Archive for February, 2006

Monday with Rain, Sushi, Guitar, Bible Study, and Boba

I was about to go to sleep (1 AM! That’s early!) but J Shook is in my room. So I’ll write a Midnight Message. I need to write one anyway, especially after making my blog look bad with all my technical complaints.

Continue reading ‘Monday with Rain, Sushi, Guitar, Bible Study, and Boba’

More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3534

Whoever writes these error messages doesn’t understand the meaning of “more”.

C:\Documents and Settings\Elliot>net start msiserver
The Windows Installer service is starting.
The Windows Installer service could not be started.

Continue reading ‘More help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 3534′

Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed

“The Windows Installer Service could not be accessed. This can occur if you are running Windows in a safe mode, or if the Windows Installer is not correctly installed. Contact your support personnel for assistance.”

Continue reading ‘Windows Installer Service Could Not Be Accessed’

System Restored without System Restore

From the recovery console:

del c:\windows\system32\config\system

copy c:\windows\repair\system c:\windows\system32\config\system

Continue reading ‘System Restored without System Restore’

Error 983, 1609, 19, hal.dll, bootcfg, 0×24, Ntfs.sys, and chkdsk

That title summarizes my computing adventure for the weekend.

If you understand it, contact me. We should be friends, if we aren’t already.

Continue reading ‘Error 983, 1609, 19, hal.dll, bootcfg, 0×24, Ntfs.sys, and chkdsk’

Finished Reading the Da Vinci Code

The ending has a great twist. I expected there to be twist, but it wasn’t at all what I was expecting. It’s very well-written, and the ending, in my opinion, is very satisfying. It really makes you fall in love with the character of Robert Langdon, though. It’s addicting, too. The book has caused me to get addicted to reading. I then stayed up until 4am reading Memoirs of a Geisha, which is an excellent novel as well. After staying up so late, I woke up late this morning, despite setting two alarms, one for 8am and one for 9am. Church was at 11am (breakfast at 10:30am), and I missed it. Argh…

Continue reading ‘Finished Reading the Da Vinci Code’

Spring 2006 Engineering Career Fair

Viterbi had their engineering career fair Thursday earlier this week. I got this neat pen-and-post-it combo that says Alcatel on it (the company it promotes). The plastic bag that it comes in (keeping it new and sealed) says:

3-In-1 Note Jotter

The 3-In-1 Note Jotter is a quick solution to the finding a pen and paper problem. Within this item, one slim case holds two ballpoint pens (one blue ink, one red).

Slide the clear cover to access a remakrable 100-sheet pad of 1 7/8″ x 9/16″ sticky notes!

Continue reading ‘Spring 2006 Engineering Career Fair’

45% of businesses don’t have a Website

According to the Office Live team, “45% of small businesses don’t have a Web site at all” (Scobleizer). That’s a great opportunity right there. But websites need to be easier to make. Header, footer, and content — with a sidebar to link it all together. It can be fast. It can be easy. Let’s do it.

Physics 161 Lab Practical

I haven’t blogged for a week, as my dad reminded me. I blame it on sickness. I’ve been sick for a whole week now. Just thinking about it makes me want to cough.

Continue reading ‘Physics 161 Lab Practical’

2 times as fast, 2 times faster, or twofold?

This is a great article about using such phrasing as “x times faster” or “x times as fast.” It also brings in the notion of something “increasing twofold.” I was looking at how to calculate how much “quicker” something is for my computer science lab, so I did a Google search for calculating “times faster.” I also threw in “Apple” in a subsequent search because I remembered their recent marketing campaign with terms like “2x faster” which puzzed me because the numbers Steve was showing actually showed that the new computer is “2x as fast,” which is very different from 2x faster. Oh well. You can assume that anyone someone uses these phrases, they are wrong. Unfortunate, but true.

Continue reading ‘2 times as fast, 2 times faster, or twofold?’