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..

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!

I’m sure most people on the East Coast are familiar with the Borgata.. It’s a high-end casino in Atlantic City that brought that Las Vegas vibe to the beach. A beautiful casino, absolutely flawless in it’s execution, it quickly became the hot-spot for the young and wealthy. The Tropicana fired back with their French Quarters, with a number of great restaurants and bars, and catering to a much younger crowd.

The French Quarters is definitely cool, but I’ve stayed true to the Borgata.. Tonight, we went down to the Borgata to burn through about $5000 in comps that were due to expire soon. So 9 of us decided to have a nice dinner at Ombra, an Italian restaurant located in a wine cellar at the Borgata. I expected the best, but we were VERY disappointed with the food there.

I started off with the Truffled Grissini (bread sticks slathered with white truffle butter & parmigiano reggiano, wrapped in prosciutto), which was probably the best food I ate all night. Followed up with an average Caesar Salad. For my entre, I had the Beef Short Rib “Alla Napolitana” (16 ounce braised short rib, red wine-tomato ragu, stone ground polenta).. This wasn’t bad, but it certainly wasn’t worth the $44 they charge. For dessert, I opted for the Chocolate Dieci (chocolate cake with creme fraiche chantilly, summer berry composta, frangelico syrup). The cake had great presentation, but it was average at best - The Great Wall of Chocolate at PF Changs is 1000x better.

Total bill for the 9 of us was close to $2000. Yikes!

Afterwards, we headed over to the B Bar to get some drinks and enjoy the eye candy.. Sadly, the only eye candy was a sexy waitress from Poland. The rest of the staff was average, and the clientele was pretty bad as well. It was a real eye opener, as Saturday nights at the Borgata used to be great! I wandered over to the Gypsy Bar to see if there was any talent in there, but it wasn’t much better.. The Gypsy Bar also had a live band playing, making it impossible to even hold a conversation.

We spent about 3 hours at the B Bar before settling up our tab (another $500 or so) and calling it a night. Next time, I’m going to the French Quarters to see if the nightlife there is any better. Here’s hoping!