Syndicated Thoughts - Blog, Photos, Website

How To Clone A Virtual Machine In Hyper-V

2008-07-23T14:05:00.002+12:00

I have been trying to clone a Virtual Machine for Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008. I have used the VM for a while and taken snapshots. I have finally found a way how to do it!

Firstly you can not copy the VHD if there are snapshots. (The VHD will not be the same as how the VM is when you run it)

This is how you clone the VM.

1. Export the VM you want to clone.
2. Import the new VM as cloning.
3. Delete snapshots from cloning.
4. Copy the VHD from cloning to the usual dir.
5. Create a new virtual machine in Hyper-V.
6. Connect the new Virtual Machine to the new VHD

The Cheapest iPhone In The World Is Being Released In New Zealand!

2008-07-07T19:06:00.005+12:00

The cheapest iPhone in the world is being released in New Zealand! Vodafone has announced that the iPhone will cost $199 NZD. The phone will be on a 24 month contact. The full details will be released at 10AM NZ time. The phone will end up costing $150.36 USD. Quite a bit lower than the US price!

The Vodafone press release follows.

Hi,

This Friday 11 July at 00:01, the new iPhone 3G hits the shelves in three Vodafone stores nationwide. They are:

Vodafone stores
The iPhone 3G will be available in other
Vodafone stores from 9am, check out the stores map for locations. You'll also be able
to buy from the Vodafone Online Shop on
Friday 11 July at 00:01.

The iPhone 3G starts from $199 on a two year contract. We'll be releasing full price and plan details tomorrow at 10am, Tuesday 8 July 2008, at vodafone.co.nz/iphone. Stocks are strictly limited.

Ready, set, sync - iPhone syncs with your PC or Mac using iTunes, just like an iPod. Get ready by organizing your content now. When you get your new iPhone, you’ll be able to text, email, surf, watch, and listen in minutes.

Make sure you check out vodafone.co.nz/iphone to get all the info you need to be prepared for July 11!

Regards,

Kursten Shalfoon
General Manager Products

iPhone Pricing For New Zealand

2008-07-06T00:06:00.005+12:00

Australia is getting the iPhone on prepaid. The 8GB iPhone 3G will be $729 ($928 NZD) and the 16GB iPhone 3G will be $849 ($1080 NZD). Italy will be getting the iPhone prepaid as well. It will cost €499 ($1036 NZD) for a 8GB iPhone 3G or €569 ($1181 NZD) for the 16GB model. Now this leaves Vodafone New Zealand to release pricing. We can expect New Zealand to pay a bit more than Australia because, we always pay more and it's a smaller market. It is good to see that Australia is paying less than Italy but that could just be because of the VAT (20% in Italy, 10 in Australia). New Zealand has GST (VAT) of 12.5% so I think the NZ price will be more like the Australian one. I believe that it will be $950 for the 8 GB version and $1100 for the 16 GB one.

You never know, it may be cheaper to buy it in South Africa!

New Zealand Getting iPhone In July 2008

2008-05-07T11:46:00.005+12:00

There is not a lot of competition for the Apple iPhone when it comes to NZ in July, the Nokia N96 is really good but it costs quite a bit more than the iPhone. Vodafone New Zealand has announced that it will be coming so here is looking forward to it :)

Vodafone announces the iPhone is coming.

NZ Herald article with a bit more detail on the launch.

I don't have one so lets ban it

2007-12-21T14:22:00.000+13:00

As found here; The current Transport Minister Annette King and the Transport Safety Minister Harry Duynhoven are now discussing "banning radar detectors and other detection and interference devices". This will require law changes to define what you can and can not have in your car. Why don't we ban hot coffee or screaming children? We are talking about introducing a penalty of 25 demerit points for failing to wear a seatbelt! A seatbelt should be optional right? If you want to hurt yourself a bit extra or die in a crash thats your business. This is another case of the New Zealand government getting far too involved in your life. They brand it as making us safer but does it achieve that? One could argue that if you banned everything but drinking and eating you would be safe but what's the fun in that. This bloated government that thinks we don't know how to run our own lives has got to stop. To those that actually think the government knows better than you. "People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both." Happy Holidays all

Ron Paul 2008 now taking donations from American citizens from around the world

2007-12-13T12:39:00.000+13:00

Hello all,

I just received the following email! This means that US Citizens living outside the US can now donate to the Ron Paul 2008 campaign. Spread the word ...

December 12, 2007

Although some of our supporters may be geographically distant, they remain with us in the spirit of the US Constitution and of freedom. It is with great honor that we announce that it is now possible for American citizens from around the world to donate to the campaign through the official Ron Paul 2008 website.

Keep in mind that while the message of peace, prosperity, and freedom are popular among our supporters from around the world, we can ONLY accept donations from US Citizens. Federal law prevents us from taking any monetary donations from non-citizens, but we encourage our supporters from around the world to donate their time and energy to spread the Ron Paul message of freedom.

Jonathan Bydlak
National Fundraising Director
Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee.

You are subscribed to this newsletter as ... Please click here to modify your message preferences or to unsubscribe from any future mailings. We will respect all unsubscribe requests.

Paid for by the Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee

New Zealand to limit freedom of speech during election years

2007-11-22T15:56:00.001+13:00

The strength of our democracy depends on full participation by informed voters, and without it, government is not truly “by the people.” Voters’ ability to make informed choices and to participate meaningfully in democratic elections depends on the free flow of ideas and debate. Without it, votes are just uneducated guesses.

read more | digg story

Why Should I Get Married?

2007-11-16T14:21:00.000+13:00

If you are not religious:

Marriage is a reason for a party.

Marriage is a legally binding contract between two people saying that they are no longer individuals under law, they are one. A prenuptial agreement is almost idiotic as you are annulling the major parts of the marriage.

If you are religious:

Marriage is so that you have sex and have a legally binding contract between two people saying that they are no longer individuals under law, they are one. A prenuptial agreement makes sense if you only did it for the sex because you are annulling the bad bits of the marriage.

If you are religious and have already had sex:

Please see "If you are not religious"

If you are voting for Ron Paul you are not a democrat!

2007-10-23T17:46:00.000+13:00

Don't call yourself a democrat if you are not one! You may have been one before but didn't know what it was but now you are educated and realise that it doesn't make sense. Just don't say you are one and you are voting for Ron Paul. That is preposterous.

Ron Paul is a principled stance, not emotional or religious. A democratic stance is one where you create laws to force everyone to do what the government (people) decided.

When the people no longer mirror the thoughts of the government you have a revolution. This is why it is called Ron Paul revolution. The government is out of stride with the people. When Ron Paul is president he will not create laws to force everyone to do what the government (people) decided. He will make sure everyone can decide for themselves and this is what a free society is.
Some people are scared of fellow man and say freedom is a pain in the ass. Because with great freedom comes responsibility. Please use it wisely and vote Ron Paul in 2008.

A Few Unanswered Questions On Global Warming

2007-07-25T17:18:00.000+12:00

Humans causing global warming is a theory. Can it be proven? Not seem probable.

Assuming humans cause global warming. What percentage of the total global warming are we causing and do we have the resources to find out?

Assuming humans cause global warming and that we are causing a significant amount of change. Why should we stop these changes? Is it possible that it could be a population control mechanism.

If we believe that we should stop these changes then we are saying that the earth can not get any better than it is right now. That seems like a large assumption. I would like some answers.

Anyone who can answer these questions to a decent degree can have some energy efficient light bulbs unless I can think of a better prize. Just post your answers in the comments.

10 Best New Features in Windows Vista

2007-07-22T17:17:00.000+12:00

I have been using Vista since the end of March so I thought I'd try and find things that Vista does well. So here it comes, the 10 best new features in Windows Vista in no particular order:

Windows Updates are now managed more gracefully though a built-in app in Windows.
No more 'my' in front of everything! It's just Computer, or Documents.
CPU Meter gadget. See your CPU usage and memory usage in real-time.
The install process is extremely easy. Even a new computer user can do it. Almost just one click.
Error reporting actually gives useful information when you submit a problem. It even tells you how to fix what went wrong.
Aero looks good. Hovering over a minimised windows shows a preview.
Built in search that is fairly easy to use.
Most XP apps work fine in it. Visual Studio 2005, not so great.
It makes you feel more secure with user account control (UAC) if you don't get annoyed and turn it off.
When you copy files it tells you how fast they are going in KB or MB, depends on how fast it's going.

Windows Home Server Release Candidate 1 Review

2007-07-08T23:45:00.000+12:00

I've been using Windows Home Server RC for a while now. It really acts as more of a file server for me because I don't use any of the Window Home Server console software to do anything. The console lets you do many things like user management, setting up shares, remote access. I used all of those initially to set it up but i also put in a raid card and didn't want to add it to the Windows Home Server array because it said I would have to format it. It's about 600 gigs of data so i wasn't going to do that. I just installed it and shared it normally as you would on a Windows XP/ Server box.

Everything works great. I've had one issue with the users where it stripped admin rights off one user. It also has not been able to install the latest security patches. I tried to install them manually but that didn't work either. I think it's almost ready for release because of the quality of the OS. It's just like Windows Server 2003 but without enterprise features and a really stripped down start menu. All in all I'd rate it 8/10

Watch a video of Bill Gates with Windows Home Server

Get a free copy of Windows Home Server Release Candidate 1

PeerGuardian 2 for Vista, release client available

2007-06-29T16:56:00.000+12:00

It seems that a lot of people want to protect themselves from the nasties out there on the net and here's the program to do it. Only download this if you are prepared to try pre-release software. Get it while it's hot.

Should party pills be banned?

2007-06-28T17:30:00.000+12:00

Why won' t a simple no suffice. Why should be ban anything? Because people are bad at making decisions. So we get special 'people' to make the decision for us. That special people I am referring to is the New Zealand government. I don't even want to use the party pills because I am informed on them and they don't entice me. Don't worry, I won't deprive you from having them.

link: Should party pills be banned?

KiwiSaver Hurting Non-Profit Research

2007-06-27T20:36:00.000+12:00

KiwiSaver was created to incurage savings so that people can have more money when they are 65 and older. This is New Zealand's superannuation plan. The government forces businesses to contribute to KiwiSaver and then compensates them with tax breaks. This can work for a business that pays taxes. What about non-profit organisations? They get no incentive but must also contribute. This seems to be a loophole that is not publicised much. Non-profit research in New Zealand just took a 4% hit of all donations forever!

New Zealand's Power Cut Tragedy: The Facts

2007-06-07T14:25:00.000+12:00

The news stations and websites have been making a huge deal about cutting someones power and them dying. There are very simple reasons why it shouldn't have happened but they seem to be overlooked. Firstly, someone who is reliant on power should not be put in a standard house as power cuts do happen often enough that you probably wouldn't survive 6 months. Secondly, pay your power bills on time all the time if you think that losing power will affect your well being. The Press wrote a reasonably non biased article trying to play down some of the craziness that has been going on here. The Prime minister has even jumped on the band wagon to try and gain popularity. Possibly because she is very unpopular right now.

Scam? Update 1

2007-05-30T21:44:00.000+12:00

Well I thought I'd update you all on how the scam is going. I've stopped replying to the scammer now. I did however try pretty hard to get him to send me a TV.

This is what I wrote:

"Hello,

I do not want to pay using your Online Deliveries - DHL. However, I am happy to use a more well known escrow service. Something like www.escrow.com would be fine.

Thanks,

Cory"

He then wrote back:

"I am very sorry miss, but actalully we can not change our company policy just because you want to use another sevice.

Have you wonder why can we afford to offer free shipping to NZ? that is because we are working for a while with this delivery company and never get any complain from our customers.

Just peoples like you that make us waste the time. Is not a problem we will cancel your order.

Bye."

Then me again:

"Hello,

I am happy to pay for the use of the escrow service and pay for the shipping so this will not cut in to your profit. How does that suit?

thanks,"

Then him again:

"your tracking is :

http://oddhl.eu/xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.htm

it is verry simple, you have to send the money to the shipping company via western union and then you will have to send the payment information . afther you will receive the package and you are pleased with it, the company will transfer the money to our account, i think that they had chosen the western union money transfer because it is faster.

you must send the detaild about payment here:

http://oddhl.eu/payforitem.htm

after you will receive the item in max 2 days

thanks!"

Then me:

"Are the goods in your New Zealand office? I am able to pick them up.

thanks"

Then him:

"the tv is in UK london ,

after payment, you will receive the item in your home

TYPE OF SERVICE :Door Arrival

or not a problem we will cancel your order

thanks!"

Then me:

"ok. I'll send someone around to pick it up. Is Monday good?"

Then him:

"hi, It is not a problem, but i dont understand you have made a order we have shipped the package and i suppose that the TV will be at your home in the next 24 hours... i dont get what you are saying you may send someone to get a TV but not the one that we have already shipped 4 you.

Monday we are open from 8 -20 for sales.

But your order as i can see in my register should be done it till 19. If you have confirmed already the payment probabily the TV is in your town now.

Thank you!"

He really plays along quite well even thou his business registration number is wrong. it registered to another company name.

Now that I've posted his site on here he seems to be indexed by Google now. SCAM I hope no one thinks it a real business. Post some comments if you got any ideas on what I can do.

Scam?

2007-05-16T17:44:00.000+12:00

I have just found a website that offers ridiculously cheap Plasma TV's, laptops and other electronic goods. http://www.electronics-sales.com/

I have tried to make an order and I received this email back from them:

Your order has been completed using the following shipping company:
Online Deliveries - DHL
Your order tracking number is: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
For Tracking please vissit: www.oddhl.eu
Once you have agree with the shipping, you have to make the payment using Shipping Company as a Third Party.
Working with a 3rd party means that you'll have to complete and confirm the payment untill the delivery day, else you order will be cancellated.

The total amount to be paied is the item price listed on our web site includind free shipping to New Zealand. All our products comes with 36 month brand warranty.
For aditional questions we are on 24/24h. Informations regarding the shipping at: www.oddhl.eu

Best Regards,
Sales Representativ Manager - Daniel Fehder
www.electronics-sales.com

If you go to http://www.oddhl.com it wants me to make a Western Union payment so they can get the money. Western union allows the person to take cash out so there is no paper trail to get caught. A well done scam but it is easily given away by not having a phone number to call for a shipping company. A shipping has to have a phone number. Who would deal with a shipping company that doesn't have a phone number? Not me :) A real business person would at least spell check his generated emails as well! I found 8 spelling mistakes!
Anyone think it's the real deal?

Can Ron Paul Win The Presidential Election In 2008?

2007-05-06T22:15:00.000+12:00

Ron Paul seems to have come out of nowhere! He seems to be a favorite in online polls wherever you look like here. But is he really winning the race on the street and out in the community? It will be interesting to see what happens as the internet is such a big part of so many people's life. Check out http://www.ronpaul2008.com/ he has a youtube user, a myspace account, a flickr group and a almost religious following at digg.

Weird Song With Great Lyrics

2007-05-02T15:04:00.000+12:00

The lyrics are so meaningful to many and worthless to some :)

Write An Essay And Get Charged For Disorderly Conduct

2007-04-30T22:03:00.000+12:00

"Disorderly conduct, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine, is often filed for such pranks as pulling a fire alarm or dialing 911 unnecessarily" Pulling a fire alarm of dialing 911 unnecessarily can cause problems in society because you are diverting attention from something important to a pointless act. Charging someone for writing an essay that the teacher chose to read is ridiculous. The students were told to write exactly what they were thinking and that is what he did. I really hope he fights it and wins. Otherwise, it would send a message that free thought is not allowed in certain situations and if one person is offended then the free thought is against the law. Read more craziness here

Peer Guardian 2 on Windows Vista

2007-04-26T21:48:00.000+12:00

I hate using any sort of P2P program or torrents on the net without Peer Guardian 2. It stops more ip's than I can think of. The latest peer guardian 2 doesn't work with Vista but the old windows 98 version does. The great people at phoenixlabs haven't come up with a driver for vista so the newest versions won't work but, the windows 98 version looks identical and works great on vista. download it here

Update: Have a look at my latest post on Peer Guardian 2. Peer Guardian 2 now works with Windows Vista fully.

Why Are Geeks Often Atheists

2007-04-04T13:24:00.000+12:00

I found this blog particularly interesting because I think it applies to myself a lot. Geeks are taught to be logical therefore logic is a big part of their lifes.

"Yet another idea is that scientists (and geeks) tend to think in terms of logic. Because they are intelligent, they believe that their approach to problems is right. Religion has no place in science. Most of what we know is gathered from reading, watching and hearing various mediums. Since we choose what to read, watch, or hear, all three of these faculties are fundamentally biased. Since geeks have a strong bias towards logic, the end result is a disbelief in a higher power, which relies on faith."

Read the full article here

A Slap On The Hand To Be Illegal In New Zealand

2007-04-01T02:38:00.000+12:00

Why is New Zealand trying to ban smacking children for discipline? I truly cannot understand why the government needs to do a straight out ban on it. I don't support smacking children and I think if I had children I wouldn't smack them. It would be more like a last resort. If they ban smacking I won't be able to even deter them with saying I will smack them. Parents might have to result to punishment that won't leave marks like some forms of water torture like waterboarding although I hope they don't take it that far. I got a few smacks when I was younger but my mum at dad knew that every time they did it, I lost a little bit of respect for them. You could see it in my eyes. They eventually found a way to get what they wanted without smacking but maybe others don't know how. I suppose I have to leave it up to them as it's their children as we created the government to help us, not tell us how to raise our kids.

My Active Trip To Asia - Vietnam, Hong Kong and Sydney

2007-03-08T11:43:00.000+13:00

I finally posted some photos of my trip to Vietnam, Australia and Hong Kong. I spent about 2 weeks in Vietnam, 1 day in Sydney and 1 day in Hong Kong.

We left Wellington and flew to Sydney. In Sydney we went to the Opera House and went about halfway across the Sydney harbour bridge. I found the smallest beach in Sydney right near the Opera House.

Then we flew to Hong Kong. We travelled quite a distance in Hong Kong, walking around the whole peak. I would really recommend it because it's a nice walk with great views and hardly any people.

We finally made it Hanoi in Vietnam having not slept all that much even thou we had everything that a traveller could have like travel socks, sleeping eye mask, ear plugs and anti jet lag pills. Maybe noise cancelling headphones would have been better but we were in cattle class so most of the time trying to sleep is spent trying not to touch the person next to you. We made it there bloodshot eyes and all.

Hanoi is a very up and coming city in Vietnam. It's still building constantly and I have no idea why they don't build up. They used to be restricted to 3 stories but now it just seems rather odd they keep doing it. We went to the water puppet theatre which was really good. After Hanoi, we went to Halong Bay.

Halong Bay is a great place for relaxing on amazing beaches and climbing on picturesque rock formations. We had an amazing Junk (boat) cruise that you can see in my pics. It was kinda crappy weather but no rain, just foggy. We went kayaking and went on to a man's house that is on the water because he breeds fish. Then I really felt I was in a totally different country. He spoke no English at all. Our guide had to translate everything which made it quite funny because our guide didn't exactly speak perfect English. Then we flew to Da Nang, met some of my dad’s friends and then headed off to Hoi An for 3 nights. Then back to Da Nang.

Da Nang was definitely one of the highlights of the trip because I got to meet a lot of my dad's friends there. My dad was there 3 or so months ago teaching English for volunteer work. When I first got to Vietnam it seemed like everyone just wanted our money probably because almost everyone who comes to Vietnam has more money than 90% of the population. Getting to know the friends of my father was great; every one of them was very nice. It's very good to get a local's perspective :) There are some really nice cafes there. My favourite was Soi Da, with their live music and the bar feels like you are outside which you kind of are but not quite.

Hoi An was very cool. Some of the nicest people we met in Vietnam were there. They all seem so happy. They start to recognise you after a while. I did buy quite a bit of stuff there including 2 suits, 2 pairs of shoes, about 7 business shirts, 3 or so t shirts, about 8 pairs of boxers and a painting plus more. Hoi An was my big spending spree :) Everything seems so cheap! A tailored suit for less than 100 USD. Everything really seems like a donation for the item as you would never ever pay even double that in New Zealand. A tailored suit in NZ is about 1000 NZD! We rode a motor bike around so we got to see lots as well. After Hoi An we went back to Da Nang and then flew off to Ho Chi Minh City.

We got to Ho Chi Minh City and then we booked a bus ride to Mui Ne Beach. It's about 250 KMs away from HCMC. Little did we know that it takes not 4, not 5 but 6 hours to travel that distance.

Mui Ne Beach is great. Lots of stuff to do and not so crowded like everywhere else we went to in Vietnam. The sunsets are astonishing as you can see here. We went to the white sand dunes and I did some judo rolls down them :) We spent most of our time there relaxing on the beach and reading because it was so nice and quiet. After spending a week and a half in Vietnam we really needed a rest. It is a very busy and developing place. After Mui Ne we caught the same crazy bus ride back to HCMC. We went to the War Museum which had lots of really interesting items on the Vietnam War. We also went to the Cu Chi tunnels where some would say the Americans lost the war. Some of it was very biased but, that’s what you expect as it was a very brutal war. After cruising around HCMC for day or so we then flew home felling almost like we need a holiday.

Vietnam is such a busy place that I have trouble relaxing however I met some great people, had some great food and saw some amazing things. Also bought beer for 20 cents :) so all in all a great trip!

My Photos