This “memoir” consists of only about 240 sentences. There are more pages of photos than text in what is more accurately called a pamphlet than a book. Despite the small amount of words, the movie’s title is mentioned a whopping 83 times! Nguyen promises a Birdemic sequel in 3D, a Broadway musical where electronic eagles and vultures will fly like Spiderman, and an online game.

Nguyen mentions Hitchcock and Hollywood over and over as if he has any connection to either. He tells us that his eagles and vultures became “mutant, toxic and flammable” due to global warming. He needlessly explains how he had very little money to make his most famous movie. And he never comes to terms with the fact that people like to watch his movie ironically.

There are moments of boasting.

“I have a history of discovering beautiful and talented actress. After seeing at least 1,000 headshots and hundreds of auditions, I discovered Whitney Moore. Whitney is a beautiful, gifted and talented actress. I would not be surprised if Whitney is casted in a Hollywood movie and the next hot blond actress!”

There are moments of child-like praise.

“Alan Bagh did a great job as Rod in Birdemic. [...] Alan is my friend.”
Whitney Moore “…did a fantastic job as Nathalie in Birdemic.”
“Colton Osborne did a great job as Tony.”
“Patsy van Ettinger was awesome as Nathalie’s mother! [...] Patsy is my friend.”
“Damien Carter [...] did a fantastic job in playing himself in Birdemic.”
“Rick Camp does a superb job as Dr. Jones. [...] Rick is my friend.”
The rest of the cast “… did a terrific job.”

However, he also chastises hopeful actors wishing to make it big in Hollywood.

“A lot of them are not willing to pay their due. Some are infatuated by the movie business. Some are fakers. Some will not make the sacrifice and dedication in order to have a chance at that elusive Hollywood movie break. Personally, I believe that most of them will quit and go home because of money.”

Though his delusion is on full display throughout, it is made most clear when he describes how environmentally friendly the movie has made him.

“Birdemic has inspired me to live a green lifestyle. So I made a serious effort to reduce my carbon footprint. Now, I drive a hybrid car. I will buy an electric car. I have gone solar in that I have installed a solar power system at my house and I use solar battery chargers to recharge my cellular phone & laptop computer. Some of the lights in my garden and front yard have solar panel on them.”
“[M]y clothes are made from bamboo material. I have a computer mouse and keyboard that are made from bamboo which acts as a carbon sponge that absorbs excess carbon dioxide; this helps to reduce global warming.”

Oh, Mr. Nguyen, you are truly an inspiration!

To get your own copy of this picture book, I mean, memoir, it retails at only $19.99.

Wired Magazine: Kill the Password

While Wired‘s cover story about the failure of passwords (“Kill the Password: Why a String of Characters Can’t Protect Us Anymore”) is now a couple of months old, it is still very relevant. It is certainly a worthwhile read for all people in our digital age. It provides a good overview of the compromising positions that passwords can put us in, no matter how diligent we are at creating and keeping “good” passwords.

Bored teens and highly motivated criminals are both part of the threat to your personal information. Additionally, overly helpful customer service personnel can be persuaded to relinquish control of your account to a persistent hacker. Information discovered about you through simple searches can be used against you.

There are steps you can take to make it more difficult for a would-be hacker. But eventually, the password may be just one of several authentication methods of keeping your information secure. Below, I’ve reproduced the article’s tips for what you should and should not do.

The complete ToSelectList method listings follow the usage examples because it is quite lengthy.

Usage example in a controller action:

var myCompanies = new[] { "ABC", "XYZ" };
ViewBag.CompanyList = db.Companies.ToSelectList(j => j.CompanyCode, j => j.CompanyName, myCompanies /*selectedValues*/);
ViewBag.JobList = db.Jobs.ToSelectList(j => j.JobCode, j => j.JobDesc, true /*selectAll*/);

And subsequent usage in a view (razor syntax):

@Html.DropDownList("companies", ViewBag.CompanyList as IEnumerable<SelectListItem>, null, new { multiple = "multiple", size = "5" })
@Html.DropDownList("jobs", ViewBag.JobList as IEnumerable<SelectListItem>, null, new { multiple = "multiple", size = "10" })

This would result in two select elements allowing multiple selections. The first, Companies, would have companies with CompanyCodes “ABC” and “XYZ” selected. (If companies don’t exist for one or more of the given values, it is simply skipped and no error is thrown–a good thing.) The second, Jobs, would initially have all of the values in the list selected since we passed true for the selectAll parameter.

ToSelectList.cs with inline documentation for each overloaded method.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Web.Mvc;

public static partial class Helpers {

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, false);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValue">The selected value.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, int selectedValue) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, new string[] { selectedValue.ToString() }.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValue">The selected value.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, string selectedValue) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, new string[] { selectedValue }.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, int[] selectedValues) {
    if (selectedValues == null) {
      throw new ArgumentNullException("selectedValues");
    }
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, selectedValues.ToList().ConvertAll<string>(i => i.ToString()));
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, IList<int> selectedValues) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, selectedValues.Cast<string>().ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, string[] selectedValues) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, selectedValues.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, IList<string> selectedValues) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, selectedValues);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and the data text field.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, false);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValue">The selected value.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, int selectedValue) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, new string[] { selectedValue.ToString() }.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValue">The selected value.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, string selectedValue) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, new string[] { selectedValue }.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and the selected values.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, int[] selectedValues) {
    if (selectedValues == null) {
      throw new ArgumentNullException("selectedValues");
    }
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, selectedValues.ToList().ConvertAll<string>(i => i.ToString()));
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and the selected values.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, IList<int> selectedValues) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, selectedValues.Cast<string>().ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and the selected values.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, string[] selectedValues) {
    if (selectedValues == null) {
      throw new ArgumentNullException("selectedValues");
    }
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, text, selectedValues.ToList());
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and the selected values.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectedValues">The selected values.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, IList<string> selectedValues) {
    foreach (var f in enumerable) {
      yield return new SelectListItem() {
        Value = value(f),
        Text = text(f),
        Selected = selectedValues.Contains(value(f))
      };
    }
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field and a selected value.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectAll">Whether all values are selected.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, bool selectAll) {
    return enumerable.ToSelectList(value, value, selectAll);
  }

  /// <summary>
  /// Returns an IEnumerable&lt;SelectListItem&gt; by using the specified checkboxes for data value field, the data text field, and the selected values.
  /// </summary>
  /// <param name="enumerable">The checkboxes.</param>
  /// <param name="value">The data value field.</param>
  /// <param name="text">The data text field.</param>
  /// <param name="selectAll">Whether all values are selected.</param>
  public static IEnumerable<SelectListItem> ToSelectList<T>(this IEnumerable<T> enumerable, Func<T, string> value, Func<T, string> text, bool selectAll) {
    foreach (var f in enumerable) {
      yield return new SelectListItem() {
        Value = value(f),
        Text = text(f),
        Selected = selectAll
      };
    }
  }

}

Seriously? Why is there a limit to the password length? If I want a complex and impossible-to-guess password, I should have that right. I know that it’s not going to burden your database to allow more characters, because you should be storing it as a hash anyway!!  Please get a grip and don’t put some arbitrary limit on data fields like this.

“Science Genius Girl” by Freezepop

I’m a science genius girl
I won the science fair
I wear a white lab coat
DNA strands in my hair

When I clone a human being
It will want to hold my hand
When I clone a human being
It will be a member of my band
It will be a member of my band
It will be a member of my band

Scientific method girl
The theorems speak to me
Microscope is in my hand
x1, x2, x3

When I clone a human being
It will want to hold my hand
When I clone a human being
It will be a member of my band
It will be a member of my band
It will be a member of my band

Measure out the chemicals
Safety goggles on my eyes
Turn the Bunsen burner on
My creation comes alive

I have cloned a human being
It is here and holds my hand
I have cloned a human being
It is now a member of my band
It is now a member of my band
It is now a member of my band

I have cloned a human being
It is here and holds my hand
I have cloned a human being
It is now a member of my band

I know about Wake-on-LAN, but all of those types of settings in my BIOS are disabled, and surely I would have to intentionally have a device trying to wake the thing up even if those settings were enabled. So I did some searching. Some people had complained about a version of the BIOS causing the problem, specifically noticing that at midnight the laptop would turn itself back on. While my BIOS version was much newer than the one to which they referred, my problem wasn’t exactly the same, because it didn’t necessarily happen every night and it did sometimes happen during the day if I were to hibernate it in the afternoon.

More searching found this post which reveals the more likely culprit to be the settings on the Intel network adapter.

Seen here, there are additional Wake-on-LAN settings in the Power Management tab (turned on by default?) of my network adapter’s device properties.  I don’t know how specific this is to my particular model of laptop, but if your machine also has an Intel 82567LM network adapter, this probably is relevant to you.

To get to it, go to Control Panel → System → Hardware tab → Device Manager button → Network Adapters → Intel(R) 82567LM Gigabit Network Connection. You can see the familiar-sounding options, including “Wake on Directed Packet”.

Wake on Directed Packet

Enables this device to bring the computer out of standby or hibernation when a packet is sent directly to the adapter.

For example, any attempt to remotely access files stored on the computer will wake it.

I imagine this could mean any networked device, like a TiVo, scanning the local area network would trigger the laptop to turn back on. I don’t anticipate using this feature, so I definitely don’t want it turned on.  I turned off the three options there that also includes the “Wake on Magic Packet” options. I expect this to fix my automatic wake up problem and will know tomorrow if I need to revise my findings.

The caveats are: you have to run this on SQL Server 2005 or newer to use the WITH keyword, and if any individual date range is more than 100 days, you’ll get an error by default [you can use OPTION (MAXRECURSION value) to increase that limit]. UPDATE: I’ve added a WHERE clause to prevent the error related to the default recursion limit. This change will leave out date ranges larger than 100 days, which is fine for me because anything larger than two weeks would be a data entry error in my situation.

DECLARE @dateranges TABLE (range_id VARCHAR(2), date_begin DATETIME, date_end DATETIME)
INSERT @dateranges SELECT 'A', '2010-01-01', '2010-01-03'
INSERT @dateranges SELECT 'B', '2008-02-27', '2008-03-01'
INSERT @dateranges SELECT 'C', '2010-04-26', '2010-04-26'
INSERT @dateranges SELECT 'D', '2000-02-01', '2003-02-20'

;WITH cte (id, d)
     AS (SELECT tbl.range_id AS id
                ,tbl.date_begin AS d
           FROM @dateranges tbl
          WHERE DATEDIFF(DAY, tbl.date_begin, tbl.date_end) <= 100
         UNION ALL
         SELECT tbl.range_id AS id
                ,DATEADD(DAY, 1, cte.d) AS d
           FROM cte
                INNER JOIN @dateranges tbl
                  ON cte.id = tbl.range_id
          WHERE cte.d < tbl.date_end)
SELECT id AS range_id
       ,d AS date_within_range
  FROM cte
 ORDER BY id, d

You start with this:

and end up with this:

Notice that “D” is filtered out of these results.