I do love my job somedays

Yesterday I was talking to one of the software engineers that works on some of the problems I find.  In my testing of Windows 8, I also tested Direct X 11 samples. It turns out that the software emulation we do to render some of these samples was causing weird crashes and it was on some of my newer systems with I7 CPU's.  Apparently I seemed to have found an obscure bug in Intels I7 CPU's. If they change the CPU of my system with an I5, the bug miraculously vanish!

I've always said I'm gifted at finding the weirdest problems, this is one of them!!!!  I've found all sorts of bugs in the hardware I test, but this is the find time I find an Intel CPU bug. I've found an Intel chipset bug before.  One of our hardware engineers will be contacting Intel with the particulars of the bug.

I still hate Windows 8 even if it was the source of this cool bug!

Ten Facts You May Not Know About ADHD

Ten Facts You May Not Know About ADHD
(www.commonhealth.wbur.org)

When you think about ADHD, what do you imagine? If you’re like most people, it’s probably a stereotypical image of a young boy bouncing off the walls, buzzing with pent-up, unfocused energy.

But many people with ADHD aren’t hyperactive at all, and by the time they reach adulthood, most hyperactive people have calmed down — at least on the outside. This helps explain why Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, which used to be considered a childhood condition, is now being diagnosed in adults as well.

There are some who dismiss the condition as massively over-diagnosed, perhaps as a ploy by drug companies to boost business. And maybe there’s some truth to that on the margins. Not everyone who’s got ideas racing through their head should be medicated. (Just ask most of the faculty at MIT.)

But there are large numbers of people — studies suggest it’s as many as 4 percent of adults – who are profoundly affected by the symptoms of ADHD. Many can’t hold a job or stick with a relationship. They’re chronically late or forgetful. They jump into jobs and purchases and relationships without thinking them through, only to regret their impulsive actions later. They get stuck in self-destructive patterns, fall prey to addiction and depression. And they can’t figure out why they struggle so much more than everyone else.

For this population, a diagnosis can be a huge relief, explaining why they’ve always felt out of step with the world.

Here are a few other things you might not have known about ADHD, drawn from a new book I co-write, Fast Minds, How to Thrive if You Have ADHD (Or Think You Might) published by Berkley Books:

Medication Can’t Fix ADHD

Treating ADHD in adults with medication can be helpful – and it’s often the first suggestion a diagnosing doctor will make. But it’s not enough. Adults with ADHD often need help getting and staying organized, even with their own priorities in life. They may need help at critical moments, making a constructive choice, rather than a destructive one. And they need emotional support to counteract all the negative messages they’ve received all their lives when their actions didn’t meet other people’s expectations.

Not Everyone Who’s High Energy Has ADHD

Our images of ADHD come from celebrities who talk about having it, like singer Adam Levine or actor and game show host Howie Mandel. But many people with the condition struggle to get up off the couch. They were the quiet ones in class who always seemed like they were in their own world. As adults, they may be unsure of what to do, or want to do so many things that they paralyze themselves. On the other hand, there are plenty of people who have some of the traits of ADHD without being impaired by the condition. Some of the same organizational and self-control strategies may help.

People With ADHD Don’t Have Trouble Paying Attention

They have trouble paying attention to the “right” things. They may spend hours playing video games, or tinkering in the basement or writing the Great American Novel. What they can’t do well is control what to pay attention to. If something isn’t inherently interesting to them, it takes a huge amount of effort for them to tune in. For the book, we interviewed one man who felt like he screwed up everything in his life except his parenting, because his late-in-life kids were so important to him, that it was always easy to make them a priority. For another, his children were always having to describe their day two or three times, because he kept tuning out. He didn’t love his children any less, he just struggled to keep his attention on them. This can be a huge problem in a relationship, of course, with spouses and parents dismissed as uncaring.

There Isn’t One Brand Of ADHD

Everyone’s traits, struggles and ability to cope are different. Some people with ADHD are hugely popular, the funniest, most interesting people in every room – even as they struggle to pay their bills or hold down a job. Other people can’t maintain relationships, but are great in emergencies, when the pressure and thrill of the moment seem to give them super-human powers.

Intelligence Has Nothing To Do With ADHD

There are Harvard professors with the condition, as well as stockbrokers, firefighters, housewives, shop clerks, business owners, writers and artists. Being smart can help people with ADHD perform better but having ADHD says nothing about someone’s intellectual capabilities. Through a genetic fluke or cosmic joke, people with ADHD often have other diagnosable conditions as well, such as learning disabilities, depression or addiction problems. It’s as if whatever happens to give the brain attention challenges also strikes elsewhere to create more trouble.

Many People With ADHD Struggle With Short-Term Memory

They can remember where they grew up, but not the meeting their boss told them about 3 minutes earlier. Having a good calendar and reminder system can be one of the most important strategies for someone with ADHD.

Many People with ADHD Have Trouble Sticking To Healthy Routines

Research shows that people with ADHD are more likely to have problems with sleep patterns, for example. Others are impulsive about their eating habits, or never use their gym memberships. Simply ensuring a healthy diet, regular exercise and 8 hours of sleep a night means better self-control and function. But keeping these routines takes special effort for people with ADHD.

ADHD Can Appear Differently At Different Times In Life

We know people who thrived in high school, but fell apart in college, when the workload was higher and they had to wash their own laundry; and people who were huge successes when they were single, but struggled mightily when they had to get their kids out of the house in the morning as well as themselves. It helps to recognize and plan for these extra stresses – and not beat yourself up when life gets harder.

A Key To Managing ADHD Is To Seek Out Places Where You Thrive

An accountant told us that he loves his work because as long as he follows his checklist, he knows he’s doing a good job. A professor hates rules and needs to set his own agenda. They both do their jobs well, but they’d be disasters in the other’s position. Just like everyone else, people with ADHD need to understand their strengths and weaknesses and find or build an environment that will help them thrive. We know people who are the first at work to volunteer for jobs that suit their skills, so they don’t get stuck doing the ones that aren’t a good fit.

ADHD Is A Lifelong Condition

The disorder affects people in multiple areas of their life – home, work, school, relationships, etc. But people don’t have to be captive to their ADHD. As Canadian comedian Rick Green once said of himself: “I used to suffer from ADHD. And now I just have it.”

New batch of interns today

This summer I'm only allowed 3 interns because some moron manager in another division asked for an unrealistic number of interns, so the guy deciding cut everyone's numbers drastically. Even those who had realistic numbers. So despite needing 6 interns I got 3.  I'm not stressing out over it, in fact I'm just going to take all my vacation this summer. Not going to stress over the fact I'm short staffed during vacation time. 

I'm praying that because we lack quantity that we will get quality. I had one intern that finished 2 weeks ago, that I never want to see again. I've never seen anyone want to work but do anything but the tasks assigned. Or to do them in such a way that he's completely unproductive and leave a huge mess behind.  The funny part is how clueless he was. A couple of weeks before his stage was over he asks me if he can use me as a reference and I answer "I'm not sure you want to do that, I'm very honest and you may not like my answers". And he looked at me completely puzzled.  Read between the lines. He fucked up bad and I gave him a chance to redeem himself in another job without adding my 2 cents. I hope he does better in that job, because his career in engineering isn't going to go particularly far.

He actually went outside today.

Ziva sniffing the first plant she saw

Jethro looking at the flower bed

Jethro vegging in the yard

Jethro panting after playing in the sun. 

Ziva looking around flower box

May...

May the 4rth be with you!

They answered.

I had sent a complaint in regards to the racist graffiti I had seen in the Parc Plaisance last week-end. They replied that they really appreciated that I sent the photo and my complaint, that with the number of picnic tables in the park it's hard to inspect them all. They also said they sent out a crew to rectify the problem. 

It still sucks there are people out there who are racist!

No voice!

It seems that the people of Montreal have lost their voice and their rights. 

The May day protests which happen every year world wide, were cut short and 447 people were kettled and arrested last night. 

It really sucks. I strongly believe in the right of people to assemble and protest. If we can't even do that, then were will always be at the mercy of those in power.

Pretty soon you'll be arrested for wearing sunglasses walking down Ste-Catherine because it's obscuring part of your face, and you're walking in a crowd, and there is no plan given in advance to the police about your destination.

I'm starting to be embarrassed to say I'm from Montreal. :(

Only in Roxboro at Rush hour!!!

I went downtown with daughter(s) today. On the way back from Sunnybrooke train station, I ended up on Gouin because my radar kicked in for home. So we took a short cut through Roxboro to get them pack to their dad's in DDO. 

While going west on 14th avenue , we see a woman run across the street holding a plastic picnic table that looked a lot like this one except perhaps for the colours. One of the cars she ran in front of [and Jay walked] was a police car!  When she got to the other side of the road and stopped running, I noticed she was a woman in a dress with 3 inch pumps. 

Only in Roxboro!!!! Because Roxboro rocks!!!

Unimpressed at the racism.

In the group camping section of  Parc National Plaisance group camping, there is a picnic table with racist remarks on it. 

I was unimpressed. Not at the park people, because they probably didn't see it, or if they don't read English, they might not have understood it. 

I'm unimpressed with the multiple idiots who felt it necessary to add their comments. This has no place in this day and age. 

I did sent a complaint to the park with the photo attached the night I got home. I did not get any reply but I don't expect to. I would hope that they do something about it.

Racist remarks have no place in public parks!

More animals from the camping trip

Blue Jay

Great blue Heron

Unidentified ducks

Another unidentified pair of ducks

Yellow bellied Sapsucker

Some type of gull

Pair of Turkey Vultures

The parc was full of animals

Beaver

Painted Turtle

Grass snake

Osprey

Muskrat

Groundhog

First camping trip of the season

Canadian Geese flying in

The only park opened for camping this early in the season was Parc National de Plaisance on the Ottawa river  between Montreal and Ottawa.  It's not my favourite park, too many fields, not enough forests, but it is close enough to home and it was the only one opened.


We saw a lot of wildlife. The mammals included groundhog, muskrats, beavers and chipmunks. Saw and heard dozens of different birds. We even heard at night dog like sounds. But that could have been dogs from the few property owners left on the islands.

Canadian Geese in a farmer's field

The Canada Geese were still arriving in full force and they are quite noisy. Farmers fields surrounding the park were just filled with Canadian geese.

Since when is Facebook a Dating Site?

Some clueless bastard just sent me this message on Facebook

"Found your profile really sparking, a wonderful smile you have here,i must confess it tickled my fancy....short, precise and wonderful.Your photos are also very nice as well..I find you very attractive and i earnestly look foward in getting to know you better..I am Philip ,am new to the website and am giving online dating a first try.I read your profile and it is amazing. Take a moment and glance through my profile and if you like what I had to say or you like who you see, write back to me when you get a chance, or better still leave me your regular email address so I can be in touch with you, i don't think i would get on here much,find it difficult getting around and I am not used to this,plus too much work.....Please Kindly write back when you get a chance dear.Have a great day"

 Where does he get that Facebook is an online dating site?   It's very nice that he's giving online dating a first try, but how about going to an online dating site where people will actually be interested in hearing from him. Hitting on a random woman on Facebook isn't going to get him a date. It's going to get him blocked, and reported! 

The paranoid part of me thinks he's just pretending to be clueless to be able to do what he wants to do, hit on women. Appearing to be clueless does work with some women. I wonder if he would just hit on a random woman he met in real life or if he grew balls because he's online. 

Full pink Moon

This is all I managed to capture of the full moon, but it has a pink halo :)

The moon tonight

Touching photo

Considering the war going on in Syria, it's amazing they know what is going on outside their country!

After the departure of the snow in Bois de Liesse

Great crested flycatcher?

The pink line is where I walk to and then back to work.

Moss nice and green despite snow just melted

Fiddleheads?!?

Ah the trolls of the internet.

Was trying to establish the validity of a hit on my blog and did a search on the link name, and came across Tech Lore By Igor. Catchy title :)

He told me all I need to know about the internet address that is giving my blog fake hits, in this blog message.  It's one of them he refers to, but I won't even mention the sites name. Why give them publicity.  I'll be checking his blog from time to time.

Lol Cats?

Oh UEFI systems, how I do love you. {end sarcasm}

So I've been arguing with a few UEFI systems that came with Windows 8 pre-loaded, and with secure boot.

For instance so far I've been setting up new machines with Windows 7 64 bits, Server 2008 R2, Windows 8 64 bits and Server 2012 on one drive and configuring the system to Boot UEFI for this drive, and the drive is partitioned GPT.  On the Dell 7010, that came with Windows 8 , was never able to install Windows 7 in UEFI mode. It just hangs before even installing. Even with secure boot disabled.

So I figured I'd use the Windows 8 drive it came with and add Server 2012. So I boot the DVD and before I even get to a menu where I can start installing I get the following error "The product key entered does not match any of the Window images available for installation. Please enter another key". I tried again, got the same message. That left me perplexed and discouraged. 

So I moved on from that Dell 7010 and started setting up the Lenovo M92p. I manage to install W7-64, S2008 R2, W8-64 [enterprise] and once I get to Server 2012, I get the same error about the product key.  This is when I went to do research. Turns out that the key it's talking about is embedded somewhere in the UEFI BIOS.   I guess no one ever considered that you might want to install an OS different then the one the system came with.  In the end the solution was simple. Instead of using a 'retail' version of Server 2012, if I used the Volume License version I did not run into this issue. 

I would have ran into the issue with Windows 8 if I had used the Pro version. But because I used Enterprise, I got around the built in serial number.

If you do not have access to Enterprise and Volume License versions, there is a way to by-pass this problem, by adding a .PID file to the install media, this article explains it.