azekeil

Today (ok, technically yesterday) was a good day, especially in retrospect, sitting here watching videos helping me to visualise the fourth dimension and chatting with sessifet25 about this and other things.

In telling this story I should point out my state of mind; that my job hunting thus far has not secured me so much as a sniff from another company yet, although agencies are responding in a variety of ways (mostly OK) but not grinding me down too much just yet.

Earlier today I decided to pay a visit to the company just down the road from me, which is a factory producing steam boilers. I had identified them as the source of a low droning noise, which switches on and off regularly every few minutes, both day and night. Being a light sleeper, it was keeping me awake at night. When it first started, it wasn't too loud and was only a problem in the summer months when I wanted the window open, but now it's loud enough that it's quite bothersome even in the winter with the windows closed.

I was polite and friendly with the manager there, who was polite and friendly back. I explained why I was there, and mentioned that I'd come directly to them in the first instance. He showed me around the site, allowed me to identify the noise with him, and assured me that someone will be in touch, either a production manager or an environmental manager. In the mean time, there is a service due on the equipment this weekend when they will take a look at the issue and see if there's anything to be done about it, and also close the windows in the room with the boiler that is making the noise.

They are due to be out by Christmas this year anyway, which is fine. I was thrilled to have such a positive outcome with the company and mentioned in passing that I had recently been made redundant. The manager showing me around said that they were sometimes looking for mechanics and if I wanted I should apply through the agency they use.. not my line of work but I was grateful for the consideration.

So, really, just a reflection on the human touch being so important in how the outcomes of things go. Everyone knows this, but doesn't really have time or energy to put it into practise. Possibly I had today as I have more time/energy on my hands than I might otherwise do..

I didn't get it.

Dropbox is awesome. I use it to keep files in sync between computers (you can even download your files from a secure website if you want to). If you sign up using this link, we both get a bonus 250MB on top of the free 2GB storage.

One problem I found with it is it only syncs files in the Dropbox folder, not files outside like for example game saves..

If you want to fix that, there are various guides but they're not really complete. My easy way of achieving this (there are other ways if you want to look into them):

1. Download and install Link Shell Extension
2. For each folder outside the Dropbox folder you want to sync:
   1. Move it to within the Dropbox folder (doesn't matter where as long as it's underneath the Dropbox folder - so maybe under a "Game Save" folder)
   2. Rename it to something sensible (as most game save dirs are called "Save" or something), remembering what the original folder name was
   3. Drag and drop the folder using right-mouse back to its original location and select Drop Here... -> Symbolic Link
   4. Rename the link back to the original name
3. Sit back and enjoy!

On other computers you want to put the files in, also install Link Shell Extension, delete the original folders and right-click drag-drop the folders from your Dropbox folder to the locations, choosing Drop Here... -> Symbolic Link, renaming the links back to the original folder names..

The reason why you need to move the folder and not simply link it to within the Dropbox folder is that Dropbox monitors the files within that folder to keep them in sync - it won't follow the symbolic links and monitor the files in the other folders.

Today I got given 2 weeks notice of risk of redundancy. This will be the second time at this place; 2 years ago was the first time.

Practical things: I am no longer required at work; I need to look for a new role internally (and my choice to look externally as well).

Personal things: This is about the best time this could have happened. Last time I took advantage of the opportunity to get a new role. This time round there will hopefully be even more opportunity, and my personal circumstances are better to boot.

Right now I'm exhausted as I'm not 100% anyway, so I'm just going to go and relax for a bit now.

It's been a long time since I last wrote. Mainly because I haven't really felt like writing in you. Since I last wrote, lots of things have happened, but also nothing much. What has inspired me to write now is the fact that recently I went to the Discworld convention. This was.. different. I didn't know many of the people there very well, and I spend a large amount of the time bewildered, drunk, tired or generally a mixture of the three.

I won't write a report of the con, because many others have done their own, and besides, that's not what I want to talk about directly. What I do want to talk about is how it made me feel, because that is what has inspired me to write something. random_c made a post I quite agree with when she said:

More and more I'm coming to believe that a passion for what you're doing, and love for the people you're doing it for, can go further towards Pulling It Off than training and experience, at least in a certain proportion of those involved. Yes, you need competent people in charge, but if you can't get volunteers to help you, then whatever it is probably isn't worth doing.

( Introspection )

I want a website, potentially a semantic wiki, that lists things that have changed in recent history, or are about to change. Things like laws, technological advances (e.g. cloning, etc). Like Wikipedia they should be editable by the masses and referenced from a reliable source, but the idea is that they should be fairly minimal, to allow displaying in list format. The idea would be that people could view categories of these facts to catch up on changes in their area of interest. Other information that would be useful would be information on when it last changed (and perhaps a history of changes).

I find I read news sites to understand changes to facts about the reality I live in, but rather than read through all sorts of stuff I'd like to simply be able to look up the latest advances in, say, the fight against cancer.

What do people think? Would this be interesting/useful?

Update: This was inspired after I realised that there were a few additional 'dwarf planets' detected that I didn't know about..

Today I am on holiday. I get to do what I want, when I want. So far, today, that has included getting up at the normal time because although I was tired I knew it would be better than dozing in bed.

I'm listening to Police on the hifi, made all the sweeter because I successfully configured my phone to stream it from my server at home and automated it into a single command. Carrying your music and swapping it around to suit your mood is for chumps!

Later, sessifet25 will finish work and arrive, which will be the really rather tasty icing on my already bountiful cake :)

Contrast and compare:

Programmatically adding an email alias on Linux:
echo newalias: mylinuxaccount>> /etc/aliases

Programmatically adding an email alias to Exchange on Windows:

1. Realise there's no simple file to edit. Figure out how to do it using Windows Powershell.
2. Put the commands in a file. For some reason it's refusing to run. Oh, scripts have to be signed now. Look through that faff. Realise that you can just tell Windows that it doesn't need scripts to be signed. Do that. It now runs.
3. However, when you put the commands in a file, it doesn't work. Realise that you were using the Exchange powershell, but that's not available as a command. Finally manage to google that you need to load the Exchange add-in using a command in the script; now it works!
4. Proceed to research a way to get the command to be run from Linux. Try various methods, but all seem to result in various dead-ends due to Windows new 'security' contexts, which despite the fact I've logged in fine, Exchange doesn't like the credentials I was using. Foiled.
5. Through googling I realise I can run the task as a scheduled task, if I request it on demand! Win! I suppose I can output the results to a file (as scheduled tasks aren't interactive) and just pick them up afterwards. Ah, foiled, I can't pass arbitrary parameters to a scheduled task. Oh, win again - I can just run a batch file which runs another batch file I've created that contains the actual commands I want running (with parameters) and then collect the output from a file afterwards.

So, in pseudocode:

1. Log in remotely and write commands to batch file.
2. Run scheduled task on demand, which manages to run in the correct security context for the commands I want to perform, by running a batch file which calls my batch file I've just written with the commands in.
3. This in turn runs a powershell script, which I've disabled the check for signed scripts on, which actually performs the addition of the alias within Exchange.
4. The output of this all gets dumped into a file (because I'm running a scheduled task non-interactively), which my script reads and passes back to the calling Linux program.

Now all I've got to do is wrap that all in a web interface to allow easy changing of email aliases...

Windows - despite improvements to allow scripting and the like, you still truly suck in terms of being easy and logical to understand and automate.

It is possibly a timely reminder that there is no big secret to existence. Anyone telling you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something.

There is no 'secret' to personal confidence. The trouble comes as a product of society, when one compares oneself to others. It's a result of the unspoken social pecking order.

Poker is a game that takes the essense of this and turns it into a game. The winner isn't the person with the strongest hand, it's the person with the most confidence.

The bugger is that it's rather difficult to break out of the self-evaluation though, because in order to be a part of society you have to play by the rules, or get branded an outcast.

Pre-ordered n900 with play.com on 22nd December for £470, stock due 8th Jan, delivery to home address for security reasons (which of course is useless for me). Stock then due 15th Jan. Stock then due 5th Feb. Duly cancelled order with play.com, placed with the nokia shop uk at £500, who have it in stock. At checkout, notice a voucher code option. One quick google later and a 10% off code that works - a cool £50 off and delivery in 3-5 business days to my work address - phone's now shipped, too. Win!

Also, upgraded my netbook recently, going from an Advent 4211 (identical to MSI Wind U100) to an Acer 1810TZ.. :)

Oh, and Dell finally fixed my XPS laptop - sessifet25 will be pleased :)