Plantagenet Penguinista

I’m currently reading this in bunches. It’s a neat little book by a living-in-England Irishwoman diana beaver , which is focussed on ways people learn, but ventures a fair way into real Neuro Linguistic Programming. There is some controvery about NLP since the two founders (Bandler & Grinder) argued with one another & ceased working with one another, but a key factor in this book is that the author often gives small examples which one can test... & they work. Last year, I figured out the principal reason for me going through school with a genius-level IQ but getting only slightly-above-average results, then falling into IT & finding it to be paradise: I’m a visuo-spatial learner. Where someone with photographic memory would take away a detailed image for life (& a decade later be able to recall serial numbers, signatures et al ), I take away the patterns, the connections, the network — which is IT. So... in general learning/communication mode...

Last week, I drowned (completely immersed) a Canon A480 still-cam (which of course also takes minor videos) in Fortescue Falls while trying to take a video clip of same. Since the water is very close to pure there, I hauled out the batteries, the SD card, then flicked it as dry as I could. Carried it open-handed back to Forrestfield, then rested it on a shelf, panel-door open, for 2 days. Tried it. The electronics seemed to work fine but the optics were not. Massively over-bright & fuzzy. Frowned, hauled the batteries out while it was still powered on, leaving the lens extended. Left it to dry for a few more days. Jammed it into a case which went into a coach to Albany with me. A few days ago, without much hope, I switched it on again. Joy! It perks worfectly! (-: So... I used it for dazzling some Yankee friends with a morning video clip of Little Beach, using a real camera stand (-: eleven minutes of peaceful bliss, set to gentle wave noises! :-) & with some stills from around...

New toy: Suzuki Sierra. Sold to me(-ish) for $2500, happy with that as the Red Book price is $4500. Now getting accustomed to: the habits/skills of driving again more transport choices having more photogenic spots within reach It’s all good! (-:

You have a small business with 20 people using computers. Let’s have a look at some pricing. Basic server with Mandriva Linux 2009.1: $1100.00 Cost per seat: $55.00 Includes office software & a virus scanner. (No virus scanner is actually required). Basic server with MS-Windows 2008 (5 CALs): $3500.00 CALs apear to be about $200 a seat (Edu would be about $45), so... 15 more CALs for the above: $3000.00 Nett: $6500.00 Cost per seat: $325 Does not include any office software or virus scanner; you could, if you enjoy constant naysaying, try installing OpenOffice for free. A PC for each seat is $502, plus screen ($180). These workstations do not require a virus scanner, but each instance (user) running on an MS-Windows 2008 server does. The workstations can be set up to run MS-Windows XP (guessing that an OEM version could still be grabbed for about $150, Vista would be a bit breathless, don’t know about MS-Windows 7), so would require a virus scanner each, but there is no ...

I did no programming today. (-: I discussed Internet connections with a realtor & with a doctor in the course of using their services. The result will be that the realtor saves at least $31 a month & gets a faster connection, the doctor saves $23 a month & also gets a faster connection. I filled out a DASS test, got 10 for D, 7 for A, 17 for S. The doctor after the doctor testing decided that the moderate A was directly due to my VSO’s influence, the dangerously high S was the result of certain pressures of which most can soon be removed, the high-ish D was a consequence of the S & again was high-ish rather than very high due to VSO. I began updating postal addresses. From Medicare, HBF, GP, Hudson Henning Goodman, others. I composed some Fathers’ Day thankyous. They will need to be vetted by legal eagles before being sent, but they will get there, they will be assuring & comforting when they arrive. The weather here was cantankerous. Started off fine, then g...

“Keep It Simple, Sweetheart“ sounds easy enough to do, but in many ways, this is not a simple world. I do, however, enjoy simplifying things. (-: Facing this rotten, ancient C program, having it segfault after a few minor changes for no obvious reason, I began to feel a bit stupid. So... what happens when “ We believe that we are stupid? ” The curious thing about this belief is that it has been inflicted upon us by somebody else. We would have no concept of stupidity if someone had not told us about it & applied the adjective to us. So reckons Diana Beaver, an educational researcher. After discussing life for a bit with someone I seriously value, in which I learned that being “The Crazy Grandpa” is acceptable, but that I am very much not stupid, I decided to apply KISS. It wasn’t working. Why not? I’d made only a few changes, so the reason is likely to be simple. Back to the basics. I sat down & pored through every line of code I...