Archive | November, 2003

I’m looking at republishing much of the white paper and slide material available at my site as PDF. Why? The format is “Portable” readable in many browsers and platforms consistently. It’s easier to print out in readable format. It doesn’t take significantly more space or bandwidth than the bloated HTML of Word or StarOffice documents. And it looks better.

I’d really be interested in feedback on whether you would find the PDF more or less convenient, accessible or useful. Hit the comments link below and share your opinion, please.

Scott Dierdorf writes a great column in the Baltimore Sun this week, picked up by my local paper — haven’t found a link online yet. In it Scott bemoans the machine that takes more to maintain than it gives us back. In part, he says:

Would John Steinbeck have finished The Grapes of Wrath if he had to spend his time ferretting out the spyware from his computer? Would Ernest Hemingway have even started The Old Man and the Sea if he had been occupied with critical Windows security patches every two weeks?

Very good stuff. Check it out, if you can, and send along a link if you find one.

Friday was “Buy Nothing Day,” but unfortunately, I didn’t stick with it this year, the first in a decade or two. At 5 AM, I could be found outside the local Best Buy with Laura, shivering in the cold. We bought a laptop that’s the graduation present for my son. What a miserable experience! An hour of standing around outside followed by a mad and completely disorganized crush into the store, and an hour-and-a-half of standing around to purchase the one item.

I hope it will be two decades before I shop again on madness day.

Brother Joe made it to Seattle on his humanitarian mission to Yap in Micronesia before being told to stand down, and then scrambling for a way back east on the busiest travel week of the year. Fortunately, he made it and got to visit for Thanksgiving yesterday. Much to give thanks for.

He also sent on this great column, “Gertrude Stein was right,” bemoaning the monotonous uniformity of America. A good read.

Jeremy Zawodny notes the release of PostgreSQL 7.4 and links to a couple of interesting articles. PostgreSQL is certainly an attractive alternative database.