since it's win-win. We get our day in court and it gives the telecoms the abiltity to defend themselves."

Photo: Tash Hepting and his family, courtesy Tash Hepting

Pegboard Gadget Organizer Redux [Lifehacker Book Contest Winner]

For the next two weeks, readers are submitting their best life hack for a chance to win an autographed copy of our new book, Upgrade Your Life. Reader Trent writes in with his photographic take on the popular pegboard gadget mount project we posted a while back. Trent says the project took:

One pegboard, about 100 cable ties and a lot of elbow grease. But the end product looks great.

Hit the jump to check out Trent's handiwork.

Underneath Trent's desk it looks like this:

And on top of his desk, it looks like this:

In case you missed the original post, here's how to declutter your workspace with pegboard and cable ties.

Congrats, Trent! You earned yourself an autographed copy of Upgrade Your Life. You too can send us your hack for a chance at a free book! We especially love the hacks illustrated with photos, video clips, or templates, so impress us! More book contest winners to come tomorrow.

Disposable Paper Earbud Cord Wrap [DIY]

Soldering? Duct tape? Pshaw. Sometimes all you need to make something is paper and tape. The do-it-yourselfer at the E-Frank blog wanted a simple, disposable earbud cord wrap for his music player, so he folded one up out of a single piece of paper and sealed it with tape. A "deluxe edition" of the wrap involves adding a slit to the spine to run the cord through. Dead simple and useful, plus you won't feel too bad if you lose it.
Poor Man's Earbud Cord Wrap [e-frank.com]

Contest: The OaKs, Songs For Waiting

Is it just me, or is Synchronicity out of place among the rest of the sleeves?
All too often, music and musicians with a conscience are looked upon with suspicion and, sometimes unfairly, derision. They talk the talk, but often don't bother walking the walk. Ryan Costello, on the other hand, is one musician whose lyrics speak directly from first-hand experiences. He spent two years working in the Central Afghan Mountains of Afghanistan, helping refugees create sustainable agricultural development He documented what he saw through a series of moving portraits (www.ryancostello.com) and by way of his guitar.

After returning to the United States, he re-teamed with long-time collaborator Matthew Antolick and the two worked on the fragments and impressions Costello brought home with him, eventually creating and recording the songs on Our Fathers and The Things They Left Behind, their debut album under the name The OaKs.

In order to translate their multi-dimensional music to a live setting, the duo recruited a motley crew of like-minded musicians: Jeremy Siegel on bass, trombone and some keys, mandolin;
Melissa Reyes providing vocals, accordion, bells, percussion, some keys; Greg Willson on guitars, saxophone and vocals; Tim Cocking adding Wurlitzer electric piano, accordion, synths, organ, bells, trumpet, and vocals. Impressed by their new band mates' prowess on their respective instruments, Costello and Antolick started writing pieces for them to really sink their teeth into. The resulting album, Songs For Waiting, is void of most modern recording techniques, relying on the acoustic qualities of Costello's house-cum-recording studio to add the ambiance and reverb necessary. It's a beautiful album that conjures up images of 60s jazz and countrified folk dressed up in musical colours and flourishes from around the world.

The OaKs "Old Bones"
[Songs For Waiting, 2008, self-released]

myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws

I have a copy of Songs For Waiting and The OaKs' first album, Our Fathers and The Things They Left Behind to give away to one lucky reader. All you need to do is swing on over to the Quick Before It Melts Facebook Group, join the group if you're not already a member, and leave a post in the OaKs discussion forum indicating you'd like a to win the CDs. Contest closes Monday, March 10, 2008 at 10:00 pm.

---

Congratulations to QBiM reader Frank who won himself a copy of Saturday Looks Good To Me's latest CD in this weekend's contest.

Our condolences and sympathy to the family and friends of Jeff Healey, one of Canada's (and the world's) most talented guitarists, who passed away yesterday after a courageous battle with cancer. Healey was 41.

House Democrats: Classified Documents Show Telcos Don't Deserve Amnesty

House Judiciary Committee Democrats say they analyzed the telecom spying documents they've sought for more than a year and have come to the conclusion the phone and internet companies don't deserve retroactive amnesty for charges they spied illegally on Americans.

Instead, they say, the telecoms should be freed from the confines of the so-called "state secrets privilege" and be able to show their documents to the federal judge overseeing the 38 or so cases pending against companies such as Sprint, AT&T and Verizon.

House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Michigan) released the letter (.pdf) Wednesday in anticipation of a planned Thursday vote on a new House spying bill that proposes just a "tell it to the judge" solution, in lieu of the get-out-of-jail-free provision in the Senate bill.

Telecoms being sued for violating millions of Americans' privacy rights by helping with a secret, warrantless surveillance program have complained they are powerless to defend themselves, because the government says the letters given to the participating telecoms involve matters of national security that are too secret even for a federal judge's chambers.

We support a resolution that would, notwithstanding the state secrets doctrine, authorize relevant carriers to present fully in court their claims that they are immune from civil liability under current law, with appropriate security protections to carefully safeguard classified information. This solution would ensure that carriers can fully present their arguments that they are immune under current law, while also ensuring that Americans who believe their privacy rights were violated will have the issue considered by the courts based on the applicable facts and law, consistent with our traditional system of government and checks and balances.

The letter goes on to state that the committee agrees with the proposal to create a national commission, modeled along the lines of the 9/11 Commission, to investigate and report on the extent of the president's wiretapping and data-mining.

That proposal, along with one instructing the NSA's Inspector General to investigate the program, could be used as bargaining chips in House arguments with the Senate, going beyond immunity or very technical differences over how the NSA can continue blanket surveillance using U.S. communications architecture.

The nation's top spy Michael McConnell came out against those provisions yesterday, calling them redundant and again arguing that telecoms that turned over phone records and internet traffic to the government's secret program would resist future legal orders if they were not given amnesty.

President Bush has repeatedly threatened to veto any spying bill that does not contain immunity for telecoms, but that would be a tough veto if he were turning down a bill that gave broad new powers to the government to spy, with little oversight, on e-mails and phone calls coursing through America's communication tubes.

The new version of the House bill removes a clever limitation from the RESTORE Act, which the House passed in November. That bill proposed to limit what the NSA could do in blanket surveillance using telecom facilities inside the United States by essentially requiring the spies to know who was on all ends of the communication before moving forward with warrantless wiretapping. In contrast, Tuesday's proposal largely accepts the Senate bill's formulation that allows blanket wiretapping inside the United States so long as the spying method is designed to target foreigners (even if they are communicating with U.S. citizens).

The bill's fate is unclear -- in February, a significant number of so-called Blue Dog Democrats sided with Republicans, arguing the House should simply adopt the Senate's administration-friendly version of the spying expansion bill.

See Also:

• House Dems Propose Commission to Investigate Warrantless Spying, Still Reject Amnesty
• Telecom Amnesty Compromise in Works, Reyes Says
• Republicans Shun Wiretap and Telecom Amnesty Compromise Meeting
• House Democrats Stand Up To Bush, Refuse to Rubber Stamp Domestic ...
• Senate Keeps Telecom Spying Immunity
• Is Retroactive Telecom Immunity Unconstitutional?
• Democratic Lawmaker Pushing Immunity Is Newly Flush With Telco Cash

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Report: FCC Is a Massive Bureaucracy That Can't Handle Complaints Against Telcos

The Federal Communications Commission does an appalling job of tracking complaints about telecommunications services and resolves only a tiny fraction of them, according to a new report released Thursday by a congressional auditing agency.

"Limitations in FCC's current approach for collecting and analyzing enforcement data constitute the principal challenge FCC faces in providing complete and accurate information on its enforcement program," write the authors of the Government Accountability Office's progress report on the FCC's enforcement efforts between 2003 and 2006, the latest dates for which data was available.

The GAO conducted its investigation of the Republican-led agency between November 2006 and December 2007 at the request of Rep. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) who is the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. 

"These limitations make it difficult to conduct trend analysis, determine program effectiveness, allocate Commission resources, or accurately track and monitor key aspects of all complaints received, investigations conducted, and enforcement actions taken," they conclude.
 

The FCC's enforcement bureau uses five separate databases and "manually searches tens of thousands of paper case files to track and monitor the extent to which each of its divisions takes enforcement action within its statute of limitations requirement for assessing fines or the time it takes to close an enforcement case," they say.

The FCC received about 454,000 complaints between 2003 and 2006. The agency responded to most of the complaints with a letter of acknowledgment. It investigated 10 percent of those complaints over those three years, the GAO says.

It concluded that 39,000 of those investigations, and less than 10 percent of them ended with an enforcement action, according to the GAO.

The majority -- 83 percent of the investigations -- resulted in no enforcement action.

The GAO says it can't determine what happened to the rest of the complaints, nor could it determine why the FCC didn't take enforcement actions in those 83 percent of cases because the agency doesn't collect its information on the investigations systematically.

The GAO's overall conclusion: The FCC needs to set itself measurable goals for its enforcement bureau and to develop the tools to more systematically track its enforcement efforts.

The powerful chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said Thursday that the FCC had "abdicated its duty to protect consumers."

In a statement issued Thursday, Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) promised that his committee would "exercise vigorous oversight to ensure that consumers have adequate protections and that the FCC performs its duties in an effective and timely manner."

Most of the complaints over the three years concerned telemarketers violating the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to the GAO. The complaints were against telemarketers violating consumers' do-not-call requests and calling during "prohibited hours."

The GAO ran its report by the FCC's enforcement bureau before it published its findings.

Not surprisingly, the FCC rejected the GAO's conclusions.

In an undated letter, the agency's enforcement bureau chief, Kris Anne Monteith, said that the report was riddled with errors, based on outdated information, and also did not look at all of the information that was available.

"During Chairman [Kevin] Martin's tenure, the Commission has undertaken more than 3,400 enforcement actions," Monteith writes. "These enforcement actions have resulted in assessing more than $65.7 million in fines, forfeitures, and consent decree payments -- including more than $43 million in 2007 alone, which the GAO acknowledges is the highest annual amount since the enforcement bureau was created in 1999."

Monteith also states in the letter that the GAO overstates the number of investigations there were concluded with no enforcement action.

The GAO included the letter in its report but stuck to its guns. The data about the FCC's enforcement actions that the GAO investigators had access to wasn't reliable, according to the authors of the report.

Markey used the opportunity to promote a wireless communications consumer-protection bill he introduced in late February.

"Without an effective FCC enforcement program, consumers are left out in the cold," he said in a statement. "Moreover, the GAO's report makes clear that any legislation establishing national consumer protection rules for the wireless market must have meaningful, supplementary enforcement at the state level."

The report arrives at the same time that the FCC chairman is under investigation by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. On Wednesday, Dingell and the committee's top Republican, Joe Barton, asked Martin to produce volumes of work-related documents within two weeks.

Staffers on the committee are investigating allegations from current and former FCC employees that Martin is mismanaging the agency.

Agency heads are known to bend with the political winds in D.C., but Martin has garnered an especially strong reputation for exercising tight control over decisions made at the FCC during his tenure -- which has sparked resentment among staffers.

Over the years his style of management has become so well-known that Martin himself even joked about it himself during an annual dinner in front of several hundred telecommunications lobbyists and a few unhappy FCC staffers.

Introducing Laura Barrett

There are probably a thousand different witty ways one can describe Toronto musician Laura Barrett's music, but I'm sure that they'll only serve to diminish the power of her compositions, so I'm cutting to the chase: Laura Barrett plays the kalimba, an African thumb piano, and uses it to stunning effect as she weaves tales laced with sci-fi references, modern technology and child-like innocence and wonder. If you think Vampire Weekend is genre-bending, then you have to listen to Laura.

She's known as a member of The Hidden Cameras, but Barrett is steadily growing a reputation as an intriguing live act--just her voice and thumbs plucking away at her instrument--whose covered Weird Al Yankovic's "Smells Like Nirvana" (this is the part where geeks and nerds the world over fall in love with her). She's making her way around Southern Ontario in the next few weeks before heading to Austin for SXSW. Check her out if you're planning on being there.

Laura's debut EP, earth Sciences, is out today on Toronto's Paper Bag Records, and should be available at all your fine record retailers (virtual or physical).

Laura Barrett "Robot Ponies"
[Earth Sciences, 2008, Paper Bag]
hype machine : elbo.ws

---

From the news of the internet world comes word that Amie Street is releasing the entire catalogs of Beggars Group (XL, Rough Trade, 4AD), Matador Records and Polyvinyl Records digitally, giving fans a chance to set the price per song. Each song starts out free, and then raises in price based on popularity to a nice round $0.98. All songs are DRM-free mp3s. Too bad so many of them are listed as US Only. Does anyone buy from Amie Street regularly? Let me know and I'll consider adding links.

Get your head around it

There's something sweetly endearing and simultaneously unsettling about Headlights. The sweet comes by way of Erin Fien's sugary vocals coupled with an effortless songwriting style that seems to flow as if they're channeling the classic songwriters of the past. The unsettling part comes from the fragility and delicateness of their work. You're afraid that if you listen too hard, listen too closely, you might tarnish some of their magic. No worries, the music of their second album, Some Racing, Some Stopping, is strong enough to endure the loudest car stereo system and closest scrutiny and still come out sounding unscathed. Headlights wall-of-sound inspired vibe is strong enough to resist any head-on collision.

If it wasn't for a previous engagement, I'd be heading over the border to Buffalo to catch them at Mohawk Place on Saturday, March 1. Those on my side of the Niagara River may choose to catch them at Toronto's legendary El Mocambo the following day (Sunday, March 2). Those who prefer a performance in the comfort of their own home will mostly likely right-click on the link below:

Headlights "Cherry Tulips"
[Some Racing, Some Stopping, 2008, Polyvinyl]

myspace : hype machine : elbo.ws

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Check Web Site Availability with Down For Everyone Or Just Me? [Troubleshooting]

Web service Down For Everyone Or Just Me? serves a singular and useful purpose: to see if that web site you're trying to reach is actually down, or if your busted-up computer or network filters is the problem. When you can't get your Gmail or hit your favorite (hint, hint) weblog, just go to DownForEveryoneOrJustMe.com, type in the address of the site that's MIA, and find out if it's really, you know, down for everyone or just you. I imagine this wouldn't work perfectly in a multi-server situation—like if some Google servers were up but not others. Still, a quick and easy way to see whether your problem is widespread.

Down for everyone or just me? [via Download Squad]

NCAA Basketball Pool in Google Apps [Google Apps]

CNET blogger Dennis O'Reilly is using Google Docs to manage his NCAA basketball pool; the bracket spreadsheet he put together is public and free for anyone to copy and use.

Interrogating Spanish Prisoners

Over the last few weeks, QBiM has been held captive by Songs To Forget by Spanish Prisoners. Leo Maymind, the brains behind Spanish Prisoners recently agreed to partake in some third degree grilling as he and his band gear up for the album's release with a series of dates in and around their home base of NYC before taking the show on the road.

QBiM: When's the album released?

SP: Songs to Forget is coming out early April on Exit Stencil Recordings. It'll be available on CD, vinyl with a hand-screened sleeve with free digital download, and also with a limited edition silk-screened poster that also comes with download. And of course, it'll be available purely digitally.

QBiM: What was the musical evolution you went through to end up becoming Spanish Prisoners?

SP: I'd like to say I have an interesting musical history, but I don't think that is the case. I played alto saxophone (poorly) all throughout middle and high schools. When I was 17, my twin brother and I bought an electric guitar together, and since it ended up residing in my room most of the time, I resolved that I would learn how to play it. It seemed like the most impossible thing at the start; I didn't think my fingers could do most of the things they were supposed to do, but I stuck with it and practiced a lot. Eventually, I just began learning songs and putting chords together. Then in college, the idea that I could actually be a songwriter sort of solidified, I started recording myself, singing more, picked up the banjo, harmonica, piano, bass, some synth programming, and it went from there. I was always really interested in music, writing, and poetry, so the whole progression happened quite naturally. By the middle of college, I was pretty much just going through the motions, waiting to be done, which was unfortunate because I was a pre-med student and was taking killer classes. Suffice to say, I'm not in med school now. Spanish Prisoners was just the name I finally chose for my music because I never really wanted to use my own name.

QBiM: You've just recently moved to NYC. How has the scene there influenced your music?

SP: I don't think I'm too influenced by the New York scene because I haven't lived here that long. I recorded the album in Columbus, Ohio, where I used to live. I've always really liked a lot of New York bands and felt my music had more of a place here than in Columbus. I'm less influenced by what is going on immediately around me (both in location and time) because I'm always slightly wary of things that everyone immediately likes. I enjoy discovering things on my own, letting them seep in naturally.



QBiM: I have to ask this. Which do you prefer: Wings or Beatles?

SP: Definitely Beatles. I've barely heard any Wings. The Beatles were my first favorite band.


QBiM: Coffee or tea?

SP: I'm a big fan of both coffee and tea, which is one reason I enjoy winter so much. It's hard to have a good cup of tea when it's 90 degrees outside. There are a few cafes in Park Slope that I go to all the time. As for flavors of tea, I'm all about Ginger Peach.

QBiM: Cats or dogs?

SP: Da puppies!

QBiM: Another one! I wonder why so many musicians are dog people? I have two cats, myself. They seem so much easier to care for, especially if you're a traveling musician. Anyway, let's move on from the 20 questions stuff for a bit and talk about the business of music for a bit. You've experimented with self-releasing prior to signing with Exit Stencil. Is the conventional record company still the way to go for aspiring musicians or should they just take matters into their own hands?



SP: I think there's certainly a place for conventional record companies, though I'm not totally sure what we're calling 'conventional.' I think there will always be a group of people that enjoy having the physical product. I think the record companies that succeed are the ones that have brand recognition.

QBiM: That's interesting that you mention brand recognition. Lately, it does appear that labels like Arts & Crafts are going back to the aesthetic that Tony Wilson created for Factory Records. You can look at the cover and instantly know that that label has released it and have a pretty good idea of what the songs are going to sound like.

SP: Yeah, these labels have dedicated fans, and are thinking forwardly about how to work in the digital realm, giving people extras and bonuses and treats.



QBiM: Speaking of treats, what item from your childhood do you still wish you had today?

SP: My idealism. I was very idealistic as a kid, though I think a part of that carries through to who I am today because I think I'm a positive person, though I don't know how much that
comes across in the music. Honestly, I still have a lot of my childhood toys in the basement of my parents' house, so there's nothing I really wish I still had. I didn't have a lot as a kid growing up anyway and we moved around a lot.



QBiM: Listening to the record, it sounds like you had a lot if fun in the studio. Do you prefer recording in the studio to playing live?

SP: I don't really have a preference. They are two totally different worlds that are both really fun. The only thing is I wish I had more control over the sound at our live shows.



QBiM: Any big shows coming up in the next little while?

SP: We're opening and backing up Daniel Johnston in a few weeks, which I'm pretty excited about.

QBiM: I found it kind of hard to describe your music to a friend of mine recently, and I cam up
with the notion of "psychedelic pop" but even then, I don't feel like I did the music justice. Have you consciously stayed away from being pegged into a particular genre?

SP: Genres exist as a way to catalog and explain music, more for people who are trying to sell music than for people who are making it. Certainly the lines between genres are blurred, which I think is a natural progression as more and more music is being made. I certainly made no effort to have Spanish Prisoners fall into a certain genre, though it's often called 'indie pop.' We've gotten compared to a huge range of bands, which I always find amusing. I think some of the best music comes from disregarding any lines of genre and following your creativity fully.

QBiM: There seems to be so much creativity out there these days it's hard to keep it all straight. Writing this blog, I'm sometimes amazed at how short my attention span has become with new music. I literally forget about albums that I loved just a few days ago.

SP: I wonder if we'll ever get to the point where new music is just being made and immediately forgotten about. We're already approaching that point as I think there's an over-saturation of new albums coming out and attention spans are becoming shorter and shorter.

QBiM: That's got to be a huge struggle for artists trying to keep interest up for their music. That's probably why things seem to be coming back full circle where singles are an event and released more frequently
, while albums are serving as compilations and stop-gap work. We're back
 to a late fifties, early sixties model.


SP: I think there's certainly a resurrection of interest in the single, but I think albums are still certainly as a greater achievement and a more complete work of art. I'm an album person- I don't think I've ever even put an album on shuffle. I like hearing it from beginning to end. To me, it'd be like jumping around in a book.

QBiM: I used to love using the shuffle feature in iTunes, but I have gotten away from it because I tended to focus on the singles only, and missed out on the album experience. What I love about digital music is how easily I can access music in my library. When you sit and listen to an album and it instantly reminds you of some other album you haven't heard in awhile, you can quickly go to it and enjoy it again. Speaking of innovations in technology, in your opinion, what's the greatest invention of all time?

SP: The printing press. It was the first thing that broke down the barrier between the rich and the poor because it allowed knowledge to be disseminated.

Well, even though blogging is far from more traditional printing methods, we're happy to help keep the fine art of information dissemination alive:

You can check out samples from Songs To Forget at Spanish Prisoners' Myspace page now, and look for the album from Exit Stencil on April 8th (pre-orders are being taken now).

For those in the NYC area, the band are will be opening and backing up Daniel Johnston at Manhattahn's Highline Ballroom this Thursday, February 21st. If you go, tell them you heard about it on QBiM.

Spanish Prisoners "Some Among Them Are Killers"
[Songs To Forget, 2008, Exit Stencil]

hype machine : elbo.ws

Fexon Technology Ltd: Talk about the world's top mobile domain. Mobi

Fexon Technology Ltd says: . Mobi domain name suffix is the mobile phone, mobile phone English (mobile) initials. With. Com,. Net global top-level domains like. The so-called. Mobi domain names, was first to address the importation of mobile phone cumbersome traditional domain settings. The domain name is designed to set up mobile Internet. At present, is set off a wave of mobile domain names registered, some well-known domestic brands, such as have been registered.

At present, has become. Mobi registered the second largest country, registration of close to 80,000, accounting for global registration of about 10%. All kinds of people visit the face of domain name registration market, the good, some fraud, malicious registered by means endless. I remind you here, the choice of service providers should select soft good reputation and brand name to the registration. (Fexon Technology Ltd)

Analysis. "That means that do not meet technical specifications of China Mobile official website will be shielded until up to standard so far.

Industry analysts said: The time has now fully mature. Taking into account the trend of development of the hardware, phones operable cell phone use is a key factor in smart phones, exactly in line with this characteristic. According to the research report issued by IDC said: smart phones will be the future of the fastest growing mobile phone terminals, to 2010, the proportion of smart phones may be developed within the framework of the global mobile phone use of 20 to 25 percent. Industry analysts said that the famous strategy: By 2010, the world's 2 / 3 of the population, about 30 million people will become active users of smart phones and beneficiaries. In a relatively saturated market inside, cell phone updates and updating manufacturers will be an important source of income.

3 G with the times, the speed of Internet phones will be greatly enhanced, and charges will gradually decline, which can be compared year to the development of the Internet. Because of the unique mobile phones and PC differences, would make applications, application of the model are quite different, we will certainly emerged in a lot of unique applications, the Web site is irreplaceable. Another forecast figures: By 2015, the world will be 50 million mobile phone interconnection.(Fexon Technology Ltd)

Fexon Technology Ltd: Rumor: EU approval next week, Google plan to acquire DoubleClick

Fexon Technology Ltd say: People familiar with the situation a few days ago, said that he expected the EU regulatory body the European Commission unconditionally approved next week, Google will be 3.1 billion US dollars to buy advertising company DoubleClick.

This result is not surprising, because as early as in January this year, the European Commission decided not to formally object to the deal. The European Commission has never officially expressed his opposition to the views of the opposition under an agreement. Privacy advocates have opposed the agreement, saying it will allow the two companies unprecedented access to consumer information, and the European Commission said that the protection of privacy is not considering merger of its problem areas. (Fexon Technology Ltd)

Approval of the merger agreement will make Google in the field of pay-per-click advertising network and DoubleClick's dominance in the field of image ads combine market-leading position. In December last year, the United States Federal Trade Commission has approved the proposed acquisition agreement, in the past six years, the EU has never opposed the regulatory approval of the merger.

The merger of the Internet advertising industry is also part of the consolidation. Before Microsoft to 6 billion US dollars purchase of aQuantive, Yahoo 300 million US dollars to buy a BlueLithium, the AOL Time Warner's acquisition of Tacoda, but did not disclose the purchase price.(Fexon Technology Ltd)

FairUse DVD Ripper Free for a Limited Time [Featured Windows Download]

Windows only: Grab a free copy of the normally-$20 DVD ripper FairUse Wizard 2, which converts DVDs to video files playable by a slew of devices. Back up your DVDs to your computer or watch 'em on your iPhone/iPod touch, AppleTV, Zune, Xbox 360, PS3 or TiVo with FairUse, which automatically rips and compresses the DVD using the DiVX, XViD, or H.264 codecs. FairUse can detect multiple television episodes on a DVD, too. For more tools like FairUse, check out our Top 10 free video rippers, encoders and converters. FairUse is a limited-time free download for Windows XP and Vista, and the FAQ says it works fine in Linux under Wine.

FairUse Wizard [via Download Squad]

Money changes everything

I can't decide if being born in the Seventies has been a curse or a gift. With the Eighties and Nineties it's obvious (cursed and super-cursed, respectively). If you grew up during the time when life could be taped and rewound and taped over again, then the idea of spontaneity and inspiration seem foreign and fairytale-like. Even though your media studies class teacher tells you that TV and movies manufactures the ideal lifestyle, you've been pre-programmed into accepting that fake life is what real life should be like, and so the better part of your day is spent lamenting an existence that you were never going to have in the first place.

But children of the Seventies, like me, are caught in a chasm of time. We're old enough to remember the very first time Fonzie jumped over the shark, and young enough to know where we were when Challenger blew up (in 8th grade English class, Holy Name School, Welland ON, by the way). We wore bell-bottoms in our grade school class pictures and graduated high school in Ralph Lauren polo shirts, with newly de-cellophaned copies of Nevermind cassettes in the tape decks of our parents mid-life crisis cars. We didn't get cell phones until after university and college, but we felt like part of the vanguard the first time we sent each other email across the campus internet network. We can effortlessly quote entires scenes of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but some of us can't be bothered to figure out this whole "Facebook" thing.

We are a generation in a coma. I know, it's serious.

It's also why many of us can identify with the characters that populate the mind of Douglas Coupland, author of last fall's The Gum Thief, Miss Wyoming, All Families are Psychotic, and Generation X. But--and here's the kicker--I believe that, in reality, most of us can't identify with Coupland's cast of callous and catatonic losers... but we think we should, because somewhere deep within us, we want to feel like we were influenced by the Seventies, not just born in the decade. Our formative years really occurred between '80 and '89, and by the time '89 came along, we realized that we were robbed of the innocence of our birth decade by the space time continuum. That's the only explanation why so many of us started flocking to Rolling Stones and Who concerts in the late 80s and early 90s, jumped at a hippie/day-glo revival, and began to reject the pre-packaged, pre-porgrammed glossy pop culture that had been fed to us down cable television lines and magazines "aimed at your average teens." We were grasping to claim something that by rights should be ours, but by chance eluded us, so therefore we co-opted it and idealized it, and tried to make it fit us, or rather make us fit into it, but in reality we had no idea what "it" really was. "The good old days" were gone, and even though we were born right around their demise, we never got to experience their "goodness" long enough or late enough in our lives to remember it. It's the same as what all the millennium babies are going to be saying in about 10 years time: "Who cares that I was born in 2000; I don't remember anything about it. You had all the fun conceiving me, now all I have to show for it is smog alerts, and the remnants of an illegal war."

Was it money? Was it greed? Was it something that we said or didn't do? Or, was it just a matter of co-incidence and happenstance? Will our generation ever find a meaning to our lives that is genuine, and not designed by an ad agency's junior executive project team? Yeah, we probably will, but it's going to take a whole lot of work. By the time we start to make sense of it, we'll be approaching middle age, though, and kicking ourselves for taking so long to realize that all the shit we thought was so important to us ten years ago has become as obsolete as our new HD DVD players.

I've just finished watching Everything's Gone Green, Douglas Coupland's New Order-named first screenplay (if you don't count the documentary Souvenir Of Canada), directed by Paul Fox. It was actually a pretty good film, and a pretty accurate cinematic depiction of Coupland's enigmatic prose and ultramatic world. It also shared a healthy dose of plot development and character study with his second to last novel, JPod. Could it be that even our cultural anthropologist, Douglas Coupland, is finding it hard to make his way in the world today without tripping over his own ideas?

That the movie and novel shared similarities is not a criticism, but it is cause for more head scratching than a case of public school lice infestations. You see, in January of this year, the CBC began airing JPod the TV series. Coupland is one of the TV show's executive producers and writer of some of this season's episodes. I find it interesting that his bio on the CBC's official JPod site states: "2006 marked the premiere of the feature film, Everything's Gone Green, his first story written specifically for the screen and not adapted from any previous work." See, even the guide can get lost in the woods, too.

Suffice to say that Coupland seems to have gained momentum again with The Gum Theif, and if you haven't read it yet, I'd recommend it. I'd also recommend Everything's Gone Green as both a great piece of cinema and a great source of some excellent Canadian music. I'm a little leery about JPod the series; Alan Thicke is great at playing against-type, but some of the other characters are far too two-dimensional, and haven't fully formed yet, but here's hoping time and production values will help flesh it out and add the human touch that its missing (which Everything's Gone Green has in spades). Steph Song is the only actor both the show and movie have in common, and she is stellar in both.

I hope that Coupland takes a lesson from his lottery winning characters in Everything's Gone Green, and resists trading his credibility and talent for the sake of money; commodifying his creation to capitalize on televsion advertising revenue. I doubt it, seeing as how no one gets rich on Canadian TV, but the allure of Hollywood doesn't get stopped and cavity searched at major border crossings. Just ask Alan Thicke, Michael J. Fox, and Mike Myers. If Coupland goes for the green, as it were, then we, the generation formerly known as X--and sometimes Y--won't have anyone to tell us it's okay to still be shallow and insecure at 35, just as long as we drive hybrids and power down our office CPUs when we go home at night.

Do you really think we'll pull through? Do you really think we'll pull through? I know, it's serious.

- J. Di Gioia (02/22/08)

Jason Collett "Hangover Days"
[Idols of Exile, 2005, Arts & Crafts]
[Everything's Gone Greensoundtrack, 2007, Lakeshore Records]

Black Mountain "No Satisfaction"
[Black Mountain, 2005, Jagjaguwar]
[Everything's Gone Greensoundtrack, 2007, Lakeshore Records]