Killing Time (Productively)

As it turns out, it wouldn't be until 4am until I would get some shuteye today.

I spent some time trying to figure out how to get the headache off my head, while:

1. Checking out regular blog pages I visit (see side bar) for new entries,
   
2. Wondering why my Nero burning software sometimes does not load at all - unsuccessfully doing so the first few tries - and mysteriously causing the whole PC to hang,
   
3. Simultaneously recharging and updating my iPod shuffle at the same time, and finally
   
4. Troubleshooting why my Nero burning session hangs when using the CD/DVD burner software to burn some pictures to disc - the burning session will never end even if left it for a million years, or when my disk is filled up from error logs/history generated by the burning software, whichever comes first.
   

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All in all, before I fell asleep, at least I was able to settle the 2 burning troubleshooting issues. Otherwise, I wouldn't even be able to get ANY sleep at all. Call it obsessive compulsive tendencies - I simply cannot leave something half baked and undone.

The results?

(1) No recent updates early in the morning (+8 GMT) for all my regularly checked blogs;
(2) Sometimes Nero does not load when clicked to open. I peek into Task Manager and found out that there are at least 3 instances of the same executable running, but surprise, no opened burning software program in sight. Additionally, there are other processes that seem to be affected:

- Any existing/opened Windows Explorer (or ones that will be opened in the future) seems to hang in most the cases when the burning software does not pop up
- After hanging, I tried "safely disconnecting external USB component" with my iPod Shuffle, but also hangs
- Killing the additional Nero executables in the Task Manager Processes tab is impossible; it can't be killed despite my best efforts to terminate the process.
- Kill the Windows Explorer application forcefully via the task manager, and I'm faced with a hanging PC. No windows taskbar, no desktop icons, can still Ctl-Alt-Del to bring up the pop up window with the option to shutdown... but selecting the shutdown or restart option will leave me... still hanging. Having to resort to pressing the physical reset key in my PC just to get it restarted.

After several tries and frustrating PC restarts, I realized that my Ipod does not automatically bring up the iTunes software... which it normally does when plugged into the USB and detected by the PC. Opening iTunes seems also virtually impossible. An inspiration quickly hit me: DVD/CD drives and programs not responsive, iPod shuffle not being detected, and Windows Explorer/Taskbar hanging - all storage components. I quickly ruled out the DVD drive and Windows Explorer as they are standard components and no necessary autodetection needed. That left me with my iPod Shuffle plugged into my USB drive. Would it work? I yanked it out.

And out pops my burning software program. :)

So, at the moment, I will have to make sure that iTunes does pop up when my iPod Shuffle is plugged in before trying to open the burning software. Will still have to figure out what in the world caused this; I don't recall this ever happening before, and I'm sure I've already done this "routine" lots of times previously. But for now, workaround found, and that's good enough for me at the moment.

(3) Having gotten the burning software to open, I reattempted to burn my pics into DVD again. But DVD/CD burning hangs when I directly burn a particular file into the disc; I've already wasted more than 10 blank DVD CDs trying to burn it since the weekend, and also incidentally, updated the DVD drive's firmware. Searching for clues in the vast information repository of the online web did not yield in any satisfactory or working result. In a rare stroke of insight, I tried working around the problem by creating image files in the hard disk first, then burning the image file into the DVD. (I've never created image files, so this is perhaps the very first time I've attempted it) That morsel of an insight seems to have worked. Burning the image file onto DVD/CD did not result in the burning session hanging, and it finished rather quickly than I'd expected. I double checked if opening the suspected problem file was possible, and it seems it does open properly. Two things still bug me, but it can wait until a bit later:

- there doesn't seem to be a "verify" option when burning image files. I wonder why.
- I wonder what EXACTLY was in the particular file itself that resisted being burned directly into CD/DVD. (This is to avoid wasting at least 1 DVD CD for every potential file that I need to burn. I wouldn't want to have to create an image every time, THEN burn it to DVD/CD) ...

But workarounds settle I need for now. Address another important issue I should.
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Head still throbbing, I browsed through Backstroke Of the West google hits to get some distraction, and found myself bursting into fits of giggles while I review the screen shots for the movie again. I was a good way to loosen up, and finally at 4am, I resisted further urges to browse and figured I'd have enough abdominal exercise to get some rest.

Plopped into my comfortable bed, lied down on a Dead Man Stance and regulated my breathing... and after 5.. 10 minutes, I'm off to dreamland.

Not bad for a owl prowl. But I stil would've liked to have been able to sleep earlier and waking up refreshed. Oh well, can't get what you want all the time I suppose.