Bleagh - Hot Today

Probably to my neighbors' dismay, I woke up early and cut the lawn this morning at 7:30.  I was trying to beat the heat in this wonderful DC area July.  Unfortunately, that means I don't get to beat the dew.  The lawn was wet, it's still hot as hell and between the moisture on the grass and the buckets of water streaming down from my head, I only got the front lawn done in the hour I was out there.  That's right, I packed it in early once I'd finished the front.  My rear lawn is definitely looking pretty long comparatively, but it takes every bit as long as the front to finish, and I'll be damned if I'm going to spend another hour plus out there.

So, Microsoft is getting rid of TechNet.  They sent out an ad to people on their mailing lists last week, and in it, they mentioned two alternatives for people who still need to test and use their technology to learn.  One of them is TechNet Virtual Labs and the other is TechNet Evaluation Center.  I tried out one of their Virtual Labs to play with AppBlocker technology in Windows 8, and then decided to download Windows 8 evaluation edition for my virtual lab that I run at home.  I downloaded the 64-bit Windows 8, which means I had to turn on Intel Virtualization Technology in my BIOS - simple enough to do while running patches last night.  I'm going to try out Windows 8 this weekend and see how I feel about it.  I don't like the tightly squared windows of the design, but then I didn't like Windows XP look and feel at first, either.  It may grow on me.

I've been playing Texas Hold'em recently.  If you know me on Facebook, I play on Zynga Poker and I'm happy to hook up with folks.  I actually managed to zero out at Zynga Poker - fake chips are fake chips after all.  When I did, their mini-game slot machine that gives you 1 free spin a day starting spitting out 10x rewards when I pulled it.  They make sure their players don't completely run out of chips.  I had a chance to play 1/2NL at Casino Niaga while I was on a trip 2 weeks ago.  It was a lot of fun to sit down with 10 total strangers and to see the wide range of abilities.  There were definitely some guys that showed up that probably shouldn't be playing for real money yet.  One of them folded from checked-around in the big blind, three times, no less.  Either he was nervous, or he's only barely learned to play.