The "Fun" That is Windows Media Center and Xbox 360

Nov 4th

Posted by mstroud in Rants

Recently I went through a setup related exercise for work where I needed to get a Windows Media Center PC to talk to a Media Center Extender. An extender in Microsoft’s view is a device that attaches to a TV and enables interacting with a Media Center UI without the PC actually having to be in the same room as the TV. There have been a few of these devices shipping for a couple of years so I thought this would be a cakewalk. Boy was I wrong, really wrong.

I spend nearly two hours hooking up the Media Center PCs More >

On the Track with the C6

Oct 23rd

Posted by mstroud in General

I had the opportunity this past Thursday to go out to a real, honest to goodness race track and do some laps with the C6. This is the first time either I or the car has seen a track, so it was a lot of new-ness all around.

The track was Thunderhill and it was truly in the middle of nowhere, nearly 3 hours away (by my driving) from home. The track was full of twists, turns, and straight-aways and provided more proof that I have a much more powerful car than I am a capable driver. It was humbling to see More >

Lost Wallets

Oct 23rd

Posted by mstroud in General

I had the occasion last night and this morning to have completely lost my wallet.  This led to several panicked phone calls (sorry Steve and Paul) and a lot of tearing up the house.  In the end, I cancelled all my credit cards, my ATM card, and lost my Social Security card, requiring calls to replace them all.

I rarely lose things of such great value, but this time around I just sucked.  Moments after I put the call in on all these items I found my wallet, wedged into a small opening between the passenger seat and the rail it More >

Flights 13 and 14

Oct 23rd

Posted by mstroud in Flying

I can now say that a long break from flying does indeed dull the skills.

After my long business trip I had two back-to-back lessons and found that I’m not as sharp on my landings and pattern work as I once was.  Even going out to do the normal maneuvers proved to be a bit sloppy for me.  Lesson 13 was just about trying to remember what I had learned previously, and I did slip up a bit, but the landing went OK.  Lesson 14 took me to Livermore, where I blew the whole approach, landing, and pattern, but did OK More >

Back Home for a Bit

Oct 16th

Posted by mstroud in Rants

I have finally returned from my whirlwind tour of Europe and NYC.  Although my body isn’t sure which time zone it’s in, I am sure that I’m home again.  Where else can you say that the taxi drivers speak less English than they do in other countries?

I’ll be travelling again later this week, but hopefully this stop will be long enough for some clothes washing and a little sleep.  Yawn is the order of the day, for sure.

Lost in the Netherlands

Oct 7th

Posted by mstroud in General

On stop 2 of my long work trip I managed to get seriously lost driving from Amsterdam to Eindhoven in the Netherlands.  This seems to be a pattern with me and going places for work stuff these days: get off the plane, get in a rental car, drive around lost for hours.

In this case the rental car was a super crappy Mercedes A class mini-econo-box with a stick shift and a top speed of 130kph.  I did eventually make it to my hotel around midnight for a meeting the next morning at 9am.  But I proceeded to get lost searching More >

Nuggets of Strange Wisdom

Oct 1st

Posted by mstroud in General

I have been flying around quite a bit recently for the job and found that if I sit quietly in the cab or bus to and from the airport I can pick up on some remarkable gems from the local population. On tap from this weeks trip is this little nugget:

Don’t marry an American woman. They expect too much and are just too hard to deal with. I’m 56, retired, and moving to Thailand. Those are the women to have. My girlfriend is 26 and she’s thankful for the little things. That’s how a woman is supposed to be. And More >

Flights 10, 11 and 12

Oct 1st

Posted by mstroud in Flying

I’m now in the phase where all my flights are about pattern work, radio work, and landings and take-offs.  The short summary of the last three lessons goes like this:

Flight 10: engine runs rough, making the 3 touch and goes a little slow and climb out a bit challenging.  On the 4th attempt at the runway I call it quits and decide that this engine just won’t work today.  Just a half hour of flying this time around.

Flight 11: more touch and goes.  Getting a bit better at judging where the runway is, when to start down, etc.  Still not More >

Flights 7, 8, and 9

Sep 16th

Posted by mstroud in Flying

At this stage in the game I’m learning to fly the pattern and pratice take-offs and landings.  It’s pretty hard going, as the lessons come fast and the margin for error is very low.  It also requires a lot of talking to the tower, watching for other planes, and generally going through a mental checklist very, very quickly.

The instructor says I’m doing well at the landing approach, and OK and landings, but I can’t help thinking that the issues I’m still having with take-offs and operating in the pattern are large ones.  Hopefully things will improve with time, since I’m More >

Why Commercial Flights Suck, Again

Sep 16th

Posted by mstroud in Rants

This week I took a series of flights from San Jose to Austin, Texas, then on to Denver, Colorado, and back to San Jose again.  I shouldn’t be surprised at it any more, but the terrible conditions that now exist in airports is quite appalling.

Previously I would almost never check my bag.  Now, because I’d like to have toothpaste and shampoo available when I fly I must check bags in.  This leads to more time in line, more chances for missed flights, and of course, lost or severely delayed luggage.  Going through Denver, I experienced the severe delay and ended More >

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