Eddie On Everything

Working around the 1935 error with HRESULT 0×80131532 when installing Visual Studio

It took me no less than 5 hours of my day to uninstall the previous (beta) version (a long, multi-step process), do a boatload of manual cleanup, troubleshoot no fewer than 5 errors with the install of the new version, and then actually install the new version.

There’s a guy named Aaron Stebner who has a complied a great deal of information on the unintall/reinstall process. Below I’ve linked to each of his articles that I had to reference throughout the day. I recommend that you start with the first and go from there.

I would add one other tip - if you’re getting the “HRESULT 0×80131532″ when installing the new version, try going into Add/Remove programs and choosing “uninstall” for “Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0.” The program will then ask if you want to uninstall of if you want to “repair.” Choose “repair” - that seemed to fix the problem for me.

Be forewarned that while the uninstall program for version 2.0 of .NET offers a “repair” option, the uninstall for version 1.1 does not - which means that if you choose this option, it really will uninstall the whole thing.

Good Luck.

• What to do if I get package load failures in the final release of VS 2005?
• How to resolve Visual Studio 2005 IDE errors after uninstalling previous betas
• Definitive list of workarounds for Package Load Failure errors in Visual Studio 2005
• How to resolve Visual Studio 2005 IDE errors after uninstalling previous betas
• How to use FSnap to locate files with a specific version in the GAC
• Info about the 1935 error with HRESULT 0×80131532
• Troubleshooting 1935 and 2908 errors during installation

Map Showing the Modern Distribution of World Religions

I happened across this great map showing the distributions of the world’s religions. As one would expect, Christianity dominates the Americas, Europe, Northern Asia and Australia, while Islam dominates the Middle East and Northern Africa. Hinduism is big in India, and surprise surprse, the generic term “Chinese Religions” is most popular in, of all places, China.

I would have liked to have seen a little finer breakdown of some of the categories, but that aside, the map is pretty good. It breaks Christianity into Protestant, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic and Islam into Sunni and Shia. Of course many of these categories could be forther subdivided (especially Protestantism) but this is great for a general overall picture.

This is a small version of the map and key. To see the full sized version, visit Wadsworth.com.

Check out the full sized version at the Wadsworth website

List of Internet Country Code Abbreviations, Sorted by Country Name

AF Afghanistan
AL Albania
DZ Algeria
AS American Samoa
AD Andorra
AO Angola
AI Anguilla
AQ Antarctica
AG Antigua and Barbuda
AR Argentina
AM Armenia
AW Aruba
AU Australia
AT Austria
AZ Azerbaijan
BS Bahamas
BH Bahrain
BD Bangladesh
BB Barbados
BY Belarus
BE Belgium
BZ Belize
BJ Benin
BM Bermuda
BT Bhutan
BO Bolivia
BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
BW Botswana
BV Bouvet Island
BR Brazil
IO British Indian Ocean Territory
BN Brunei Darussalam
BG Bulgaria
BF Burkina Faso
BI Burundi
KH Cambodia
CM Cameroon
CA Canada
CV Cape Verde
KY Cayman Islands
CF Central African Republic
TD Chad
CL Chile
CN China
CX Christmas Island
CC Cocos (Keeling Islands)
CO Colombia
KM Comoros
CG Congo
CK Cook Islands
CR Costa Rica
CI Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
HR Croatia (Hrvatska)
CU Cuba
CY Cyprus
CZ Czech Republic
DK Denmark
DJ Djibouti
DM Dominica
DO Dominican Republic
TP East Timor
EC Ecuador
EG Egypt
SV El Salvador
GQ Equatorial Guinea
ER Eritrea
EE Estonia
ET Ethiopia
FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
FO Faroe Islands
FJ Fiji
FI Finland
FR France
FX France, Metropolitan
GF French Guiana
PF French Polynesia
TF French Southern Territories
GA Gabon
GM Gambia
GE Georgia
DE Germany
GH Ghana
GI Gibraltar
GR Greece
GL Greenland
GD Grenada
GP Guadeloupe
GU Guam
GT Guatemala
GN Guinea
GW Guinea-Bissau
GY Guyana
HT Haiti
HM Heard and McDonald Islands
HN Honduras
HK Hong Kong
HU Hungary
IS Iceland
IN India
ID Indonesia
IR Iran
IQ Iraq
IE Ireland
IL Israel
IT Italy
JM Jamaica
JP Japan
JO Jordan
KZ Kazakhstan
KE Kenya
KI Kiribati
KP Korea (North) (People’s Republic)
KR Korea (South) (Republic)
KW Kuwait
KG Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic)
LA Laos
LV Latvia
LB Lebanon
LS Lesotho
LR Liberia
LY Libya
LI Liechtenstein
LT Lithuania
LU Luxembourg
MO Macau
MK Macedonia
MG Madagascar
MW Malawi
MY Malaysia
MV Maldives
ML Mali
MT Malta
MH Marshall Islands
MQ Martinique
MR Mauritania
MU Mauritius
YT Mayotte
MX Mexico
FM Micronesia
MD Moldova
MC Monaco
MN Mongolia
MS Montserrat
MA Morocco
MZ Mozambique
MM Myanmar
NA Namibia
NR Nauru
NP Nepal
NL Netherlands
AN Netherlands Antilles
NT Neutral Zone (Saudia Arabia/Iraq)
NC New Caledonia
NZ New Zealand
NI Nicaragua
NE Niger
NG Nigeria
NU Niue
NF Norfolk Island
MP Northern Mariana Islands
NO Norway
OM Oman
PK Pakistan
PW Palau
PA Panama
PG Papua New Guinea
PY Paraguay
PE Peru
PH Philippines
PN Pitcairn
PL Poland
PT Portugal
PR Puerto Rico
QA Qatar
RE Reunion
RO Romania
RU Russian Federation
RW Rwanda
GS S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls.
KN Saint Kitts and Nevis
LC Saint Lucia
VC Saint Vincent and The Grenadines
WS Samoa
SM San Marino
ST Sao Tome and Principe
SA Saudi Arabia
SN Senegal
SC Seychelles
SL Sierra Leone
SG Singapore
SK Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
SI Slovenia
SB Solomon Islands
SO Somalia
ZA South Africa
SU Soviet Union (former)
ES Spain
LK Sri Lanka
SH St. Helena
PM St. Pierre and Miquelon
SD Sudan
SR Suriname
SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
SZ Swaziland
SE Sweden
CH Switzerland
SY Syria
TW Taiwan
TJ Tajikistan
TZ Tanzania
TH Thailand
TG Togo
TK Tokelau
TO Tonga
TT Trinidad and Tobago
TN Tunisia
TR Turkey
TM Turkmenistan
TC Turks and Caicos Islands
TV Tuvalu
UG Uganda
UA Ukraine
AE United Arab Emirates
UK United Kingdom (Great Britain)
US United States
UY Uruguay
UM US Minor Outlying Islands
UZ Uzbekistan
VU Vanuatu
VA Vatican City State (Holy See)
VE Venezuela
VN Viet Nam
VG Virgin Islands (British)
VI Virgin Islands (US)
WF Wallis and Futuna Islands
EH Western Sahara
YE Yemen
YU Yugoslavia
ZR Zaire
ZM Zambia
ZW Zimbabwe

List of Internet Country Code Abbreviations, Sorted by Country Code

AD Andorra
AE United Arab Emirates
AF Afghanistan
AG Antigua and Barbuda
AI Anguilla
AL Albania
AM Armenia
AN Netherlands Antilles
AO Angola
AQ Antarctica
AR Argentina
AS American Samoa
AT Austria
AU Australia
AW Aruba
AZ Azerbaijan
BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
BB Barbados
BD Bangladesh
BE Belgium
BF Burkina Faso
BG Bulgaria
BH Bahrain
BI Burundi
BJ Benin
BM Bermuda
BN Brunei Darussalam
BO Bolivia
BR Brazil
BS Bahamas
BT Bhutan
BV Bouvet Island
BW Botswana
BY Belarus
BZ Belize
CA Canada
CC Cocos (Keeling Islands)
CF Central African Republic
CG Congo
CH Switzerland
CI Cote D’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)
CK Cook Islands
CL Chile
CM Cameroon
CN China
CO Colombia
CR Costa Rica
CU Cuba
CV Cape Verde
CX Christmas Island
CY Cyprus
CZ Czech Republic
DE Germany
DJ Djibouti
DK Denmark
DM Dominica
DO Dominican Republic
DZ Algeria
EC Ecuador
EE Estonia
EG Egypt
EH Western Sahara
ER Eritrea
ES Spain
ET Ethiopia
FI Finland
FJ Fiji
FK Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
FM Micronesia
FO Faroe Islands
FR France
FX France, Metropolitan
GA Gabon
GD Grenada
GE Georgia
GF French Guiana
GH Ghana
GI Gibraltar
GL Greenland
GM Gambia
GN Guinea
GP Guadeloupe
GQ Equatorial Guinea
GR Greece
GS S. Georgia and S. Sandwich Isls.
GT Guatemala
GU Guam
GW Guinea-Bissau
GY Guyana
HK Hong Kong
HM Heard and McDonald Islands
HN Honduras
HR Croatia (Hrvatska)
HT Haiti
HU Hungary
ID Indonesia
IE Ireland
IL Israel
IN India
IO British Indian Ocean Territory
IQ Iraq
IR Iran
IS Iceland
IT Italy
JM Jamaica
JO Jordan
JP Japan
KE Kenya
KG Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz Republic)
KH Cambodia
KI Kiribati
KM Comoros
KN Saint Kitts and Nevis
KP Korea (North) (People’s Republic)
KR Korea (South) (Republic)
KW Kuwait
KY Cayman Islands
KZ Kazakhstan
LA Laos
LB Lebanon
LC Saint Lucia
LI Liechtenstein
LK Sri Lanka
LR Liberia
LS Lesotho
LT Lithuania
LU Luxembourg
LV Latvia
LY Libya
MA Morocco
MC Monaco
MD Moldova
MG Madagascar
MH Marshall Islands
MK Macedonia
ML Mali
MM Myanmar
MN Mongolia
MO Macau
MP Northern Mariana Islands
MQ Martinique
MR Mauritania
MS Montserrat
MT Malta
MU Mauritius
MV Maldives
MW Malawi
MX Mexico
MY Malaysia
MZ Mozambique
NA Namibia
NC New Caledonia
NE Niger
NF Norfolk Island
NG Nigeria
NI Nicaragua
NL Netherlands
NO Norway
NP Nepal
NR Nauru
NT Neutral Zone (Saudia Arabia/Iraq)
NU Niue
NZ New Zealand
OM Oman
PA Panama
PE Peru
PF French Polynesia
PG Papua New Guinea
PH Philippines
PK Pakistan
PL Poland
PM St. Pierre and Miquelon
PN Pitcairn
PR Puerto Rico
PT Portugal
PW Palau
PY Paraguay
QA Qatar
RE Reunion
RO Romania
RU Russian Federation
RW Rwanda
SA Saudi Arabia
SB Solomon Islands
SC Seychelles
SD Sudan
SE Sweden
SG Singapore
SH St. Helena
SI Slovenia
SJ Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
SK Slovakia (Slovak Republic)
SL Sierra Leone
SM San Marino
SN Senegal
SO Somalia
SR Suriname
ST Sao Tome and Principe
SU Soviet Union (former)
SV El Salvador
SY Syria
SZ Swaziland
TC Turks and Caicos Islands
TD Chad
TF French Southern Territories
TG Togo
TH Thailand
TJ Tajikistan
TK Tokelau
TM Turkmenistan
TN Tunisia
TO Tonga
TP East Timor
TR Turkey
TT Trinidad and Tobago
TV Tuvalu
TW Taiwan
TZ Tanzania
UA Ukraine
UG Uganda
UK United Kingdom (Great Britain)
UM US Minor Outlying Islands
US United States
UY Uruguay
UZ Uzbekistan
VA Vatican City State (Holy See)
VC Saint Vincent and The Grenadines
VE Venezuela
VG Virgin Islands (British)
VI Virgin Islands (US)
VN Viet Nam
VU Vanuatu
WF Wallis and Futuna Islands
WS Samoa
YE Yemen
YT Mayotte
YU Yugoslavia
ZA South Africa
ZM Zambia
ZR Zaire
ZW Zimbabwe

How to Speed up Adobe Acrobat Reader and PDF file opening

Dumb Little Man found this little tidbit at DWTips that I wanted to pass along. (and offer my own alternative solution as well.)

DW Writes:

Every time you run Adobe Acrobat up to 20 plugins are loaded unnecessarily - most users do not need even a fraction of them!

To disable unneeded plugins and make them optional instead, follow these instructions:

1. Install the latest version of Adobe Acrobat - you can get it here
2. Browse to the plugins folder: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\plug_ins
3. Create a new folder named Optional
4. Move all files from the plug_ins folder to Optional, except EWH32.api, print*.api, and Search*.api

That’s it! Load any PDF in Adobe Acrobat to see the difference!

That is indeed a great tip - Adobe Acrobat has to be the slowest, most bloated piece of crap software in computing history. There is nothing worse that unknowingly clicking on a link to a PDF file only to have your browser lock up for 15 seconds while it loads up 50 Meg+ Adobe Acrobat.

Better Solution: Get rid of Adobe Acrobat Reader
I’ve been unable to personally try the above tip because my computers all have a strict “No-Adobe-Software” policy in place. Which brings me to my preferred, alternate solution - get rid of Adobe Acrobat. You don’t need it. There is a company out there called Foxit Software that makes a small, free, and fast PDF reader called (you guessed it) Foxit Reader.

The Foxit Reader is under one Megabyte in size (take that Adobe), and it allows you to easily type right into any document and to easily select and copy text. Adobe Acrobat Reader, on the other hand, is over 50 times as large, doesn’t do either of those tasks very well, and it constantly “phones home” to Adobe, which slows things down even more.

So unless your employer forces you to use Adobe, I recommend that you ditch it and go with Foxit. You won’t be sorry that you did.

If you’re interested in my other software recommendations, click here.

Bill Gates Leaving Microsoft, Emails Employees

Bill Gates made headlines last week when he announced that he’s leaving the company to become a full-time philanthropist. He’s planning to slowly transition out of his current role, with the final departure coming in 2008.

Today Gates sent the following email to Microsoft employees, explaining his plans and his decision.

From: MSBILLG
Sent: Thursday, June 15, 2006 1:41 PM
To: Microsoft and Subsidiaries: All FTE
Subject: My Transition Plans

I wanted to take a moment to share some of my thoughts, as well.

As Steve’s mail indicates, I’ve decided that two years from now, in July 2008, I want to devote more time to the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Right now and for the next two years, my full-time job is here at Microsoft, and my part-time job remains the Foundation. Beginning in July 2008, I will switch that, to be full-time at the Foundation, while remaining involved with Microsoft as Chairman and an advisor on key development projects on a part-time basis.

To prepare for this change, we have a well-thought-out transition process. Again, I will continue at Microsoft full-time for the next two years, but over the course of those two years, my day-to-day responsibilities will shift to a team of incredible technical leaders who are already doing amazing things at the company.

I feel very lucky that we’ve got extraordinary technical leaders at the company, like Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie, who can step up to assume the roles that I’ve played. I’ve known Ray for the last 20 years, and he has created some of the most important developments in the industry. Craig and I have worked together for nearly 14 years, and he’s been a technical visionary and a leader on policy throughout his career. With Ray and Craig stepping up, I feel very confident that the technical stewardship of Microsoft is in very capable hands.
And I feel the same way about our business leadership. Our core businesses are strong and we have a clear vision for how we will meet new challenges and opportunities. We just had our first $12 billion quarter, and we continue to generate almost a billion dollars in profit every month. We are about to launch breakthrough versions of Windows, Office and Exchange, which are already generating a lot of excitement.

Six years ago, Steve and I made a major transition when he stepped up to be CEO. He’s done a fantastic job by every measure, whether it’s the people he’s brought in, the new ways he’s running the company, or just the objective results - like doubling our revenue in six years. Steve has driven us to make bold bets on things like Xbox, Real Time Communications, business applications, IPTV, and many others including the Live platform. Steve is the best CEO I could imagine for Microsoft - he is changing the company in ways it needs to be changed. He is bringing in new leadership at all levels. And, he is focused on the long-term - making Microsoft a great company not just today but for decades to come.

With Steve’s organization of the company into three divisions led by our incredible presidents - Jeff Raikes, Robbie Bach, and Kevin Johnson - we’ve laid a solid foundation for greater autonomy, agility and entrepreneurial spirit in our product groups. And with the great addition of Kevin Turner as our COO, our leadership team has never been stronger.

Our deep technical strength is one of the key reasons I believe Microsoft is well-positioned for great success in the years ahead. I’m very pleased that in addition to Ray, Craig, David and Rick, Steve has asked J Allard, Bob Muglia, and Steven Sinofsky to play an expanded role in shaping the company’s business and technology strategy. And when you consider all of our remarkable Technical Fellows, Distinguished Engineers, all of the brilliant researchers working at our MSR labs around the world, and all the technical people in the business groups, I can safely say that our technical talent has never been stronger or deeper.

Obviously, this has been a very hard decision for me. Microsoft will always be a huge part of my life, and I’m lucky to have two callings that are so important and so challenging.

On a personal note, I know that my work on global health and education issues at the Foundation would never have been possible without the enormous success of Microsoft, so I want to thank you and all of the employees past and present who have contributed so much to this company.

For these last 31 years, I’ve had the best job in the world. I’ve worked with some of the brightest and most passionate people in the world. Together, we’ve built a great company whose products have empowered people around the world.

We’re only at the beginning of what software can do, and I’m excited about the impact that Microsoft can have. I’m going to take an extended vacation this summer with my family, but I’ll be back in late August and I look forward to working with all of you for the next two years and beyond, to make those dreams a reality.

Thanks.

Bill

US Population nears 300 Million

I checked the US Census Bureau’s population clock project today, and saw that the nation has just reached 299 million people.

U.S. POPClock Projection

According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, the resident population of the United States, projected to 06/17/06 at 21:19 GMT (EST+5) is
299,000,750
COMPONENT SETTINGS FOR JUNE 2006

One birth every……………………………. 8 seconds
One death every……………………………. 13 seconds
One international migrant (net) every………… 30 seconds
Net gain of one person every………………… 11 seconds

Using the stated figures, this means that the US population grows by 28,800 people every day. (There are 86,400 seconds in one day, divided by 11 seconds per person.)

At this rate, it will take only about 35 days to reach 300 million people. So the US should gain its 300 millionth person right around July 22nd or so.

I think it would be kinda cool if we reached 300,000,000 on Independence Day, don’t you?

Aykroyd “Unplugged” UFO Movie Amateurish, Full of Comical Errors

And not only that, but it’s clear throughout that Dan Aykroyd has lost his marbles.

The CNN Interview
Dan Aykroyd appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper the other day, and I happened to catch it. (Watch the Video | Read the transcript). In the interview, Aykroyd talks about his new documentary Dan Aykroyd Unplugged on UFOs, in which he reveals a life-long interest in the extraterrestial.

He starts the interview sounding well-reasoned and believable enough, saying that he has personally seen an object that he could not identify, and that he believes that there is a lot of anecdotal evidence that supports a UFOs-are-flying-around theory. OK, Dan, I’m with ya so far. He soon starts to veer off into the absurd by relaying an experience in which alien beings were communicating with him as he slept, commanding him to go outside and look up into the sky.

Um, what?

Either Dan is joking or this is going to be one entertaining movie, I thought. This I have to see!

The Movie

I got ahold of the flick, and I’m sad to report that by the end of the movie, it’s clear that Dan isn’t joking. He isn’t playing a character, nor is he just goofing around. The man is nuts. No, I’m not kidding. Nuts as in “Bonkers.” Crazy. Looney. One-step-away-from-a-rubber-room, running-naked-through-the-town screaming-mad insane.

The Government is Tailing Dan Aykroyd with an Invisible Car

Why do I say this? You kind of have to see the movie to get the full effect, but here’s one scene - the movie culminates with Dan Aykroyd accusing the US government of orchestrating the cancellation of his cable show, presumably because “he knows too much.” His proof?

“On the day my show was cancelled, I was on the phone with Britney Spears and a black Ford sedan was following me. Eventually it stopped, and a man wearing all black got out. I turned away for one second, and when I looked back, it had VANISHED! It didn’t drive away, it VANISHED. Cars can’t drive away that fast. This vehicle didn’t drive away- it disappeared. This was a secret “cloaked vehicle”.

I believe this was intended as a “warning” to me, because I was getting too close.

No, he isn’t kidding. It’s really all very sad.

Spotty Proof

Equally as sad, only in a different way, is the movie itself. For its primary support, the movie leans on meaningless and often contradictory popular opinion polls. “50% of Americans believe in UFOs.” “80% americans believe in a government coverup of UFOs.” “Over 3 million Americans claim to have been abducted by UFOs.” “9 out of 10 dentists prefer Crest.”

The movie also relies on eyewitnesses who are clearly lying through their teeth. Case in point, in one scene, a man identified as Ken Storch, “USAF Retired 1969-1974,” tells a fantastic tale of which he reportedly has first hand knowledge.

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

According to Storch, a “UFO incident” (of which he reportedly has personal knowledge) in the early 70s brought the US and Russia to the brink of nuclear war. In describing the incident, the alleged retired 5-year Air Force man describes U.S. DEFCON (”Defense Condition”) levels completely backwards. He says that the US “upgraded … the DEFCON from 3 to 5,” and described “DEFCON 5″ as “the level at which the nuclear missles would be launched.”

Um, hello Airman! Any 10 year old who’s seen the movie “Independence Day” knows that DEFCON ONE is the highest defensive condition, not DEFCON 5. On the contrary, DEFCON 5 is the lowest alert level possible:

* DEFCON 1: Maximum force readiness.
* DEFCON 2: Increased force readiness (less than maximum).
* DEFCON 3: Increased force readiness.
* DEFCON 4: Peacetime; Increased intelligence; Strengthened security measures.
* DEFCON 5: Peacetime.

You’d think that a five year Air Force vet would know this, wouldn’t you? You’d think that someone who claims to have “personal knowledge” and to have been involved in the US coming inches away from lauching a nuclear attack would know at least as much about the DEFCON levels as a 12 year old, wouldn’t you?

My lord, I’d at least think that the filmmaker, or the production staff, or even Dan freaking Aykroyd would have done a little fact checking before deciding that some guy off the street with a story to tell was the real deal.

This little part is even made better by the seeming accuracy of the guys statements. “At that time, Richard Milhaus Nixon picked up the phone….” Oooooh, using the President’s middle name - very official and authoritative sounding. But mucking up the “DEFCON” levels? Come on, Ken Storch, admit - the closest you’ve ever come to the Air Force has been in the daily flights of fancy that you take as you imagine yourself as the King of Sweden.

A Cacophony of Errors

It would take me hours to list everything ridiculous about this movie, so here are just a few quick hits:

• Aykroyd: “The day that a million people, at a rock concert in Idaho see [a UFO] that’s when you’ll really get [a government response].” Wow, that’s a ginormous rock concert, Dan! Where would they hold it? Oh, I know, we’ll move Notre Dame Stadium there - and make it TWELVE TIMES LARGER. The whole state of Idaho barely has one million people total population (Idaho — Population: 1,293,953), let alone rock fans. I didn’t choose this to pick on the guy for making a slip of the tongue, or anything like that - this is just one example of Dan saying fantastically ridiculous things. This is one example of hundreds, taken from the ramblings of a madman.

• Thinking that he’s proving, once and for all, that the government is covering up alleged alien encounters of our astronauts, the interviewer asks Dan, “If you really wanted to go to space, but they would only let you go up if you swore to keep the alien encounters a secret, would you go up and agree to keep it secret?” WHAT?
• Throughout the movie, Aykroyd hypothesizes that the alien races that are currently visiting us are hundreds of thousands or even billions of years ahead of us in technology. Billions of years ahead of us in technology and the best craft they can come up with crashed in New Mexico in 1947, right? In 100 years, we went from Kitty Hawk to the Moon, but in one billion years the aliens haven’t figured out how to build a craft that doesn’t look like my mother’s pressure cooker? And they haven’t figured out that to sneak in late at you have to turn off your headlights and coast while you approach, so you’re not visible to every Tom, Dick, and Dan on the ground?
• “They are here to help us,” says Dan. “The beings are concerned about us, want to give us the opportunity to advance ourselves. … I really want to know, 300 years from now - did we make it?” Yes, the aliens made it billions of years with no help at all, yet we can’t make it another 300 without E.T.’s assistance.
• What in the world is “the crop circle movement?” It’s a movement now?
• The Feynman quote doesnt support your movie, kids. It’s completely contrary to your message. Do you not understand English? Maybe if it was in Klingon…

All in all, I suppose that the movie is pretty entertaining, if you take it entertainment-only. As a “documentary,” however it’s pretty pathetic.

It’s also pretty sad to see how crazy-paranoid Dan Aykroyd has become - I mean, come on, he was a freaking Ghostbuster! A GHOSTBUSTER! If you grew up in the 80’s, like I did, you know that there ain’t much cooler than a GHOSTBUSTER. If you want to remember Dan Aykroyd properly, you may want to skip this feature so he’s always “Ray” to you.

Hidden Skype Icons and Emoticons

In addition to those provided in the drop-down list, Skype has a number of hidden emoticons as well. Some of these are not available with all versions. To be sure that they all work, be sure that you and the person you are chatting with both have the latest version of Skype.

If you know of any not included in the list, please post them in the comments.

Skype Hidden Emoticons

to use, type	description	image
(mooning)	a man dropping his pants	p
(toivo)	a man and his dog	p
(finger)	flipping the bird	p
(kate)	putting on lipstick	p
(bandit)	a ninja looking emoticon	p
(headbang) (banghead)	smiley banging his head into a wall
(drunk)	a drunk smiley	p
(rock)	smiley making the rocker hand sign	p
(smoke) (smoking) (ci)	smoking smiley	p

This is a list of all of the Emoticons that Skype understands:

:) :- ) :=)
:( :- ( :=(
:D :- D :=D :d :-d :=d
8) 8- ) 8=)
:O :-O :=O : o : -o : =o
;) ;- ) ;=)
;( ;-( ;=(
(sweat) (:|
:| :- | :=|
:* :-* :=*
:P :- P :=P :p :-p :=p
(blush) :$ :-$ :=$ :”>
|-) I-) I=) (snooze)
(|-( |( |=(
(inlove)
]:) >:) (grin)
(talk)
(yawn) |-()
(puke) :& :-&
(doh)
:@ :-@ :=@ x( x-( X( X-( x=( X=(
(wasntme)
(party)
:S :-S :s :-S
(mm)
8-| B-| 8| B| 8=| B=|
:x :- x :X :-X :# :-# :=x :=X :=#
(makeup) (kate)
(chuckle) (giggle)
(clap)
(think) :- ? : ?
(y) (Y) (ok)
(n) (N)
(handshake)
(skype) (ss)
(h) (H) (l) (L)
(u) (U)
(e) (m)
(F) (f)
(rain) (st)
(#) (sun)
(o) (O)
(music)
(~) (film) (movie)
(mp) (ph)
(coffee)
(pi) (pizza)
(cash) (mo)
(flex)
(^) (cake)
(beer)
(d) (D)
(dance) \o/ \:D/ \:d/
(ninja)
(*) (#)
(mooning)
(finger)
(bandit)
(toivo)


If you know of others, post them in the comments.

What is a Trackback or Pingback?

Q: What is a “Trackback” or “Pingback?”

A: Ah, welcome to the wonderful world of blogging! The term “trackback,” sometimes called a “pingback,” is shorthand for “trackback link” or “pingback link.” It’s an automatically generated link that blog software uses to identify other blog posts that refer to the blog post in question. In other words, when someone else links to a post on your blog, their software may try to send a “trackback” or “pingback.” If your blog software supports trackbacks, your post will then automatically display a link to the to the other person’s post that links to yours.

Trackbacks allow a reader to obtain more information on a given topic. They also encourages bloggers to link to one another, as it increases blog visibility. If you’re a new blogger, you can promote your blog by linking to posts on popular blogs, thus getting you a “trackback link” that many people will see.

As with any attention-getting technique, the trackback system has been overrun by spammers. Fortunately, a number of plugins exist for dealing with trackback spam - do a search for “trackback spam” and your blog software name to find them.

Because dealing with the spam can be a huge pain in the butt, though, you may want to disable trackbacks on your blog alltogether.

I’ve left the trackbacks on this blog post open, so if you’d like to experiment with trackbacks, just create a post on your blog that links to this one. When you do, this page will automatically display a link back to your post. (Keep in mind that this link may take a while to show up — I may have to manually “approve” your trackback.)

Hope this helps!