Chris Hammondhttp://www.chrishammond.comRSS Feed for Chris Hammond120RSSFeeds for .Texthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/14/RSSFeeds-for-TextI am going to look into this http://scottonwriting.net/sowBlog/RssFeed.htm for getting RSS Feeds working with .Text...Wed, 14 Jul 2004 17:59:00 GMT83a1ce0d-e2c9-44b2-8bd7-e99e93e843ca.Text .95 Fix from ScottWhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/21/Text-95-Fix-from-ScottWI was pointed to this temporary fix for .95 from ScottW. Hopefully I'll be able to upgrade my sites to use it, as well as upgrade the cDotText module early this...Sun, 18 Jul 2004 20:49:00 GMT22507b84-acaf-48e0-828f-1718fd620106Busy week at workhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/23/Busy-week-at-workIt's been a busy week at work! It's only wednesday and I am worn out already :) I've also been helping a guy named Nick with a few projects his company is working on involving .Text and dotnetnuke. He's made some interesting changes and it looks like the site is getting some good activity. I'll see if I can't post a link to it later if he doesn't...Wed, 21 Jul 2004 13:54:00 GMTbb578f16-d765-4cea-8193-f82620bb70ceSt. Louis DotNetNuke Users Grouphttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/24/St-Louis-DotNetNuke-Users-GroupI emailed the guys who run StlNet.org and asked about starting up a STL dotnetnuke users group. Hopefully they provide some useful information which I can get started with. I'll probably get started on a web site for the group shortly, gauge some interest and try to get a first meeting setup. Anyone interested? Post a comment here until I get the site...Wed, 21 Jul 2004 23:10:00 GMT49096ed0-1ade-4778-b681-9d321ca5c034Spiderman-2 The Gamehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/25/Spiderman2-The-GameBased on various reviews and other blogs I've read I went and purchased my first PS2 game in almost two years. The only thing my PS2 has been used for as of late is to play DVDs in my bedroom. Last night Russ and I headed out to BB to pick it up. After playing for a few hours all I can say is “damn cool”. I'm hoping to get some more time playing it this weekend and get some more time to sit and play it, after that i'll try to writeup a better review. One thing so far about Spider-Man 2 The Game it's only single...Thu, 22 Jul 2004 16:05:00 GMTfb9eacdf-fbf3-4abf-877d-d01610b56731Summer Meteor Showers, Perseids https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/28/Summer-Meteor-Showers-PerseidsHopefully over the next few weeks I'll be able to get out and get some good photos, or at least attempt to get some good photos, of the Perseids Meteor showers. Maybe I'll arrange a little s2o gathering one late night out in a dark...Mon, 26 Jul 2004 10:06:00 GMT6d5de91d-3f01-499f-a76c-f866f4d63cc3ASP.NET database is down!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/29/ASPNET-database-is-downSomething happened today and it appears to the database server that runs the www.asp.net site, along with www.dotnetnuke.com weblogs.asp.net forums.asp.net and quite a few other web sites has gone down. Hopefully it'll be back up soon! I think I'm going to try to bring all my blog posts over from weblogs.asp.net over into this blog when it gets back up, so I have control over all the...Mon, 26 Jul 2004 10:41:00 GMT1cf6dc93-0acf-41e0-a8ac-d799eb533f3fCNN had a screwup todayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/30/CNN-had-a-screwup-todayI was browsing CNN today and ran across this http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/29/1756.aspx Talk about a horrible screwup, they had the wrong masthead on the page..... ...Mon, 26 Jul 2004 11:07:00 GMT971409eb-b34a-4760-80ee-814c62f0cf01ASP.Net Forums V2 is coming! Community Server :: Forumshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/31/ASPNet-Forums-V2-is-coming-Community-Server--FIt's coming! And it's coming soon! Community Server :: Forums http://forums.asp.net/Forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=457242 Grats and THANKS to all the Telligent Systems...Mon, 26 Jul 2004 21:27:00 GMT3e7b8b43-d332-4ff6-a8f9-62ddb51b1e69VandenHighSchool.com Vanden High School web site!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/40/VandenHighSchoolcom-Vanden-High-School-web-siteDid you know there's a web site for Vanden High School at VandenHighSchool.com? I set it up a few months ago now, still have quite a bit of work to do on it, but you can join now and start posting in the...Fri, 30 Jul 2004 16:17:00 GMT3f078ff0-08d4-40cf-b91c-5a50d01f38cbGeorge W getting older?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/43/George-W-getting-olderIt looks to me like George is starting to show his age a little more.  Which reminds me, I need to get my voter registration information updated so I can vote in...Mon, 02 Aug 2004 09:22:00 GMTd9670818-d2a5-4920-9ddd-7d7cc9e77430321 Studios shuts its doorshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/45/321-Studios-shuts-its-doors321 Studios has shut down :( Best of luck to all their former employees! When I get into political office I will strive to keep injustices such as this from...Wed, 04 Aug 2004 10:59:00 GMTf9d8599e-7be7-435b-a268-3e11512768b8Doom 3 and more URLS!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/47/Doom-3-and-more-URLSWell, the Martian Buddy post was correct, the code, 0508 does come in useful! There's a supply cabinet that you can open to get the chain gun, without the code from the internet you can't get into the cabinet, at least to my knowledge. There are a few other emails referring to MartianBuddy.com as well, one even complains about the spam from them. There's also another URL found in the game, www.ua-corp.com which has a little flash animation that runs. I played my guitar for a while tonight, leaving the animation sitting there doesn't do anything :) It just keeps beeping. I thought maybe after a while it would move on to something...Thu, 05 Aug 2004 19:56:00 GMTb968704c-fb16-44cb-994e-c9146e6f61c4Improving Doom 3 Performancehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/48/Improving-Doom-3-PerformanceEDIT: This will improve desktop performance, but will make it so you are unable to connect to a multiplayer server! If you're looking to improve your doom 3 performance, check out this information! Use the following information at your own risk. I tried this, and it appears to work as noted below. My gameplay has improved quite a bit! “I tried this and Im now runnig at 1280x1024 compared to 800x600 at the same settings."As all of you who allready have this game recognized the game is very slow even on new Computers.I found out the reason for this and the solution to fix this problem.As you already know after installation the game consits only of the doom3.exe and some .PK4 files. Those PK4 files includes the entire game (sounds, videos, textures etc.) in high compressed form.Normally those files were decompresse during the game. But this exactly is the problem. Even new CPUs are not able to decompress those files while running the game with good peformance and therfore the game runs very **** also on new computers. I don't know if the develpers of ID-Soft was just too stupid to think about this or if they have an agreement with some hardware manufacturing firms.How to get around this problem:It is very simple. Go to your Doom 3 installation directoy and get inside the folder "Base". There are some .PK4 files you have to open each of them with WinRAR 3.3 and extract their entire contents to the Base dir in you Doom 3 installation folder (replace all files if they are any duplicates). Now you have to delete all .PK4 files in the Base folder to prevent the game to use those compressed files agian.Now the game starts and runs mutch faster!!!Have fun playing Doom 3!!! " ...Thu, 05 Aug 2004 19:57:00 GMT12ceb045-b27a-478b-9d9d-2bf868ddae36Doom 3 console and cheat codeshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/49/Doom-3-console-and-cheat-codesUNTESTED but listed for your enjoyment. Bring the console up with [~] and type the following codes in to blow the monsters back to hell:)Note: To enable the console, add +set com_allowConsole 1 to your command-line shortcut for the game. Alternately, you can try using [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [~] to bring up the console. aviDemo = Saves a demo of your playing to an AVI movie filebenchmark = Game Benchmarkdoomhell = Skip all levels to lastfreeze = Freeze all on screengfxinfo = Graphicscard infomationgod = God modenoclip = No Clipnotarget = Invisibility to most enemiescom_drawfps 1 = Show FPSgive all = Full load of weapons and ammogive doom95 = Load the '95 version of Doomgive keys = Acquire all the keys you'll ever needgive weapon_machinegun = Machinegungive weapon_shotgun = Shotgungive weapon_plasmagun = Plasmagungive weapon_bfg = BFGgive weapon_chainsaw = Chainsawgive weapon_rocketlauncher = Rocket Launcherstatus = Your game statusquit = Quit aka ExitBelow is the rest of the codes. At the moment we don't have time to find out what they're all good for. Play around with them yourselves!!...Thu, 05 Aug 2004 23:06:00 GMTc1d074b4-8867-4998-bee9-65a49b3e6d8eCards vs. Metshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/51/Cards-vs-MetsColwell and I went to the Cards Mets game yesterday. I took ~200 pictures http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/38.aspx Check out this one (3 in...Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:29:00 GMT18d6a204-0834-449a-a0aa-041451d11e81Embed RSS via Javascripthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/52/Embed-RSS-via-JavascriptTomorrow I'm going to work on getting RSS feeds embedded with javascript. http://www.puuba.com/translator.html That looks like an excellent script to start...Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:47:00 GMT3f5bc1d4-2b9d-42ac-ade1-343ee21e48d0Unblocking MSN Messengerhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/55/Unblocking-MSN-MessengerAs most corporate networks are opening up to allowing their employees to use MSN Messenger, my former employer, has gone and blocked it! Shortly after I left they started blocking their staff who had previously been able to access  MSN Messenger from within the walls of the office, from accessing MSN. Well guess what! Now you can use MSN Messenger via the Web! check out http://webmessenger.msn.com and chat away! Update (12-27-06): For those of you who can't get to the web messenger site, I've heard rumors of there being a plugin for your google homepage that allows you to sign into MSN messenger and get around any corporate/school firewalls that are blocking MSN Messenger. I've yet to try it myself, but you may find it...Mon, 09 Aug 2004 14:23:00 GMT0a438cd9-755d-4cfc-b148-25c44615c1c9Vanden High School updateshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/56/Vanden-High-School-updatesI've gotten a few things updated on Vanden High School over the past week or so. I think I'm going to try to provide current school year info on the site, to make it more useful as an information source. I'll also be adding blogs to the site before the end of the week. Giving the students and past students of Vanden High School a place to blog on the...Tue, 10 Aug 2004 23:10:00 GMT594360c5-8963-46cf-9108-79adbf7b8165Open Source Community Ruleshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/57/Open-Source-Community-RulesGreat article on Open Source Community...Wed, 11 Aug 2004 08:34:00 GMT43e8335e-07e3-4b8b-be43-315dbed1f6e3Phelps VS. Thorpehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/58/Phelps-VS-ThorpeI'm really wondering what its like to be Michael Phelps. All this hype must be crazy for a 19 year old kid. I understand he's good, and don't argue that, but I feel the media sure is setting him up to fall! All we've heard for the past couple weeks is how he's going to get 8 Gold medals and break Spitz's record, then yesterday the headlines say how he has failed. Today the headlines are making the 200m free to be the race of the century. What will the headlines read tonight when he loses? I haven't ever taken a marketing class, but sports marketing has really started to interest me lately. The hype about Travis Pastrana at the X-Games turned out to be a flop, he hurt himself the night before the Finals in the Motocross Freestyle, thus ending any chances at him pulling off the much anticipated double back flip. Even after Pastrana himself said he wouldn't try any 360s or the double backflip the announcers kept talking about how he may pull one of them off. Ricky Williams left Miami, for who knows what real reason, but the marketing around that event has been crazy as well. So what's left for the 19 year old from the U.S.? Hopefully many more olympic golds, and hopefully many to come in future olympics, but I hope when he fails he gets back up and keeps competing, and the media can learn to now dwell on his failures, but his...Mon, 16 Aug 2004 09:49:00 GMT436cca37-bc1f-4f1e-869d-ef7042913de7St. Louis area DotNetNuke Users grouphttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/59/St-Louis-area-DotNetNuke-Users-groupI'm still working on getting a STL dnn users group up and going. I've been talking with Scott Spradlin over at stlnet.org about doing a presentation at a STLnet meeting, will post more info when I know when that presentation might...Tue, 17 Aug 2004 13:34:00 GMTf72105df-cc99-4b8d-ae3b-9bd7d511cffcPlaces to visit, California!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/60/Places-to-visit-CaliforniaYou know what I forgot when I redesigned the site a few weeks ago? A places to visit listing! So I guess I need to come up with another way to do that now. I was reading Wil's latest entry about his vacation and it made me miss all of California. There's so much out there to see and do. I haven't seen a lot of it in quite a long time. Ultimately I'd love to go out there with my significant other and drive around the state seeing various things. Of course I'd love to do that in my own car, there in lies the problem. Getting the car out there would take at least 2-3 days, then you only have a day or two to actually sight see, which is no where near enough time in California. So I guess I'll have to take it in steps. Wil talked about the Jelly Belly factory, i've been there, funny thing is I swear I heard/read it was robbed the other day, too lazy to google that news right now though :) Anyways, I've started a new category of places to see, this will be the first post in that...Wed, 18 Aug 2004 10:43:00 GMTe0f8308a-25e6-418b-82f7-caa207d66105I know that freak!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/61/I-know-that-freakSo I'm surfing around sportingnews.com today and trying to see if I can still login with my old TSN information, no luck. Either the account is gone, or I just forgot my password, not sure which. Once I get the failed login page I see this image. I think, wait a minute, I know that guy. That's none other than Aaron Ellis, web developer extraordinaire. He's one of a few of us who are still left at TSN. I believe he's currently the only web developer, at one point there were 6 or 7 of us, plus another 6 or 7 programmers.... Here's to ya...Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:50:00 GMT977a3cdc-6ed8-4afc-8e93-b1af36fc6301New photo organizerhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/62/New-photo-organizerI've been meaning to figure out a good way to get organized on my photos. Right now I have my directory structure broken down by d:\images\year\month\day which doesn't work too bad, but I think I need an organization system that allows searching by content/topic, instead of just date. Scoble posted about organizr I may have to try it out...Thu, 19 Aug 2004 07:54:00 GMTea15841a-141a-482d-9f49-ecf0f8b78453.Text and nGallery informationhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/68/Text-and-nGallery-informationTime to read up on this information about intergration of nGallery and...Tue, 24 Aug 2004 10:00:00 GMTc4fca168-d48d-4ce5-95aa-b984a869192dViewSonic Pocket PC 2003 Upgrade Problemshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/69/ViewSonic-Pocket-PC-2003-Upgrade-ProblemsWell, I won my V37 last December. Around march I ordered the Upgrade. Upon upgrading it died. The upgrade process completed but when I went to do a cold boot after upgrading it just sat on the "Please wait for 30 seconds" and doesn't respond after that.I emailed viewsonic, they've had me downgrade my rom (thanks for the link VS support!) I was then able to get back into the V37 w/ PC2002. I was told to try upgrading again. I've upgraded again, and I still have the same problem "Please wait for 30 seconds"Anyone else run into this problem or have any suggestions? ...Wed, 25 Aug 2004 22:10:00 GMT43bd9ace-e7ec-4887-8ea8-ca3acb645fc3Windows XP SP2 is installinghttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/70/Windows-XP-SP2-is-installingWell, today is the day. Microsoft.com is redesigned and XP SP2 is available via Windows Updates. The only thing I am really worried about with SP2 is the firewall and what it will do to my RDP before I leave for work! More...Thu, 26 Aug 2004 06:45:00 GMT16cace32-ce31-4489-be48-17f55ef27063Windows XP SP2 Update #1https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/71/Windows-XP-SP2-Update-1Update for the original post So far so good, I've tried remotely RDP'ng to the machine I am on, and received the connection window. I'm off to work now, will verify that I can actually connect and login to RDP from there. Then I'll do some more looking around into XP SP2. So far I've received two notifications for unblocking access for the firewall. one for AIM and one for activesync.... UPDATE:My links on my links toolbar in IE are all out of...Thu, 26 Aug 2004 07:37:00 GMT33e4a391-5949-411f-9ebb-1f1f62414a29Google Me, Chris Hammondhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/75/Google-Me-Chris-HammondWhat happens when you google for Chris Hammond? Well, you get mostly baseball news, one of my weblogs, and then some travel and photography pages for other Chris Hammond's out there. I've been attempting to get my results up higher in the rankings for 9 months now, with quite a bit of success, but still unable to beat out ESPN for the #1 spot. So today I was driving home and though of a new idea. “Google Me” More on the idea later, but it looks like I have another idea for a project that won't generate any money :) ...Sun, 29 Aug 2004 11:29:00 GMT5ae72768-0cf1-4e2e-90d3-e48a8475399fGoogle articleshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/76/Google-articlesAn interesting SEO...Sun, 29 Aug 2004 11:32:00 GMT70c45eb3-f4f2-4856-ba96-4a8c29c916f3Article Published on DotNetNuke and Asp.net Forums V2 integrationhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/81/Article-Published-on-DotNetNuke-and-Aspnet-ForumsI've published my article on the dotnetnuke Asp.net Forums V2 (CommunityServer :: forums) integration work that I've been doing for the past few days. You can see the results in action at...Thu, 02 Sep 2004 12:31:00 GMTc1cac378-56d8-4f61-8aa8-599964095ed0Getting Away with Copy Protectionhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/82/Getting-Away-with-Copy-ProtectionIt appears that my claims that Papa Roach's Getting Away with Murder is copy protected were false, thank goodness. I finally got to test the CD out on my home PC and am able to play all the tracks without a problem. So something with the data on the CD must be causing problems with track one on my machine at work. Just another reason to hate the machine I run on at...Thu, 02 Sep 2004 21:00:00 GMTee631e2d-a193-4c98-b3cf-eb0fe29b46b7Gmail got a new lookhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/84/Gmail-got-a-new-lookGmail got a new look this morning. Looks like a few minor changes to the layout of the page. Tightening up...Fri, 03 Sep 2004 06:22:00 GMT73118e42-434c-434b-af4c-ca98ae106b62Priceline tips!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/85/Priceline-tipsIf you are looking for a hotel on Priceline here are a few tips. Bid early, if you know you are going somewhere months in advance, and know it won't be cancelled, bid as early as you can. After 72 hours of your first bid you can try again if necessary. If you are bidding in an area that has 1-2-3 or more stars, always bid for the highest star. you can rebid afterwards by choosing a lower start. If you start at a 1 star though they will not let you bid again without changing your dates of travel. If bidding on a car, bid economy. I bid $25 on an econ for 3 days in Phoenix, they offered me a $6 upgrade to a midsized car per day, I took that. With all the fees and taxes things work out to about $42/day for the car, but it's also unlimited mileage, through...Fri, 03 Sep 2004 07:50:00 GMTa1b87fdf-0ba4-443e-b2cc-725fe7bac5acExciting weekend. Blue Angels at the STL Air Show, and Greg won lots of races!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/87/Exciting-weekend-Blue-Angels-at-the-STL-Air-ShowExciting weekend that went by way to fast. Greg won 3 of 4 bike races in his class this weekend. Blue Angels at the St. Louis County Fair and Air Show Hopefully sometime this week I'll be able to go through the photos and link to the good...Mon, 06 Sep 2004 20:31:00 GMT1adcfcbe-dae4-4459-9fba-f015b337e972Gateway Cup Photos Day 1https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/88/Gateway-Cup-Photos-Day-1Here are some selected photos from the Gateway Cup Day 1 in Lafayette Square on Friday Night September 3rd. Greg coming down the front stretch 1 2 3 4 5Greg with Brandon (from Chicago) behind him  1 2 3 4Greg in the pack 1 2 3 4 Greg with a decent break 1 2 3Brandon in the pack 1 2Greg in the pack 1 2 3Brandon behind the Mercy guys 1Greg alone 1 2 3 4Brandon outside the pack 1Greg in pack 1 2 Brandon and Greg 1Andy 1Greg and Andy at Finish 1 2 3Greg after winning 1 And some cool photos from the Cat 1/2/Pro race http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2613.aspxhttp://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2581.aspxhttp://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2590.aspxhttp://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2589.aspxhttp://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2615.aspxhttp://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2617.aspxand at the finish http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/44/2623.aspx I'll try to go through some of the rest of the weekends photos later this...Tue, 07 Sep 2004 22:24:00 GMT6b03922c-3f80-4ce3-ad68-16cc1cde8f4cGateway Cup Photos Day 2https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/89/Gateway-Cup-Photos-Day-2Photos from Day 2 of the Gateway Cup at Greentree in Kirkwood Missouri. The album has photos from the Masters and Cat 4 races.The following photos go pretty much in chronological order. Not necessarily photos from each lap though. First Lap James Nelson in the lower right. 1Brandon in the lower right 1Greg in the back 1Greg in the pack 1 2Greg moved into the lead on lap 3 or so 1 2 3 4 Brandon chasing a big shark 1Nelson is a big shark 1Greg, Brandon in background of the first one 1 2Greg in the pack, Nelson in the first one 1 2Greg and Nelson together in the pack 1You can see Andy's legs on the sea-foam bike 1These two guys just wanted some love from the announcer 1Greg and Brandon in the pack 1Greg and Andy in the pack 1 2Greg stayin on the break 1 2Andy and Nelson in the pack 1 2 3Andy in second 1 2Brandon leading the second pack 1Greg and Nelson in the pack 1Andy strokin it in first 1 2 3Greg leading the next pack 1 2 3Greg and Andy in the back of this photo 1 2 3Brandon and Andy in the pack 1Greg around the turn 1 2Andy 1Nelson 1Greg and Brandon together in the back 1 2 3Greg 1Brandon and Andy up front, Greg in the back 1 2 3 4Brandon and Andy in the line 1Greg 1 2Brandon 1Greg and Brandon 1 2 3Greg getting ready to toss his glasses 1Greg and Brandon, Andy too 1 2 Nelson's bike 1Greg in the pack 1Greg and Brandon in the pack 1 2 3Greg with a few laps left 1 2 3 4Sprint for the finish 1 2 3 4Greg after the race...Wed, 08 Sep 2004 08:11:00 GMTec03559e-52b6-4285-9b5b-73d02aadc504Back from Vacation!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/93/Back-from-VacationI'm back from 9 days out of town. First I went to the SCCA Solo II Nationals in Topeka Kansas you can check out some of the photos from the ProSolo Finale http://www.solo2.org/gallery/albums/9.aspx and from Nationals http://www.solo2.org/gallery/albums/8.aspx Thursday morning, after 4 hours of sleep, I drove back to St. Louis and caught a flight Thursday evening to Phoenix for Faye's wedding. Check out some of the photos from the wedding! http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/49.aspx Overall it was a good 9 days. Nationals didn't go as well as I had hoped, but it was better than last year. I did however get dehydrated one day and fairly sick, but after a few gatorades I was back to normal. Hopefully more details on the past 9 days later, I have work to catch up...Mon, 20 Sep 2004 10:39:00 GMT82ab5479-f237-4ff0-972f-afb1e2c6e23fDnnCart update and the use of codesmith templates...https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/100/DnnCart-update-and-the-use-of-codesmith-templatesI posted an update on the status of DnnCart tonight. I'm also now looking into CodeSmith templates, see what all the hype is about, and how they will help me to build DnnCart better and stronger!...Wed, 29 Sep 2004 20:48:00 GMT5d2043f4-6e5c-4dd0-a726-5a76eaa3b45bDotNetNuke 2.2 and URL Rewritinghttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/107/DotNetNuke-22-and-URL-RewritingScott has an interesting post posing a question for URL rewriting (friendly URLs) in dnn 2.0. Another Scott (Mitchell, from 4 Guy From Rolla) writes about the topic as well. It's going to be an interesting month, hopefully I'll be grabbing the code to dnn 2.2 from the source control account and start testing some things...Sun, 03 Oct 2004 21:06:00 GMT7c5f252c-ba3f-46b4-9877-a4c887e147b5Mount Saint Helens rumbles a bit morehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/108/Mount-Saint-Helens-rumbles-a-bit-moreLetting of a little steam? That's what the scientists are thinking. Check out some of the screen captures from the MSH Volcano Cam that I've collected and posted online. http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/52.aspx Some of my other MSH postsMount Saint Helens readies the area for a show...Mount Saint Helens is being over run!Will Mount St. Helen's blow? ...Mon, 04 Oct 2004 11:13:00 GMTc84017fb-2d0e-43ca-b2e8-92055e92d028Great day in Baseball!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/110/Great-day-in-BaseballWas yesterday not the best day in Baseball? The Red Sox beat the Angel in Cali. The Yankees lost to the Twins in NY!!! Oh, and I went to the Cardinals game in which they beat the Dodgers! Here are 250 photos I took, I got 3 of the 5 homerun swings I think, possibly 4 of 5, need to check....Wed, 06 Oct 2004 08:35:00 GMTf05a5e0e-49e2-4b62-8991-9b0c8db604b9Critical Mass Passportshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/111/Critical-Mass-PassportsIf you are looking for your Critical Mass passports for 2004 you can download them from ChrisHammond.com! campassport2004.pdf (2.1mb) campassport2004lr.pdf...Thu, 07 Oct 2004 09:59:00 GMT96ed8483-8daf-464e-8a36-d58be9f955d3asp.net vulnerability resolutionhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/112/aspnet-vulnerability-resolutionMicrosoft released an update to fix the ASP.Net vulnerability that has developers and ISPs up in arms this week. You can read more about the update here. http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=887289 I updated the server and all the sites running on here seem to be functioning ok...Thu, 07 Oct 2004 19:31:00 GMT744a6b2f-51aa-4f25-addb-747bf8781409Red Sox win another close one!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/120/Red-Sox-win-another-close-oneIt took 14 innings, but David Ortiz won another one! Walk off single scores Damon and wins the game! It's time to make history boys, here's to the Red Sox winning 2 more and being the first team to come back from 0-3 in a 7 game...Mon, 18 Oct 2004 21:07:00 GMTb74f612e-0c97-4cc8-b7c7-fb67f4eb560aPylon, the hunter....https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/121/Pylon-the-hunterI let pylon out a few minutes ago, next thing I know I hear something weird squeeking outside. Looks like we got Rabbit number 2 tonight. He got one back in February I think, but it was still alive and kicking, and as far as I can tell once I put it outside the fence it left, or something else came and got it. The rabbit tonight didn't fare near as lucky. I went out there and it sounded like pylon had a toy in his mouth, I heard a clicking, well, that was bones.... Finally got him to drop the rabbit, which at first seemed to still be alive, though not moving. I sat him over the fence, went in and grabbed a flash light and some paper towels. As far as I could tell upon return he was dead :( poor little guy. I was afraid I was going to have to kill him myself, which I didn't want to...Mon, 18 Oct 2004 23:07:00 GMT46d9f63c-68f7-4d62-802b-a795dec09204Who will win? Quite a few fans think Red Sox!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/122/Who-will-win-Quite-a-few-fans-think-Red-SoxESPN has a poll going today about the ALCS with two games left, here are the results so far. 1) Who wins the ALCS? 46.7% Red Sox in seven 37.5% Yankees in six 15.7% Yankees in seven 2) Which is more unstable right now? 63.4% Yankees relief (Tom Gordon, Esteban Loaiza, Paul Quantrill, Mariano Rivera) 36.6% Red Sox starters (Bronson Arroyo, Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Tim Wakefield) 3) Rain may postpone Game 6. Do the Sox still have a chance if rain breaks their momentum? 44.9% Yes, a day of rest would help the Sox, too. 29.8% No, the Sox need to ride the energy and beat up on a tired Yankee pen. 25.3% It doesn't matter, the Sox don't have a chance to win two in the Bronx either way. 4) What happens to Curt Schilling in Game 6? 47.1% He'll give up some runs in four or five innings 36.6% He'll pitch effectively deep into the game 16.3% He'll be gone in less than four innings 5) What was the biggest factor in Boston's Game 5 win? 49.2% Strong relief from Arroyo and Wakefield 39.4% David Ortiz's clutch hits (3-6, 3 RBI) 11.4% Weak relief from Gordon and Loaiza 6) Does Derek Jeter get ''reputation'' calls from umpires on defensive plays? 70.1% Yes 29.9% No Total Votes:...Tue, 19 Oct 2004 16:51:00 GMT9f8a0f8c-87b8-4fc6-8aff-ff2fffe19c60Tonighthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/123/TonightLet tonight be a step into history, and tomorrow be the giant leap into the history books for the Red...Tue, 19 Oct 2004 21:19:00 GMTd87e3158-6dcd-4776-8e26-16aa91c875dfAn even better day in baseball!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/126/An-even-better-day-in-baseballA few days ago I lied, it wasn't the best day in baseball. Up to this point YESTERDAY was the best day in Baseball! We spent yesterday afternoon at the Cardinals game 6 VS. The Astros. I took a couple hundred photos that I am currently uploading, I'll link to them in a bit when they are all uploaded. After the game I went to the Sports Page out in Columbia Illinois for Krista's volleyball game, and to watch the Red Sox win game 7 of the ALCS! Johnny Damon sure woke up yesterday, 6 RBIs for the hairy man, a 2 run shot, and a 4 run dinger!!!! Go Red Sox! Hopefully the Cardinals will win Game 7 of the NLCS tonight and then the Sox/Cards series will...Thu, 21 Oct 2004 09:45:00 GMTaec8d169-7265-4033-8c91-56690902b058Wil's headline, where's it from?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/128/Wils-headline-wheres-it-fromCan anyone tell me where Wil's headline for this blogpost is from? (Without reading the comments!) “i shine, i'm freshly minted...Thu, 21 Oct 2004 20:05:00 GMT0776730f-136d-409b-bd2c-3096740ce760Cardinals Red Sox Worlds Series!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/129/Cardinals-Red-Sox-Worlds-SeriesCardinals Red Sox in the World...Thu, 21 Oct 2004 21:13:00 GMT41583395-512f-46b2-a297-232c8a94bea9If it goes to Game 5https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/133/If-it-goes-to-Game-5If the 2004 World Series goes to Game 5, I'll be...Sun, 24 Oct 2004 15:39:00 GMTf255eeb3-3844-4320-ab91-73134bc1b8e6World Series Tickets!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/134/World-Series-TicketsGet your World Series tickets! Oh wait, I ALREADY HAVE THEM! :) Auntie Carol and I are heading to Game 4 on Wednesday night! She's flying in Wednesday afternoon and out Thursday morning. I've also got a standing room only ticket to Game 5 if it is necessary on Thursday night. I predicted this would be an expensive week, and it has proven to be so! As for me complaining or gloating for the next year. It's not likely, I'll be on a Red Sox Fan high for a while, but I'm not one to make continual jabs, I only made one comment about the Yankees to Brian... And that was after the Sox came back from 0-3 to win the Series! I am still a Cardinals fan, I still have two hats, a Jersey, and who knows what other Paraphanalia, it is all just retired until after the World Series, this is the Red Sox year! Let's do this one right Red Sox, we'd love to see it done in Four, but if it's done in 5 I'll be there...Mon, 25 Oct 2004 19:53:00 GMT84ab10df-787d-4eed-a990-30c0c3bbee2eRed Sox 3-0 in the World Serieshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/137/Red-Sox-30-in-the-World-SeriesThe Red Sox have won seven straight Playoff games. They are now 3-0 in the 2004 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Game 4 is Wednesday night, WATCH it! This is history...Tue, 26 Oct 2004 22:10:00 GMTac45bd4f-6abc-4d9c-b4a8-b4c65a9807ddFortune Cookie for the Soxhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/138/Fortune-Cookie-for-the-SoxWe ordered Chinese yesterday for lunch. It took 2 hours to get here, so it ended up being free. In my fortune cookie it said “Your everlasting patience will be rewarded sooner or later” I don't think this cookie meant lunch yesterday, cause it had happened prior to opening the cookie. This cookie is for all of the Red Sox fans out there! “Your everlasting patience will be rewarded sooner or later” It's late enough, game...Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:55:00 GMTce8e1dbb-f74b-4abf-a12e-365fee2cf9ecWin it for...https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/139/Win-it-forWho do you want them to win it...Wed, 27 Oct 2004 13:10:00 GMT1c45dfa3-ab6f-49fd-b6cc-3cc54488910bPhotos linkhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/142/Photos-linkSince that last entry is so long I wanted to relink to the entry before that for the two Boston fans who were sitting beside us at the game last night. Also to link to a photo of me and Auntie Carol at the game....Thu, 28 Oct 2004 09:42:00 GMTbcc0214f-c720-41c8-9157-4ac24dbcf6af2004 World Series DVD for the Red Soxhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/144/2004-World-Series-DVD-for-the-Red-SoxIf you are looking to purchase the DVD of photos, you can get it on ebay. I'll be touching up all the photos I took at the World Series and compiling a DVD for sale in the next few days. I'll post more information here when it is available!  If you are looking to purchase the DVD of photos, you can get it on...Sun, 31 Oct 2004 18:53:00 GMT6e53e5e9-1793-40c9-9fd5-7d8d2f190dfaLooks like I got a new car!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/146/Looks-like-I-got-a-new-carAlright, it's far from new, but it will be new to me. Dave and I are headed down to Rolla in the morning to pick up a 1988 Ford Thunderbird Turbocoupe. It'll be my first foray into Turbos, should be an interesting project if nothing else. Hopefully a decent winter beater so I can park the...Fri, 05 Nov 2004 14:52:00 GMT2e3f1f4f-799e-4b8a-a41e-f685e328dc82What a weekend Part 1. Papa Roach at Mississippi Nightshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/148/What-a-weekend-Part-1-Papa-Roach-at-Mississippi-NWell, this is the first post about a great weekend! Friday night Roger and I went to Mississippi Nights to see Papa Roach, Trust Co. and Chronic Future. When we got there we noticed the guys from proach were standing out on the side parking lot talking to fans. So we parked and walked around there to say hello. I said hello to Jerry, the guitar player, and told him we'd met before, at Pop's in Sauget Illinois in 2001, and that I went to school with his brother. He faintly remembered meeting me, or at least acted like he did. After saying hello to Jerry I walked over to Jacoby, the lead singer, and said hello, told him I went to high school with his wife. To which he replied, “She's here, on the bus.” So I went over and waited by the bus until they were done with their signing, which I came to find out later was an invite only signing. I guess Roger and I just looked like we belonged there? :) After the signing Jacoby got Kelly off the bus, she came out and said hello, asked what the hell I was doing in Missouri (I know, it's not the most exciting of states, but it's been home for 9 years now). Roger and I went in and watched the first  two bands, I am not much of being right up in the crowd, so at Mississippi Nights it is nice because we could grab a chair in the back and still be able to see. Later in the evening I noticed Kelly was inside watching Papa Roach play, I went up to her and another girl (kelly is in black, jennifer in the striped shirt) at the bar to say hello. We talked for probably an hour to an hour and a half. We got caught up on all sorts of things. Kelly just had her second son, 6 weeks ago, named Jagger. Her and Jennifer had flown out and met up with the guys in Wichata the night before, they were on tour with them until Monday and then were heading back to California and the kids. Jennifer also went to Vanden High School and was in our class (95). Jennifer married Tobin, the bass player for Papa Roach. Jennifer also has two kids now. All the kids (4) were staying at Kelly's mom's house while they were out on tour with the band. Kelly told me about everything that's been going on, how life still is very regular for her, even though she's married to a rock star! It was a great evening, getting caught up with Kelly and Jennifer, getting to hang out with the band members afterwards. I didn't know this, but Dave, the drummer, is married to a Tyler, as in one of Steven Tyler's daughters, Mia to be exact. Seeing things from the otherside, you realize how real people are, even though they look so far away, they are just regular people to, it's nice to see that. Best of luck to the band, and to Kelly, Jennifer and the kids. I hope to see them all again soon, who knows, maybe they will show up at our 10 year reunion next year at Vanden! Here are some photos taken that...Mon, 08 Nov 2004 08:55:00 GMT6f4d979c-ef55-4797-8669-bf6ff4f35574New MSN Search releasedhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/150/New-MSN-Search-releasedA new MSN search is out for public consumption. Check it out at http://beta.search.msn.com it's interesting, I think I like the results in the new MSN search better than google! Some of my sites show up higher in the results on MSN than Google...Thu, 11 Nov 2004 09:07:00 GMTc0c862cb-a0d2-4f95-b362-dfde262347b8New Christoc.com lookhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/152/New-Christoccom-lookI modified the look for Christoc.com today. Still need to add the portfolio section, but the front page is up...Sun, 14 Nov 2004 12:52:00 GMT0189baa7-4492-447b-b5c9-b885568c28ecNasa's X-43 scramjet technologyhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/153/Nasas-X43-scramjet-technologyI'm sitting here at work watching Nasa TV on Windows Media player. http://www.nasa.gov/55644main_NASATV_Windows.asx They are showing the information about the X-43 Scramjet test bed.   EDIT: the launch was delayed yesterday. The B-52 is up in the air right now, hope to see a launch in about 30...Mon, 15 Nov 2004 14:37:00 GMT1802dbc8-8e4c-470d-bd7a-a9ec72180222True to my naturehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/168/True-to-my-natureTrue to my nature of needing change, I spent the past 30 minutes messing around with solo2.org. Gave it a minor make over. I've trimmed down the mast head by 50% to save space, changed the coloring of the masthead, removed the car photo for a little while as well. I also modified the coloring of the menu.... It was either do that, or buy another domain name and start up a new project... I swear I have...Sun, 05 Dec 2004 22:47:00 GMT9e9d9b1d-683e-41d9-afc2-81972615e47563 years ago today we entered a Warhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/172/63-years-ago-today-we-entered-a-WarToday is December 7th 2004. 63 years ago the United States was drawn into WWII by the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese Military. If you have never visited Pearl Harbor, as an American, it is definitely some place you should visit. It is really a beautiful place. Check out a Navy history page I found on Pearl...Tue, 07 Dec 2004 08:26:00 GMT74c522f9-0479-4f7d-9e8e-3a54bfc297a8To Kill a Mockingbidhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/174/To-Kill-a-MockingbidIf you have never read To Kill A Mockingbird you really need to watch this flash...Wed, 08 Dec 2004 09:42:00 GMT805900eb-b39e-4664-99a1-beb2b47d45a2MSN Spaceshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/176/MSN-SpacesI created an MSN Spaces account...Sun, 12 Dec 2004 17:18:00 GMT108a03d4-122a-419f-afcb-7cef41800c09Speaking of weather, it's meteor shower timehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/178/Speaking-of-weather-its-meteor-shower-timeLooks like tonight may be a good night to go watch a meteor shower! http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/12/13/sky.watch/index.html Saturday evening around midnight I was taking Pylon out and happened to yawn, as I yawned I looked straight up and saw a beautiful meteor streak across the night sky! I love trying to get out and watch meteor showers, kind of sucks not having anyone to go out and watch them with...Mon, 13 Dec 2004 11:33:00 GMT280071ca-d616-4f96-90bd-ef8bdfdf96442004 World Series Photos DVD For Sale!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/184/2004-World-Series-Photos-DVD-For-SaleMy 2004 World Series Photos DVD is for sale again on Ebay! 2004 World Series Photos...Mon, 20 Dec 2004 08:31:00 GMTbf7cceb4-9618-4cc9-a6bd-1bf8a42eabfaAnnouncing TwoPimps.com!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/186/Announcing-TwoPimpscomWell, I need to start generating some traffic to TwoPimps.com, so here is the official announcement and hopefully web spider link generator for TwoPimps.com! TwoPimps.com is a new project that Butcher and I are working on.We are currently working on T-Shirt designs and have one design completed and in product testing! Look for more information on TwoPimps.com...Wed, 22 Dec 2004 07:54:00 GMT14483a0f-5bf4-4f39-b158-47bd45bcc903Mockups for Krek.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/196/Mockups-for-KrekcomLooks like Jeff is Finally ready to have me rebuild his web site, Krekeler Jewelers so I worked on a third version of a mockup last night. http://www.christoc.com/krek/demo3.jpg along with the two original mockups I did http://www.christoc.com/krek/demo2.jpg http://www.christoc.com/krek/demo1.jpg Hope to get one of those completed and running sometime next week for Krekeler Jewelers then I'll have plenty of store...Fri, 07 Jan 2005 08:31:00 GMTbb0b540a-78cc-4e6e-a3d1-3234f95decc7Charter Highspeed Internet Service in St. Louis Missouri, Get SBC DSLhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/197/Charter-Highspeed-Internet-Service-in-St-Louis-MiIf you're looking for for high speed internet service in St. Louis Missouri I would HIGHLY recommend not using Charter! I was a BIG fan of charter up until Yesterday. They instated a $10 increase in their service to try to get people to use “more” of their other services. I  think that's a big crock of poop. A buddy of mine just switched to the SBC DSL Pro Packaged and is getting 3.5 down with 512k up, so I think I'll be switching over to SBC very...Sat, 08 Jan 2005 10:12:00 GMT3bac5055-379b-40b0-8ec3-14df341a0f5aSpringfield DotNet Users Group January 25thhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/202/Springfield-DotNet-Users-Group-January-25thI'm headed to the Springfield MO on Tuesday the 25th to give a presentation on dotnetnuke to the Springfield DotNet User's Group. I'll be covering the basics of dnn, and a little bit about the development process for dnn. Presentation starts around 6 I believe, I'll probably start around...Wed, 19 Jan 2005 08:59:00 GMT1f59a110-d68b-4c75-9539-3e501cde3b20Back in town and home for a whilehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/208/Back-in-town-and-home-for-a-whileI am back in Kirkwood again, and home for a while! It's been a long few days, blizzard in Boston, drove to Springfield last night for a presentation on dotnetnuke, and then a long drive back home. Nothing planned for the next few weeks! I've just gotta work on a few web sites and work on both cars. Time to relax a...Wed, 26 Jan 2005 08:50:00 GMTe739bde2-2592-4c0e-a3f9-5cd3eb797370Web sites for Friends!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/213/Web-sites-for-FriendsWell, somehow I have gotten back into doing web sites for friends! I'm currently working on 3, already setup one for Brian, setup one for Greg but need to tweak it to give it a good look and then train him on how to use it. I've also gotta set one up for Faye, but hers will have to wait till she buys a domain name, and so I can come up with a look/feel for her site as well. I'm using the new CommunityServer release from Telligent Systems for these sites, it allows for blogs/galleries/forums all in one app, and once I get the skinning down the sites will be pretty...Wed, 02 Feb 2005 10:44:00 GMT746967e5-3a3c-4480-ba8b-af8d40dcfc8bMSN Desktop Search indexing and Viriihttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/219/MSN-Desktop-Search-indexing-and-ViriiYesterday afternoon I was trying to search for something on my PC, I couldn't find it. I checked my settings in the MSN Desktop Search and realized it was only indexing Outlook and my My Documents folder. Well, I rarely keep anything in the My Documents folder, so I setup the search to reindex my machine. 15 hours later it finally finished indexing. It indexed close to 500k items on my machine. During that process I figured out there were some virii on my machine as well. So I had Norton do a full system scan last night and it came up with 9 files on my old harddrive which is hooked up as an E drive. Now I guess I should run a disk defrag and try to clean up the drives a little. I think I'm going to write an application to help me archive my many thousands of images. I have probably 100 gigs of photos taken with my cameras, so I need to figure out a way to archive them on DVDs and have a thumbnailing application on the PC so I can tell what images are on what DVDs. That could be a fun little project to start on this...Thu, 10 Feb 2005 09:02:00 GMT039ca965-4153-46ee-96b1-08b8c92d86d1Police Pursuit video is hogging up the bandwidth!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/232/Police-Pursuit-video-is-hogging-up-the-bandwidthSince I posted the video it's been downloaded over 12k times, sucking up more than 80gb of traffic on my interland hosting account. Tonight it appears to be moving rather slow, either from lots of downloads, or they've throttled my bandwidth. I've got incoming links to the video ALL over the place. The MJ Morning Show even picked up the link! Plus 100's of other web message boards. I'll try to post some of the other links...Mon, 28 Feb 2005 17:26:00 GMT6c09861f-e0fd-427c-841a-c7cc24e3ad1fComment Spam attackshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/236/Comment-Spam-attacksTwo of my blogs, this one, and over at DnnCart.com were hit by comment spam from one IP address yesterday. About 11-12 comments each, all on extremely old posts. Scott blogs about his tactics for battling comment spam. If things keep up as they were yesterday I'll look to move this site over to CommunityServer 1.0 far sooner than...Tue, 08 Mar 2005 10:42:00 GMT2cbba9fa-a6f6-48b5-a9a0-b3e22ed193daStar Wars Episode 3 Trailers!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/238/Star-Wars-Episode-3-TrailersWow, it looks like there's a new Star Wars Episode III 3 trailer out. The traffic over on solo2.org ROCKETED through the roof on Saturday! Google adsense $$ is pouring in! Alright, not really all that much, but a noticable difference! Here's the StarWars.com link for the trailer. My blog post on solo2.org about the Episode III Fan Made...Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:31:00 GMT1c2682b6-7d03-4c44-b67c-07c07a5f4fe0St. Louis VB.Net User's Group meeting tonighthttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/241/St-Louis-VBNet-Users-Group-meeting-tonightI'm doing a Intro to dotnetnuke presentation at the St. Louis VB.Net user's group meeting this evening. Not sure how many folks will show up for the event, but I'll be there nonetheless. I'll most definitely be keeping the presentation trimmed down a bit more than the one I did in Springfield back in January. I tried to cover way too much information in the time alotted and went over by about an hour. Hopefully I can drum up some interest to get a dnn User's Group started here in STL so I can get working on...Wed, 16 Mar 2005 10:11:00 GMT87faa457-69c7-498e-a31e-1a7f5da61a48Last Night's User Group Meetinghttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/242/Last-Nights-User-Group-MeetingLast night's user group meeting ended up getting started around 6:20, maybe closer to 6:30. We left the building just after 9. I tell ya, my voice was about done with after those 2.5 hours, even though I had a glass of water there to try to help keep my throat going. I covered ALOT of information, I felt a lot better about this presentation then I did the one I had in Springfield earlier this year. I tried to stay more in line with the Powerpoint (any interest to make that downloadable?) as to not veer off topic too far and cover some of the key features of dnn. After finishing up with the power point I started working more with an actual dnn install and showing the capabilities and how to use dnn out of the box. I really could have talked for another 8 hours on how to use dnn, I know this because I've done 3 days of training on dnn before, so trying to fit the key points and functionality into a few hours is tough. Hope everyone walked away with a better understanding of dnn, and hopefully I generated some more local interest for the...Thu, 17 Mar 2005 07:41:00 GMTa37bc2ca-d470-4603-968b-028b1260822bRead about 302 Hijacks!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/248/Read-about-302-HijacksSomething to read about and play with later...Wed, 23 Mar 2005 15:43:00 GMT1fcd7b85-3faf-4229-b9e7-84e37598bc1eDNN3 PowerPoint from the VBug presentationhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/249/DNN3-PowerPoint-from-the-VBug-presentationSorry for the delay! Here's the much requested power point file from the dnn presentation I did at the VB User's group on March 16th. Download...Thu, 24 Mar 2005 23:12:00 GMT65729031-58fa-4ea1-afb1-07a178b2bd51Creating Community Server Skinshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/250/Creating-Community-Server-SkinsI really need to read this and start working on some CS...Fri, 25 Mar 2005 08:28:00 GMT0e9a6718-4b89-4ab9-95d2-5fddd8474541DotNetNuke 3.0.13 and Community Server 1.0https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/258/DotNetNuke-3013-and-Community-Server-10I'm exactly the same place I started, I have nothing working. Here's what I've tried Install dnn 3.0.13 Install CS with the installer, without creating a community, without installing the membership roles, no sample data Run cs_system.createcommunity trying to create a community with the applicationname of 0, which appears to be the dnn default app name   Install dnn 3.0.13 Install CS with installer, with a community, changed the appname in the cs web.config to 0 instead of dev (at least 3 occurances) Run cs_system.createcommunity trying to create a community with the applicationname of 0, which appears to be the dnn default app name   Install CS with installer, create community Install dnn 3.0.13 (dnn install failed)   Install dnn 3.0.13 Run CS SQL Scripts on DB Run cs_system.createcommunity Nothing of the above has worked, hopefully I'll have some more time to mess with things this...Thu, 14 Apr 2005 23:48:00 GMT47c991e7-72e1-4131-9452-cf935b678787SCCA Atlanta National Tour Triphttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/259/SCCA-Atlanta-National-Tour-TripAfter our impressive showing at the Arkansas National Tour in mid-March, my co-driver (Andy Hohl) and I decided we needed to go to the Atlanta National tour in early April to compete against 2 of the best drivers in the country, whom we knew would be competing in B-Stock at the Atlanta National Tour. I ended up getting a hitch built by Tuxedo Park Racing for the Project Z just in time to get the solo2.org tire trailer hooked up and loaded with two sets of tires to haul down to Atlanta. The trip down was interesting. We (not me and Andy) left around 7:15, Andy I believe left around 8:30 or 9am on Friday morning. On the way down we stopped a few times for gas and restrooms, along with lunch at the Cracker Barrel just south of Nashville. Once we left Nashville I started seeing them. The signs for Lynchberg Tennessee. I HAD to stop, even if only for a few minutes, I had to go there. So we did, and it was 2 hours out of the way, but it was well worth it! After the trek to Lynchberg we got back on the road and continued on to Atlanta, with our stops and the time change it was a 12 hour trip, 11 hours according to central time. Andy and I were anxious to see how we would do against Sam Strano and Carter Thompson, both of whom have won SCCA National Championships, and would be good bars to measure ourselves against. We wanted to find out just how far we had come, and how far we still have to go early in the season. It turned out to be a great experience. After the first day Andy was sitting in third, just behind Strano who was sitting just behind Thompson, I was just a few thousands behind Andy for the day, in 4th in the final trophy position of the 11 car class. The second day turned out even better, Andy ended up with the fastest time in B-STock for the day, I ended up with third fastest time only 16 thousand behind Sam Strano for the day. Though we were much closer to both Sam and Carter we ended up all staying in the same finishing order for the weekend, earning Andy his 3rd National Tour trophy, and myself a second NT trophy. We're looking forward to the Midiv event in Oklahoma City at the end of April. We probably won't see any National level events until early July at the Peru National...Sun, 17 Apr 2005 22:37:00 GMT8681b063-14a9-4f06-864e-c960f049bf4fThe new Krekeler Jewelers web sitehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/266/The-new-Krekeler-Jewelers-web-siteIf you are looking for Krekeler Jewelers you need to check out KrekelerJewelers.com. Jeff and Sheila have launched a new web site with the help of Christoc.com. If you're looking for jewelry, diamonds, gold, silver and engraving, in Eastern Missouri Krekeler Jewelers is the place to...Mon, 02 May 2005 08:34:00 GMT3d55399b-ef4a-4bf2-a26e-15441718daffBrand New SCCAForums.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/267/Brand-New-SCCAForumscomThis post is mainly for search indexing, but have you seen the new SCCAForums.com? After over a year of putting it off waiting for good software (communityserver) and over a month of hard work, I got the new SCCAForums.com launched this past weekend. Check it out! Many more enhancements are...Tue, 10 May 2005 09:47:00 GMTfbf01fc1-c6a5-4bf9-8184-93334878f458Curved Corners without using Images in HTMlhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/268/Curved-Corners-without-using-Images-in-HTMlAll you developers out there, check out this article on how to make curved corners on your web pages without using HTML. I haven't tested this out, but it appears to work from their example...Wed, 11 May 2005 10:42:00 GMT3746c8b6-e3cf-4b82-9992-829d8dc5506aNatalie Hammond (Ottiger) Dressage in St. Louis Missourihttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/269/Natalie-Hammond-Ottiger-Dressage-in-St-Louis-MiIf you're looking for a dressage trainer, clinics or private lessons in St. Louis Missouri and the Midwest check out Natalie Hammond (Ottiger) Dressage at NatalieHammond.com. Natalie is the premier professional dressage rider in the St. Louis area and is available for clinics and private lessons. Use the contact form on her web site for more...Tue, 17 May 2005 11:14:00 GMT3a5779dc-e63e-40c8-9624-50f7d2fa0671So far this weekendhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/271/So-far-this-weekendSo far this weekend has been a good one. Last night we setup the SoloPerformance.com store at the Midnight Madness drag races out at Gateway. I shot some video of the StreetFighterz out there having a blast on their bikes. You can download it here, but be warned, it's 25megs and in Windows Media format. Today Rabid and I headed to Kansas City to watch the Cards game. It was amazing seeing so many Cardinals fans there, I  think it was easily split 50/50 between red and blue in the stadium. The ride back was wet. Somehow a big storm front totally missed KC but covered 70 the whole way back. ...Sat, 21 May 2005 23:51:00 GMT90282470-2f72-4124-a028-38d4458542b4DotNetNuke Bookhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/275/DotNetNuke-BookIf you're looking for a dotnetnuke book check out this one written by some of the dotnetnuke Core Team Members. I believe there is a brief bio about all the DNN core team members, which means that I'm mentioned in the book! I've been in a few magazines, this will be my first book besides credits in some The Sporting News publications while I worked there. Found a blog by WROX, looks like the book won't be in my hands for another week...Tue, 31 May 2005 18:14:00 GMT15c935f8-e448-43cb-94ce-f9a39e7aa689R&S Racing SoloPerformance.com Midiv Event #2https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/276/RS-Racing-SoloPerformancecom-Midiv-Event-2Check out the great photos that Chad got of my last run at the Midiv Solo II event this weekend. Here is a link to all of the shots he took. http://www.solo2.org/gallery/albums/57.aspx And a...Tue, 31 May 2005 23:02:00 GMT3d1257db-241c-4215-a60a-2a08616cc6b9St. Louis Area Dressage Society Photos up soon!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/279/St-Louis-Area-Dressage-Society-Photos-up-soonFor those of you who recieved business cards with information about photos taken at the SLADS show this past weekend I'll have those up over the next few days. I only took photos of a few select people and am working on some new software for the website to allow me to password protect photo galleries, allowing only those intended to view particular photos. I'll have that software finished over the next couple of days and then will send out usernames/passwords for you to access your photo gallery. I also have some video taken from Sunday of people, I'll send information for that out as well. Before I can send you your username/password though I need your email address! So use the contact form here on this site to send me your email address and I'll email you later this...Mon, 06 Jun 2005 09:18:00 GMT690517c9-42b0-44a1-b285-cede267fa447A new DotNetNuke brand!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/280/A-new-DotNetNuke-brandCheck out the new dotnetnuke web site, one of the first steps in a major branding push for dnn. It's a great change, clean, easy to read, and I love the new...Tue, 07 Jun 2005 09:47:00 GMT4da6eee0-f91b-429e-92a9-3639bfd93adbDotnetnuke 3.1 Released!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/282/Dotnetnuke-31-ReleasedThe latest and greatest version of dnn is released! Check it out for download here I'll be getting DnnCart running on SoloPerformance.com later this week with the latest version of...Thu, 09 Jun 2005 09:12:00 GMTfacf588f-594a-4ab1-9fe8-8e96e44b3142Microsoft Image Editing Beta for Acrylichttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/284/Microsoft-Image-Editing-Beta-for-AcrylicMicrosoft has just released a beta for their pixel/vector based graphics software package called Acrylic. I'll have to download it and try it out this...Fri, 10 Jun 2005 13:57:00 GMT5a02d36a-7ade-4385-bf2d-1c964acc9de6CjhControls Web Controls Release for Community Serverhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/285/CjhControls-Web-Controls-Release-for-Community-SerI've released the first version of the CjhControls for CommunityServer 1.1. You can download the Zip file from here. This first release just has the Cjh:RssWriter writer control included. I'll have another release next week with a few more options on board. Check out the readme file for instructions on how to use the control. Cjh:RssWriter allows you to place a control on a page that will read an RSS feed and an XML Transformation file and then display the RSS feed on the page based on the transformation...Wed, 15 Jun 2005 10:25:00 GMTf9698d66-73c9-4c7f-a3b5-760a4291e911Speaking at the STL .Net Users group meeting on Monday.https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/289/Speaking-at-the-STL-Net-Users-group-meeting-on-MoI'm making another brief appearance at the St. Louis .Net User's Group meeting on Monday the 27th. I'll be giving a brief overview of dotnetnuke 3.1. Though, their web site appears to be down right...Wed, 22 Jun 2005 17:06:00 GMTeea39a19-8fcf-4563-a93f-a803c1d4241cSalina Kansas for the Midiv R&S/SPS Solo Event #3https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/291/Salina-Kansas-for-the-Midiv-RSSPS-Solo-Event-3I'm headed to Salina Kansas today for Event #3 in the R&S/SPS Solo Midwestern Division Solo Series, or whatever the series is called. I'm a sponsor, I guess I should know! Will post pics when I...Fri, 24 Jun 2005 07:28:00 GMTeed000bc-01df-4ab8-a8d3-25fe2b6d46dfBack from Salina Kansashttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/293/Back-from-Salina-KansasWell, I made the trip back from Salina Kansas yesterday afternoon. 410 Miles in 5 hours and 10 minutes. You do the math. Stopped at the toll booth to get my ticket, then at the next booth to pay my toll, didn't have to stop for gas or any other breaks to the whole trip home. The weekend was good, hot 95-100 all 3 days, but at least Salina gets that good Kansas wind, it kept the heat bearable. I ended up winning my first Divisional of the year, and only the second win I've had over Andy this year, the first being the Walnut Ridge National Tour. We do it again this coming weekend. We'll be headed to Peru Indiana for the National Tour out at Grissom. Looking forward to making that trip again, it's quite a bit shorter than...Mon, 27 Jun 2005 11:46:00 GMTf23fad26-90b7-44cb-934f-ea8cb0e02a3cFirst MS Certification Test, Preperation for 70-315https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/296/First-MS-Certification-Test-Preperation-for-7031I'm using this thread to keep track of materials I'll use for preparing to take my certification test for MS test #70-315 “Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET“ http://www.whizlabs.com/articles/mcsd-70-315-article.html more...Tue, 28 Jun 2005 14:22:00 GMTc84c3b02-45a0-463b-83f0-87328dbe8dc5London Bombinghttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/301/London-BombingLots of new stories about the London Bombing. I have yet to hear what the bombing sources were though, I'm assuming suicide bombers, but haven't heard any information to that...Fri, 08 Jul 2005 12:42:00 GMT5db8e4d6-9f53-41c0-9997-fdf6b0883a7fI want to make $15k a month by blogging.https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/304/I-want-to-make-15k-a-month-by-bloggingSlashdot had an article about a guy who claims to make  $15k a month at blogging, and has quite a few comments from people who believe he's full of shit. I think it's highly possible that he may be making that much. Just a bit of info, I'd estimate I'm making $50 a month at blogging, sometimes a little less though, and July appears to be lacking in the Google Adsense, so I'll have to see why that may be. Maybe it just means I need to blog more! Edit: Figured out that part of the reason July's $$$ is down is because the blogs over at Solo2.org have had some issues as of late and have been turn off for ~two weeks. They are back up, so hopefully they start to drive up traffic...Sun, 17 Jul 2005 08:51:00 GMTc4a0a011-b7e4-4eac-bdd7-cd9d4d6df594Community Server 1.1 Latest Posts controlhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/305/Community-Server-11-Latest-Posts-controlI took the latest forum posts control from Christian Nordbakk and turned it into a control to use on SCCAForums.com The differences are that my control displays the latest post made  links to the last post made instead of the first shows the user who made the last post shows the forum the post was made in You can change some of the settings for this control such as the number of posts returned, by looking at the GetThreads() method in the code. If you want to use this control please feel free to do so. You'll need to download the control here (rename it from latestforumsposts.txt to latestforumposts.ascx) and place it in the root of your CS folder, eventually I'll get around to making this control part of my CJHControls package, but for now you can just use it as is. It won't work in the themes/default/skins/ folder without some further changes. To put it on your main page you need to add the following to the top of your default.aspx file <%@ Register TagPrefix="LatestForumPostsControl" TagName="LatestForumPosts" SRC="LatestForumPosts.ascx" %> and then add this line to the page <LatestForumPostsControl:LatestForumPosts Runat="Server" ID="Latestforumposts1"...Mon, 18 Jul 2005 09:22:00 GMTcab3dc38-a795-43da-89e0-cbbe26f952caMake Money Blogging!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/307/Make-Money-BloggingHow do you make money blogging? There are multiple ways. Advertising on your blogs (google ads other banner services) Affiliate links (to affiliate programs like Amazon.com) Paid Blog Posts Search Engine Optimization services There are many more! Feel free to post your own ideas in the...Tue, 19 Jul 2005 23:09:00 GMTf4076122-89a2-4ef5-866d-2b1fc2c6958fKrekeler Jewelers, Farmington, Missourihttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/312/Krekeler-Jewelers-Farmington-MissouriFor some reason I haven't blogged about Krekeler Jewelers in a while! So here it is, a blog post! I visited Jeff a few weeks ago to get some of Natalie's jewelry repaired. I still need to head back down there and pick some of it...Sat, 23 Jul 2005 14:49:00 GMTc9313ae8-e4ce-4ace-9ea2-af2ba782adfbSaw Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/313/Saw-Charlie-and-the-Chocolate-FactorySaw the movie last night after getting back from the Midiv Divisional #4 in Kansas City Missouri. The movie was a blast, I laughed, cried, had a good time. Okay, I didn't cry, it's not a sad movie! The divisional went great. I beat Andy again, so we now both have 2 wins, with the 5th and final divisional coming up in Topeka in two weeks. The division championship is tallyed with your best 3 of 5 scores, so I have to finish in either First, or 2nd with Andy 3rd or lower. We're off to Denver next weekend for another National Tour. That'll make 4 National Tours and 5 divisionals this year, far more than I've travelled out of town for events than any other year, but we're doing well, so we need to keep it...Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:19:00 GMT7c042e51-12d5-4f02-8f17-145337c1cef2Quick Reply and RSS Display for Community Server 1.1https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/314/Quick-Reply-and-RSS-Display-for-Community-Server-1I've released the latest version of the CJHControls for Community Server 1.1. You can download the package here. This release is upgraded to run on CS 1.1, and includes the following functionality. Forum Quick Reply, allowing registered users to post replies to forum threads without having to go to a seperate reply page. RSS Display, allowing site administrators the ability to display internal, or external RSS Feeds on their web pages, with XSL formatting. You can download the latest controls here. Any questions or comments can be posted...Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:11:00 GMT6d62b8f9-fa54-4c8f-a846-39c686961a95Natalie Ottiger and Florian Qualify for the 2005 Markel Young Horse Dressage National Championshipshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/324/Natalie-Ottiger-and-Florian-Qualify-for-the-2005-MNatalie Ottiger and Florian qualified for the 2005 Markel Young Horse Dressage National Championships in Lexington Kentucky in...Tue, 09 Aug 2005 15:15:00 GMT04eb0f9e-811c-4dfd-9915-9d9355b3ac8eWhoops, here goes a MS Certification Testhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/335/Whoops-here-goes-a-MS-Certification-Testhttp://weblogs.asp.net/christoc/archive/2005/08/24/423620.aspx So here's how the story goes. Back in May I signed up to take the exam 70-315 (Developing and Implementing Web Applications with Microsoft Visual C# .NET and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET), I signed up for a test date in July. I had never taken an MS exam, or even looked at a sample question, so I posted the following thread. http://weblogs.asp.net/christoc/archive/2005/06/28/416289.aspx While there were some good sugggestions, I ended up postponing my test date to 8/23 because work was extremely busy (still is) and I hadn't prepared for the test at all. Fast forward to 8/22 at 9pm. I leave the St. Louis Indigo Road show, and look down at my phone, I get a notification that I have an appt the following day, my C# test at 1pm. Oh crap, that's right, I completely forgot about it. I had intended to reschedule again because of the major projects at work, but it was now too late. I emailed my boss, told him I'd f'd up, was going to fail this test if I even went to take it, not knowing if I'd be able to even go due to the work load right now. I called the proctor for the test, he said I could come in anytime before 5pm, so I could make it to the 1:30pm meeting at a client site that had been scheduled at 11am that morning. I went from the client site, still, having not prepared, with no clue what I was about to get into. I got there at 3pm, and had 2 hours to take the test. 59 minutes later I was done. I thought, oh well, good practice at least, and I'd get to use the free retake of the test that MS had been offering when I signed up. I pressed done, and boom, "Congratulations you've passed!" Needless to say, I was a bit suprised, but stoked none the less. So, 1 test down, 2-4 more to go. Now, I think I'll definitely study for the test of...Wed, 24 Aug 2005 16:54:00 GMTc3b2cbc9-5ced-4f7d-90e3-93a79f58d340Red Sox VS Royals, Photos from 8/25https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/338/Red-Sox-VS-Royals-Photos-from-825I had an adventure to make it to and from the game on 8/25 in KC, but managed to take a few hundred photos at the game. Please feel free to give me any comments. I'm by no means a photographer, just a guy with a camera, so any tips/suggestions appreciated.You can see the photos here http://chrishammond.com/photos/old/category1068.aspxHere's my story about the darn ride back to St. Louishttp://www.chrishammond.com/archive...08/27/1502.aspxAnd then, of course my 2004 Game 4 World Series...Sat, 27 Aug 2005 08:48:00 GMTaca310fc-f04f-4d58-b1e2-f61931ee1eccChrisHammond.com is a new site!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/345/ChrisHammondcom-is-a-new-siteWell, I've been using Community Server on a few other websites, most notably SCCAForums.com, since May. So I decided it was finally time to upgrade ChrisHammond.com to CS 1.1. You'll see a few changes here over the next few days, look/feel, and links, etc. The galleries were the biggest change, they are still there, but not in the same format as before, so things are probably going to be lost on the search engines for a few weeks while I get google to reindex the website! More to...Mon, 05 Sep 2005 19:03:00 GMTc7df11e0-a7fb-4785-81d0-ec549909068aMigrating to Community Server from DotText (.Text)https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/346/Migrating-to-Community-Server-from-DotText-TextSo I finally converted ChrisHammond.com from .Text and nGallery to the latest released version of CommunityServer. It didn't go over without a few hitches. The biggest problem I had was that the old links wouldn't work for the website, so all of the previously indexed pages for the website would be invalid, I'll document how I upgraded, and what I did to fix the issues in this thread, it's a work in progress. Setup a blank CS 1.0 database and installation site. Use the DotText to CommunityServer conversion tool Create a new Gallery in CommunityServer for the following step. Use the nGallery to CommunityServer Conversion tool. Upgraded from CS1.0 to CS1.1 Used the siteUrl configuration tool from Ken. I setup single site with a single blog in the /blogs/ URL and multiple galleries. Modified the siteurl.config file. I had to add the following lines to the siteurl.config file to get the old archive links working properly.  <url name = "oldweblogIndividualRss" location = "common" path="rss.aspx" pattern="rss.aspx" vanity="/blogs/rss.aspx?App=christoc" /> <url name = "oldweblogday"   location = "common" path="/archive/{1}/{2}/{3}.aspx" pattern="archive/(\d{4})/(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,2})\.aspx" vanity="/blogs/day.aspx?App=christoc&amp;y=$1&amp;m=$2&amp;d=$3" /> <url name = "oldweblogmonth" location = "common" path="/archive/{1}/{2}.aspx"     pattern="archive/(\d{4})/(\d{1,2})\.aspx" vanity="/blogs/month.aspx?App=christoc&amp;y=$1&amp;m=$2&amp;d=1" /> <url name = "oldweblogpostId" location = "common" path="/archive/{1}/{2}/{3}/{4}.aspx" pattern="archive/(\d{4})/(\d{1,2})/(\d{1,2})/(\d+)\.aspx" vanity="/blogs/post.aspx?App=christoc&amp;y=$1&amp;m=$2&amp;d=$3&amp;PostID=$4" /> <url name = "oldweblogpostcategory" location = "common" path="/archive/category/{1}.aspx" pattern="archive/category/(\d+)\.aspx" vanity="/blogs/postcategory.aspx?App=christoc&amp;CT=BlogPost&amp;CategoryID=$1" /> <url name = "oldweblogarticlecategory" location = "common" path="/articles/category/{1}.aspx" pattern="articles/category/(\d+)\.aspx" vanity="/blogs/articlecategory.aspx?App=christoc&amp;CT=BlogArticle&amp;CategoryID=$1"...Mon, 05 Sep 2005 19:52:00 GMT51791829-fe56-4699-9c21-484f0c02a4982005 Gateway Cup Photoshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/347/2005-Gateway-Cup-PhotosPhotos from the University City portion of the Gateway Cup are posted. http://chrishammond.com/photos/2005_gateway_cup/default.aspx I only took Cat 5, Masters, and Cat 4...Mon, 05 Sep 2005 22:22:00 GMT72a4fcfd-1bf4-4ac5-812b-df033fab938b2005 Nationals Photoshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/350/2005-Nationals-PhotosPhotos from Topeka are posted. Thanks to James Elterman for taking most of the 5th heat photos while I was...Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:49:00 GMT959ec01e-3e06-4f36-8b4e-624e5b6b3be1Hurricanes 2005 Rita is on the wayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/352/Hurricanes-2005-Rita-is-on-the-wayHurricane Rita is up to a Category 4 last I heard, headed towards Texas. It's Hurricane seasons like this that I'm glad I live in the middle of the country! Katrina made for some great sunsets, of which I didn't get any good photos. If Rita does the same I'll be sure to have the camera...Wed, 21 Sep 2005 14:09:00 GMT50c94b83-c97d-4c1b-978c-b21fd780f904Rocket Racing League Linkshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/359/Rocket-Racing-League-LinksRocket Racing League links collection! Rocket Racing League Forums Rocket Racing League...Mon, 03 Oct 2005 15:24:00 GMTa285c0e0-24b7-4501-bee2-8f4a2ede4de0Rocket Racing Forums now available!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/360/Rocket-Racing-Forums-now-availableWith the announcement earlier this week of the new Rocket Racing League a new community web site for the Rocket Racing League has been put together with Telligent's Community Server. Check out the Rocket Racing Forums over at http://www.rocketracingforums.com/ There is definitely more to come with the site, they are definitely in the infancy stage just like the new racing series! ...Thu, 06 Oct 2005 22:42:00 GMT8d423e39-a8d7-443e-907e-aecb1750a14eI just Woot'd the Pacific Image MPEG4 Recorder PV-801https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/364/I-just-Wootd-the-Pacific-Image-MPEG4-Recorder-PVI got my first Woot today (tonight/this morning). I purchased the Pacific Image MPEG4 Recorder PV-801 We'll see how it turns out. It could be an interesting/cheap alternative recording source for racing videos. We'll see how it turns out! What is Woot? Check it out for yourself at www.woot.com It's a geek's clearing house, 1 item for sale each day at Midnight, limited quantities at a generally great...Wed, 12 Oct 2005 01:27:00 GMTf7e814b2-12f3-453e-9a4a-321202c4afbeSBC DSL unable to send SMTP mail for other servershttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/374/SBC-DSL-unable-to-send-SMTP-mail-for-other-serversWell, I got DSL running this morning, and have been unable to send mail from my home machine all day. After a little googling I came across this link. In summary, in order to be able to send mail via other SMTP servers you have to get SBC to unblock port 25 for your DSL account. You can make the request with this...Wed, 02 Nov 2005 17:59:00 GMT5d913734-a743-4ad6-baed-ef96f2ceed70Chesterfield Football Association Pictureshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/375/Chesterfield-Football-Association-PicturesI took some pictures today at the CFA game out in the valley. It was my boss' 7-8 year old...Sun, 06 Nov 2005 22:01:00 GMT57f745c1-5e72-42ca-b3f6-a4c7dacdce3fUpdate in progresshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/379/Update-in-progressI decided today was the day to Upgrade Solo2.org. I'm upgrading the software to run on CommunityServer 2.0 Beta 1. Here's to hoping the beta is at least semi stable! I've got all of the posts up through 9am downloaded and imported into a DB, now I'm working on converting them into a good CS format so I can get the site up and running tonight. I'm converting from a DNN/Ubb.Classic website to run Solo2.org fully out of...Wed, 16 Nov 2005 16:28:00 GMT73fe4c8e-4101-4a34-89bf-6cb444a152b1Solo2.org Updatedhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/380/Solo2org-UpdatedI successfully upgraded Solo2.org last night/this morning to run on Community Server Now to skin the site so it's "original" and get some of the little kinks worked...Thu, 17 Nov 2005 11:24:00 GMT13a99c4f-da9d-41c6-a3fb-f82afda13e8bWoot madness! Woot Off and Xbox 360 Release!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/381/Woot-madness-Woot-Off-and-Xbox-360-ReleaseWell, last night I was up yet again waiting for Woot to strike Midnight so I could see what the great deal would be. At midnight they released it, a 6 piece PC speaker set for $29, I was in. Order placed. I wake up this morning, and go to woot.com again, and boom there's more! More stuff! Today is a Woot Off! What is a Woot Off? Well basically they sell a new item after each item sells out for the day. They've gone through quite a few items already, nothing else that I'd purchase, but I'll definitely keep an eye on Woot.com today. On Tuesday the 22nd I hear rumor that Woot.com will be selling an allotment of Xbox 360s!! Here's to buying an xbox360 before...Fri, 18 Nov 2005 10:33:00 GMT7f45b4c1-bc2c-4901-b407-9fb5b8005f27CircuitCity.com Xbox 360 Saleshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/382/CircuitCitycom-Xbox-360-SalesCnet has an article about the Xbox360 sale that CircuitCity.com had on Friday. Let's just say that I know someone who got one after the "three" hour mark. It has a tracking number, and we'll see if it ships tomorrow or not! http://news.com.com/Xbox+360+mania+slams+CircuitCity.com/2100-1043_3-5961443.html Minutes after Microsoft's next-generation game console went on sale Friday afternoon at CircuitCity.com, the site was hobbled by a deluge of traffic. A representative for the online counterpart to electronics retailer Circuit City said the company's site saw a "tremendous" traffic spike at 2 p.m. ET, when the company began taking Internet orders for the eagerly awaited Xbox. (Specific traffic numbers were not immediately available from Comscore, which tracks Web use.) Microsoft has predicted it will sell 3 million consoles within the first three months following the Xbox 360's release. Other retailers had taken preorders for the Xbox, but Circuit City was the only online store selling the consoles Friday. Previous Next "The Web (store) did become slow for the majority of customers," acknowledged Amanda Tate, a Circuit City spokeswoman. She declined to specify how many Xboxes were sold or how many the company made available through its Web site. CircuitCity.com sold out of its available consoles in less than three hours, Tate said. The Xbox goes on sale at brick-and-mortar stores at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. Those customers who purchased a console from Circuit City's site will have to pay extra for shipping to receive the machine by Tuesday, Tate said. Shoppers will likely be camping out in front of their local electronics stores and long lines are expected....Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:27:00 GMT683b6567-d817-417b-8275-a44892160eb1How to get an Xbox360 for Christmashttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/383/How-to-get-an-Xbox360-for-ChristmasSo you're wondering how to get yourself an Xbox360 before Christmas? Here's a few tips. Take 1: On November 21st, head to your local Best Buy, Wal Mart or Circuit City, Target, Kmart. Take warm clothes, some food, and a comfortable folding chair, you're going to be there a while. Wait, wait, wait, until 8am on November 22nd. Go in the store and buy one! If you're lucky enough to be one of the few in line that will get one. Take 2. Bid on one on Ebay. Take 3. Try finding one on Black Friday. (yeah good luck with that.) Take 4. Wait till after Christmas!   Any of your own tips on how to find a 360 before Christmas? Post them...Mon, 21 Nov 2005 00:29:00 GMTe30e9dfe-e102-4bdb-b756-663fdb291c06Dangerous Places to live. St. Louis, Missourihttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/385/Dangerous-Places-to-live-St-Louis-MissouriIf you want to live life on the edge, choose to live in St. Louis! http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/0D1170CBA78D0F6F862570C0001BE022?OpenDocument St. Louis was rated as the 3rd most dangerous city to live in for the United States. That's great. I'm glad Missouri has a Conceal and Carry law nowadays! I've seen this crime first hand, I had my Camaro broken into while I worked downtown a few years ago. Car theft in the city is horrible, kids do it for fun, and then they don't get punished for getting caught, which doesn't really help to deter them from doing it...Mon, 21 Nov 2005 11:40:00 GMTdd354b6b-7d65-49d3-ab28-f3cd1d29b681And they said it was a good dayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/387/And-they-said-it-was-a-good-dayMy Woot.com package arrived today, nice 6 computer speaker set, I'm sure natalie will enjoy the racket! Also the 360 came today! Horray! Who needs sleep when you can game! Now I need to get out of work and go home to hook it...Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:41:00 GMT1d088331-e655-4e69-a603-1c749b064079My Christmas List 2005https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/390/My-Christmas-List-2005Last Updated: 12/14/2005 15:54 (changed the Yamaha receiver as the previously listed receiver did not meet requirements of TV) For my annual Christmas list for 2005 I've decided to keep it as a blog post instead of my usual email I send out. I'll be updating this as I find items, so check back often! Yamaha Home AV Receiver $1399http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/receivers/RXV2600.htm Klipsch Floor Speakers $434 (need pair)http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6781324&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03044&id=1091101346130 Klipsch 12" 650W Powered Subwoofer $509 (single)http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7039527&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03045&id=1099395911174 Klipsch Synergy III 6-1/2" 2-Way Center-Channel Speaker - Black/Titanium Color $329 (single)http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6780833&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03046&id=1091101345938 Klipsch Synergy III 5-1/4" 2-Way Dual-Tweeter Surround Speakers (Pair) - Black/Titanium Color $404 (need pair)http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6781342&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03043&id=1091101346254 Automotive Floorjack, low profile. Air Compressor (for garage) Air driven power tools. Impact, wrench, etc. Compact Flash Memory Cards (Ultra II, 512mb or higher) DVDs (wide screen format only, NOT FULLSCREEN)Movies Mallrats TV Shows Airwolf (I know season 1 is available, more may be available as well) CDsJohnny Cash The Legend Box Set http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7272319&type=product&id=1458436http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7272328&type=product&id=1458437 Other StuffRed Sox StuffCool Oakley SungalassesOakley Combat BootsOakley...Wed, 23 Nov 2005 10:38:00 GMTd340257b-fb57-4392-ae27-0434c79372adXbox 360 Availablityhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/392/Xbox-360-AvailablityMajor Nelson has a post about availability over the next few months. I'm not sure who Major Nelson is, but apparently he either works for, or with...Sat, 26 Nov 2005 22:10:00 GMTe0c889ef-9afc-4b49-a582-61724d01f39eThanksgiving Weekend is over!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/394/Thanksgiving-Weekend-is-overWell, it's almost 1am and Thanksgiving weekend is almost over. I'll be getting up and heading back to the grind in the morning. Though this coming week will probably fly by for me. Natalie and I are headed to Vegas Friday evening. I bought a flight/hotel package early last week to take her out of town for the weekend. We leave on the 2nd of December, which is the date we've set as our wedding day for 2006, so this trip will be a little celebration of the year anniversary before our wedding. I've never been to Vegas, bar a trip with the family when I was 12 or 13, so I look forward to getting to see all the Casinos, and of course see how much money I can come home with! Here's to hoping it's more than I started with! We've also got tickets to see the Blue Man Group, who I've always wanted to see, and Natalie's never heard of. They're at The Venetian, which happens to be the hotel we're staying at. Other news. The Xbox 360 is going well, solo I've been playing Project Gotham Racing 3, it's got some great online action, and the single player so far has kept me entertained. Head to head I've been playing my future brother-in-law in some NBA Live 06, which is a great game to play when the other guy is in the room. After making a great play you can hit the replay button and rub it in their face. Other than those two games though I haven't touched much of the other software I picked up for the 360. I've also yet to get it working on my network to be able to stream files off my PC. Hopefully I'll get that working, I think it may be related to my PC being on a domain, but we'll see. More news to come soon, lots going on in the Hammond...Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:54:00 GMT3ea08d00-029e-4e2b-9d84-602579aab026St. louis DotNetNuke User's Group Meeting December 8th, 2005https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/395/St-louis-DotNetNuke-Users-Group-Meeting-DecemberThe first St. louis DotNetNuke User's Group Meeting will be held on December 8th, 2005. Be sure to check out DnNUG.com for more...Wed, 30 Nov 2005 16:30:00 GMTd5355a1a-552e-421f-beb1-77bf16bfe0dfCommunity Server Latest Post Changeshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/396/Community-Server-Latest-Post-ChangesSo I needed to modify the way the controls on the right of the homepage were showing up. So they linked to the latest post, showed the author, and the forum that they were posted in. Here's how I did it for www.sccaforums.com, which is using 2.0 Near the top of your default.aspx page add int getPageNumber(int replies) { int page = 1; if (replies > 15) { page = 1 + replies /15; } return page; } int getPageNumber(int replies) { int page = 1; if (replies > 15) { page = 1 + replies /15; } return page; } <script language="C#" runat="server">  int getPageNumber(int replies) {  int page = 1;  if (replies > 15)   {   page = 1 + replies /15;  }   return page; }</script> And then on the controls use the following to display all the information I was looking for. Just after       <ItemTemplate>       <div class="CommonSidebarContentItem"> insert <strong><a href="<%# ForumUrls.Instance().PostPaged((int) DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "MostRecentPostID"), getPageNumber((int)DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "replies")))%>"><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Subject").ToString() %></a></strong>- <strong><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "MostRecentPostAuthor") %></strong><br><a href="<%# ForumUrls.Instance().Forum( ((Thread) Container.DataItem).SectionID ) %>"><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Forum.Name") %> </a> This is all pretty similiar to the "latest post control" I released for 1.1, but some of the functions changed locations so that control no longer works without...Thu, 08 Dec 2005 14:30:00 GMTe10dc9fa-d30e-477a-bec6-8e8b3a8ba722SBC DSL Support in Indiahttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/398/SBC-DSL-Support-in-IndiaSomething tells me, the guy's name that I just talked to at SBC for the problems with my DSL line was not "Sam". At least with Charter Pipeline here in St. Louis Missouri whenever I called their support line I got someone who's native language was english, and most of the time I got someone who was actually within a twenty mile radius of my house, not half way across the world. It's always easier talking to someone who understands you, rather than is just reading from a script. Which is exactly what he was doing, I just chose to cut him off and make him not use the...Tue, 13 Dec 2005 21:43:00 GMTa591b8dd-8132-494e-bb63-151de77292a1I ordered a Bag Of Crap!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/402/I-ordered-a-Bag-Of-CrapI got my first BOC (Bag Of Crap) Ordered from WOOT.com tonight! Thanks WOOT, I can't wait to see what shows up next week! Or probably next year with the...Sun, 25 Dec 2005 00:35:00 GMT95b13cd1-0837-4fd0-a5af-b7cecaf4c86cHappy New Year!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/406/Happy-New-YearHope everyone has a great 2006! I'm going to make a resolution this year, the first time I've actually made one. Go on a diet, okay, I know everyone makes that resolution, but I'm going to do it a bit differently. More information to come, but by my wedding date I WILL weigh what I weighed in high school. ...Sun, 01 Jan 2006 01:45:00 GMT89ca8155-ee05-46d1-a8ef-a6b6bb17095cYou're my boy blue!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/407/Youre-my-boy-bluePatrick Crenshaw "Blue" died wednesday...Sun, 01 Jan 2006 16:09:00 GMTf641cd8f-6dae-4070-a2bc-52fd06ea0deaHighspeed Internet In St. Louis Missouri, SBC DSL and Charter Pipelinehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/408/Highspeed-Internet-In-St-Louis-Missouri-SBC-DSLI just wanted to make a quick post to try and guide anyone in St. Louis who may be looking for Highspeed internet service. DON'T go with SBC DSL! I would  highly recommend going with Charter's Pipeline service. Though Charter is more expensive there is no contract, and from my experience dealing with Charter's support is a lot less painful than dealing with SBC. Also, their service works better and has better uptime! So, take it from a pro who has been burned. SBC DSL sucks! :D ...Wed, 04 Jan 2006 15:49:00 GMT8254398c-e71c-49f7-a7e5-38139984a083How many blogs do you have?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/409/How-many-blogs-do-you-havehttp://christoc.blogspot.com/ http://spaces.msn.com/members/christoc http://weblogs.asp.net/christoc/ are mine, to name a...Wed, 04 Jan 2006 16:54:00 GMT03f14638-861a-4735-b532-eec94bea700fBill Gates' Keynote at CES TREO releasedhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/410/Bill-Gates-Keynote-at-CES-TREO-releasedBill Gates' webcast is still on for his Keynote at CES in Las Vegas today. So far they're just discussing Windows Vista, which I expected. I read a rumor online that they may announce an HD-DVD upgrade for 360s, it looks like that was just a rumor. Sure I'm excited about Vista, but who really cares until it's available? I try a beta on a test machine sometime in the next few weeks, but honestly, I'm a what can you give me now kind of tech guy. Hmmm, they made some sort of preview of MS Flight Sim, but of course my SBC DSL dropped the connection during that outage. update: looks like Bill just announced the new Treo Smartphone is selling tomorrow. I don't know if that was announced previously. update2: Awesome news! Directv and MS partnership! Media center is going to rock once you have Directv access as well! update3: Xbox360 update coming shortly! update4: third manufacturering partner announced for the 360. update 5: external HD DVD announced for xbox...Wed, 04 Jan 2006 21:04:00 GMTa86ec145-e571-4a8a-a610-356df882e73aXbox 360 HD-DVD Drive announcedhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/411/Xbox-360-HDDVD-Drive-announcedAt CES this evening it was announced that the Xbox 360 will get a HD-DVD external drive attachment later this year! Good news for 360 Owners. Now if they would just upconvert regular DVDs as...Wed, 04 Jan 2006 22:07:00 GMT80de9cc2-0b20-40cc-907d-8b2cda52c602Directv and Windows Media Centerhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/412/Directv-and-Windows-Media-CenterAt CES yesterday Microsoft announced they've made a partnership with Directv and their Windows Media Center platform. I hope this turns out to be an awesome arrangement, as I currently subscribe to Directv and their HD service, and currently Windows Media Center lacks HD capabilities except of off the air broadcasts. I realize it'll be a while before this all comes to be, but it should be an amazing platform once integration...Thu, 05 Jan 2006 00:46:00 GMTca1f58c2-894e-4b76-922e-580975cbe45cThanks for paying your bill, please leave now.https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/415/Thanks-for-paying-your-bill-please-leave-nowWe were at lunch today at JBuck's in the West County mall here in St. Louis. We had a nice lunch, I'd never been to JBuck's before, I was definitely underdressed in jeans and a DotNetNuke t-shirt. After Rich paid the bill we were sitting there drinking our Sodas talking business and noticed a big party was leaving. At least I thought it was a big party. The waiter came up to us and told us they were evacuating the restaurant because they had a bomb threat! If only we hadn't paid the bill yet I wonder if we woulda gotten a free lunch out of...Wed, 11 Jan 2006 17:51:00 GMT86637c4e-c777-49fa-89a9-fabf60d8aa49Lost again!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/416/Lost-againLost is back! Thank goodness for the Tivo! I didn't realize it was starting back up tonight, but Tivo saved the day. I was at our DotNetNuke meeting tonight during the time Lost was...Wed, 11 Jan 2006 23:45:00 GMT2b7ae7de-0f0c-4166-9459-437ae3acba3cAlmost time to go home...https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/418/Almost-time-to-go-homeI've been here in Lexington, Kentucky for the past 4 days. I was fortunate enough to meet two of the brightest minds in the industry! Also, I can't forget Chad Hobson (checkout that killer site, what mad skillz). Anyways, back to the brightest minds. I got to meet Shaun Walker, founder of DotNetNuke, and Scott Willhite, one of the Board members for DotNetNuke. I of course got them to sign my DotNetNuke book while they were...Thu, 19 Jan 2006 22:24:00 GMTb48c7375-27a5-44d9-a706-a4a68fe8e0a8I have the power!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/421/I-have-the-powerThe above topic covers two different thoughts.. I have the power. Chad complained this morning because his once obscure site has now been indexed by google. That's right, I have the power! The other reason for the post. This morning I got a new Microsoft Natural Keyboard (4000). When I arrived at work I took off my fleece jacket and reached for my mouse. I immediatly felt a large shock, and after about an hour of diagnosis I figured out that I managed to fry the mouse with that shock. Great, now I have to go buy a new...Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:32:00 GMT5db78c7d-3238-47e9-b00c-3d467a4b8e5fExcellent Programmer!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/422/Excellent-ProgrammerAre you looking for an Excellent Programmer? You've found him! If you're looking for mad programming skills from an excellent person, you've come to the right place! (inside...Mon, 23 Jan 2006 10:39:00 GMT3c8860ea-277d-4299-a2ac-887680d2ba21Lazy Sunday vs Lazy Mondayhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/423/Lazy-Sunday-vs-Lazy-MondayI'm not really sure I followed the Lazy Sunday skit from SNL, but tonight I found its alter ego, the Lazy Monday clip..... Youtube.com is a bad place! You can spend hours laughing at this stuff! Check out this clip from The Tonight...Mon, 23 Jan 2006 23:39:00 GMT723b074d-aa89-47a9-b466-33b6f2726afbChris Hammond back with the Redshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/424/Chris-Hammond-back-with-the-RedsIt looks like I (Chris Hammond) am back with the Cincinnati Reds again! I still have some of the Chris Hammond rookie cards from when he started with the league, with the Reds. For more information on Chris Hammond the pitcher, check out...Tue, 24 Jan 2006 15:39:00 GMTd64c8c63-0395-4824-bfd9-a130f4b44a43Comment spam on my blogshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/426/Comment-spam-on-my-blogsWell, it looks like I'm going to have to upgrade the site sooner than I thought. I just deleted 100+ comment spam posts from some jackass posting a link to his article. Luckily they weren't approved yet so no one else saw them, but it's a pain the ass for me to have to delete them all. The next software upgrade with have some better controls to make sure it's actually someone entering a comment, and not an automated...Sat, 28 Jan 2006 13:04:00 GMT6cee5549-cb4c-4691-8f09-cc104d5448f4SCCAForums.com Track and User Mapping Systemhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/429/SCCAForumscom-Track-and-User-Mapping-SystemLast night I launched a new feature on SCCAForums.com. Our recently launched Mapping System uses Google Maps functionality to allow SCCAForums.com Registerd users to plot points on our map, allowing users to see who is located near them, or in other parts of the country. Check out the Maps page for more features! We're sure this new system will generate some questions and we've tried to answer a few of them here, we'll add to that list over the next few days. If you have further questions please post in our Questions and Suggestions forum. http://sccaforums.com/maps/...Tue, 31 Jan 2006 07:58:00 GMTcc307cd3-7c46-4e5f-b10a-cd58a70382d1The Phantom Of The Opera at the Fabulous Fox in St. Louishttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/431/The-Phantom-Of-The-Opera-at-the-Fabulous-Fox-in-StTickets for The Phantom Of The Opera went on sale for it's St. Louis stay this morning. The show will once again be at the Fabulous Fox theatre here in St. Louis. I've purchased two pairs of tickets for a show on the 18th of June. Should be a good time! Though I'm not sure how many times I've actually seen the Phantom of the Opera? I think this will be the fourth time, and second time at the...Sun, 05 Feb 2006 10:25:00 GMT5bf7a649-7b5b-436e-b243-e57e7d3f60b6Finally Dumped SBC and am going back to Charter!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/434/Finally-Dumped-SBC-and-am-going-back-to-CharterI finally got SBC to cancel my 1 yr DSL commitment due to all the troubles I've had with my connection. Charter is coming out Thursday to hook us up on pipeline! The only helpful person I talked to at SBC was the guy who cancelled the commitment. Everyone else I spoke with today, from Jack in India, to some girl here in the states, wouldn't help me for anything. My DSL dropped around 11am this morning and never did come back up. Great work SBC, AT&T, whatever you want to be...Tue, 07 Feb 2006 00:48:00 GMT0f23bb8c-e5bd-4d91-92ae-c01286c1ce9aCommunityServer and Google Maps Integrationhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/439/CommunityServer-and-Google-Maps-IntegrationI implemented a version of Google Maps with SCCAForums.com, which runs on the CommunityServer platform. If any businesses are interested in this coalition of two products please contact me for further information. I'm readily available for consulting work for...Sun, 12 Feb 2006 12:16:00 GMTa624db91-59ff-480d-b540-ac899fde67baFinally getting a copy of Pow Wow!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/441/Finally-getting-a-copy-of-Pow-WowI've been trying to track down a copy of Pow Wow '93 for the past few years, but have been unsuccessful in doing so. Pow Wow was the annual talent competition held at Maconaquah High School in Bunker Hill Indiana. I was in a band back in 93, my sophemore year, called The Flying Gimps. We performed in Pow Wow, playing Helmet's "Unsung". We ended up winning $100 from the competition. At one point I had a copy of Pow Wow for that year but it got recorded over by something a few years later. I've tried contacting the school, but the media teacher who ran the show for many years no longer works there and no one there has an archive of the old shows. A few weeks ago Derrickfound me on Myspace.com. Derrick and his brother Sean were in the band as well, Derrick actually wasn't going to play in the show but do to some unfortunate circumstances had to take Sean's place and fill in. I asked if he happened to have a copy and he gratiously offered to dupe me a copy and send it over! It should be here in the next few days! I'm hoping to digitize it and get it online, as well as get a copy for Lindsy as she also performed in a different part of the competition. More on Pow Wow...Mon, 13 Feb 2006 15:35:00 GMT90e77a6a-6672-45e1-815c-4bc4130057a7CarBlocks.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/442/CarBlockscomJust a quick post to aid in a little bit of search indexing for...Tue, 14 Feb 2006 00:31:00 GMTb48c418f-f75b-4802-9966-afa220383632Three Cheers to XM Radio and Oprah!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/444/Three-Cheers-to-XM-Radio-and-OprahXM Radio signed Oprah Winfrey to a 3 year deal worth 55 Million dollars. That's awesome, not that I will ever listen to Oprah, but that is a great move for XM Radio. Down with the Sirius and that dumbass Howard Stern! Long live XM...Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:52:00 GMTb7e88db9-fb5c-4dbf-999b-09fcc777aaa9Interesting Ajax Article to readhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/445/Interesting-Ajax-Article-to-readJust archiving a link for me to read...Thu, 16 Feb 2006 05:58:00 GMTa95ab46c-43f5-4353-a017-5170f0ab9c02Software update!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/449/Software-updateChrisHammond.com has gotten a long over due software update! With the update there are quite a few changes with the skins. I'll be making more adjustments later this weekend, stay...Sat, 25 Feb 2006 08:52:00 GMTd2a9a986-d23d-449e-8cf3-1228c0608befHTTP Compression for IIS 6.0https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/463/HTTP-Compression-for-IIS-60I just went through and enabled HTTP Compression for the server that ChrisHammond.com, Solo2.org, and various other websites run on. Now, I can't tell if the difference is noticable, or if I just think it's noticable? hmmm Followed the instructions in this article for setting up HTTP Compression on IIS...Mon, 13 Mar 2006 16:48:00 GMTcd94b47b-84c0-44d6-b282-cd3a83449387Community Server Tweaks, Latest Postshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/464/Community-Server-Tweaks-Latest-PostsCommunity Server can be a pretty powerful tool if you take your time to setup a decent site for your users. Here are a few tweaks I've made to SCCAForums.com to make it a bit more user friendly. On the home page there are sections for active, unanswer, and my posts(if logged in). These controls don't provide much information to the user though, by default only a link and portion of the subject of a forum post. On SCCA Forums I've setup the controls to display the user who made the last post, link directly to the last post rather than the first post, and also display and link to the particular forum that the post was made in. To do this you need to add the following script to your default.aspx page. <script language="C#" runat="server">  int getPageNumber(int replies) {  int page = 1;  if (replies > 14)   {   page = 1 + replies /15;  }   return page; }</script> You also need to change the ItemTemplate section of the ThreadRepeater controls to look like the following <ItemTemplate>        <div class="CommonSidebarContentItem">    <strong><a href="<%# ForumUrls.Instance().PostPaged((int) DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "MostRecentPostID"), getPageNumber((int)DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "replies")))%>"><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Subject").ToString() %></a></strong>    - <%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "MostRecentPostAuthor") %>    (<a href="<%# ForumUrls.Instance().Forum( ((Thread) Container.DataItem).SectionID ) %>"><%# DataBinder.Eval(Container.DataItem, "Forum.Name") %></a>)        </div></ItemTemplate>     More tweaks to come....Thu, 16 Mar 2006 19:55:00 GMTdecc10f9-0940-47d2-a234-b3cd6a6531c4My boy Chadhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/486/My-boy-ChadWell, I decided to check out Chad's website again. And, not to my surprise, he hasn't done anything with it! I am still a...Thu, 11 May 2006 09:04:00 GMTa2076cc9-fb9e-42b3-8431-bd92cf4ffa8b280ZX L28ET Oil Pan Removal https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/487/280ZX-L28ET-Oil-Pan-RemovalI took the oil pan off the L28ET motor tonight to try to get inside and see what all I could find out about the motor. I've posted a few pictures over in the 240 photo gallery, check them out, let me know what you think of what you see. http://sccaforums.com/photos/christoc/category1053.aspx Here are some of the recently uploaded...Fri, 12 May 2006 17:54:00 GMT192ea81c-b329-480c-b140-58f17c5bdc9b301 Redirects in Asp.nethttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/544/301-Redirects-in-AspnetI've been doing some testing on a recent DNN module and noticed some issues that I think a 301 Redirect will handle. Doing some quick googling I came up with the following topics to setup 301 redirects in asp.net. http://www.wwwcoder.com/main/parentid/263/site/2668/68/default.aspx http://scottwater.com/blog/archive/2004/04/14/PermanentRedirects.aspx I'll be building this into the module tomorrow and will report back on the results in the next couple of weeks. Currently I've got a site with close 100 pages of content, but google is only seeing 6 of those pages. I'm thinking if I implement 301 redirects for a link tracker I'm using this may help. Time will...Mon, 31 Jul 2006 01:58:00 GMT4cb6539a-a22a-45c4-b266-425f331e99faHome againhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/560/Home-againWe're back from California. Picks and more info up later this...Tue, 15 Aug 2006 02:22:00 GMT86b9d879-85ba-4c9d-8034-5d3acb089f3eUpdated my websitehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/573/Updated-my-websiteI upgraded my site to CommunityServer 2.1 this afternoon. It was time for a change and hopefully 2.1 will filter the comment spam I've been getting a bit better.I'll be making more changes to it shortly, adding another picture to the header like I had...Wed, 23 Aug 2006 16:22:00 GMT37a1b269-858c-467d-b92c-6b1148e5effbMy last CommunityServer post for ChrisHammond.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1029/My-last-CommunityServer-post-for-ChrisHammondcomIt is nearly 3pm CST on Wednesday January 23rd, 2008. Almost 2.5 years since I initially setup a .Text blog for this website I am finally ready to convert the site to run on DotNetNuke. I'll post more about "why" I am converting to DotNetNuke, and how I am doing so. Only a few of you will even get to read this via CommunityServer as the conversion will be taking place in just a few minutes. One thing to note if you are subscribed to the site via RSS/ATOM you might have to change your URLs. The new URL will be available shortly. For now, this is it, the final blog post via CommunityServer for the domain name...Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:52:00 GMT004fed18-5279-4d40-b4a6-76b06fb8ab63My first post within DotNetNuke for ChrisHammond.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1030/My-first-post-within-DotNetNuke-for-ChrisHammondcThis is it! The first post for ChrisHammond.com now running on DotNetNuke!Wed, 23 Jan 2008 17:15:05 GMTf047f059-3ff8-4c84-b4af-57e9bdd2fde8Holy blog posts batmanhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1044/Holy-blog-posts-batmanThe mother of all blog posts is coming, hopefully later tonight, stay tuned!Mon, 28 Jan 2008 17:30:20 GMT4fd5fc78-27af-4c41-80c0-7a2596323bf3Ortiz strikes again! Red Sox win! https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/118/Ortiz-strikes-again-Red-Sox-winRed Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Red Sox win! Sun, 17 Oct 2004 23:24:00 GMTe85f52c8-a1cb-4d67-886e-8ad6229ae6ffTweaked the site a littlehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1074/Tweaked-the-site-a-littleSo I made some minor adjustments to the site tonight. I made the header at the top 62% smaller, taking up less area on the page. I also changed some of the photos around. My good buddy Chad Hobson got pulled from the headers for now. He might make an appearance again in the future.Wed, 13 Feb 2008 02:15:23 GMT747332dc-140a-4e44-89e7-b1e79bafa2c4DotNetNuke Moduleshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/12/DotNetNuke-ModulesI've created a DotNetNuke category for various blogs. The first post for that category (besides this one) will come over the next few days to cover a few module...Tue, 13 Jul 2004 15:12:00 GMT90e358b0-af1f-413b-b8d4-82e8237e92a3Xbox 360 Blog Post Categoryhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/389/Xbox-360-Blog-Post-CategoryI've setup a new Category on my blog for XBOX 360 posts, to better organize...Wed, 23 Nov 2005 09:55:00 GMT020c8a04-a411-4df4-b60c-c6d6335e0861ChrisHammond.com is now ad freehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1443/ChrisHammondcom-is-now-ad-free<p>I don't know why it has taken me this long, but I've finally taken down all the google ads from my personal website at <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com">www.chrishammond.com</a>. I had the page all littered up with ads for the past few years. I just ran a report on my google adsense account and it looks like I started running ads on ChrisHammond.com somewhere around 8/23/2004. Since that time I've had 373k page impressions, 2,565 clicks, with earnings near $466. That averages to about 309 impressions a day, 2 clicks per day, a click through rate of .69% and $1.25 CPM. Not a bad overall number, but for 4 years, making $116 a year on ads I don't think it is worth the clutter on the site anymore.</p> <p>So for now, ChrisHammond.com is Google Adsense free. That doesn't mean I won't have other ads running on the site, I will most likely setup some sort of banner system between all of my websites (102 total domains on my godaddy account now), to cross promote all the various things I work on throughout the year.</p> <p>What do you think? Are google adsense ads a waste with the numbers generated above?</p>Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:13:21 GMT903838da-2bdd-421e-b788-7dee5a233795I AM an excellent programmer! I really am!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/427/I-AM-an-excellent-programmer-I-really-amGoogle even tells me so! http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=excellent+programmer <--currently 5th on the search results for excellent programmer. I will be number one, I will be the most excellent programmer of them...Sat, 28 Jan 2006 23:55:00 GMTcfa5fd76-0ca3-401a-aecb-a05007fcdf47MartianBuddy.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/46/MartianBuddycom<p>In <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/tabid/54/itemid/44/Doom-3-Screenshots.aspx">Doom 3</a> there's an email you get on one of the found PDA's that has a URL to</p> <p><a href="http://www.martianbuddy.com/">http://www.martianbuddy.com/</a></p> <p>So of course you gotta check that out right? Well, there's not much there, maybe the code will come in handy in <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com/tabid/54/itemid/44/Doom-3-Screenshots.aspx">Doom 3</a> though 0508.....</p>Wed, 04 Aug 2004 21:22:00 GMT805375d4-3917-485b-b158-6d6acc305b3eShadow Trailers Suck!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/355/Shadow-Trailers-SuckRead more about how much Shadow Trailers Suck!...Mon, 26 Sep 2005 16:56:00 GMT09ef322e-e859-40e3-be00-1fd138b6129bBag of Crapola from Woot Arrived!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/443/Bag-of-Crapola-from-Woot-ArrivedAs in my previous blog post I ordered 3 Bags of Crap from www.woot.com the other day. Today they showed up!   4 Panda Express Panda Bears 10 DVD+RW Discs and Cases 2 Packages of Fake Legos 1 Camo Gun that makes noise and lights up. 15 Feet of Air Packing Bags ...Wed, 15 Feb 2006 14:51:00 GMT80acbf9d-9316-4abd-9247-30c8c8348c36Updates to ChrisHammond.comhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1599/Updates-to-ChrisHammondcom<p>So I made some more changes to ChrisHammond.com today. I updated the URL structure of the site to use the URL Master module from <a href="http://www.iFinity.com.au">http://www.iFinity.com.au</a>. So far it’s working great. The urls should be shorter and cleaner now, hopefully more SEO friendly as well. Take a look around, if you see anything wrong let me know.</p> <p>Happy Thanksgiving!!!!</p>Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:00:48 GMT14644a6b-891d-4182-847b-1d1b68cb14ba2008 Website Statisticshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1664/2008-Website-StatisticsSo it’s 2009 now, almost 5 days in already. I’m going to compile a quick list of website statistics for ChrisHammond.com. Read the full post for more infoSun, 04 Jan 2009 23:34:03 GMTaa6ef7eb-78b5-4bf7-90ef-4a3896a9bf7eAbout This Sitehttps://www.chrishammond.com/About/itemId/1034/About-This-SiteA description of this website and the software that powers the site.Thu, 24 Jan 2008 01:08:54 GMTad3783a0-9776-4225-a5ea-35e5e0db9edfFriends and Family World Series Letterhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/141/Friends-and-Family-World-Series-LetterIf you are looking to purchase the DVD of photos, you can get it on ebay. Sent this out to a whole list of folks today, in case I missed anyone. Hello Friends and Family!   Many of you I haven’t talked to in a long time, so here’s a quick update on where I am and what I am doing. I’m in St. Louis working for Emerging Technologies Group, programming web sites, loving what I do every day. I’m moving on November 1st to a new place about ½ a mile from work, if you want the address reply to this email and I’ll send it to you.   Now for the reason I am writing this email!   I bring to you good news!   I must say, I NEVER thought I would get to see a Red Sox World Series Championship, much less get the chance to see it in person!!!! I’ve watched more baseball this year than I have since I was a little boy, and probably even more than back then too.   Monday night I called Auntie Carol in Lexington, Mass. and told her to a flight get to St. Louis because I was going to get us Game 4 tickets. I got tickets from a season ticket holder here in St. Louis, got Carol a flight setup for Wednesday, and then proceeded to watch game 3 on Tuesday night from the couch. Throughout the whole series Sox fans have been nervous, the nervous wait, waiting for the Red Sox to screw it up, lose, and end the historic season in a miserable way. Game 3 was no different.   Watching Game 3 all I wanted was for them to win, so that Auntie Carol and I would have a chance to see Game 4, and see the Red Sox win it all here in St. Louis. They pulled it off and the World was abuzz about the Sox, and the fact that everyone thought it was a guarantee they would win it all. Maybe I was more nervous than most because I went to six Cardinals games this year all in which they won. Including Game 1 of the NLDS and Game 6 of the NLCS, and I know what the Cardinals bats can do, they can hurt you, and they could have hurt the Red Sox.   Carol landed about 3:30pm yesterday, I picked her up at the airport and was high fived and thumbs up’d by all the Sox fans walking around the airport, a change from the harassment I’d received from Cards fans on Saturday while walking around the mall in my Damon Jersey (see my blog link below to read about that)! We drove out to the stadium and found a nice free parking space which Josh Colwell showed me back in August when we saw the Cards beat the Mets, (http://www.chrishammond.com/gallery/albums/38.aspx). We walked up to the stadium and around to gate 7, near Stan the Man. We spent the next 45 to 60 minutes taking in the atmosphere, waiting for the gates to open. I also got a cool World Series blanket for signing up for a credit card, which will promptly be destroyed and cancelled when it arrives (you’re welcome mom).   Once the gates open we headed in to watch the Cardinals finish off batting practice and see the Sox take their practice. We got close to a few of the balls hit to right field, but nothing close enough to grab a hold of. It’s interesting watching people scramble and fight for a ball. We ran into Santa Clause there, he had a gift to be handed out later ( )! After watching most of BP we decided to venture up to our seats, 3 rows from the top in section 334. Not bad seats, but I can’t say that I’ve ever really had a bad seat at Busch (stadium). Before the game I took a photo or two of Albert (), I used to work with him at The Sporting News, he is the head photographer there, I also still occasionally play roller hockey with him.   I won’t go inning by inning, or pitch by pitch, but I will point out the photo of Johnny Damon, in his at bat that Won the World Series! () Johnny’s first inning, first at bat, home run won the game which ended 3-0 after nine. It was surprising the number of Red Sox fans at the game, there were probably 2-3 thousand, I think all of them stayed after the game to watch the celebrations. At the end of the game, everyone in the...Chris HammondThu, 28 Oct 2004 10:40:00 GMT03878184-dc9f-45cc-9d29-b4a08d2c01f2Conversion Process from CommunityServer to DotNetNukehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/1045/Conversion-Process-from-CommunityServer-to-DotNetNSo I'm finally getting around to doing a write-up about my conversion from CommunityServer to DotNetNuke. The conversion wasn't for the faint of heart, though it has been a great learning experience, which I hope will be beneficial to anyone else considering moving away from CommunityServer or other platforms and onto the DotNetNuke platform. I chose to move from CommunityServer to DotNetNuke 4.8.0 running the Engage: Publish module, available from www.engagemodules.com. My reasons for choosing the Publish module are detailed below. Overall the process has taken me rougly 3 weeks, though not all of that time was spent doing things productive :). I hope to cover some of the details on this conversion, and the thoughts going into the process, as well as thoughts after the process. Before I do that though I will give you a little background on my experience with both systems first. Chris HammondMon, 28 Jan 2008 20:59:25 GMT922c7641-19a9-41eb-a089-f0a6af49711bDotNetNuke vs Sharepoint reviewshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/430/DotNetNuke-vs-Sharepoint-reviewsIf you are looking for DotNetNuke Reviews, I dug up a couple of things years ago, comparing DNN versus Sharepoint. The blog posts are from 2006, and while somewhat still valid, a lot of things have changed in both worlds. DotNetNuke provides a lot more features now than it did way back when. Sharepoint is still great for intranet setups. Coming in DotNetNuke 6.0 Enterprise Edition there will be some Sharepoint integration available as a feature. Chris HammondWed, 01 Feb 2006 00:50:00 GMT5ac21cd6-7b71-43ee-bf9b-819095bca226Made a few changeshttps://www.chrishammond.com/Cars/240z/itemId/1278/Made-a-few-changes<p>I made a few changes to the site this evening, a few things I've had planned for a while. Now, all my blog posts from <a href="http://www.project240z.com">www.project240z.com</a>, <a href="http://www.corvettez06.org">www.corvettez06.org</a> and <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/christoc">http://weblogs.asp.net/christoc</a> will all aggregate here, so you can pull in my RSS feed from <a href="http://www.chrishammond.com">www.chrishammond.com</a> and get whatever blog posts I make on those sites as well. The links should take you directly to the blog posts on those sites.</p> <p>If you see any problems with this please let me know, I'm excited to get this flexibility built into the site and have another project to be announced later this week that will use this feature as well!</p>Thu, 29 May 2008 01:36:13 GMTc6a2eed3-5333-4be9-88ab-c80fef0f6b31Converting from Ubb.Classic to CommunityServer forums.https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/274/Converting-from-UbbClassic-to-CommunityServer-forI've successfully converted a Ubb.Classic web site to the new CommunityServer software from Telligent systems. If you are looking to go along the same conversion path, contact me, I'd be more than willing to estimate what it would cost for me to convert your Ubb.Classic web site to...Chris HammondTue, 31 May 2005 14:24:00 GMT422b4d7b-65f2-4a0c-889b-a997948b1395Who is Chris Hammond?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/9/Who-is-Chris-HammondWell, that's what this site is here for! To tell you who Chris Hammond is. My goal is to get back into the top results when you search for Chris Hammond on  web search engines. ...Chris HammondMon, 12 Jul 2004 15:22:00 GMT65c09698-3a13-40b1-9605-d4d88e576e11A new ChrisHammond.com....https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/11/A-new-ChrisHammondcomI got the urge to redesign, as I do every few weeks. I've added a new photo gallery, with a little bit better functionality than the last one. I'll try to continually add items to it. So far I'm not so sure I like my organizational structure in the gallery, but it will do until I come up with something better. What do you think of the new site? -Chris...Chris HammondTue, 13 Jul 2004 12:48:00 GMT64e17fbb-2118-44da-8f24-ee958618b643Viral Marketing? Banned Corvette Adhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Cars/Corvette/itemId/73/Viral-Marketing-Banned-Corvette-AdNews has been going around the net about the Banned Corvette ad. Maybe it's just viral marketing, and if it is, it's working. Here's the ad in quicktime format. Pretty cool, but the quality leaves more for the wanting...Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:37:00 GMT39cecbf9-984e-43ad-a49d-4f079eea5dd3Our engagement adventure!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/366/Our-engagement-adventureSo now that most folks know Natalie and I got engaged last weekend, it's time to tell the story of how it happened. A little bit of info on this past weekend, Natalie's mother's birthday was on the 7th of October, so we were all headed out to So Cal for the occasion. Her parents live about 17 miles from mine, but by California's roads that's about a 45 minute drive. We, Me, Natalie, her sister, brother-in-law and neice all went out to California for the weekend, to visit with her family and mine. We planned on everyone going to my parent's house on Saturday at 6:30pm, kind of a family gathering, have both sets of parents meet, and just have dinner and hang out all evening. I however had other plans and had Mom scope out locations on the beach for me a few weeks back. The requirements were a good view of the Ocean at Sunset, easy accessibility, and somewhere that 18 people could watch, without Natalie seeing those 18 people until after I asked her to marry me. Dog Beach down in Huntington beach was the perfect location, with two seperate parking areas so that Natalie and I could park, and walk ~1/4 mile to the sand below the cliffs at the second parking area. So the plan actually was for everyone to show up at my parents house at 5pm, and head down to the beach. Natalie and I got to the house around 4:30 and picked up the Triumph so we could drive down PCH with top down, sight seeing a little was the cover I used with Natalie. I had to double check on the location mom picked out, as dad early Saturday morning said the two parking locations where too far apart, after seeing they were nice and close to each other I let mom know via a cryptic phonecall we would be in the same location as planned. Natalie and I drove around Huntington Beach a bit, stopping to watchi a few kite surfers (probably the wrong term) and then headed back up to the first Dog beach parking lot. I took her down for a stroll along the beach, all along looking ahead to see if I could see anyone at the rendevous point yet. We ended up at the point I had planned probably 5-10 minutes before everyone else showed up. Not exactly on time as I had planned, but I think that worked out best as no one was around when we were walking towards where they would all be standing, I was hoping she wouldn't see anyone before I asked her. This whole time Natalie was freezing, the weather the day before had been 83 and sunny, but the weather saturday was getting overcast and windy, probably somewhere near 55-60 with a 15-20mph wind from the ocean. Though, even with the clouds and wind, we had a pretty good view of the sunset, which I had planned everything around, a 6:19pm sunset. We stood there for what seemed like an eternity, finally the family showed up, I had to wave at them behind my back to get them down to the area near the life guard stand (stand 22) that would give them the best view. Natalie actually asked me if I was waving at someone, I said no, I was just cold and shaking out my hands. :) Once everyone was in position I suggested she put her shoes down, she'd been carrying them since we got to the sand. After a few moments, and her wiping her runny nose from the cold wind on my shirt, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. She teared up, not saying a word, in shock. I had to ask her, "well, will you?" to get her to knod yes! I rose and gave her a hug and a kiss and then the crowd cheered, she turned and saw 18 people standing up on the bluff cheering for us. It took her a bit to realize it was all of our families up there watching :). Everything turned out great, Greg (my brother) and Dad had my still camera and video camera snapping and shooting away the whole time. We walked up to the bluff and took lots of photos together, with all the family in various arrangements. Afterwards we all headed to Mom and Dad's house in Long Beach for a few hours of socializing. It was a great evening, and special thanks to Mom for getting everything together...Chris HammondWed, 19 Oct 2005 14:05:00 GMTf5eab5c4-51cb-4123-abe3-0d0192bdc14cWeekend updatehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/354/Weekend-updateWell, I guess the weekend is over, it's 12:40am now on Monday morning, so the work week has started. Though I've been working all weekend minus a few hours of racing in the rain today. I ran on some Hoosier Wets today, they are excellent rain tires for autocross, I took FTD (fastest time of day) and I believe Top Index time as well, over the many all wheel drive Subarus that were there playing in the rain as well. Updated the blog skin today, to better match a new gallery skin I was also...Mon, 26 Sep 2005 00:37:00 GMT402b3403-9e2f-4e94-a2fc-7b0c630be7f2Who is Chris Hammond and why is he dropping?https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/262/Who-is-Chris-Hammond-and-why-is-he-droppingWhy in search results is this web page dropping????? Who is Chris Hammond? He's currently a 28 year old software developer in St. Louis Missouri. He likes photography, baseball, automobiles, autocross, and programming! Chris Hammond is really trying to bring his ranking up, thus you are reading this...Fri, 22 Apr 2005 09:24:00 GMTf702d291-d0ab-4d46-a743-ce1cf1409ef8YADN Yet Another Domain Namehttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/41/YADN-Yet-Another-Domain-NameThe current count is 24 domain names. I just purchased autocross.biz for $4.95 this evening. In efforts to get the autocross search results up for...Sun, 01 Aug 2004 17:37:00 GMT6e41748b-eed7-49e4-8493-293bc1ab9c77Topeka Kansas, 2004https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/92/Topeka-Kansas-2004For the fifth year in a row I am in Topeka Kansas this week. It's the SCCA Solo II Nationals. The Nationals are broken up into two groups. My group runs on Tuesday and Wednesday. There are only 2 350Zs here this year, 4 drivers. Andy Hohl is driving mine. Hopefully one of us will do decent! We (SoloPerformance.com) showed up Friday and setup the store. We've been selling like mad, doing a lot of custom Vinyl for folks, far more than I expected! Hopefully more posts later this week. Thursday I drive back to St. Louis and fly to Phoenix for Faye's...Sun, 12 Sep 2004 21:52:00 GMT4c8ec501-bb31-4f3f-aea2-e5ee6fe3cb0eReferral logs are funhttps://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/170/Referral-logs-are-funI was looking through my site statistics for solo2.org today and came across an incoming link to the site that has brought 30 people to the site in the past couple of days. So I go to check it out. http://350zuk.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4904 Harsh! Oh well, I liked the stripe while I had it on the...Chris HammondMon, 06 Dec 2004 15:54:00 GMT81624f24-34f6-4b22-8d5a-8b3899fb50bbArkansas National Tour was very productive! My first National trophy, and it came with a Win!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/246/Arkansas-National-Tour-was-very-productive-My-firA quick (longer than planned) writeup, from a BS perspective The surface was concrete, VERY rough on tires, kinda slick but still not a bad surface over all, a little breakup after day 1, patches before day 2. The weather was pretty windy on Friday, not as much wind on Saturday, by Sunday the wind has switched and was blowing form the east. Not near as strong as Friday though. Both mornings were chilly, saturday was 36 degrees when Heat 1 started at 7:55am. By 1:30 it was ~60 degrees out, Sunny, with a light wind.The event ran very smoothly, great job by the Arkansas Region and SCCA staff. Only two event recommendation I would have, the front gate didn't appear to be staffed very well during the non-heat times (not sure during heats). The other being the choice of Saturday night dinner locations. It was a little too small for the number of folks we had at the event, just a thought for next year There were 185 drivers, I worked first heat in the trailer doing radio, which was nice because I got to stay inside where it was nice and toasty BS ran Second heat both days, there were 10 drivers (2 M3s (4 drivers) 1 RX-8, a Red 350Z, a Brickyard 350Z and my Daytona Blue 350Z with myself and Andy driving). Andy and I were trying out some Kumho 710s, some very large Kumho 710s! We managed to squeeze 275s on all four corners, including the 7.5" front wheels, I ended up installing a spacer up front just to be sure we didn't rub, I don't think it would have been an issue though even without the spacer. After first runs on Saturday I had a mid 46, with Ashir (sp?) running a 46.8 though I thought I had about a 1.5 second lead on the class. Andy, my codriver, I believe had a cone on his first run. Second runs Andy ended up with some car troubles. Just before the big sweeper (turn around) the car died. We're not sure how, or why, but it wouldn't start back up right away. The first though people had (course workers) was that it ran out of gas, which wasn't really an option as it had 1/2 tank of gas. I generally run with little to no gas in the car, but didn't plan so well for this trip and filled up before making the 240 mile drive to Walnut Ridge, which left me with over half a tank. I tried to burn off some gas driving through town, and then hoped to use up some at the practice event on Friday. Andy got the car started back up and came off after his 2nd run with a DNF due to the mechanical difficulties. We looked the car over, revved id, smelled it, looked underneath, nothing appeared out of place or missing/broken. I went out on my second run and the car ran fine, though I was a bit slower, I think due to worrying about how the car would react. Andy went out for his third run and jumped in front of my first run by about .15 seconds. I went out on my third run hoping to best his time, which I was unable to do. I knew this would happen, as I seem to have problems improving runs at big events, I almost always have my best run up front and then I guess over think everything else. Ashir ended up dropping some more time on his third run and finished behind me for the first day by .066 seconds. Sunday brought a new day. I went out on my first run and put about a second on the field, but got a late cone call in the final slolom to put me back into 2nd or 3rd I believe. Andy's first run was one of the fastest in the class, and unfortunately for him was his fastest clean time of the day due to other difficulties. 2nd run he went out and blew the course away, he knocked off 2 seconds from his time and about 1 second from mine, but yet again, a late cone call came into play. Ashir didn't quite seem to be able to get a good handle on the car on Sunday, I believe due to some changes they tried making to the sway bar the night before. My second run I went out, sped up a bit, and cleaned up my run, enough to actually take the class for the day. Andy went out for his third run intent on whiping the floor with me, and he may very well have,...Mon, 21 Mar 2005 06:21:00 GMT6d8baeed-c2a8-4010-91af-5edd3028590eTwas an audio Christmas!https://www.chrishammond.com/Blog/itemId/405/Twas-an-audio-ChristmasChristmas was good this year! Natalie and I both spoiled each other rotten! I just installer her new car stereo into the F350. The stock stereo was hurting! It only had AM/FM, no CD or Tape! I got her a nice Sony CD Player for the dash, two new kicker speakers for the front doors, and an XM Roady2 for the must have Satellite radio. There's no Sirius in this household, down with Howard Stern and Sirius Radio! I installed the CD player this evening and made sure everything worked. It's a very clean install, you have to love Crutchfield for including everything you could need to install a radio ordered from them. The new CD player went right in the old unit's place courtesy of the Crutchfield mounting hardware. I also picked up some fine jewelery from Krekeler Jewelers for Natalie's Christmas gifts. Thanks to Jeff for all the help picking a few nice things out!  Natalie spoiled me with some new Oakleys, a cool North Face Jacket, and the Klipsch floor speakers I'd been asking for! The new speakers sound amazing in front of the 50" plasma! I've ordered the Klipsh C-3 center channel speaker from Best Buy using some great gift cards I received. Sometime later this year I'll get the new receiver and 4 surround sound speakers to complete my new and improved home theater setup. My parents sent me money to purchase an aircompressor and some tools for the garage, so I was out looking at Sears today. I did realize however, I'm going to need to take the truck next time I go, as the air compressors won't fit in the 350Z! Thanks to everyone for the great Christmas. Natalie and I spent our first of many Christmas' together, hopefully next year we'll be able to see our parents though, it was my first Xmas away from my family :( More to come in...Mon, 26 Dec 2005 23:05:00 GMTc66797b8-68b9-4ff7-bd69-540716639287