At the end of the series DVD contains some interesting statements as part of ending. It is obvious that some statements have to be considered in the context of the story line, but some are quite remarkable without any underlying context.

1. Zero... He was a fool. No matter how you strike back or resist, the world never changes.
2. I'll tell you. In the adult world, what's "right" has no value.
3. Do the powerless have no choice but to bear it? Event when they're right?
4. STOP! I'LL LIVE MY LIFE!
5. If it's wrong to be powerless, does having power make you right?
6. It wasn't me who was wrong! It's the world!

I’d love to write a small review, but since I have seen this story over a period of several months I cannot be sure I remember it correctly. It is interesting to note that series definitely make me think along the lines presented in the enumerated statements above. However, there is a lot more the show than 6 lines can cover.

I’ve tried in the past some obscure freeware synchronization software. I had to stop using it, because it always confused me and was not user friendly.

Eventually, I switched to long forgotten Windows Briefcase. Yes, it is still available even on Vista. Unfortunately it has its limitations. It sometimes reports that synchronization failed, but in reality it appears to be fine. If you have a very large number of files it may simply run out of memory. Explorer locks briefcase content for only one window at at time. Basically, Briefcase is very useful, but neglected peace of software.

Microsoft seems to have decided to develop Synchronization framework. It is used by Windows Live services. But there is also quite a good GUI tool called Sync Toy for synchronizing any pair of directories.

Download details: SyncToy v2.0

So, at the end of the day I have replaced my Briefcase folders with SyncToy. Another advantage is that 3-way and N-way synchronization is not a problem. Just create another pair or another computer.

Location to download codecs for raw image formats from cameras:

http://www.microsoft.com/prophoto/downloads/codecs.aspx

I just joined http://paperbackswap.com and I really like this website. It appears to have a very large and active user community. It is a great alternative to using ebay or amazon. With paperbook swap website I don’t pay any middle man. If I opt to purchase USPS tracking number I will pay a small fee for the service and that is how they make money. There are no advertisements either.

I posted 18 books and have sent 8 to different people already. I am glad to see that someone else enjoys the same series I do.

The VBScript referenced here works on Vista with a few alterations:

Adding an HTML Editor entry to the registry and set as the default

To get it work on vista you have to run script from command line as Administrator. This is a good way to setup OpenOffice sweb.exe application as default HTML editor in Internet Explorer.

It takes to much time to create detailed instructions. Don’t hesitate to ask if you don’t know how run script as administrator.

I have started watching the series almost a year ago. In fact I have watched first 2 DVDs and had to stop. I really liked the series at that time, but it was too much of just about everything… suspense, horror, confusion, technology, physiology. So, I decided to take a break from the story. After all, a wise Russian man from the golden era said something like “If you have a fountain then shut it off. Even the fountain needs a rest.” It took me almost a year to come back to the final 2 DVDs.

I was stunned by Serial Experiments Lain a year ago. I have not changed my high opinion of the series since that time. However, this is definitely not the show for the mainstream public accustomed to standard Hollywood stories. It is not for people with short attention span or religious nuts who cannot even imagine an alternative.

The concepts presented in the series are not knew or groundbreaking. The fact that Serial Experiments Lain immerses its viewers in those concepts is what makes the series so good. Like any good story the series takes its time to prepare the viewer in its own way. The story definitely starts from the disk 1. Depending on your point of view you may think it is a slow series, but some may find it very intense.

The visuals are not absolutely stunning by the standards of  today, but are very good nevertheless. The images and the soundtrack play a big role. All image sequences are quite intuitive, but they certainly gain another level of clarity and meaning by the end of the story.

This is an incredibly complicated story that uses symbolism and philosophy. It is the one that surpasses expectations, leaves you speechless, confused and completely engrossed in the storyline.

…but it is not for everyone… It is not easy, not a comedy, not a love story, not an action. There is simply no standard definition for the story and that is what makes it great.

I gave it 5 stars on Netflix and it is not something I do lightly.

If you like considering alternative points of view you may enjoy Serial Experiments Lain show. It is perhaps too original to the point of getting me lost and confused and don’t forget about weird. Should I say bizarre?

I have not finished watching the series, so I can’t really review it yet.

If you install SSRS during the rest of SQL Server 2005 installation it will get configured automatically and without problems.

If you don’t install SSRS at the same time as SQL Server, then you will have to run Reporting Services Configuration utility. It has been observed that setting up reporting services after the fact is very likely to generate errors and more trouble than one would anticipate.

Say you’ve extracted string “Hello,\r\nWorld!” in a debugger and you want to display it correctly with new line characters instead of C# escape sequence. Here is a quick way to do it:

1. Create new text file.
2. Copy and paste text into that file.
3. Open “Find and Replace” dialog.
4. Make sure that Use Regular Expressions checkbox is checked.
5. Type in Find What: \\r\\n
6. Type in Replace with: \n
7. Click Replace All

Here is an important list of benefits to remember:

http://health.msn.com/your-best-life/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100230702&GT1=31043

Humanity is quickly approaching that day when we are no longer bound by limitations of original human body. It may not happen in tomorrow, but it is coming. There are a couple stories set in the environment that has no restrictions of human body. That results in a number of conflicts that make stories unique and interesting.

The first one is on my movies list and it is Ghost in the Shell. The second story was just recently recommended to me and it is Kadath in the Cold Waste.

Here is a quick summary about Kadath in the Cold Waste from edkeys website

One of the main questions which this utopia asks that the others we have studied have not is: if we have the option, do we want the dominant species on Earth to remain human? Within a hundred years, it is a virtual certainty that the most intelligent being on the planet will not be human, or even organic. How will we deal with this moment when it arrives? Will we subjugate intelligent machines to retain our superiority? Or will we make way gracefully for the 'next stage' of life? For that matter, will we even have a choice in the matter at all?

As of this moment Ghost in the Shell consists of a movie that started several seasons of anime series. I was not that impressed with the movie, but I thought that season 1 of Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex series beats any CSI style show without any doubt. Watching movie first is still a nice introduction to the series.

In my search for Costco Blueberry Extract replacement I have stumbled upon http://www.naturalnews.com website. It has a lot of information about superfruits such as blueberries and cranberries.

The top ten consumer questions about superfruit juices: Pomegranate, blueberry, acai and cherry article is quite informative. Pomegranate and Blueberry Juice Consumer Shopping Guide is a very good research of manufacturer labels. My conclusion was to learn more about POM manufacturer.

As a result I decided to try POMx Pill. The only problem that is always there is how do I know that it really works? In the end, I have to believe in something.

Flash is notorious for having huge wholes that are used to compromise computer. Both Firefox and  Internet Explorer on Vista and Windows XP are exposed to Flash bugs. Keeping flash disabled by default is a preferred solution from security standpoint. However, Flash has become so widespread that it is difficult to keep browse web without it.

Internet Explorer provides a way to manage Add-ons, but Add-on cannot be enabled for a specified set of trusted websites. That was true for every version of IE until IE 8. Internet Explorer 8 allows users to keep Flash enabled while managing list of trusted sites. If default * (star) access option is removed, then the user has unobtrusive prompt to enable Flash on per website basis. This prompt is done similar to download prompts which are easy to ignore.

Here is a quick template I have created for myself some time ago:

set ANSI_NULLS ON
set QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
go

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[DateTimeScale] 
(
      @date as DateTime
)
RETURNS varchar(50)
AS
BEGIN
      DECLARE @min as int
      SET @min = DatePart(minute, @date)
      SET @min = @min / 5

      DECLARE @minStr as varchar(10)
      IF (@min < 10)
            SET @minStr = '0' + convert(varchar, @min)
      ELSE
            SET @minStr = convert(varchar, @min)
      
      RETURN 'D' + convert(varchar, DatePart(day, @date)) 
            + ' H' + convert(varchar, DatePart(hour, @date)) 
            + ' M' + @minStr
END

DateTimeScale function can be used to normalize time presentation for certain time of the day intervals. Expression @min / 5 is used to define granularity of time intervals.

Conditional execution of @min < 10 is used to add zero prefix to numbers below 10, so sorting can be effective.

One of the PDC2008 items is a technical whitepaper that is published online and you can open that XPS document directly here.

Here is a blog post that describes 6 unique reasons why Windows Live Search can be preferred over Google or Yahoo!.

I especially like reason #6. Basically one can search based on weight or preference. Here is an example:

holiday destinations prefer:Japan

Another good reason is covered here and it has to do with rolling a Double-6.

IE 7 tries to use anonymous identity first. That works if Anonymous Authentication mode is set. If both Anonymous and Windows Authentication modes are set, anonymous configuration wins unless resource access is restricted to Anonymous user.

For example, anonymous user account does not have permission to access static file qualifies as resource access restriction.

In ASP.NET case Web.config file may deny access for anonymous user to a resource. For example, UserA has explicit access and no other users have access:

<authorization>
	<allow users="domainName\UserA"/>
	<deny users="*"/>
	<deny users="?"/>
</authorization>

Consider access to the following two URLs. Anonymous user does not have access to both URLs.

/First.htm 
/Second.aspx 

First time IE 7 tries accessing website with no identity passed. Web server reports 401.3 error. IE 7 tries to negotiate user identity and eventually prompts user for credentials. Fourth call to the server succeeds with identity supplied by the user.

Second URL repeats the same process except for the password prompt. IE 7 remembers identity supplied by the user and tries using it. This time IIS server gets only two requests instead of four.

The Cat Returns (猫の恩返し, Neko no ongaeshi^?, lit. The Cat's Repayment of Favors) is a Japanese animated film directed by Hiroyuki Morita, produced by Studio Ghibli and released to Japanese cinemas in 2002.

It received an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival.

Good points of the movie:

• It is an original fantasy story.
• It is easy to watch. It does not belong to horror or heavy action category.
• Promotes character development.
• It does not rely on heavy cliché themes and phrases.
• Kids friendly.

My only complaint is that some character changes at the end of the story are a bit of a logical stretch, but are still acceptable.

It is 4.5 out of 5 stars.