Microsoft announced on Tuesday that it was delaying the release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 because of a newly uncovered glitch. The software maker said there is a “compatibility issue” between the service pack and Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System, a retail chain management program for small and midsize businesses. Microsoft finalized the code for Windows XP SP3 last week and had planned to make it broadly available starting Tuesday. “In order to make sure customers have the best possible experience, we have decided to delay releasing Windows XP SP3 to Windows Update and Microsoft Download Center,” the company said in a statement.

Typical Microsoft..

Think gas prices are bad right now? A couple of analytical enery industry trackers predict that prices will rise to $10 a gallon in the next 2-3 years! The news broke yesterday in the New York Sun. It seems impossible, but you can’t dispute the facts.

In early 2007, oil was trading at about $50 a barrel. On Friday, it closed at $118.52! Experts believe that this price could rise to $200-250 in the near future, due to shrinking supply and increasing demand, especially from China, India, and America.

10 years ago, I was paying $0.92/gallon for premium unleaded. Today, I’m paying $3.65/gallon for premium. Back then, gas mileage wasn’t a concern, but with rising gas prices, fuel economy is all the rage. Filling up the H2 costs well over $100 now! My daily driver (a Porsche Boxster) gets a dismal 16.8mpg around town, and costs almost $50 to fill up..

One of the biggest mistakes I made was getting my deposit back on the Smart Fortwo. I had placed a deposit on the car when it was first announced, and planned on using the car as a promotional vehicle for my business. But after thinking it over, I decided against it. Now, these cars are going for a HUGE premium on eBay, go figure..

And then I came across the Smart Diablo - Now all bets are off!

Sure, the car’s COMPLETELY impractical now (you lose the passenger seat in the conversion), but tell me that doesn’t look like fun!!

Until then, I’m on the hunt for a Mini Cooper S to replace my Boxster..

As I mentioned last week, Wordpress 2.5 was riddled with bugs.. Now today we get word that 2.5.1 has been released, and includes a “very important security update”.

Version 2.5.1 of WordPress is now available. It includes a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and one very important security fix. We recommend everyone update immediately, particularly if your blog has open registration. The vulnerability is not public but it will be shortly.

In addition to the security fix, Wordpress 2.5.1 contains over 70 bug fixes. Here are some highlights.

• Performance improvements for the Dashboard, Write Post, and Edit Comments pages.
• Better performance for those who have many categories
• Media Uploader fixes
• An upgrade to TinyMCE 3.0.7
• Widget Administration fixes
• Various usability improvements
• Layout fixes for IE

Thank god! Download Wordpress 2.5.1 Now!

In case you don’t know, these are lunch boxes from Japan. Crazy, eh?

What a week it’s been! My wife comes home from work early on Thursday, says she’s been throwing up all morning. This continues for the next 36 hours - I basically stopped what I was doing, and took care of her for the greater part of Thursday and Friday. Saturday rolls around, and she’s back to about 80% - We write it off as the 48-hour stomach flu. Miraculously, I walk away unscaved!

Or so I thought.

Fast forward to Sunday night, and we decide to have dinner at Bennigan’s - A decision I’ll live to regret for the rest of my life. I had a salad, buffalo chicken strips, and an apple pie skillet dessert. A great deal for $8.99! But 12 hours later, I woke up in the middle of the night feeling REALLY sick!!

O.M.G. There is nothing more vile than throwing up buffalo sauce! It wasn’t just coming out of my mouth, but also out of my nose! I couldn’t get rid of that taste for two days.. This bug really messed me up, and Monday and Tuesday are just a blur. Sleep was impossible, I was cramped up (probably dehydrated), had a fever, and felt nauseous. Only today do I feel good enough to function, but I’m only operating at 50% capacity.

I’ve got a few posts in the works, and I’ll try and get back up to speed in the next day or so, but right now I’ve got 445 e-mails to wade through, as I try to get my life back on track.

Years ago, I had a slick HTML signature that was automatically added to all of my outgoing e-mails. Since then, I’ve gone through a few PCs and a number of Outlook updates, and in the process I lost my old sig. It may seem trivial, but it’s another easy way to promote your website to people who already have a level of trust with you.

Email signature in MS Outlook are by default text messages. However I wanted to create an HTML signature - It’s supported, but far from straightforward!

Here’s How You Do It:

1. Go to Tools/Option/Mail Format and set Send in this message format to HTML.
2. Create a file with .html extension in notepad containing your only HTML text and save it. Remember to set Save as Type to HTML.
3. Open it in Internet Explorer and copy it to clipboard using Ctrl-A Ctrl-C after first clicking within the explorer. Now the HTML is copied in proper format to clipboard.
4. In Microsoft Outlook go to Options/Mail Format/Signature Picker and click on New.
5. Choose a name for your signature (any name is fine) and click Next.
6. Paste your signature in the box provided using Ctrl-V.
7. In Tools/Options/Mail Format ensure that your signature name (chosen earlier) is selected as Use this signature by default.
8. Test by creating a new email and verifying that the HTML signature is actually included in the created email.

I know this method to work for Microsoft Outlook 2000 and 2003. I haven’t upgraded to Outlook 2007 yet, so I can’t say for sure if the same steps need to be taken.. Good luck!