Sometimes people ask me, "How do you know all of this [computer knowledge, technical skill]?", "You must have some sort of natural talent..."

Truthfully, no, not really.  I am no more talented and capable and anyone else.  My method is to know that I don't know everything but strive to expand my knowledge through challenges and practice.  That through persistence a solution can always be found.

The Scientific American article, "The Expert Mind", hits the nail on the head.  It talks about studies of expertise in chess and how it applies to life...

"A man walks along the inside of a circle of chess tables, glancing at each for two or three seconds before making his move. On the outer rim, dozens of amateurs sit pondering their replies until he completes the circuit. The year is 1909, the man is José Raúl Capablanca of Cuba, and the result is a whitewash: 28 wins in as many games. The exhibition was part of a tour in which Capablanca won 168 games in a row.

...

Even the novice engages in effortful study at first, which is why beginners so often improve rapidly in playing golf, say, or in driving a car. But having reached an acceptable performance--for instance, keeping up with one's golf buddies or passing a driver's exam--most people relax. Their performance then becomes automatic and therefore impervious to further improvement. In contrast, experts-in-training keep the lid of their mind's box open all the time, so that they can inspect, criticize and augment its contents and thereby approach the standard set by leaders in their fields.

...

... motivation appears to be a more important factor than innate ability in the development of expertise. It is no accident that in music, chess and sports--all domains in which expertise is defined by competitive performance rather than academic credentialing--professionalism has been emerging at ever younger ages, under the ministrations of increasingly dedicated parents and even extended families."

The article is 6 pages long and an excellent read, filled with inspiration through the studies and a insight to the inner workings of some of the greatest minds and their methods.  It is an excellent opportunity to take a break from work and dedicate some time to focus, read and reflect on the subject.

To summarize this best may be a quote from the T.V. show Grey's Anatomy by the character Preston Burke speaking of his idol, an accomplished violinist, "He said, that he wasn't the most talented student at music school but he said, what he lacked in natural ability he made up in discipline... he practiced... all the time, he practiced."

So this thing would be great for our soon to be announced Auction Consignment company.

We do lots of shipping and it would go right in hand with the Foam in Place machine.

This one, I'm going to make for sure!  Probably a little differently, I'll post some updates in the extented, ;)

Just FYI, on how to make a T1 or PRI cross over cable:

OW1 -    O2    - GW3 -  BL4  - BLW5 - G6 - BRW7 - BR8

 BL1  - BLW2 - GW3 - OW4 -    O5    - G6 - BRW7 - BR8

Also here is another method http://www.voip-info.org/wiki/view/T1+Crossover+Cable if for some reason you don't trust your crimping skills... you could use a co box... but... you could just get a tester too :-P.

So.. um what can I say... uumm.. yeah, not much to say... except.. "Umm, yeah, did you get that memo?..."

"[A lady in Trading Standard (must be like the DCMA cops here)] had encountered businesses which were selling copies of Firefox, and wanted to confirm that this was in violation of our licence agreements before taking action against them.

...

I wrote back, politely explaining the principles of copyleft – that the software was free, both as in speech and as in price, and that people copying and redistributing it was a feature, not a bug.

...

Unfortunately, this was not well received. Her reply was incredulous:

"I can't believe that your company would allow people to make money from something that you allow people to have free access to. Is this really the case?" she asked.

"If Mozilla permit the sale of copied versions of its software, it makes it virtually impossible for us, from a practical point of view, to enforce UK anti-piracy legislation, as it is difficult for us to give general advice to businesses over what is/is not permitted."

I felt somewhat unnerved at being held responsible for the disintegration of the UK anti-piracy system. Who would have thought giving away software could cause such difficulties?

However, given that the free software movement is unlikely collectively to decide to go proprietary in order to make her life easier, I had another go, using examples like Linux and the OpenOffice office suite to show that it's not just Firefox which is throwing a spanner in the works.

She then asked me to identify myself, so that she could confirm that I was authorised to speak for the Mozilla Foundation on this matter. I wondered if she was imagining nefarious copyright-infringing street traders taking a few moments off from shouting about the price of bananas to pop into an internet cafe, crack a router and intercept her e-mail."

If you missed that link above, here it is again, the UK Times Online Atricle : http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2051196,00.html

I know this doesn't really have to do with computers but what can I say, I love to grill and part of that is having a good flame and charcoal. 

Lets just say that you have to compute the amount of heat needed to initiate the Mallard Reaction and determine the optimum interior temperture to maximize enzyme action for the perfect texture and succulent flavor.  Yeah... that has to do with computers. ;)

Ohh, I know, it has to do with science and chemistry, with out those we would never have computers! A -> B -> C, therefore A -> C!

So, In any case, this web site gives a complete tutorial on how to build a charcoal kiln. 

"BRIQUETTES
To make briquettes you'll need some starch from the grocery store and some molds: Margarine bowls, muffin tines, short cans or 'most anything. Crush or grind the small pieces of charcoal as fine as you have the patience for. The finer the better, but some lumps are okay. Cook the starch to a thick paste and mix in the charcoal. The thicker a mix the better, but mix it well. Pour or dip into the molds and that's all there is to it. After the mixture sets, dump the briquettes out and let them completely dry. Depending on the weather, it may take a couple of days for them to be dry all the way through. The starch will burn smokeless and odorless and you don't waste any of your charcoal. You also don't have any extra "junk' in your briquettes. In our research we discovered that the commercially made briquettes we buy at the store probably contain earth coal as fill for extra weight and even raw sawdust for "smoke". Of course, starch is the binder that is used commercially too. Your briquettes will burn clean and with no more smoke than the rest of your charcoal. If you wish to have smoke, it can be had by putting any kind of meat sauce directly on the burning charcoal.

...

The temperature of 250 degrees Celsius is to be considered the minimum at which carbonization begin. Your kiln is designed in such a way that the temperature can go much higher, to 357 degrees Celsius (700 degrees Fahrenheit). At this temperature carbonization is rapid and some skill and practice is required to know just how much draft is required and when to stop the burn. Placement and size of the intake and exhaust vents in relation to the size of the kiln combined with skill are the keys to the proper decomposition of the wood."

Between wires and websites, this is my next project.  Don't be supprised if I bring you a bag of charcaol as an appreciation gift!

As structured cable installers we have to tie lots of knots and if they fail, it's a big headache!

So in search of the perfect knot I came across this web site on how to tie knots...

"This is the capsized overhand knot. It is very useful to carry light loads which have to be removed easily. Ashley recommends it to use it for hanging store to out of reach for mice. It should not be disturbed."

It boggles the mind how many knots and applications for each there are... I may have to hire someone to just be my knot expert!  But then if they are knot an expert what do you call them?  Knot something to take lightly... gosh, I'm all knotted up over this!  Knot that you care!

:P I'm here all night folks!

We at Dam Computers appreciate the service that KNPR, Nevada Public Radio, provides to the Las Vegas area.  So to show our appreciation we have donated 2 hours of service and an entire web design package! 

The total value of the donation was over $1,600!  Thanks to those that bid on the items and help us help Nevada Public Radio and ourselves have a source of quality media in our city.

We look foward to providing the winning bidders with outstanding service and anticipate creating you a showcase website!

I came across this great site, http://www.tech-recipes.com/ it has lots of tips for the computers, windows, Cisco, MySpace, and other little neat things...

Here is a recent entry:

"Still using Internet Explorer to surf the web? Do yourself a favor and check out Mozilla's Firefox. After it's installed, follow the steps listed below to optimize it. For those who already use it, you'll see the difference straight away. Enjoy!

Type "about:config" in your firefox address bar.
Search for the following settings:
1. network.http.pipelining
Set to true
2. network.http.pipelining.firstrequest
Set to true
3. network.http.pipelining.maxrequests
Set to 32
4. network.http.proxy.pipelining
Set to true
5. nglayout.initialpaint.delay
Set to 0

Its very likely that you won't have an entry for network.http.pipelining.firstrequest. Thats ok. Just add one.

Right-click on the preferences list, select 'New' then select 'Boolean'

On the first prompt, type:

network.http.pipelining.firstrequest

On the second prompt, set it to 'true'

Its also likely that you won't have an entry for nglayout.initialpaint.delay

Right-click on the preferences list, select 'New' then select 'Integer
On the first prompt, type:
nglayout.initialpaint.delay
On the second prompt, set it to '0' "