We now have a family of THREE boys !   

Charlie Jacob O’Connor was born on Sunday 28th June, about 9.30 pm.

Without any specific “gory” details, here’s a brief run-down on “his arrival” – more for us to remember, than for other folk to read :

• Charlie was originally due on Tuesday June 23rd – I’d been working from home for a most of that week, in case he was “on time”
• He turned out to be 5 days late – Donna was just “wanting him OUT !” by then
• Donna started up with some contractions around 2 am Sunday morning – on-off for the rest of the night – she managed some sleep/rest
• 10am – took the lads (Cameron & Liam) to their Grandma’s
• Donna and I went for a walk to the shops and back – to help kick-on the labour that was only just starting up
• Home and into a hot bath – about 10-15 mins apart
• About 5 pm, left for the hospital
• Checked into the same room that Cameron was born (!)
• About an hour later, someone must have yelled “action !” – the hard bit began
• Charlie was born about 9.30 pm – a stellar effort from Donna !!

The weight of the lad was amazing – he was 10 lbs 10 oz !   (OMG !)

In contrast, Cameron was born as 7 lbs 14 oz – and Liam was 8 lbs 12 oz.  This time, we (she) skipped the 9 lbs range – and got a 10 !   Two 10’s !

After we’d shared some quiet time with the new lad, we rang the parents, sent some SMS’es – and updated both FaceBook and Twitter !   (ha ha !)

It’s near enough to five days ago, and I still haven’t blogged about it !   (shame, GW, shame)

OK – so I’m a nerd !   Was laughing with Donna about it – Cameron had a new email address, and MSDN membership (& blog post) before he came home from the hospital – and Liam had a YouTube video clip uploaded in his first few days.  

Charlie has been born in the era of Twitter & FaceBook – so THAT was how the news broke – and lots of comments / replies – many THANKS everyone !

Monday – I collected Cameron & Liam from Grandma’s – to go meet their new brother.   Cameron was super-excited, and was punching the air in the car on the way there – “I can’t wait, I can’t wait !!”

When he gave him a first cuddle, he looked at him with such wonder and delight – and I asked him what he was thinking & feeling – he said “my heart is smiling…”

*aaww*   Won’t be long till they’re battling & wrestling, but was such a lovely thing to say about meeting his new little brother.

Liam ?   Well, he crawled under the bed, and then bumped his head on the tray table – and went for a run up the hallway.   But, he’s now been saying “cha-wee” – and “bay-bee ?” – so he’s liking him too.

Charlie Jacob

We’ve had a few people ask about the name, and so :

Charlie :

• NO – it’s not Charles, his name on the birth certificate is Charlie
• NO – it’s not because of LOST – sure we liked Charlie in the show – and yes there is a Jacob too – but none of those reasons
• NO – was nothing to do with Charli from Hi-5 – who is a GIRL !!    Although, Cameron had been wanting a sister, and loves Hi-5 – we probably would’ve still gone with Charli (without an E)
• NO – was nothing to do with Charlie Chaplin
• NO – was nothing to do with Charlie Brown – although I do love Snoopy & Woodstock
• NO – was nothing to do with Charlie Bucket from Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – although he is a very good “character”
• NO – was nothing to do with Charlie from Two And A Half Men or Charlie Sheen (!)
• NO – was nothing to do with Charlie Clouser – although he was a member of Nine Inch Nails for 6 years – and mixed albums for Helmet, DefTones, White Zombie, etc.   Well – maybe just a little.     he he

We just liked the name Charlie – and fits nicely with the other lads – sound nice :

Cameron, Liam – and Charlie…

Jacob :

• Donna’s grandma was Jacomina – a Dutch version of Jacquie, or something close to that.  
• We’d always planned to use that name (Jacomina) as her middle name – but we’ve never had a girl !  
• So – we changed to the male version – Jacob
• Also – my grandfather was Jack O’Connor
• …and my cousin’s son is also Jack – so it’s basically a “family name”.

He’s settling in well at home – good feeding & sleeping – has been an easy run so far (don’t wanna jinx us though).   Sleeping up to 5 hours at night – at least 3 hours between feeds at the moment.

Donna is a bit tired – but sooo much happier & more relaxed after the fact that “it’s all over” !    She was fairly nervous & worried leading up to the birth – knowing that it was gonna be an ordeal – and now she knows that she’ll NEVER have to go through that again !

Life has changed again – it feels amazing to have THREE kids.  Was nice to load ‘em all into the car – and have a full back seat of kids – and to think about “us” – ie. the lives that Donna and I have created – and the family we’ve become.

Love you little Charlie.    x x

Welcome to your new home – we think you’re gonna love it here….!

—————-

Have uploaded some photos to FaceBook – you can check it out using the new ‘vanity url’ –  http://www.facebook.com/chris.oc – or just click here to go straight to photos of Charlie.

This one is the favourite one so far – he looks so alert – and full of “knowing” !

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To complete the nerd’ing, there is a new sub-domain for Charlie – to follow on from Cameron and Liam :

http://cameron.grumpywookie.com/

http://liam.grumpywookie.com/

http://charlie.grumpywookie.com/

I should’ve taken a screen shot before changing themes on www.grumpywookie.com – someone was saying “what did it used to be ?”

Well – this is what it looked like “last week” (random post) – fairly similar colouring, but it’s now a THREE-column, and changed/updated some of the sidebar icons.

OLD theme :

NEW theme :

—————————–

And – for my other blog, related to articles about K2 :

OLD theme :

NEW theme :

Have changed the look & feel of this blog to be the SAME – might actually considering merging the two blog’s together – as it’s been getting hard to maintain BOTH.

… and have to look through the categories/tags – there’s too many !

Have decided to change the branding, and look of my Grumpy Wookie website – come and take a look (if you’re reading via RSS).

The best part is that the new style took about 10 minutes – using a template from WordPress – just changed the header, and which “webparts” are shown, and done.

Have had a quick re-skin of my devK2.net site too – and re-organised some details.

Thanks WordPress – made it easy to “get a new lease on life” !

Lots more changes to come – my life just got a little easier, RIGHT before it gets a little crazier !    Baby #3 is due on June 23rd !  That’s only 10 days from now…!  

As told my the awesome VIsta Countdown gadget – was a bargain at only 1 YEN !

But – if the countdown gadget ends up telling the wrong day that the baby is born, then I want my 1 YEN back. 

Watch this space for an announcement “any day now” (!!!) – or more likely TWITTER – that’ll be “where news breaks”.

Any guesses as what we’ll have ??    Any bets for “boy” – or “girl” ?    What d’ya reckon ?    (the wife has a list of guesses from her gal pals)

Leave a comment, with the winner/closest, getting a copy of my K2 BlackPearl book – I still got a dozen of ‘em in my study !

Has been a fair amount of non-blogging lately – not just from me – it’s seemed like my Google Reader has been asleep, or just “not much action”.

I guess the whole “Twitter” aspects of tech-life have been why I haven’t blogged as much – or that I don’t have as much to say these days (or just too damn busy).

So – as a catch-up – here’s what I *HAVE* been doing :

• Completed a small website for a buddy, consumed every evening for 1.5 weeks – and the result is that I’m getting a new mountain bike (FTW !)
• Enjoying time with the lads – ie. Cameron & Liam – playing Lego seems to be the main obsession (for Cameron) – and kicking/throwing a ball (for Liam)
• Liam is especially amazing these days – I remember the times from 18 months to 2 years being lots of fun with Cameron – and the same again with Liam.
• Was reading a book with Liam the other day, and pointing out the animals – cow, dog, cat, pig, etc – and asked him “where’s the HIPPO ?”   He pointed to the cow – and I said “No, hippo, HIPPO !” – and he paused, then put both hands up and said “HURRAY !!”    (thinking I was saying Hip-Hip-Hooray !)    He’s learnt the art of the PUN – or maybe he was just confused.
• Lego – Cameron had a switch go off in his head the day he turned FOUR – and he plays for hours, and can follow the instructions to make something – as well as “out of our heads and imagination”.   And – trips to Toys-R-Us to buy Lego with his pocket money – he still loves cars, but Lego is much, MUCH more serious.
• Donna (wife) has been nose-deep in the new “Twilight” books – she’d bought the first one, and I got her the next three for Mother’s Day – she’d finished #2 and #3 in a week, and the last one only took another 4-5 days.  It’s been good that she can have some down-time/relax – and prepare for…
• Baby #3 – due in THREE weeks (today) !   We have both had a few moments of panic & worry about what’s to come – not just the birth, but managing THREE kids – ie. #Kid-Count > #Parent-Count.  
• Donna and I went for a few “dates” in the last month, just to have some time for “us” before it’s lights, camera, action – aka. PUSH !
• Work (OBS) has been great, although I haven’t been there much !   Been working on some projects in the outer suburbs – close to home – but a bit detached from the office place.  Will have to make some time to go out for lunch, or beers with the work crew when the dust settles (next week ?)
• Been playing Guitar Hero Metallica – and had a buddy come over to rock out (Andy) – while his daughter and Cameron played Lego, trampoline and dress-ups (not ALL at the same time !).   GH:M is amazing – sooo many great songs, and good visuals, with the band videos, and locations/stages too – Tushino AirField, Damaged Justice, Meadowlands, etc
• Been (trying) to read up on some of the new tech/bits out there – SharePoint + Office 2010, Microsoft Bing, Google Wave – and Zune HD – to mention a few
• MOSSIG as well – with a session about SharePoint 2007 SP2 – and the wonderful “reset to 180 day trial” bug !   And using WPF+VSTO+WCF+SharePoint – you had to be there to see it – was amazing !

*phew*  That’s life from the @grumpywookie side of the fence – hope to catch up with you soon.

Had blogged recently about using Windows 7 – and with the Release Candidate out, I’ve now updated my home PC and laptop PC to use the new drop.

And – jeez, it’s amazingly good.  

Installation & driver setup took less than an hour – and the speed of the O/S is amazing (even the wife commented how fast it was !)

Some of the eye-candy bits are still cool – but wearing off w/ regard to “useful” – the wow’s are lesser.  

eg. the shake-and-hide is kinda fun, but haven’t really used it a lot.

I’m getting to see that “Jump Lists” are going to be great, once more applications bring it also – here’s the right-click context-menu for Live Messenger for example :

==============================================

Tech Ed 09 is currently underway in Los Angeles – always interesting to see what’s shown, and other stuff that I haven’t seen/heard – with Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2 also).

Just watching the keynote from Tech Ed – and there’s a LOT that I hadn’t seen/heard – here’s a few of my fave’s – and what I think will be helpful & useful (essential ?!?) within Windows 7 :

• DirectAccess – able to connect to a corporate network immediately via the internet – no need for VPN, or similar – will be great for those folk who spend a lot of time out of the office (like me).  Needs Windows Server 2008 R2 also (not surprisingly)
• BitLocker To Go – encryption and locking of USB devices, via group policy
• AppLocker – give admin’s control over desktop app’s – ie. allowed to run certain software from trusted publishers, certain versions, etc
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) – a huuuge topic on it’s own – a bunch of capabilities around application and desktop virtualization (MED-V) – able to use VM’s and VHD’s to host certain applications, and then use from a desktop as “just another app” – have to see it in operation

And – the one that got me “Big Kev Excited” :

• Search Federation – able to search across other data sources from within Windows 7 via Windows Explorer – such as SharePoint, File Shares, Google, etc.  Using the OpenSearch XML file format – very, VERY cool indeed

Have found some great blog posts on the last item – have just added a new search config file to my local PC (OSDX / XML) – took me 3-4 mins.

…and now I’m able to search the SharePoint intranet site from my home PC…(!)

What the ?!     That’s fricken’ amazing !   

Yes – I had to authenticate to be HTTPS’able – but only once, and has been cache’d away.    This will be awesome (seamless) within an office environment.

And was – literally – about 10 lines of XML – it just worked…

Here’s some examples & information about Federated Search in Windows 7 :

• Search Connector for Flickr (Long Zheng)
• Create a Windows 7 Federated Search provider for SharePoint – very easy indeed

Next one I’ll have to try is to have a search across Outlook and/or Exchange folders (InBox) – surfaced to use the Federated Search within Windows Explorer.

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And – yes, have blogged about something like this previously, but within Internet Explorer 8 – as opposed to within Windows Explorer / Windows 7 :

Search Provider for Twitter – from within Internet Explorer 8 

What other search providers would be useful to you ?

Nine Inch Nails have commenced the tour in the U.S. with Janes Addiction – entitled the “NIN|JA” tour – ha ha !

There’s been a flurry of activity on twitter, and forums and other sites listing songs/shows (setlists) – as well as some photos.

The “show” looks almost like the stage/list show they used recently in Australia – a scaled-back version, with the same band members also.

One site I’ve been checking out is called “Reflecting In The Chrome” – with a section for people to upload recordings of the shows.  

The site gets its title from the lyrics for “All The Love In The World” :

Watching all the insects march along
Seem to know right where they belong
Smears of face reflecting in the chrome
Hiding in the crowd I’m all alone

From all accounts, the first two shows in Florida have been great – with some covers of songs by David Bowie, and Gary Numan – as well as some old classics – a few songs not played since 1995 – and even earlier (1991).

May 08 – West Palm Beach, Florida

May 09 – Tampa, Florida

The RITC site lists many, MANY tours & concerts – with setlists, etc.

Another site I’ve been poking about is the NIN Tour History site – where you can create an account, and click on the shows you’ve seen.

Here’s the list of MY shows :

• 1995-04-13 – Chandler Sports Complex, Brisbane – Alternative Nation
• 2000-02-04 – RAS & HS Showgrounds (Adelaide) – Big Day Out
• 2005-08-17 – Rod Laver Arena – With Teeth tour
• 2007-05-13 – Metro
• 2007-05-15 – Metro
• 2009-02-25 – Festival Hall
• 2009-02-27 – Melbourne Showgrounds – Soundwave Festival

You can see my profile/stats here :

GrumpyWookie @ NIN Tour History

Supposedly I’ve seen 141 songs live – 53 different songs over 7 shows…

Have to keep an eye on these sites/forums as well – over the coming month or so :

• http://www.nin.com
• http://www.ninlive.com
• http://www.thisoneisonus.org
• http://www.ninja2009.com
• http://www.echoingthesound.org
• http://www.halo-zero.org
• http://www.lplive.net

And – if you want more news/etc, have to remember to follow “Reflecting In The Chrome” on Twitter…   

Following on from the success of “The Slip” by Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor has received a “Webby” Award – akin to a big “thumbs-up” from the internet community.

Firstly, a little about the Webby Awards :

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honouring excellence on the Internet. Established in 1996 during the Web’s infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading Web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.

“The Internet’s highest honor” - The New York Times

… and the award this year…

The Webby Awards is thrilled to honor Trent Reznor with the Webby Artist of the Year Award in recognition of his album, The Slip, which debuted for free download in May 2008 on his website.

By making his music available to fans for free, Trent Reznor embraced the true openness of the Internet, similar to the release of the album Year Zero, which launched with an award-winning alternate reality game.

Trent Reznor’s ability to connect with fans far and wide through the Web makes him a qualified ambassador of online culture, and arguably one of the most-recognized artists harnessing the power of the Internet to spread music.

The awards will be presented at an award ceremony in New York – June 8, 2009.

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Interesting to note that there is also a Webby award to “Twitter” – for the “Breakout of the Year” – growing 900%…!

Popular with celebrities, brands and individuals alike, Twitter levels the playing field for all who use the service, restricting access to no one.

This is the ultimate embodiment of the democratic spirit of the Web.

Here’s a full list of all the Webby Awards for this year – the 13th year (been running since 1996) :

• Webby Artist of the Year Award
• Trent Reznor
• Webby Person of the Year Award
• Jimmy Fallon
• Webby Award for Breakout of the Year
• Twitter
• Webby Award for Best Actress
• Sarah Silverman
• Webby Award for Outstanding Comedic Performance
• Lisa Kudrow
• Webby Award for Film and Video Person of the Year
• Seth MacFarlane
• Webby Agency of the Year Award
• R/GA

13th Annual Webby Special Achievement Award Winners

Have been working on a VM of Windows Server 2008 – along with SQL Server 2008 and SharePoint 2007 – and the base Windows product has been prompting me to “Activate”.

But – for some reason – I get an error when simply trying to activate

A problem occurred when Windows tried to activate. Error Code 0×8007232B.

When you click the “More Information” link, it mentions some problem related to DNS…    But – my server (VM) can access the internet – I thought that’s all it needs ?

I really don’t know what’s happening – but here’s a resolution :

• Click ‘Change Product Key’
• Re-enter the product key from your initial installation (CD / ISO)
• Windows will then Activate immediately…  

Who knows WHY or WHAT is going on – but that worked !

Thanks to Yogesh for the tip…

Every year, we have a get-together with extended family – usually the only time we see a bunch of our cousins & uncles – and 2nd cousins, etc.

The premise is to remember (lest we forget) my GrandFather – who was an ANZAC soldier during the 1st World War.

He has a tree in the “avenue of honour”, not far from a little town called Kingston – in country Victoria.   There is a metal plaque on the tree, simply stating “J.T. O’Connor” – John Thomas – otherwise known as Jack O’Connor.

Each year, all the “O’Connors” meet at the tree, clear away the undergrowth – and have a few photos, etc – and some thoughts of remembrance, and then to the pub for a counter meal nearby. 

I’m sure my GrandFather would like that we’re gathering in his honour.

I never really knew him as a person – only from photos.  He passed away when I was about 4 or 5. 

(To me) it’s amazing to see the special bond developing between Cameron (Mr.4) and *MY* Dad – who is Cameron’s GrandDad – just to see my dad and my son together.

A few years ago, my Dad (Kevin) was in France for a conference, and took some time off to spend a few days re-tracing his Father’s steps (Jack).

He prepared a “report” of some sorts, including some photos and maps – he was a University Professor after all – it’s a “research paper” in some respects. 

Dad references many books and other texts/material – including some “unit reports” from the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.  

You can see from this screen shot (Google Earth), that Jack was stationed near the border between France & Belgium ;

He was a “gunner” on a biiiig Howitser gun – in the mud & blood of battle – as part of the Australian Siege Battery ;

Jack was only 22 years old – jeez, I was in New Orleans sipping “Hurricanes” and “Hand Grenades” when *I* was 22 – and he was in the middle of a war – literally.

It’s incredible to read this report, and imagine was it must have been like for those brave Aussies.  

If you’re a war-buff, historian, or simply interested, pls. feel free to take a look – and thanks Dad for compiling this report (2002).

Here’s a brief intro / overview :

J.T. O’Connor enlisted in the Australian Army in March 1917 at the age of 22.   At that time he lived with his foster family, the Sullivans, at a farm called Sunnyside at Newlyn, midway between Ballarat and Daylesford.

His enlistment papers indicate he was a blacksmith. He underwent special gun training at Queenscliff before sailing for Europe in May.

His journey took him to Suez, for a stay in Egypt of two months, then on to Taranto in Italy followed by a long train ride to Southampton and then to a camp at Devonport in August of 1917.

He was based there until November, when he joined the front line in Flanders. After the armistice he spent about six months in France, and then in camps in southern England, before sailing home in April 1920.

On discharge he had spent three and a half years in the Army.

Dad’s role in Flanders from November 1917 to the Armistice in November 1918 was as a trained gunner. He was assigned to the First Australian Siege Battery equipped with Howitsers.

These guns had a range of 10,000 yards, so he would have been up to two miles behind the lines. The guns took time to set up as special trenches had to be constructed to accommodate the recoil of the guns and storages for the heavy ammunition had to be built.

The gun positions were camouflaged or hidden as much as possible. Once in position they were not easy to move; most moves involved horses, though some motor transport was used (crawler tractors) in long movements and on better roads.

And – this story about him losing “one of his nine lives” – lucky he made it out – otherwise my Dad (and me) would not have been born !

Dad once told me his unit experienced a direct hit on an ammunition dump which blew him up in the air – high enough – and thus long enough to “look around” and survey the countryside. He suffered some injury and a gas burn.

(He had a small piece of German shrapnel lodged in his lower arm for the rest of his life.

He also said that everything was chaotic when he recovered and he joined the rushed retreat. That memory is consistent with the unit history reports of these few days.

Click here to read more (PDF file ~600kb) – it’s about 18 pages covering where he was stationed, some of the war efforts & history, and some more photos, etc.  

It is certainly of great interest to me and my family – I (personally) read it with pride, amazement and relief – in equal parts.

ANZAC Day – April 25th – lest we forget.

Please buy a badge to support our returned soldiers.

Never usually one for “interviews”, the front man from Nine Inch Nails recently sat down with Kevin Rose from Digg – as an episode of “Digg Dialogg”.

There were a bunch of questions that had been submitted from other Digg users – and ranked / voted.

Some great questions – interesting to hear his responses :

• Your business model still primarily involves selling music either digitally or physically. Why haven’t you embraced advertising as a business model?
• What is the most embarrassing song on your iPod?
• What advice do you have for up and coming bands who chose the internet for distribution over traditional channels?
• What tech gadgets, hardware, software, can you not live without?
• Have the plans to release a Year Zero mini-series on HBO fallen through? Or can we still look forward to a video representation of the album?
• What is your favorite thing you have seen done with your music by a fan of NIN?
• What are some of your favorite video games?
• Will any of the records of your side project Tapeworm, with TOOL frontman Maynard James Keenan, ever be released?
• Since you are a tech artist, are you planning an online concert?
• Is there tension between art director Rob Sheridan and bassist Justin Meldal-Johnsen over coverage of the Scientology protest?

The one about “an online concert” was the most interesting one for me – imagine going to a cinema to see a 3D concert – pay $10 – and see a live show from somewhere in the world ?   The technology exists – just the $$ – and getting it together.

And – I can’t wait to see what happens in the “Year Zero” arena – as a TV show most likely – with Trent as a “producer” – not involved as an actor, or anything – that’s not the reason to do it (ie. become a TV star)

That last one about Scientology was a bit silly – oh well…

Click here for more info :

Digg Dialogg: Trent Reznor

Here’s the video clip – watch online, or download in a variety of formats :

Episode 4 – Trent Reznor

Was interesting to hear Trent discuss video games – and the amazing dudes at “Id software” – John Carmack etc.  The creators of Wolf 3D, Doom, Quake, etc – and that Trent said he would’ve been programmer if things with music hadn’t worked out !    (L337 FTW !)