This was my weekend to fend off the tech challenges I’d been avoiding for almost a week. And as Stewie of “Family Guy” would say, “Victory was mine.”
– Installed Service Pack 2 for Office 2007. First of all, it weights in at over 300 megs (and no, that was not a typo. It was 300 megs). Second of all, I love it. Outlook and Word load and close noticeably faster. Without broadband, I wouldn’t even consider downloading this important update.
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– Some will call me lazy, but I have always opted for the Microsoft Internet Explorer web browser vice using a third party browser. Yes, I know I could use something else, but there really is no compelling reason for me to switch. Having said that, I installed the new MS IE8 on all of my machines except the server late last week. Friday, the server notified me via a red icon on my desktop that it had an important update for me to install. I said “do it” and the server installed what turned out to be the IE8 update for 2003 server. No biggie, right? Wrong! Turns out IE8 broke one of my best server add-ins, Advance Admin Console (AAC).
This add-in gives me complete control of my server’s desktop without using Remote Desktop Connection (RDC). I was conflicted about how important the update was to me in light of the security updates provided by IE8. Keeping in mind that I don’t browser the internet from the server (after all, it’s headless), I uninstalled IE8 and ran AAC. I later thought better of this and reinstalled IE8 and uninstalled AAC deciding that I’ll wait for the developer of AAC to mod his program to work with IE8.
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– I got an invite to join the social network, Dreamwidth, this weekend. After initially declining (because I don’t need another place I won’t post to), I created an account there. The reason I mention this? Because Windows Live Writer is able to post to that site just as easily as it does to this one. I am tempted to resume simulcasting back to this site and Livejournal. Tempted…very tempted.
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– Saw Wolverine yesterday. No spoilers here, but the fact that it feeds nicely into 2000 movie, X-Men, wasn’t lost on me. Nevertheless, I hate prequel movies, because you know how they’ve got to end. But it did make me look at the movie, X-Men again this morning. So I guess in that regards, the movie achieved its goal.
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Finally, I am saddened by the passing of Jack Kemp. He was equivalent of John the Baptist relative to Ronald Reagan and the preaching of supply-side and “tickle-down” economics. In light of today’s environment, where there is a fairly solid repudiation of this policy now, Kemp continued to champion this cause. Not, because he didn’t get it – he did. But because he felt his party only heard part of the message. The Republican Party’s failure to endorse “enterprise zones,” and other programs he proposed while at HUD had a direct effect on the relationship between the GOP and minorities later. Kemp knew that a rising tide lifts all boats, except the ones with holes in them. Those boats sink if they’re not patched. Mr. Kemp knew that. I liked him and his politics. He will be missed.
Bill
Hooray for besting the Tech Beast. 😀