Thursday, February 24, 2005
Monday, February 21, 2005
Don't borrow and spend...
Tax and spend. Please! Borrowing and spending seems to hide the details. Neat graph here... If we tax and spend, people will revolt and the spending will go down!
Another chart here...
Another chart here...
15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense
Never thought Fark would provide an interesting article, but lo and behold, one has been provided! From Scientific American in 2002, here is an article entitled "15 Answers to Creationist Nonsense."
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Harddrive failure...
Well, it looks like my harddrive in my laptop is on the verge of dying. This morning, I was greeted by a screen saying something about a hardware failure. (Side note: Being in the computer field myself, I was the typical consumer and didn't make a note of the phrasing nor the wording, so it is just a vague recollection.)
My laptop had made some odd noises last night, but I assumed that it was a fan slightly out of whack - it wasn't noisy enough for me to get concerned, just something to keep an eye. And then, in the morning, it's got some funky message on it. (I do remember that it wasn't a Windows environment nor was it the much despised Blue Screen of Death.)
When I forced the power off (hold the power button) and then turned it on, the funny noise came back with a vengence and the computer wouldn't boot up. It sat on the screen with the white dots for a very long time (like minutes) and eventually got into the starting windows graphic. Then it gave an error and quit.
Being relatively early in the morning, I decided to call HP immediately. I actually didn't have to wait for too long, and got connected pretty quickly. Of course, by the time we got to turning on the machine, it booted into Safe Mode. I exited Safe Mode and ended up at the XP logon screen very quickly. Go figure! They gave me a case number and asked if I had a minute to talk to a QA (I think) person.
QA person gets on the phone asks something about my computer - which I had turned off. I turn it on and lo-and-behold, I get the dredded "non-system disk" message. That's it. Well, they took it a bit more seriously at that point. :-)
However, I had to get Harry to school, so I said I'd call back in the evening.
I finally got some time around 8pm this evening. Computer booted right up. I got a backup (my prior one was actually early January, so I wasn't desperate) and then called. Within 10 minutes of talking to the support person, they were giving me the order confirmation number for my replacement harddrive.
Wow! Good experience for a bad event. Obviously, I'd prefer that the harddrive didn't fail - but if this is the support when I'm dealt a lemon, I'll keep HP/Compaq on my side.
On a related topic, I must say that these support folks were really quite nice and very polite. There was a minor trouble with communication (they're in India, so there is an accent and there's this time lag of what seemed to be a second or two which drove me nuts) - but overall, I was pleased with the experience. I think if I were dependent on them directing me for the support effort, I may have gotten a bit frustrated - but I remember getting frustrated with Gateway tech support people who were based in the midwest (where I'm from) in the early 1990's, so that may be part and parcel of the experience.
My laptop had made some odd noises last night, but I assumed that it was a fan slightly out of whack - it wasn't noisy enough for me to get concerned, just something to keep an eye. And then, in the morning, it's got some funky message on it. (I do remember that it wasn't a Windows environment nor was it the much despised Blue Screen of Death.)
When I forced the power off (hold the power button) and then turned it on, the funny noise came back with a vengence and the computer wouldn't boot up. It sat on the screen with the white dots for a very long time (like minutes) and eventually got into the starting windows graphic. Then it gave an error and quit.
Being relatively early in the morning, I decided to call HP immediately. I actually didn't have to wait for too long, and got connected pretty quickly. Of course, by the time we got to turning on the machine, it booted into Safe Mode. I exited Safe Mode and ended up at the XP logon screen very quickly. Go figure! They gave me a case number and asked if I had a minute to talk to a QA (I think) person.
QA person gets on the phone asks something about my computer - which I had turned off. I turn it on and lo-and-behold, I get the dredded "non-system disk" message. That's it. Well, they took it a bit more seriously at that point. :-)
However, I had to get Harry to school, so I said I'd call back in the evening.
----======----
I finally got some time around 8pm this evening. Computer booted right up. I got a backup (my prior one was actually early January, so I wasn't desperate) and then called. Within 10 minutes of talking to the support person, they were giving me the order confirmation number for my replacement harddrive.
Wow! Good experience for a bad event. Obviously, I'd prefer that the harddrive didn't fail - but if this is the support when I'm dealt a lemon, I'll keep HP/Compaq on my side.
On a related topic, I must say that these support folks were really quite nice and very polite. There was a minor trouble with communication (they're in India, so there is an accent and there's this time lag of what seemed to be a second or two which drove me nuts) - but overall, I was pleased with the experience. I think if I were dependent on them directing me for the support effort, I may have gotten a bit frustrated - but I remember getting frustrated with Gateway tech support people who were based in the midwest (where I'm from) in the early 1990's, so that may be part and parcel of the experience.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Running under the radar...
We have a project at work that started life as a "lunch" project. Simply put, it is a request tracking system. We like it - we like it a lot.
However, it has never been a sanctioned project. That is actually one of its strengths. We were a group of self-organizing employees who had a need and addressed it - succefully. All without any sort of management approval or direction - up to the point of a real installation. Fortunately for us, we got approval to move our product into the production environment.
That was 2001 (or so). We started with 2 developers who also were the users, designers, requirement analysts, architects, and managers. We surveyed existing products, saw what was available, and knew they didn't address our business needs. We had done request tracking umpteen times in the past and had a good handle on what worked and what didn't work.
Our passion for the project drove it until early 2003.
Last year, we didn't deploy the project at all.
Tonight, we did our first deployment (which was needed badly and is still needed) in about 18 months. The team has grown - we now have 5 or 6 people who pitch-in "as time permits".
I see this as more than a useful product/project. I see this as a philosophy change - and one that has potential on changing how some projects are organized. In general, the company runs projects from the top-down. Business has a need, gets the money, defines the things to be done. Then, IT management makes a chart of tasks, assigns out tasks, and work commences.
The change is on the IT side and is significant. We, the developers and business, need to self-organize. This pushes the responsibility and the drive onto the shoulders that count. This gives us, the community, the werewithal to accomplish goals and to take ownership in a product. This doesn't remove management. I would expect that this would help management - as long as we remain a functional team (instead of dysfunctional).
This is not a new concept, but its one I need to figure out to drive the project forward and how to spark the drive we had early on.
It's similar to open-source, except it's still directed toward a business goal. My thoughts on how to drive this project have leaned towards terminology very close to Agile methodologies... which reminds me -
I did hear a presentation last year by Dave Thomas (of Pragmatic Programmers). He was talking about running internal projects in an open-source manner. I remember being intensely interested in what he was saying, but I need to dig out my notes and see where it goes.
We'll see where it goes! For this to be successful, it needs to also remain under the radar; otherwise, it is just another dreary project for people to work on.
However, it has never been a sanctioned project. That is actually one of its strengths. We were a group of self-organizing employees who had a need and addressed it - succefully. All without any sort of management approval or direction - up to the point of a real installation. Fortunately for us, we got approval to move our product into the production environment.
That was 2001 (or so). We started with 2 developers who also were the users, designers, requirement analysts, architects, and managers. We surveyed existing products, saw what was available, and knew they didn't address our business needs. We had done request tracking umpteen times in the past and had a good handle on what worked and what didn't work.
Our passion for the project drove it until early 2003.
Last year, we didn't deploy the project at all.
Tonight, we did our first deployment (which was needed badly and is still needed) in about 18 months. The team has grown - we now have 5 or 6 people who pitch-in "as time permits".
I see this as more than a useful product/project. I see this as a philosophy change - and one that has potential on changing how some projects are organized. In general, the company runs projects from the top-down. Business has a need, gets the money, defines the things to be done. Then, IT management makes a chart of tasks, assigns out tasks, and work commences.
The change is on the IT side and is significant. We, the developers and business, need to self-organize. This pushes the responsibility and the drive onto the shoulders that count. This gives us, the community, the werewithal to accomplish goals and to take ownership in a product. This doesn't remove management. I would expect that this would help management - as long as we remain a functional team (instead of dysfunctional).
This is not a new concept, but its one I need to figure out to drive the project forward and how to spark the drive we had early on.
It's similar to open-source, except it's still directed toward a business goal. My thoughts on how to drive this project have leaned towards terminology very close to Agile methodologies... which reminds me -
I did hear a presentation last year by Dave Thomas (of Pragmatic Programmers). He was talking about running internal projects in an open-source manner. I remember being intensely interested in what he was saying, but I need to dig out my notes and see where it goes.
We'll see where it goes! For this to be successful, it needs to also remain under the radar; otherwise, it is just another dreary project for people to work on.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Freedom for all means freedom for all!
From the State of the Union address:
If you truly believe that marriage is just between a man and a woman, I apologize to whomever your partner is. Your relationship is based upon the thinnest of foundations. No wonder marriage is threatened today.
I agree that statistically, marriage does appear to be "threatened" - remember, roughly 50% of marriages today will fail. But, since gays are unable to be married, I see no reasoning that indicates preventing their marriage will help. My parents are divorced and gays had nothing to do with it. My sister-in-law(s) have both been divorced and gays had nothing to do with those divorces.
Maybe, just maybe, any consenting adult should have the freedom to get married as long as they both want a life-long partnership. Maybe we should make it harder for everyone to get married since we're so concerned about marriage and such experts on marriage.
Unfortunately, this appears to be driven by two things:
If we fail in our quest for freedom, the American Dream is gone.
It is our duty. It is our privelege. It is our honor.
Never forget this.
Because marriage is a sacred institution and the foundation of society, it should not be re-defined by activist judges. For the good of families, children, and society, I support a constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage.To me, this is plain bigotry and I am so sick an tired of it. Sadly, I fear Wisconsin will soon head this way.
If you truly believe that marriage is just between a man and a woman, I apologize to whomever your partner is. Your relationship is based upon the thinnest of foundations. No wonder marriage is threatened today.
I agree that statistically, marriage does appear to be "threatened" - remember, roughly 50% of marriages today will fail. But, since gays are unable to be married, I see no reasoning that indicates preventing their marriage will help. My parents are divorced and gays had nothing to do with it. My sister-in-law(s) have both been divorced and gays had nothing to do with those divorces.
Maybe, just maybe, any consenting adult should have the freedom to get married as long as they both want a life-long partnership. Maybe we should make it harder for everyone to get married since we're so concerned about marriage and such experts on marriage.
Unfortunately, this appears to be driven by two things:
- Religion. Somehow "God created man and woman" has been translated to God does not want a man/man or woman/woman relationship. Somehow we have forgotten that without men and women, our species would not continue. Somehow we think that by "punishing" gays the marriage problem will go away. Somehow we think that society will fall apart because marriage may not mean a man/woman relationship. Somehow marriage lost the concepts of "love", "partnership", "respect", and "life-long" just to name a few things. Somehow marriage by the state is getting crossed with marriage in the church. Somehow we have forgotten about the 1st and 16th amendments which prevent the establishment of a State religion.
- Hate. Many people hate gays. They are reviled. They are different. And, we just can't stand it, can we? Everyone needs to be just like me.
If we fail in our quest for freedom, the American Dream is gone.
It is our duty. It is our privelege. It is our honor.
Never forget this.
Quote for the night...
State of the Union address:
Sorry, caught me off guard there... make those speech writers check their work before they put you on stage.
The abolition of slavery was only a dream — until it was fulfilled.Uhh, isn't any dream a dream until it has been fulfilled?
Sorry, caught me off guard there... make those speech writers check their work before they put you on stage.
Not for the faint of heart...
Just want to whine a little...
I've recently picked up a (used) dual Xeon machine - a Compaq EVO W6000 workstation. I'll be using it for my Myth master backend. It's a good machine.
However, after spending an hour messing around with adding additional harddrives, I'm frustrated. Not really Compaq's fault, either.
I've got the original boot disk - 40GB. I had a 200GB drive that I had picked up a while ago (and never used, believe-it-or-not) and just got an additional 200GB drive. Unfortunately, the workstation is only setup for 2 hard drives.
Isn't that silly? Some business buys machines that are dual Xeon capable. Most likely these will be picked up by someone with grander purposes than email, internet surfing, and word processing. Something big. But, you limit the design to 2 internal drive bays. D'oh!
Anyway, I spent the hour messing around with my 5.25" adapters - 4 different kinds. None of them worked. Either the internal screw holes did not align with the threadded holes on the harddrive (standards people!), or the holes aligned, but the area I needed to get at was behind another piece of metal (design!). Umm, these are screws people - I need to get at it with a screwdriver!?
I've settled for an extra 2ooGB for the short-term. I'll futz with it later; I'm not tossing 200GB away.
I've recently picked up a (used) dual Xeon machine - a Compaq EVO W6000 workstation. I'll be using it for my Myth master backend. It's a good machine.
However, after spending an hour messing around with adding additional harddrives, I'm frustrated. Not really Compaq's fault, either.
I've got the original boot disk - 40GB. I had a 200GB drive that I had picked up a while ago (and never used, believe-it-or-not) and just got an additional 200GB drive. Unfortunately, the workstation is only setup for 2 hard drives.
Isn't that silly? Some business buys machines that are dual Xeon capable. Most likely these will be picked up by someone with grander purposes than email, internet surfing, and word processing. Something big. But, you limit the design to 2 internal drive bays. D'oh!
Anyway, I spent the hour messing around with my 5.25" adapters - 4 different kinds. None of them worked. Either the internal screw holes did not align with the threadded holes on the harddrive (standards people!), or the holes aligned, but the area I needed to get at was behind another piece of metal (design!). Umm, these are screws people - I need to get at it with a screwdriver!?
I've settled for an extra 2ooGB for the short-term. I'll futz with it later; I'm not tossing 200GB away.
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