The Sun Sets on Hogwarts

CC photo credit "The Castle, at night" by elle_rigby on flickr

The Journey is Finished

Last weekend, in the space of less than 48 hours, I completed reading the final Harry Potter book to Alvis and Lavie; out loud.

My voice was sore, but more from the emotional twists and turns in the final chapters.

I won't post anything that could be considered a "direct-spoiler" to fans still reading.

I called Dad at work this week and he was curious on our progress. (He's waiting for his audio-CD rental service to send him them from his queue.)

I told him that we were satisfied with the conclusion. J.K.R. tied up lots of loose ends and some of the content seemed (at least to me) that she had a working knowledge of the more popular fan-forum threads and essays on all things magical with HP. She provided enough details to leave over 90% of our questions regarding the overall story-arc answered. We still have some puzzlements but that adds to the magic of the story itself.

Some characters lived; others died.

The pace was quite fast, thought we did have a few doubts for some chapters during the middle section. We did keep wondering when the "main-plot" would kick-off again, but it seemed clear to us that J.K.R. was needing to do a bit more character-growth before engaging the engines again for the final tension-filled plot buildup.

We were not disappointed.

The Magic Began...at Kroger's

About midnight, on release night, Alvis and I woke up and drove down to the corner Kroger's supermarket to grab a copy. We normally attend the larger release parties at a larger Barnes and Nobles store, but this year Lavie felt under the weather and we figured we would maximize our time with a quick few minutes drive over, pick up the book and be back in under 10 minutes.

Upon arrival to the Kroger's, we found more than the usual number of vehicles in the parking lot. A poor bemused stocker was fighting to un-box the final Harry Potter volumes onto a display but people kept taking them off as soon as they got put on. A circle of empty and semi-scattered chairs surrounded the display unit, like a cross between Stonehenge and an abandoned AA meeting.

Alvis snapped up a copy and we took our place in line. It was a bit surreal. It was past midnight, we were only buying a book, standing in line with a motley mix of young and old fans all with their copies held tightly as well. One high-school aged kid had a stack of frozen pizzas about two feet high along with his book. Guess he was stocking up. Back outside the parking lot had a light haze hanging over it, ghosted all the more by the sickly sallow glare of the vapor lamps.

We loaded up and a few minutes later were piled in the living room with our midnight snacks and the adventure began. We read through the first five or six chapters before bookmarking it for the night. I think it was almost 3 a.m. when we turned in.

That Which Must Not be Named: Sleep!

The next morning we began fresh around 10 a.m. and read through until 5 p.m. We ate some sandwiches and chips, stretched (I went and picked up a new hard drive) and piddled around until around 7 p.m. when we took up the story again. By the time we stopped, nearly 11 p.m. we were not-quite to the half-way point.

Sunday dawned with us ever more nervous as to the direction of the outcome. We had already be stunned at several points, and out faith in J.K.R.'s plotting was severely strained. I think we started reading again around 9 a.m. and continued past lunchtime. Another few breaks were taken in the afternoon between chapters as I struggled to clone my old hard drive onto the new between heart-breaking and heart-mending chapters.

We pushed through the final chapters somewhere between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m.

And then it was done.

Lavie was in tears. I was in tears. Alvis though we were bonked in the head.

(Ahh, youth. One day she will understand why we cry as adults and parents.....)

We have been re-reading those last chapters again, more slowly and one-per-night together for the past week. We are picking up some of the details we missed in the rush to get through the first time.

What Lies Ahead

So, where to now?

You may be surprised to hear me say, back to the beginning of the series.

Ever since around the time the first Harry Potter movie was released, I began a tradition of reading a chapter of Harry Potter at Alvis's bedtime. Alvis was young and it seemed to help put her to bed and helped us spend some quality father-daughter time together. Soon Lavie got drawn in and it became a family bedtime tradition. We have continued almost every night, ever since. And have been through the first three over eight or nine times together, while the fourth,fifth and sixth books have been read about four times each.

We were actually about 3/4 of the way through Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix when this final book came out, so we had to put it aside for a while. In a few more nights we will have finished re-reading these final chapters, and will go back and pick up where we left off.

Know knowing the final elements J.K.R. revealed in the final volume will surely cast new perspectives on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, as well as the entire series in general. Each time we read the stories, we pick up new links, new bits, and new amusements.

Epilogue

So, we have no plans in the near future to drop our traditional routine and will continue reading them until Alvis grows tired, then Lavie and I will read them together ourselves.

J.K.R. ended her final story with an Epilogue. I won't say what it contained, but if you do want to catch her final words and thoughts regarding what she left out of if, hop over to this "spoiler-filled" article: Finished ‘Potter’? Rowling tells what happens next - Wild about Harry - MSNBC.com

And we will just wait patiently along with the millions of other world-wide fans of Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the hopes that J.K.R. will release another encyclopedia-like addition to the Harry Potter universe; Hogwarts: A History perhaps?

Yeah, I'll stand in line again at midnight for that one as well.

There has to be something magical about the whole thing.

Bet you wouldn't do that for just any encyclopedia or history book.

-Claus

Weekend Plans: Waiting, Reading, Crying...?

Like many Muggles around the world, the Valca home has wiped its calendar free for the next few days.

Leave has been taken, and plans have been made for the final installment of J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

This afternoon Alvis and I swung by the grocery store and picked up groceries for the next three days so we don't have to leave the house. Lots of "breakfast" food-fare, coffee, tea, sandwich making materials, a few "home-cooked" fuller dinners are planned, but able to be prepared in 30-minutes or less.

We are hunkering down for an event (that with the recent rains) seems almost like we are in a hurricane-watch of sorts.

Last year we attended a midnight book release party at a Barnes and Nobles. This year Lavie is a bit physically under the weather, so Alvis agreed we would just hop over to the local supermarket which promises to have a stock and pop back home.

We have successfully made the Valca home a "spoilers-free" zone and have looked with distain on the rounds of leaks popping up on the web of the book, plot points, and body counts. We have even eschewed reading any early book-reviews on Deathly Hallows.

Spoiler-Safe HP Web Watch

So our web-activity has been self-limited this week, and especially today. Only the following websites have been visited related to Harry Potter on release night:

MuggleNet - Our first and foremost haunt for all information and entertainment Harry Potter.

The Leaky Cauldron - Also known simply as "Leaky," this site provides a great counterpoint to MuggleNet.

J.K.Rowling Official Site - Enough said.

The End A blog for fans of Harry Potter - This "Live" blog hosted by the Houston Chronicle's Chron.com will be providing play-by-play developments of the book release and each chapter as it is read by the blogger. I hope this provides a fun "local" forum for Houston-area HP fans.

Just A Snitch of Time Left!

In a few more hours we will know the fate of Harry, Hermione, Ron and all the others who inhabit the magical world of our hearts and minds, shared with us by quite an amazing author.

From J.K.R's official website she writes a note to her fans:

Within hours you will know what happens to Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest in their final adventure. All the secrets I have been carrying around for so long will be yours, too, and those who guessed correctly will be vindicated, and those who guessed wrongly will not, I hope, be too disappointed! As for me, I feel a heady mixture of excitement, nerves and relief. 'Deathly Hallows' remains my favourite of the series, even after several re-reads; I cannot wait to share it with the readers who have stuck with me through six previous books.

Which predictions will come true? Will we be happy? Will we be upset? Will will be amazed or disappointed?

Valca Plan for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

1) At 5:50pm (CST) assemble in the study and (hopefully) listen to a live webcast hosted by Scholastic. J.K.Rowling will be reading from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the London release of the book.

Update: Couldn't get the link via http://www.bloomsbury.com/ to work at all at first. Just getting HTML code page load. So I opened up Internet Explorer 7, went to this web-proxy site, and entered in the http://www.bloomsbury.com page again, via the proxy service. BINGO! Clicked on the "live reading" header and got the page and webcast stream running in a Windows Media Player plugin. We are listening to J.K.R. as I type this! Ooooooo! Sooooo exciting watching her sitting there reading in front of all the fans! It was a short steam-cast. I'm sure it will be up on YouTube or re-streams soon. We so can't wait to read it ourselves in the next few hours!

Update 2: Re-stream now posted and working normally: Watch J.K.R. Reading from Deathly Hallows in London release party.

2) 7-8pm - Eat dinner and get some last minute rest time.

3) 12:00am - Run down to the corner grocery store to grab our copy.

4) 12:15am - Back home, grab coffee and set out finger food snacks.

5) 12:30am - Begin reading out loud to family as far as we can go and stay awake...probably the first three or four chapters.

6) 7:00am - Wake up, freshen up, make full breakfast together (more coffee!) and then settle down to pick up where we left off.

We plan to take periodic breaks to stretch and discuss the plot progress, give my voice a rest, eat, etc.

If all goes well and we stay focused, hopefully we will have the book wrapped up late Sunday night or some time on Monday at the latest.

Through the Veil

We feel a bit like we are standing before the Veiled arches in the Department of Mysteries where Sirius fell through a few books earlier and getting ready to (willing) step through. Fear, concern, excitement, hesitance mixed with impulsiveness. We can hear voices whispering to us...calling us across the threshold. What lays on the other side of this final novel?

Years of family speculation, theorizing, reading and re-reading the Harry Potter novels lay behind us. Only 784 pages left that veil us from Harry's future.

It's about time to step through, together as a family.

Hopefully we won't be disappointed. I'm sure we will be entertained, surprised, and amazed.

I'll let you know once we get to the other side.

--Claus

Harry Potter Hacked? Possible but Doubtful.

I saw a few posts on this on the HP fan sites I check-in with periodically.

• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" Hacker Hoax - via The Leaky Cauldron:
• 'Deathly Hallows' hacked? - via MuggleNet

Nearabout every new Harry Potter book release date there come the various waves of "inside-lead" spoiler posts around the Net.

Claims by some to have gotten their hands on a draft copy of a HP book, or a break-in to a book storage warehouse.

I always dismiss the claims...and haven't bothered going looking for this one as well.

What I did find interesting is that SANS-ISC Handler's Diary even choose to comment on the news: Hacking Harry.

The post gave a gentle "hem hem" reminder to readers that corporate espionage attempts to crack high-value targets with loaded email are still alive and working.  So beware those emails!  You may not work for the DOD but there is probably something of value to to someone on your hard-drive at work or home.  Guard your data like that philosopher's stone at Hogwarts!

The Rememberall Says

Try to keep these tips in mind as Harry Fever begins to reach its peak:

• Avoid unsolicited HP themed Owl Post mails: Consumers Should be Aware of Harry Potter Email Hoaxes ... 
• Stay away from dodgy "Nocturn Alley" HP sites on the web.  There are lots of good and trusted ones and some new-comers might actually try to load up browser exploits.
• Don't even consider trying out cracked/warez downloads for HP games; avoid them like thin-bottomed cauldrons.
• If you get an offer for a "special" e-book version of a HP story, send it down the pipes with Myrtle; JKR doesn't grant licenses for electronic copies of any of her stories. J.K. Rowling Warns of Fake Harry Potter Scam...

When fans and the public get excited about something they have been waiting for for a long time, sometimes they can toss judgement and reason to the winds...

--Claus

CSI: English Style

So....I just couldn't pass this one up...

Last November, someone stole the Ford Anglia featured in the Harry Potter films.

It didn't have an engine, and was stolen from out in front of the gates of the South West Film Studio where it was kept under a tarp.

Acting on an anonymous tip, it was found and recovered in a parking lot outside Carn Brea Castle, described as bearing a "striking resemblance to the Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft." You be the judge of that: Hogwarts vs Carn Brea Castle.

Anyway, quoting from an article published in The Scotsman,

"Forensic experts examining the car said vital clues to who stole it could lie in a length of rope found attached to the back. Gayle Manvell, a crime-scene technician with Devon and Cornwall Police, said the engineless car was probably towed to the castle and whoever dragged it there left a small part of the tow-rope tied to the bumper.

She says the rope could contain fingerprints or DNA."

Really? You really think so?

Where are Catherine and Grissom when you really need them?

--Claus

Media Overload

Just a quick post. Still here.

Survived the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo last Saturday. Took some pictures. I will post them soon, promise.

I've been down on the Island for the past two days working on some network issues. I was finally able to track down the source of our headache. It felt really good to resolve this particular issue. I was starting to take it very personal.

Anyway...so I get done and start the drive back into Houston. Fog was thick on the Galveston Causeway and it took me almost an hour to get down the backside of Harborside and across the Causeway, then another hour to make it home. Yuck.

On the way home I had a very important stop to make. Yesterday, was the tri-release on DVD of Hayao Miyazaki's three features: Howl's Moving Castle, My Neighbor, Totoro, and Whisper of the Heart. I was SO excited that these were finally out. I've been waiting since January for them. I didn't have any trouble getting Howl's but it took me some time finding the only copies of the other two the store had in stock. They seemed to have been misstocked. But succeed I did. I also grabbed the widescreen release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

I was stoked. Network problems solved, THREE Miyazaki movies and HP:GOF. (Sighs) Couldn't last. When I got home and we had opened all them up, turns out I had grabbed the single disk version of HP:GOF, not the DUAL DVD release version. Alvis has been reminding me of this shortcoming for the past two days now....I guess I'll be getting that one soon... (Jim Thompson refers to the HP:GOF release at his place as the "Zero Day Exploit." I can relate, Jim!

While shopping I also picked up a player's guide to BLACK, that PS2 game I picked up. I really wanted it for the maps. I've been spending too much time lost in a forest. I'm picking the game-play up pretty fast now. The first mission had several stages. (Public notice: I admit I'm playing on the easy level right now.) I got past the first one (pre-guide) on the first day. It took me three days to get past the second stage. I got past the rest in about two hours. I cleared the entire second mission in three hours. There are a total of eight missions (I think). Once I clear these I'm going to replay on the normal level. If you clear all the missions on each higher difficulty level, you get to unlock some bonus treats with "silver-grade" weaponage (ammo never runs out). Clear all of them and you apparently get some super-awesome, mega destructive assault rifle--with unlimited ammo. For massive destruction. Well worth playing them all for. There are lots of strategy tips in the guide, but I really find it most useful (like I said) for the maps since there is a lot of territory to cover and it can get really confusing in all the trenches, pipes, and buildings after a while. Most hard-core gamers would laugh at me, but this isn't really my normal gaming fare. I'm having a real blast. Even Lavie seems to enjoy looking over my shoulder pointing out things for me to take out and collect! It's really funny. It's too brutal for Alvis and she is sulking about that.

We are watching Harry Potter Goblet of Fire right now. I really love the set designs and cinematography but I have to confess the writing and acting is kinda getting on my nerves in this release. It is way too serious--and comes off being almost over the top. We also are heavy readers of the series and this one takes some liberties with the plot and characters (missing in action in the movie). So although we are enjoying it, it is leaving a bit to be desired.

Been noticing some issues with my Roadrunner Cable broadband service. For the past couple of weeks downloads have been petering out halfway through. I am also having trouble loading large media files (ala Rocketboom). I've reset both my router and my cable router. No difference. Page loads seem ok, but it is just the larger downloads that seem to stall out. Happens on both Lavie's laptop and our desktop pc's. I've been too busy with my workplace networking issues to take the time to call TimeWarner, but this weekend I'm going to work the phone system there and get them to run some diagnostics.

Anyone else run into this problem with them?

See you in the skies...
Claus

Ch33r B0t

Microsoft WindowsOneCare Beta, CopyScape Blog Piracy Checker, Make your Gmail a storage drive--and more Tech madness! But first--Claus gets into the Holiday Mood!

Lavie was kinda surprised to find I was in a "scrooge" mood last post regarding the Christmas season so far. I didn't mean to say I was bummed out; only that it seems to take me a longer time to get up to speed. So I have started a mental conditioning program: I have turned off NPR during the day driving between network service trips and have been iPodding out on Christmas music. My favorite right now is HearMusic's Holly Days and Mistletoe Nights. I am going by Starbucks later today to try and pick up two more CD's (#1 and #2). This points out an interesting (to me) revelation: I prefer jazzy, croonie Christmas music. One of my co-workers was playing some Frank Sinatra holiday tunes in the dungeon level cubes we inhabit and I felt pretty seasonal.

As I was driving home last night, I passed a house that fit my image of Christmas perfectly. I told Lavie we had to stop by tonight and see if we could snag some picture for you all. It is small, white and decorated with dark green garlands and deep red bows. The only thing it was missing was snow packed up around. My heart pitter-pattered in Christmas cheer! I also saw a clip on GMA of the White House all snowed up with the "Holiday" wreaths and such. It was pretty. I did a quick search and found the White House website has a posting about all the Christmas decorations (this year and previous). Very beautiful stuff. (Nice to see our tax dollars hard at work! I guess I'll let this one slide...)

Last night, Lavie, Alvis and I gathered around our digital fireplace (the tv) and watched "I want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown" Next week "A Charlie Brown Christmas" comes on: That's a perrenial favorite in our home. Now if I can catch "White Christmas" with Bing, Danny and Rosemary, I'll be set! Of course, for the anime loving crowd, there is always "Love Hina X'mas Special." Kawaii!

This time of the year, down here on the Gulf Coast, things just seem so brown. Not at all like the white and evergreened images in my mind that Christmas should look like. The grey skies don't really bother me. At least it has been cooler. Last year's snow on Christmas day was really special. I've also noticed that there doesn't seem to be any consistancy with Holiday decorating around our area. You may hit some areas of town that have gone all out, but drive through most neighborhoods and many houses look just as plain as ever while others are all decked out with lights. Maybe that's where my problem lies---Christmas to me seems like it should be a community and family wave of togetherness and celebration. Not just some token decorations here and there. (And I'm not talking about the community and family wave of togetherness we call the holiday shopping crush. That doesn't count!) Maybe I'll just blow the savings account and hop a plane to Japan and hang out with these folks, sipping some Bailey's. Pretty!

Christmas Factoid: Did you know that hamsters can get seasonally down as well? Yep, it's true! My guess is that it's either because all they keep getting is that stupid ball to be terrorized in by the dog for their gift, or they were forced to watch this thing all day.

In other related animal cuteness....I've been jonesing out on the newborn Panda cub in the Washington zoo. But now there is this cute otter baby at the Seattle Aquarium!

Now for the tech....Gee, it's been a busy week....

• Windows OneCare Beta--available for (free for now) download for XP users. This product seems to combine enhanced firewall and anti-virus products into an integrated product along with some other pc maintenance items like defragging, backups, system tune-ups, defrags, and file cleanups. Blog buzz on the web has been generally light but favorable. I personally will pass--beta or not. While it might be good for your non-tech parent's pc's, I prefer my more pragmatic approach. Different products for different needs. Futhermore, I haven't had good experiences with security suites. I do more than a few home-support calls where the suite isn't playing nicely with its components. Besides. Different products mean (maybe not logically) different code so a single exploit would be harder to take down the entire security package operation.
• The next greatest time-waster after crossword puzzles...Suduko has hit the web!
  
• CopyScape. Ever wonder if someone is lifting your blog content and posting it as their own. Pirates! Plagerists! Prepare for a broadside! This is a must have bookmark for bloggers. Put your blog address in and the site will find content matches in other blogs. Monitor where your content is going! Think it doesn't happen? Check out this post from over at Kaonashi Ga Kuki blog for more details. Girl got caught making her blog almost entirely out of other's blogs--total cut and paste--and claimed it was her own. Uncool! Of course, just because it finds a match doesn't mean the site plagarized it. It could be a credible block-quote from your site (or your's from theirs). Just play nice folks, and give proper linkage or credits!
  
• First there was the cardboard pc case (Japanese). Now you can get some matching cardboard pc speakers. I kinda like the idea--in an enviromentally friendly way.
• Then there is this custom Sangaku Japanese Case Mod. Wow! This thing is a masterpiece!
• Paul Stamatiou blogs that the next Thunderbird email client will have Tabs like Firefox now does. Neat!
  
• Speaking of Firefox, TechSpot has a nice user guide to tweaking Firefox. Good general guide for users looking to "kick the fox up a notch!"
• Want to really put all those GB of G-mail to work? Convert your GMail account into a storage drive! Check out this Gmail drive shell extension. If you still have some extra unused "invitations" for gmail, maybe you could set one up for storage only so you don't bomb out your main email account. Looks really neat. I'll let you know what I find out when I finish setting it up.
• Spotted on slashdot: 10 really bizarre USB drives. The drives are pretty normal, it's the cases that are freaky (Oh, those wacky Japanaese designers!) . This one is really tiny!
  
• Neat bird's eye satelite images of LasVegas (and a few other places) via Microsoft's Live.Local (Virtual Earth) (NOTE: seems to like IE not Firefox--imagine that. Open link in IE or (even better) use IE Tab for Firefox). I've been spending hours combing the pics trying to find Grissom and Catherine. No luck yet. Oh, here they are: G and C. Maybe Microsoft's camera's are better that we knew....what a babe!
  
• Icon Workshop 6.0: I'm an icon junkie. I collect icon packages bigtime. So when I hear Vista is going to support 256 x 256 PNG quality icon depth, I get excited. Mac Users have been swimming with gorgeous icons for a while. Now we Windows users can enjoy them also. This application promises to let icon artists for Windows up to Mac level quality (well, almost...). Free 30-day trial download. It's cheap enough I can afford it, and they have a free lifetime upgrade policy, nice.
• Z-zip has a new version release. It's a small and fast (free) file compression program. Yeah, I know XP comes with that built-in, but I like this one and carry it on my USB drive for those 2000 and 98 boxes we still support. Others I like with slightly nicer interfaces are TUGZip and ZipGenius.
• SmartFTP: Free, nice interface. Handy. (My primary FTP application remains FireFTP.)
• Video spotted over at Drawn! blog: Le Papillon. You just have to see this BEAUTIFUL asian film done in Quicktime. It's illustrated work over a heavy watercolor paper background. Wow!
• Also from Drawn! blog: illustrator Mickey Duzyj work is featured. If you like hard-edged graphics this is for you.

Special Bonus Linkage for you Harry Potter Fans!

• MuggleNet has done some tweaking on their site layout. It's looking a little more polished and they have some new site-skins with the HP-trio a little more grown up. This is the first place Lavie, Alvis and I get our HP news.
  
• One of the reasons I finally got broadband was to be able to cruise "Galadriel Water's New Clues to Book 6" forum. This is a monster place that may be one of the largest forums on the web. It is my idea of how the perfect forum should be. Heavy content. Heavy postings. Great and active moderation. Very insightful postings from a devoted fanbase. There was so much stuff here in the HP Book 5 forum that dial-up just couldn't handle it. Now they have opened it up for HP Book 6. If you consider yourself a HP fan, you have to bookmark and visit this place:
• HPL: Timeline of the Wizarding World--If you have difficulty trying to keep up with just where all the key events in the HP world fall, this is the site for you.
• The Leaky Cauldron: Our number 2 site for HP news and updates.
• And of course, there is the site of the grand-dame herself: J.K.Rowling Official Site. Very nicely done. Have fun playing around on her desk. Great ambient sounds.

Finally, a big thanks to Dwight Silverman over at the Chron.com. He alerted me to Grand Stream Dreams being listed on the Chron's Opinion page under their BlogWatch section this past week. Neato! Thanks again Dwight! You can't see it now and Google's since recached their page, but I managed to snag a screen capture of it for posterity. This is heady stuff for a new blogger!

See you in the skies!

--Claus

Me Sick, W2K Sick, Harry Potter Podcasts.....& oh yeah! Japanese Shrine Maidens too!

Ok...Dentist said my teeth looked great for not seeing a dentist in so long. No cavities, just some cleaning. Doctor found an infected gland under my jaw. Believes pressure/pain spread to my lower jaw/teeth. That what has been bringing on the headaches. I've been eating antibiotics all week. Yummy.

I'm finally getting used to my new glasses. Our friendly family optician realigned them and that has helped. My sunglasses came in as well. They are wicked-bad looking--now I need to get my abs cut! Only "problem" is that the extreme curvature of the lenses seems to change the depth-of field slightly on the peripherals. If I look directly through the center it isn't a problem, but when I am driving and glance at the dash or walking and look at the ground without moving my head-it is a little off/wierd. I've just had them since Tues. so I hope my eyes will figure it out in a while.

Been a bad day for the Windows 2000 world. Almost all of my time this week at work has been spent responding to the Esbot/Zotob virus outbreak that brought down a lot of other companies. Been cleaning and patching lots of desktop machines since we don't seem to have a very good patch/update policy (?political group turf issues?). But that isn't my area, I'm just an end-stream sysadmin who has to clean up the mess.

So, what can you do? Well, get patched first. Get ALL your Windows Upadates, but if you don't, at least get this one that fixes the hole this worm is taking advantage of. Next--if you don't have an antivirus program--scan/clean your machine. Use the Symantec standalone cleaners or the Microsoft Malicious Software tool. If it were me, I would download the tool and run it off the local drive--it is very fast.

Mugglenet is now offering Harry Potter Podcasts for discussions of the series by fans. It is pretty fun to listen to. They have two podcasts right now and also offer transcripts if you don't want to download the honkin-big .mp3 files.

I'm thinking of starting a campaign to get MegaTokyo's Piro to Podcast his anime-convention appearances. He mentioned considering it at the very bottom of his blog. Let's hope so!

Bonus Linkage:

March of the Penguins -- going to see this movie this afternoon with Lavie and Alvis.
KeyPass -- freeware password manager software--updated version.
MPUI -- freeware video software -- plays DVD files!
XPredit -- freeware XP registry setting tweaker.
Milky Way Bar -- scientists discover there really IS a MilkyWay bar out there...who knew?
Psychopathic Boss Quiz -- find out if your suspicions are true!
Solving the Enigma of Kryptos -- for all you spy fans out there.
Japanese Shrine Maidens -- beautiful photo-spread--kawaii!

See you in the skies!
--Claus

Yatsubato! (...and thinpack sets)

A new manga series we are reading now is Yatsubato! Volume 2 was just released this month. It is the wacky brainchild of Azuma Kiyohiko (blog) who wrote the cute manga series Azumanga Daioh. Yatsuba is a 6-year old child full of energy. She sees and responds to the world around her in the way only a 6-year old's wisdom can grasp. It is a delightfully refreshing comedy. There is some seriousness about it, but it is very nice to laugh again at the sillyness of the release of 1000's of ciacada's in a home by a well-meaning 6-year old.

Innocence is a precious commodity these days. (We're not Afraid! and Runny Babbit Tales)

We started watching Azumanga Daioh in the anime form before picking up the manga version as well. It follows the high-school adventures of a group of very diverse (personality-wise) Japanese girls. From first year to graduation. We couldn't help but fall in love with them. It isn't deep. At all. More like a light spring breeze. It comforts you then moves on. Comparisons have been made to Seinfeld. (Samples of Azumanga Diaho manga series here.)

Lavie and I have been picking up quite a bit more manga than we used to. We started out as anime fans (and still are) but now tend to bring home 4 or more manga for every one DVD we get. Price is not really a factor. Al has her own manga series she likes. So why the switch? Well, it's not really the tie-in factor (where you get manga versions of an anime series). We do have some of those. No, I think it is the fact that the manga can tell an even deeper storyline and provide more fleshed out characterizations than the anime can. For instance, Lavie loves the "Love Hina"manga as previously blogged--even though she has never seen any of the anime versions. And I really enjoy Video Girl AI in manga--despite having seen the anime version.

Plus, you can read and take it all in at your own pace. Anime is kinda like riding a roller-coaster. You get on, you have a blast. You get off, a little dizzy. Then you go back to the end of the line and wait forever in mixed excitement for the next ride. Manga is more like that jungle-riverboat-adventure. You get on, you slowly cruise the ride, you get time to pick out the various sights along the way and linger your attention on those that interest you. Relaxing. Manga is also gaining in popularity with the general public.

Which brings me to my second issue--anime "thinpack" sets. Generally, when you buy anime titles you spend at least $29.99 for a single DVD that may run about 90min in length. Anime shows can average anywhere from 2 or more DVD's in the series. Some have over 10. That adds up to a hefty investement. Plus you have to often wait a month or more between episode releases. Granted, you may get some "extras" with these: commentary inserts, collectible pins, art cards... On the other hand, anime distributors have recently been releasing complete sets. Sometimes in a "thinpack" set (where each DVD is housed in a thiner DVD case without most of the extras), sometimes in a "brick" set where the DVD's are housed in one DVD case, and sometimes a compilation set where the epsiodes have been crammed together on one or two DVD's total.

I'm really mixed on this (as are a lot of anime fans). Anime collecting is a pretty expensive persuit--not at all for the faint-of-heart. If it is a series I am just blown-away by (like Last Exile) and I have to have all the art/collectibles--then I will lean to picking up the individual DVD's. If it is a series that I like, but not crazy-wild about (or has more than 4-5 DVD's in the entire series), I will almost certainly wait the extra 6 months to a year and get the the box-set (thinpack/brick). This is usually much cheaper as well. I bought the Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi series one-by-one at an overall investment of $120. Now it is coming out in a thinpack set for $49.99. See what I mean? Did I like Abenobashi? You bet! Kinda like the Marx brothers on celluloid crack--with Texas accents...who wouldn't like that?! Would I rather have spent $50 on it, yep. Now, I do plan to pick up the individual series DVD boxes on Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex, AIR, Ah! My Goddess (TV) and CowboyBebop-Remix. On the other hand, I think I will be waiting for the thinpacks on R.O.D. : the TV, Kino's Journey, and MadLax. Now, if I could just get word that Yotsuba is going to be made into anime....

Tangental topic: I was driving home yesterday from work listening to NPR and heard that August 6th, 1945 is the date Hiroshima was bombed with an atomic weapon. They had an audio copy of an eyewitness's account of the bombing from an English speaking Russian emigrant who lived just outside the city. A photo gallery here. It struck me how far we have come in the (60 years?) since. Our family eats at a local Japanese sushi-bar. We buy loads of Japanese anime and manga and music. We watch Korean and Japanese movies and TV dramas weekly. Lavie works at a local German-owned chemical manufacturing plant, and I am a 7th generation German American. I did not live in the WWII America. I will never know the anger and pain our nation felt during that period of our history. I have only seen the pictures. I am deeply and utterly moved by the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Many historians believe the decision likely saved hundreds of thousands of lives (civilian and soliders) on both sides had American forces invaded Japan by force.

I am deeply proud of the sacrifices America and its soldiers/citizens made for my family during WWII. I am deeply proud today to be an American (and Texan!). At the same time, I also think we are all still living with the ongoing cost of the aftermath.

I just feel sad thinking about it...that's all. Geesh, now I've got to go watch some more Azumanga Diaho, right after I give Alvis and Lavie a hug.

Bonus linkage:

• Last Friday was System Administrator day. Our bosses didn't do anything for us sysadmins at all at work. Bummer. This site has some good humor for the poor-forgotten sysadmin's like me. (Lavie offered to take me out to dinner since I can also be considered the sysadmin for the home pc...)
• Speaking of sysadmins. Have you heard of the Chronicles of George? I use a problem ticket system exactly like this one at work. Dude is in need of some job-counseling, seriously. The chronicle keeper is a fellow Houston blogger.
  
• NASA's shuttle mission webpage has an awesome multimedia page. The high-res photographs are literally out of this world. The detail of the photography is breathtaking.
• Hacking an Elevator (so it doesn't stop between floors to the one you want). Don't even get me started ranting 'bout elevator etiquette!
• Mando has a great Starbucks wallpaper, and check out his old-school space desktops, and the rather clever Firefox protection.
• Inkscape has a major new release update out (version .042). Go snag it and do some vectors.
• ZoneAlarm firewall also has a pretty new update out as well (version 6.0.631.3).
• Spyware causes identity theft? Are you surprised?
  

Finally, I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Lavie and Alvis (along with the other 3/4 of the world's population). Wow. Didn't expect all that. What the #%#^@#$ was JKR thinking? So much to think about....while we have to wait another 2 years or so for the final volume. Oh, this was pretty funny, but don't go (spoiler warning!!) HERE unless you have read the entire HP&THBP book first (or if you just don't care and want to save $20).

See you in the skies.
--Claus

And the Half Blood Prince is....

I really don't know. Yet. Last night (this morning?) we got the latest Harry Potter book. It worked out something like this... After a long day of work battling a nasty trojan attack spreading in the system as well as addressing the usual vanship maintence, I got home and Lavie, Alvis and I planned the attack.

We went to a local area book-store around 8:30 pm. Masses of people, employees doing head-counts at the door to ensure no fire-code occupancy limits were exceeded, long lines at the Starbuck store inside, masses of people, Alvis and Lavie getting "tattoos" painted on them, more masses of people... At 11:oo pm everyone was moved outside...time to make the lines. (Thank goodness the rains had let up!)

There were two categories of people where we were at. Yellow banded people and Orange banded people. The blessed and the cursed. The haves and the have nots. The pure-bloods and the half-bloods. The Wizards and the Muggles. Ok, too much drama. The Yellow Bands had made reserve purchases for the book while the Orange Bands (like us) just showed up hoping they didn't run out of books before all the Yellow Bands got their chance first. (We cleverly came up with a backup plan. It they ran out, we would make a dash to the local grocery store that also was selling them at midnight.)

There must have been over 500 people there. It was like a strange block-party. Kids, adults, seniors. Some in costume (Alvis had her cape and wand), some in pink hair (Tonks?), some in knee-highs, white buttondowns and plaid skirts (Hermionie). A smattering of Harry's and one small girl in a "we love Ron" shirt.

Things were not looking good. We were Orange Band #81. The 400+ Yellow Bands had to go first. I was confident we would be getting a book, but it might be at 2 am. Fortunately, we ran into one of Lavie's friends from her day-job who was a blessed "Yellow Band". She had reserved 3 copies in advance and the owner of one of them was a no-show so she GRACIOUSLY!!!!! offered Lavie the 3rd. She was also a blessed "Yellow Bander" who had a number under 100. In no time flat she was in and out and by 12:30 am Alvis was dancing under the misty half-moon in the sky twirling around, HBP clutched to her chest. Pictures taken, 1000 thanks given. We loaded up and flew home. Orange Band #81 now used as a bookmark instead of its original purpose.

I read the first chapter out loud this morning upon arrival in our burrow. Alvis was asleep 1/2 way through the first chapter. Lavie was falling in and out of awareness. Lights out at 1:40 am. Lights on at 8:30 am and I got breakfast tacos going (and coffee!). Now we are three chapters further along. (We read the story aloud to each other.)

We are taking a short break (lunch and short nap for Lavie). Then back again. Will keep you posted. (--Chapter 2 was a real surprise! Or was it?) In the meantime, check out Mugglenet to see more of the madness!

See you at Hogwarts!
--Claus