Diary Of A Madman

Why does it always seem like you get more work when you’re already busy, and nothing when you’re free? Thanks to various software and hardware problems on multiple machines, not counting the Tanatos worm on a USB Flash Drive that every machine running on my LAN in mere seconds, I keep falling further and further behind. Of course, there’s also the time I had to take off to help move my mother and settle into her new home.

I actually contacted tech supports for the software problems hoping they had solutions, and I wouldn’t get behind. I was wrong.

I was hoping that I wouldn’t need to replace certain hardware due to cost and time. I was wrong.

I was hoping that the Anti-Virus programs on the PC’s would protect the machines. I was wrong.

I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to be responsible for a lot of the petty little things needed when moving into a new home, things that aren’t much but take up a lot of time. Things I hoped other family members would help take care of for my mother. I was wrong.

I wasted unnecessary time asking help from support representatives, when in the end I had to find the answers myself. Worms are getting tougher and tougher to protect against. I watched an Anti-Virus program try to heal an infected file, only to see the worm immediately infect explorer.exe. It’s my fault for using a USB Flash drive on a PC, which I later find out hasn’t had it’s anti-virus program updated in over two years because instead of paying for a subscription, or choosing a free personal anti-virus program, they lived in ignorance. Probably need to disable Auto-Play, and ignore autorun for all devices; especially USB… or change over to Ubuntu.

I figure that I’m about six weeks behind right now, and am hoping I can catch back up over the next two weeks. Not sure just how, but I’m still going to try.

Back in 2004 I bought a Soyo Dragon 2 v2 (KT880?) with AMD XP2500+ directly from Soyo. I was planning on building a gaming rig or file server with it, but got caught up in x64 instead. So when my niece needed a computer a couple of years ago, I still had the Dragon boxed and sitting on a shelf. I figured with support for IDE and SATA RAID, 12 hard drives, USB2.0, Digital audio, and Firewire, it should last her through college. I was a bit irritated when I found out that it didn’t include a 2-Port firewire bracket/kit, but figured that I’d worry about that later if needed. Besides, an electronics recycler had sent me a PC case with a lighted front panel, but all of the LED’s were burnt out, and I spent more than I had expected to spend on four high brightness low voltage white LED’s. I also found out that the case manufacturer had incorrectly wired the molex, which was why the LED’s had failed. In the end, my niece loved her computer, and since her iPod uses USB, doesn’t seem to care about firewire.

A couple of times a year I’d get a call from my sister telling me that the monitor wouldn’t come on when the computer booted up, and most of the time I’d just have her shut it down for a couple of minutes. When she booted it again, everything was fine. Last summer, I gave her one of my old CRT monitors after she called, thinking that perhaps the monitor was dying. Then a couple of months ago, she called to tell me that the monitor didn’t come on after the PC came out of standby. Since she had bought her daughter a 17″ Widescreen LCD monitor for Christmas, I suspected the PC. After waiting three weeks for her to drop it off to me, I ended up going to get it myself because my curiosity was eating away at me.

Once I started testing the machine, I soon found out that not only was it not reinitializing the video card from standby, it was doing it during reboot, and from a cold start. Careful observation revealed that there was a specific pattern to the video problem, and also that the BIOS was reconfiguring itself from cold starts. After wasting hours searching the Internet, I found that the Dragon 2 was known to have these issues. Some users had come up with what they believed to be a workaround for the BIOS reconfiguring from a cold start, but no workaround for the video problem. Unfortunately for me, I also learned that Soyo had left consumer electronics for plastics manufacturing. I’m unclear as to the accuracy of this fact since I cannot find any information concerning Soyo in plastics manufacturing in Taiwan or China. There were some financial indicators that Soyo simply folded, possibly due to mismanagement or financial problems. Exactly when is still unknown.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a male or female, I can’t expect anyone to willingly go through a long workaround everytime they boot or reboot their computer. I tried the BIOS workaround, and found out that it wasn’t completely successful. I swapped the existing 9200 128MB AGP8x video card with a 9600 128MB AGP8x video card, both ATI GPU’s. The video trouble continued, and even after trying a nVidia AGP4x card, which would supposedly fix the problem according to forum posters, it remained. Checking Gigabyte’s web site about the 9200 128MB AGP8x video card, there was a known “Power On/Off Issue” with a VGA BIOS Update to fix it. I suspected that if I flashed the video card’s BIOS, even though it showed the update’s version number, I’d end up killing the card. I’ve personally had experience with Gigabyte providing the wrong BIOS before, along with other manufacturers. I was also suspicious with the video card’s behavior, suspecting that the motherboard might have already corrupted the VGA BIOS slightly, and attempting to flash over the corruption would crash the card. In the end, the screen went black, and 30 minutes later I declared the card dead.

An interesting aspect is that I successfully installed a PCI and AGP video card in my niece’s computer, and loaded Windows. I tried with the bad video card, and crashed Windows forcing a restart. It might be possible to run the video through a PCI card, and flash the VGA BIOS for the AGP card while in DOS. Actually it should definitely work, provided that the VGA BIOS is somewhat readable, and I attempt it via a more stable motherboard.

Once I replaced the video card with the 9600, I went back into the Dragon 2’s BIOS, and decided to try a couple of radical options. I first changed the MPS option from 1.4 to 1.1, even though this might result in failure to boot into Windows. There was no change and Windows booted fine. Either this setting defaults to embedded information provided by the MPS, or 1,4 just offers additional instructions or enhancements which 1.1 can simply ignore. In either case, changing the MPS did nothing for stability.

The other option was to change Power Management. Since the video card was not being reinitialized from standby, reboot, or cold starts, based upon a specific pattern, I first tried to disable Power Management options for the video card, hard drive, and whatever the third was. Changing from Suspend to Standby or Disable had no effect, and sometimes the options would return to Suspend. It was at this point that I suspected that the “bug” in the BIOS posters referred to was not an actual bug in the BIOS, but a flaw in a specific section of the BIOS which would force it to try to revert to factory default settings whenever the BIOS initialized. Considering the motherboard supported Dual Channel Memory, which was relatively new at the time, my gut told me that the flaw was in the S3 (Suspend to RAM?) option; possibly attempting to suspend or communicate to the RAM as a parallel Single Channel when operating under Dual Channel. Since Hibernation and Suspend to RAM was not enabled under Windows XP on this machine, I reverted the BIOS to just S1.

Now that the BIOS is running S1, the video card reinitializes successfully every time from Standby and reboot, as well as initializes every time from a Cold Start. What’s even more interesting is that after changing to S1, the BIOS Settings no longer partially or completely revert to factory default from a cold start. I’m not sure if this will hold true for every Soyo Dragon 2 v2 motherboard, but it might. Unfortunately, I’m not big on forums, or everything you read in them, so I won’t be posting my results on any of them.

I was rebuilding a HPCompaq d530 SFF(Small Form Factor) for an ex-girlfriend, when I came across an unusual problem. Small Form Factors don’t require much in the way of rebuilding since they’re essentially like a laptop in a bigger box. Most hardware is embedded, included on the motherboard, and there aren’t a lot of options when it comes to expandability. In this case, the power supply had failed. After replacing the power supply, swapping out the hard drive because the old one failed diagnostics, and installing Windows XP Professional, all I had to do was update Windows.

I’ve learned through experience to keep things like Service Packs on an external USB Drive to make updating go faster for me, but to be up to date, I still needed the d530 to access the Internet, so I installed a Netgear Wireless N USB Adapter. Initially everything went fine… until the machine rebooted.

When Windows logged me in, I immediately noticed that both the Seagate FreeAgent USB2.0 hard drive, and Netgear WN121T Wireless N USB2.0 Adapter were now referred to by Windows XP as “Unknown Devices". I couldn’t stop the devices using Windows, so I had to shutdown the PC in order to unplug them. After restarting the d530, I plugged both back in one at a time, and they were functioning normally… at least until the next reboot.

Careful testing showed me that the problem involved the Seagate FreeAgent, and the Netgear individually. If the Netgear was plugged in alone, or alongside a USB Flash Drive, Windows failed to recognize it properly upon reboot. If the FreeAgent was plugged in alone, Windows failed to recognize it properly upon reboot. I contacted Netgear’s Support via e-mail because I believed that the size of the FreeAgent, 1TB, was causing too long of a delay for Windows to properly recognize it due to the age of the machine, and the User Settings in the BIOS. Of course the first thing Netgear wanted from me was to repeat steps which I had already repeated numerous times myself. When I sent them additional information, I was asked to register my adapter in case I needed to be elevated to Level 2 tech support. It was at this point that I gave up on Netgear, since I didn’t feel that registration should matter where e-mail support is concerned.

Previously I had downloaded updated drivers from HP’s web site, and had noticed a number of “qfe’s” for Windows XP. I call them quick fix patches because I don’t know what qfe means. I noticed one which concerned USB2.0, but in the description it never mentioned problems with USB devices after rebooting the machine. I’ve never been big on customized OEM/Brand Name supplied versions of Windows because in their attempts to modify Windows to their machines, they often create headaches which aren’t revealed until much later. Never give carte blanch to an IT person who lives solely in IT, or else you end up with another Longhorn/Vista fiasco. Give it to an IT person who lives in the world of End-Users if you want a successful product.

Anyway, I installed the qfe for the USB2.0, and the next thing I know is that all USB devices are recognized properly upon boot. The only thing I wonder is why Level 1 tech support for any manufacturer doesn’t ask you if you checked with your manufacturer first for any updates or patches before proceeding?

I attempted to install a Belkin F5D7050 Wireless G USB adapter onto my niece’s desktop. Why? In all honesty, I’m the one that usually ends up paying for the parts for my families PC repairs, so I picked what was cheapest locally. Unfortunately for me, I picked wrong.

When I installed the Belkin F5D7050B, I noticed immediately that the Client Manager software just hung. Even though there was no indicator as to the cause, I could just tell that it wasn’t seeing the Wireless G USB Adapter. Running through the application, I soon found that I couldn’t disable it in favor of Windows Zero Configuration for Windows XP, but Windows was able to find and connect to my wireless router on its own. However, I noticed that idling offline for more than a few minutes caused the connection to be lost, and Windows could no longer connect to the router. Further testing showed me that if I manually assigned the security after losing the connection, Windows would automatically reconnect… only to lose it again when idling offline. This got the best of my curiosity, and after six hours I realized that the Belkin Client Manager was having a software conflict with another program installed on the PC, and not Windows XP itself.

First thing the next day, I tried installing a Netgear WN121T Wireless N USB Adapter on her machine, and found no problems with the Netgear Client Manager, connecting to the Internet, or idling offline. A quick run to a local store to buy a second F5D7050B, and after swapping them out, the Belkin still had the same problems. A call to Belkin’s Network Tech Support, and trying to be patient and polite to the rep asking me to perform steps that showed up on her screen, I eventually got elevated to a Level 2 technician. After hours on the phone with the tech, and him actually admitting to me that I probably know more about the hardware and Registry than him, he believed that he had resolved the offline idling issue by having me disable and enable Windows Zero Configuration. Now to be honest, I’m not big on calling any tech support for help because it’s hard for me to explain the feeling in my gut in terms they can understand, so most of the time they can’t help me. On Belkin’s behalf, the Level 2 tech agreed that there was a software conflict, but they weren’t aware of any such conflict before my phone call to them. I only had to waste four hours to share that information with them.

Using a disk image I had created when I built the machine for my niece, I restored everything back to its original state. I installed the Belkin F5D7050B again, and again it hung. Fortunately for me, my gut was telling me that something was different this time, even if the Client Manager still hung the same way it had before. I went through all the programs installed, and saw that I had installed Microsoft’s Shared Computer Toolkit on her machine. Since Windows XP Service Pack 3 cannot be installed with this installed, and Automatic Updates had never installed SP3 when she had the PC, I uninstalled it, and rebooted the machine. Strangely enough, when Windows started up again, the Belkin Client Manager was immediately able to find and connect to my wireless router.

Now technically, if I can install another wireless device without any problems, there should have been no problems between the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit (MSSCT) and the Belkin Client Manager. Installing just the F5D7050B drivers without Client Manager quickly revealed that there was a minor conflict between the driver files, or their dependencies, and the MSSCT. Uninstalling the MSSCT resolved the conflict, which indicated that perhaps the way in which the Belkin Client Manager communicated with the F5D7050B was via a driver file or dependency, and became a major conflict because of the minor conflict between the MSSCT and F5D7050B drivers. Downloading and installing the latest drivers and software directly from Belkin’s web site did not resolve anything since the driver files remained unchanged.

At this point in time, both the Belkin F5D7050B and its Client Manager are functioning correctly on my niece’s computer, since the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit is no longer installed. I’m uncertain as to what is the actual cause of the conflict since it would require both Microsoft and Belkin sharing raw code with me in order to isolate it. However, I definitely DO NOT recommend the Belkin F5D7050/A/B/C/D, and there are five versions, for any Windows XP PC with Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit or Steady State installed. Even though I know firsthand that the Client Managers for the F5D7050A and F5D7050B do not utilize the same User Interface, I cannot guarantee that they do not utilize the same driver files or dependencies which are responsible for the conflict.

“Could not load file or assembly ‘MOM.Implementation’ or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.”

Recently I experienced this error message while booting up my niece’s computer. I knew that I was responsible for it because I had been working on video issues, which is why I had it in the first place. One of the steps I took was to update to the latest ATI video drivers for her Gigabyte 9200 128MB AGP8x card I had installed in the machine originally. An attempt to flash the card’s BIOS caused the card to crash, which actually wasn’t all that unexpected, but still sucked, which forced me to uninstall the drivers in order to replace the defective card with an ATI 9600 128MB AGP8x card that I had used in one of my systems before I moved on to PCI-E16x. Even though it’s not always necessary to uninstall legacy drivers, primarily because they are usually unified to identify and work for a variety of older hardware, it’s usually safer. I say usually because in this case it had the opposite effect because reinstalling an older version of the driver files resulted in the error message… Or, at least that’s what I thought at first.

I wasted about five hours searching the Internet hoping to find both the cause and a cure to the error message. I learned that the error message most often occurs when uninstalling the most recent drivers in preference for an older version. The most recommended course of action, based upon user input in forums, was to uninstall the drivers, reinstall the drivers, reinstall the .NET Framework 2.0, yadda-yadda-yadda. Some users reported that simply unchecking CLI under the Startup tab using MSConfig resolved the problem of the error message appearing after boot, but obviously failed to solve the problem. The only consensus was that the problem concerned the ATI Control Panel, which I already knew because of the term, “MOM,” used in the error message. Since there was no identified cause or fix, I decided to tackle the problem on my own, simply because I didn’t want phone calls from my sister about the error message.

So, what is the cause? The cause is the installer; specifically the uninstallation process when going back from the most recent drivers to a previous version. To be even more specific, the installer more often than not fails to correctly update the Windows XP System Registry, and possibly some files found in Program FilesATI TechnologiesATI.ACE, or something like that. I’ve no intention of spending more time reproducing the problem in order to be even more specific, especially since the error message is due to specific registry values, more often than not.

What Registry values? Again, not wasting more time on this problem. So, even though I’m going to generalize, anyone with experience editing the System Registry should be able to easily identify and fix the problem. As to the problem itself… The ATI Control Panel is initialized to run at user logon, not boot, however, the value is stored under Local Machine in the System Registry. The latest legacy drivers use a different value name (key/DWORD/whatever), as well as adds an argument/parameter after the file location of the file to be executed. The previous control panel/unified drivers with control panel, all use a different name with file location, but no parameter. Since there is a dramatic change in both name and value from the latest legacy driver to all its predecessors, the installer fails to remove or modify the Registry correctly.

What does this mean? In simple terms, Windows is forced to attempt a second initialization of the Catalyst Control Panel, and thus the generation of the error message. I haven’t tested it, and don’t plan on it, but I don’t believe that the control panel can run more than one instance of itself. I don’t believe that .NET can tell the difference when an application cannot run more than once, or when a file, assembly, or dependency is actually missing. Thus, too many people are misinterpreting the error message as a failed installation.

But, why doesn’t the Catalyst Control Panel run? Simply put, if the wrong value attempts to run the control panel first, it might hang. It depends upon which driver is installed, how many instances might be trying to run simultaneously, and the .NET Framework. After a few hours playing around, I’ve seen the Control Panel run successfully when clicked on manually, or not initialize manually, depending upon which driver was installed. It depends upon a number of variables, which I haven’t fully identified.

How do I fix it? Type in Regedit in the Run input box under Start for Windows XP/2000, and Vista, if I remember correctly. Expand HKey Local Machine, and scroll down to Software. Expand Software, scroll down to Microsoft, expand Microsoft, scroll down to Current Version, expand Current Version, scroll down to Run, and then click on and highlight Run. In the right-hand pane, you should see not one but two values using two different names to initialize ATI’s Catalyst Control Panel. One might be “ATICCC” (I can’t remember off the top of my head), and the other should be “StartCCC". Notice the different names, and the primary reason for the error messages. The latest legacy driver package uses “startCCC” and includes the argument/parameter, ‘"C:Program FilesATI TechnologiesATI.ACECLI.exe” /MSRun something-something-something"‘. The older drivers use, “C:Program FilesATI TechnologiesATI.ACEcli.exe” runtime -Delay’. If you’ve reinstalled the older driver, delete StartCCC. If you’ve installed the latest legacy, delete ATICCC. If you delete the wrong one, or both, simply go into Add/Remove Programs, and choose Change for the Catalyst Control Panel, and then Repair to restore the correct Registry value. Close out of everything, re-boot your machine, and you should find the Catalyst Control Panel running normally after logging into Windows.

What if the Catalyst Control Panel still doesn’t work, or the error message still appears? Everything should be back to normal, but I have seen where uninstalling ALL ATI software still left files and folders under Documents and Settings, Program Files, and under Run under Local Machine in the System Registry. So, if you suffered from a corrupted file, installation, uninstallation, or just want to play it safe, uninstall all ATI software, and reboot when prompted. When Windows is running again, delete the ATI Technologies folder under Program Files, or its equivalent for x64 machines (Program Files x86????), if necessary. Under Documents and Settings, under All Users, Default User, and every user presently initialized, i.e. My User, find the ATI folders and delete them under Application Data, and Local SettingsApplication Data. You’ll need to uncheck Hidden files under Folder Options in order to see the Local Settings folder, and users who have never logged in after having any ATI software installed might not have ATI folders. When all the folders are deleted, go back to HKey Local Machine Microsoft Windows Current Version Run, and delete any and all ATICCC and StartCCC entries, along with any other ATI specific entries you might come across, perhaps AVIVO or HDAudio(?). Reboot your machine, and then install the drivers, control panel, and ATI software that you are certain you want to use now. Unless the installer fails to overwrite a corrupted driver file in your System32, or x64 equivalent, everything should function correctly. Since my experience with the installer suggests that it does not perform a md5, or simplified checksum comparison during installation, it might not overwrite a corrupted file successfully. However, since this is strictly about the Catalyst Control Panel, deleting the Program FilesATI Technologies folder and its contents should ensure a successful installation.

Afterthought… I honestly don’t understand how reinstalling the .NET Framework 2.0 will resolve this issue, as suggested by others, unless the Framework was broken. If anything, the use of System Restore provides an older backup of the System Registry, where there is only the ATICCC under Run, and they are simply performing an unnecessary extra step. System Restore doesn’t always fix System Registry issues, and I’m not sure if that’s due to it not always backing up the registry, or if reinstalling drivers too many times forces it to purge older backups to preserve drive space. However, I don’t completely trust System Restore, and I wanted to find the actual cause, so I’ll never know for certain.

It’s been quite some time since my last posting, and unfortunately a lot has happened in between. I am now in my second semester at Corning Community College. My first semester was rather difficult to get used to so my grades weren’t as good as I had hoped they would be. I received an A (4.0) in Computer Essentials, a B+ (3.3) in English Composition I, a C (2.0) in General Psychology, and an F (0) in Structured & Object Problem Solving. Psychology gave me a bit of trouble through the mid-term because I don’t necessarily agree with everything that was in that text, and there was a great deal to cover because it was an introductory class. Structured & Object I got, I just couldn’t do what the instructor wanted. Although I like the instructor as a person, his teaching methodology was seriously flawed. Pseudo-code does not incorporate a structured language specific criteria, so as long as you can get the ideology across, it should suffice. If you are working with C/C++, why not use C terminology? If you are using Basic, why not Basic, etc? So I was in the final when I realized that I don’t want to be a programmer, turned in a blank sheet of paper, and walked out. I like psychology much more than pseudo-code, but unfortunately for me, this class is required for most degrees in computer technology. The why I don’t get since I have yet to meet someone who actually uses it, and no software company has ever asked me to return a report in pseudo-code.

Toward the end of the semester I was recruited by a local company to help them set up an IT Department. At first things were rocky because the hires needed an extreme amount of training in both hardware and software. Then everything got put on hold as the Board of Directors decided to change management. I was asked to stay on and continue, and I did for a bit. However, when the new management took over, we no longer agreed on the direction of the department. So I gave my resignation, and quit just before the fall semester began. What is interesting is that I liked everyone personally, and it seems that they might have liked me as well. Whenever they find themselves in a situation that they must go outside the business for assistance, they still call me for help. It would have been fulfilling to see my plans for the department reach fruition, but sometimes you have to do what’s best for you.

It’s the first break of two for the fall semester, and so far I’m passing all my classes. Considering that I’m a taking a night course, an on-line course, and regular courses to equal 17 credits, I’m happy with my overall performance. Once I get my grades I’ll know exactly what areas I’m weak in, and can focus harder on them. The only thing I do know is that I have a 97 for the only test taken in Abnormal Psychology, as well as a 90 quiz average for the class. The thing is that I have always had a thing for psychology, much more so than computers, but I hate drama. lol. Go figure!

I received an e-mail from someone asking for my help with the Pink Lillies Template. I’m not a CSS expert, but after visiting the person’s blog, I think that I understand what is going on with the background. So I’ll give it a shot, and we’ll see if I might be right. In the meantime, I hope to update more regularly now that my schedule has settled down to its normal helter skelter pace once again.

This evening at 11:29 PM I was on my way to the nearby Wal-Mart, when I suddenly realized the importance of video games. I live in a somewhat rural community in Upstate, New York, and this means that I must drive 9 and 3/10th miles to the local Wal-Mart. The stretch of road which lies closest is a County Route, and known for animal traffic. Any time of the year you can find anything from skunks to deer alongside the road. The amount of traffic accidents caused by deer just before the opening of deer season is especially high when compared to the rest of the year.

Tonight I was in need of certain products for the next day’s business, and this required travelling late at night to Wal-Mart since it is open 24 hours of the day. I was less than a mile away from the store, and just about to cross onto an overpass when I suddenly saw a deer in the middle of the road. Noticing the deer, even with high beams on was difficult at best, because both sides of the road were lined with very tall trees. I immediately stepped on my breaks, and the car slightly swerved to the right. At that very same moment, the deer made an attempt to bolt into my path to get to the other side of the road. Since the car had begun to swerve slightly to the right, and I had to release the break to remain in control, I had less than a second to make a critical decision.

I knew that at my present course I was headed for an inevitable head-on collision with a rather large doe at forty-five miles an hour. Without any hesitation, I turned into the swerve and floored the gas pedal. Suddenly I saw the muzzle of the doe almost against my driver’s side window as I began to pass by her. In a single second, what could have ended in disasterous results for both me and the doe never came to pass. Instead I found myself breathing calmly and asking myself if I should not be excited or frightened. It was at that moment when the thought crossed my mind that perhaps all the hours spent playing video games had actually been worthwhile? I couldn’t help but laugh at that thought as I imagined what it would be like to explain it to someone not addicted to video games. Fortunately for me, I would like to believe that video game playing has allowed me to keep my reflexes sharp. Otherwise how else do I justify the money I spend on such entertainment?

Today I went out of town to meet with a vocational counselor. We had previously scheduled the appointment at my request. Since I was considering sacrificing certain aspects of my life and work to possibly return to college, I was concerned that I might be making a mistake since the decision was based primarily upon emotion.

I was required to take two tests - the “Strong Interest Inventory”, and the “Myers-Briggs Type Inventory". The Strong Interest Inventory test revealed that my interests lie primarily in the Investigative and Artistic Themes. The MBTI test revealed that I had an “ENTP” preference.

Extraversion – Attuned to the external environment (E)
Intuition – Focused on the “big picture” (N)
Thinking – Logical and analytical (T)
Perceiving – Flexible and spontaneous (P)

“People with ENTP preferences usually enjoy considering all of the possibilities suggested by new challenges. They are generally able to connect the routines of everyday life to a bigger-picture context, and can use this insight for making complex, technical decisions. Their work responsibilities often involve making prototypes, developing long-range plans, and communicating technical information.”

The combined results of the two tests suggested the following list as being excellent career opportunities for me to explore.

Photographer (I actually enjoy digital photography as a part-time hobby)

Computer Programmer/Analyst (Programming is something I would like time to pursue)

College Professor (The ability to share knowledge with eager minds would be rewarding)

Engineer (Only if it was in the field of research or prototyping)

Psychologist (Although I enjoy exploring the psyche, my passion lies elsewhere)

Musician (Previously a musician with the trumpet, and an occasional guitar chord)

Marketing Executive (I believe this is where being a business owner reflects upon me)

Lawyer (I admit that I enjoy confrontations and legal arguments)

The list of Secondary choices ranged from Actor to Writer, which also included corporate management.

It was surprising to see how the combined results appeased both my emotional and intellectual aspects of my personality. While the primary choices were in many ways accurate, the secondary choices were only fifty percent correct in my perspective. The fact that the results revealed that my personal survey of myself was accurate affirmed that the new direction I am considering might be the next required step in my evolutionary growth. However it was even more informative to learn just how much can be gained in understanding one’s self based upon the development of these new tests.