Plantagenet Penguinista

I have an application, written (by someone else) in C, running on SCO OpenServer 5 Unix, which I need to convince that Linux is a better thing to do — amongst other things, it is much easier to find people to maintain such a system, plus significantly easier to find matching hardware with drivers. Plus when SCO finally bites the dust, major support questions arise. It is written, mostly , in very old-style C. No function protoypes at all. It was compiled, it seems, with an ancient version of gcc, which should make things easier. The compile shell-scripts are a bit cumbersome, don’t refer to any particular breed of shell, have about zero error checking, use obsolete/defective options. Never mind. Some definition files were copied in wholesale from the SCO Unix system files. Never mind about copyrights. Erase. We’ll use modern, intrinsic-to-system ones. Terminal (text screen) handling is absolutely hard-wired into the code [ printf("\33[%d;%dH", row, col); ] for a VT-10...

In an ongoing sign that our government has no clue, especially during times of recession, they have still failed to return funding to the Belmont Business Enterprise Centre . At their monthly get-together last night, I won a neat little book: Small Business, Big Opportunity . Numerous small businesses are nurtured by BEC; for example I am giving a free consult to an inventor this morning, last night met an IT consultant who uses their services, originally based his consultancy on my ideas. The rest of my life has been... interesting. Much unrelated trauma amongst friends, some very good (hello G & E O), some very bad (hello, K & S D). The best woman in the world is struggling to get a short sale completed but is otherwise irrevocably cute. Accommodation is a bit dodgy-future but looking good at the moment. I should have my MDL back next week (courtesy of an RPH Neurologist, my GP & the DPI, is that enough acronyms?). My son turns 10yo next month, it would be good if I get a...

I’m currently looking at ramping my consulting business back up again, then at developing & extending it in different ways, perhaps into different areas. The business has featured outright programming, plus installation & support of Open Source systems (often servers). It is amazing how much a Linux-based server does not cost when compared with an MS-Windows-based server, even when dedicated entirely to providing MS-Windows focussed file & print services ( SMB ). It is also amazing to behold how little maintenance & support is required for a Linux-based workstation, either simple web/office functions or operating MS-Windows-aimed (or even MS-DOS) applications through WINE . A major advantage is, of course: no viruses. At all. Nor spyware. Plus the option of automatic updates. Applications typically included out-of-the-box will amount to the equivalent of at least hundreds of dollars’ cost in non-Open applications. For larger networks, it is quite simple to m...

That’s the cost here in a small town in Wisconsin (really, USD$2.39 per gallon). Prices are a bit different to Oz, often much cheaper (like the fuel), sometimes much more expensive (e.g. mushrooms, AUD$18.87/kg). It’s been an adventure. Being with someone I can trust (absolutely, in every area), with a great sense of humour, great legs, much understanding, much to share has been a beyond-awesome experience by itself. Seeing SummerFest then the County zoo (they had a walk-in Oz bird display on the day including budgies, weiros, rosellas) at Milwaukee was a blast. The Dells , with their near-unique sandstone layers ex the Missoula mega-flood was also highly memorable. About a quarter of the number plates said Illinois, about another tenth said Minnesota. I’m getting to know Interstate 94 quite well. (-: I got to walk through the Wind Point lighthouse in Racine, kept by mine host’s paternal grandfather for 34 years. I got to eat lunch at Fred’s , a great...

Start dhcpd on laptop, plug USD$29 wireless router in, read logs, point Firefox at resulting address, switch on WPA2 for security, give fixed external address which matches RoadRunner/Time-Warner cable modem’s expectations, set DHCP on router to hand out addresses in that range, save-n-reboot router, plug router into cable modem, plug original XP desktop into one of router’s switch ports, all systems go, run Mandriva’s wireless config thingy, 4 clicks, one WPA2 key password, done. Quotaless cable connection (through which this post is happening) now works. Permanently. Without disturbing existing PC. From anywhere in the house or yard, including sunbaking on the swing-seat or grilling at the BBQ Grill, or seated in the Kia Sedona within the basement garage. SSH empowerment permits remote management of machines in Melville, Carlisle, Northbridge, Brisbane. Would need a green card to work on a machine in nearby Chicago.

...is easier than I thunk it’d be. I am a dual Canadian/Australian citizen, but needed only an Oz passport to travel to the USA (& to qualify for a waived Visa ). All of my electronic gear, it happens, runs on 100-250V, so all I needed was an adaptor plug. I also grabbed a 4-way power board, so I can run my laptop, battery charger, camera charger & one spare all at once. An Oz cit can drive in the US on their existing licence, direct from the lips of their DMV, which is simpler than the form which the written docs require one to obtain from the RAC. So I’ve had fun poling a Kia Sedona (nearest Oz equivalent is the Carnival, the Sedona in Oz is only the smaller of two US variants) mini-van around. Flying over did weird things to my circadian rhythm: in 33½ hours, I flew from 5:45AM in the morning to 5:38PM in the afternoon of the same day via a ≈5hr mini-night en route past Hawaii. Before complaining about Aussie roads, drive on a few in the USA. They m...