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Wow, just wow!

Rackspacecloud.com is an outstanding hosting provider for virtual servers…. and now, they have gone open source.

Check out OpenStack.com and dive into a brave new world. Bout time somebody did this!

So I have signed up for the free subscription to Fresh Books, a site for in the cloud billing and time tracking.

What I have seen so far has impressed me. The site is very clean, well organized, and highly intuitive. The billing/invoicing functions are down right awesome, and the fact that the client can sign in and view their outstanding invoices and make payments is just excellent!

I would highly suggest if you are in the market for a site to do invoicing, time tracking, support cases, or more… to give Fresh Books a try!

If you are a user of JustHost.com services, specifically the unlimited plan, as well as a user of WordPress. You should do your best to stay clear of fthe iDrive WordPress backup plugin. This plugin is great in what it offers, which is free 2gb online automatic backup to iDrive’s backup services for your entire site. However, the problem with JustHost.com is that the cron job associated with iDrive will spike above their 10% CPU usage restriction for an extended period of time. Which will result in your account received a very simple “Suspended” email.

Of course JustHost.com could try a couple things before total suspension, such as an email to the user prior to suspension, or maybe even terminating the cron job plus the email. However, I will say that they were very willing to work through the issue if you are aware of what probably caused the issue and sincerely want to fix it. Which was my case.

So for anyone using Justhost.com and wordpress, be sure you don’t give iDrive WordPress backup plugin a whirl.

I didn’t even notice this one pop in, but it appears that Google has added WAVE to the Google Apps subscriber applications. In case you missed it too, head on over to your Google Apps domain administration and add it to your dashboard!

WordPress 3.0 RC1 has been released. And I’ve finally reached the comfort level needed to upgrade my site to the latest and greatest. That’s right, this site here is now hosted on WordPress 3.0 RC1! Weep all ye other … people…

Hog wash I say!
Check out the side of the black cartridge, notice that clear window looking thing. Cover it with black tape, or in my case a piece of paper held on by regular tape, and that puppy will fire up printing again!

From what I’ve read it has a sensor that checks for infrared passing through that window from one side to the other. Unfortunately, the way the cart is designed you wind up with a lot of waste that is enough to print for a good while but not enough to block the light.

Good morning!
Figured I would post a wonderful detail of my catgenie experience this morning.

I was awoken by a beep coming from our catgenie roughly 3:30am. Walking into the laundry room I find a wonderful pot of stew that the genie was making just for me! That’s right, a clog! My first clog with the genie. Man, why did it have to be this early?

Well put simply the clog was nasty. It was a bowl full of the first cycle water, so ALL sorts of nasty. Anyway, the tech mode/diagnostic mode  1 and 4 did not do anything which showed the clog was most likely in the hose. That’s easy, force water or air back the opposite direction in the hose until it forces the clog back into the catgenie. Then you move on with tech mode 1/4 again to see if it drains.

Lucky for me it did and I can move on the magic 3/4 and then sleep.

OH Wait, I’m up at 5am now… what’s the point of going to bed if I just have to get up in a bit anyway. I guess this is the best way to start the morning!

For those who own it, tech mode is 1/4 is awesome! It is the drain mode, and will save  you from having to empty out the basin. Love and admire that mode I say!

Xceed has released the latest major update to DataGrid for WPF. Version 4.0 brings with it full support for .NET 4.0 and Visual Studio 2010.

I have began the wonderful process of migrating my site from being hosted at GoDaddy to JustHost.com. What’s my reasoning? First, cheaper… and second faster! That’s right, two that should not go together.

Either way, I will update when it’s complete. For now just take note that this is the first post on the new site.

Update 5/2/2010:
So I have finished moving my site, but not DNS yet. I’m testing that on my alternate domain.
As of now I have mirated my WordPress site from an IIS host to Linux(Cpanel).

Everything appears to be up and operational, and I have began looking at name server migration.
The new host, JustHost.com, appears to be much  quicker than GoDaddy. That performance increase is very noticeable in CPanel as well as the admin portion of WordPress.

Update 5/10/2010:

DNS migration has been completed. There is an hour delay in creating sub domains at JustHost.com, but that is not an unacceptable time. So from my experiences so far the host is very reliable. Couple that with the 3 tickets I’ve had closed for cname and a record creations, their support has proven very responsive and talented.

I’ve added their add to the sidebar, if anyone wants to jump on their services, it’s worth the jump. Especially if you are moving from GoDaddy, king of slothville.

Man I haven’t had to do this in a while since Vista and Windows 7 all have the Automatic (Delayed) start option for services. But in case you need to delay start a process on xp/2003. Find the service in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\

Add a new value (REG_MULTI_SZ) and call it “DependOnService” without quotes.
Next put the value as the service you want to delay the start until after. The processes normally used are Spooler and Messenger.

So in case you missed the news the other day, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS has been released to the world. Some of the yummies that are immediately visible is the fact that it has gone pretty!

Other than a horde of new features, and some drastic design changes, this version feels more usable by the masses simply due to the visual changes. Because lets face it, the majority of computer users want something elegant and flowing that they are drawn to, not something clunky and ugly.

Even installing additional software that used to be in an eye draining list, is now glorified with melded information pages and install status.

Hit up the link for more!

So after a long delay between updates, B&N has released the latest firmware update for their nook eReader.

Version 1.3 notes are as follows, but the most interesting happens to be that there is a beta web browser now. Interesting!

Our new software update has exciting new features and improves NOOK’s overall performance. Included in Version 1.3:

1. The breakthrough Read In Store experience, now in beta, which allows you to read complete eBooks in Barnes & Noble stores.
2. Sudoku and Chess
3. Wi-Fi® connectivity in more hotspots and a beta basic Web browser. Plus, additional reading and performance improvements, such as faster page turns and an enhanced home screen.

The software update is via manual download, available here or, for NOOKs connected to Wi-Fi®, via automatic download over the next week. (Note: This update will not be distributed via the 3G network.) For an automatic Wi-Fi® update, you may need to ‘Check for new B&N content’ via the My Library area in order to initiate the update.

Finally: Microsoft Office 2010 Web Apps RTM has been released on MSDN!

Done yet? Nope! SharePoint 2010 RTM has now been released on MSDN.

Next: Microsoft Project 2010 RTM has been released to MSDN.