Insufficient system resources exist to complete the API.

Last week, I got fed up with using my machine as a backpack heater, and I got fed up with waiting through power down and power up. So I did a quick Internet search, and I found this Microsoft Knowledge Base article. It explains that this error happens in Microsoft Windows XP SP 2, because of a flaw in the hibernation engine. (And before anyone asks why I used Hibernate rather than the much faster Standby mode: I am using Standby; but I have a battery-saving power mode enabled that switches to Hibernate if it's inactive for half an hour. Or it would if it could; but instead, this error happened. And when it did, the message box would appear, and the error chime would sound. See, it all starts to come together now, eh?)

And the nature of the error has to do with what Hibernate does: it captures the state of your machine, and saves that to your hard drive, and then powers down; but when your machine powers back up, it sees that hibernation state file, and it recreates that state as if your machine had never been sut off. So that means it has to make an exact image of your entire RAM, so that it can reload that exact image when it starts up again. But here's the flaw: sometimes it couldn't get the resources (file handles or something, I don't think I've ever found out) to create the RAM copy; and so rather than lose the contents of your RAM, it would simply refuse to hibernate.

And here's the real kicker: the more memory you had, and the more you used it and fragmented it into a lot of smaller chunks, the more likely it was that the hibernate engine would run out of resources. So if you're somebody like, say, a programmer, who puts a machine through a lot of memory churn... And if you decided when buying a new machine that the best way to deal with memory limits was to just buy lots and lots of memory... Then you were more likely to have this problem!

And as the KB article explains, Microsoft does have a fix. Unfortunately, this problem was found after XP Service Pack 2. And short of utter calamity, Microsoft has no plans for another Service Pack for Windows prior to Vista. And as many of you have probably heard, Vista has been pushed back to the first quarter of next year. So there's no official path to obtain the fix for this problem.

Except for one path: a hotfix. As the KB article explains, Microsoft does offer a hotfix for this problem.

I installed the hotfix on April 6. Sixteen days later, I'm having no problems at all. And it is such a relief to be able to just close the lid and go, knowing my power management will work the way it's supposed to, and I'll have neither heat nor battery problems.

Food? Or biological warfare?

So my sister likes to shop at Horrock's Market, a local gourmet food/nursery store. Yes, that's an odd combination, but it works for them. And no, I can't provide a link and generate some free publicity for them, because they don't seem to have a Web site. Their loss.

My sister informs me that while the Horrocks chain does not have a Web site, the local store does.

And yes, I finally finished the wasabi peanuts.

And no, I didn't pick up any more.

Of course, Horrocks is on the way home tonight...

Welcome to Server Intellect!

Visitors to TabletUML.com shouldn't notice any difference (I hope); but as I predicted, I have abandoned my former Web host, Webstrike Solutions, in favor of Server Intellect. SI had loads of favorable feedback, particularly from fellow Microsoft MVPs in the ASP.NET group. Those are the people I would turn to with a really hard ASP.NET problem, and many of them just love SI.

Since switching to Server Intellect, everything has been hunky dory. They even managed to "fix" a problem that wasn't the fault of my old host. Because I can't get Charter to provide service to my house, the current most convenient option I have is to go to the nearest McDonald's and use their high speed connection (available in many locations as a subscription through AT&T WiFi service). Now this has been a useful service, except for one problem. They have a problem — and I'm convinced it's their problem, though they're still investigating — reaching certain parts of the Internet. Some sites just plain won't open up there, even though those same sites will open up just fine if I connect through other services. As one example, there's Opinion Journal. Now it's no big deal if I can't read the Journal while enjoying the wonderful new Asian Chicken Salad; but until very recently, there were two other sites that I couldn't reach there, and that made my life just a bit difficult: TabletUML.com and MartinLShoemaker.com. And it wasn't just my sites I couldn't reach: I also couldn't reach my email servers; and of course, I couldn't reach my Web mail, either. So the number one most common use I have for the Internet just wasn't working there. It made the service just about useless to me; and I told them so. So why did I sign up anyway? Well, this is where it gets interesting: when I first signed up, I could reach all of my sites and all of my email. Something changed in mid-February, and the service became much less useful to me.

But once I switched hosts, the McDonald's/ATT WiFi servers can find my sites and my email now. Hurray!

Hamburger WHAT?

The best possible answer that I found came from all the way down on the third page of the Google search. It led me to an entry on Cooks.com. Now the entry had moved over time; but a search on Cooks.com led to these entries for "Michigan Sauce". They all seem to be recipes for what sound like sloppy-joe-like sauces of tomato paste and crumbled hamburger, to be served on hamburgers or hotdogs. (Meat sauce on meat. Go figure...)

I also found a comment thread somewhere (but now I can't find it again, naturally) where people discussed Michigan Sauce and traded recipes on it. No one there seemed to know why it might be called that.

So I'm at a loss. Is this what they mean by Hamburger Michigan? I guess I'll have to go back to Montreal to find out. Why have I lived 43 years in Michigan and never even heard of it before now? And why is it called that? That may be one of those rare answers that just isn't to be found on the Web.

We hear of bear, coyote, and even bobcat sightings in the state; but still no sign of the elusive Hamburger Michigan...

Birthday after-action report

Bonus birthday quiz: over two decades ago, I read a trilogy of books that left a really strong impression on me. I reread them multiple times, and still reread them now and then. I thought they would make great movies; and in fact, they made it to TV at one point. Two questions: how old was I when the first book finally became a major motion picture? And how many books were in the trilogy?

No takers on this? I know I don't have that many readers, but I thought sure at least Epee Bill would take a stab at it (so to speak).

So there's this cable and internet provider, Charter Communications. They're about average for cable companies, from what I hear: OK service, OK price, etc. Nothing especially bad I've ever heard about them, and nothing especially good. They're just The Cable Company in certain areas, that's all.

Except for one little thing: As of a year or two ago, they serve the Village of Hopkins, zip code 49328. Yes, if you live in the Village of Hopkins, you can be a Charter customer.

Now as it happens, our zip code is 49328. Now you might think that puts us in the Village of Hopkins; but in fact, all of Hopkins Township has the zip code 49328. That's a six mile by six mile area, while the Village of Hopkins is scarcely a half mile square. So even though we're in 49328, Charter doesn't offer service to our house.

But now here's the thing: cable and internet companies don't run a line from their office to each individual home. Instead, they run big trunk lines out; and then they branch local service lines off from those; and then they branch individual service lines off from those. It's vaguely like the circulatory system, with major arteries feeding minor arteries which feed capillaries.

For a lot of reasons, it's convenient for the companies to run their trunk lines along highway right-of-ways. After all, the highway is already going from one major population center to another, just like they want to route their service.

Now as it happens, we live just over a mile from the nearest highway. That puts us on the main road from the highway to the Village of Hopkins.

And that means that the local service line for Hopkins runs right through our front yard (I actually traced it back to the trunk line to confirm); but no matter how hard I try, no one at Charter can offer us cable or Internet service.

Right. Through. Our. Front. Yard.

If you go to Charter's online site, they ask for your address. I put it in, and get the answer: no service in your area. But the line goes Right. Through. Our. Front. Yard.

If you call their very helpful and friendly support line, they'll go a lot farther than the Web site does. I give them great points for really researching to see if they could sell us service. But in the final analysis, they can't offer us service. But the line goes Right. Through. Our. Front. Yard.

Now I can think of some plausible reasons:

• Maybe tapping into the local service line this far up from the Village of Hopkins would degrade service in the Village of Hopkins itself. It's not smart to degrade service for 500 potential customers for the sake of maybe 40 potential houses between the Village of Hopkins and the highway. (Honestly, I doubt there are 40 houses, but I haven't bothered to count.)


• Maybe tapping into the local service line has to be cost-justified by a certain population density in the vicinity. The Village of Hopkins has a population density of roughly 1,000 people per mile. Out here away from the village, our population density is probably less than 50 people per mile.


• Our ever-eager government regulators sell territories to these companies, allowing them to offer service to within a territory. Maybe the government hasn't offered our area in a territory.


• Or maybe the government offered our area as a territory, but not at a price Charter was willing to pay for around 10 houses per mile.

I don't know either the law or the technology, but any of these explanations would be convincing to me.

But still... Right. Through. Our. Front. Yard.

...I just saw my first mosquito.