SyncToy

So at Microsoft, we have this email alias where we can post any questions we have about anything and they’ll help us. Today I asked about backing up software. The software I was using that came with my Seagate HardDrives were less than satisfactory. It didn’t have much options besides copy everything from Directory X to Directory Y and when ever it hit a problem (such as a file that it couldn’t access because the file was in use), it would stop.

Someone on that alias suggested SyncToy for Windows XP. I’ve gotta say, I’m really happy with this solution. Not only is it’s free, it has many options to choose from and even supports network directories. Only thing missing was the fact it didn’t come with a scheduler, though it did come with instructions on how to use the Windows Scheduler with the software which works for me. Another thing I wanted my backup software to do was not update files that didn’t change, but the seagate software just overwrote everything.

The different modes it supports are:
Synchronize: New and updated files are copied both ways. Renames and deletes on either side are repeated on the other.
Echo: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames and deletes on the left are repeated on the right.
Subscribe: Updated files on the right are copied to the left if the file name already exists on the left.
Contribute: New and updated files are copied left to right. Renames on the left are repeated on the right. No deletions.
Combine: New and updated files are copied both ways. Nothing happens to renamed and deleted files.

The mode that I was looking for was exactly what Echo does.

I also got some other responses suggesting xcopy and robocopy which both did what I wanted, but SyncToy was simpler. hehe.

I WON @ BLINGO!

Haha! While writing the previous post, I was doing a search on how to modify .htaccess to stop hotlinking and I landed myself a $10 iTunes GC. It was that or a Blingo Movie ticket.

blingo prize

Join Blingo! I just installed the Blingo QuickSearch Bar instead of the default Google or A9 search bar I had before and use the search engine as I normally do since it just displays Google results.

Berkeley Friends’ Visit

It’s been a crazy weekend! Couple of friends from Berkeley came up and visited CDMCC and me. Liam, SFHalcyon, Vandel, and Brenna flew all the way to Seattle to visit us. We had a blast. Went out to several fancy restaurants. Went out drinking. Played a lot of fool and asshole (Big2 with slightly different rules). Just to show my appreciation, I took a shot of Grey Goose. Was pretty horrid and guess who chickened out in the end. HAHA. Though he did have a Long Island Ice Tea beforehand. Liam didn’t really get to enjoy his vacation much. Spent both Friday and Saturday working on his CS162 project (operating systems) because as he claims, “his partners are idiots.” On Sunday, we all went out hiking at Twin Falls (where Twin Peaks was filmed). The waterfalls there were pretty and we all had fun. My legs did get a bit sore, but not as much as I was expecting. Check out the pictures I took in the photo album. Be sure to check out the videos at the end of the album.

So lemme back track a bit. It’s been probably over a week since I last posted. Maybe just a little under since the gang showed up on Thursday night, and that was when I stopped posting. Thursday night before they arrived, I met Karl’s UCSD roommate Joseph and Joseph’s current roommate Tyler. CDMCC introduced me to them and they were new hires too and we had dinner together. It was pretty fun. Joseph is on the MSN team and Tyler IIRC was on the Windows MSI team.

Afterwards, time was running close to arrival, so both CDMCC decided to go straight to the airport to pick up Liam and SFHalcyon. Was a bit on gasoline, but there really wasn’t any other better plan. Vandel and Brenna’s flight got delayed and would be coming in around midnight. It was awesome to see Liam again. I’ve missed him so much! The next few days were a blast. I had to work on Friday since ZBB just past (zero bug bar) and ZRB (zero resolved bugs) was the following week, but I met up with them after work for dinner.

On my way over there, I hit major traffic jam, even though it was 7:30 already. Turns out there was some sort major car accident. I passed by a black car on the side of the freeway, crushed in the front, flipped over, and police officers trying to tear the car apart. After I past that wreck, it was smooth sailing… until I hit the Mercer exit. I usually take the Stuart exit, but CDMCC told me the Mercer tends to be faster. I got lost. hahaha. in the middle of Seattle. But after a number of wrong turns and just following my instincts, I found my way to CDMCC’s apartment complex. What usually took 20mins ended taking over an hr and change.

Liam also ended up staying over at my place and we had a great time watching the 1hr Bleach special. It’s getting exciting!!! I can’t wait to see Ichigo’s bankai! Let’s see, what happened next. Oh yah! On Saturday afternoon, we all chilled at the Microsoft field across from Building 16 and played catch and threw the football around. It was rather fun. The girls didn’t join in though. Later on, Vandel started whipping people with his extra long chewed bubble gum and that was a quite sight.

Sigh…. It was so disappointing. After lunch, we all went back to CDMCC’s place to watch the Cal vs UCLA football game. Both teams were undefeated. It was such a great start for Cal, but HOW THE HELL DID WE LOSE!?!?!? Sigh… It still hurts to think back to that game. Only thing we can hope for is that we defeat USC and USC defeats UCLA. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. We were planning to.. well THEY were planning to have a big celebration after we “win” the game, but everyone was so disappointed after the game, we just sat around doing nothing.

Sunday was pretty sweet. Liz and CDMCC took us to Twin Falls, just east of Redmond. The drive was around 40 mins or so, but I wasn’t really counting. Apparently this was where they filmed Twin Peaks. The waterfall was pretty, though I didn’t get to try that “great cup of joe” as the series advertised. CDMCC did mention that to stay at the hotel for a night cost $200 or was it $400. At the scenic viewing spot, there were TONS AND TONS of ladybugs. I’m guessing it was ladybug mating season and they were landing all over me. Liz was scared because she kept thinking they were some dangerous type of beetle. Can’t seem to remember the type right now.

Afterwards we went hiking. The hike took about 2.5hrs (to and back). It was quite a workout which I haven’t had in some time. Got to see some nice scenarys (see photo album). Nothing much happened during the hike, besides the “conversations” we were having were quite inappropriate to be spoken in the public. But everyone had fun and Brenna and SFHalcyon had a flight to catch @ 8 so we left quickly and headed back.

CDMCC took us to this fancy restaurant in Fremont and they had TONS AND TONS of beer. Belgium beer I believe was their specialty. I had my lemonade, though it wasn’t quite sweet enough. Everyone had a blast. I decided I’d take Liam to the airport the next morning, so he came back to my place. It’s been awhile since I’ve had to wake up at earlier than 7am. That’s like my sleeping time! The drive there was pretty relaxed since I was able to take the carpool lane, but the drive back took a bit longer than expected cause I was hitting morning traffic. Vandel left later that day, but CDMCC took him to the airport.

Server Change

What Grinds My Gears: Toilets should have 2 levers to tell it when to stop adding water. When a toilet is clogged, it always tends to overflow because it’s not smart enough to realize that the water is about to go past the top. But if it had a lever like it does in the tank and if the water passes a certain level in the bowl, it should trigger it and stop the water! As you may have guessed, I had an overflowing toilet. Let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty.

First of all, you should probably noticed by now on the server change and layout changes. I’ve decided to go with Gallery for images and WordPress for my blog (which I’ll be customizing the layout to fit what I want). Reason for doing this is because I’m tired of limitations on size and bandwidth and since this server gives me 5GB of space and 160GB of bandwidth, thought I’d take advantage of it since I hardly use over 1GB/month here.

Plus the fact 1and1.com just emailed me and told me I was @ 90% of my bandwidth. The old site is still available at http://s86952823.onlinehome.us/krunk4ever.com/. I’m trying to see if there’s some easy way to import my old posts, if not, they’ll be slowly imported.

ZBB and Bowling

it was a pretty fun day. our team went out and celebrated reaching zbb (zero bug bar). went to teapot for lunch (food wasn’t that great though), but it was company paid for and then we went bowling. haha. it was embarrassing. the first round, i scored the lowest with a 60pt score. the first round was to see the skilled vs the amateurs and decide on teams. and losers had to buy donuts (one person per day, and with teams of 5, that meant a week of donuts). haha. there were 15 ppl, and everything worked out, until one of my teammates tells us she needs to go back. so what ended up happenings was i had to bowl twice for each turn on my team (since i was the worse). arm’s actually pretty sore right now. but the tides turned! i was no longer the lowest scorer! i jumped to the 80s and 90s (since i bowled for 2 people) in the 2nd game. though my team didn’t win, we didn’t lose either, so we were safe from the donut buying. we decided to have one more game. for the losing team, it was double or nothing, or if another team lost, they’d have to buy donuts = 2 weeks of donuts. but this last game was amazing, toland #1 as people differentiating between my 2 scores bowled a 143, though birthday boy (one of my teammates bday was today) scored a 157. it was pretty weird, i had multiple gutter balls and faults (this bowling alley actually records faults when your foot passes the line). 2 of my faults were strikes! and i only made 4 faults altogether. toland #1 somehow ended up making a spare strike strike consecutively. and ended with a strike strike 9 gutter. toland #2 on this game got the 90s, though i had consecutive gutter balls for 2 turns. guess what, our team didn’t lose again, but another team did lose so that = 2 weeks of donuts. i’m going to get so fat…

thanks to hung for donating this link: mario 20th anniversary memorial. pretty neat mario and luigi drawings.

thanks to cari for donating this article: Python Bursts After Trying to Eat Gator. A 13-foot Burmese python recently burst after it apparently tried to swallow a live, six-foot alligator whole, authorities said. might wanna think twice about eating that extra chicken wing when you feel so stuffed. buffets are EVIL!!!

got this article from yahoo: Language Trends in 2005 Are ‘Crunked-Up’. “Crunk” — the American hybrid for crazy and drunk — is an example of how words evolve from popular culture, according to Susie Dent, author of “Fanboys and Overdogs: The Language Report.” “Crunk is generating all sorts of offshoot terms in the U.S. — crunk ‘n’ b, crunk rock, crunkster — and looks set to catch on in Britain, too,” Dent said. “New words travel from one variety of English to another and at a rapidly increasing rate, thanks to the way language is exchanged today over e-mail, chat-rooms, TV, etc.” i think they’re talking about me. ;p

got this article from yahoo: Cops Handle Kids’ Fist Fight Over Pacifier. It all started Monday afternoon, when a 6-year-old boy dropped a pacifier. Another 6-year-old boy picked it up and refused to give it back, allegedly prompting the first child to deliver a punch. story wasn’t that interesting, but pacifiers for 6yr olds?!?! then again, i’m the one that like sucking and chewing straws. i think i’m stuck in the oral stage in freud’s terms.

got these from pya!:

Movies Galore!

my mom’s bday is tomorrow, so

HAPPY BDAY MOM!!!

so it was a nice weekend. rained a lot. i did manage somehow to spend $320 @ costco. haha. that evil place! everything just looks like a bargain! on the other hand, i am stocked with food. frozen spicy chicken wings, croissants, salami, cheddar cheese, seafood dip, crackers, dumplings, butter, pesto sauce, and more.

so my office depot chair finally arrived. might have to put it together tomorrow since i’m quite tired tonite already.

watched a bunch of movies this weekend, unfortunately haven’t gotten to watch Serenity yet. finally watched Resident Evil – Apocalypse. wasn’t as bad as i was expecting it to be. the storyline actually continued from the 1st one pretty well and gave an ending which would probably lead to RE3. also watched Four Brothers. movie was pretty good as i’ve also been told. then i watched March of the Penguins. didn’t know it was in french so it caught me by surprise. the baby penguins were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute!!! and you might guess the kid’s voice was my favorite. also watched a chinese movie called Seven Swords. it was so so. nice choreography, but storyline was pretty stale. Valiant (the bird 3d animation) was pretty good. enjoyable and not too much thinking. and to end this, i went to watch The 40-Year-Old Virgin with cdmcc and elizabeth today. movie was really funny. would definitely recommend that.

got this link from our company meeting: poorsport. i was checking out their songs and videos. they’re pretty good and then i found this video: challenge. makes me wonder what the heck baby food makers are thinking sometimes. i loved gerber baby food. they’re so good! i remember i stole some from my siblings when i was small. from the cupboard and not from their plate! i wasn’t that evil. but some flavors were just so gross, a dog wouldn’t even eat it. is it cause the baby can’t complain?

so msticazn told me about this new site: blingo. it’s basically a search engine like a9 that uses google results, but they give away prizes when you use their search engine. How Blingo works: 1. We pick a bunch of random winning times. 2. Search at the right time and you win. No registration required. 3. Then tell us where to send your prize. at first, i was pretty skeptical, but thought why not. i use a9 and they give me 1.57% off @ amazon, but i dont have to use it that frequently. might as weel give blingo a shot. later today, msticazn sends me this image:

blingo movie ticket
a movie ticket a friend of msticazn actually won from blingo

i haven’t won anything yet, but it’s only been a day, and it looks like there usually around 30-60 winners per day. do note that only your first 10 daily searchs qualify for winning. that’s probably to deter people from spamming their servers for redundant requests just to win.

thanks to belldandy for donating this article: SplashPad: Cut the power cords. remember my rant about wireless energy/electricity. well, apparently there’s been a technology called inductive charging (learnt this from a colleague at work) that’s been utilized in electric toothbrushes all these years: How can an electric toothbrush recharge its batteries when there are no metal contacts between the toothbrush and the base? however, inductive charging wastes a lot of electricity and isn’t efficient, but things like toothbrush which gets wet all the time is a good reason to use inductive charging. one disadvantage of inductive charging is it requires very close proximity to the charging base, which then again defeats the main purpose of wireless power.

thanks to my officemate for donating this link: What’s the story behind R.E.M.’s song “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth”? never heard the song, but interesting way of how the song title came about (remember to read at least the last paragraph).

got this article from /. : So what do you have to do to find happiness? the article was pretty common sense, but the /. comments were hilarious:

  • happiness is overrated. After having been chronically depressed for the past years i found out that happiness is just a balance of the right drugs.
  • <<Yes.. It’s human nature to be discontent.. and that separates some of us from the apes.>> I always thought it was the fact that some of us don’t fling poo at eachother that seperated us from the apes… I guess I was mistaken.
  • “Men don’t know what happiness is until they are married, but by then it’s too late”.

got these from pya!:

Microwave Power Levels

what grinds my gears: how come microwaves don’t have a standard? P100 on this microwave doesn’t mean P100 on another microwave. 5 minutes cooking in this microwave at the same power level doesn’t equal the same 5 minutes in another microwave. for me, i always know to undercook in my microwave because setting the given amount of time always has overcooked anything i tried.

been a long day. tired. so short entry.

thanks to kharizma for donating this flash game: Poke the Penguin. try a few times, there’s different endings.

thanks to kharizma for donating this link: Bunny suicides. sad, yet cute.

got this article from yahoo: Doctor sued for sex treatment for back pain. An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her … and sent to jail for 60 days last year for charging the state’s Oregon Health Plan $5,000 for his 45-minute “treatments” involving the woman.

got this article from yahoo: Bogus work excuses on the rise: ‘God didn’t wake me’. Reasons not to show up for work ranged from: “I was too drunk to drive to work” to “I forgot I was getting married today.” One employee who did not believe in alarm clocks told the boss that “God didn’t wake me.”

Computer is Ready

forecasts say that we’ll be getting rain on and off for the next 2 weeks.

dmv is stupid. i sent in my change of address/move out of state form for my vehicle and id and guess what they mail me here in washington. a vehicle license renewal notice. sigh…

so my computer systems have finally been completely set up. it’s been setup for awhile, but it was today when i finally closed the case. no more hdds hanging out on the side. no more ghetto-rigging some computer fans. + i finally installed my seagate backup software, so my “documents and settings” folder, along with my “program files” folders will be backed up through the network onto my raid 5 drive. currently i have 760GB installed. add on my external 120GB and my spare 160GB, i’d have over 1TB! i’d have more, but i have to ship back my 200GB drive to wdc, because UPS made a snafu, where somehow the box i shipped with a hdd, foam, and papers became an empty box. but they’re paying the insurance claim, so i have no complaints for selling a used 200GB for $100, since i can probably get a new 300GB with that money. i’ve been having horrible shipping experiences lately. office depot screws up and my chair has yet to arrive for over 2 weeks. they did drop by on friday, but no one was around. my anime order never showed up, so i just faxed in my cc dispute supporting documents yesterday. and i’ve already mentioned that time when i ordered a raid card and it came with the box and manual, but the hardware itself was missing. leads me to think that the ups distribution center here might have something going on…

got this link from /. : Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning. a star trek parody. The first Finnish full-length scifi parody is made from astounding special effects, action and loads of dark humour. It is the product of a core group of five Finns and many people who’ve helped us during the seven years it has been in the making. You can download the entire movie by clicking here. For free, of course.

got this article from /. : What’s with them young whippersnappers? Canadians between the ages of 18 and 29 are much more willing than other age groups to make illegal copies of software programs, cheat on exams or even shoplift, an Environics poll suggests. Nearly 27 per cent of younger people surveyed said they would consider cheating on a test or exam, compared with 10 per cent of the general population. do keep in mind this “study” was done by the Canadian Recording Industry Association, canada’s RIAA equivalent. they seem to be trying to associate a relationship downloading illegal files with cheating or shoplifting.

got this article from yahoo: San Francisco Street Becomes Ski Jump. After several tons of trucked-in snow were dumped on two blocks of Fillmore Street, a section so steep that the sidewalks have built-in staircases, Moseley and friends drew a big crowd on the gorgeously sunny day, and their aerial tricks as they soared across Vallejo Street had the fans cheering.

got this article from yahoo: Bar Made From Arctic Ice Opens in London. A chilly bit of Scandinavia is coming to the heart of London’s West End Saturday with the opening of Absolut Icebar, a bar made entirely out of ice right down to the art on the walls and the glasses for the drinks.

got this article from yahoo: Media boasts land top hooker in jail. Canadian Natalia McLennan, 25, sobbed uncontrollably in Manhattan Criminal Court after she was unable to post $50,000 bail and was taken away in handcuffs to jail. … In that interview, she told the magazine she generated revenues of $1.5 million annually and kept 45 percent of that sum in return for having sex with high-roller clients of NY Confidential, a swanky Moroccan-themed brothel in Manhattan. what happened to the $1.5 million?

got thse from pya!:

Rejection Sensitivity

thought of the day: ever got so meticulous with your music library that every single info on file has to be correct. the artist, the published date, the song title, the album title, the cover art, the composer? ever had it get so bad that when you couldn’t find out the song’s title or artist, you’d rather delete it from your library than keep it in there even though it sounds good?

i was studying for my psych midterm tomorrow and came across this fact: Harsh parental discipline predicts increase in children’s RS over a year. rejection sensitivity is described as a tendency to anticipate with dread and emotionally overreact to social rejection. i was just thinking, the 1st statement applies to probably 99% of them asian population. i wonder if all asians are high in rejection sensitivity. you can take the test here and score yourself: Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (RSQ). after thinking about this for awhile, i realize that maybe we are high rejection sensitivity, but we’re so good at avoiding it, we don’t really see the symptoms. u know the humbleness factor in asian cultures? well, to be humble avoids conflicts and by avoiding conflicts, you avoid rejection. those asians, a lot smarter than we originally thought. now they can apply strict discipline to their children, and avoid having messed up children when they grow up! now to tie this all up, for those that know me, i hate making decisions on where to eat and probably any suggestion anyone makes, i’d agree to. does that make me high on rejection sensitivity? i had initially thought girls were just better decision makers, but i find that to be untrue. i was talking to a friend awhile ago and said that if i was alone, i’d have no problem making a decision on where to go eat, but when i went out with a bunch of friends, it’d become so hard! he would tell me that everyday at lunch, his programming group at work would spend half an hour trying to decide where to eat standing in the lobby. i only know 3 of the people in that group and all of the are asians. but does this type of personality spread to other cultures?

so i started studying @ 9pm. it’s not 4am and i think i got about 1hr of studying done. been taking way too much breaks.

thanks to ungsunghero for donating this article: The Complete List of the 1,000 Top U.S. Schools. it’s just high schools, so there’s no confusion. here’s a list of interesting high schools i’ve picked out:

  • Rank | School | Location | State | Index | Subsidiezed lunches**
  • 21 | Troy* | Fullerton | Calif. | 4.165 | 1
  • 82 | Torrey Pines | San Diego | Calif. | 2.929 | 1
  • 117 | University | Irvine | Calif. | 2.614 | 1
  • 151 | San Marino | San Marino | Calif. | 2.494 | 0
  • 278 | Diamond Bar* | Diamond Bar | Calif. | 2.029 | 5
  • 301 | Arcadia | Arcadia | Calif. | 1.951 | 6.4
  • 451 | Mark Keppel | Alhambra | Calif. | 1.657 | 59.2
  • 609 | Alhambra | Alhambra | Calif. | 1.424 | 61.7
  • 718 | South Pasadena| South Pasadena| Calif.| 1.312 |12
  • 881 | Gabrielino (tie) | San Gabriel | Calif. | 1.157 | 60

* Gave IB tests. AP and IB participation rates are indicators of a school’s efforts to get students to excel and prepare for college. newsweek excluded schools with strict academic admissions criteria that prohibit motivated, average students from attending.
**Percent of student body that is eligible for free and reduced lunches, an indicator of socio-economic status. A number of 40 percent generally signifies a high concentration of children in poverty.

Mark Keppel actually dropped from 429 in 2003 to 451 this year. shucks. makes me wonder what we were ranked back in 2001 when we graduated.

forgot to mention i watched Saw a few days ago. pretty good movie. the ending was indeed shocking. and if you don’t think so, then that just means you haven’t seen the ending yet.

went online to get my weekly itunes freebies and notice gorillaz had a free sampler. have been so long since i’ve heard of them. so i went off on a tangent from studying to find out more info about that song i used to like. remember that music video? turns out the song was called Clint Eastwood. watch the music video here: Gorillaz ‘Clint Eastwood’. itunes only had the “clean” version of this song, so i decided against purchasing it.

got this link from /. : In-depth investigation of the “Cabir-in-Cars” myth. pretty good experimentation where they took a toyota prius underground and tried to hack the bluetooth system.

got these from pya!: