"The file name you specified is not valid or too long. Specify a different file name.

My first thought was to hit the command prompt and delete them from there - no luck.

After hitting Google I discovered a relatively brilliant solution. Essentially, somehow, the file structure got too big for Windows to handle so the trick is to shrink the file structure. As Mark Wilson points out you can just rename parent directories to single character names. Do this through a few levels and eventually you'll unlock access to the file.

As the file was a backup of a backup of a backup I'm not sure how it ultimately ended up with such a long filename but the solution is elegant enough.

First off the phrase "Remember November" immediately harkens Alan Moore's excellent series (and the Wachowski Bros. pretty decent movie) 'V for Vendetta.' If you've seen either you know that the main character is modelled after a historical figure - Guy (Guido) Fawkes, who set out on November 5th 1605 to blow up the British House of Parliament in an attempt to unseat Protestant rule. My history is not great so please refer to the wikipedia entries for Guy Fawkes and The Gunpowder Plot for a dash of internet quality knowledge.

Through an act of parliament the day, November 5th, went on to become a holiday - Guy Fawkes Night. A common nursery rhyme related to the holiday begins "Remember remember, the 5th of November; The Gunpowder Treason and Plot ... "

As a lit student I'd have been remiss not to at least entertain the potential connection between "Remember november" and the popular rhyme.

Now, before you accuse me of reading too far into this check out the site's banner.

What's the one letter that's different from all the others? The 'V'. While I realize that the 'V' is meant to represent the voter's check mark it's certainly interesting to re-evaluate it in reference to 'V for Vendetta', the movie that most Americans may be reminded of (like I was) by "Remember November."

Check out the cover of the 'V for Vendetta' Blu-Ray DVD and compare the 'V's as they appear in both. Very similar, no?

Add to these small things videos message of unseating the people in power, the ticking of the counter (masterfully similar to a clock ticking down), and the overwhelming implications in the video cuts and you start to feel the oppression and fear of tyranny that's part of Moore's dystopian future.

I'm not going to accuse the site of attempting to insight violence because I know that's not the goal. It's just interesting to see how sometimes life can imitate art and how we sometimes subconsciously pickup (or putdown) ideas that we associate with.

I'm embedding the video below because I think it's worth looking at if only for seeing another perspective. As I stated earlier I wanted to avoid politicizing this post, it just felt like looking at the site (in it's current form) and comparing it to 'V for Vendetta' seemed to fit some of the things that this site is about.

After having the VHS transferred to DVD (something I realized I can probably do at home with my DVD recorder and some creative cable work) I set out on the task of finding the right clip and putting together the first video.

I'm not going to go too in-depth and instead just provide a quick walk through of the process.

The DVD transfer wasn't protected the way most commercial DVDs are so I was able to just browse through the DVD contents in Windows and select the .VOB files that make up the movie. In all there were four so I copied them to my hard drive and then set about researching the conversion process.

Because Windows Movie Maker doesn't accept the VOB files (even when renamed to MPEGs) I had to get them converted to .AVI first. This is where a quick lifehacker search and several downloads came in.

Ultimately I found Any Video Converter to be the best option for making the conversions. It's got a drag and drop interface and allows you to simply set it and forget it. After selecting the four VOB files taken from the DVD I set Any Video Converter to convert to AVI and took a little break. In my case it took about 30m per video to get the conversion done which didn't seem to bad.

For those wondering about cost Any Video Converter is offered in both a free and paid version. I'm using the free version which works just fine.

Once the video's were converted I opened up Windows Movie Maker and just went from there. Movie Maker is a pretty simple tool to use and is included in all versions of Windows. Just import your video and everything else is pretty self explanatory.

It should come as no surprise that this I have no intention of doing anything malicious to my visitors but I think that Google's new requirement that each of it's AdSense serving sites should include a Privacy Policy is appropriate.

If you're interested in reading the new AdSense friendly Privacy Policy you'll see it linked in the footer as well as in this post.

Today on Lifehacker I spotted a new pocket of calendar called the "Thumb Calendar." The Thumb Calendar, by Adam Sporka, is an incredibly neat little design that looks ideal for popping into your wallet, hipster PDA or even your Moleskine.

When I started working full time (7am to 5pm) that changed. While I still don't drink hot coffee I find it absolutely necessary to have an iced-coffee every morning. Of course that creates a lot of problems.

I have not found a good way to make iced-coffee using hot brewing methods. Brew a pot of coffee - through it in the fridge and invariably you're unhappy. Buying an iced coffee every morning is even more trouble partly because of the money involved and partly because I end up buying a donut (or two) to go with it.

If you figure $4 a morning (for coffee, breakfast and a tip) times 365 days that's over $1400 a year at Dunkin Donuts!

I realized this just recently and immediately cringed at the wasted money. The good thing is it got me looking for a new way to fuel my morning coffee fix. What I found is called "Cold Brewed Coffee" and it's an incredible money saver for hot and cold coffee drinkers alike.

The system I bought (Toddy Cafe Cold Brew Coffee System) is extremely easy to use and makes a more consistent cup of coffee than any of my local Dunkin Donuts. If you're a coffee drinker looking to save money this year be sure to check it out!

Why do I need to see this icon if I never use the wired connection?

I did a little playing around and managed to find two ways to hide the icon. One doesn't appear to work all the time so I'll provide both just to be safe.

Removing the Local Area Connection Icon

This works perfectly for the wireless connection icon but on my machine it doesn't seem to work for the wired one. The first, really simple, option is to completely disable the connection. To do this you can double click the icon to open the Network Connections listing. Once this is done just right click the Local Area Connection item and select Disable.

In the long run this isn't really an ideal solution mostly because it involves completely turning off the wired network adapter. To avoid turning it off you can right click the listing and instead select "Properties."

Under the "General" tab look for the two check boxes and de-select them both. This should disable the icon while leaving the adapter activated.

Last Resort: Hide the Local Area Connection Icon

On my machine this didn't work - it did work to hide the Wireless Network Connection icon though. If you hit the same wall I have a work around that might help both here and in general for hiding icons in the SysTray. To get started right click the taskbar and then "Customize" under the "Notification area" heading.

The next section shows a list of all the items that are currently, or have recently, appeared in the System Tray. Under the "Behavior" column you can change the rules for each of the items - just select "Always hide" to keep the icons hidden.

Besides my pocket reporter I also keep a couple of Large Moleskine Notebooks for other purposes as well. The most recent addition is my Moleskine Weekly planner - it's a great way to track all your major events and a solid way to keep a paper backup of your Online calendar.

One major problem with Moleskine Planners? They sell out fast. If you're looking to get a hold of one of these great notebooks now's a good time to grab them as there are many available on Amazon. Wait too long and you may not be able to get them until early next year!

Links to all the products are available above.