Ooooo two months ! you lucky Man, hope you enjoy it Christopher

2 months nice one.

Today worked on some new laptops

Originally Posted by sepulchre

I'm buying a few more vegetable plants for my garden today.

Hi again sepulchre (lol, LOVE that nick/handle you use)...

I just took a peek @ your profile (well, actually a few days back per our discussions here) & see you are a coder by your profile!

(We have this in common - @ least, I THINK it was you that had that in your profile, as to coding)!

Thus, by your post here now? I see that we also have another thing in common, & that's 'gardening'!

(However - I am, admittedly, by NO MEANS a "pro" @ this!)

My tenant is my tutor here, & imo @ least, he IS "great" @ this, just judging by what his yields have been in the garden (& other plants this year, & previous ones... as he has all sorts of "neat & exotic" trees he actually raises too, it's pretty cool imo @ least + quite beautiful)...

Thus, via his "inspiration"? I am going to hit what is called our "farmer's market" this week & pickup a dozen "Cherry Tomato" plants to set into the ground, finally! For $10 U.S. Dollars, I will get back many fold that in returns, & it's absolutely FRESH food too... very cool, can't beat it.

(My tenant told me to wait until the temp. @ night stayed above 50 degrees F, to do so, as far as actually planting them outside, & that time & temp is finally here).

On purpose this year, I saved EVERY eggshell I had & smashed them up into a fine sandy powder to use while I do so... the ground has been rototilled for our yearly garden & this is going to be our "secret weapon" lol...

(See, as I heard it helps a great deal for plants growing. As the ground was rototilled, 1/2 of what I have in this way (smashed up eggshells) has gone into the soil, & the other 1/2 I will keep until I actually set my cherry tomato plants into the dirt... then, they go in right next to them.)

I hope this works (on the eggshells usage as a form of fertilizer) - I know squat about gardening... but, I have "heard tell" that eggshells & their calcium helps plants out for growth. Going to find out, this is certain.

I love Cherry Tomatos in a roast chicken (believe-it-or-not, it's great) set into a bed of rice (plus some butter (1/4 stick chopped up), 2-3 chicken boullion cubes, small amt. diced onions, garlic (1 head worth chopped up finely), pepper, & salt). Into the oven it goes for 1 hr. @ 475 degrees F & voila -> A decent dish! Needs a BIT of maintenance though, have to watch things you do with rice... if you don't add water periodically? It "sucks it all up" & you get a pile of smoke instead... the 1 thing to lookout for doing rice imo is this!

My other pal, Jack, is a big giant guy who loves food (you can tell, he weighs like 350lbs.) & even HE likes it... & he is a "stiff critic" of food. The cherry tomatoes part though, I have to wait each year for, until gardening time... & here tis!

"PSYCHED!"

APK

P.S.=> I have been "offline" for a few days, busy as you-know-what, on other things (job related mostly), &, also building up a HUGE 'custom HOSTS file' from numerous sources ontop of my usual ones... it has gone from 1.6mb, up to 4mb in size, but is MASSIVELY comprehensive (even vs. phishing sites, which is the 'problem' one, as those grow super fast, I don't believe I can keep up on them easily is what I am finding out here on this note... but, we try)... apk

@apk:
Yes, I'm a coder. My technical title is 'Consultant', which means they can make me do pretty much whatever they want. But hey, it's a living... or was. Things have sort of dried up lately, but I have no fear. I sort of like this 'semi-retirement' life style. I moved from the city - Houston - to the country - rural Indiana and love the laid back life where you don't have to worry so much about locking your doors and everyone knows each other.

I used to do the low level stuff with ML and all, down in the nitty gritty, but the majority of my professional life has been working with higher level languages, mostly PowerBuilder, a little VB, and lots of SQL. I design and build work management apps using relational databases in a client / server environment with hundreds of concurrent users. Most of it is for utility companies - water, electricity, phone, etc., but lately more for oil companies (well production and maintenance stuff).

But now I can concentrate on my garden, writing music, photography, riding my motorcycle, and hiking in the hills and forests. Also on cooking; you recipe sounds tasty! I'm a regular mad scientist in the kitchen and some of my experiments are actually edible!

Good luck with your garden (and your stove)!

Originally Posted by sepulchre

@apk:Yes, I'm a coder. My technical title is 'Consultant', which means they can make me do pretty much whatever they want.

Same here, lol... more & more in common I see... & MY EYES ARE ROLLING TOO!

Originally Posted by sepulchre

But hey, it's a living... or was. Things have sort of dried up lately, but I have no fear.

Same here, & I have been working for FAR LOWER WAGES than I had in the past, & far more hours too (it's messing w/ me in fact, physically... I spent the weekend almost TOTALLY sleeping in fact to make up for it & a good chunk of yesterday too). This year, for instance? I don't think I ever put in less than 50-55 hrs. a week & more than a few times up to 75-80... just to keep a job.

They've GOTTA quit outsourcing... guys like us, spend cash... & pay taxes! They take away our "disposable income"? They take that away from the economic engine... & if folks can't buy products/inventories?? Layoffs occur, first (easiest thing to control IS payroll after all)... & the "vicious cycle" continues.

That'd be MY answer @ least, to the "economic woes" we're all seeing... corporate officers only respond to what boards of directors (who respond to stockholder demands for MORE "ROI" etc.) TELL them to do, to protect themselves first (naturally), & they're NOT stupid...they KNOW what happens when you do 'downsizing' & 'outsourcing'... this IS the results.

THIS IS WHERE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STEP IN, imo... & tell them "fine, outsource... do 'laissez faire', but... we can tax away your incentives to do so & additionally fine you for it'.

This IS the only way imo, to stall the economic downturn. Only problem is, WHO REALLY OWNS THE GOV'T.? Big money does... sad.

Originally Posted by sepulchre

I sort of like this 'semi-retirement' life style. I moved from the city - Houston - to the country - rural Indiana and love the laid back life where you don't have to worry so much about locking your doors and everyone knows each other.

Hey, is this anywhere near Evansville Ind.? I did some work there a few years back (I travelled for a decade++ for that, got sick of it, but I did get to see the U.S.A., mostly east coast, but also some midwest etc.) & I loved evansville... such beautiful country! AND< cool folks too... big into farming & Ford Trucks!

Plus, I love John Cougar Mellencamp's tunes, & the guys there reminded me of he.

Originally Posted by sepulchre

I used to do the low level stuff with ML and all, down in the nitty gritty, but the majority of my professional life has been working with higher level languages, mostly PowerBuilder, a little VB, and lots of SQL.

Same here... Access/VB3-6/VB.NET/ASP.NET/Delphi (usually to SQLServer, but also to IBM DB/2 & Oracle "stored procs")... I am MOSTLY better @ the code side, not as good @ DBA work (stored proc design in T-SQL (SQLServer) & PL-SQL (Oracle) etc.)... that's an area I'd like to 'grow in', to complete myself in fact, here.

Originally Posted by sepulchre

I design and build work management apps using relational databases in a client / server environment with hundreds of concurrent users.

Yes, same here... mostly in manufacturing environs, but, one recently in insurance environs too. Editing now (couple were logistics/transport, & 1 financial too).

Originally Posted by sepulchre

Most of it is for utility companies - water, electricity, phone, etc., but lately more for oil companies (well production and maintenance stuff).

WELL, you are fortunate here: Oil has NEVER had a "losing year", ever, afaik, for the last 100++ yrs...., & only 1 "break even" year in that timeframe. Plenty of "R&D" monies for YOU, to ca$h in on & learn via as well!

I don't know about you? BUT, I am "always growing", which is "ok" @ times, & a pain @ other times, lol...

Originally Posted by sepulchre

But now I can concentrate on my garden, writing music, photography, riding my motorcycle, and hiking in the hills and forests.

You "got smart" imo, & have started to "live again"... myself? Though I hate to say it?? I think it's time to "move back into. mgt." which makes you 'atrophy' in the 'nitty gritty' stuff... but, it pays better & not NEAR as much change (my original goal was to get "good" @ the actual work, after having been in mgt. for a few years, & then return to it... but, I LIKE THE TECHNO STUFF, far better! More interesting)

Imo, to be a "GOOD BOSS"? You HAD to have "walked many miles" in the shoes of your subordinates... & imo + experience? Not much mgt. in our field has... maybe because this industry's a relative infant, by comparison to others (what, maybe a 50 yr. history tops, in comp. sci.??), OR, maybe politics & other reasons.

E.G.=> I've literally had, only 3 bosses (top ones) over 15 yrs. now, that actually could DO the work @ levels you & I are speaking of... pretty sad imo!

I want to be "that better boss" & the only way? Do the job for a decade, & come back.

Originally Posted by sepulchre

Also on cooking; you recipe sounds tasty! I'm a regular mad scientist in the kitchen and some of my experiments are actually edible!

Yes, lol... I agree... the ONLY way - get your hands in there! Just like anything else... see above!

Originally Posted by sepulchre

Good luck with your garden (and your stove)!

Thanks man... I need it! I think it'll be fine... I tend to keep an eye on things & they will be my "human being oriented project", because I need one, & some time to "unplug" (from the computer)... burnouts possible, I'd like to avoid it.

APK

Btw, congrats Christopher! Enjoy!

Today Gym first then I'm having my hair done and Lee is off duty today perfect day !!!

Originally Posted by Cat-tranz

Today Gym first then I'm having my hair done and Lee is off duty today perfect day !!!

"Off Duty"

?

Is he an officer of the law, or military man?

(If so, VERY cool, either way - IF I made an incorrect assumption here, my bad... it just sounds as if he is law enforcement or militiary is all)

EDIT: Hey Cat? IF he is an officer of the law, & is into computers (especially ones that use Windows NT-based OS of today) by some chance?

WELL - Have I got a wallpaper for him (see here, it is part of this one, i.e.-> The "Windows NT process traffic cop" illustration portion) you can give him as a "techie present" from you:

http://www.thenewtech.com/forums/chi...html#post14906

(Maybe, just maybe? He'd like it... let me know, I can send it your way, to you, to give to he)

APK

P.S.=>

Originally Posted by APK

P.S.=> I have been "offline" for a few days, busy as you-know-what, on other things (job related mostly), &, also building up a HUGE 'custom HOSTS file' from numerous sources ontop of my usual ones... it has gone from 1.6mb, up to 4mb in size, but is MASSIVELY comprehensive (even vs. phishing sites, which is the 'problem' one, as those grow super fast, I don't believe I can keep up on them easily is what I am finding out here on this note... but, we try)... apk

I am still building that HORRENDOUSLY huge custom HOSTS file I mentioned above, & days later now (while I do other tasks this is going in the background, lagging me a bit vs. other tasks), running notepad.exe @ REALTIME CPU priority even, even now, to do so, many hours later in fact (still @ it)...

Getting notepad.exe to do an EDIT menu, REPLACE function (displacing 127.0.0.1 for 0.0.0.0 which is smaller & thus, loads faster & takes up less RAM) takes FOREVER & a day... but, worth it in the long haul!

When that's done?

Then, I still have to "normalize" it (meaning replacing any duplicated entries, so its that much more efficient)... It's @ 4.5mb in size, & I am sure I can cut it down to around 2-3 mb easily by doing this & ALL unique entries only!

I have to do this, because I use several sources ontop of my own file to create this file so it is as 'comprehensive as possible', & duplicates happen like mad... that slows down its loads (but, the local DNS cache, afaik @ least? Doesn't permit duplicates though... so, it's to make it have as fast a loadtime as is possible really only - not for less memory occupancy).

I built an app to do this:





However, my app, when used on the HOSTS file entries formats of others, has one small catch - Each entry in said HOSTS file has to be in this form:

0.0.0.0 (single space) URL {enter key/cr+lf}

& if it's not? My app "hangs up" on those entries (a lot of hosts file makers use a tab instead of a 'single space' as I do, throws my app, & I haven't corrected for it, yet) or, if others whose source HOSTS files I am importing leave a trailing character JUST BEFORE the {enter keypress/cr+lf} @ the end of each line in this file for THEIR entries I import (some do, I have NO idea why - makes NO SENSE for efficiency of structure, but, they do)

(PLUS, my program above is merely a simple "brute force" replace engine (compares first entry, to all others, & keeps it if unique, & goes to 2nd entry & does the same, all the way thru the Nth entry (comparing to first item in original list, skipping itself, & going all the way to the end etc.)))....

THUS - I am going to see, however, IF SQL is my friend here!

(After speaking to sepulchre above in regards to this? It gave me an idea, to save time... & I think it will be one that does so, as I am going to import this to Access, & let the "JET ENGINE" do this - & quite possibly, faster than my 'brute force' de-duplicator/normalizer engine can).

One column on the db import will be the 0.0.0.0. & the other will be the URL... then, a SQL statement of:

SELECT DISTINCT column_name(s)
FROM table_name

Should make far shorter work of it than my program would, w/ out the screwups I see due to formats others use in this file that throws my "home grown app" for this...

(One day, I'll correct mine for the formats others use, as I only generally used it to process the HOSTS files I created... this time, I am using ALL OTHER KNOWN SOURCES too - to make this file the 'best one there is in existence' etc.)

"A GEEKS' WORK IS NEVER DONE" (Cat - some advice, IF you take advice? Don't marry a geek/tech/nerd etc. ... we're BORING! lol...) apk

SELECT DISTINCT AccessImportAdbannerBlockTextToNormalize.IP, AccessImportAdbannerBlockTextToNormalize.URL INTO NORMALIZED
FROM AccessImportAdbannerBlockTextToNormalize
WHERE AccessImportAdbannerBlockTextToNormalize.IP='0.0.0 .0 ';

-----

That SQL "make table" Query was my "best friend", yesterday!

(& Access' "Rushmore Technology" JET engine, & it's superior indexed speed (by far I found out, vs. the brute force string replace engine I built above - this shows me that E.F. Codd (relational db inventor basically) is/was by FAR, my superior in understanding of this field imo!))...

Access & its SQLQueries + Tables were used for the purposes of "normalizing" (database term, means removal of repeated entries basically) the base custom HOSTS file I had, & that I have been building up since 1997, which I have been building up more all week now making it absolutely current + as comprehensive as is possible...

Imported, normalized, output in alphabetical order... minus duplicates & excessive comments lines.

Today?

I will finally be putting out what is probably the MOST comprehensive bad adbanner/bad site blocking custom HOSTS file on the planet, because of it!

(In part - because I still have to pull the repeated entries that had # type comments on them, which made them totally "new & distinct" entries (even though many times most of those had one just like them, minus the #comment attached @ the end - this is probably like 100++ entries to pull, making it tinier still))...



* That's part of my day later on today, it's finally getting there! Fully internally documented on how ALL parts of it work, & the badware/adbanner blocking section is TOTALLY alphabetized on all of its entries too, for easier maintenance by you, the end-user/consumer of it.

(It also lists ALL the sources I used, so you can "self-populate" it yourself too, if you wish to keep up on that kind of thing also)

I formed the file from the one I had originally, fed by:

• SpyBot S&D

• Google's StopBadWare.org site

• McAfee SiteAdvisor

• Opera SiteCheck

• SRI

• DDanchev's blog

• CastleCops

• ShadowServer

• Norton/Symantec Threatcon

• Spamhaus

• Phishtank

• the mvps.org HOSTS file

• the someonewhocares.com HOSTS file (Dan Pollock)

• Andrew Short's HOSTS file

All/each (many of them), noted here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file

APK

P.S.=> Right now, it's 3.5mb in size (&, will be smaller still soon, for faster loads & less memory occupancy in the local DNS cache), but ALL unique entries that are from valid & reputable sources + ones that are VERY current as well & ones that have "stood the test of time" over 11 yrs. now, also... apk

Originally Posted by APK

the eggshells usage as a form of fertilizer

...another really good free fertiliser is Banana Skins. NEVER throw a Banana Skin in the trash - always put it under a plant (even just throw it onto the ground next to a plant stalk). Excellent source of Potassium & very good for the plants.