For some time now I've been in the odd position of being a system architect on my project but not the system architect. And then the system architect left (the company).
As I'd already been doing some of his job for a while, I simply started picking up more of it, however this was all unofficial at this point. Anyway they offically advertised the post, and I was interviewed on Tuesday. It's been a long week since then, but this lunchtime, I finally got told I've officially got the job.
This is actually quite a big challenge, but it's the chance to do a lot of good stuff, and I'm really looking forward to it. It's a bit scary too, but I guess that's a good thing!
Friday, 26 September 2008
Friday, 19 September 2008
Words
Is it wrong to teach your 5 year old how to say “antidisestablishmentarianism”?
No?
How about telling them to ask their teacher what it means?
No?
How about telling them to ask their teacher what it means?
Saturday, 30 August 2008
My house is a mess
Well that's not really very surprising I know; but currently it's even more of a mess than I was expecting.
We got up this morning, and full of enthusiasm we decided to do some tidying. Now the landing has been full of all our Cropredy kit (tents, chairs, etc) for weeks, and finally we were going to put it back into the roof. Since the roof is full of junk however, we thought it was a good time to finally throw some of it away, and make more room for the things we actually want.
So off I go into the nursery, to bag up all the stuff in there that needs throwing away, and Herring headed up to the roof. Soon he was happily throwing things out of the roof (literally!) and I was walled in by bags of stuff. I say how happy I am that we're finally tidying this lot up, and he says, yes, something normally comes up which stops us getting this done. (Jinx!)
So a bit later he wants to show me something, so I go to look. He is at the top of the loft ladder with something in his hand (small and light, whatever it was). Then suddenly 'Ow, my back!'. He's suddenly incapacitated, and struggles down the ladder. End of tidying!
So now my landing is still full of Cropredy kit AND things destined to be thrown out. Not quite the result I was looking for.
He has assured me he was not deliberately trying to get out of tidying...
We got up this morning, and full of enthusiasm we decided to do some tidying. Now the landing has been full of all our Cropredy kit (tents, chairs, etc) for weeks, and finally we were going to put it back into the roof. Since the roof is full of junk however, we thought it was a good time to finally throw some of it away, and make more room for the things we actually want.
So off I go into the nursery, to bag up all the stuff in there that needs throwing away, and Herring headed up to the roof. Soon he was happily throwing things out of the roof (literally!) and I was walled in by bags of stuff. I say how happy I am that we're finally tidying this lot up, and he says, yes, something normally comes up which stops us getting this done. (Jinx!)
So a bit later he wants to show me something, so I go to look. He is at the top of the loft ladder with something in his hand (small and light, whatever it was). Then suddenly 'Ow, my back!'. He's suddenly incapacitated, and struggles down the ladder. End of tidying!
So now my landing is still full of Cropredy kit AND things destined to be thrown out. Not quite the result I was looking for.
He has assured me he was not deliberately trying to get out of tidying...
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Oh why is IE such a time waster?
Well, that's probably not the right question to ask, as its easily answered:
"Internet Explorer is such a time waster as it does not adhere to web standards, and does not provide any sort of helpful error messages."
A better question is why is IE so difficult to work with. The answer to that is probably something along the lines of "Microsoft did not really care about developers who were not using its products."
As you have probably gathered by now, I have just spent the best part of four hours with a Javascript (a rant by itself) error that only appears in IE. What's more, IE provided very little diagnostics about what was actually wrong. So I was basically left with adding lines of code to see if that shifted the error about, so I could gradually narrow down where the actual problem was.
We got there in the end, but it really should not be that difficult. If IE had something like Firebug, it would make the whole thing a lot easier. So would IE adhering to published standards, but I suspect that porcines will be taking off on skis in hell before that happens.
"Internet Explorer is such a time waster as it does not adhere to web standards, and does not provide any sort of helpful error messages."
A better question is why is IE so difficult to work with. The answer to that is probably something along the lines of "Microsoft did not really care about developers who were not using its products."
As you have probably gathered by now, I have just spent the best part of four hours with a Javascript (a rant by itself) error that only appears in IE. What's more, IE provided very little diagnostics about what was actually wrong. So I was basically left with adding lines of code to see if that shifted the error about, so I could gradually narrow down where the actual problem was.
We got there in the end, but it really should not be that difficult. If IE had something like Firebug, it would make the whole thing a lot easier. So would IE adhering to published standards, but I suspect that porcines will be taking off on skis in hell before that happens.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Anti-terrorist Ants
Our house is not a million miles away from Chequers, as it is located in a particularly nice part of the Chilterns, we are in its vicinity fairly frequently.
Yesterday, we were walking near Chequers when we came upon its boundary. This is quite clearly marked with up ended rail track embedded in the ground to prevent vehicles approaching the building, and large warning signs.
What we were un-prepared for were the large red ants that came running out of a small branch that Louisa picked up, which then proceeded to give her a very nasty bite.
I tell you, you'd be mad to approach the place. They've even trained the wildlife to protect it!
Yesterday, we were walking near Chequers when we came upon its boundary. This is quite clearly marked with up ended rail track embedded in the ground to prevent vehicles approaching the building, and large warning signs.
What we were un-prepared for were the large red ants that came running out of a small branch that Louisa picked up, which then proceeded to give her a very nasty bite.
I tell you, you'd be mad to approach the place. They've even trained the wildlife to protect it!
Monday, 7 July 2008
Melaka
Melaka has exchanged hands several times over the years. Apart from its native inhabitants, its been run by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and most recently, the British. This shows in its architecture, and its food, amongst other things.
On our visit, we saw the old fort, mostly destroyed by the British, to stop it falling into other hands, an old Portuguese church, and lots of Dutch architecture. There were also many funny bicycle things with side car seats for carrying tourists around. These were decorated extensively with flowers and tinsel, sporting similarly decorated umbrellas and generally playing music radio very loud!
We had some very nice satay, mango juice and dutch cake.
So far, the heat has been quite bearable, and though there is air conditioning in the car, I could have coped without it, though possibly with the windows wound down!
On our visit, we saw the old fort, mostly destroyed by the British, to stop it falling into other hands, an old Portuguese church, and lots of Dutch architecture. There were also many funny bicycle things with side car seats for carrying tourists around. These were decorated extensively with flowers and tinsel, sporting similarly decorated umbrellas and generally playing music radio very loud!
We had some very nice satay, mango juice and dutch cake.
So far, the heat has been quite bearable, and though there is air conditioning in the car, I could have coped without it, though possibly with the windows wound down!
Sunday, 6 July 2008
In Malaysia
Well, we're here!
Its warm, sunny, and we're gently recovering from lack of sleep, and the hour change.
Plan for the day: Malacca.
Its warm, sunny, and we're gently recovering from lack of sleep, and the hour change.
Plan for the day: Malacca.
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