I copied a version of the Password Generator on Eric's Password Generator to Famous Family - http://www.famousfamily.com/password.html. This is a handy way to generate multiple passwords for site based on a single master password. I put a copy on FamousFamily so we will always have access to the generator. I also suggest going to the original sight and adding the bookmark. Luckily we use FireFox and Safari - so the fact it doesn't work on IE doesn't matter.

The hard part will be converting all those passwords over time.

Good news on the financial front. I bought some Cisco on Dec 30 2004 and it had lost money ever since. I bought it to keep an eye on my brother Tod's company. Today for the first time I've gained $2.30 on my 110 shares. Oh boy. Keep up the good work Tod.

Feed me better
We really need to get something like this started in the US. I really like his TV show, but I was meeting with some British coworkers last week and they mentioned this campaign. The point is to raise the issue of what our kids are being fed in the schools. I really like this.

moyers.mp3 (audio/mpeg Object)
Good listening. I had to write an email to WNET & CPTV explaining why I can't continue to be a public television member until something is changed regarding Bill Moyer's speech. He is right on the money.

Emma seemed to pick up the idea of twirling her fork in pasta. I'm not sure where she figured this out, but she does. We went out to dinner with Auntie Heather after watching Zack play a ball game. Emma got her pasta and just started twirling. It was cute.

It's out. Version 6.0 of the archive. I reworked the XML translation to use castor. That's NICE. Should make things easier to manage and allow for more features in the future. Also fixed some bugs.

I'm saddened. Another thing I was thinking about earlier this week was the reality of the relationship after someone in the relationship dies. Mom and dad knew each other for 36 years. They had an intimate relationship. They loved each other. Now mom has died. When someone in a relationship like theirs dies, each day the other person continues to live, it seems that the intimacy of their relationship diminishes. It must diminish over time because someone that you loved is no longer here with you. It's like the longer you live, the more distant your relationship with the other becomes. Regardless of whether you meet after this world, one can ponder only ponder the pain of this separation. I got to thinking about it and it made me pretty unhappy. I can't imagine how my dad is thinking and I wonder how I would cope with that situation. It must be difficult.

I'm saddened: On March 22, 2005 my mom died. I've been sad through the whole thing. There's more to read about the details at Judith Lloyd Famous.
In order to help myself with some of my sadness, I may write about it from time to time, beginning with I'm saddened.
Tonight we went to a symphony concert. The music during the first half was rather uninteresting, so I got to thinking. That's not good. I'm finding that I prefer to do activities where I can't just sit there and think.
My thoughts tonight were maybe I should have spent less time answering the phone and worrying about the details and spent more time just sitting with mom. I don't recall doing a lot of sitting with her when she was sick, but not near the end. The last day I sat with her a lot of the day but it wasn't the same. I do remember the first weekend she was in the hospital when we drove down. I remember going in early one morning to the Bel Air hospital. I got to sit with her in the morning all be myself. We talked about a few things. It was nice. After she went home for the first time, I spent a lot of time downstairs herding people and answering the phone. I don't know.

SCIgen - An Automatic CS Paper Generator. This is way cool.

The next Famous. Kinda scary, staring at you, eh?

Yea. They just sold out. Retalix acquires TCI Solutions. Good bye TCI. Good luck to the people I enjoyed working with who don't have jobs anymore. I would say the acquisition is basically for TCI's customers and some POS drivers, but that's just my opinion. I have some stock. We'll see how my 36 shares of TCI do.

On the last day I worked at TCI, we were at lunch. I had been talking with my buddies about what to do about my stock options. I thought I might buy one just for the paperwork hassle. I had options to buy shares at twenty five cents a share. I took my drink cup from lunch (purchased for $1.50) and went around the table collecting pocket change. I then went back to the office and collected more pocket change. The CEO even gave me 55 cents. I boxed up the change and sent it to Irvine. They did not appreciate the money in Irvine (although I guess they no longer have job either, so there is no hard feelings on my part. I hope they do OK). When I later found out about this I asked them to give the change to Jim S. (he owe's me nine dollars) and sent them a check for nine dollars. They sent my this.

Note that Dave Auerbach has his signature on the document as the COO, but they fired him several years before I left. Kinda funny. Steve DeSantis also signed it. Ha. I'll post again when I see how much I get for it - if they even remember I have it.

Ah, the good times in Tucson. I think about that often. Nice pic.

Yesterday we had a 50th birthday party for my aunt Heather at our house. Lots of people came. Mom bought a bunch of over the hill and 50 year old birthday party favors.

This morning we were packing up and taking down decorations. I asked Mom & Dad if they wanted the decorations. Well.... "who would have the next 50 year old party?"

It's me. I will be first person in the immediate family to hit 50 in 14 years. Emma will be 16. AAAAAAAA!!!

Until 2019 then.

The driver side window in my car broke. Actually the mechanism that makes the window go up and down broke - the window is fine. I took apart the whole door and found the problem - a pastic slider that is used in the mechanism was broken. It is amaizing how complicated the mechanisms to lower and raise the window are. I found the part online, but then called up my my local BMW dealer and they had it. I drove over there and the guy just gave me the part. Back home and an hour later, things are back together and the window works. I'm very proud of this project and I think we probably saved a couple hundred dollars.

I fixed the slow drain in the shower today. It was really gross cleaning out the drain with a piece of wire. I disassembled the trap in the tub and tried to get things cleaned out. When I put it all back together, it did not leak. Now when you take a shower you do not end up standing in water. Yea. Mission accomplished.

But I saved $75.00 by not having to take it to the dealer!

Working on updating famousfamily.com. Lots to do. I updated the directions page. Also got the Archive working at out new address. I also have some coding to do on the archive, but that will have to wait.

This might be useful for an obscure interview question.
Java and .Net interoperability using CORBA

Interview Question:
The Code Project - Mapping Text to Enum entries - C# Programming

Obfuscation
Obfuscate It: Thwart Reverse Engineering of Your Visual Basic .NET or C# Code -- MSDN Magazine, November 2003
Why You Need Obfuscation