Yes it is true, at the end of this week I should be headed to Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada on a business trip. My first concern? What kind of coffee can I expect. Apparently I have no need to worry, as the Saskatchewanese are rather fond of coffee themselves.

Apparently there are no Caribou's outside of the US, but Starbucks has at least 1 location in Regina. More likely my coffee will have to be supplied by Tim Horton's, Second Cup, or one of the fine local Mom & Pop coffee shops around town.

Got it:

Traded in my GBA SP at the EBGames to get a few bucks off of it. I found that I just couldn't see on the GBA SP (original) screen anymore. The DS has such a bright screen that the GBA SP paled in comparison to the point at which I would never play it again. Since the DS is usually occupied, I figured I'd pick up one of these. Should help with my upcoming trip too.

Since my website is the first that most people check when seeking employment, check out this opportunity:

ABC 7 WJLA-TV is seeking a Director of Web Operations to design and manage company's group of television-related websites across the country. Applicants must have 2-3 years managing large websites, advanced Cold Fusion skills and be proficient in Microsoft SQL and IIS Servers.

[ ABC 7 Job Center ]

What's this have to do for me? Nothing, just passing it along...

Is it April already? Nope, I'm just wicked early this year. It sure feels good to have that out of the way already.

There are consequences for not obeying the law so remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

[1040 Central ]

This year I used TurboTax online. Their system is nice enough to tell you how much you owe or are getting back before you have to spend a dime. They also let you start with their lowest product (Essentials) and then upsell you on their other products if you need them. That way if you have super complicated taxes you don't get 1/2 way through and have to start over again.

Apparently I like VW. I've now entered into my third relationship with Volkswagen and their 2006 Jetta TDI, which looks remarkably like the photo here:

I already miss my rear window wiper, but otherwise it's got tons of new bells and whistles to distract me. Navigational computer, XM Radio, Seat Position Memory, four doors, back seat cup holders, super large trunk, and I don't know what else.

With all of that it may be surprising that the first thing on my list is to get a better understanding of how a diesel engine works. It is bugging me, a bit, that I can't conceptualize what is going on under my hood. In high-school I took a semester of auto shop, and I came away understanding the standard gas engine, and the wankel engine too, but we didn't cover diesel, and it's nagging my brain in a big way.

After that I will most likely find every setting that can be tweaked, and enter some of my favorite addresses in the Navigational system, or just sit and inhale the new car smell...

For the price I can ignore the fact that it has VCAST:

Now nine months later, despite the F9100's lukewarm acceptance, LG has designed another 9000-series QWERTY keypad device; this time named the VX9800. Improving on many of the F9100's shortcomings, the VX9800 promises to be not just a text messaging device, but a complete multimedia package, with an excellent imaging, audio, and connectivity features, making it more widely appealing than just to a small demographic.

[ LG VX9800 Review - Mobiledia ]

N8 has been eyeing this one for a while, but is concerned about the lack of a web browser. It appears that you can load one on the device, but the screen looks tiny to me, and I don't expect the browsing experience to be all that. For texting and IMing, however, this is a hot little phone, and at a good price.

Microsoft now has a free version of SQL Server:

SQL Server 2005 Express Edition is an easy-to-use version of SQL Server 2005 designed for building simple data-driven applications. The following is a list of features that help make Express Edition the right choice for your needs.

[ Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Server Express Edition Features ]

But it must be limited in some way. I had assumed that you couldn't use it to host websites due to some CAL restriction or something, but my initial research seems to contradict that. It seems to lack DTS, I'm sure it lacks scheduled maintenance, perhaps there is no granular restoration via transaction logs, surely something needs to be missing.

Props to Jonny SQL for not assuming that it couldn't be used for websites...

Ajax is a brand-new suite of programming solutions.

[ Seth's Blog: What to do if you don't know what to do ]

In addition to getting called on the real reason Chicago is called the Windy City, he's a bit off about what AJAX really is.

Wikipedia is quick to point out that "Ajax is not a technology in itself, but a term that refers to the use of a group of technologies together." and it is simply a cutsie acronym for "Asynchronous JavaScript And XML".

Modern AJAX techniques tend to rely on the javascript XMLHttpRequest but earlier techniques (like the kind I used) invoved an IE-only concept called XmlDataIslands (props to Nate for bringing that one to my attention). The term Ajax (which should be AJAX) was coined by Adaptive Path and has quickly gained favor, especially among the "Web 2.0" crowd. However it must be pointed out that this asynchronous dynamic has been used for years, and it nothing new at all.

And the rest of Ajax, notably the Javascript and XML are even older...

I'm headed to the launch:

Join Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer* and key Microsoft Executives for the launch of Microsoft® Visual Studio® 2005, SQL Server™ 2005, and BizTalk® Server 2006! This all-day event offers an opportunity to learn how the Microsoft application platform offerings enable organizations to gain better business insight and deliver faster results by easily connecting people, processes, and information.

[ Launch Tour 2005 ]

Of course we don't get Cheap Trick and Steve Ballmer like San Francisco did, but I look forward to getting excited about the new tools I'll be using soon...

I love it when you find a game that compels you to avoid eating and sleeping, and if you are a gamer you know what I mean. Ubi's back with PoP: The Two Thrones which they sum up as such:

The Prince of Persia makes his way home to Babylon, bearing with him Kaileena, the enigmatic Empress of Time, and unspeakable scars from the Island of Time. But instead of the peace he longs for, he finds his kingdom ravaged by war and Kaileena the target of a brutal plot. When she is kidnapped, the Prince tracks her to the Palace - only to see her murdered by a powerful enemy. Her death unleashes the Sands of Time, which strike the Prince and threaten to destroy everything he holds dear. Cast to the streets, hunted as a fugitive, the Prince soon discovers that the Sands have tainted him, too. They have given rise to a deadly Dark Prince, whose spirit gradually possesses him...

[ Ubisoft - Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones ]

I, however, sum it up this way: "We're sorry that we allowed a team of programmers to release a game that sucked and wasn't at all like the first one. We thought that it needed to be darker and more rock-n-roll, but we were wrong. We have 'fixed' that mistake by killing off the love interest of the second game right at the beginning of the third game, and bringing back all the characters from the first game. Please forgive. Merci Beaucoup."

So if you liked the first of the modern Prince of Persia games, you will be pleasantly rewarded with this return to good gaming.