Error Parsing the server 1.2.3.4 clients.xml file. Login will continue contact your system administrator

After clicking OK, you get the real message:

The type initializer for “VirtualInfrastructure.Utils.HttpWebRequestProxy” threw an exception

A workaround for the solution was posted by ftublo on the VMware Communities forums.

1. Create a folder (e.g. Lib) in the Windows 7 machine where the vSphere client is installed (%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\).
2. Obtain a copy of %SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll from a non-Windows 7 machine that has .NET 3.5 SP1 installed. Copy this file into the folder created in Step 1.
3. In the vSphere client launcher directory, open the VpxClient.exe.config file in a text editor and add a <runtime> element and a <developmentMode> element within the <configuration> element. Save the file.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
...
<runtime>
<developmentMode developerInstallation="true"/>
</runtime>
</configuration>

4. Create a batch file (e.g. VpxClient.cmd) in a suitable location (e.g. Desktop). In this file add a command to set the DEVPATH environment variable to the folder where you copied the System.dll assembly in step 2 and a second command to launch the vSphere client. Save the file.

SET DEVPATH=%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\Lib
"%ProgramFiles%\VMware\Infrastructure\Virtual Infrastructure Client\Launcher\VpxClient.exe"

NOTE: If you are running 64-bit Windows, replace all instances of Program Files with Program Files (x86).

You can now use the VpxClient.cmd (or the shortcut) to launch the vSphere client in Windows 7.

This workaround bypasses the normal .NET Framework loading mechanism. Assembly versions found in the DEVPATH folder are not checked. Handle with care.

In most markets, realtor services for the buyer are free, so take advantage of it; their commission comes from the seller.  You are going to want to be honest with your realtor but definitely need someone you can trust.  Ask your family, friends, and co-workers for an agent they trust.

Wants and Needs

Before you step out your door, make a wishlist of things in a house you want, and things in a house you cannot live without.  A pool, as tempting as it is, may not be a need; but depending on where you live, central air is a must!

The MLS search engine is a list of all houses on the market and their respective options.  If you make your wants and needs list based on the search engine fields, your agent will have an easier time finding houses.  As an example:

• Single Family Home / Townhouse / Condo – If you have ruled out condos because you want a yard or single family homes because you don’t want to mow your lawn, tell your agent. This is the biggest way to reduce your search results.
• Beds, Baths – Unfortunately, this one isn’t so cut and dry.  A den can always be turned into a bedroom, and a half-bath can usually be retrofitted with a stand-up shower.  Decide on with your minimums, for example, you might want at least 1.5 baths because you don’t ever want to have to use the bowl while your significant other is in the shower.
• Amenities – Garage, Pool, Center Air, Driveway, etc – These should might be considered negotiable, but make sure you know what you definitely DON’T want.

Two Types of Agents

There are two types in agents in most markets, licensed realtors and satellite agents.  I will use the terms interchangeably through this series.  Real estate companies employ licensed realtors, they are the person who you will sit down and do all the paper work with, such as writing the offer.  They are often full-time employees of real estate companies.  Licenced realtors can employ satellite agents who do all the “grunt work”, i.e. dealing with the buyer and showing houses.

The real estate market for agents is competitive and costly.  There are license fees, lawyer escrows, and tons of laws that licensed realtors have to know.  This tends to be a full-time job, because the amount of sales you must to turn a profit after paying all the fees is high.  Since showing houses is mostly wasted time, licensed agents employ satellite agents to show houses and deal with buyers until they are ready to commit.  The satellite agents do not have to pay high fees and can do the job on a part-time basis.

You will most likely have most of your dealing with a satellite agent.  Find one you like and trust.  Remember, you don’t have to sign anything until you are ready to make an offer.  You will want your agent to get to know you in and out, your likes and dislikes; provide all this information and he or she will be responsible for separating out the wheat from chaff.

MLS Listings

You and your agent should decide on a price range first, but it’s not as easy as the number on the pre-approval letter.  You’ll probably want to take the number on your pre-approval letter plus $25,000 as your search area.  Why?  If you were selling a house, would you list it at cost or would you add a premium to it?  Houses always list high because they were loved by someone and they feel that is what the house is worth.  However, it’s only really worth what someone will pay for it, most sales never settle at the list price, there is always room to knock down the price.

I will discuss more about prices later, but if you are approved for $300k mortgage, wouldn’t you at least want to look at a $315k list price house?  There’s always a chance the seller really only wanted $290k or has to leave quickly and will take the first offer.  You don’t want to be kicking yourself later when you find out that house sold within your range.

Once you have given your agent your price range and a list of wants and needs to help narrow down the search results, you should get back some printouts of MLS Listings; this is like the baseball card of the house.  It tells you all about the features, the land, and comparable stats.

Sit down and select a list of houses that appeal to you and you want to see.  Pictures can be decieving, so don’t be too picky based on a one-sheet.  Finally, grab your notebook and continue on to Part III of Buying Your First House.

Our goal at the end of Part I is to have three numbers:  your credit scores, the maximum monthly mortgage payment you are comfortable with, and a pre-approval letter that has your maximum that is allowed to be financed.

Get Your Credit Report

I’ve already told you how to obtain your free credit report, so this part should be easy.  Get your three credit reports and resolve any disputes on them.

Set Your Budgets

Before spending any money, you should always know how much you have to spend.  If you are online savvy, set up a personal finance account at any reputable institution (I use MoneyCenter, but it’s not user friendly, beginners should try Quicken or Mint).  These sites become your electronic balance sheet and are like accountants who never forget.  Enter in your bank accounts and credit cards and they do the rest.  You can see pretty graphs of your income, expenses and categorize where you spend your money.  Do this now, so by the time you are ready to write up an offer, you are confident you can afford the payments.

Your goal in this step is to come up with a number you are comfortable in paying each month for your new house.  Keep this number in stone!  This number should work out to be around 35% of your Take Home pay for the mortgage and no more than 45% of your Take Home pay for all reoccurring monthly debt (mortgage, student loans, car loan, credit card minimum payments).

Now is the time to start paying off credit card balances, start consolidating student loans, and reducing monthly payments.

Get Pre-Approved for a Mortgage

With your past few months finances and your credit reports printed out, I recommend physically going to a bank and sitting down with a mortgage lender.  This is only a dry-run!  Do not sign anything, just ask for a pre-approval letter.  Tell the mortgage lender what you are comfortable in paying as a max payment each month (the number you calculated in the “Set Your Budgets” section) and s/he will do some math and give you a preapproval letter for a certain purchase price and amount that is allowed to be financed.  This is not the last pre-approval letter you will get, it’s just a start, our maximum.

Now that you’ve all this, let’s continue on to Part II of Buying Your First House.

You are entitled to a one (1) free copy of your Credit Report from each credit reporting agency ANNUALLY by law (1 credit report from each credit reporting agency = 3 reports). The ONLY website authorized to do this is  https://www.annualcreditreport.com.  Everything else is a scam!

Let’s get some definitions out of the way:

Credit Report: A list of your entire credit history: loans, credit cards, previous addresses, payments on all loans/credit cards.
Credit Score: A score which sums up your entire Credit Report in terms of the companies risk on lending to you.  Lower Score = Higher Risk.
Credit Reporting Agencies:  Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Also called Credit Bureaus.
FICO Score: The most widely accepted Credit Score, provided to consumers by Equifax.  This is what you want.
Vantage Score:  An substandard calculation provided by TransUnion and Experian as an alternative to FICO.

The three Credit Reporting Agencies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) each compile their OWN credit report on you, and calculate their own credit score on you.  Judgments by lenders are based on the compilation of all three.  You would be wise to get all three, make sure each credit reporting agency has the same information.

Start by going to annualcreditreport.com and follow the links to all three agencies to retrieve your -credit report- FOR FREE.  Remember, your credit report is only a list of your history, it is DIFFERENT from your credit score, which is a calculation of your risk to the lender.  The websites only offer your credit report for free, the credit score costs money to see.

Most likely you will be asked to create an account on each agency’s website.  For your benefit, create the same username on each, and use a password you don’t use for ANYTHING else.   Save your login information in your fireproof safe so you remember for next year.  You can only get your credit report from each agency once every 365 days, not calendar year, I suggest you do it on your birthday each year so you don’t forget.

To make things more confusing (as if they weren’t already enough) Experian and TranUnion have developed their own scale for credit scores called VantageScore.  Yes, even the credit bureaus you are supposed to trust pull shananigans.  This score is dogshit and lenders do not care about it.  The only site which will give you a FICO Score (which is what you want) is Equifax. Purchase your Credit Score from Equifax ($7.95) only, but make sure you get AND PRINT (2 copies each) all three of your credit reports.

If a business runs your credit report and charges you money, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT to receive a copy from them. If an apartment complex runs your credit (regardless of if you get in or not), you can get your full report from them (and see your FICO scores from all three!  Sneaky, I know).   Multiple credit checks by business within 30 days do not count against you.  So don’t wait months to have another business do it.

Your credit score is basically calculated on three things:

1. How often you make on-time payments.  (If you missed a payment by more than 30 days in the past 3 years = bad, otherwise OK).
2. Your credit used-to-available ratio.  (if you have $1000 of available credit across all cards, and you owe $900, ratio = 90%, bad.  If you owe $100, ratio = 10%, good.)
3. How much balance is kept on cards each month.  (If you pay just above minimum payment on each card each month = bad.  If you pay off it completely each month = great.)

If you want a quick boost, pay off your credit cards.  If you want a better boost, ask for a balance increase and DO NOT USE IT.

Do not close your cards while there are balances on them.  It’s better to keep the card and keep the credit line even if you never use it until it’s empty.  Get rid of any “store” cards (Circuit City, Sears, etc) you have and only keep 1 or 2 from major banks that do not have annual fees.  As a bonus to yourself, make sure your card has reward points.  It’s better to keep a card you have had for longer than keep a newer card.

Almost done, go through each report you get, sit down with a highlighter and make sure it’s all correct.  You have the right to dispute any information on the credit reports.  Bad information may hurt you.  I recently had to correct where I worked on one report because it looked like I changed employers last month (a negative because they like stable people), so I got it corrected and it raised my score.

Finally, put your monthly bills on your CC, and pay them off EACH MONTH.  It keeps activity on the card AND shows that you pay it off each month (double bonus).  I know it’s a lot of info, so bookmark this page, print it out, send it to your friends, and read it later.

UPDATE:  The only caveat to obtaining your credit report online is a security measure called a “Security Freeze”.  That means what they have on file for you is not the same what you just typed in as your last residence or whatever when you started filling out your information on annualcreditreport.com.  Call the offending company up (search the site for a customer service number) and ask them to unfreeze your account so you can get your free credit report.  Simple mistakes could be a misspelling of the street name, street name or apartment number.  Don’t panic.

It was a dark and stormy night, a sharp ringing arises from your phone.  You pick up the phone quizzically.  You don’t recognize the number. Who could be calling at this hour?  It has to be an emergency!  Cautiously, you press the “Connect” button and lift the phone to your ear.  Before you can muster out a groggy and raspy “Hello” an automated female voice comes on the line warning you that your factory warranty on your car is expiring!  /cue ominous music/

If this situation seems eerily familiar, you are one of millions of people currently being targeted by the latest identity theft scam.

If you thought you were protected by the Do Not Call list, think again.  There is a tiny exception which you may not be aware of; if you initiate a call to the company, the company may call you for up to 18 months.  “I never did that!” you say.  When you received a call and missed it, did you instinctively call it back?

This is assuming that the company even follows the Do Not Call list, if they don’t, it’s illegal, but you have to file a complaint to the FCC.  Note the date and time, and number from which they called you.

For the daring, before you give them any of your information (as if you would), tell them you are legally obligated to let them know this call is being recorded and ask them a few questions.  Ask them their name, their company, and their company’s address.  Make sure you save this information for when you file a complaint to the FCC.

The most important thing to remember here is do not give out your personal or financial information to people on the phone.  For the dummies, this includes any Infomercial you see on TV.  Companies in the past were notorious for selling this information to every bidder since you were silly enough to buy something on TV without doing any research on the product or the selling company.  If you are easily glamoured into buying something because some fast-talking good-looking person said so, you are flagged as a sucker and other companies want their shot at selling you something.

A panda takes the place of the iconic yellow man in Google Street View

I was expecting something a little less subtle from Google, but I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I noticed a black and white character noting my location in Google Street View.

Visitors are greeted with a cute black and white icon of a panda instead of their normal yellow man.

DeskHedron has released v1.0 including source for any enterprising young developer to improve.

Still in its infancy, it allows hotkey switching between desktops. Nothing fancy yet like dragging windows between desktops, yet.

Windows? Linux? Mac? No problem.  Installers are available for all three systems.

DropBox (a glorified subversion system for the rest of us) has finally worked its way out of beta and will become the backbone for our project.  Transmission of data to DropBox is via HTTPS, so we at least have half the problem resolved.

The second problem is DropBox’s STORAGE of my files.  If they defect to the goverment faster than AT&T did with the NSA, then you can be sure your private key and personal bookmarks to porn sites will be used against you.  I wanted the storage of my files encrypted. Since I couldn’t trust DropBox, I turned to my good old friend, TrueCrypt.

The solution here is to create a TrueCrypt volume inside of your DropBox folder.  Even though DropBox has a 2GB folder limit, you shouldn’t use all of it for your TrueCrypt drive.  Unfortunately, TrueCrypt creates the encrypted partition to it’s maximum capacity, which means if you create a 1GB encrypted volume, it actually takes up 1GB on the harddrive even with nothing in it.  And transferring a 1GB file many times for little to no content isn’t the best plan.

Since the volume is filled out to maximum filesize even with no data, it’s best to create a few smaller drives (in the 256MB range) as DropBox has to upload the entire file at least once and you have to download the synchronized file on every computer.  TrueCrypt can mount about 12 volumes automatically, so my recommendation is to keep the volumes small and increase the sizes for volumes you don’t modify often.

Don’t feel guilty about using encyption.  Don’t be guilted into the “If you have nothing to hide” mantra; privacy is your right as a human, exercise it.

For one main reason: it’s polished. That critical “step-back” after everything is done to say “what can we improve now?”  This is something that Microsoft and companies who build Intel PCs are seriously lacking.

The first thing you notice about a brand new Macbook is the clean look.  The keys are not smashed on the keyboard just to fit them on all, there are no random air slots for fan exhaust, ports aren’t strewn all around the device in any place they would fit.  MagSafe, most people’s favorite feature, makes sure your clumsy oaf of a friend doesn’t rip your laptop out of your hands after he trips on the power cord; being lightly magnetic, it simply pops off.

Secondly, the Operating System is clearly polished. The fades, the slides, the transitions; that is what makes polish.  Quicktime’s movie player window elegantly slides up to fill fullscreen on a Mac.  Windows Media Player forcefully takes over the full screen.  OSX NEVER changes resolution from boot up to shutdown including screensaver mode.  Windows manages to violently switch resolutions over 3 times at a MINIMUM. Don’t even attempt to count if you send your video to a projector or run a screensaver that doesn’t run in your resolution.

So why do I have a Mac if the only programs I use are Firefox, Pidgin, iTunes, and tons of cross-platform or open source freeware that populate the rest of my Applications folder?  Because of the polish.  Because of three simple programs that nobody has managed to duplicate successfully in Windows:  Dashboard, Spaces, and Expose.

You might be laughing right now at my choices, and I would agree.  But if I can get the same programs and function from any of the three main OSes (Windows, Linux, OSX), I’ll choose the one that spent time to make me a customer by prettying it up.  Much like dating, if given a choice of siblings, the winner is often the one who spent a little more time tarting his or herself up for the showroom floor.

The duet is one of music’s best, second only to Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong’s version of Summertime.  While the characters in the song do not have names, the female voice is called “The Mouse” while the male is “The Wolf”.

The song is a back-and-forth duet of the male persuading the female to stay with him for the duration of the night after their date; her indecisive protests clarify while she is obligated to go home, she is tempted to stay.

Upon closer inspection of the lyrics (”You have to listen to the words, MAAAHHN”), the wolf employs classic teenage bargaining techniques in order to guilt his prey into staying “the night” and slowly persuades her through potentially-ruffied alcohol.  While the song ends before you know her decision, (in some versions) soft pillow-talk banter closes out the song and the wolf whispers a lingering “Ahh, do that again…”.

Thickly-veiled references to sex were very popular throughout music in the 50s and 60s, but this is the first reference to date rape I can find.  I just hope you think about this song and its true intended meaning when your mother and father get up to the karaoke machine, eggnog in hand, and share the mic with this holiday classic.

http://www.google.com/calendar/htmlembed?src=olympics_%257e_01039895__10003%23tv%40group.v.calendar.google.com

I didn’t see an iCal version anywhere of the Olympic schedule, but if I find one, I’ll be sure to update this post.

On a side note, I heard my first good Olympic joke today.

The 2008 Beijing Olympic theme is “One World, One Dream.”  Apparently below the slogan it says, “Restrictions Apply, Not Valid in Taiwan.”

One of my favorite new features is audience involvement.  In this version, the audience CLAPS while you are using your star power.  Sound fun?  Think you’ll be hyped?  Until you realize the audience DOESN’T CLAP ON BEAT!!

Since the set list is seriously underwhelming, playing songs that don’t even belong on “Deep Tracks” on XM, another suggestion not out of the realm of possibility is fixing the sound.  To their credit, they did fix the Dolby Pro Logic issue that plagued Wii users, however you are still reaching for the remote to lower the sound between game play and the ending “You Rock” Animation, as there is a +10dB difference.

They even politely included more crap to interrupt your game play:

• 2 additional intro videos to click past before you even get to the main menu
• A “who cares” interview video as you open each level in their career

Even as a fan of both Guitar Hero and Aerosmith, I have to say it is a lackluster game in terms of content but I was biased as I grew increasingly irritated by the off-beat clapping during my favorite songs.

Like many great people throughout time, he did not invent something from scratch. He created the world of Dungeons and Dragons from the archetypes that J.R.R. Tolkien imagined. This in no way diminishes his achievements, for millions of lives have been affected.

To me, and plenty of other kids who preferred brain over brawn, he gave us an outlet for our creativity. He created a world where the only limit was your imagination. A world where guidelines were given, you fleshed out the details, and was created with a simple 5-word magical incantation; “You are in a bar…”

I’m sure there will be many other posts like this (but this one is mine) around the Internet today, and my self-serving nature merely wants to contribute. Boring you with details on how he affected my life would be completely pointless; those of you who played Dungeons and Dragons understand, those of you who didn’t, won’t.

To Gary, let’s just hope the deity you meet in the after-life isn’t begrudging you for being left out of Deities and Demi-Gods.

Activision has released their press junket to the pre-order sites with these statements:

• Challenges you to perform the music of the legendary Aerosmith
• Take on the roles of Aerosmith members Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton
• Experience the career trajectory of a band becoming more and more popular

Really? I can take on the roles? Does the package come with an 8-ball? Can I hit a groupie after I’m done my set? I don’t understand all this hype, who is buying this game honestly thinking they can “Experience the career trajectory” of Aerosmith.

I love Guitar Hero as the next guy but how about assuring the fans you won’t fuck it up?

• Songs will be in stereo on the Wii
• Your Whammy Bar will last longer than previous games
• It’s the same damn game!

I want to meet the person who thinks they will gain an outer-worldly experience from this game because they read the package notes and watch them get hit by a bus crossing the street.

I’d say more, but anything else would ruin it.

1. Google needs to get their ass in gear and present their Single Sign-On (SSO) package.
2. Forum Coders and Popular Websites need to embrace this technology.

I’m TIRED of having to create a new sign-on for every stupid shitty website (including THIS one) I want to post information on. I’m someone who has some information, and I’m kind enough to share it. Case in point, this website. No, not my rants, but more the software tips and tricks. My wiki has notes, tips, tricks, and general knowledge about a number of subjects I care not to bore you with here.

During the course of my computing, if I come up against some random piece of software, like it enough to research it, and find their forum; I am inclined to read and post in their forum possibly to help another user with a problem or some trick I found.

Repeat this for most of the software I have, some software I don’t use yet but am evaluating, and random websites I read and participate in, and I’m fairly confident that I have over a 100 sign-ons, 95% of which I’ll never use again because it was just a one-time post or I no longer care about the subject.

If Google gets their act together and releases a Single Sign-On package, and most of these forum sites (Invision, phpBB, WordPress, etc) incorporate this, I don’t have to go through the whole kit-and-kaboodle when I want to post something.

If I have never been to a site, and sign-up was as simple as a button which could associate a new user to my currently logged in Google Account, I’d gladly post a quick reply to someone having a simple problem.

I, however, am not. I’m not bound to the Phillies(/Eagles/Flyers/Sixers) just because I live near Philadelphia. I’m a fan. I demand action, and excitement. If my “team” isn’t giving me action or excitement, why can’t I choose another? Tell me honestly, WHY do I have to be a fan of only one team?

And the jocks cry, “duuuude, you bandwagon jumper! Where were you when we were on a 10 game losing streak?” You know where I was? Supporting a team which DESERVES my energy by giving me fantastic games to watch. But I know your anger stems from your jealousy of me, watching me jump up and down in elation as the team I’m rooting for scores again, and it’s OK. It’s a perfectly acceptable response, you just need to recognize that as a human, if I’m going to invest my time, money and emotions into a team and I don’t get a return, I need a new investment.

This ISN’T about following the “best” team in each sport each year. Even teams who win “The Big Game”** don’t keep the same players for the next year. This is about following teams which are interesting and exciting to watch. I was a HUGE Dolphin fan in the Dan Marino days, they were exciting to watch each year knowing their toughest game of the year was the AFC championship (God damn Bills…). Miami has SUCKED these past years, why should I stick around? Go fuck yourselves.

There are only three rules to being a Free-Agent Fan. You can’t switch week after week, you have to choose your team before the season starts (pre-season is there to feel your team out) and you can’t switch after the trade deadline for your sport passes.

I’m no different from someone who changes lottery numbers every play. Or someone who folds in poker when the flop gives them no help. Why is it OK to ditch the match when it relates to inanimate objects, such as dice, cards or lottery balls; but suddenly, the crowd wants to burn me at the stake if I switch to another team?

They are not out for my interests, I will not be out to support theirs.

* I KNOW this doesn’t apply to everyone, I am making a majority statement. For each A-Rod I can name, someone can find a Jeter.
** Apply appropriately to your sport of choice.
This rant stolen from the Opie and Anthony show.