Steve's Current Notes
Week of  December 3, 2000

And I'll bet you already guessed it.  When we checked outside this morning there was nothing to be seen on the ground.  It's just cold and windy.  With a 10 mile per hour wind and temperatures not reaching above freezing it may seem like it's near 0° outside the house.  Those of you who normally deal in Celsius temperatures zero is no big deal, but trust me, temperatures around here below the freezing mark and approaching the big 0° are abnormal and a rude awakening to our senses.

The weatherman now claims we will still get some of the white stuff, but the atmosphere has changed and it's too dry for much snow.  The huge cloud mass that was heading our way seems to be breaking up as it hits the North Carolina mountains to our west.  Here's the Weather Channel's current surface radar shot for our area.  It looks quite different than it did last night.

I thought it had been a while since I had defragged Rubble (the machine where I edit and post my website and  most every thing else I do on the net.  I use Diskeeper for this project and since I couldn't remember how long it had been since run the program I knew it must be way past time for this exercise

I thought the status screen of this job was a sea of red when I started, but after one complete run, it didn't seem to get any better, so I am going to fire it off again this morning.  One-third of this disk is free, so maybe by the time it completes several runs, these red blocks indicating fragmented files will turn to white space.

When I started this job there were 19953 excess file fragments and after the job completed I found 25675 excess file fragments. If you're quick on math, that's something like a 28 percent increase, averaging 1.8 fragments per file.  And we thought this process was supposed to DECREASE the the file fragments :-).

Diskeeper thinks this may have happened because of heavy computer used while defragging was running, but I don't think so.  Unless a screen saver was the culprit, but I have my screen set to blank, so there shouldn't be much access to the drive.  My guess is that I didn't have many blocks of free space when I started and I have some rather large files, therefore Diskeeper had a hard time finding contiguous space to move files and created even more fragments

I think I am going to give her another try and see what results are produced this time.

The geeks at TechTV are offering some tips to help us ensure we are getting the most from our broadband connection.

You would like to be able to check your personal email account during the day for that important or just curious message.  But your employer wouldn't be to happy if you set up an account in Outlook and tried to pop your mail from your personal mailbox.  Heck, the firewall would probably knock you down.

That leaves you with the option of telnetting to the company's proxy server and then to your email providers pop server, remembering to type in that important port 110.

The telnet route at least provides you with the opportunity to view your messages in cryptic format.  You get tired of executing the list, retr and dele commands, though.  And there's no simple way to reply.

There are several workarounds.

If you leave your mail program running at home, then you can use Visto to forward your messages to the web.  I have also tested these web mail sites that will log onto your pop server and retrieve and send mail in a graphical format.  These sites claim be secure, but you know how that goes.  But, if you want to convenience of being able to check you mail while you are away, it may be something worth considering.

In my limited testing, MailStart is the only site where I was able to log onto my mail accounts at pair (Wakeolda domain host) and Road Runner (my local broadband ISP) .  Each of the four services allowed me to access pair easily, but Mail2Web, ReadMail and ThatWeb bombed when trying to access my account at RoadRunner.  I may need to go into some kind of advanced mode and actually use my pop server name on those services.  Or maybe it's they have better security.  More testing should be in order.

Word has leaked out this weekend that the PGA and USGA are considering make a major rules change.  Well, maybe not a rule change, but a modification to golf etiquette as practiced on the course.

CNN has the transcript from Friday's Bush v. Gore (or whoever is against who in this election squabble) hearings at the U.S. Supreme Court available in HTML and PDF format.  You can also get the transcript with simultaneous audio.

My friend Barbara F. Thompson [barbara@ttgnet.com], who hangs her hat here, shared this one with me.  This is a news story we might be seeing in four years unless things change in Florida.

Barbara also send along this Christmas trivia link that might be enjoyable for the young and even young at heart.

I received a beautiful little nasty gram from our county government over the weekend -- a notice that our home and its real property had been revaluated.  Naturally the value had increased.

I say naturally, because these reevaluations are just another way for our local governments to squeeze more tax dollars out of you and still say they did not raise taxes.  Fuzzy math.

You have an opportunity to protest these evaluations, but simply, usually, the trouble is not worth the trouble.  I am lucky.  The county's tax appraisal is still below an independent appraisal I had completed on this property 18 months ago, so I'll pay my tax bill and keep my mouth shut.  Hopefully, the county bureaucrats don't read this page and come back after me.

Forsyth County issues reappraisals every four years and don't really go out and perform many on site appraisals.  I think they just apply some percentage to your last number.

I have an update on my defragging obstacle.  I ran Diskeeper again yesterday afternoon, but my problem seems to getting worse.  I got this report from Diskeeper:

Yesterday, the number of fragments per file was 1.80.  Additionally, I've enjoyed seeing my excess file fragments ascend from 19,953 to 25,675 and now 25,868 in the third execution of the program.

I knew the only way to solve this problem was to delete some files of Drive C which would free up some space and then give Diskeeper another chance.  That's exactly what I did.  I moved about a gig of data off drive C and then ran the program again.  Now I have only one fragmented file.  I then moved the data back to Drive C and luckily I now have just 7 fragmented files.  Maybe I'll run Diskeeper on a more regular basis to keep things in better shape.  Don't count on it.

Could it be that we are actually getting closer to the end of the Presidential election?

It appeared the courts dealt the Gore camp a couple of setbacks today when:

• The United States Supreme Court said they were confused by the ruling of Florida's Supreme Court and the original certification of Florida's election should not have been delayed.
  
• Judge N. Sanders Saul announced in Tallahassee this afternoon that he was turning down the Gore camp request for  ordering of additional hand counting of ballots in South Florida.

On the surface there appear to be some chinks in the Gore armour, but don't count these scrappers out yet.  I am sure they are dropping off their appeals at the courthouse as we speak.  And now we get to endure their spin machine.

I can't wait until January 20, the day this mess will finally be over.

Today is the anniversary of the Japanese Imperial Army's surprise attack on the United States military port at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

There had been no formal declaration of war as more than 300 Japanese airplanes made the surprise attack on the port that was housing some 100 American warships. This act drew the US into World War II.

We have been doing some reorganizing at the office and I have changed assignments.

I am going to become more involved in our Lifestyle Marketing, which means I will not be traveling to very many Winston Cup races in the near future.  It doesn't been I won't have an extensive travel schedule, but just won't be hitting the races. Hopefully it means I will be home on the weekends now.

• Nero Burning Rom quickly became my favorite package for creating both audio and data CD's.  This latest version available is 5.0.3.5, which was update on 12/4/00.  You can download it from Ahead Software.  If you haven't tried Nero yet, you can also download a fully functioning demo.
  
  
• Internet Explorer 5.5 Service Pack 1.  This update will address security concerns raised over the Browser Print Template, File Upload via Form, and Frame Domain Verification functions.  The patch attempts to prevent a  less than honest web site from gaining control of your system through these functions.  There is also a security bulletin you can read on this subject. 
  
  
• I think I have mentioned that I am using the Music Match jukebox to keep up with my digital music.  I'm probably going to get some kind of MP3 player in the near future so I can take my favorites tunes along on the exercise regimen or long plan rides.  The latest Music Match version is 6.0.270
  
  
• I think I may have mentioned previously that Service Pack 2 is available for Office 2000.  Of course you will have need to apply Service Pack 1 before you can install this update.  The latest maintenance release mainly addresses security issues. No surprise there.
  
  

Today is the day the election of the President of the US may be drawing closer to a close.  That is probably wishful thinking on my part.  I'll be willing to bet that no matter what the decisions handed down by the various courts (I think we are awaiting no less than four rulings today), the other side will be dropping an appeal on a higher court.  I am still hoping Mr. Bush will prevail, but am becoming less confident with each passing day.  IF you're also a Bush supporter, you might enjoy this site.

I remember the Labontes when they first appeared on the scene.  Bobby was just a little kid tagging along behind Terry.  I think he was about 10 years old when he first came to the races and now he's quite the racer himself.  Must be something in the gene pool or the water from down there in Corpus Christi, Texas.  Terry and Bobby now have three Winston Cups among themselves.

A few announcements for the sport usually come out of New York and this year was no different.  Among the most interesting were:

• There is no longer two rounds of Winston Cup qualifying.  The fields for Winston Cup races will be set with the initial round of qualifying, which usually takes place on Friday afternoon.  This will put even more pressure on teams, especially those who might be on the verge on not making the race, the get it right on Friday.  And it's going to make the handing out of provisional starting positions interesting as well.  In the past if a driver "screwed up" during the first qualifying round, he always had the safety net of round two and then he could fall back to a provisional starting position.  We're talking about guys who are high in the points.  It'll put even more pressure on the new comers. 
  
  
• The Bud Shootout is getting more akin to the Winston.  This race, the opening act of SpeedWeeks in Daytona each year, has increased in distance from 25 laps to 70 laps, the same distance of the Winston.  The shootout also picked up another feature of the Winston.  Past Shootout winners who are not qualified for the shootout will be given a pass into the race.  It looks like the time of day for this event has also changed.  In the past, the green flag dropped on the Shootout at Noon and now the race is scheduled for 2 PM.  I'm sure they think this will get the Shootout a better television audience.  << more >>.
  
• This one doesn't fit in the most interesting category, or does it.  It was no surprise when the announcement was made that Bill Elliott had been named the most popular driver. Elliott has won the thing something like the last 10 years in a row.  Aw shuck.

• Kyle Petty was the recipient of the National Motorsports Press Associations Myers Brothers Award.  This is an honor given each year to an individual or group who has made the greatest contribution to the sport.
  
  Petty was honored for his contributions to charity, ore specifically the Kyle Petty Charity motorcycle rides which have raised millions for charities and for the establishing the Hole in the Wall Gang Camps for chronically ill children.  The Petty plan to build Victory Junction Gang Camp near their race shop in Level Cross, NC.  They would also like to build a camp near New Hampshire International Raceway, where their son, Adam, lost his life in a race practice accident this summer.

Just as predicted, the Presidential election saga is no where near ending, in fact, with yesterday's court ruling it may be getting even more testier.  Again, hopefully we are going to have a President by Jan. 20.

In the end it looks like this election is going to be decided in the courts, more specifically the Supreme Court of the United States.  Is that what our founding fathers wanted when they tossed the tea into the Boston harbor?

The people's frustration over this election has been TERRIBLE for the economy and stock market, but a great source for comedians and other pundits.  Among the most recent bits of trivia to surface, more election facts:

States won by Gore: 19
States won by Bush: 29

Counties won by Gore: 677
Counties won by Bush: 2,434

Population of counties won by Gore: 127 million
Population of counties won by Bush: 143 million

Square miles of country won by Gore: 580,000
Square miles of country won by Bush: 2,427,000

Professor Joseph Olson of the Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul Minnesota has produced another interesting new statistic. Professor Olson looked up the crime statistics for all of these counties and came up with this:

Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Gore: 13.2

Average Murder per 100,000 residents in counties won by Bush: 2.1

I will allow you to draw your own conclusions.

And now it's time to leave our civics lesson for the day and bring you back to the real world: