A motorcycle with a 2000cc engine?!?! OMG. That is a bigger engine than a Corolla, folks. I shouldn't have looked at this web page. Now I will be dreaming of getting another bike for months.  

Vulcan® 2000

Very interesting... It's no accident that Microsoft leaked that the next version of Windows, version 7, is slated for 2010. As this article suggests, this would give companies an option of skipping Vista altogether. I can't imagine that is making the boys in Redmond all too happy. I'll be there next month and rest assured I will be asking someone about it.

Dell To Ship Windows XP Computers Until 2010 -- Windows -- InformationWeek

Maybe you have heard of it. Probably you haven't, but this strange little site is taking the web by storm. It's the looniest idea I had ever heard of and I was pretty skeptical when I first read about it. Since I was hearing so much buzz about it, I decided to clear my mind of prejudice and give it a try. I have to tell you... after a few weeks of use, I am really starting to see some cool things out of it. Rather than bore you with my flaccid explanation, watch this...

This is a pretty good webcast discussing the new Terminal Server features in Server 2008. Taking a lot of cues from Citrix, TS 2008 now features what is called a "Terminal Server Gateway" that allows the exposure of TS applications and desktops to users over the public Internet without requiring cumbersome VPN software. We are already doing some of this with our SSL VPN solution (Extranet) and with our Citrix gateway (NFuse), but since this is now included in TS 2008, the costs will be dramatically less. It also uses RPC-over-HTTPS, which appears to be Microsoft's hot button these days, as they are pimping that hard with Exchange 2007 as well. Though RPC-over-HTTPS was available in Exchange 2003 as well, we never used it as the prospect of exposing RPC to the Internet scares the hell out of me. It still does, to be honest, but with a diligent firewall policy and Server 2008's more advanced security, I think I may be able to get over it.

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deployed Windows Terminal Services 2008 and Terminal Server Gateway Technologies (Level 300)

Thank you senior Fleep for sending this along to Crystal and I. Very funny. It is damn scary that Jackson looks that much like you. I never really noticed it till I saw that clip. Two Fleep's in the world is a truly terrifying concept.

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YouTube - You are getting sleeeeepy

Things starting to get back to normal, but the ridiculous amount of email that has piled up has me very depressed. 1 1/2 days later and it seems I've barely made a dent. There HAS to be a better way to communicate.

Traveling makes me weary and homesick, but I do enjoy most of the places I visit. I have always enjoyed the Pacific North West (I'm heading back to Redmond in May, as a matter of fact) and always enjoy myself while there. Though I have been to Florida many times, I have never been as far south as Ft. Lauderdale. Boca Raton is very pretty area and felt more like Orange County, CA than anything else. The weather there freaks me out, though, and I think would be a showstopper from every moving there. I supposed I could get used to the Vietnam-esque rain showers, but the humidity? Ack. I felt like I was rotting the entire time I was there. I'm sure the locals have found a way to cope. that climate is very foreign to this desert-raised boy.

At SEATAC waiting for my plane. I have a direct to LAX, so it will only be a 2.75 hour flight with no stopovers. Sadly, though, LAX is over an hour from Casa Del MASH on high, so I will be lucky to be home before 10. Just enough time to squeeze out a few hours of sleep, then back to the office and my disturbingly large amount of backed-up emails.

Almost home. Wrapped up a very successful day here in Bellevue. I had to make a last-minute adjustment to the laptop configurations witch took me more time than I would have liked, but I think it was the best decision for the users. There was a strange application that HP had installed that took over the login process of XP. I had too much circumstantial evidence that it was causing profile problems, so I decided to remove it. It is not something we have deployed to any other location, so I didn't think it was worth the risk.

My flight leaves SEATAC at 5:30PM tomorrow. As much as I enjoy the Pacific North West, I sure am eager to get home to my family. In my old age, more than seven days or so makes me pretty darned homesick. I guess I would make a crappy traveling salesman, eh? Since I am flying into LAX, that is going to add at least one hour to my travel time getting home. I fear I will not be home till nearly midnight. That's ok... my blushing bride will wait up for me. She's cool like that. :D

...of this massive road trip. I really enjoy the Pacific Northwest, but after 2 weeks away from home, I am very ready to get back to the family. The latest network here in Bellevue is going very well and I anticipate a very smooth go-live tomorrow.

We are deploying these new (relatively) AMD Sempron-based HP laptops and the more I work with them, the more I like them. They are single core, but for standard line of business applications, they are very quick. Also, they pack quite a bit of features for very little money. 3Ghz processor, 120GB drive, 1GB of memory, 802.11 wireless, biometric reader and more for less than $650? Sounds like a heck of a deal to me.

Very strange news. If you don't know, Veronica Belmont is a web celeb that I have been following for some time. She is humorous and enjoyable to watch and listen to and is plugged into a part of the web that I know very little about. The social side. I found her while she was co-hosting one of my favorite podcasts, Buzz Out Loud. She then moved on to Mahalo Daily. I watched this show and was mildly entertained, but I never thought that the daily short-form video format left much room for creativity, so the programs often fell flat. This announcement that she is joining the Revision3 property, Tekzilla, was even more interesting as the current host, Patrick Norton, who is very much into geeky topics like building your own PC's and DIY wifi antennas, seems to be the complete opposite of Veronica. Sounds like a very strange marriage, but I will certainly watch to see how it goes.

Ok, you were right! I’m joining Tekzilla! - Veronica Belmont

Didn't sleep worth a darn last night and, of course, I was wide awake at 6AM. *sigh  They day went well, however, as we started off strong and ended the day way ahead of schedule. I only have some laptops and printers to go for tomorrow so we should be able to make pretty quick work of it. Monday, of course, will be the tale of the tape.

I sure do enjoy the Pacific North West. It was gorgeous today, though it is supposed to rain for the rest of the week. The Seattle area is quite a melting pot of different people and cultures, much like California, so it feels familiar.

I forgot some of my shirts at the hotel in Ft. Pierce, so I had to run to some store called Fred Meyers (never heard of it... kinda like a Target) to pick up a few more shirts. I'll call the Ft. Pierce hotel tonight and ask if they can send them to me. What are the odds some dude in South Florida is the proud new owner of some new Linc gear?

Very glad to report that my flight to Seattle is a go! Will be getting in very late, though, so probably won't blog again till tomorrow evening sometime. I'm sure you are heartbroken! ;) Oops... plane is boarding. See you on the other side!

No matter how goofy your clothes or hair are, there are always girls that will hang out with you. This revelation came to me after an ill-advised trip to a Taco Bell in Boca. Did I mention there is not much in the way of food in that area? Anyway, in walks this bunch of kids. It was terrible. White-kids with dreads and fro's... what a mess. Yet, they had three reasonably normal girls in tow. Go figure.

The NFL Channel on Sirius sat radio. I have XM in my truck and love it, but the rental car here in Florida has Sirius. I knew that Sirius had the NFL contract to broadcast all the games (which pwns), but I had no idea that they also had a 24/7/365 NFL channel. I'm glad I am an XM guy as I would spend every waking moment listening to this channel. It is awesome.

Speaking of the rental car, I have a Mercury Milan this time. As you may or may not know, many new Ford vehicles come with a technology called Sync from our buddies at Microsoft. My little Milan has this system and this is my first experience with it. Being a gadget-guy, of course the first thing I did was connect my phone via Bluetooth and started playing with it. I can tell you that the system is pretty darned slick. I was able to confuse it a little with some of the more complicated names in my address book (Nguyen trips it up every time), but overall it was very solid. The sound quality of the phone over the stereo speakers was very crisp and could get quite loud if the need arose. I am not sure where the microphone is hidden in the car, but everyone claimed to hear me just fine. It works with most MP3 players as well, so music buffs should have a field day with it. Check it out if you ever rent/buy a new Ford product.

So get this... I am hanging at the hotel restaurant (I always eat at the bar when I travel, don't you?) in Boca Raton. The bartender is this wicked cool Indian dude and we start talking. He tells me this story of his stint at a swanky Indian hotel in New Deli. I tell him of my long-standing desire to travel to India, so dude GOES OFF on telling all kinds of cool stuff about the place. Where to go, where not to go... He tells me about this particular hotel. I guess he worked there at one point. Seems they have hotels all over the world, but this one is the flagship. It was pretty cool... he goes on for an hour about the great rooms, restaurants,  clubs and spas this place has. Not sure if I could afford to roll with the whole Denver crew to this place, but I now know where I want to go when I hit the lottery. ;)

Best Hotel in New Delhi: Taj Mahal Hotel

Many thanks to my brutha from anutha mutha Phil for this link. As you know, I am a ship freak and always love a good WWII warship story. This one is pretty good. Bottom line is, HMAS Sydney,  an Amphion-class light cruiser, let her guard down and was jumped by the Kormoran, a German Handelsstörkreuzer or "commerce disruption cruiser" (w00t! Gotta love that name). The battle resulted in the loss of both ships. Until recently, the location of the wreck has been a mystery, but a team has recently located her. Very good reading.

The Hunt for HMAS Sydney - Video Extras