I'm quickly learning the pain of running a 64-bit OS on my new laptop. Of course, that's the version of Windows Vista Ultimate it came with, what with all the processors being sold these days are 64-bit and all.

I went to install iTunes (which installed with a message explaining it would not be able to copy CDs) and activate the new iPhone, and what do you think I see?

Crap. You have got to be kidding me.

Apparently this is a well-known issue. Except that I didn't know and on the box it says, "Windows Vista" is supported, without any mention of version or 32-bit vs 64-bit. reading the fine print details of the release notes one finds a buried mention of no support for 64-bit Windows. Hmph.

Now I have to decide what to do - return the phone out of pure spite, or sync it to a different computer... Sorry, but "lame" is the only word that comes to mind here. Fanboys will undoubtedly spew vitriol at that statement, but it's still lame.

Ideas anyone? Will a 32-bit OS running in a virtual machine work for me maybe?

I guess $200 off was enough incentive for me. Plus the way cool interface and the fact that month to month it costs slightly less than the Blackberry plan I've been looking at. Now that I am buying my own service, it's time to make the change.

So, I'm officially an iPhone guy. That was quick.

Heh. I think pigs just flew. :)

Change happens, and I'm living that fact right now. The company I work for was recently acquired and after a long stretch of doing my part to make sure everything went well with the integration process, I spent my last day on the job Friday of last week. I worked at Corillian for the past eight years, to the month. It was a great experience and I am grateful to all the good people I had the opportunity to work with and learn from. I truly appreciate the people I have worked with as well as the ones I have met over the past year during the transition process. Thanks for everything you've taught me and for some great times.

So the short version of this story is that I chose to move on find the next thing, and that by my own choice I'm on sort of an extended vacation from work right now. To be honest, a break will be good for me. Some amazing work opportunities have been presented to me recently and there are a number of people who are probably surprised I am not starting a new job immediately, but overall fit is important to me in a job and as such I will be carefully pursuing options in the near future. At this point I have to think about a variety of aspects of my life as well as work.

I plan to take a few weeks to relax and do some non-work things, followed by getting back on the work track. That means taking some time to get things done around the house, visit with some people I care about in person, do some writing and generally decompress from a year or two of extra-hard work. I'm looking forward to it.

And then, I'll be back on the trail.

I saw the announcement that the Windows Live team has released Beta 2 of the Windows Live Suite of apps, and went to download and install the package on my new laptop that I bought yesterday, but found out (unfortunately) that I can't install it.

Ugh. So much for checking out the latest versions of the Live apps that I have come to know and love (well, at least like a lot). I also tried installing a couple of the individual apps, and got the same error message. I'm glad I got the previous beta version of Live Writer downloaded last night, since it works on x64 just fine...

Apparently, according to the release notes, 64-bit Vista is not supported at all for installation in this beta release:

64-bit is not supported for Beta 2
Beta 2 does not support a 64-bit installation; however the final version of Windows Live will support 64-bit (with the exception of Family Safety). You have the choice of either continuing to run the Beta 1 versions of Windows Live or you can uninstall all Windows Live applications and reinstall the released versions. For more information see KB Article 938275.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the referenced KB938275 anywhere on microsoft.com yet.The final version will support 64-bit, though. Is it just me, or does that sound backwards? I understand the need to make things work in a limited beta environment, but almost every new machine out there is 64-bit. Just doesn't make sense to me. Looks like Robert McLaws agrees.

Oh well. I'll wait. I really wanted that Live Writer update. <sigh>

Glad I didn't buy one yesterday. I thought about it. Considered it. Decided it was too much money at $600. Now it's $399. It can't feel good to me the proud owner of an 8GB iPhone that was purchased before today though. Ouch.

UPDATE: Om Malik points out that if you bought one in the past 14 days at the old price, you should be eligible for a refund of the difference. He quotes the Apple return policy:

Should Apple reduce its price on any Apple-branded product within fourteen (14) calendar days of the date of purchase, you may request a refund of the difference between the price paid and the current selling price. An original purchase receipt is required, and you must request your refund within fourteen (14) calendar days of the price reduction.

Now that it's in my range I can reconsider, but then again there probably won't be any in stock to grab. Heh.

Read about it pretty much everywhere, including here.

Decisions, decisions...

My friend Brad Pierce is in the middle of his trip around the world (literally), where he is doing the whole trip on the surface - no airplanes. He's crossed the United States, then the Atlantic, and is in Europe as I write this. Paris to be specific. It's a lifelong dream of his, and he left the familiar world behind to live that dream. I am a lot proud and a little envious. :)

You can keep tabs on Brad's travels at http://www.peopleinpassing.com/, where he is logging his experiences and posting some photos as he goes. Brad is also a talented photographer.

He says 5-6 months or more are still left to go, and the path is one that gets determined on the fly. It's a trip with it's bumps, which is really a critical part of the great experience in Brad's book. Great stuff, man.