Everything Begins Somewhere

One more thing on clean install of Windows 7

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:06:50 -0500

When you are doing a clean install of Windows 7 all the experts say use “Windows Easy Transfer” to move all you data files to another computer before starting the install. As I have previously documented, this procedure is ugly. I am also starting to believe that it is also unnecessary. The reason is that when you do the install W7 creates a file called “windows.old.” When I looked at it I saw it was over 50 gbs in size! It contained every file from my pre W7 install computer. Why did I transfer files that were being saved? Oh yea, using the disk cleaning utility I removed this file and freed up the disk space. Hmmm?

"Carve Your Turkey" Dining And Wine Playlist - Video Library - The New York Times

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:50:00 -0500

"Carve Your Turkey" Dining And Wine Playlist - Video Library - The New York Times:

Sorry about the ad at the beginning. This makes carving very easy.

(via addh) The calamari bruschetta was excellent but the shrimp...

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:29:34 -0500

(via addh)

The calamari bruschetta was excellent but the shrimp with the goat cheese, prosciuuto and herbs was way too strong. We even backed off the herbs in the recipe but I feel like I have tarragon ouzing from my pores.

oprah

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:44:18 -0500

Just learned that Oprah is going off the air at some point. Can’t really say much about it since I’ve never seen it.

Windows 7, ITunes and Audible

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:57:45 -0500

I almost always learn the hard way so I’ll share it here. If you use audible.com and have it integrated with itunes and you do a clean install of Windows 7 you can run into a problem. Audible allows you to download with 3 computers. You can “deauthorize” a computer from that computer through itunes. If you do the clean install of W7 audible will see it as an additional computer and if you are at the limit of 3 you can’t download from audible and you can’t “deauthorize.” You are stuck. You have to contact audible and have them do a reset. Better practice is to “deauthorize” the computer before the clean install of W7.

jimiheffernan: This is freaking awesome. caseydonahue: This is...

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:09:59 -0500

jimiheffernan:

This is freaking awesome.

caseydonahue:

This is what The Mighty Delaware should be.

Having recently read the tremendous biography of Alexander Hamilton, the rap pretty much has the early part of his life correct. Very cool.

Update on the Life of an Irrational Fan

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:12:59 -0500

My 50 year obsession as a fan of the Buffalo Bills continues to spin out of control. In the last two games the Bills were outscored 42 to 0. No, this is not a typo. 42 to 0.

Here is an example of class. It is the epitomy of the classic...

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:04:00 -0500

Here is an example of class. It is the epitomy of the classic sportsman being gracious in victory. Or maybe he is just another crass, vulgar moron who should be cleaning urinals at a truck stop. He is the owner of the Titans.

Advanced NFL Stats: Why Bill Belichick's 4th and 2 decision wasn't THAT bad

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 16:01:37 -0500

Advanced NFL Stats: Why Bill Belichick's 4th and 2 decision wasn't THAT bad:

pile:

davidcho:

With 2:00 left and the Colts with only one timeout, a successful conversion wins the game for all practical purposes. A 4th and 2 conversion would be successful 60% of the time. Historically, in a situation with 2:00 left and needing a TD to either win or tie, teams get the TD 53% of the time from that field position. The total WP for the 4th down conversion attempt would therefore be:

(0.60 * 1) + (0.40 * (1-0.53)) = 0.79 WP

A punt from the 28 typically nets 38 yards, starting the Colts at their own 34. Teams historically get the TD 30% of the time in that situation. So the punt gives the Pats about a 0.70 WP.

More here.

Makes me feel a bit better.

If Pats had a time out left, call would have been better because he could have challenged the spot. Also, if the normally reliable Faulk hadn’t bobbled it ever so slightly, they had the first down. Welcome to my world of painful losses.

Very large

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 13:21:32 -0500

Very large

Titan fan.

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:54:37 -0500

Titan fan.

This is my great nephew Owen. He is one cool dude and a super...

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:01:07 -0500

This is my great nephew Owen. He is one cool dude and a super hero. He calls me “guy” and refers to Ann as “guy’s girl friend.”

Vandy Boys

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:00:20 -0500

Vandy Boys

Windows 7 Clean Install Nightmare 2

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:50:00 -0500

I just can’t leave good enough alone when it comes to my tech gear. Let’s start with the fact that I have had a good experience with Vista and never understood the public disdain of the OS. A few weeks ago I succumbed to an irresistable urge to go to Windows 7 and to do a clean install as opposed to an inplace upgrade. I did it on my laptop and really struggled with the supposedly “layup” part of the process which involves moving files and settings to another device using the ambitiously named Microsoft app called “Windows Easy Transfer (WET)” and then moving them back to the now newly installed W7 computer. Of course, you have to reinstall all the relevant apps. I had problems with this but had weeks to reflect on it and what may have gone wrong. Hubris and curiosity wore me down and I went for a clean install on my main desktop machine.

This post could go on for dozens of pages but I will only hit the lowlights. First, if I went with the ”Recommended” WET transfer I would have transferred files totalling 100GB. I do not have a big music or video collection so I was pretty surprised by this. So, I went to a “Custom” transfer and in doing so realized that WET was recommending that among the things it was recommending I transfer for an eventual reinstall back to my W7 computer the “factory” partition of my Vista OS and all the bells and whistles that Dell delivers. This makes no sense at all since the W7 upgrade already keeps a copy of “old windows.”

I eventually got the size of the files transferred down to less than 10 GB. There were also numerous instances of WET telling me data was invalid or could not be accessed. I wound up using SyncToy for most of the data. Once I made the transfer, and then did a clean install of W7, I could no longer access over the network the computer where I placed the data. It took me a long time to figure out that WET created a new “user account” that was password protected on my backup computer which was preventing me from connecting to bring the data back. I deleted the rogue user account and started moving data again using sync toy. The only files that I wound up relying on WET to handle were my large Outlook files. I was required by WET to install a new version to run the process, which I did. Once it was completed, my Outlook files had not been put in place. No sign of my emails, etc.

I had to do an advanced search on my back up Vista machine to find a strange folder where the .pst files were held. I moved them by hand over the network to the W7 machine, ran numerous Scanpst repairs and finally got them in place.

At the end of the day, WET was completely useless and created more problems than it solved. I’m still installing apps and trying to return to normal.

Rachel Alexandra v Zenyatta - cast your vote

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:03:09 -0500

Rachel Alexandra v Zenyatta - cast your vote

jimiheffernan: 3rd row. Center court. 4FREE. Not exactly...

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:58:45 -0500

jimiheffernan:

3rd row. Center court. 4FREE.

Not exactly free.

Jeter wins Gold Glove

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:47:24 -0500

Jeter is a very controversial figure in baseball. It seems you either love him or hate him. He has won gold gloves in the past but not in a few years. In the interim Bill James (works for the Red Sox) dubbed him as the most ineffective at his position. He is back again at the top defensively. Polls taken at Sports Illustrated among professional athletes on a few ocassions have designated Jeter as the most overrated professional athlete. This year he won his 5th World Series, finished 3rd in the AL in hitting and won the Roberto Clemente Award for excellence on the field and in the community, and his second Hank Aaron Award as the AL’s top hitter. In September, he broke Lou Gehrig’s club record for hits. There is a massive disconnect here.

Vimeo?

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:37:04 -0500

“Log ins and sign ups are temporarily disabled.”

Giants' Fans

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:20:54 -0500

I feel your pain. No way the Giants should have lost that game. I thought only my beloved and fatally flawed Bills could lose like that. Brutal.

2

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:10:44 -0500