It seems that every computer I work on has this issue, and I always forget how to fix it and have to go searching again... so as much for me as for you:

At boot time, I get an error in my System event log:

The PMEM service failed to start due to the following error:
The system cannot find the file specified.

The answer I found over at Annoyances.org works:

1. Run regedit
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PMEM\ and find the ImagePath key
3. The value will be something like \??\\C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\PMEMNT.SYS - change it to a valid version of that path: C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\PMEMNT.SYS
4. Do net start pmem at a command prompt to get the service running.

If you don't have PMEMNT.SYS on your machine, you can just disable the service instead:

1. Run regedit
2. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PMEM\ and find the Start key
3. Change the value to 4 to disable the service.
4. Next time you restart your computer, the service won't start up so it won't check for the PMEMNT.SYS file.

If you were ever a fan of the early-90's era techno band The Real McCoy, O-Jay (the rap artist from the band) has a blog going where he tells the story of the rise and fall of the band.

Actually it's interesting for fans and non-fans alike; a view into the music industry from an insider's perspective.

While you're waiting for the Scooba, check out the Roomba Scheduler: It allows you to program your Roomba to automatically run at scheduled times.

Of course, if you already have a Roomba, you can just add on the scheduling capability.

Sarah Michelle Gellar is going to play Alice in Wonderland (in the movie adaptation of American McGee's Alice, a darker take on the original Lewis Carroll story).

The new TV rocks. Watched it last night and it's just awesome. Love it.

On the other hand, Roomba has decided to start wandering erratically and not quite functioning right. I notified the Roomba support folks and they're going to send me a whole new Roomba.

I have yet to be disappointed by Roomba customer service. They're really cool there and just want to resolve your issue.

Maybe this is a little of my bad karma coming back to haunt me? Get the TV fixed and Roomba breaks? Eh. I can handle it.

My Sharp Aquos LC-37D7U showed up today at 11:00a and it looks spectacular. The delivery guy thinks he was the one who originally delivered my 40" Sony CRT. That'd be funny.

The first movie I'm going to watch is The Fifth Element, my favorite. It's got some great detail to it, too, so it'll be a nice test of the new set's capabilities. Totally looking forward to it.

And thus ends an era, the era of Distort-o-Vision, the 40" CRT that stuck with me for two years.

Rest in peace, Distort-o-Vision. October 2002 - February 2005.

Looks like Scott's posted his updated tool list, and there's some great stuff on there if I do say so myself.

I noticed I got a shout-out, which is all too kind of him, and a few of my tools made it on the list, including:

CR_Documentor

SNInfo

Fusion Log Settings Changer

Junction Icon Overlay

.NET Command Prompt Everywhere

If you like those, check out the rest of the Software/Downloads category for other stuff I've got. My content here isn't always technical in nature, but sometimes I can pull out a good code snippet or two.

I went yesterday to Magnolia A/V and picked out my new TV. I ended up getting the Sharp Aquos LC-37D7U, the latest 37" LCD panel. The repair people I talked to recommended the Sharp line, and I've seen 'em in action and liked 'em, so this seemed the best way to go.

It arrives Monday morning, when the delivery folks will also take away the old distort-o-vision. Apparently they're going to calibrate it and whatnot and one of the store employees is going to buy it. More power to him.

The only downside now is I have to go out and get a new TV stand, which I plan on doing today. Heck, if that's the only thing left to do, I'm made in the shade.

Watching TV last night, saw a commercial for a current popular movie. The opening line of the commercial killed me. Imagine, in that deep announcer's voice, you hear:

"Only one movie in America is number one this week!"

As opposed to what? Like, two movies tied for number one? That's brilliant. I think the writers from Kettle Chips must have moved down to California.

I mentioned that we were watching Wonderfalls lately. We finished last night with the last episode, and I feel like I should start watching them all over again.

Wonderfalls is the story of Jaye Tyler, played by Caroline Dhavernas, who is a Generation-Y college graduate with a philosophy degree. She's stuck, dissatisfied with life (and only slightly bitter), living in a trailer park and working retail at a Niagara Falls souvenir shop.

One day inanimate animal shaped objects start talking to her (a wax lion, a monkey bookend, a lizard puppet) and, through their cryptic guidance, Jaye ends up helping people.

I won't say much more than that because while it sounds like a sort of lame premise, you'd be absolutely astounded at how well it works. The characters are all lovable, the writing is solid, the acting is solid... in fact, I'd have to say Wonderfalls rates as one of my all-time favorite TV shows.

Unfortunately, Fox cancelled the show after airing only four of the 13 episodes. Lucky for fans, they released all 13 on DVD and you can see what you missed. Once you see it, you'll understand why folks think Fox is absolutely stupid for making some of the decisions it makes.

However unfortunately the cancellation of the show was, one thing you'll like is that the first season is a completely contained story. They didn't leave any cliffhangers at the end, so when you finish watching the 13th episode, you'll get the closure you seek. They could have run with it in a second season, but the first season does wind up nicely.

Definitely pick one up; you can't beat it.

I achieved a semblance of closure on this whole television issue yesterday when I spoke with the manager of the Beaverton Magnolia A/V store (whose name is Dick) and he said he'd give me trade-in credit of half the purchase price of my distort-o-vision toward the purchase of a new TV.

Woohoo!

I'm going to go in on Saturday and pick out a new set. They'll pick up the old one, fix it up, and sell it as a used/refurb. That takes care of all my problems: I don't have to figure out how to get the behemoth out of my living room, and I don't have to eat the whole cost of a new set.

I'm looking at direct-view LCD TVs (not rear-projection). The Magnolia service rep recommended the Sharp Aquos line of TVs, and that's pretty much where I ended up with my research, too. I've seen some other brands out there that look okay, but everywhere I turn, someone tells me to consider the Sharp.

The 37" models are sort of in my price range (with my trade-in credit and some price negotiations), so I think that's where I'll go. I'd like the 45" model, but that's a bit pricey for me.

Saturday, here I come!

We've been watching a lot of DVDs lately. In particular, TV on DVD. Wonderfalls has been a particular favorite (I highly recommend it).

I got an email today from Amazon that mentioned La Femme Nikita season 3 is coming out on June 28, so I had to pre-order that. I also saw that Lois and Clark season 1 came out, so I ordered that as well. (I had every single episode of that on videotape until we moved, when I realized I couldn't be carting around that many videotapes all the time. I kept the first and last episodes, and I think that's it. Hopefully they'll come out with the rest of the seasons on DVD as well.)

Those should be shipping out July 2. Maybe by then I'll have a fully functional TV to watch them on.

Speaking of the TV... did I mention that this weekend it made the loudest *snap* noise and the picture went out for a second? Happened twice. The audio was fine the whole time, but the picture sure wasn't. I told the guy I'm working with at Magnolia about it and he said he'd talk to their service guy about it. I'm hoping to hear something back soon. Maybe today? I can only hope.

This is probably the best error ever. Or... is it even an error?



That's great. Keep doing that.

I bought the Blokus game (which you can play online, too) from Amazon and it arrived yesterday.

Short a piece, natch.

So I called the customer service number they provided and a lady with a thick Texan accent answered the phone and...

Lady: How may I direct your call?
Me: I'm missing a game piece. I'm not sure where I'd be directed for that...
Lady: Is this the Blokus game?
Me: Well, yeah.
Lady: Okay, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to redirect you to a voicemail box where there won't be a message. When you hear the beep, leave your name, address, and a description of the pieces that are missing and we'll mail them to you.
Me: Um... okay.
Lady: Here you go.
*beep*

There's a missing piece hotline for this game. Yow.

We played anyway last night, faking the missing piece with a slip of paper, and it was a lot of fun. I recommend it, but keep the instructions around - that's where the missing piece hotline number is.

The TV got returned to me at 11:00a today, still exhibiting the discoloration and distorted picture they took it away to repair all that time ago. They replaced the tube - it's still there. Of course, now they claim it's "factory spec."

Interestingly enough, I requested documentation twice from the repair shop that showed my TV being within factory spec parameters. What I got back was a rather unhelpful invoice with my original problem description on it and any cost-oriented information blacked out and an equally unhelpful email saying, "The set is within factory specifications. You may contact Sony for those numbers. I asure you that all numbers are well within the ranges."

That's... that's great.

Since the warranty company won't help me because the repair shop says it's factory spec, and the repair shop won't budge on its determination of factory spec, my last ditch effort is to contact Magnolia A/V (where I purchased the set) and see if they will help me from a dissatisfied customer standpoint.

So far, I haven't been disappointed. I spoke with the store manager on the phone and he promptly contacted their regional service manager, who, in turn, is going to contact the repair shop that "fixed" my set and find out their story. The regional service manager is then going to call me back tomorrow and talk to me about... something. Next steps? Tell me I'm screwed? Something.

This is pretty much my last avenue, short of small claims court (which is just going to cost the same as it would if I bought a new TV anyway) or filing formal complaints (which still leaves me a TV short).

A final, interesting note: When the repair shop guys delivered my set, they were curious why I wasn't putting the set in the garage. They were under the impression the set was going to be switched out for a new one. I told them the story of how it's now "factory spec" and they agreed that was a pretty fishy situation. Hmmm. Even the delivery folks from the repair company think it's weird.

Okay, so we all know that my 300 pound carpet weight is coming back on Tuesday and there's not a damn thing I can do about that. (I'm going to try talking to Magnolia, where I bought it, but I'm doing my best to just move from the depression stage into acceptance.)

I went this weekend to rent a couple of movies down at Mr. Hygiene's video store where I have the monthly video pass - I can have two movies out at a time for however long I want and I can rent as many movies I want in the month. The pass is good only for that specific location, even though the rental chain is country-wide. Fine. I got a note in the mail a week or so ago (conveniently like a day before they renewed my membership for the month) telling me the price of the monthly pass was going up. I was willing to accept that - it's not a budget-breaker by any means, it's just annoying.

Anyway, I went to rent a couple of movies and it turns out the location I rent at is closing. Today (Monday) is the last day for rentals and they're transferring my membership "automatically" to their sister location a few miles down the road.

That's a problem. The shop we were renting at was just on the edge of convenient as far as location. Moving my account for me to the next closest location a few additional miles down the road doesn't help things. If it weren't for the fact that they don't refund partial months' account fees, I'd go down there and cancel right now. Thing is, I rented two movies for $25 this month and I don't feel that I've gotten my money's worth. I'll probably cancel anyway and just eat the $25.

From a karma standpoint, I must be getting ready for one hell of a second half to this year. This first half has sucked.

I rented the movie Closer this weekend. I wasn't real hot on checking it out, but there wasn't much else that looked interesting at the time and, hey, it has Natalie Portman in it, so how could I say no?

Loooong story short, the movie went like this: Natalie Portman, a stripper, randomly meets Jude Law, a writer, while crossing the street in London. They fall in love. Time passes. Jude Law gets his picture taken by Julia Roberts and somehow during the shoot they fall in love, but Julia's reluctant because of Natalie, so nothing happens. Jude Law decides the best way to get back at Julia for not condoning his cheating on Natalie is to get in some sex chat with Clive Owen, pretend that he's Julia, and convince Clive to go meet Julia. Clive meets Julia and they fall in love. You following this? Eventually you find out that Jude and Julia have been dating behind Natalie and Clive's backs, respectively, and that everyone is lying to everyone else. Ridiculous fumbling about ensues and, in the end, Jude's single, Natalie leaves London, and Clive and Julia are together.

I can see why the critics loved this movie. They always love movies like this. Movies based on poor communication. Movies that want to seem intellectual by trying to get you to think about the role that lying plays in even the most intimate relationships. Movies that you can imagine preppy folks leaving the art house and heading over to the local indie coffee shop so they can discuss the philosophy of this and the concept of that, generally making them feel like they are better people for having seen it.

(For reference, comments on the film at IMDB include descriptions like "thought-provoking," "multidimensional," and "rawly realistic." I think the avant-garde film audience needs to step away from their computer terminals for a bit.)

Here's what I got from this movie. First, don't cheat on your significant other - it only leads to bad news. If you do cheat, just get it out there - maintaining the lie only seems to make it worse later. And, lastly, if you're a liar and you lie about something really important (like your name), you'd better make damn sure no one's going to find out about it.

In all, just pass. I mean, I love Natalie Portman and pretty much see everything she's in... but I feel like I'd rather have spent the time watching The Professional again than have the pretentiousness of Closer waved in my face.

I got a phone call yesterday from the TV repair shop. I'm not sure what changed between a month ago when they said it was "unrepairable" and yesterday, but now the TV somehow "meets factory spec." How does that work? It's out of whack enough to warrant a new CRT, but when the problem doesn't go away it becomes factory spec?

I fought with people for probably two hours on the phone yesterday. The warranty company won't do anything for me if the repair shop claims it's factory spec, and the repair shop isn't budging on its new factory spec claim.

The ultra-fishy part is that several times the repair shop guy claimed that the "warranty company's western district service representative agrees it's in factory spec." As far as I'm concerned, the warranty company should have NO SAY WHATSOEVER on whether the product is within spec, so the added information that some district rep agrees that everything's kosher is alarming. Not unsurprising, though - it means they won't actually have to make good on the warranty. "Factory spec means we won't have to pay? Looks factory spec to me!"

So they're delivering the TV back to me, in its current condition, this Tuesday. Anyone want a 40" Sony XBR CRT TV? Going cheap - any offer/best offer. Otherwise it's probably going to be donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army so I can get the tax write-off. Seriously - folks who aren't as picky as I am may not notice what I'm seeing. Only caveat is that you have to arrange the transport of the thing. Any takers, email me or leave a comment. Contact information is in the left column at the bottom.

Beyond accepting delivery, there's not much I can do. I could file a Better Business Bureau claim or report them to the state attorney general, but everyone is technically within the legal bounds of their contracts. All I'd end up looking like is a whiny customer who didn't get their way. It all boils down to what Sony claims is "factory spec."

As such, I propose instead an open letter to Sony:


Dear Sony:

At one time in my life, I had potentially the largest brand loyalty with Sony that anyone could have with an electronics manufacturer. I felt it was worth paying extra for the name and the inherent reliability of the Sony products. My original CD player was Sony and it lasted 10 years before giving up the ghost - that's like seven years longer than the average/expected lifespan of a CD player. I couldn't have been happier.

With that brand loyalty in mind, I purchased the KV40XBR800 - the largest tube on the market, and a beautiful set. I'm a video perfectionist, and it provided the perfect picture clarity and precision that I was looking for.

Two years after purchase, I moved. Within a year of the move, the TV started exhibiting strange behavior - odd color shifts, distorted images... out of the factory warranty, I used the extended warranty I had purchased.

Long story short, even after replacing the CRT in the television, the strange behavior persists. I learned that this behavior adheres to "Sony factory spec" and the television will not be repaired because it meets said spec.

It's hard for me to believe that the "factory spec" for a high-end electronics product like my television is so low. Had the picture looked like this in the store, I'd never have purchased the set.

I'm now stuck with a 300 pound carpet weight and have to buy a new TV. I'm looking into the LCD models - models that won't distort the way the CRT-based sets do - and I'll be honest: Sony is not in the running. I can't afford to pay the extra price and take the chance on the set again, particularly if factory spec is at the sub-par level it sounds like it is.

With that and the PSP debacle recently (units have to have 13 dead pixels to be out of factory spec? even a single dead pixel is absolutely unacceptable, particularly in a handheld unit at that price), I have lost faith in Sony. In all honesty, I'm not sure there's a way back for me, beyond your making good on the promise of a high-end TV that I paid money for - a TV that lasted two years and now needs replacing. However, somehow I don't see you sending me a new LCD TV.

Thanks for the good times, Sony. Too bad they're over.
-T

A while ago I was looking at password management options and came across the Mandylion Labs password token/keychains. I thought they were pretty cool, but the price point on them was a little high for what I was hoping to spend at the time.

Recently, the president of the company (who left a comment on my previous blog entry) contacted me again and we started talking about the future of password management, what people today decide to trust (and what they don't), and so forth, and he mentioned that, while their newer models are light-years better than the original/older versions, he happened to have one of the older ones he could send me to play with.

Enter the Mandylion Labs ebpLite. Very simple five-button interface (just like the newer models), securely stores 20 passwords, has the ability to auto-generate passwords, remind you when passwords expire... Pretty slick, if I do say so myself.

Admittedly, the five button interface takes a bit of getting used to. Certain key combinations do certain things (navigate through menus, enter account data, etc.) and it takes a couple of seconds running through the quick start guide to really get it going. Once you've gotten over that hump, though, the benefits of the thing totally take over. Running a super-secure environment? Tell it to irretrievably destroy its contents when a user fails to unlock it correctly. Got certain password complexity requirements? Set up an auto-generation password schema so next time you need a new password it will generate one for you that meets all the requirements.

Pretty crazy the amount of stuff you can fit into such a small package. And this isn't even the latest model.

They sell a newer model over at ThinkGeek, but the price point is still a little steep for the average end user. I've heard they're going to have a more consumer-oriented model at a lower price point soon. Definitely something to look into if you're still in the stone ages keeping your passwords written on sticky notes attached to your monitor or floating unsecured around your PDA.

The new version has been released and provides the following updates:

Added logging to the DXCore "Messages" window.

Fixed bug where nested lists weren't rendering correctly.

Optimized context menu creation.

Optimized handling of XmlDocuments for faster rendering in preview window.

Updated parser error handling to more accurately display information about the location of errors in XML comments. (Errors now show approximate line/character locations in relation to the source document as well as in relation to the XML comment begin/end.)

Fixed bug where attributes on unrecognized tags weren't passing through to be rendered.

Go get it!