A B W A I N: Blog

Is it possible? Newegg is coming to Canada?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 21:10:55 GMT

We'll i'll be a monkey uncle, my mother would always say when she was surprised by a bit of news. We'll i used that same statement today when I saw this:

http://www.newegg.ca

Now that just made my day. I have used a few online retailers here, (NCIX, TigerDirect, CanadaComputers) but felt more comfortable buying at a local PC store, one of my favourites and regular stops is Canada Computers. However if Neweeg can pull this off and offer the same service, price and convenience they do in the US this will be huge.

When I find out more I'll be sure to post it here.

Later

Jay

Flight Simulation and Me!

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:23:15 GMT

Recently as regards FlightSim, well, there hasn't been any. Life got in the way, I hate when that happens! Oh I still love it, I still read the forums when I get a chance to. I'm hoping once I have built a new PC, I can fit it back in. Hopefully in time to be a part of the 'FSNext' beta process.

I have always loved anything to do with Aviation, and FS. That'll never go away. I see stuff happening with FS, new releases and new tweaks. Perhaps I'll post about those as I can. I checked a number of other bloggers, who at one time posted often and it would seem they have gotten busy with life also.

In any case, I am still around, most the blogs I list here are still there, updated as much as possible. I'll post anything that interests me. Hey I have an idea, I could share my blog with....well everyone. If you have a FlightSim related article you want to post, but just not sure how, get in contact. Or if you have a piece of tech, software, hardware you want to write an article on, or aviation

news, let me know. I'll post it here and all credit will go to you. I'm no glory hog. :)

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Later,
Jason

Technorati Tags: aviation, blog, article, write, Flightsim, FS9, FSX, FSNEXT

Cool Stuff # 1 - OpenDNS

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:50:25 GMT

I thought in order to make this place a little more interesting until I get back on my feet, PC wise, I would post some cool stuff.

My first in what I hope will be a long list of cool things is a very cool service I just found recently. I had been looking to block among a few things:

- Adult Sites
- Adult Adverts
- Matchmaking Sites
- Phishing Sites
- Gambling (i.e.Party Poker Pop-ups)
- Adware

...among a few types of sites with tasteless content. Also I wanted to do it without installing software on any PC or MAC.

I came across OpenDNS. Skeptical, but hopeful I signed up for an account. Looked around the dashboard, and decided to go for it. I changed my DHCP server to specify the OpenDNS servers for DNS resolution. If you have a router doing your DHCP (automatic assigning of IP addresses) you can specify your DNS servers manually. I setup my network, and setup updates for my dynamic IP address using their own update utility that sits in your taskbar, very unobtrusive.

Voila! No more adverts on web pages, no more pop-ups (yet). And my DNS resolution is a heck of alot faster than what I had before. There are a few issues, like if you have internal servers, you may need to tweak your settings a bit, but in some cases like mine I had to do nothing. However there is an extensive support section on OpenDNS' site. Have a look, see if it will work for you. If you have kids, hey even if you don't have kids and you want to block questionable sites, this is perfect for you.

Let me know if it works for you.

Later,
Jason

Technorati Tags: Technology, spam, blocking, dns, advertising, computers

What's it like to not have a PC to use?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:26:06 GMT

These days going a day without a PC is like, say, going without drinking a glass of water or having that first beautiful cup of coffee in the morning. Coooofffffeeeee, mmmmm. Yeah I'm a coffee nut. In any case, since the demise of my PC I have realized how dependant I am on that thing, and the data contained therein.

I would like to mention some of the things I have done, to prepare for such a disaster to happen, who know maybe it will help you out if this ever happens. I have multiple drives in my PC, split up into partitions that handle the OS install only, and then other partitions that handle my data only (mp3s, downloads, programs, email). Other partitions I install my programs to. However that's all fine and dandy to say I do that, but the question that most people ask is how do you do that?

I use two programs now, both by Acronis. To partition my drives, I use Disk Director by Acronis, and to perform my drive recovery I use True Image Home by Acronis also. In combination these tools are very powerful. By the way I am in no way affiliated with Acronis, I just enjoy telling others of tools that actually work and do what they say they are supposed to do. I have most of my drives backed up (or imaged) already, to an external drive, which does work thankfully.

Like I mentioned in my earlier post, the failure couldn't have come at a worse time so I am in limbo at the moment. I am not the sort to beg, so I won't. However I will place a PayPal Donate Button in each post, that way if anyone is in a giving mood, it's a click (or two) away.

(This links to another page, Live Spaces don't like PayPal links)

Thanks,
Jason

Mac vs. PC

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:25:46 GMT

Love that headline. You see it everywhere, on blogs, news sites, tech sites, ZDNet!! I have a question though. Which is better? Oh I know, I have opened a HUGE bag of worms with that question. Ok let me clarify that a bit with the following.

A while back when things were good, and the birds would sing to me when I woke in the morning, and the sun would dance and prance for me in the sky, and for some reason kept offering me two scoops of raisins......strange. I bought my wife a Mac Pro. It was a thing to behold, in all its quad core glory. Clean design, very hefty, well thought out. Someone at Apple obviously took a lot of time thinking about the design of the thing, and maybe too much on that packaging. PC guys aren't use to all that packaging. It's still screaming along, silently, at times sticking it's tongue out at my PC, oh the tears that would cause. I really like the thing, but, the price was high.

Now comparing that to building your own PC, it would seem that building your own PC would be the cheaper way to go. However, do I want to go through the hassle of researching parts, and keeping track of all the warranties and then piecing it all together hoping it all works? OR, do I go down to a big box store and buy a PC there, or go to Dell, or HP direct? I have always opted to build my own machines. I'm a gamer, FPS (COD, MOHAA), Flight Simulator (CFS, FS9, FSX), strategy (Sins of a Solar Empire, Starcraft, COH, C&C Series) and so I would usually just pop in and out components to increase performance where I needed it. But is that the way to go anymore?

I don't know, I haven't asked those questions in awhile. I'd like to get some input. Feel free to comment.

(This links to another page, Live Spaces don't like PayPal links)

Thanks,
Jason

My PC has officially bit the dust!!

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 06:19:44 GMT

Well it has been awhile since I posted, hasn't it. I see that some do check it every now and then. Well, life has been busy, so many things going on right now. And to add to it all, my one and only PC has churned its last byte, played its last MP3, flown its last virtual flight.

At the worst possible time too. So, I thought and thought and thought about how in the world am I going to replace it? You see, I have been working on a little project for this blog, and a sister site to host Tech Tips, for building and troubleshooting basic PC issues, Flightsimming info and more. Additionally I lost quite a bit of data for the project, I'll need to redo. Leaving me in a precarious situation I had not planned for. Isn't that always the case? Anyway let me end the sob story and get to the point, I need to ask a favor, I've thought about this long and hard, and figured I'd put this up, and hope for the best.

There is a link below, that says it all. Feel free to use it if you want, fell free to ignore it. I will absolutely appreciate anything I receive, and rest assured I will post a step by step article on the build of the system. Any funds received will be used ONLY for the purpose of building a new PC, I'll stop the donations at that point.

Please click here to begin your PayPal Donation.

Thanks for the help, I'll update very soon on the progress.

Some enjoyable entertainment...FS Style!

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 02:31:19 GMT

I was looking at my Youtube favourites and saw that I still have Ramasurinen listed and watched all his videos again. Here are my absolute favourites:

Adversary: Iris T-6 Texan II

Vectors - an FSX Film

Vantage - an FSX Film

Courchevel - an FSX Movie

I found some other videos I'll post them later!!

Jay

Well it seems I have some time today!

Wed, 21 Nov 2007 03:53:35 GMT

It would seem I do have some time today. I just noticed that my father has updated his space with some pictures.

A few show the Tropical Storm that recently passed through. Pictures of the family plantation back home LOL. And best of all some of his moving desks, in the way of his C-172s, his C402, and the quite loverly Titan he has been talking about. Sometimes I wish I was back home.

Click here for the link to the pictures.

I miss the old days, flying around The Bahamas, Florida, man those were the days!!

Later

Jay

I am not the only one at least....

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 20:46:29 GMT

Steve seems to have had an issue with spam too. Brave man!!

http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/2007/11/your_attention.shtml

Well I tried!!

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 18:59:36 GMT

In my spare time, which by the way is almost at nil right now. I setup a blog on my domain JasonRitchie.com. Which you can see now has just a logo. The experiment really didn't go too well, as the spam bot's hit it with a vengeance and were dropping thousands of comments a day. I didn't have time to clean them out, so I wiped it.

I will most likely make this my home until I have the following:

1. TIME

2. TIME

3. More TIME

4. Researched a better blog software suite, most likely Wordpress.

As far as what's happening on my end? Well the house is less than a month away from being ready, we'll be VERY happy when its done. I'll then have a proper office and a proper desk. Space is way too limited where we are at the moment.

Later,
Jay

Things moving along....

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 02:03:47 GMT

Spaces is nice, but for the ideas and things I would like to do, I am thinking I need my own space.

I present my future albeit messy home http://www.jasonritchie.com, I may think about keeping ABWAIN as the name, we'll see. Please also disregard the 'crap' on my main page. I quite possibly will have multiple blogs for FlightSim, PC stuff, and PC building tutorials. I am still banging around a few ideas.

Until then though this will be my home, and I'll post here a little more often. Seeing as I had a burst of visitors on my last post. Does feel good someone reads my jibberish!! :)

Till then!

Jay

Technorati Tags: Personal

Moving bites!!

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 03:21:22 GMT

I haven't been blogging because I have been moving. Did I mention moving bites!?

Well finally today we are free and clear of our apartment, and have taken residence up in temporary quarters until our new abode is complete. I cringe at the thought of doing it all over again, and in the winter.

In any case I hope to be busy real soon doing some cool things, for now though I am pooped from nearly 5 hours of driving today. Will update on a few things this weekend, that is if anyone is reading this still....lol

CYA!!

Technorati Tags: Personal

Almost back!

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:18:50 GMT

Technorati Tags: Personal

It's been awhile hasn't it.

Well as you all know the Acceleration beta has started so everyone involved is busy. I'll update as we move along.

My personal website is up now, http://www.jasonritchie.com. Pop by, not much there right now, but I am working on a few things as you can see.

Be back later with more.

A few quick links to update me and you...

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:54:51 GMT

polypoke: Owen writes about some new stuff he is trying with a hot looking Twin Commanche.

Phil Taylor: Well, Phil has been busy. Does he ever sleep?

Nick Whittome: Has information on FSX/Squawkbox and a cool Windows Home Server design.

Jon Patch: Is chipping away at the highly anticipated Vancouver + for FSX.

Hal Bryan: Has been travelling, and was right in my back yard.

As I catchup, I'll post more. Oh yeah 1 more update...

ABWAIN: No, I didn't fall off the edge of the earth.

Take Care All,

Jason

I am still here...

Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:40:56 GMT

Just, in a sort of limbo.

I am moving out of my apartment and on to bigger and better things......finally. I really really hate packing up. I would love to pay some one to to do it, but alas I am cheap. A no win situation i guess. So I do apologize for the abscence, but I will be back hopefully with some cool stuff.

A lot of things in the Flight Sim World have been going on, and a whole lot happened in the Windows Home Server arena too.

- WHS CTP and RC 1 have been released, I am running CTP still, will hopefully update to RC 1 soon.

- FSX SP1 has been out for awhile now, and things seem to have settled in, FSX add-ons are flowing, people seem happy about it. We sure enjoyed the testing phase, it was eye opening and at time tense.

- Wings and Wheels came and went, and I missed most of it, due to personal setbacks that weekend (don't you hate those?). However The Canadian Aviation Expo is up soon, and you better believe I'll be there. If any of you are going to be there send me a note. I'll buy you a drink and a sausage in a bun.

I'll post again at some point this week.

I need a break, I'm going to Wings & Wheels this weekend.

Tue, 22 May 2007 23:41:04 GMT

It's merely coincidence Owen mentions this. But I am really looking forward to going to Winds & Wheels this weekend. Downsview is about 45 minutes from where I live. I live in the Eastern Region of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Hal, you gonna be around?

Are you going to be there? Let me know! Here is the link to the Festival.

Celebrate the 60th anniversary of the famous DHC-2 Beaver, witness a historic homecoming fly-in of 20 Beavers aircraft, and meet their pilots
See a full-scale replica of the Avro Arrow, Canada’s first supersonic jet interceptor
Celebrate Air Canada’s 70th anniversary by inspecting oldest airworthy airliner --- a Lockheed 10A used to launch scheduled passenger service in 1937.
Explore more than 40 vintage and modern aircraft, including First World War fighters, 1930s biplanes, 1940s Harvard trainers, modern training aircraft, helicopters and Downsview-built airliners and business jets.
Meet local members of The Ninety-Nines – the international organization of female pilots – and view their aircraft at the terminus of their annual "Poker Run" fly-in
Enjoy a hangar full of aviation exhibits and displays

Hopefully I'll see some there!!

FSX SP1 is here.....go get it!!

Wed, 16 May 2007 02:16:33 GMT

GO....have fun....!!!

Available on http://www.fsinsider.com.

Here are the direct download links to the exe

English
http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/5/2/8526e721-0a01-4f7b-8529-0ae8286619cb/fsx_sp1_ENU.exe

French
http://download.microsoft.com/download/6/8/2/682bcb3a-7fb0-4a8c-8681-5404d6d49793/fsx_sp1_FRA.exe

Italian
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/7/b/57bdc11c-18a4-430c-9c23-89286baabeb7/fsx_sp1_ITA.exe

German
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/a/f/7af84201-aba4-4979-a750-f592e1399abf/fsx_sp1_DEU.exe

Spanish
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/a/3/7a3895f5-06e3-47e9-a60e-042e322e64b7/fsx_sp1_ESP.exe

Polish
http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/7/3/c73b5c32-b133-4709-88c0-d83f02ac9acb/fsx_sp1_PLK.exe

FSX SP1 on the horizon

Fri, 11 May 2007 00:03:43 GMT

Well, I wish I could say more but as Phil mentions in his blog they hope to release SP1 very soon. Not much more can be said on that here.

Pop over to Phil's blog to read up on his comments.

It's going to be a great step forward, I am sure everyone will have something good to say. At least I hope so.

Holy BC (err..Seabus) Ferries Batman!

Tue, 08 May 2007 03:14:06 GMT

I just mosied on over to Jon's blog, and saw something that blew me away:

This...

Can't wait to get my hands on this creation. While your there check out the rest of the pictures of this incredible scenery for FSX.

What's your opinion? I want to know...

Tue, 08 May 2007 02:34:18 GMT

There is a couple of things I wanted to touch on. I was doing some testing and my mind passed on a few posts I have seen about the FSX SP1 Beta. An interesting post I saw asked an interesting question. Why doesn't aces allow for a public beta of the SP1? Isn't knowing about the Beta and it's progress enough? Hasn't Aces put themselves out there enough, practically updating the community weekly if not more? Wouldn't Aces have already taken the time to pick a representative beta team to help in testing? What do you think?

Something else....I have been involved with MSFS for many years. And I have seen the ebbs and flows of the community. However more and more recently I have seen, a real increase in heated discussions, sharp responses to opinions given and very emotional outbursts. It would seem that MSFS has become a real part of people lives. Do you see a difference in the community? Is it a good thing?

Now, what do I think? Well I am usually the guy to sit at the back, and listen to others go at it. However I have this blog now, so why not put an opinion piece out there for readers (if any) to respond to. I think Aces has done a great job at getting information out about the progress of MSFS. Never before have we 'the community' had such an insight into the work under the hood of FS the good and the bad. In most cases 'the community' have accepted the open lines of communication with a positive response. However it has disappointed me that a few have taken the opportunity to openly attack the Aces team and FS. It would seem such ones, no matter how good FSX gets, will never be happy, and are content to complain and point fingers for the fun of it. Now wait a sec, yes I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, albeit expressing that opinion in a respectful manner, so as not take away from what they feel may be an issue.

Yes I also will agree there have been some problems with MSFS over the years, that have caused even myself some aggravation. However I learned to workaround the problem, or turned to the same community I speak of above for help. For 95% of those times I have been helped. Now, isn't that what FS is all about? Bringing a diverse group of persons who all have a common love, Flight!? I think so. I also feel that Aces now opening up is a good thing for the future of FS. I only hope it stays that way, and there is no need for Aces to close up again due to unrelenting accusations and attacks.

There I said it, I won't delete it, and if feedback is good it won't go anywhere either. So, see that feedback thingy down below? Go ahead press it, it won't bite.

New News on SP1

Sat, 05 May 2007 01:46:21 GMT

SP1 Beta 4 a la ACES...

A quick drive-by note on FSX SP1...

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 01:45:57 GMT

Two words.....BETA 3!

Does ACES ever take a break? Well I am off to downlaod and chomp away at it. You can see Phil's latest here and here. He states:

"We had a couple extra 3rd party bugs that needed to be fixed ( animated parts, mouse rects on the panels, lighting ) that we needed to fix and in fixing the stutters with the first round of threading code we lost some perf and had another bad bug lurking in there. And we identified an issue with 3 AI aircraft, 1 of which is fixed in Beta3 - if that aircraft passes muster in Beta3 we will fix the other 2.

It is what it is; we are trying to get it right. That does take time. And we believe the result will show that care and attention to detail."

I am a bit behind the times.....but

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 16:11:35 GMT

The FSInsider site has been updated, and looks to be a great change to the site. Have a look and see what you think.

And the link would be over to the left. If your lazy like me, click http://www.fsinsider.com.

A Vista HotFix for FSX and Multi-Monitor Setups

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:52:44 GMT

Microsoft released a hotfix and an accompanying Knowledge Base article. This fix is a big one according ACES, you can read a response here at Avsim Forums to my original post. As I stated in my post,

"Just to Clarify, this is a Windows Vista OS fix, not an FSX fix. Not related in any way to SP1 for FSX."

There is a 64-bit version of the fix available also here.

I don't use Vista with FSX at the moment, however I do run Vista Ultimate on my PC. I have a few issues that need to be resolved before I place FSX into Vista.

Eaglesoft DG and a certain CJ1

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 15:41:33 GMT

Eaglesoft is on a roll recently releasing the CJ1 for FSX. You better believe i'll be grabbing this one real soon, and post a few thoughts on it as soon as I have time.

I'll hopefully get it tonight and see what it's all about. More to come.....

FSX - News on SP1

Fri, 27 Apr 2007 03:14:31 GMT

News on SP1 is breaking. Phil Taylor commented earlier about how SP1 for FSX is progressing however there is a slight delay, and mentions that SP1 is going to a 3rd beta release.

His comments located here:

"It is true, for perf testing the upcoming Beta3, I gave advice to turn AI aircraft down. Some AI aircraft have a high render cost and will skew the results of perf testing Beta3. We had a perf regression in trees we believe Beta3 will fix, and need results that are not skewed to validate that.
And yes, this means we won’t make April, sorry about that. We are trying to get it right."

Beta 3 as Phil mentions in earlier posts, helps a few 3rd party issues that were found, to be resolved. This is good news in my opinion. The extra time gives the ACES team the needed time to 'get it right'.

My comment to Phil and the Aces team is to, take the needed time, update when possible, and I have no doubt the community will be there with smiles on our faces to grab SP1 whenever it's ready.

Am I missing something? iTunes and me and the wife.

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:23:56 GMT

Ok, so I am supposed to be able to figure this out. iTunes is not really that hard to figure out is it? Well it seems I have found something iTunes can't do. Or can it?

What I am trying to do is, share my iTunes library of purchased music with my wife's Mac Pro (running Windows XP and Mac OSX) and her iTunes client. Well, that was easy to do. I shared out my iTunes folder on my PC, and on my wife's machine mapped a drive to that same shared folder. Cool, that's easy, simple, a no-brainer. We added the folder to the iTunes library on my wife's machine. It scanned, it found all the music and allowed us to authorize iTunes to play the music. All is good, right? No, it ain't

You see when either of us now buy music it won't update the others iTunes client with that purchase. I finally figured it was because the 'iTunes Library database' (an .itl file) is not the same on each client. Now, how do I get each client to use the same database? That's just it, I haven't figured that out yet. I am still researching, but I thought I would ask you guys if you have any ideas or solutions?

If you do, leave a comment. I'll reward you with a HUGE Thank You from myself and my wife. If I beat you to it, buy me a Guinness, no buy two, one for the wife.

Update 1: I may have found a way to do this. Will post the link once I have tried it out.
Possible Solution 1: http://lifehacker.com/software/itunes/hack-attack-...
And while I was playing with that I found a very cool Windows Toy, HERE.

FSX SP1 Beta 2 Released to Beta Testers

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 23:13:03 GMT

As has been already announced by Phil Taylor of ACES Fame, Beta 2 has been released to the FS Beta Testers today. Phil says:

"We hope Beta2 verifies we have fixed what needs to be fixed. Then we can take a final build end of next week, and start our 2 week final test pass."

With all the hard work, late nights and weekends the team has been putting in, I am sure this release will be a real breakthrough for FSX. As soon as more can be said, it will be.

Who am I, more importantly what do I look like? And other stuff...

Sat, 14 Apr 2007 18:33:41 GMT

No I do not look like a 402C as my current blog picture shows if you really want know the truth. I have been rummaging through some older pictures of me, from my days of flying throughout the islands. Man, those were the days.

In any case I am scanning a particularly bad picture of me, when I flew right seat in one of our 402B models. Hopefully get that up today.

Friends
Since creating this blog I have had the privilege to add a number of people in the Flight Simulation community, and in real aviation.

Owen Hewitt - A well known member of the FS community an MVP, and part of the well respected EagleSoft Design Group. It was a great surprise when he contacted my about my blog. Pop over to his blog and see some of the news about ESDG, Aviation and some great aviation news and write-ups.
Hal Bryan - The ACES Community Evangelist, and all-around cool guy. I was able to very quickly breeze by the booth at last years Canadian Aviation Expo. Look to his blog for in-depth MSFS information and read about his world travels to exotic and far off locations. What a life!! :)
Cyril Ritchie - This is my father. The picture? Probably him relaxing on some island, chilling waiting for his clients to return. Fun? You bet, he loves flying and is a CFI, he makes learning to fly fun for his students. Talk about convenient to take flight lessons huh!? If you are ever in The Bahamas, look him up. He hasn't done much yet with his space, but I talked to him about doing some write-ups on his travels and pictures of the islands. Look for more.

Anyway, the is more to come here on the ABWAIN channel. I am figuring out stuff slowly. I just added my blog to Technorati, which promises to make me gobs of money.....really! Ok, I lied. It actually is supposed to wash my car, clean the dishes and take out the garbage in exchange for my blog getting more visitors. A win, win situation if you ask me, because who likes to take out the garbage? My wife can tell you how allergic I am to taking out the garbage.

Keep in touch people, and stay tuned....more at 11.

Canadian Aviation Expo

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 17:33:58 GMT

The Canadian Aviation Expo is held each year. And each year it just seems to get better and better. I have been twice, and have completely enjoyed it.

Last year Microsoft and ACES were present, and had the attention of everyone with the then preview of FSX. It was a real highlight, unfortunately I did not get to meet Hal Bryan and team while there, there was just too many people. This year promises to be just as good.

Apart from the planes you can look at, sit in and play with. There is an opportunity to go up in Cessna 172, there's a helicopter ride, and a beautiful Classic Harvard available for a ride.

I also don't to forget an important association involved. That's the Canadian Owner's and Pilots Association. COPA is a sister organization as it were to Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. If you are a member of either I believe you get a discount on admission. So a membership in either is to your advantage.

One of the exhibit's I enjoyed the most, was the one by Cirrus Design. They had a SR-22 G2 on display, in addition to that they allowed us to sit in the plane, and gawk at the avionics. The glass cockpit (Avidyne FlightMax EX5000C) was a sight to behold. The Cirrus was extremely comfortable, and you feel right at home in the cushy leather wrapped cockpit.

Hopefully I may see some of you there. Drop me a comment if you want to meet up.

What does it mean?

Mon, 09 Apr 2007 17:51:26 GMT

Ok for those who do not know what NDA means....

No, it is not a Government Agency that polices software betas. It is NOT the 'National Dumbness Agency', it is not the 'North-American Dork Association'. It better not be the 'Nuclear Decommisioning Agency'.....yikes.

NDA stands for Non-Disclosure Agreement, an agreement to which Beta testers agree to before joining or being invited to a beta program. That is for private, controlled beta programs. Public betas can have NDAs attached but are much less restricting. See a definition HERE.

For FSX/SP1, there is a strict NDA in place. No details about the actual beta process or software itself is allowed to be discussed in public. However, MS employees are not bound so much by the NDA testers are held to. For example, thats why Phil Taylor, Hal Bryan, Paul Lange, Adrian Woods, Mike Singer, Tim Gregson, Brian Hunt, Mike Zyskowski and Jason Waskey can reveal such information to us. They are a few of the ACES team who are brave enough to venture into the wild and quench our thirst for more and more FS information.

Oh yeah, and I haven't heard from the NDA 'guy' since. And my car is fine....unfortunately.

Heck why not....

Sat, 07 Apr 2007 02:22:57 GMT

Well I was off today, unfortunately my wife wasn't and had to work. So I decided to plan a little FSX testing, to counteract my boredom. Testing of a little known fix or something of that nature (can't really say), that is supposedly to be on an FSInsider site near you (I can't prove it). Yes, I was one of the few FSX beta testers (or not), and this was my first chance to be a part of a Flight Simulator beta run (maybe). I learned a great deal about the process and a great deal about the dedication of not just ACES, who by the way are an awesome bunch of guys, but those same beta testers. FSX, heck all of the FS version are one heck of a beast, it is no small task to to get this software out the door and to the masses, to keep the masses happy and joyous.

Alot have questions about 'the fix', and I am in no position to answer any of them. However I will venture to give one snippet of info. And that is........................wow some guy just knocked at my door saying he is from the NDA. Oh well, guess that means you will have to wait.

In anycase it's going to really be........that's really weird, the same guy who said he was from some NDA place, just called my phone and said my car was on fire........and that I must leave my computer on while I go check.

Hmmm..

Sim-Outhouse, Milton Shupe and team - A26 'Invader' Released

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 18:36:24 GMT

If you have been a part of the FS community for the past few

years, you will have no doubt used or heard of Milton Shupe and team. Their aircraft for FS are simply brilliant. I beleive I have all of them in my hangar.

Sim-Outhouse and Milton recently released a real beauty of an aircraft for FS9 and FSX. The A26 Invader. You can see the thread and download HERE. I just downloaded it and will be taking it up later.

Snowing again...

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:24:10 GMT

See that didn't take long.

Snow? In April? Ummm...

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 16:21:43 GMT

I am relatively new to the northern hemisphere. So I am still learning the ins and outs of Winter, Spring, Fall, and the short Summer. My background is somewhat more tropical. Where it was basically HOT all year round. Where you would take a shower, and when you dry off, it makes no difference, your still wet.

I am looking out of my office window into a completely white.....well everything. Spring was coming along nicely, warmer temperatures, a little rain here and there and BOOM snow today, tomorrow and Sunday. I mean I like snow, but I'd also like to not have to brush off my car in the freezing rain/snow/sleet, and watch people make absolute idiots of themselves driving in the snow. Although that can be amuzing.

Despite all that whining, I still love seeing all the seasons. The breathtaking colours and scenery up here. On occasion when in southern states, it takes me back to childhood. I remember the heat, wearing two shirts to protect the outer shirt from getting wet (which never worked). The colours of the trees and grass too, kind of a burnt brown when it was hot, and then green when it rained, quite lovely. Oh yeah, and air-conditioning hunting, trying to find the closest air-conditioned location to the parking lot to avoid as much heat as possible. Those were the days.

Well it's stopped snowing, no...wait....nope still snowing....wait, ok it's stopped for now. Time to get back to work. Can some one turn the heat on in here?

Microsoft Home Sever Beta (MSHS)

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 15:30:28 GMT

I am on the Beta team for MSHS, and currently we are in BETA 2. There is an NDA attached to MSHS, but we are allowed to discuss a few things.

There are a few things that really impressed me about MSHS. Well how about a quick list of what I like about it:

Automatic PC Backup - Home Server will sit somewhere in your house and do complete backups of every computer you have setup on your network. Did I mention it does this automatically? If your like me you may lose a file, delete a music file, even accidentally format a partition (really happened) perhaps you need to replace a drive, it can restore an entire computer or one file. In Vista you probably have noticed you can replace older versions of files, MSHS works with this to provide that function in Vista as well. This is very similar to what larger corporations do, only now you can do it at home.
Grows With You - No, it doesn't put on weight like you, after you ate that double cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake!! It's easily expanded. For example you need to add another drive to it, for more backup space, or more space for that 'collection' of music and videos you have. No geekiness required on your part.
Access Everything From Anywhere - With MSHS, you will be able to access all of your files (music, videos, documents) from any computer, inside or outside your home. You will be able to store your files in one place to make them easier to access at all times. Ever had a file on one PC and tried to access it from your other PC and realize the other PC is turned off? That won't happen, all lazy people rejoice!

Linkage to more info: http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-08WindowsHomeServerPR.mspx

Unfortunately the machine I had it on died (I killed it) so I am in search of a new cheap P4 or Dual Core PC with decent storage. I see Dell has some systems for under $400.00(CAD). But hey if you guys have some better reccomendations feel free to give some feedback.

I think MS Home Server will be a success. More to come.

MS Flight Simulator X and SP1

Tue, 03 Apr 2007 14:48:16 GMT

It was exciting when FSX was announced and then released. However in recent weeks, information on SP1 has been getting out from the ACES team, and the excitement is once again at a high level.

You can see a bit of information here at an ACES team member blog:

http://blogs.technet.com/torgo3000/default.aspx

There has also been numerous posting by the PM Phil Taylor at his blog:

http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/

Phil and team have been great at letting the community know about what's happening at the ACES HQ. An education in itself. There are also numerous discussions on Avsim in their forums about what some users are expecting. Myself I am looking forward to SP1 RTM. Despite my main machine only being a HT CPU, I believe there is hope for FSX SP1.

I'll post more later.

What in the world am I doing here....

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:25:46 GMT

Well, here it is. A blog.....by me! A blog....by me?

What in the world am I going to do with a blog? I have never in my life ever done anything like this before. Although I am going to give this a try. I want to come at a few things from a different perspective. From the view of some one new, or perhaps not so much advanced as many 'geeks'. I have a few things in mind:

Hobbies! Flight Simulation, Aviation, doing nothing. Stuff like that.
- Namely Microsoft's FS franchise, and all the great and enjoyable software available to use with FS whatever version I am using. As you'll see I'll do it from a newcomers view, or through the eyes of a non-pilot considering just the usefullness of the product and the enjoyment I get from it, or perhaps what you will get from it.
Technology! I'll look at current and new technologies. I'd like to see if I can review a number of software and hardware products, a little differently from how most sites do it.
- I want to do it not from a strictly technical view, but from the view so many newcomers to technology have, a (pardon the word) 'newbies' view. With simple explanations and simple ways to use, test and figure out what the best peice of hardware or software is for my needs and perhaps that person new to computers or technology in general. If I can, I'll comment on Beta's I am involved with, although that is only with proper permission. If an NDA is involved, nothing can be done about that.
Personal! What would a blog be if there wasn't some stuff in there about me.

So, sit back relax, and watch the disaster that may be ABWAIN!!! If I can I'll see if I can come up with a name, if not ABWAIN works for me.