On the road to riches and diamond rings...

Sitting on my duff here at the beach in Edisto Island, SC, stealing wifi from the neighbors. It is so blinkin' hot. I do like the tan though. I feel especially African when I get this dark. Good feeling. I figured I had not posted anything recently and would catch my reader up on what was going on. I had to drop out of training for the Richmond Marathon for health issues. The summer heat and air quality in Charlotte was too much for me to keep running in. I actually had to visit a physician and get medicine. I am felling much better now. I was in Boulder, CO last week and drank to much beer but I was able to run like the wind(slow, steady wind) because the air was so clear. Boulder is a cool little town that my fellow Chapel Hillians would appreciate as a snooty college town. So I cut the mileage back to about 3 per day and cannot seem to fit in a long run weekly. So I am keeping it real and I am looking for half marathons that do in the winter and maybe a full in the spring. On a more athletic front, the wife is training for a sprint triathlon. So at least the motivation in the house will stay up. Maybe this summer will end soon and I can breathe again. Just a quick clarification to all SC dwellers: Palmetto bugs = Roaches.

Running for myself and others

I started training for a marathon. I ran a half marathon a couple years ago. I thought it was time to get the whole thing over with so I could get rid of my masochistic fascination with running long distances on stubby legs with bad lungs. Also I needed something to blog.

I chose the SunTrust Richmond Marathon. I run in Richmond a couple times a year when I visit my in laws and the run down Monument Drive is all historic and such. Until you hit the river, it is a graceful hill either up or down. Of course ,26.2 miles is lot longer than the 5 mile runs I have been on in on my long weekends so training has begun. In addition to the location, the SunTrust Richmond Marathon has Donate Life as its official charity.

"Donate Life is a program of the non-profit agencies UNOS and LifeNet."

These are charities that support organ and tissue donation. I have been listed as an organ donor since getting my drivers license and never thought much about it. I assumed everyone did this. After speaking to several people, I realized that there are strong albeit irrational opinions about not donating. I think it is a waste to not donate something that you are no longer using to someone who cannot live without it. If you would like to contribute to my effort, here is the link to help raise money. Based on my web traffic, this is not going to amount to much, but, as I learning by running 4 times a week, every little bit helps.

FundRaiser/Donation Link: Click here to help support Donate Life

Old and fat...

So there comes a time in every man's life when you realize that:

"No, she was not checking you out. "
You cannot bench press your body weight.
You are not the young, hip guy at work. (Note: Never was hip. Who says they are hip? Unhip people.)
And you are not just a month-of-working-out-away from running a sub 6min mile.

Today is that day for me. I do not plan to use this post to gripe or resolve, just to state:

"I am old and fat. Hello world."

I don't plan to stay this way just as I did not plan to get this way. Yet here I sit without the strength to move. Because after months and months of inactivity, I decided to go mountain biking. I rushed out right after work to hit the trail. A trail ranked 4 of 5 in difficulty. A trail I swore to get better before I went on again - two years ago. It started out okay. I was darting between trees, with birds chirping, thinking, "I will do this every sunny day until I die." Then after a scary downhill and a couple quick uphill climbs, I lose my momentum and just want to make it back to the car. All in all, I managed to fall twice (over the handlebars) and walked my bike a lot. (Yep, bleeding as I type this.) But I did get up, and I did pedal out. So there.

I think the biggest disappointment was my stamina, I can usually blame childhood asthma or my stumpy legs, but this time I just plain gave out. Someday I will look back on this and smile that I was impetuous enough to even ride a bike in the woods. Today, though, I simply feel humble and weak.

I don't post often and this post is also pretty weak. I do know my audience and he will think this is hilarious.

Place:
Renny Park on Tyvola Rd., Charlotte, NC

Enjoy.

Resetting MYSQL Passwords

The site linked in the title is good but the comments below are invaluable.

MS Windows Key Post

I know this a weak post to start off the year. I wanted to remind myself of something useful that I can use to look cool in front of people when I work on their computer. You are now cooler because you read this. Happy New Year and click the link for Windows Shortcut Keys.

"Music Only" for your iTunes playlists

iTunes smart playlists 101.

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Blood Elf and Draenei Char Screens

All the modifications you can make to the 2 new races.

Disc Golf Traning

Discraft Disc Golf Clinic: Forehand Drives

1000 hours of practice and this technique can be yours...

Intricate Steps of How to Hack Into a Computer

Here is a huge map that pretty much shows you all possible ways to gain entrance into a system. From finding exploits and scanning ports to password cracking. It shows all the likely paths you can take to hack into a computer and/or test out it's security.

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Roy Flying High in New Curator Gig

Roy Gilliand is the new curator of the N.C. Aviation Museum. In a past life, he taught me a few things about how to treat people and EMS, although never CPR. I am proud to know this man. He defines integirty like no other person I have known. Congrats on the new position.

Check out the story...
http://www.wral.com/news/9459685/detail.html

Otis Kick

Watch closely to see Otis kick Sophie out of the way...It was not a dodge, but a kick

Ninja Flash Game

I was working today. I promise.

Original Post:
Excellent flash game about a ninja. One of those games that gets passed around the office, and just has to be played at least once in your life.

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First Disc Golf Post

My first post about disc golf. First, let me say that is not dork sport as my wife calls it. "Frisbee for people with no friends." Why no friends?, I asked. "Because, if you had friends they could catch the Frisbee." By the way, she has played and liked it. So there!

I am not good by any stretch but you have to love a sport that combines the skill of Frisbee, the leisure of bowling (cigarettes and beer optional but not inappropriate.), the rules of golf, and the price of hackey sack.

There are several courses in the Charlotte Area. The www.pdga.org site does a good job of keeping up with them. I have played Renaissance Park and Winthrop Lakefront. Reny is by far the most technical I have been to, much like the mtn. bike course which sometimes crosses. It makes you tired. Hiking (and I do mean hiking the course) is a workout in itself for the weekend warrior. The course is well marked making it a breeze to navigate. I have lost a couple discs in the rough and actually found one. (Todd Stewart, Todd Stewart, I have your distance driver.)

Winthrop was a nice easy course that goes around the lake on Winthrop's campus. The Lakefront course is a little hard to navigate since the disccatchers are marked for the gold course, I think. There are also engraved marble plaques with hole numbers and distances planted in the ground which no longer seem to be valid for figured out anything. Oh and here is picture of a duck about to peck at my buddy's shoe...
He chased us at hole 9 and 10. We also met some guys who had actually built dredging equipment from old bike parts and couple hundred feet of nylon rope. The toss in the multi hooked apparatus and pull it across the lake looking for lost discs that they sell on eBay or keep for themselves. One guy had found 11 that week alone. We are pretty bad but we did manage to keep our discs out of the lake.

Conversation with a Canadian

Ever wonder the difference between the Sunnis and Shia but you don't want to do the research? I got the break down from Canadian friend. I was also too lazy to summarize our conversation, but I did clean up the worst of the typos and take out some of the idle disc golf banter. Enjoy!


Session Start (phalston:canada): Thu Jun 08 09:42:59 2006
[09:42] canada: they ca[u]ght another terrorist in an election year
[09:43] canada: first sadaam, miraculously
[09:43] canada: in 2 years they will need osama
[09:43] canada: he is safe until then
[09:43] phalston: and gay marriage is bad again...
[09:43] phalston: smells like spin
[09:43] canada: on even numbered years, let us be reminded that the government is an agent of God
[09:44] phalston: I am going to quote you on that
[09:44] canada: might as well ban dating as well
[09:44] phalston: hey we are not Iran
[09:44] canada: but if the government can decide th[a]t God has defined marriage for the secular country
[09:45] phalston: Did you know there were 500,000 Iranian living S. California
[09:45] canada: beverly hills baby
[09:45] phalston: I had no idea...
[09:45] canada: not many know that iranians are not considered arab
[09:46] phalston: what?
[09:46] canada: theyre like a bosnia tacked on t[he] side o[f] europe
[09:46] phalston: really?
[09:46] canada: not even the same language
[09:47] phalston: which language?
[09:47] canada: farsi/persian
[09:47] canada: its not arabic you hear on the sound bites
[09:47] canada: few heavy H or KH sounds
[09:47] canada: religion is slightly diff as well
[09:47] canada: hence the sunni shia crap
[09:48] canada: only Shia country around
[09:48] phalston: I don't remember the diff
[09:48] canada: youve heard of the prophet muhammad
[09:48] canada: no shia sunni during the life of
[09:49] canada: upon death, a question arose, who would be the leader fo the religion.. the guy who keeps it flourishing
[09:50] phalston: okay
[09:50] canada: one side said that the companions (Khalifs) who were the closest and most knowledgable fiends and observers of the prophet
[09:50] canada: the other side said that it should be a bloodline
[09:50] canada: i.e. the cousin of the prophet, Ali
[09:51] canada: the khalif group faught a battle/war with the Ali group
[09:51] canada: Ali was beheaded in the fight
[09:51] canada: khalifs won
[09:51] canada: Khalifs served as a type of "pope" for about 7 successions then the concept faded
[09:52] canada: on the side, in a separate exiled place, the Ali group decided to follow their leader based on bloodline still
[09:52] canada: the [A]li group became Shia
[09:52] canada: the Khalif Group became sunni
[09:52] canada: Sunni now 80% of islam, Sha about 20% of islam
[09:53] canada: shia = iran, most of iraq
[09:53] canada: sunni = saudi, jordan,
[09:53] canada: pakistan = split
[09:53] canada: and so on
[09:53] canada: sadaam = sunni, while rest of iraq = shia.. hence the violence it is payback
[09:53] phalston: diff in beliefs?
[09:54] canada: the only believe is not in the message, or the practice, it was who you followed generations back
[09:54] canada: i.e. my grand pappy voted for Kerry, and yours voted for bush
[09:54] canada: slight differences in belief developed
[09:55] canada: shia believe that Ali, the guy who was beheaded will arise again and lead them to victory over someone
[09:55] canada: the emphasis was shifted off the prophet, who is the main guy, onto his cousin
[09:56] phalston: that sounds blasph[e]mous?
[09:56] canada: you ever seen images of people doing self mutilation in the streets ?
[09:56] phalston: yeah
[09:56] canada: shia.. trying to prove they are close to ali in suffering
[09:56] canada: every year on th[e] ann[i]versary of the death, they tell the story of the battle, the same story
[09:57] canada: the men and women wail, scream, cry as if it happened this morning... to prove that they are close to him
[09:57] canada: in a way he become[s] a saint
[09:57] phalston: so the "insurgency" is Sunni?
[09:57] canada: thats what they say i dont get it
[09:58] phalston: well it would explain why they don't seem to care who they kill if most are Shia
[09:58] canada: unless it is sunni sadaam employees who are tryin to restore the small 20[%] sunni population back to power as sadaam had given them
[09:58] canada: other than the ali thing
[09:58] canada: were the same
[09:58] canada: same book
[09:59] canada: same belies in God
[09:59] canada: same beliefs in the Prophet

Actual Work being Done...

[10:08] phalston: How does the Taliban fit in?
[10:08] canada: relig[i]ous zealots who managed to find a we[a]k country to run
[10:09] canada: imagine of pat robertson decided to run for governor of alabama
[10:09] canada: say he wins
[10:09] canada: in a more corrupt system, he would gain momentum riding on the christian ideals that suit him
[10:09] phalston: ahh, but are they sunni, shia or just something else
[10:10] canada: the "else" catagory is only 5% .. insignificant
[10:10] canada: afghanistan borders iran, i bet its mixed
[10:10] phalston: taliban is mixed?
[10:13] canada: i thi[n]k it is iran supported
[10:13] canada: im not sure
[10:13] phalston: Ah, so side project to see if they can have pure religious state...
[10:14] canada: the thing about afghanistan is that so many warriors or "Jihadhi" were in teh country since hte 80's, the taliban is litterally a mercinary group with nobody to fight
[10:14] canada: they faught the USSR for years
[10:14] canada: one thing you gotta k[n]ow about shia, i[s] they are capable of cutting themselves with swords.... from the age of 13, youre messing with people who have no fear of death
[10:15] canada: they scared of the russians, who left a po[w]er vac[c]uum
[10:15] canada: but you see then, the taliban werent considered Terroristic Islamic Fundamentalists
[10:15] canada: then they were US allies in the fight v the Soviets
[10:16] phalston: so you are?
[10:16] canada: sunni
[10:16] canada: sunni / shia intermarry all the time
[10:17] canada: the diff isnt substantial among intelligent people
[10:17] phalston: so in a normal day, yo[ur] shia buddies don't say "[Y]ou know Ali will be back" and punch you in the ribs
[10:18] phalston: ?
[10:18] canada: hehe
[10:18] canada: non issue

House rejects Net neutrality rules

Which means there will be no more sites like Digg.com and many more like it, where it's free for the users. Imagine having to pay your broadband expenses and pay to surf almost every site which doesn't have anything to sell to us.

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How to make your own "SmackBook"

The video that just showed up today displayed a modified Desktop Manager with AMSTracker to use the sudden motion sensor to toggle desktop switching. Here's the code used, and how to modify it yourself.

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Hold your spit cups high, we have arrived as a World Class City...

Sponsored by a NC Grocery Chain Food Lion and featuring MC Hammer and Quiet Riot, Charlotte has really pulled out all the stops for Memorial Day weekend.

The family friendly NASCAR event, Speedstreet 600, is the kickoff party for the CocaCola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. It took me an extra 25 minutes to get into work uptown but it is welcome revenue for the city, not to mention a Smoked Turkey Leg wrapped in foil. I am not a big NASCAR fan. I see the appeal but find it too expensive to attend, but if Hammer is going to be showing up then maybe I should rethink things...

They are also debuting the movie Cars at Lowes Motor Speedway. The size of the screens are incredible to accomodate the audience there at the track. This also brings a few of the movie's stars like Owen Wilson and Bonnie Hunt to the Queen City.

In a related story, just this morning I heard on NPR where 15 year old driver Marc Davis sponsored by the Joe Gibbs Racing (Go Redskins!) is a poised to be a star in the world of racing. The young black driver is part of the Drive for Diversity program for NASCAR, which is in its second year. The high-schooler moved with his father, Harry Davis, former power boat racer, from Maryland to NC to pursue his passion. Maybe we should thank NASCAR Dads for bringing the sport into the mainstream and ultimately making it more accessible to all.

Long Weekend

John Earl Allen with Hat
Originally uploaded by phalston

Up early on Saturday, I went to see my Grandaddy in Henderson, NC. Pictured here at his 90th birthday party from a couple months ago.

He is recovering from a stroke but is rapidly improving. He was actually doing physical therapy exercises while in bed and in his wheelchair as I was talking to him. His spirits are strengthening along with his body. I love this man with all my heart and believe sincerely that he would do all he could for his family and friends.


My second stop was in Durham with my friend Charlotte for lunch. I did not get to ride in Charlotte's new TSX because she has not bought it yet. Lost the title to her old car and had to send a way for it... Maybe next time.

Stop number three kept me in Durham to use my computer expertise to assist Richard Brown. Yes, Richard Brown of The Richard Brown Radio Show. My seemingly-limitless computer knowledge was not enough. I still could not establish connectivity to the Internet with his desktop. Other machines work using the DSL Modem. The additional NIC in the desktop had been added and still would not connect. He took the machine to work and it would not connect to that network either. I am stumped but really want to get to the bottom of it. I accidentally stole a Sharpie from him but gave him a Knoppix Boot CD . He also turned me on to the comics fan site - zcultfm.com. Now I will get no work done...


Stop Four. Disc Golf with Fahim. His first time out and he did darn well. We stayed local and got to test out the Navi on the BMW to find the course. I am always amazed at the demographic for Disc Golf. I mistakenly assume I will just see college age guys exclusively. Ahead of us was group of 30-something good ol' boys with cigarettes and beer, slinging discs, and taking bets on each hole. Behind us were two couples of men and women, so my limited thinking on who would be interested in playing the sport my wife calls: "Frisbee for Losers with No Friends"

Headed home after...I miss the Hill but it is home no longer.

Is this the future of the Video iPod?

With all the patent buzz surrounding Apple, is this the technology we are likely to see on an iPod or MacBook Pro?

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HOWTO: Analyze Commute Data To Save Time Driving

The world is full of traffic and people who hate it. This article analyzes a year of data to determine if minor tweaks to departure times can significantly impact commute length - or if it is all out of the driver's control.

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