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Thursday, November 26, 2009

Packing for HK

Hey everyone, I'm going to Hong Kong in just 2 days! Flying this Saturday morning, on Korean Air, and thus through South Korea. 2 hour stop over on the way there, and 12 hours on the way back.

I'm looking forward to exploring the big city, the shopping malls, and seeing all the sights. Theres the Peak, Wax Museum, Noah's Ark, the Giant Buddha, Disney Land/Ocean Park, the Space Museum, and much more.

There's also my cousin's wedding. Why are there so many weddings this year and next?

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Visual Studio Post Build Event to Copy DLLs into one Directory

*Updated 30th March 2010*

Basically I have this problem: I have a big solution with several projects.  Each  project builds into a dll which gets placed in its Bin directory at the project level.  All the necesary dlls are also included in the bin directory.  However, I want to be able to colllect all dlls for the solution into one folder for me to easily deploy onto the live server.

Put this into the Post Build Event in each of your projects:

xcopy /y $(ProjectDir)$(OutDir)$(TargetFileName) $(SolutionDir)GAC\

This will take the all output files from the current project and copy it to the solution root and into the folder called GAC.  Doing this to each of the projects will give you the collection of dlls in that GAC folder.

If you want to only do this on Release Build add:


if $(ConfigurationName) == Release xcopy ...

Friday, November 20, 2009

Break in

Just yesterday my house was broken into.  From talking with my neighbors, the break in occurred sometime between 9am and 12 noon.  Now fortunately nothing was taken as we have decent security; an alarm and many deadlocks on the doors.  What happened was the guy went round the side and broke into my window by prying it open with a crowbar.  The entire window frame has come apart, but the glass was still intact, probably as to not make too much noise.  The window leads into my flat and the guy is extremely quick and efficient, not disturbing much on my desk.  The alarm would have went off and he was able to locate both the siren and then control panel ripping both off.  Unfortunately for him the alarm is hooked up upstairs and so it still went off.  Unable to turn off the alarm, or open the door to get back out, he climbed out the window without taking anything and very little (aside from the alarm) seems touched.

I had a few coins lying around, and my laptop which would have been easy to take, but not worth much (5 year old laptops wouldn't sell for much) and my computer and monitor would have been fairly large and difficult to rush off with (since he couldn't get out the door).  He must have saw my big cheap CRT TV and thought that there was nothing here valuable enough to steal (which is true).  The most valuable (in terms of cost) would have been my computer and monitor costing me some $1500 but probably wouldn't sell for nearly that.  The guy was probably hoping to get into the main house upstairs which was locked, and hoping to find some gold and jewelry.

Some advice and things:

  • Get Deadlocks for your doors - ones that NEED a key to open from both inside and out
  • Have at least 2 locks on your main door
  • Have locks on all windows - or at least the ones you can get to
  • Lock your doors and windows when you go out - and check them!
  • Install an Alarm - and set it when you go out!
  • Install security cameras - webcams or even fake security cameras
  • Timers which turn on your radio/TV/lights and irregular intervals - especially for holidays
  • Store all jewelery in Safety deposit boxes
  • Record all serial numbers of electronics and gadgets -if for nothing else; Insurance
  • Finally, talk to your neighbours, let them know what time the break in happened and get your whole neighbourhood aware
  • Burglars often burgle during the day, sometimes in the evening when the lights are out
  • Burglars like places where people can't easily see what they are doing
  • If you do get stuff stolen, serial numbers can help track them down, or do some research yourself to look for the stuff

Monday, November 16, 2009

Matt 25:34-40

34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, (AE)inherit the kingdom prepared for you (AF)from the foundation of the world.

35'For (AG)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; (AH)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

36(AI)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you (AJ)visited Me; (AK)I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

40"(AL)The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, (AM)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Sunday, November 15, 2009

New Zealand are going to South Africa!!

One shot at glory... and we got it!


The Marsdens

Come check out what some of my friends living at the Marsden flat have been doing; living out life on a flat

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Jesus for the Homeless - website

I finally finished setting up the website (blog) at http://jesusfth.blogspot.com

Running Diary: 4.5km in 25min

Its nearing the end of November, and I need to push myself to run 15km before the end of the month!

Where is the best place to purchase weights?

K-Mart! Surprisingly, they sell them at roughly $2.20/kg while most other places sell them at $3-$4 per kg.

By weights I mean plates for your dumbells and barbells.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Jesus for the Homeless

A few friends I know have started up some Christian work, giving out food and drink to the homeless in the city.  They meet up every Thursday night 8-30 onwards, and walk around meeting homeless people and building relationships with them.  I went out with them tonight (just got home) and unfortunately I was unable to talk to anyone but am definitely committing myself to this line of work.  Its very similar to the Salvation Army thing I did last night, but not on the same night and not conflicting.  More info on this coming soon.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Salvation Army Soup Night

I went along to the city to join the Salvation Army in giving out Soup and Milo to the homeless.  What an experience!  There are a lot of people out there who are in dire need of basic human needs; food, clothes, shelter.  And it breaks God's heart to see them out there.  I pray that it breaks mine too, and breaks the hearts of others so that we may help them and love them.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

LOL @ Mail2Blogger

You can (and I have a while back) set up Mail2Blogger, which allows you to send an email to a particular address, and it will send into your blogspot blog.

I'm laughing at the google search for "Mail2Blogger" which comes up with a lot of "Testing Mail2Blogger" posts which people have posted on their blogs.  Clearly Google promotes their Blogspot blog content

Running Diary: 4.5km in 25min

Monday, November 9, 2009

NBA Preview: Lakers

Key addition: Ron Artest
Key loss: Trevor Ariza

Since we are already into the season, I am kind of cheating when I say that this team is going to top the league.  Not that thats a surprise!  Fresh of a championship after a great season, Kobe has had plenty of rest, unlike the past summers where he has been playing for Team USA.  As we can see already with Bynum and Gasol out, Kobe has adapted his play and elevated the rest of the team.  When their team gets back healthy, they are going to be rolling on all cylinders until the playoffs.

The Artest Ariza swap is probably in Houstons favour looking in hindsight.  Artest was considered a better more rounded player, both offensively and defensively.  But Ariza is young and has a much greater upside, that could have helped the Lakers in the future.  But when you have Kobe just pasted his prime, its probably a safe bet to get someone like Artest and get you that next Championship ring.

The biggest problem for this team I see is complacency, and off-court drama.  But with the loss to the Celtics not too long ago, I don't think Bryant or Artest will let that happen.  Lakers win 65+

Sunday, November 8, 2009

NBA Preview: Orlando Magic

Key additions: Vince Carter, Brandon Bass, Ryan Anderson
Key losses: Courtney Lee, Hedo Turkoglu

Fresh after a finals appearance, the Magic wasted no time in acquiring some help.  VC will provide them with a go-to guy at the end of games which they have been lacking for years.  They lose Turkoglu, who was an important part of their team last year causing mismatches to many opposing teams.  They also lose promising young talent in Courtney Lee, however, the addition of Ryan Anderson has more than offset that loss.  Time will tell whether VC can remain healthy and inspired, whether Nelson make it back to his pre-injury All-Star form, whether Howard can take that next step in becoming a franchise superstar.

I think the Magic are greatly improved over last year on paper, but they are going to need time to find team chemistry.  Its going to take focus to build their form.  But come playoff time, this is a deep and talented team.
I think these guys are going to win 60+ wins and go deep into the playoffs, with their main challengers being Celtics in the East and Lakers in the West.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Twitter and Blogger Integration

I signed up for twitterfeed which allows you to integrate twitter and blogger.  So when I post to Blogger, I post to Twitter too :)

Running Diary: [Remuera to New Market and back] in [aprox 1 hour]

I started running, was going to run around my block for about 8km but decided (due to a conversation with Jono) to run to Remuera shops, but when I got there, I kept going to New Market!

Edit: its about 8km I'm guessing as it took just under 1 hour

Sunday, November 1, 2009

God the Father's Letter to You

If God wrote a letter to you, would you read it?  What would it say?  Would it be an instructional letter or a letter of encouragement?  Have you ever wondered what was the reason or purpose you were created for?

Should Christians celebrate Halloween?

With Halloween just passing us by, it is the first time I have actually considered the issue.  Chuck Missler says "For a Christian to celebrate Halloween is like a Holocaust survivor celebrating Hitler's Birthday".

Halloween comes from the ancient Celts in Britain, but a similar day exists for many other cultures around the world.  This particular day gets its name from "All Hallow's Eve", being one day before All-Saints day.  Strangely enough it was not common for Halloween to be practiced world wide until the 20th century.

Now, the problem with Halloween is its association with evil spirits and satanic practices.  It is not uncommon for people to try to contact "lost spirits".  I heard some strange stuff about Christians who pray for the salvation of the dead.  On one hand, we can say that its just a bit of harmless fun for the children.  But even if you don't believe in the supernatural stuff, it can be very dangerous to be ignorant or accustomed to Halloween and think of it as completely harmless.  By trivializing Halloween, we let down our defense and open the door to allow evil to creep into our lives.  I have heard a few stories of people starting off playing with ouija boards, asking "people who know more about this stuff" and getting drawn into a cult whereby they get impregnated and sacrifice the fetus of the aborted child by fire - in New Zealand.  Witchcraft is not something to take lightly, all occult "religions" claim that they lead you to the light.  An ex-satanist claims that the "light" these religions lead to, is in fact Satan or Lucifer, the Angel of Light.  As described in the Bible, Satan is the deceiver who originally tricked Adam and Eve into disobeying God, and continues to this day to deceive all mankind.  He does this by pretending to be the truth and the light.  There is also much to be said about people with supernatural abilities, brought on by demons etc, but thats for you to do your own study on.

In conclusion, we ought not to trivialize these practices which popular culture adheres to.  Easter for example comes from the Babylonian Goddess Ishtar, the goddess of fertility, hence the rabbit and the eggs being symbols of fertility.  Its one thing to think of these as fun harmless things for kids to do, or a big marketing scam by corporations.  But we ought not to take part but rather the opposite, to actively oppose it when it is brought up, and lovingly suggest the alternative.  Selling your soul to the devil is only fun in the movies.