Binary Fortress Software

Web Performance Monitor is an easy to use web-based performance monitoring application. It allows you to monitor performance counters from your local or remote computer, in real time. It supports all major browsers, supports running over SSL and uses Ajax for smooth updates.

A close friend of mine, Steve, and I have been planning this trip for nearly 2 years, and now it’s starting to feel real. Now that we have purchased the non-refundable plane tickets and booked the time off work, there’s no turning back. I’m just too excited to keep this under wraps anymore, so I thought I’d share a small part of what the trip is about. We are flying to London, England in mid-March, then making our way up to northern England, visiting a bunch of friends along the way. From there we will meet up with our 3rd member, Andy. We are planning to make our way to the Wasdale Head Hotel, a fantastic little place nestled away in a valley.

Seriously, doesn’t that look fake? Something out of a fairly tale? Well, after crashing there for a night and downing a few pints we will make our way north along the west coast of Scotland. We have a few targets in mind, but our main aim is to reach a mountain named Suilven.

And climb it. Our other aim, besides meandering around the Scottish country-side, is to hit another mountain named Bidean nam Bian.

And climb it. Now, anyone that is even the least bit experienced in climbing might see these mountains as a nice Sunday afternoon walk in the park. But, let me tell you, I’ve never climbed anything this big before, and I’m pumped. We are expecting to hike for about 5-10 days, and the biggest variable right now is the weather. We are expecting weather around -10c around the mountains – that should make for some fun camping. Here is a link to our trip in Google Maps. This map doesn’t really hit everything we will be doing, but it gives a rough idea of scale. It’s about 1100km there, and another 1100km back again… in 14 days. I still have tons to do… buy lots of cold weather hiking, climbing and camping gear, train more for endurance and save up some pennies.

I can’t wait!

Have you ever tried to use Permalinks with WordPress running on an IIS server? What a pain. That is why I created the WordPress URL Rewrite ISAPI filter for IIS – specifically to provide URL Rewriting for WordPress, without having to install and configure a full URL rewriting software package. This ISAPI filter allows you to create Permalinks that don’t suck, and it lets you do it very easily, with almost no configuration required. Installation is a breeze and the rewards are huge. No more “?page_id=4″ links, no more “/index.php/” being inserted into your page URLs. Go and check it out today, it’s well worth the download. If you have any question/comments/concerns please head over to the Discussion Forum and I will be more than happy to help you out.

WordPress URL Rewrite

This has got to be one of the funniest thing I have read in a while. For anyone that has tried Wii Tennis this will make perfect sense… and will help you defeat even your toughest opponent.

Update: I had to remove this link, apparently it’s a porn site now. Damn you internet!

Here’s one such gem of advice from the article:

As you swing, rotate the Wiimote so that the buttons face upwards, and smash the Wiimote into your opponent’s face. Try to aim for vital spots, such as the eye sockets, teeth, or the bridge of the nose.

Fantastic!

I’ve had the racing bug (again) lately. Maybe it’s the cold weather that brings it on? I have no idea. But, to quench my need for speed I have joined a fantastic online racing league named SRRS. We race an rTrainer based on the 1991 F1 season in a racing sim called rFactor. I race car #33 for team Jordan, and let’s just say my representation of their team doesn’t do them justice. I still have a lot to learn, but it’s a blast.

Team Jordan: Please forgive me!

I race with a Logitech Momo wheel and pedal set. It’s served me well over it’s 4 year life and has never let me down.

I’ve raced in 2 points paying races so far, and I can usually run mid-pack, nothing spectacular. I’m currently sitting in 23rd for the full season’s points (out of 33 drivers), but I figure that’s a decent start considering I just started a couple races ago. If I can get 10 points at the next race I should be able to leap-frog 3 other drivers who I haven’t seen at either race. I want to finish in the top 10 at season’s end, but that’s a lofty goal… we’ll see what happens.

Nerdy? Maybe… but hey – I can’t afford a real race car, and it beats smashing up my daily driver.

Well, I finally got my hands on a Nintendo Wii (thanks to my bud Chris). My very own Nintendo Wii (well, mine and my kids I guess). And I’ve gotta say, what a great little console. It is by far the smallest game console I’ve ever owned, especially considering how monsterous the Xbox and Playstation have become. For those that aren’t familiar with the Wii, here’s a quick pic:

What a great looking machine!

My first impressions are all very positive. I created my own “Mii”, downloaded the Opera internet browser, played some “Wii Sports”, did the Wii fitness test (which, by the way, I did terrible on… I got an 80). All of this without needing any instruction manual, or any kind of assistance. This is saying a lot considering how revolutionary the controller is. One other thing I am super-excited about is the “Virtual Console”. This is basically an emulator running on the Wii that lets you play old games from year gone by, for systems like the TG16, NES, SNES, Genesis and N64. I know I’m going to buy Mario 64 (I’ve never finished it) and Gunstar Heroes (one of my fav games of all time), so I came prepared and picked up the Classic Controller as well:

At first glance it resembles a Super Nintendo controller, but with the dual analogue sticks, this puppy is ready for pretty much any game, save a few GameCube games. I can’t wait to check out the Virtual Console games, and I know my kids are going to love the new Monkey Ball game, but it’s late, and you can’t do everything on the first night.

I’ll post some follow-up reactions from the family later, after everyone gets a chance to use to it… assuming they can pry the “Wiimote” from my hands.

I have updated the HashTools page with v0.3. This version adds support for SHA256, SHA386 and SHA512 hashes. There are also a few minor interface tweaks as well, to deal with the longer hashes generated with these algorithms. This brings the total hash types generated up to 5.

If you have any requests that you would like to see incorporated into the next version of HashTools just drop me a line. You can get my contact information from the Contact page.

Seriously, I love this podcast. Tim, with his dry cool whit is exactly what podcasts are supposed to be. A perfect balance of music and commentary, with fantastic theme shows to boot. Check out his latest episode, the Best of 2006. It’s a kicker!

Keep it up Tim!

Radio Clash