ZOMGZORZWTFBBQROFL

Captain’s log, August 28, 2010…

a day to look back upon.

A short recap on what happened :

Steve’s side :

• woke up at aunt Diane’s place waaaay too early, photographer arrived waaaaay on time
• Had some Nintendo DS session for about 1,5 hours before, during and after breakfast
• Luxury car drive to the flower shop to get bridal bouquet and bridesmaid bouquet
• Arrive way on time with flowers,  etc
• After some cosy family chatting, we drive off to City Hall
• Said ‘yes’ and updated Facebook status on-the-fly. Local alderman who got us married laughed his ass off.
• Drinks and foods in favorite pub
• Pics in various locations. Ahh the sun….
• BBQ. Hmm, tasty and relaxing
• Cake ! Chillin….
• Dance
• Singstar
• Mentally exhausted
• Sleep in local hotel

Reina’s side :

• Wake up after having slept like hell, due to sister laying in bed with her is always moving in her sleep
• An hour at  the hairdresser’s. Stress Stress
• Constantly checking if everything and everyone is on time. Stress Stress
• Quickly guzzled down a Golden Power (not The Triforce – it’s Aldi’s version of Red Bull) – Sugar Rush
• Steve arrives about 30seconds too late : stress stress
• Nobody wants to listen to me rambling – stress stress. Quick let’s get in the car!!!
• Arrival at City Hall : onoezzz!!! Parents are 2 minutes late due to bad parking skills. Also Boe² lost a shoe sole and had to get new shoes within the 5 minutes.
• Said ‘yes’ and updated Facebook status. Everybody has a good laugh and less stress.
• Drinks and foods at our fav pub. Need to speak with everyone !
• Pics in local park and at BBQ place
• BBQ. Onoez no hot water!!!! And why isn’t Theniceman here???!!!One11Eleven!!
• BBQ aftermath. Where’s the Cake???!!!???
• Cake arrives in time. Will there be enough for everyone (Never trust an experienced baker/pie-maker!!!)
• 3 pieces of cake remain. Did everybody really have enough???
• Dance. Did Steve forget our moves we praticed????
• Steve didn’t forget. Everybody dance now!
• Oh Gawd!!! Singstar!!!!
• Mentally exhausted but…must…read…cards….
• KO in Hotel

99% of the pics made by by 3clicks btw
Thanks a lot mates!

From ages of old, the everlasting (or so it seemed at that time) battle between the 2 corporations Squaresoft and Enix over who released the better Role Playing Game on a home game console had been going on. Especially in the Japanese part of the world, where Enix was on equal level with Square. Europe and the States had a slight boost towards the number of Squaresoft fans, which in my opinion was mostly due to the fact that Enix had a smaller commercial budget outside of Japan.
But as with all competition, this one had to come to an end, good or bad. (Random fact : did you know Nintendo started out as a playing card producing company in 1889 – imagine the competition on the games market were they to have stayed in their old business!). On April 1 2003, one Square share would be exchanged for 0.81 share in Enix, and the 2 bigger names would become Square Enix, who are known to the  gamer nowadays as ‘the company that produces Role Playing Games in mass’.

The hardcore gamer community had a hard time understanding this merger, albeit a joyous event, which would eventually result in better games, you’d think. For ages the 2 had been competing in who released the better role playing video game, using both their top titles. Square had the Final Fantasy franchise, while Enix had their Dragon Quest (Dragon Warrior in the U.S.) legacy to hold on to. Finally the European public would be able to see a Dragon Quest game on a non-modded or unimported home console.

Let me just say, that in a sidenote, Enix had been producing tons of other fine games in those days, such as Star Ocean, Terranigma, Ogre Battle,… All good games that our retarded European games market had been missing out on.

The day of glory for (Square)Enix was the day that Dragon Quest VIII (or just ‘Dragon Quest’ in the EU), Journey of the Cursed King was to be found in the local reseller’s shelves. After having been brainwashed by the name Final Fantasy for a long time now, the EU gamer finally got to see a pearl from the hands of former Enix. Final Fantasy had been undergoing a lot of facelifts by then, starting with its first EU release through Final Fantasy VII on the Sony Playstation, that was a 3D copy of its predecessor FF6 (just quoting Fishie Flop Oog ^_^). In my personal opinion the FF franchise market had some serious ups and downs ever since then, but more downs than ups. FF8 was a 3D monster with crappy storyline but a good ingame card game. FF9 tried to come back to the cute’n'classic way of gaming. FFX fucked it up by adding to much seriousness in the game and a weird Blitzball game, FFX-2 was a dressup game for girls. FF 11 had been a vague try to overrule the MMORPG (mass multiplayer online role playing game) market. Final Fantasy 12 ‘allowed’ you to control only one character; the rest of your team was A.I.-controlled. I recently got my hands on FF13, which plays like an interactive movie with more movie than interaction.
Luckily Square also did good on the side with some FF spin-offs. After more than 10 years, I’m still addicted to Final Fantasy Tactics, Square’s answer to the Tactics ogre and Ogre battle type of games.

Dragon Quest VIII had full (British!!) English voice acting, the usual graphical backup by Akira Toriyama (you all know the Dragon Ball anime series, right?), full 3D graphics (thank you Sony Playstation 2) and an explodingly awesome storyline. Were it not from the fact that the deal between Nintendo and Sony got busted, making the thing-we-know-as-the-Playstation just a CD addon for the Super Nintendo, allowing Nintendo to compete with Sega on the Cd level (Sega had the Mega CD int the old days), the DQ series would still be Nintendo-only, I guess. But things going as they go, Dragon Quest is released on a lot of platforms (mostly Nintendo by the way ^_^) in different tastes and colors.
There’s DQ Monsters:Joker, “Squenix”‘ answer to the uncountable number of Pokémon games out there. You have the remakes of the original DQ games on Nintendo DS, Some Dragon Quest railshooter type of game on the Wii, and a couple more. With the latest release of Dragon Quest IX Sentinels of the Starry Skies, Square Enix pushes the Nintendo DS to its limits once more, using lovely 3D, fully customizable characters and its classic turn-based approach to RPG gaming.

If you ask me, the Enix part has won over the Square part, eventhough it might just be a psychological thing, as the programmers working for S and E got a mix-and-match and shuffled about both companies.

To sum up what I’m actually trying to say here : the Final Fantasy series are becoming more of a casual ‘new’ gamer thing, while the Dragon Quest series appeal to the hard core classic gamer.

In my days, gaming was considered to be special and for a certain incrowd, dammit !!!

When making a Remote Desktop Connection through MSTSC (Microsoft Terminal Services Client) on a Windows 7 computer to a Windows 2008 server, I recently experienced the following annoying symptom :

Even though in the settings for the saved .RDP connection file, I stated ‘the credentials for this connection are allowed to be saved’, the actual connection kept asking for a password over and over, giving me a somewhat detailed error : “Your credentials did not work. Your system administrator does not allow the use of saved credentials to log on to the remote computer because its identity is not fully verified. Please enter new credentials”.

After trying the very basic stuff such as, doublechecking if the password is actually correct, whether I’m connecting to the right server/IP Address etc, I bumped into the following solution :

Just thought I’d share this with you.

Based on a true story. Ah whatever, I’ll just give you the real story

A customer of ours has an old NT 4.0 server and a bunch of Acer laptops.
One model, the Aspire 5760 something-something was recently reinstalled due to virus issues (Conficker2 among others). After a smooth and full reinstall of XP SP3 and Office 2007, we encountered the following symptoms : 

• Security tab for files and folders on the NT server share said something in the likes of “can’t display security data” (it was in Dutch, dunno what the actual English error would be)
• When opening, modifying and then saving office files to this server share, we got an error saying we did not have enough rights to save the document, and that we should check whether or not the network drive was still active blah blah.
• Non-office files however were overwritable without any problem.
• An other user account on the same laptop had the same problem, although that very same account on an other laptop was OK, so the problem had to be local.

After trying a shitload of logical things (disable firewall, uninstall antivirus, full windows update, remove from and re-enter the domain, …) the illogical way of thinking began (already more than an hour later…).
The actual problem was found by Googling a term like “cannot save Office files to NT server” : in a very limited number of cases (i just quote Microsoft’s KB article on http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980232), it appears that some computers can’t save documents in folders hosted on a SMB1.0 based server.
Hotfix 983458 seems to be able to solve this problem, downloadable through http://support.microsoft.com/kb/983458/

Thank you Microsoft for enabling backwards compatibility and checking errors BEFORE releasing your products.
Bunch of wankers….

What a moment of boredom cannot do …
Some of these proverbs are literally translated from Dutch, so most of them might not exist in English :

—–

The grass is always greener on the other side of the hill (“Het gras is altijd groener aan de overkant“) :
document.getElementByID(Valley[1][‘grass’]).color > document.getElementByID(Valley[0][‘grass’]).color;

—–

A donkey never hurts himself twice on the same stone (“Een ezel stoot zich geen tweemaal aan dezelfde steen“) :
x=0;
While (x=<0) {
x++;
touch($stone);
}

—–

Prudence is the porcelaine cupboard’s mother (“Voorzichtigheid is de moeder van de porseleinenkast“) :
<?xml version=”1.0”?>
<VOORZICHTIGHEID>
<KAST>porselein</KAST>
</VOORZICHTIGHEID>

—–

The bird is known by his note, a man by his word (“Ieder vogeltje zingt zoals het gebekt is”) :
<?php
class creature {
var $name;
function set_name($new_name) {
$this->name = $new_name;
}
}
$bird->set_name($note);
?>

—–

It’s raining cats and dogs (“Het regent pijpestelen”) :
<script language=”javascript”>
/////////////
</script>

—–

He/she’s empty-headed (“Hij/zij is een leeghoofd”) :
void(0);

—–

Anyone got the ringtone starting from ‘YEAAAAHHHHHH’ ?

*EDIT* : The wonders a Youtube downloader and a little program called Audacity can do.
Ringtone get !

Won’t Get Fooled Again <– Ringtone

*Based on a real life story*

When upgrading an old Exchange 2003 server to a somewhat less older Exchange 2003 SP2 and you suddenly decide “Hey , i want to have a form of Push mail for my mobile users”, well…. basically you’re fucked…. as it will not work ‘out of the box.

Recent experiences tought me the following checklist (none of these are my own findings, mind you, it’s just a good grasp of different M$KB’s and forum entries) :

->In Exchange System manager > Servers > *Servername* > Protocols > http > Exchange Virtual Server > Properties

Disable form based authentication

->Exchange > Global Settings >Mobile Services

Enable Outlook Mobile Access + Enable unsupported devices should be active

->Active Directory Users and Computers > *user that will use the mobile device* > Properties

By default ‘Mobile access’ is allowed, but better to double-check it here

-> IIS Manager > *servername* > default website > properties > IPAdress (Advanced button)

Add an entry with the server’s NETBIOS name van and port 80

-> Same window, tab ISAPI Filters

Entries are possibly missing here  ; if so, add, stirr and mix it with a wooden spoon :
SBSFLT > C:\Inetpub\sbsflt\sbsflt.dll
fpexedll.dll > C:\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\50\bin\fpexedll.dll
OwaLogon > C:\Program Files\Exchsrvr\exchweb\bin\auth\owaauth.dll

-> In extreme cases, you can reset the Exchange folders  (if too many changes have been made or you suspect a corrupt installation) :

http://geekswithblogs.net/jemimus/archive/2004/12/09/17085.aspx
The link in this article refers to a wrong M$KB but it contains the correct way to reset the folders

————————————————————————————————————–
What brought the eventual solution in my case :

Originally from http://support.microsoft.com/kb/817379

1.     Start Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2.     Locate the Exchange virtual directory. The default location is as follows:

Web Sites\Default Web Site\Exchange

3.     Right-click the Exchange virtual directory, click All Tasks, and then click Save Configuration to a File.

4.     In the File name box, type a name. For example, type ExchangeVDir. Click OK.

5.     Right-click the root of this Web site. Typically, this is Default Web Site. Click New, and then click Virtual Directory (from file).

6.     In the Import Configuration dialog box, click Browse, locate the file that you created in step 4, click Open, and then click Read File.

7.     Under Select a configuration to import , click Exchange, and then click OK.

A dialog box will appear that states that the “virtual directory already exists.”

8.     Select the Create a new virtual directory option. In the Alias box, type a name for the new virtual directory that you want Exchange ActiveSync and Outlook Mobile Access to use. For example, type exchange-oma. Click OK.

9.     Right-click the new virtual directory. In this example, click exchange-oma. Click Properties.

10.  Click the Directory Security tab.

11.  Under Authentication and access control, click Edit.

12.  Make sure that only the following authentication methods are enabled, and then click OK:

o    Integrated Windows authentication

o    Basic authentication

13.  On the Directory Security tab, under IP address and domain name restrictions, click Edit.

14.  Click the option for Denied access, click Add, click Single computer and type the IP address of the server that you are configuring, and then click OK twice.

15.  Under Secure communications, click Edit. Make sure that Require secure channel (SSL) is not enabled, and then click OK.

16.  Click OK, and then close the IIS Manager.

17.  Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.

18.  Locate the following registry subkey:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MasSync\Parameters

19.  Right-click Parameters, click to New, and then click String Value.

20.  Type ExchangeVDir, and then press ENTER. Right-click ExchangeVDir, and then click Modify.

NoteExchangeVDir is case-sensitive. If you do not type ExchangeVDir exactly as it appears in this article, ActiveSync does not find the key when it locates the exchange-oma folder.

21.  In the Value data box, type the name of the new virtual directory that you created in step 8. For example, type /exchange-oma. Click OK.

22.  Quit Registry Editor.

23.  Restart the IIS Admin service. To do this, follow these steps:

a.  Click Start, click Run, type services.msc, and then click OK.

b.  In the list of services, right-click IIS Admin service, and then click Restart.

1.     If you want to reuse Forms-based Authentication on the Exchange server, follow these steps to re-enable Forms-based Authentication on the /Exchange virtual directory in Exchange System Manager.

1.  Open Exchange Manager.

2.  Expand Administrative Groups, expand the first administrative group, and then expand Servers.

3.  Expand the server container for the Exchange Server 2003 server that you will be configuring, expand Protocols, and then expand HTTP.

4.  Under the HTTP container, right-click the Exchange Virtual Server container, and then click Properties.

5.  Click the Settings tab, click to select the Enable Forms Based Authentication check box, and then click OK.

6.  Close Exchange Manager.

7.  Click Start, click Run, type IISRESET/NOFORCE, and then press ENTER to restart Internet Information Services (IIS).
There ya go.

Title says it all.

This morning, I got a fun call from a friend of mine (thanks, Soggney ) telling that Google finally completed its navigational software, and with Dutch voices included !!

So there I went, instantly downloading Google Nav on the Android Marketplace only to become even more stunned of the magnificent fluent workings of this software pearl (as expected from Google).
The Google navigational software is a no-bullshit peace of program, allowing you to navigate to any Google result. The test it underwent this morning was insta-success. I needed to navigate to a customer of mine whith a very generic name (somewhat close to the English version ‘John Smith’), so I typed his full name and his city, and all of a sudden the exact address I needed appeared!!

The stunning experience continued, 20 meters before the first turn to the left as this tiny download appeared to contain a female voice speaking my mother tongue.
On the highway, more fun and frantics appeared : the Google Satellite view overlay *drool*. If only we had Google Streetview in Belgium., and the GPS software would be more integrated into Google maps, allowing me to drive throuh my custom maps (see ‘Parallel Kingdom’ a few posts below this one), Google Navigation would get an instant 10/10

Oh, and here’s some promo stuff : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXK4jKN_jY

For those that read my daily/weekly spam, you might have noticed I have bought a HTC Desire.
For those that have a HTC Desire, you will agree with me that except for doing your dishes, this little wonder can perform A LOT of tasks.

EXCEPT ONE THING A NORMAL PHONE DOES !!!!

*dum dum duuummm*

Battery issues stop me from giving this phone a perfect 10/10.
Actually the battery issues are so annoying, it loses 2,5/10 points in its overall rating.
The one battery issue that is most annoying :

• When charging it in the car, using any car charger whatsoever, while the locally installed GPS system (I tried many softwares like Copilot Live, Google Maps, Waze,…) is running, the phone ACTUALLY LOSES battery life instead of having it pumped into its system.
  That’s right, the HTC Desire cannot follow up on charging as much as it uses up battery power!

So basically, I advise those that have to take long rides in their car (like travelling from Belgium to Spain and beyond) to not use the Desire as GPS, as by my calculations, the machine can’t hold it for 10hours when using GPS AND being charged through a car charger.

One more thing to avoid the ranting on my using a car charger that’s too light : the Desire shows these flaws in a normal charger (220V) as well

VICTORY!!11ONEONE!ELEVEN

Finally got this fricking Google maps with multiple layers thingie to work.
After cracking my head on some stupid Javascript error (that’s what you get when you write in Notepad instead of some auto-correcting program), layers started being assholes by randomly appearing and disappearing when activating the select buttons on the top right of the map.

If for some reason you’d care to see the result : http://www.zupertails.be/map2.htm is the current test URL.

If for another reason beyond the previous one, you’d wanna know what the flippin’ hell this map represents : buy an Android-based phone or iPhone *shiver* 3G and download Parallel Kingdom from the Marketplace for that particular mobile phone.

…and while you’re at it, join our city ^_^, or pass me a message ingame (you can guess what my in-game nickname is, I think…)

More map frantics to appear soon as the other team members (especially you, RedXV   :p) take the time to update their map.
Yes dear people, these maps do not get auto-generated by the game. You have to bloody map all your stuff manually through a Google Maps account. Custom icons can be added though, which make this dull mapping task less boring.