Ladewig.com

Update: Things should look like normal again. Comments should be working now as well. I may wind up breaking the layout again and go back to a default template at some point, so things may look different again. I’m in a situation where I need to redo my templates and stylesheet to make it easier to make adjustments in the future.

The site is going to look a bit different for the time being. I’m in the middle of upgrading Movable Type to the current version and needed to refresh my templates since they were from a much older version.

Yes, I admit it, Doctor Who made me cry. I was a bit behind on Doctor Who episodes (which is unusual as I normally watch these immediately along with Battlestar Galactica) and finally watched the final two episodes of Series 2 tonight. I knew that Billie Piper was leaving the show, but when her character, Rose Tyler, and the Doctor made their final goodbyes, I was reaching for the tissues.

I’ve always been a huge Doctor Who fan, but the new series has surpassed my wildest expectations. They’ve managed to keep everything that made the Doctor who he is while adding a depth to the characters and situations that was missing from the original series. In much the same way that the new version of Battlestar Galactica exceeds the original (by many orders of magnitude), Doctor Who has been revitalized.

In the episode, after Rose tells the Doctor she loves him, he starts to answer back that he does as well, but is cut off before he can finish. The scene cuts back to the Doctor stranding alone in the TARDIS with tears running down his face. I don’t recall ever seeing the Doctor cry before and doubt we will see it again for some time. Hats off to Russell T. Davies, David Tennant, and Billie Piper for making it work.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I bought a new car recently. I sold my PT Cruiser to my parents and bought a 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T. Over Thanksgiving we took several cars for test drives and narrowed it down to the Caliber. We didn’t plan to buy anything until next year, but Chrysler sent out coupons for $1,000 off a new car before January 2 which is pretty hard to ignore. The problem was going to be getting the car delivered before the deadline since I was planning to get nearly every option they offer.

Imagine my surprise when a search of local inventory for Calibers in turned up one configured exactly as I wanted it only a few miles down the road at Lou Fusz Dodge. As it turned out there were a couple minor options that were different, but nothing that was a deal breaker.

So here is my new car:

! http://images18.fotki.com/v375/photos/2/247084/914007/IMG_4663-vi.jpg (Scott’s 2007 Dodge Caliber R/T)!

Watching Battlestar Galactica on a 42” TV is pretty good, but tonight I’m watching it on a really big screen. SciFi is showing the mid-season finale at movie theatres tonight, a day early. I’m sitting at the Tivoli in University City for tonight’s showing. Kristin elected to stay home and wrap Christmas presents so I’m on my own this evening. I can’t wait to see what the cliffhanger will be this time. Best show on television, bar none!

Have I mentioned I bought a new car on Monday?

Brian Marble asks if they should split TechEd back into separate IT Pro and Developer events. If this were up for a vote, I’d vote yes.

The first Microsoft Conference I attended was MEC back in 2002 which just happened to be the final year for that conference. In 2003 they moved to a consolidated TechEd, and while every TechEd I’ve attended since has been a great experience, an event that focused solely on IT Pro topics would be welcome. As it stands, now half the keynotes, half the vendors, half the breakout sessions are simply of no interest to me. I’m not a developer, and while some exposure to what’s new in that world is useful, I can pick that up online. If I’m going to be out of the office for a week, halfway across the country, I want the event to focus on the topics that are important to me. Topics like Exchange Server, Windows Server, SMS… Oops, I mean System Center Configuration Manager.(C’mon Microsoft, is that the best name you could come up with?)

Of course the downside of a split would be fewer opportunities to go to Orlando, which means a decrease in opportunities to visit Walt Disney World. Hopefully it would be balanced by opportunities to visit Anaheim again so I can visit Disneyland.

Seriously though, I hope Microsoft seriously considers this and makes it happen for 2008.