Geek Stuff

Spent a bit too much time today trying to figure out how I could create a DLL containing user-defined functions callable from Crystal Reports 8. The obvious route was to use Visual Basic. Well, I don’t normally use VB, I use PowerBuilder. However, creating a DLL in PowerBuilder resulted only in a new and exciting way to crash Crystal every time I tried to open a report. So I went hunting for VB. I have no problem buying a copy. However, I couldn’t verify that VB.NET could create the kind of DLL I needed. I knew VB 4, 5, and 6 would work, but no one reputable seems to have VB 6 for sale anymore. Eventually, I found a dusty copy of VB 5 in a box on top of a bookshelf, underneath a bunch of other stuff. And it worked! Yay!

Cowboy Bebop

I picked up the first 3 Cowboy Bebop DVDs over the weekend, and I’ve really been enjoying them. I just finished watching the second disc. I’ve been looking at the episode notes at Jazz Messengers after watching each episode. There’s some neat stuff in the “references” section for each ep. In particular, I’ve been following up on the musical references by searching EMusic for whatever artists/songs are mentioned. I’ve found a lot of great stuff this way.