There have been many times when I've hit a problem, spent a while trying to solve it, solved it, and then hit the same problem later while not remember how to fix it. So in the spirit of productivity, I want to document to myself what I do sometimes.In this instance, I'm running Windows XP Pro and I had the auto-login enabled for a particular user (though I think it happens when the password box is there also). Anyway, the machine would boot up to where it displays the desktop background and where it would normally display the icons and load startup programs. However, my machine would sit there for a minute or more doing nothing. I had a surprisingly difficult time figuring out what this might be, and I tried many things in vain. After some debugging with the very useful msconfig utility, I found out the delay is caused by the Workstation service due to mapped or cached network drives that can't be reached. I think I went into "My Network Places" or "Network Connections" and was able to simply delete the mounts or cached drives and voila! that fixed the problem.
February 2006 Archives
Ok. One last slightly political question for now. There's been lots of outrage and hot feelings over the delayed response of Cheney informing the world he accidentally shot a fellow hunter. Here's a related article in the NY Times. Even though it was the other guy's fault, Cheney is now taking responsibility, but still getting hounded. The White House Press Corps, or zoo, whatever you want to call them, are furious over the fact they weren't notified immediately. I say, who cares? Basically, the President found out about an hour after it happened and the next morning, the story was released to the local newpaper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. This was an unfortunate accident - hardly a matter of national security. Anyway, I just want to say, 'Gimme a break." But maybe I'm alone in my feelings; do any of you care?
Sorry, I don't mean to get back into politics, but...Like this NY Times Op-Ed from Peter Goss, head of the CIA, I have wondered about those that reveal classified information. The Dems made a big deal about revealing the name of Valerie Plame - a desk agent at the CIA, but what about the loads of classified information the NY Times has divulged, from the CIA's air charters to the NSA programs? There are laws to deal with classified info in a proper setting that aren't being followed because these people feel they're above the law. They aren't. They are not whistleblowers; they are criminals.
I've put this in the "My life" category, and indeed, my work and travel has become my life. I did some adding last night, using my SkyMiles history as my guide. I spent at least 97 nights outside of Utah and 119 full or partial days outside my home state. That doesn't include spending the night at my dad's for Christmas and other possible overnight stays I've done. But wow, 119 days! That's practically 4 months. It's no wonder I have no social life.Anyway, even though I've already done heavy traveling this year (been away more than home), things should ease up. I've accepted a new position at work in technical marketing. While it's still customer facing and will have some travel, there likely won't be many trips past a day or two. This is actually bittersweet. I kinda like to travel. I like to see new places. However, I also would like a somewhat plannable life. We'll see if that happens.
I'm trying to avoid politics - especially partisan politics - because discussing politics only seems to agitate people. While I still have opinions, I'm also much more likely to roll my eyes and move on when partisan politics arise. That said, many of you that followed my last blog will know that I value privacy. I don't like all the security checks at the airport and I dislike the opinion (which varies) that it's ok to crush rights and privacies to fight terrorists. That said, I like to think I'm reasonable enough to understand that some government interferance is appropriate. Recently, the media has been in a huge craze over the NSA monitoring international calls into and out of the US. Despite my privacy concerns, this actually doesn't bother me that much. I also think the President has the right to make this call. Were they to knowingly monitor domestic communication (email, phone, etc), I would be much more bothered. However, what riles me more is the subpoenaing of search engine queries. At first I thought it was worse than it is - that they would be matching up searchers with the searches, but it appears they just want to see the queries and some of the results, in the name of shutting down child porn sites. While I'd love to rid the world of child abuse (including porn), I am feeling more and more claustrophobic with the government breathing down my back. I've supported and continue to support Bush in a lot of things, but I wonder how much conservativism there is in his "compassionate conservatism" campaign. The traditional Republican conservative believes in fiscal constraint and small government. While some things have been well beyond the President's control, overall he's 0-2 on these two core principles, in my opinion. His new $2.7 Trillion budget doesn't help. I don't like that.
