A Leslie Wong Blog

When you get driving directions via Google Maps (from the US to Europe), steps now include swimming across the Atlantic to reach your destination. Look at step 23 in the driving directions from New York to Paris.

After noting some problems with WordPress 2.1 and Spam Karma 2, I got a comment from the author, DrDave, that development had not stopped on Spam Karma 2 and he had released Spam Karma 2.3 rc1.

After a few stumbles on my part, SK2 again seems to be working fine with my WordPress 2.1.2 installation.

Thanks, DrDave!

Shell filmed a variety of historic Ferrari Formula 1 cars blasting through the streets of some of the world’s greatest cities. The crew visited Rome, Monaco, Rio, Sydney, New York and Hong Kong during the month-long shoot. Called “Circuit,” the two-minute ad celebrates 60 years of Shell and Ferrari working together.

digg story

I found this on Dvorak Uncensored (submitted by TJ Geezer).

I’ve been using Spam Karma 2 on my blog since I first started getting blog spam. It’s always been great. It never seems to have blocked any legitimate comments or trackbacks.

But since I upgraded to WordPress 2.1, the spams that are caught in the Recent Spam Harvest tab no longer have their Karma calculated automatically. They just sit there with question marks. I can manually run the entries through the various plug-ins, but I wonder why it doesn’t happen automatically anymore.

I tried reinstalling SK and dropped the SK tables from my database. Then I tried all the advanced options: reiniting the plugins, reseting all tables and resetting to factory settings. Still no deal.

I know development on SK2 has stopped and people are switching over to Akismet but I wish I knew how to make SK2 work again.

Ryan Faas at Computer World has written an informative article on supporting Macs in an Active Directory environment.

He reviews the advantages and disadvantages of Apple’s Active Directory plug-in, Thursby’s ADmitMac and Centrify’s Direct Control for Mac.

It’s a good article for system administrators working in a Mac-Windows environment.

The brake pedal went hard on the Alfa, indicating that something with the brake booster (servo) wasn’t working. I removed the vacuum hose from the booster and there seemed to be enough suction.

I know there are some Alfa owners that drive without their boosters but it felt like I really had to stand on the pedal if I wanted to get close to locking up the brakes.

I replaced the brake master cylinder a few years ago when brake fluid started leaking into the booster, so I guess five more years was a pretty good deal. The brake fluid that leaks into the booster is sucked into the intake manifold and on deceleration, a smoke screen ensues that would make James Bond proud.

I called Alfa Parts in Berkeley and talked to Ruth Ann. The next day UPS delivered (non expedited!) my new rebuilt booster. It was painted silver and a little rust was already starting to show through. I had an open can of Eastwood Rust Encapsulator that I’ve been using on the BMW so I put on two coats.

The job went more easily than I thought. Drain the fluid out of the brake and clutch reservoirs; disconnect the brake and clutch lines; remove the steering column covers (so the column can be lowered out of the way), remove five bolts holding the pedal box and it all pulls out forward through the engine compartment.

Putting it back together wasn’t too difficult either. The Motive Power Bleeder I bought a few years ago was a good investment. I had tried Speed Bleeders but the Power Bleeder made it even easier.

In fact, the hardest thing was trying to get the two holes in the rear top half of the cheap plastic steering column cover line up with holes in the steering column and the bottom half of the cover. It took me 20 minutes. I guess something always has to be a pain in the ass.

My dad collected stamps. He even had some of the Republic of China’s first issue stamps with the portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen.

The scene from Stanley Donen’s Charade (1963), seems to epitomize philately as my father enjoyed it.

In the film, Mr. Felix, the stamp dealer, acquires a valuable stamp from a young boy in a marketplace. When Audrey Hepburn’s character, Reggie Lampert, goes with the boy to recover the valuable stamp, the dealer knew that he would have to return it, but says just having the stamp in his possession for a few minutes gave him much satisfaction.

Now, I’m down with Star Wars but USPS marketing seems to have gone postal.

They really know how to blow up hotels in Las Vegas.