We went yesterday to Chang’s Mongolian Grill (all you can eat, baby!) for lunch, and while I love Chang’s, Chang’s doesn’t seem to love me. I’ve had terrible gas since then (woke Jenn up at around four this morning with my farting in my sleep), our whole apartment smells like garlic, and I just dropped a loaf that would kill a small army. Damn.

I’m still working on my pMachine upgrade. I’ve got some good ideas on paper, now I just have to compose my thoughts on the computer. I tried a couple of things yesterday that turned out like crap, so I’ve started that over. We’ll see how it goes.

I’ve been working with the Microsoft Log Parser, a tool that allows you to query - like a database - activity logs from your web site. It’s pretty slick and really fast. Plus, it comes with a programmatic component you can use to write your own programs that take advantage of the fast and easy parsing capabilities that Microsoft has already built.

We have a guy at our company who wrote his own log parser that analyzes logs for security attacks. I suggested that he look into using the programmatic component in his analyzer because, well, why reinvent the wheel? Especially in the case of program code that you don’t want to have to maintain. Why not use the robust engine provided you for free?

I got the response that the log parser isn’t smart enough. Huh? Sure, maybe the canned executable version isn’t, but the componentized version is only as smart as you make it. Sounds like the thing not smart enough is the guy writing the program. Oh, well. Can’t save everyone from themselves.

I guess they’re trying to patent this thing, too, which I hope does not imply that they’re going to try to sell it, because I’ve seen the reports it spits out and legible they are not. Maybe they should hire a UI guy to look at that stuff… but, of course, with the code they’ve got built up, who knows how maintainable (or adjustable) it is? Some people program when they really just shouldn’t.

I got my new Fisher Space Pen yesterday in the mail.

I’m actually pretty stoked about it. It looks really cool, and I think the grip on the end of the pen is pretty nifty. Anyway, there it is - if you find it somewhere, it will be because I lost it, so please give it back if you do. So far, I’ve had it sitting right here just fine all morning.

I think tonight I’m going to go see Underworld. Can’t really pass on the whole Matrix-like thing, plus, you really can’t beat Kate Beckinsale in tight garb.

And one final treat - a great picture of Jennifer Garner arriving at last year’s Emmy Awards ceremony. Yow!