Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Today I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth and latest movie in the series. I quite enjoyed it. It's relative newness and freshness may be colouring my current thoughts on it, but I think this movie is the best of the bunch--which is a very good trick for most sequels. With notable exceptions, I find most sequels less enjoyable than the originals.

I've never read any of the Harry Potter novels, by J.K. Rowling, though I did try to read the first book a while ago. If memory serves, I gave up after the first few pages because I found the writing style, narrative, and language to be stilted and simplistic. I can't completely fathom why these novels are so popular among so many adults.

I have seen all the Harry Potter movies. Some were better than others, but I've enjoyed all of them with, as I noted above, the latest being the best so far. Harry didn't alienate his friends for too long, much to my relief, and this movie introduced and expanded upon interesting characters. The actress who played Dolores Umbridge was great--very creepy. Luna Lovegood was fun. The special effects were great, except for one brief second or so with fireworks that looked obviously computer-generated. The climax was well done--an extensive magical battle.

There were some parts of this movie I didn't like. Cho Chang annoyed me from her very first appearance in the previous movie (Goblet of Fire) and that didn't change in this latest--even before Cho Chang's forced confession. During the climax I was distracted throughout trying to figure out the identity of one of the students. Turns out she was Ginny Weasley--I guess I should have recognized her since Ginny does appear before the climax, but, oh well. I only know who she was now because I looked up the cast list with matched pictures (thanks, wikipedia!).

Also thanks to looking at the cast list, I discovered that Emma Thompson plays Professor Sybill Patricia Trelawney, a role she's had since the third movie. Now that I know it seems patently obvious, but I completely missed it.

Anywhoo, overall I liked this movie and I'm glad I watched it.

4.5 out of 5 stars.

Comcast customer service

Last night I was forced to telephone Comcast regarding my cable bill. I say "forced" because I only phone customer service--of any category--as a last resort, when all other options have failed or aren't applicable. My extreme reluctance to telephone customer service, in this case Comcast, is due to the frustratingly long time it takes to actually speak to a real person; pardon me, but I'm only phoning because what I need can't be answered/accomplished any other way, so why the heck do I have to jump through metaphorical hoops before speaking to someone?

With Comcast, no matter the time of day, I invariably get the automated, "We are currently experiencing unusually high call volumes. Please stay on the line and your call will be answered in the order it was received or you may wish to hang up and call again later." Ugh. As I mentioned in a previous post (Hello? Anyone there?), if this happens all the time, it's not unusual--perhaps I should buy them a dictionary.

Well, as I said, last night I phoned Comcast, but... what was this... it was different! Yes, I had to cycle through two automated menus, but then the message was, "We are currently experiencing unusually high call volumes. Please try again later." Then... and then... get this... Comcast HUNG UP on me!?!? What the heck?!

I stared at the phone in disbelief for a few seconds. Did *they* just hang up on *me*? That's a switch. I just had to try again to see if it was a bad connection, or if Comcast did that on purpose. It wasn't, and they did.

My first response was irritation. But on further thought, I decided it was better than the alternative of waiting on the phone for an eternity and a half. Still, I think the best option would have been Comcast to provide an estimate of the wait time, and then give the customer the option of hanging up or waiting.

Anywhoo, this morning I tried again and surprise surprise I got through on my first try. I have to say the representative I spoke to was great--polite, professional and helpful, and best of all, I had no trouble whatsoever understanding her English, unlike reps in other companies ::cough:: Dell ::cough:: I've had the displeasure of contacting.

Overall, a definite improvement in Comcast customer service.

Springfield comes to Maryland

My brother's attendance at the grand opening of his local Kwik-E-Mart (Kwik-E-Mart opens in Canada) inspired me to visit the Kwik-E-Mart in my neck of the woods on the poorer side of town. I left relatively early, hoping to miss weekend/holiday traffic, and was mostly successful except for the accident that cost me 20 minutes to drive 0.3 miles.

The anticipation of getting there was much more exciting than the store itself, I have to say. As soon as I walked through the doors I felt a little deflated. I couldn't seem to maintain the same level of enthusiasm over a redecorated 7-Eleven. I bought the obligatory sprinkled donuts, a can of Buzz Cola and left. Still, with the mostly pleasant drive it was a worthwhile trip.

On a side note, I'm really happy with my Magellan Roadmate 2200T. It would be true of any navigation unit, I suppose, but having it certainly gave me confidence to take the first exit I could, instead of crawling my way through backed-up traffic, and know I'd still be able to arrive at my destination.

Site visitors in June 2007

It's a little late, but here are the top 5 site visitors in June 2007, listed by countries:

1) United States,
2) Sweden,
3) Canada,
4) Great Britain,
5) European Union.

Full list for June 2007.

Site visitors in previous months.

Stargate SG-1

Hard to believe it's been ten years, but tonight was the series finale of SciFi channel's Stargate SG-1. This series is one of my all-time top three science fiction television shows, currently ranking only below Star Trek: TNG and X-Files.

Okay, confession time. I've only seen a handful of SG-1 episodes in the last three to four seasons. I started watching SG-1 because of Richard Dean Anderson (Go, MacGyver!!!) and when he left as a regular in season seven(?) I lost most of my desire to watch. I did make a point of watching the first few episodes without him, when Bridges, Bowder, and Black joined the cast, but for me it just wasn't the same without Anderson's Colonel Jack O'Neill. I tried to catch the episodes where RDA made guest appearances, but it's difficult when I'm no longer paying close attention to the series. The same thing happened with X-Files. Go figure.

I did watch the series finale, Unending. I enjoyed it, despite my disappointment at RDA's absence. I won't spoil it, except to say that I appreciated and was pleased to have them refer to the Fifth Race, first mentioned in the first season. I thought it was a nice touch.

I read that TPTB are making two direct to DVD SG-1 movies, and that Amanda Tapping, who plays Colonel Samantha Carter, will be joining the ongoing SG-1 spinoff, Stargate Atlantis.

Anywhoo, kudos and thanks to the cast, crew, producers and everyone else involved in making such a wonderful, enjoyable series.

Computer woes

This post is an update to my ongoing tribulations trying to get my new computer to work the way I want it to.

Last night, after a ten hour workday, I spent seven hours trying to get my computer with Windows Vista to work the way I want it to work, and the way I would have hoped a new computer *should* work out of the box. I thought I was being clever, waiting 4-5 months, after the initial roll out of Vista, to allow some time for the bugs to be worked out. Unfortunately, my old computer forced my hand earlier than I might have wished.

Initially, despite several minor issues, I was happy with Vista. Actually, I guess I still am. Most of my frustration stems from 3rd party software that says it’s “Vista-certified” but, at least for me, isn’t.

After waiting a few days for a response to my most recent e-mail to Trend Micro customer support I decided to give up on Trend Micro Internet Security 2007, despite have two thirds of my paid prescription remaining (note: this morning I did receive a reply from customer support, asking for additional debugging log files). My plan was to uninstall IS2007, install PC-cillin 2007 antivirus software, and then install the free version of Zone Lab’s amazing firewall, ZoneAlarm. Shouldn’t take too long, right? ::sigh::

The first mistake was my fault. I made an error in judgment. To uninstall IS2007, I decided to use one of the more thorough methods described to me in one of Trend Micro’s e-mails. I was trying to be methodical, so after installation I tried to sync with my HTC s260 since I’ve had Windows Mobile Device Center and sync issues before. Sync worked fine.

I installed PC-cillin 2007. At first it seemed okay, but the main console wouldn’t open correctly. The window was there, but it was blank. Okay, now there were two blank windows. Now three. Eh? I couldn’t close the proliferating windows fast enough. I managed to open Task Manager and saw that my computer was running at 100%, continuously. I ended up performing a hard restart.

Restarted. When I tried PC-cillin 2007, blank consoles proliferated as before. Another hard restart. Restarted in safe-mode, but… I can’t open the start menu?! How am I supposed to uninstall the antivirus software? Restarted in normal mode.

I decided to use system restore to reach a point before I realized the IS2007 virus scan wasn’t working and before I contacted Trend Micro customer support. System restore failed; I don’t know why, but the error message said so. I restored to a more recent date. A-okay.

I uninstalled IS2007 using “add/remove programs”. Tested sync, it worked. I installed PC-cillin 2007. After installation, PC-cillin says you don’t need to reboot. I strongly suggest you do; it will save you time and help avoid experiencing déjà vu. I tried a scan and… it worked! Huzzah!

I tested sync and it still worked. I then installed ZoneAlarm, or tried to. At 19% complete BLUE SCREEN of DEATH. Ummm… eh? I tentatively restarted. Oookay, seems alright. I checked the “add/remove programs” list to see if ZoneAlarm is present. Nope. After that I was going to... but, oh no, there’s that persnickety BLUE SCREEN of DEATH.

Restarted. This time I deactivated SpySweeper and AV, something I should have done originally. I tried to install ZoneAlarm. It worked! Nice to see you! Better, yet, sync still worked. I went to Shields UP and tested the effectiveness of ZoneAlarm. Perfect! Unlike the IS2007 firewall.

But I needed to get some Windows updates. Uh oh. Windows Updates didn't work. Clicking “Try again” was futile no matter how many times I tried. Luckily, I found help online. I needed to empty the files in folder “SoftwareDistribution”. Unfortunately, this wasn't so easy since some files simply refused to be moved. So I cut and pasted, renamed, cut and pasted, and somehow, through all of that, although not moving everything in the folder, Windows update worked. Huzzah!

Hmm, six important updates, and two optional, one of which was an update to the Windows Mobile Device Center. The end was in sight. I downloaded and installed all eight. The optional update for my printer failed. But this always happened before, and I can still print, so I couldn’t care less at this point. Restarted.

Tested sync one last time. Uh, oh. Sync not working?! Aaaaaaargh. End was not in sight.

I couldn't figure out how to uninstall the Windows Mobile Device Center update. Frustration, sleepiness, and impatience started winning. I picked a system restore point prior to installation of the updates and went for it. Aaaaaargh. Sync still didn’t work. I don’t get it. Why??? I uninstalled Windows Mobile Device Center using “add/remove programs”. Hmm, Windows updates wasn’t working again. This time there was no goofing around with cutting and pasting. Delete, delete delete. I downloaded and installed the important updates, but made sure to leave out the others. Restarted.

Since I’d restored my system files, I needed to reinstall ZoneAlarm. During mid-installation, BLUE SCREEN of DEATH. I refused to consider potential ramifications this may have towards ZoneAlarm’s stability, once I got it working. At least, after the past several hours, I knew what to do. Restarted in safe-mode and, hey, *now* I could access “add/remove programs”! Uninstalled ZoneAlarm. Restarted in normal mode. Re-installed ZoneAlarm. Restarted. Hurrah! Back to Shields UP. Still stealthy.

Sync… still didn’t work. There was a connection, but failed sync all the way around. Hmmm, I cautiously deleted my “partnership profile” and set up a new one, with a couple restarts and scratchings of my head in between. Eventually, sync worked again.

I performed final tests. Windows update worked; sync worked; I started scanning for viruses with PC-cillin 2007 and went to sleep. This morning, to my relief I found that PC-cillin worked fine, and sync still worked. Hurrah! Break out the champagne! But oops, I need to get to work so forget the last part. Before I left, I started backing-up my hard drive.

Note to self: tonight, verify everything—ZoneAlarm, PC-cillin 2007, Windows Update, sync—is working, then create a system restore point.

Lies, misleading, or mistaken?

I just read this article on cbc.ca regarding the delay in the passport requirement for Canadians and Americans crossing the United States border by car or boat. United States Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is reported as saying that any substantial delay in the passport requirement would be "playing with fire". But what *really* annoyed me was this quote:

"Even Andrew Speaker, the Atlanta lawyer with a drug-resistant form of tuberculosis, knew to enter the United States via Canada to remain undetected, he [Chertoff] said."

Eh?! What the heck!? From articles I've read (BBC; CNN) Andrew Speaker was NOT undetected. Speaker was only able to enter the United States because the border guard let him pass *despite* a "danger to public health" warning and a "detain" order--not because he did or did not have a passport!

Is Chertoff trying to change history?! Is Chertoff outright lieing, intentionally misleading, worryingly misinformed, or genuinely ignorant of the facts surrounding an important security breach? As something like this falls under his purview as Homeland Security Secretary, is he simply incompetent? Unfortunately, the Bush government lost my benefit of the doubt a long time ago.