1st
June
2008
I’m a caretaker of other people’s property. Intellectual, that is, or imaginary; your own definition of “the stuff that people think up” may vary. My role is to administer virtual spaces where others can publish their random thoughts. Flypaper. And, with some exceptions, the whole thing muddles along without much deep thought by either me or anyone else. At one point, I actually set up one hundred parallel blogs, but that’s just an example of the kind of things that you can do when you are slightly masochistic.
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posted in computing |
12th
March
2008
Because I’m surrounded by “technology” at work, and my role is to support others as they bump against the fence that keeps them in their respective cages (with regard to the wily computer) there’s the risk of forgetting how far we’ve all come at the office over the last two decades. To put things in perspective; twenty years ago the machine of choice was an Apple IIe or an IBM 5150.
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posted in computing |
28th
February
2007
I’ve had a good evening of upgrading without damage. PHP, a whole round of blog plugins, my wiki. All without that sinking feeling that follows damage to a working system. I’ll sleep better tonight.
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posted in computing |
10th
July
2006
My various efforts in the PHP/MySQL world have been exciting but sometimes fraught with results that have left me back at the starting line with certain efforts. I have to celebrate when things go well.
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posted in computing |
10th
May
2006
This morning, even before the first coffee, I called up my blog page, and… nothing. No login prompt, no header, nothing.
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posted in computing |
7th
May
2006
The pothole (variety found on streets, not the one on Cammie’s stove) is a wonderful analogy for software updates. Generally, you can navigate around them, if your speed is within limits, but sometimes you have to drive straight through, holding tight to the steering wheel and glad that your seatbelt is in place and there are few loose objects to fly off the seat.
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posted in computing |
21st
February
2006
Tuesday is “Patch-it day” in our office; it used to be a weekly feature, but a decision was made that monthly better fit our needs. So be it. However, there are often warnings and warning signs that slip by in these easier times. We have a number of servers that do experimental duty; the oldest in the farm is currently dedicated to some PHP/MySQL work. The machine also doesn’t have any strategy for recovery after something stops dead. Today, the machine had a lovely warning that a write failure had occurred; then the data drive was gone.
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posted in computing |
3rd
February
2006
One of those sleepless nights (unexpected uninvited visitor will do that) meant that the departure for work this morning was somewhat precipitous. Skies were grey, and by noon the snowfall was heavy. The administrative council decided to close the office just before normal quitting time. I shouldn’t complain; it’s hard to change decades of dangerous behaviour quickly.
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posted in Wx |
1st
February
2006
A new month, and a new round of upgrades are available for software. Internet Explorer 7 beta is out, and I have installed a copy. So far, it “seems” both esthetically pleasant and marginally slower at interpreting pages. Is it more secure?
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posted in computing |
27th
January
2006
The digital photo world contains many surprises; take the EXIF standard as an example. The newer cameras embed a whole set of data in every exposure, that allow a computer to later display the details on date and time, photo resolution, exposure and lens details and other odd bits that photographers have always espoused as good technique, if only one had a secretary along to record the details as the world was captured.
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posted in media |
