The question is, what are the necessary patches.

Here's a few I've decided are required before you install SP3. You'd think they would have done some QA and automatically required these to be pre-installed, or perhaps just allowed SP3 to install them itself since it's suppose to be the giant metapatch to bring XP up to the latest updates. Alas, it's quite lacking without some intervention.

• Update Tool must be updated, since XP SP3 doesn't seem to bring it up to date.
• Internet Explorer 7 needs to be installed. XP SP3 doesn't upgrade the browser and you may have troubles (I had crashes) with the latest browser's absence after you upgrade. SP3 seems to assume you've already upgraded the browser to IE7.
• Some patches won't install after you've installed SP3, so patch all the IE security patches, drivers, and non-SP3 looking security patches before you install SP3. I've found it quite problematic to do anything that was a patch before SP3 after I've installed SP3.
• Cumulative Security Update for ActiveX Killbits is one I had troubles installing after SP3. Grab that one if you can.
• Software (Optional) updates seem to be particularly problematic post SP3. Chances are good that if you've not already installed all the optional tools you desire, SP3 will block security updates for those items you install afterward. Like I've indicated, I have no documentation or any idea what SP3 does to stop these updates, other than anecdotal experiences.
  • .Net frameworks need to be installed and updated.
  • Windows Media Player seems relatively immune to problems, but you may want to install it and update it before SP3.
  • ActiveX updates need to be installed and updated.
• Any new hardware drivers need to be installed prior to SP3.

There's 93 updates to be done if you don't install SP3 right off the bat. You'll want to skip most of those since it's just replicating the same updates to install SP3 afterwards. But, some of these updates won't install after you've installed SP3.

It's still somewhat of a guessing game for me. One way to find them is install the necessary Windows Validation and Updates tools, offered by the update.microsoft.com website, and then go ahead and install SP3 to get a list of updates it won't install. It'll fail on the new updates and you'll just write them down, uninstall the Service Pack 3 update, and then go back to install them, only to reinstall the Service Pack immediately afterward. Sound painful and wasteful? Yep. Sorry, that's the only solution I've got so far. The best I can tell, this problem comes about when SP3's release date comes after the update, then it somehow blocks installation of that patch. Perhaps it assumes the SP3 patch should have already addressed that particular problem. I've found it effects even driver updates. Some driver updates become available after certain security patches are made. So, this dance can get quite annoying.

There is another option. You can opt out of SP3 altogether, install the 93 or more updates individually (which SP3 seems to expect anyway), and ignore SP3 until you're sure you've installed all other updates.

That's not the story here.

A friend of mine receives updates from my blog, and emailed me immediately suggesting a surgeon he knows of in my home state.

I just post a blog considering a surgeon and the power of friends and personal networks goes to work for me. I didn't email him personally, ask for advice from him or anyone in his local network, and poof -- I get his input anyway. That's extremely cool.

That's also nerd culture. When someone knows something that you don't, they feel compelled to share. For example, if I posted the specific procedure I have no doubt someone would comment about their personal experience or link me to an article. It's amazing what you draw upon when you combine many good minds into a tight social network that actually acts quite loosely. These friends span years and many state borders.

So, when someone asks "why do you blog?" or some such question about Twitter, Facebook, or some other social media tool, consider giving them this brief example as to why we modern networkers believe our systems of communication are more than mere fodder.

Looking for a surgeon, I'm considering Alabama Orthopedic Spine and Sports Medicine Associates.

Don't do as the Europeans and protest without real action. Will angry screams and threats make one more drop of oil come from the ground? Russia, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and the other oil countries can't hear your cries for the clamoring of buyers after their product. You could weaken the US companies by increasing their tax. You could nationalize the European companies. But, you'll do nothing but limit the built-in efficiencies of business seeking profit. They are delivering the oil as close to the price you're governments can squeeze out of them. Protests accomplish nothing but create hysteria, and there's nothing good that comes of that.

You may as well scream at the sky in drought. If you hate the oil industry for profiting from the product they invested in, waited on, and suffered for, then stop buying their oil. Everyone says "But, I have no choice."

This is the lie like all lies of addiction. I steal because my drugs require it. I lie because the situation demands it. Etc., the lies and self-lies aren't useful if you're looking to improve your situation.

1. Tune up your car, inflate the tires, change the oil, use an additive (one of those proven to be effective) to boost power in your engine, change the air filter, and do all the things that boost performance and efficiency. It will add up.
2. Walk more. If you're close to something make it a walk instead of a ride.
3. Cut down on useless driving. Plan shopping, family trips, spend less time doing convenience driving.
4. Get with school officials and sports committees and see if you can convince folks to take the parents into consideration when planning and scheduling.
5. Work fewer longer days. You can cut a substantial commute cost by working 4 10 hour days instead of 5 8 hour days. That's a 20% cut instantly, and you get another day to spend with your family.
6. Car pool. Don't just whine and say "I can't." You can. Plan and do it.
7. Buy a bicycle and see how much stuff you can bike to near home.
8. Plant some vegetables at home. A few healthy fresh foods growing around home will improve your diet, improve your outlook, and eliminate a few trips to the grocery store.
9. Buy a scooter or lightweight motorcycle if you can't avoid multiple personal trips. It will pay for itself in months. (obviously, physical risks come with this -- drivers won't stop killing bikers due to poor observance)
10. Buy an electric car if you can afford one or use one. If your commutes are under 100 miles a day, there are several options.
11. Work at home if you can. Many jobs are information jobs, and there's no reason to be in an office if your data is digitized. Talk to your employer. It's reasonable and practical to send most customer support and information workers home.

I'm going to try to get my kids on this, and read it myself (my math skills could use some improvement). And, then I'll report here regarding our progress. However, it's a good thing to check out. The Annenburg project is a great source of learning material (hint hint, school systems).

The Constitutional Court said in a brief statement that the change, proposed by Mr. Erdogan’s party and passed by Parliament in February, violated principles of secularism set in Turkey’s Constitution.
-- NY Times

Turkey is a very nice place to visit, and the people are very warm and hospitable. They've received a lot of flack over the years for being harsh regarding terrorist groups and their refusal to bend to western opinions on the Armenian war. They're suppose to feel sorry for the war according to most western governments, kind of like Americans admitting the US killed too many native Americans. It's a cultural conflict based on the fact that Turkey hasn't adopted self-deprecating historical views the way "enlightened" western countries do. What's not often talked about is Turkey's religious dedication to secularism in the midst of the Muslim world. Ataturk, modern Turkey's father, instituted a phenomenally successful constitutionally secular state. This week's ruling reveals their dedication to the state's founder and his policies set to keep religion out of government.

But, then it's easier to adopt new models when you don't own the old ones.

Polish trendy:
Skangur website

Skangur - Hej Kochanie HD from Przemek P. on Vimeo.

Very "hard candy."

It's like an eastern European Linkin Park Bowling for Hoobastank with a horn section.

Ska-stank, maybe.

I can't yet tell if I like them... it's kind of growing on me. It's like Jimmy Buffett music for heavy metal fans.

This is a little funny and very well done.

This is an old problem. And, fortunately PHP6 deprecates this feature. But, it won't stop the thousands of lines of code that rely on them from causing you headaches. Beware of PHP6 sorta compliant code when this goes away. It should go away, and I'm happy, and I spend more time dealing with the badly written code using magic quotes or the badly configured server environments that enable it than I do code that requires magic quotes breaking. One is really annoying, the other is quite dangerous.

So, what was the problem? First, she has the 4G Nano (yeah, I know it's virtual child abuse to limit her to 4G of space, but it's cute, small, and it was cheaper than the 160G full-size by several insurance payments). So, we've only 3.6G of space and we like to rip CDs into lossless formats. There's no point syncing the lossless version on the Nano, since nobody can tell the difference with earbuds.

Is there a simple method of sorting these file types? Yes! The easiest solution is as simple as pushing a unique name for each file type to the ID3 tags on the files themselves. This can be done while you're ripping files, digitizing them to lossless formats, mp3s, etc. and/or through tag editors (of which there is no shortage) and you can even do batch modifications with many programs.

I like to keep both the smaller version of a given file, which is usually mp3, and the clearest possible version. So, I'll have an mp3 and something like an Apple Lossless format and their respectively huge difference in file size for the same song. For my stereo, I listen to the lossless version and for my iPod I'll use the mp3.

You can create an ID tag for the group as lossy, lossless, flac (not supported by the iTunes player without a hack), mp3, AAC, etc. It's messy, but it does the trick. If you edit one of the sort fields (on the ID tag) you can create smart playlists with those tags. So, you can create play lists with the tags indicating file size and compatibility for the player and sync your iPod with the lighter file types. It's also a way of playing the preferred quality rip when you're entertaining.

You don't even need go as far as creating a tag if you're savvy about the sample rates on your music. You can create smart play lists based on sample rates. Of course, I'll likely use the grouping tag ID and insert grouping by the quality since the bitrates may vary. Obviously, there are other uses for this tag so you may pick something else to use. The point is that this can be a flexible tool for increasing the iTunes discrimination based on file quality with a little human intervention.

I have other complaints about iTunes, though this is primarily a live-article about solutions with iTunes. Someone that has echoed a lot of my opinions on the shortfallings of iTunes is Eddie Lopez, especially as it relates to syncing podcasts to your player of choice.

In temporary courtrooms at a fairgrounds here, 270 illegal immigrants were sentenced this week to five months in prison for working at a meatpacking plant with false documents.
-- NY Times

Americans are upset because these people flock here from their home countries to put food on their families' tables. They work hard, they struggle, sacrifice, and do the work that Americans would rather not do in most cases. They come here because we hold out the carrot of opportunity, and we've winked at them as a country for decades regarding the illegal nature of their migration. We never prosecuted undocumented workers, and we don't prosecute the employers who willfully break the law.

"My family is worried in Guatemala," one defendant, Erick Tajtaj, entreated the federal district judge who sentenced him, Mark W. Bennett. "I ask that you deport us as soon as possible, that you do us that kindness so we can be together again with our families."

They're not coming here to hurt us. They're coming here to help their families. If we cared about the immigration volume, we could easily stop American citizens from offering them money and opportunity. No new laws are required, because employers willfully employ them in violation of the law. Keep in mind that they aren't citizens, the folks paying them are. What message does it send to them that we're never willing to prosecute people that are citizens that openly break the law to employ them - it's a virtual invitation!

I ask Americans who are vehemently apposed to undocumented workers to consider these facts and think about the real condition of these workers. Would you stay in their home countries and watch your family struggle while opportunity screamed from across the border? You wouldn't if you were worth your salt (quoting President Bush).

These are people, mostly hard working and contributing members of our society who have come here to better themselves and improve their families' lives. We are a duplicitous inconsistent country with no single voice on the issue of undocumented workers. Seriously consider the reality of their situation and the incentives our market has placed to bring them here. Most everyone will buy homes built by undocumented workers, eat food picked by undocumented workers, drive roads worked on by undocumented workers, and appreciate the inexpensive and reliable work they perform in the form of products and services.

Putting people in jail for working low-wage jobs to send money to their families is not good policy.

I'm in a funk. Mostly, I'm developing a fear about my future and wondering if I can meet my financial goals and production goals based on what I've done recently. Let me be clear, this is largely based on clear judgment. My income has gone down recently, not up. My productivity is in the tank, and my company hasn't released a new product or offering in more than six months. Things are not going well.

I've decided to sit down and consider the (big picture) problem which starts with my own personal funk. So, here's my "how to get out of a funk" process, the plan so to speak.

1. Are you depressed? Stop it!
   • Don't whine, share, talk, discuss, or even think upon your depression any more. Sound difficult? It's not, just stop.
   • Think logically. If you think it's too difficult to just stop being depressed and move on, you can sit down and have yourself a big cry. But, spend your thirty minutes feeling bad for yourself and move on. Don't spend more than an hour thinking about how unfair life is, because that just compounds the problem. At some point you've got to get up and do something and move on - think logically about your situation.
   • Make a deal with yourself that you are willing to look at the realities you are dealing with and solve your real problems. Once you've decided you'll do what it takes, you'll be equipped to do something.
2. Take a short and productive break.
   • You can't solve your problems by running away, but you can't view them clearly when you're in the middle of the mess.
   • Schedule a few hours to sit down and analyze your problems and challenges and segregate those you can and can't change through personal action.
   • Put your thoughts, ideas, and plans on paper - there's something extra-powerful about putting things in writing. It's good if you have a day-planner you can put these in, even if it's copy paper and you just fold the plans up and stick them in a pocket. Carrying your plan with you allows you to take the paper out, add notes, comments, perhaps check off a task list.
   • Don't share. Sharing your ideas, concerns, etc. exposes your weakness to others and promotes a 'woe is me,' mentality. This is your plan, private and urgent. Just get the problem solved. If you had an emergency, you wouldn't call you best friend and vent about it. You would just solve the problem. Treat your funk as a personal private emergency.
3. Stop making excuses.
   • Stop making excuses for people that are adding stress to your life, unnecessarily - judge wisely when that's the case. It's OK to overlook (forgive) them, but be aware of their hindrance, and avoid them as necessity demands.
   • Stop making excuses for yourself. If you've got challenges and you honestly don't know how to overcome them, write them down and ask yourself how you can overcome them. This list of questions will be answered. The brain is a powerful answer machine and asking the right questions will deliver the right answers. God has all the answers, so praying is the most powerful method to seeking truthful answers. If a problem persists more than a few days and you still don't have an answer to its solution, then it's time to seek professional or otherwise qualified consultation. But, first you must be clear on the right questions.
   • Give up the guilt. There's no value in beating yourself up beyond the point of saying "I messed up, and I won't do this anymore." Continuing to listen to the "you are worthless" mantra so many of us face is weakness incarnate, giving in to the problem and that never solves anything. You have to put that feeling aside and move on with real solutions. Guilt has no value beyond waking us up to our mistakes.
   • "I can't, I don't, I haven't, If only," speech has no value. You need "I can, I will, I do, I have," speech instead. It's OK to look honestly at your challenges. For example, your credentials may not meet the requirements for your dream job. The simple set of questions follow: "what can you do to achieve those credentials, do you have experience that weighs against this shortcoming, do you have alternative options, and is the goal practical and achievable without a much bigger life plan?" Sometimes your funk is just a deep seeded recognition that you've participated in bad goal setting. And, that's easily overcome with realistic thinking. Sometimes it's defeatist thinking, and that's easily overcome with realistic and practical positive thinking. Either problem can be overcome with forward thinking. Consider only the future, using the past as a method of analysis. But, you must forget the past failures as soon as you use them to judge better future actions. Perhaps you gave up on college too soon, and you should begin a formal education process. Perhaps you quit a good job, and you should seek another. But, you should never dwell on past failures or present limitations. Simple view them as challenges to overcome with a plan that can work.
4. Take immediate action, as soon as you get a clear vision or path.
   • Make a list of tasks that will help you achieve your goals.
   • Begin work on the list immediately. In order to do that, you need daily tasks which an be completed and are realistic based on your resources (see your list).
   • Get up earlier, sit down and look at your list each day and plan to check off something important and valuable every single day.
   • If it takes working a little later to complete your tasks, just do it. Sloth and love of sleep will impoverish you. Success requires sacrifice.

   • Take care of your vessel, mind, and spirit.
     • Your body needs a certain amount of sleep. It doesn't need as much as we may like (for adults you need at least 5 hours every night), but you must care for it. That means you can work up to 19 hours a day if you need to. But, make sacrifices if necessary to get in bed at a reasonable hour.
     • Eat scheduled, healthy meals.
     • Exercise every single day. Exercise helps the brain work better, which helps you come up with better solutions and makes you emotionally healthier.
     • Pray, meditate, and consider spiritual matters daily. We aren't just physical creatures. We must feed our spiritual man daily. It's a big part of a positive and productive outlook on life.
     • Spend time with those you love. We get a boost from being with those we love, and neglect will compound the funk, not eliminate it.
     • Keep a balanced understanding even when times are difficult. Constantly remind yourself that the balance of all our needs helps us perform better in all areas of life. So, that time you spend with those you love, the time you spend praying or studying spiritual matters, and the time you give yourself to exercise and rest all contribute to your productive work and vice versa.
   • Create a daily focus guide. This is a set of statements and instructions to stay on target. If you keep the questions right and focus on the results you want, your mind and actions can be more clearly guided toward the success you desire. That is the clear path to getting out of the funk.

I've developed a short list to help me stay focused. I put it on a dry-erase board to see daily. This is not my task list. Remember I'm not sharing that, like the plan states. My need to address my funk is my own private emergency and I don't need to share my solutions or problems with anyone to resolve my challenges.

• Get your head right
• Don't eat junk
• Clear out the clutter
• Do profitable work (today)
• Bill someone
• Deliver quality
• Keep promises
• Show my children I love them
• Cherish the day
• Rest at night
• Wake up early
• Avoid waste and sloth
• Spend time with those that matter most to me
• Stay clear
• Adapt, change, become better

I've been using the first release candidate for Firefox3 and it's pretty clean - starts up in a mere fraction of the time it took to start up the previous version, and it's a bit better looking and behaving all around.

WARNING: If you're using Firefox add-on features, they'll not likely work in this version just yet. The basics work find, like Flash [tm], etc.

• www.jeffgalloway.com/training/marathon.html
• www.jeffgalloway.com/training/walk_breaks.html
• www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/index.shtml
• www.coolrunning.com.au/runningguide/wiki/index.php/Training_Guide
• www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-258-9369-0,00.html
• www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244--8257-1-1X2X3X4X5X6-7,00.html
• www.health.com/health/article/0,23414,1572081,00.html