I finally tracked down how to tell Firefox to shut the hell up about it already.  Cheers to you.

• 1 Log on to an administrator account or the account used to install Firefox.

• 2 Open a Firefox browser window.
• 3 Locate the browser’s menu. Select “Tools” and “Options” and wait for the pop-up window to appear. Choose “Advanced” and “Update.”
• 4 Find the portion of the “Update” section that reads “Automatically Check for Updates to…” and uncheck “Firefox.” You also have the choice of deselecting “Installed Add-ons” and “Search Engines.” If you decide to uncheck the other two, Add-ons and Search Engines will not be checked for updates, either.
• 5 Verify that the “When Updates to Firefox are Found…” section grays. A gray section means that the section is no longer relevant and that updates will no longer be checked.
• 6 Click “OK” and enjoy an update-free Firefox web-browsing experience.
• 7 Select “Help” and “Check for Updates” in Firefox’s menu or visit Firefox’s official website at your leisure to check for new updates.  You’ll update when you damn ready.

I couldn’t wait for Spotify to come across the pond to the US.  Or so I thought.  On the second day of my using it at work, it was getting killed by my work firewall mongers.  Then I learn that the last six months were just a big tease.  That it was all about getting us free birds to be limited or pony up to their service.  No thanks.  I spent a little bit of time on the Spotify site looking for a way to initiate a shut down of my account.  No dice, fish and chips and all that luv.

So I sent an inquiry to Spotify like a jewish man sending back a bowl of soup at a deli, and the response I got was absolutely comical from a usefulness standpoint.  I can just imagine your grandmother trying to follow these directions.  I guess it would just be too easy to put a delete my account button on your profile page, huh?

1. Login to your Spotify account profile page on our website - https://www.spotify.com/account/profile
2. Under “Personal information”, edit your email address to add “.del” to the end of the address
3. Example: anne@example.com would become anne@example.com.del
4. Click “Save profile”

That’s it. Your account and your username will expire within 48 hours. We’re sorry to lose you. Do come back anytime!

 

I got a notice today about the end of Clearstation.com.  I suppose it is because technology might have passed it by or it suffered from neglect since it was acquired from E-Trade.

What is/was Clearstation?  In the late 90’s and early 21st century, I relied on Clearstation to help me find my stocks for trading.  It taught me a lot about practical uses of Calculus as it applies to finance.  It taught me why I care about a MACD chart or following the fast line or the slow line and how to tell when a stock was undervalued. 

If I could find a stock with a relative strength score of > 80 and oversold and in an uptrend, it was like money in the bank. 

Take a peak at the last remaining days of Clearstation and you just might learn something. 

Of course the show was awesome, but House of Blues just sucks as a venue.  I am so tired of it.  I tried getting seats in the balcony this time because quite frankly I am tired of standing in one spot for 3 hours.  By looking at the seating chart online, it looked like I was getting awesome seats.  Front row balcony.  Damn chart doesn’t show the “booths” that are in front of those seats for the casino royalty.  Pheh.  I barely saw Steve Hunter all night.  Well at least I got meet his wife Karen.

Here is the updated list:

3/3/1979    Freedom Hall, Louisville KY (w/The Babys)
8/7/1980    Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY (w/Billy Squier)
11/13/1986    Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA (w/Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion)
12/18/1986    Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD (w/Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion)
9/10/1991    Towson County Courthouse, Towson, MD
8/10/1996    VA Nissan Pavilion, Stone Ridge, VA (w/The Scorpions)
8/12/1997    Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (w/Slaughter, Warrant and Dokken)
9/5/1998    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
10/2/1999    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Jesse Camp)
10/3/1999    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Jesse Camp)
10/5/1999    The 930 Club, DC (w/Jesse Camp)
10/7/2000    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Dope)
10/16/2001    Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
10/27/2001    Trump Marina Casino , Atlantic City, NJ (w/Lennon)
10/15/2002    Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (w/ Sideshow Bennie and his carnival of wonders)
10/26/2002    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ
10/11/2003    Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Silvertide)
9/17/2004    Borgata Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Powervibe)
9/19/2004    Starline Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ (w/Supagroup)
8/8/2005    House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Supagroup)
10/20/2006    Penn’s Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA (w/?)
10/28/2006    House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Wednesday 13)
11/1/2008    House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ
9/25/2009    House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/ 5th Avenue Vampires featuring Dennis Dunaway and Richie Scarlet)
9/4/2010    American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA (w/Brent James and the Contraband)
12/2/2011    House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Livan)

I was home in E-town in April for my uncle Franklin’s funeral.  I recall picking up a News Enterprise for a copy of the obit.  Inside was an insert called the Panther Edition.  I brought it home to Garnet Valley, PA and eventually I put two and two together that our old band instructor Nelson Kelley was involved.  I thought to myself about how this might play right into something that I had been contemplating for our 30 year reunion.

Some folks will call it living in the past, or an overdose of nostalgia, but I call what I had been feeling as an Overwhelming Awareness of the impact on other people’s lives that our class has accomplished.  It seemed to me to be disproportionately high the number of folks in our class who had positions in life which influence the health, path and careers of so many others.

The disappointing thing about not getting a chance to edit this prior to publication is being able to thoroughly check facts (I was paraphrasing the role for the folks in the military) and to clear it with class officers for content or omission.  But it is out there now.

What I had been chewing over in my mind was a very brief (3-5 min) presentation on this subject that I was hoping to present at our 30 year reunion to either our classmates or the administrators of the school.  Just to remind everyone how awesome they are and how proud I am of them.

So, I made the initial contact with Mr. Kelley in May with this email:

Dear Nelson,

I happened to have been back in Elizabethtown recently, and I grabbed a copy of The Panther Edition in the local News Enterprise.  I really like the concept of what you have there, and I am trying to figure out if this is an outlet for a subject which is close to my heart.
My name is Alan Jackson, EHS class of 1982.  As time passes (almost 30
years for us now), I get more impressed with the substantial impact that such a small high school can have on the lives of so many.  Certainly the students themselves have designed their own future for 30 years, but it should not be discounted how EHS helped to mold us.
The point of this email is that I have recently been looking for an outlet
to express my humble thanks, shock and awe on the class of 82, but more generally the high school in general.
Since our 20th reunion, I have been asked to try and keep in contact with
as many alumni as possible and to locate others we have lost track of.  Recent inventions such as Facebook has taken the pressure of maintaining our own web presence, and has facilitated getting back in
touch with those who don’t mind reconnecting or actually turning on their computer.
As such, I have had a lot of opportunity to consider how many of my close
high school friends have contributed so much.  It has caused me to ask if our class is typical of others.  In the end, I am sure it is very typical.
The message I would want to get across to the current graduating class is
that you should do your best to mend your fences (or as Charlie would say ‘Pay the fiddler’) now and keep in contact with your HS friends as you never know how many ways they will help you out in the future.  You may want to get away from E-town after graduation and let go
of what had been and look ahead to what will be.  You don’t have to hate each other for getting older, but just forgive each other for growing up.
We all grow up, but I am amazed in how many ways.   In no way is this list
inclusive, but off of the top of my head the EHS class of ’82 are:

Doctors
Lawyers
3 Ministers
E-town Police
State Police
Military Representatives to Congress
Teachers
Judge
Restaurant Owners
Business Managers
District Business Managers
Telecomm Engineers
Biochemists
Accountants
Software Developers
LAN Administrators
Former NFL Quarterback
etc

I wanted to thank current and former teachers for instilling in us the skills and the work ethic to become significant contributors to society and to the welfare of others.  Their various forms of ministry has done more to spread the word of the impact of an EHS education than we probably ever dreamed of in the early 80′s.
Panther pride is alive and well in the class of 1982 and we hope to show
you in our strength of numbers at our 30th reunion in 2012.  The date has yet to be set.

Thanks for listening,
Alan

PS, this is not for publication.  However, I would be interested to know if you think that the HS could be approached during the time period of the 30 year reunion to talk about communicating this in the form of a presentation to the administration, teachers and/or students.

Mr. Kelley, responded in this way:

Hi Alan,
Thanks so much for taking the time to write! I would LOVE to do a feature article around your idea for the Fall 2011 Panther Edition! I envision putting out a call this summer for all alumni to send me their comments/thoughts for inclusion in an Alumni Page in the Panther Edition, perhaps something like “Where Are They Now?”.
I would also LOVE to get hold of your alumni contact list. I’m afraid the ONLY list we currently have available is with information on students in their senior year – and I KNOW most of that information is irrelevant now. Would you be able to share your list with me so that I can pass it on to the soon-to-be-formed EHS/EIS Alumni Association?
Please be sure to add me to your contact list for information about your reunion activities this Fall. We would love to help you publicize this.
Finally, YES – I think you or someone should approach the high school with your ideas and plans surrounding your reunion next Fall.
Please keep in touch and let me know how we can assist you in your efforts.
Sincerely,
Nelson L. Kelley

• HKLM:Run   iTunesHelper  (totally unnecessary – delete)
• HKLM:Run   QuickTime Task (ditto)

Verna Rose Hobbs Jackson, 77, of Elizabethtown, KY, died Wednesday August 17, 2011 at Brookwood Hospital in Homewood, AL. She was born in 1933 in Flaherty, KY. She spent most of her life living in Elizabethtown with her husband Tex. They had a lovely life together spending time flying N81428 at the local airport or just chatting with their friends and also spending time on Nolin lake. Recently Verna lived her last six years of her life in Birmingham, AL which is close to her oldest son, Jim and his, wife Kathy. Verna was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. She lived a wonderful Christian life and was always there to support others, especially her family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Adrian and Rose Hobbs and her husband, Texal Lee Jackson. She is survived by her three sons, Jim (Kathy) Jackson, Don (Jerre) Jackson and Alan (Joan) Jackson. She is also survived by her three sisters, Reginia, Mary, and Anna (Sis) and her brother Joe (Sonny). 

She was a happy grandmother and great grandmother to Brad, Brian, Maria, Melissa, Kyle, Kate, Rex and Adelynn.

The funeral will be 10 a.m. Monday at St. James Catholic Church with Rev. Matthew Hardesty. The visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at Brown Funeral Home. Any donations may be sent to the Arthritis Foundation, PO Box 96280 Washington D. C. 20077 or St. James Catholic Church. The family would like to express their thanks and special appreciation to the staff of Ridge View Assisted Living. She will miss all of her close friends there but will reunite with them in Heaven. Condolences may be expressed online at www.brownfuneral.com.

Visitation:
• Sunday, August 21, 2011 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM
  Brown Funeral Home

Service:
• Monday, August 22, 2011 at 10:00 AM
  St. James Catholic Church

Just some additional notes about mom and her family.  Mom obviously had a hard life growing up in the depression on her dad’s 300 acre tobacco farm in Flaherty with no running water and an outhouse.  Her ancestors migrated from MD in places like Medley Neck and St Mary’s and were part of a 70 catholic family migration from MD to KY and westward.  The families migrated because of being persecuted for being Catholic.  Ironically, the initial Calvert family settlement (Catholic) in MD were bullied by other folks who emigrated later.  Also from my father’s side of the family I am connected to the initial Calvert family settlement, and thus Lord Baltimore.  It has helped me understand why I love MD so much.

Some of the early Hobbs family members were Revolutionary war patriots, so it is presumed they were offered the land in KY as payment for their time served.  Many generations of tobacco farmers ensued.  Some of the other surnames which feed into mom’s family tree include Hughes, Lancaster, Medley, Burnett, Brown, Craycroft, Frymire, Hagan, Jenkins, Johnston, Montgomery, Buckman, and Thompson. From what I can tell about their census information, they were all farmers.

Verna and Tex met at a picnic somehow and the rest was history.  Mom dropped out of school I suppose because of her pregnancy with Jim my oldest brother.  For several years mom and Tex lied to us about her birth year so that we wouldn’t do the math and figure out she got pregnant at such a young age.  It had to be tough for her and Tex but they did the honorable thing and lived in a trailer on Adrian’s farm until Tex could provide on his own.  I have seen both civil and Church marriage certificates, so I presume that they made it right.

Tex got to working in the body shop in Radcliff and that later evolved into a job with American Road car insurance (an arm of Ford Credit) doing auto insurance adjusting.  Many times I remember helping Tex with the algebra in his write-ups (he used to call it scratching).

In my opinion the source of mom’s debilitating arthritis started with heredity (her father) and from working herself to death.  She kept the house so clean, I saw it irritate more than one person that it was not possible to show up unannounced and not have the house be spotless.  The same was true about the yard.  Generally there would be little time between a leaf falling and it being raked, or an apple falling and it being cut and frozen.  My parents frugal ways spread to other things.  I remember how my mother used to make me edge the grass around the sidewalk using hedge clippers.  It looked ridiculous, but she sold it to me.

Here is the updated list:

3/3/1979 – Freedom Hall, Louisville KY (w/The Babys)

8/7/1980 – Cardinal Stadium, Louisville, KY (w/Billy Squier)

11/13/1986 – Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA (w/Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion)

12/18/1986 – Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, MD (w/Vinnie Vincent’s Invasion)

9/10/1991 – Towson County Courthouse, Towson, MD

8/10/1996 – VA Nissan Pavilion, Stone Ridge, VA (w/The Scorpions)

8/12/1997 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (w/Slaughter, Warrant and Dokken)

9/5/1998 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ

10/2/1999 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Jesse Camp)

10/3/1999 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Jesse Camp)

10/5/1999 – The 930 Club, DC (w/Jesse Camp)

10/7/2000 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Dope)

10/16/2001 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD

10/27/2001 – Trump Marina Casino , Atlantic City, NJ (w/Lennon)

10/15/2002 – Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD (w/ Sideshow Bennie and his carnival of wonders)

10/26/2002 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ

10/11/2003 – Trump Marina Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Silvertide)

9/17/2004 – Borgata Casino, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Powervibe)

9/19/2004 – Starline Ballroom, Sayreville, NJ (w/Supagroup)

8/8/2005 – House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Supagroup)

10/20/2006 – Penn’s Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA (w/?)

10/28/2006 – House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/Wednesday 13)

11/1/2008 – House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ

9/25/2009 – House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ (w/ 5th Avenue Vampires featuring Dennis Dunaway and Richie Scarlet)

9/4/2010 – American Music Theatre, Lancaster, PA (w/Brent James and the Contraband)

8/21/2011 – Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ.

But what we saw recently makes you have to ask “Did you ever test your shit?”  If you are a developer you probably love intellisense.  Those editor helpers which try and anticipate what you are trying to type.  They are a real productive add-on in recent years:

Visual Studio has had various levels of support for Intellisense over the years.  It was only recently added to Microsoft SQL Server.  Don’t remember the actual spelling of that column name?  No sweat, here it is.

Things were going great until..Microsoft released a service pack for Visual Studio 2010.  That is because it broke the intellisense engine in SQL Server 2008 R2!  And you look on the team web sites for VS and SQL Server and it is a lot of finger pointing back and forth.  Finally, in SQL Server 2010 R2 Cumulative Update 7 this has been resolved.

Un-fucking believable.  I hope someone got fired over this.  Inexcusable.  It’s obvious to us that Microsoft is more sloppy than ever.