1. Lose 20 pounds and get back into shape.
2. Replenish the old art supplies and start painting and drawing again.
3. Finish the children’s book with Sara. Illustrate it.
4. Get refocused at work and outline goals, separately.
5. Train yourself to be more of a morning person. Get to sleep before 3 AM and wake before 9 AM. Get 8 hours of sleep a night (HA!)
6. Reorganize all music, movies, and photos.
7. Travel! Book the European cruise for 2011. Setup the vacations for Ireland in Spring-2010 and Oktoberfest in Fall-2010.
8. Go skiing. You haven’t been skiing since eighth grade. It’s about time.
9. Pay off ALL student loans by Dec 2010.
10. Buy the building and open the restaurant by the end of the year.
11. Stop double-booking yourself with everyone. Make better use of your iPhone’s planner.
12. Leave weekends in the summer open for the beach house and boating/fishing/etc.
13. Replenish the Emergency Fund.
14. Start cooking more. Take the advanced class at the Restaurant School.
15. Participate in the 3sixty5 project.

Keep me on top of these. I may edit them in the next few days (probably just by adding a few more). Happy New Year!

** I erased all of the syndication posts I was sharing out.  Why bother duplicating a post?  I’ll add my Google Shared Items to the side for anyone interested.

Keeping alive a centuries-old tradition – with a Philadelphia twist – a beam was hoisted to the highest point of Comcast Center today, topping off Philadelphia’s new tallest skyscraper.

There was a small tree at one end of the beam, which had been signed by workers and those gathered for the ceremony, and an American flag at the other.

Between them was a statue of William Penn, the city’s founder. There is a myth that Philadelphia’s sports teams will not win a championship as long as a building “rises above Billy Penn” on City Hall, said Bill Hankowsky, chief executive officer of Liberty Property Trust, the Malvern company that is building Comcast Center.

He was referring to the controversy two decades ago when One Liberty Place, also built by Liberty, became the first to break that barrier.

“We don’t believe in the myth, but to be safe we’ve added the statue of Billy Penn,” Hankowsky said.

Yippee!

I only met my brother’s ex-girlfriend’s family once — the year they invited our family over to share Thanksgiving dinner. Since we were basically a group of strangers looking to make a good first impression, the table conversation was nothing more than friendly idle chitchat.

When I asked our hostess for more mashed potatoes, she took the opportunity to ask me about myself while dishing out my second helping — “So Shaun, what do you do for a living?”

Hesitantly, I responded: “I work in computer support.”

The transition to silence was immediate. All eyes suddenly turned to me, raised eyebrows all around. If you hadn’t heard my response, judging from everyone’s reaction you might think I said something outrageous like I was a male stripper or a gynecologist — but I knew the awkward silence would soon be broken by an overwhelming outpouring of computer questions.

“Oh wow, a computer guy!” — “So you know how to remove spyware and viruses and stuff, right?” — “Our family computer is really slow, I think it has a virus.” — “Do you have a business card, or can I get your number?”

I politely and patiently answered their questions, hoping that we’d exhaust the subject in a matter of minutes and then move on to something else. As it would turn out, my hopeful prediction was very wrong — the gentleman sitting next to me scooted his seat closer to me to begin an interrogation.

This man I was meeting for the first time must’ve truly believed that I was going to help him with his problem at that very moment. It didn’t matter how uninterested I looked or sounded, he was convinced that I must know the answer he’s looking for and he was determined he would get it.

Situations like this one were common for me. I’ve had eavesdropping strangers approach me with questions about their computer while I was eating in a restaurant. I’ve had oblivious coworkers step in front of me in a buffet line to tell me about their computer problems while I was serving myself food. I’ve had neighbors who spotted me from their window rush outside to coax me into working on their home computer while I was walking to the corner market. My knack for solving people’s computer problems had become so well-known among my neighborhood that these circumstances were near impossible to avoid.

You might be thinking, “So why complain? If your help is in high demand, why not embrace your talents and charge people for your time?”

I tried to for seven years. I’ve worked in the computer industry in various ways — help desk support, web design, consulting and sales, field technician, freelance computer specialist, and whatever other fancy name you want to give “the computer guy.”

I stopped enjoying it. There were certainly times when I enjoyed myself, but most of those times were when my computer talents were still developing. Once I stopped learning new things on the job, I would become fidgety and want to move on to something else.

From my career-hopping experiences in the computer industry, I’ve become acquainted with the Top Ten Reasons it doesn’t pay to be the computer guy:

Reason #10 – Most Of Your Accomplishments Are Invisible

The computer guy never hears anyone tell him, “I just want to let you know … everything is working fine!”

The reality is that people call the computer guy when something is wrong.

As a computer guy, if you work really hard to make everything work the way that it should, and things work fine, then people believe you don’t do anything. Everything you manage to get working correctly or do perfectly will forever remain unnoticed by computer users. They’ll only ever notice that you do anything when something isn’t working correctly, and you are called upon to fix it.

Reason #9 – Every Conversation You Have Is Roughly The Same

When the computer guy dares to mention what he does for a living, the typical response is, “I have a question about my home computer…”

Or when the computer guy first hears about a widespread problem within the computer network he’s responsible for, he can barely begin to assess the problem before a dozen other people call to report the same problem.

Or when the computer guy explains a certain process on a computer to a user who is incapable of retaining the process, he will inevitably need to reinstruct the user of this same process — indefinitely.

Reason #8 – You’re An Expert Of Bleeding-Edge Technology Products, Aren’t You?

The computer guy often finds himself in situations where someone is asking him for advice on a pending investment of the technological variety.

“I heard about (some hardware or software product) that can do (something desirable) for me. I brought you these (advertisements/reviews/printouts) because I wanted your recommendation. Which would you buy?”

Although the inquiring person sincerely trusts the computer guy’s judgment over their own, in almost every instance the real objective of these meetings is to ensure their own immunity from making a risky purchase.

If it turns out to be a bad investment, and they cannot get (the hardware or software product) to do (anything desirable), then you will be their personal scapegoat — “But honey, the computer guy said I should buy it!”

Reason #7 – Your Talents Are Forcibly Undervalued

Thanks to the constantly declining price of new computers, the computer guy cannot charge labor sums without a dispute. If he asks to be paid what he is worth, he will likely be met with the “why not buy new?” argument.

That is, desktop computers are always getting smaller, faster, and cheaper. It’s possible to purchase a new desktop computer for under $400. If the computer guy spends five hours fixing a computer and wants $100/hour for his time, his customer will be outraged, exclaiming “I didn’t even spend this much to BUY the computer, why should I pay this much just to FIX it?”

Reason #6 – You’re Never Allowed A Moment’s Peace

The computer guy is so prone to interruption that he rarely finds an opportunity to work on his own problems. This is because:

1. Computers never sleep.
2. Computer problems aren’t scheduled.
3. Every problem takes time to diagnose.
4. The computer guy can only give one problem his full attention.
5. Each user believes their problem deserves attention now.

Consequently, the computer guy has a 24/7 obligation to keep critical computer systems running, while simultaneously juggling everyone’s problems. He’ll often need to forfeit any opportunities to tend to his own needs for the sake of others — because at any moment, of any day, he can be interrupted by someone who wants to make their problem his problem.

Reason #5 – People Ask You To Perform Miracles

The computer guy is often mistaken for someone who possesses the combined skills of an old priest and a young priest. I’ll sum this up easily by example:

“No, I really can’t recover any files from your thumb drive, even if you did find it after it passed through your dog.”

Reason #4 – Your Assumed “All-Knowing” Status Sets You Up To Let People Down

There is no common understanding that there are smaller divisions within the computer industry, and that the computer guy cannot be an expert in all areas. What makes things worse, is when the computer guy attempts to explain this to someone asking for help, the person will often believe that the computer guy is withholding the desired knowledge to avoid having to help.

This is somewhat related to the next reason:

Reason #3 – You Possess Unlimited Responsibility

The computer guy is expected to solve problems. It is difficult to determine the boundaries of that expectation.

Some of the oddest things that I’ve been asked to do include:

1. Use pirated software to undelete important company files.
2. Create an Intranet, after explaining I didn’t know how to.
3. Teach someone how to hide their pornography collection.

Solving problems can range from replacing batteries in a wireless keyboard to investigating why the entire building loses power at the same time every morning. Resolutions can necessitate weaving a 50-foot cable through a drop ceiling, or wriggling under a house on your belly to add an electrical outlet.

Reasons #4 and #3 boil down to this: no matter how often you want to play the role of a hero, there will always be circumstances that test the limits of your ability to be one. It’s difficult to judge when helping someone means doing something immoral, and it’s even harder to admit you are unable to solve someone’s problem — and chances are, that someone will view you as incompetent because you were unable to help them.

Reason #2 – A Life Of Alienation

People only talk to the computer guy when they need him to fix something. Also, when the computer guy approaches a user, they’ll hop up out of their chair under the presumption that he’s there to fix something — as if it would never be expected that he only wants to strike up a conversation.

The fact that the computer guy never gets a moment’s peace can also practically force him to withdraw into solitude. His co-workers don’t understand that he doesn’t want to hear about their computer problems during his lunch hour — he does that every other hour of the day. That’s why the computer guy eats lunch alone with his door closed, or goes out to eat every day — not because he’s unfriendly, but because he needs to escape the incessant interruptions.

Reason #1 – You Have No Identity

It’s an awful experience when the computer guy shows up at a neighbor’s doorstep with a plate of Christmas cookies, only to have the child who answered the door call out, “Mom, the computer guy is here!” He begs for an identity that is not directly associated with computers, but “the computer guy” label walks ahead of him — it simply cannot be avoided. I was given a name and I’d love to be addressed by it.

Having read these reasons, you may believe that I’m complaining. It’s true that I was upset with many aspects of my life as the computer guy, but I’m past the point of complaining.

I took a good hard look at my existence and realized that things were not likely to change in the line of work I had chosen. Instead of just complaining, I took action and began making positive changes in my life.

Working in the computer industry isn’t for everybody. It wasn’t for me. I’ve compiled my reasons for putting it behind me and placed them here, so that anyone who is unsatisfied with their life working in computers might recognize it’s not for them either.

I think I am safe in the Philadelphia market, as I have read and heard that the Philly market is desirable and sustaining growth. (FYI, Jay Lamont hosts “All About Real Estate” on WPEN 950 on Sunday mornings from 10 until 12. I recently setup my computer to record it for me since I’m usually sleeping or busy. Very informative, great guy) Anyway, when dealing with the Real Estate market as with dealing with Real Estate in general, the saying’s the same: “location, location, location”… to compare a local market nationally sometimes does not make any sense. The Philadelphia market is still hot, says I.

The Jersey shore, on the other hand, has cooled off. But having acquired 300% equity in the house over the past 4 years, I think I can handle a down period for a little while. Back to work… Thanks Josh, for the clip. Interesting visualization.

…persons still operating legacy servers such as Windows 2000 were dismayed to learn that Microsoft was sticking to its guns regarding their Windows 2000 EOL(End of Life). Hotfixes were made available for Windows XP and Server 2003, but the Windows 2000 hotfix (which does exist) has not seen public release. In order to obtain it, one must order it from their Microsoft Account Manager. I believe the current list price is $4000 for a site license to use the hotfix – a large sum for a systems administrator looking to update a small amount of servers.

Fortunately, a tool released back at the beginning days of Windows 95 as part of the Kernel Tools package allows an administrator to hand-edit the Windows Timezone files in order to reflect the new DST settings.

In order to get started, download the tool to your Windows 2000 server from Microsoft from the following link: http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/8/a/58a208b7-7dc7-4bc7-8357-28e29cdac52f/TZEDIT.exe

After downloading, run the file, and extract the tzedit program somewhere on your server (The default of Program Files\TZedit is usually fine)

Run the extracted program – by default, the current timezone is already highlighted for you, so go ahead and click “Edit”

Now, enter the new date settings in DST portion of the timezone:
Starts 2nd Sunday of March at 2:00 AM
Ends 1st Sunday of November at 2:00 AM

That should be the only change you need to make – Click “OK”, then “Close”.

In order to make the server re-read the zone file – you will need to do one of two things:
Reboot the server or Double-click the clock to pull up time and date settings, and under the Time Zone tab, pick a different timezone and hit Apply, and then re-select your real timezone and hit apply again.

You’re done! Your server has been updated with the new DST rules, and will change its clock at the appropriate date.

Just spreading the word…

$century = mktime(12, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2001);
$today = time();
$difference = $today – $century;
echo ‘This century started ‘;
echo floor($difference / 84600);
$difference -= 84600 * floor($difference / 84600);
echo ‘ days, ‘;
echo floor($difference / 3600);
$difference -= 3600 * floor($difference / 3600);
echo ‘ hours, ‘;
echo floor($difference / 60);
$difference -= 60 * floor($difference / 60);
echo ” minutes, and $difference seconds ago.”;

It won’t work with values before 1970. I thought of other ways to try and do this, but most of them produced the incorrect number of days (usually off by 2 or 3 days from the online calculators I found written in C). I needed this to be accurate. If you have used Pervasive SQL, some of the date fields are stored in float form as a serial number from December 28th, 1800. Don’t ask me why. It’s stupid, but that’s how I needed to extract data for the dates in some instances. Being that the most precise way would be to count the number of leap years between the two months and the resulting number of days between two said dates, I was able to port this successfully to PHP:

function LeapYear ($year) {
return $year%4 == 0 && ($year%100 != 0 || $year%400 == 0);
}

function DaysPerYear ($year) {
return 365 + LeapYear($year);
}

function DaysPerMonth ($year, $month) {
if ($month == 2) {
return 28 + LeapYear($year);
}
else {
// odd months are 31 days from through 1-7 and even months from 8-12
return 30 + ($month + ($month >= 8))%2;
}
}

function CheckDateValid($year, $month, $day) {
// force integer boolean return, 0 or 1.
return (int)($year >= 0 && $month >= 1 && $month <=12 &&
$day >=1 && $day <= DaysPerMonth($year, $month));
}

function date_diff ($year1, $month1, $day1, $year2, $month2, $day2) {
/*
* compute the difference in days between two dates;
* year2, etc, are the later date (otherwise, return negative);
*/

if (!CheckDateValid($year1, $month1, $day1) || !CheckDateValid($year2, $month2, $day2))
return "Dates are not valid";

$num_days = 0;
$t = "";

$reverse = ($year1 > $year2 ||
($year1 == $year2 &&
($month1 > $month2 ||
($month1 == $month2 && $day1 > $day2)
)));

if ($reverse) {
// reverse the order if input incorrectly
$t = $year1; $year1 = $year2; $year2 = $t;
$t = $month1; $month1 = $month2; $month2 = $t;
$t = $day1; $day1 = $day2; $day2 = $t;
}

/* do a gross total of the span of years, then adjust */
for ($yy = $year1; $yy <= $year2; $yy++) {
$num_days += DaysPerYear($yy);
}

/* adjust first year */
for ($mm=1; $mm < $month1; $mm++) {
$num_days -= DaysPerMonth($year1,$mm);
}

/* adjust last year */
for ($mm=$month2; $mm <= 12; $mm++) {
$num_days -= DaysPerMonth($year2,$mm);
}

$num_days += $day2 - $day1;

return $num_days;
}

echo date_diff(2007,3,6, 1800,12,28) ." days";

This outputs “75308 days,” which is correct. Hope this helps someone looking to find the difference between any two dates (post-standardization); I know it helped me.

My favorite is the Curse of Billy Penn (my emphasis):

The Curse of William Penn is an alleged curse, sometimes used to explain the failure of professional sports teams based in Philadelphia… Atop City Hall at Broad and Market Streets in Center City… stands a statue of William Penn, city founder and original proprietor of the then-British-colony of Pennsylvania (meaning “Penn’s Woods”). By tradition—though not by law—no building in the city rose above this statue, until, in March 1987, a glass skyscraper called One Liberty Place opened just three blocks away. One Liberty Place dwarfed City Hall by 397 feet (121m)…

Philadelphia sports teams had just before then enjoyed an enviable run of success: the … Phillies had won the 1980 World Series and the 1983 National League pennant; the … Flyers had won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 1974 and 1975, and were a regular presence in the finals (to wit, 1976, 1980, 1985, and 1987); the … Eagles had appeared in Super Bowl XV; and the … 76ers had won the championship in 1983, as well as making the finals in 1977,1980, and 1982. …. Construction on One Liberty Plaza began in 1984, one year after the last championship season in Philadelphia.

Unlike other “curses” that seem to strike particular teams (Boston Red Sox’s Curse of the Bambino, Chicago White Sox’s Curse of the Black Sox…), this evil is said to have struck four professional teams in the same city, and has now drawn “first blood” with an untimely death.

I have a solution.

Move the Billy Penn statue.

It’s simple. Hear me out. The new Comcast Center is presently being built. Besides housing the owners of two of the teams franchises, it will be the largest building in Philadelphia. Construction is still going on. So move the statue. Yes, the statue of Billy Penn. Move it. Top off the Comcast Center in style and break a quarter-century curse.

The logistics are there. The statue weighs 27 tons. And I did a little research on helicopters (when I say little, I mean I searched Google once). The Heavy Lift MI-12s (HOMERs) can apparently lift 36 tons in flight… so it must be possible to move this guy.

And what do we put atop City Hall in Billy Penn’s place? How ’bout that Rocky statue that has a hard time finding a home. What Philadelphian wouldn’t mind throwing tax money towards that?