August 31, 2004
Linux / LAMP course
There's just so much you can learn about Linux - it's a complete operating system and you can easily get 3 or 4 days of user training, followed by weeks of "admin" training before you even start to think about Apache httpd, web site management tools, Perl, PHP, MySQL and the rest. LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, Perl and PHP) really could be a daunting set of technologies to learn.
I've used Linux for a number of years, and I've trained on Perl since 1996 ... with MySQL and PHP course being added later. I used to train on Solaris in the 1990s (to rave reviews) and I've done quite a few web sites too. So when the I got was asked Hey, Graham - you know about all these topics - can you do a LAMP introduction it seemed a natural development. And here we are, notes written, course run a couple of times already and again this week ... small group as yet, but these things take their time to build up.
1 day - Linux for users
1 day - Linux Admin for webmasters
2 days - Running a LAMP web service
Most of our own domains are hosted on Linux systems and we can log in through ssh and ftp to update and configure them; typically we have good access to httpd and Linux services and utilities, and there are thousands more like us. We're planning that this 4 day course covers well the introduction that most people need, and we'll leave the specialist stuff from firewalls to mail servers, and from DNS routers to SAMBA configuration to the specialists with the longer courses.
Posted by gje at 08:16 AM
More about Graham Ellis of Well House ConsultantsUseful link: Linux training
August 30, 2004
10 Years of experience
Ten years ago, the Sunday Trading laws in England and Wales were reformed. Up to that time, it was legal to sell perishable goods (such as fresh carrots) but not other goods (such as tinned carrots) on a Sunday. With modern times, the law had become an ass and was overdue for reform; we had the "keep Sunday Special" campaign - which as far as I could see was an alliance of religious and trade union leaders - campaigning for the law to be tightened up, and a wide church of others campaigning for it to be relaxed. What came out was something of a compromise, with shops over a certain size able to open for up to 6 hours on a Sunday, and smaller shops able to stay open as long as they wished.
When I rose this morning, I was reading elsewhere a post by a young person that accused a whole group (myself included) of ageism - of treating the author in a certain way because we know she's quite young. If I were to tell her about the old Sunday Trading laws - which I know will be outside her personal experience because of the lack of years she has under her belt, would that be ageism. If so, is it actually wrong?
Posted by gje at 07:34 AM
August 29, 2004
Web design platoon
Form design is a discipline in its own right, and it's amazing just how many sites get it wrong! Let me introduce some of the characters to you:
Private N. Limit Nick Limit - that's short for numeric limit. Nick is only capable of doing a limited number for things at the same time (and often that's just one thing). Ask him to supply you with a download of a piece of software, and he'll ask you for your email address and agreement to a set of terms, and he'll possibly ask you if you want to be added to a mailing list. He'll ask politely enough and you'll be happy with the experience ... but when you go on say "can I also have" ... he'll start asking those same questions again. No way of saying "Look - Nick - it's me again. Can we take it that I still don't want to be on that mailing list".
Private W. Browser Walter (Wot) Browser is like a faithful old dog with one Master. Excellent service if you're running Internet Explorer, but anyone else gets odd looks and peculiar responses. Some things get left off completely, and if you're not "IE" you can press some of his buttons till your blue in the face and he won't do anything.
Private F. Line Fred (Fast) Line can talk the hind legs of a donkey. Ask him a simple question and he'll spend hours answering with great patience. But what a shame when all you want is a "yes or a "no" to get an enormous pile of graphics and fully scrolling window of "100 most popular question". Does he thing that everyone has broadband?
Private H. Secret Hughie "hidden" Secret assumes you know how to address him, and he won't do anything unless you tell him right. I'm looking at a form on a website in another window as I write this and I have "from" and "to" boxes ... and a pull down menu alongside it. The options are "annual" and a series of numbers from 3 to 31, with some numbers missing. Hughie has gone to a lot of trouble to give me this input, but I simply don't know what it means. Help button? Well - that would be second best but, no Hughie doesn't provide one.
Private M. Option Miss Mellisa Option (missing option). Missy will ask you to choose between a whole lot of options, but you'll look at them and say "none of those applies to me". Business or pleasure? Neither - family duty but I'm not allowed to say that. There's a rumour of a close relationship between Nick (whom we met earlier) and Mellisa.
Corporal Xor In charge of the platoon (and Missy's Dad too). The Corporal will provide you with all the options, but give you a choice that you really can't make. You want him to reserve you two rooms and he'll insist they're both doubles or both singles. You want travel insurance and he'll insist that the whole party is under 66, or the whole party is over that age. He'll ask you what time of day you want to fly and won't give you an "any" box - and is he's having a really good day he'll then simply tell you that there aren't any flights at that time. He's a past master at appearing helpful but being so frustrating that he makes your blood boil - after all, how else did he come to be in charge of our group of "likely lads"?
Posted by gje at 07:20 AM
August 28, 2004
Here documents
If you find yourself repeating something within a piece of code .... there's probably an easier way. After all, most programmer are lazy and that applies just as much (if not more) to the authors of the languages. Remember to use functions / methods / subs / procs / defs rather than cut and paste, and remember to use required / used / included / imported files too.
From time to time, I see a chunk of text with the word "print" carefully inserted in front of each line, and each line of text embedded in quotes. This is just the repetition I'm suggesting that you avoid - although in this case the solution is a "here document".
In Perl, write:
print <<"DONE";
This is a block of text to print
that is several lines long
DONE
and in PHP:
print <<<DONE
This is a block of text to print
that is several lines long
DONE;
Posted by gje at 04:00 PM
August 27, 2004
Bank Holiday
Have a great Bank Holiday.
Offices and Monday-to-Friday businesses in the UK will be closed on Monday as it's a Bank Holiday. Bank Holidays originated in Victorian times when workers got little leave; the Spring and August Bank Holidays were their two days in the year (apart from Sundays) when they didn't have to work, and with the coming of the railway age Bank Holidays became the day when they went on excursions to Skegness, Scarborough or Blackpool. Did you know that the first railway excursion, organised by Thomas Cook, ran from Leicester to Loughborough ..... that's about 20 miles.
Posted by gje at 07:25 AM
August 26, 2004
Silence is Golden
So why am I posting this, you may ask!
I was in Bristol yesterday and came back to see a whole mailbox full of messages from a forum on which I moderate a quiet backwater, concerning a new member who .... oh - it doesn't matter who she was or what her history was or what she did ... and I wondered how I should react. I have some views, some thoughts. But - it's not my forum, she wasn't even posting in my backwater ... better to write my views and post them to /dev/null.
There's often times when I'm training that I'm asked a question that could be given a very long and highly involved answer and I have the technical knowledge to give that complete answer. But it's quite usual for the questioner to be much better served by a shorter answer like "Yes" or "No" ;-)
Posted by gje at 07:27 AM
August 25, 2004
Perl for breakfast
@breakfast = ("sausage","bacon","eggs");
# List Context
@b = @breakfast;
print @b," ... a list \n";
# Scalar Context
$c = @breakfast;
print $c," ... a scalar \n";
# Double Quote Context
$d = "@breakfast";
print $d," ... in double quotes \n";
__END__
Perl doesn't have arrays - it has lists which can do all the good things an array can do, and
much much more. This piece of code is a reminder of how a Perl list can be referred to in
different contexts ... giving you the contents, the contents with a space between each element,
and a count of the number of elements in the list with the most subtle of syntax changes.
Results when run:
earth-wind-and-fire:~/aug04 grahamellis$ perl nugget
sausagebaconeggs ... a list
3 ... a scalar
sausage bacon eggs ... in double quotes
earth-wind-and-fire:~/aug04 grahamellis$
Posted by gje at 06:53 AM
Useful link: Perl training
Sales technique
I have what an interviewer would call a "proven sales record". I've taken an average sales territory and turned it into the best in the land. I've less formally helped with sales enquiries for a small training outfit (not ourselves) and seen them thrive with my help. And for the past few years, Lisa and I have grown "Well House Consultants" year by year into the position where we want it to be. And yet - I don't enjoy selling. I hate making cold calls, and I would rather not be badgering potential customers for their order. Much MUCH better to have a product that's second to none, and to have a sales role that's concerned to assist the customer in ordering what's right for him - even if it's not your product. If you can afford to take the time to build up a customer relationship and you have an excellent product to back it up, then there's no need for pressure sales.
Training is a "funny" business. A course is a huge success if the group of trainees goes away and makes effective use of what they've learnt. And that may mean no repeat business! Learning something is often a "one-off". You may need to buy coffee every month and company letterhead from time to time, but you only need to learn Python once. So why the long term approach? Because it still pays dividends.
I'm writing these notes in a training room just to the north of Bristol [posted following morning]. I was last here, I believe, about 3 months ago and at that point the discussion was that this would be the last course here for a while. "You've trained us all" were the words. So what happened? A new contract, and a requirement for some of *their* clients to be changed. A few new staff. People who missed out on previous courses because of date clashes. And suddenly we have a very full course of 10.
So is *this* the last time I'll see folks here for a while? No - I'm sure it isn't. A former trainee walked in yesterday and is talking about arrangements for coming on a public course on MySQL next month. Good. And he mentions that there's a whole group of his colleagues who are likely to want the training too if he reports that the course was useful.
Can our sales approach work for everyone? No - it can't. For it to work for you, you'll need a special product and an enthusiasm for it. You'll need to have EVERY duck in a row - from good initial enquiry handling through crisp order fulfilment and an excellent product to a high standard of post-sales support.
Posted by gje at 06:50 AM
August 24, 2004
Matching Cat
Monday through Wednesday - Perl course in Bristol. Thursday and Friday - PHP course in Swindon. "Of Course" newsletter - autumn edition - to be proof read. Opentalk and other boards to be checked and moderated. Contract work / elements to be slotted in. Typical quiet week ;-)
Stopped overnight with son Chris and Delene (customers may remember Delene working for us a couple of years ago) at their place in Bristol. They flooded last week - the same day as the Boscastle deluge - but nothing so dangerous or dramatic. They're just dried out and have been "tanked" to ensure that water doesn't come up again through the floor. So they have
* Black floor
* Black Sofa
* Black cat
and you sure as heck have to watch your step around here to avoid standing or sitting on the latter when he's on either of the two former. Never seen such a matching cat.
Pictured, in this instance, against a contrasting background!
Posted by gje at 07:15 AM
August 23, 2004
Release numbers
I've just put a piece of demo software up online for a contract customer, and called it "version 0.9" - only partial functionality, but one of those projects which has really exciting potential and there's a need to get some form of feedback. Thank goodness for a customer who understands that a completed application doesn't just appear.
Why did I come up with release 0.9? How do release numbers work? Even this can be complicated and you can't simply "add one" at each step ... and when a new release comes along it's subjective as to whether it's a major release or a minor release. Then you have systems such as that used by Linux and Perl where an odd middle number indicates a development release, and an even middle number a production release; once you understand this it works very well - we just have to remind our trainees that they should stick with 5.8.5 and NOT leap up to 5.9.1!
Sun seem to specialise in leaping systems. Their Solaris operating system went from release 1 (a.k.a. SunOS 4.1) to release 2 (SunOS 5) and then leapt to Solaris 6 .... they're now up to Solaris 9. Java started out at Java 1.0, then moved up to Java 2 (even though the number behind has merly gone 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 ... with some subreleases) and I see that 1.5 has now become Java 5.
At lease these numbering schemes make for an interesting few minutes during training courses as we establish what version of software is in use by our trainees and what their upgrade strategy is for the future.
Posted by gje at 05:50 AM
August 22, 2004
Impossible terms
If I accidentally receive an email with the following text at its base:
IMPORTANT: This message is intended for the addressee only and is privileged and confidential. If you are not the addressee, then please DO NOT read, copy or distribute it, but reply to the sender that you received it in error and delete it.
then how am I supposed to follow their instructions without reading at least this part of it ;-)
Posted by gje at 06:54 AM
Skills and responsibilities
Putting a web application together? You need a whole lot of skills:
* You need some HTML skills to write the page
* You need programming skills to write the dynamic content handler
* You need data management skills to organise your data
* You need some human engineering skills to help your visitors through
* You need systems analysis skills to plan the application
* You need political skills to keep everyone concerned happy and onside with what you're doing
* it helps if you know a bit about the subject of the web application too.
Responsible for the use of that web application? Then you need to consider:
* Security against accidents, hackers, spammers and competitors
* Integrity of Data and keeping it up to date
* Continued availability and reliability
* Visibility to search engines
* Ongoing quality of content
* User support / handling of queries and problems
* Conformance to Disability Discrimination legislation (UK)
* Conformance to Data Protection Act and privacy issues (UK)
* Conformance to Copyright and trade mark laws (UK)
* Other legal restrictions on what you may publish (e.g. decency laws - UK)
* Where appropriate, access under freedom of information (UK)
Posted by gje at 06:48 AM
August 21, 2004
Falling out over the silliest things
If you do a Google search for "Registry Office" then all the results you get contain the words "Register Office". That's because the office at which births, marriages and deaths in the UK are recorded are know as Register Offices, and the term "Registry office" is an oft-misused term. Even people who should know better get it wrong.
I'm not a great one to say "I'm certain of this" without checking my sources. My mother worked in a Register Office for a while and once gently corrected me on this naming, but even so I did a Google search to check my facts when I saw a heated exchange on the subject online the other day. They say the best form of defence is attack, and so it proved in this case with the incorrect (but politically stronger) party getting the weaker but correct party banned. Bad enough, but Frankly it was the worse to see winner's hubby jumping into the ring and gloating over the departure with the words"and most of all incorrect". Oops ;-)
Dear Reader, if I post something here that you feel is incorrect, please question it. I like to get my facts right, and I like to learn. There may be occasions that we cannot agree, but I feel richer for the views of others and I can agree to disagree with most people at the end of a discussion. Life's rich tapestry; the dogmatic are lesser people with their single colour cloth.
Posted by gje at 07:35 AM
two plus two equals seven
Trivial facts can be drawn together at times to give non trivial conclusions. Two pieces of information which might appear to have no security interest can, when added together, provide the reader with a security nugget or loophole. I recall being told (a) that titanium is required for supersonic planes and (b) a military aircraft company that's building the xxx plane has placed a large titanium order. Conclusion - the xxx will be supersonic.
The same thing applies on the web - only more so. So I'm writing another of my entries today in the full knowledge that one or two readers may draw conclusions beyond the apparently simple facts stated.
Posted by gje at 07:31 AM
August 20, 2004
Not two the same
A Midland town at the start of the week, and Swindon today. Next Monday morning, I start in Bristol. Python earlier this week, PHP today, Perl next week. Seven students using Windows a few days ago, one using ... dunno (it doesn't matter for today's subject) today, and 10 students using a mixture of Solaris and Linux in 3 days time. Applications range from transporting of goods last week through vacations today and integrated circuit design next week.
Conversation piece at lunch:
"What's your typical customer".
"There isn't one - variety is the spice of life"
Posted by gje at 06:42 AM
August 19, 2004
interesting products and subjects
I once went to an military exhibition in Germany to present a computer graphics card on a booth run by the company I was working for. It was before the days of the EU, and I had to get the card signed through each international border on the way on a "Carnet" - what a hassle. So I was pretty d**n proud of the product I was presenting after all that hassle, even if the majority of visitors to the show had no interest what so ever in any computer products.
Two stands over was the salesman who specialised in injured mannequins. It seems that army surgeons need to practise patching up wounded soldiers before a battle, so this guy would sell them an anatomically correct dummy with (say) a broken arm and shrapnel wounds to the chest. And this was his life. I had the - pleasure - of staying in the same hotel and spent one evening in the bar listening to his tales of gruesome models and his life selling them.
I don't know where that guy is now. He doesn't know where I am. He certainly doesn't write to me regularly to offer to sell me his latest line in realistically-bleeding plastic squaddies, and I don't write to him to come on a Python course. So why do so many people I've never met keep writing to me offering me cheap software, Steaks, impotence and weight cures, and the rest? I know there are a lot of very earnest people out there but - really - spam has gotten beyond a nuisance!
Perhaps this post is "old hat". Spam's been around a while and we filter out, literally, thousands of unwanted emails a day. But it's breathtaking just how fast this little "Horse's Mouth" corner of our website picked up its first "comment spam". It took less that 2 weeks, and a post I made concerning driving licenses was followed up (for some reason ...) with a message about finding adult friends.
Comments / discussions here are VERY welcome. No promise of free speech, but as a moderator I err on the side of leaving thing alone and listening to related views - sharing the richness of diversity. Alas, I have flicked a switch that means that people's first comments, at least, come to me for approval before they appear. Sad, but modern times, I guess.
Posted by gje at 12:05 PM
August 18, 2004
Wanted - more hours in the day
I was listening to the obituary for Bernard Levin as I drove home from Oxford along the A40 last week. He wrote a weekly column, and they were saying how remarkable he was ... in that he could write 4 or 6 weeks ahead, with ease, just before he headed off on the road. Hmm ... I guess for some, it just flows. At the moment I'm writing a newsletter, this column, picture captions, training manuals, email replies, replies on "Opentalk"; not really finding any great problem, save hours in the day.
Posted by gje at 08:22 PM
August 17, 2004
Differing tastes
Greetings from a small town in the Midlands. The hotel is in Victorian style and I'm so GLAD that we have an older Georgian place and not this - err - words don't describe. It's a single room, and as you would expect that means that there wouldn't have been room for a double bed in here. A pine sideboard / desk hosts water, a "Chapel House - Welcome" folder, an ornate glass tray with three ornate empty pots and a forth curious piece which baffles me. There's also a stuffed bear, about 9" tall, wearing Grandma glasses and a long Victorian dress to preserve its modesty (or so I assume - I have NOT looked up its dress). No really suitable chair to sit at the desk, but in any case it wouldn't be possible to pull a chair up here properly.
The loo has a flowery pattern on it. I thought I disliked avocado but this is something else.
I told Lisa about the bear over the phone and she said "take a picture". I replied "I already have".
Posted by gje at 06:27 AM
August 16, 2004
Python training
Off early this morning (leaving home at 6) to give a Python programming course. I was just catching up on an email correspondence a few minutes ago, and felt the need to explain that Python is a computer programming language ... otherwise I would get some very odd "looks". Mind you, the words "ball" and "Burmese" regularly come up in our search engine logs in association with python, as well as "array", "dictionary", "string" and "file".
Posted by gje at 05:16 AM
Useful link: Python training
August 15, 2004
90 to 10 or 80 to 20 rule
"The first 90% of a software project takes the first 90% of the time, and the final 10% takes the second 90%" - Anon, but I'm sure someone can attribute it.
I scanned the flyleaf of a book at Heathrow a couple of weeks ago, and it was talking about an 80 / 20 rule, where 80% of effort goes on 20% of effect, and therefore 20% of effort generates 80% of effect. The moral seems to be to try to identify the effective 20% of effort and grow it, weeding out the less effective 80%. Certainly, I find myself too busy to take on all the projects and opportunities I would like and I'll looking to make more and more tuned and effective use of my time, not being frightened to say "no - that's not up my line".
Having read the flyleaf, I returned the book to the shelf. As I was understanding the introduction, I had gained 80% of the goodness in 20% of the time that a more thorough scan would require.
Posted by gje at 12:34 PM
August 14, 2004
London - Most expensive city??
Is London the "most expensive city in the world"? I've seen this written, but I doubted whether it's true. The Guardian and others in June placed it second, based on a report from Mercer Human Resources(table). The BBC on 12th August placed it 6th.
Why the difference? The widely-reported June statistics are for expatriates working in various cities and include the cost of renting a luxury two bedroom flat, as well as transport, clothing, food, entertainment. The BBC figures are for a basket of products including cars, CDs, cinema tickets ...
Conclusion? Neither of the statistical sources is accurate for a visitor to London, who will be staying in a hotel and won't be buying a car. Neither of the statistical sources is accurate for a Londoner who will likely buy or rent accommodation in the suburbs. And all the rankings are going to vary wildly as exchange rates fluctuate. London IS expensive for most people - but just *how* expensive depends on what they're doing in London and whether they're prepared to "go native" - use public transport, live out of town, or not.
Posted by gje at 06:59 AM
August 13, 2004
Mobile Office revamp
We're a training company and we'll train at YOUR place if you wish. We're also lean - no point in having someone extra sitting around in the office when we're not around just to answer the few phone calls ... most people reach us by email. OK - we have an answer phone and fax - and we've just installed a phone and fax to email gateway. Leave a message for us and we'll pick up anywhere in the world when we're next on line. No big shakes for a big company perhaps, but technology is making us truly mobile. And we're now playing about with all the extra services we can offer through the new system - but whatever we doing we're going to make sure we don't end up with endless menus.
Has anyone got a mail box which automatically scans and emails the mail when the postman leaves it?
Posted by gje at 05:01 PM
August 12, 2004
How many people in a room?
How many people do you need to gather in a room for there to be an evens chance that two of them have the same birthday? Would you believe that it's as few as 23? This is something I've heard said over the years but I wasn't sure if I believed it. Well - here you go:
Day 18, chance is 35.5%
Day 19, chance is 38.9%
Day 20, chance is 42.2%
Day 21, chance is 45.6%
Day 22, chance is 48.9%
Day 23, chance is 52.1%
Day 24, chance is 55.4%
Day 25, chance is 58.5%
Sure ... I used Perl ;-)
#!/usr/bin/perl
$chance = 0;
for ($k=1; $k<25; $k++) {
$chance += ($k/(366 - $k)) * (1 - $chance);
printf "Day %2d, chance is %5.1f%%\n",$k+1,$chance*100;
}
Yes - I DID do a test / sanity check. Ran it up to 365 people and ended up at 100%
Posted by gje at 09:45 PM
August 11, 2004
A bolt of lightning on Multicasting
When I learnt about TCP/IP, Multicasting was a bit of a footnote in the appendix. I can appreciate that for broadcast / streaming applications it could have its use but ... in my day-to-day stuff I didn't expect to see it used "in anger". Then today I was watching a customer rebuilding 26 machines in parallel from a central server - a classroom application - using multicast. Data transfer rate was an impressive ... one of those DUH - of COURSE moments.
Posted by gje at 08:58 PM
August 10, 2004
What do you look for in your IT trainer?
Who should you learn from? Should you learn from the most knowledgable person that you can find on the subject you want to learn?
Not necesssarily. The geek that you find may not be a skilled tutor, may not have training material, may assume too much prior knowledge and, importantly, may not know what to leave out. He might not enjoy training, and that may run off onto the trainees and give you a not-enjoyable course. And he may be so much of a specialist that he's unable to help you with associated technologies and he can't tell you when you should use "his" technology and when something else might be more fitting.
It's said that the skill of being a teacher is being ONE step ahead of the class; that's usually said with a wink, but there's some truth to it. Persoanlly, when I'm presenting an advanced or highly tailored course I worry more than I should about it ahead of time, do some research, and aim to be two-to-three steps ahead rather than one. If I've a class of 11 (as I have this week), then I have to be able to answer each question that comes up without delay and know how the answers fit in to the broader picture.
Perhaps I make my own life difficult - but I ENCOURAGE questions. I may say "I'll come back to that" but I'll also add "please keep asking - even if I'm not answering to later, it's helpful for me to know where I should be heading the course / what's your hot points". But the approach does work - it leads to satisfied customers who come back for further training. And where a customer tells me that he's attended some lousy courses in the past where the tutor "has just read the notes out to the class", I know that's a high compliment to me - he's contrasting the Well House Consultants approach to these others.
Posted by gje at 09:57 PM
Study room - the Oxford train
I'm jotting this note offline as I travel up to Oxford - day 2 of a 3 day course covering the deployment of Java in a Tomcat container with an overview of Java itself and a good technology sort-out so that people know their beans from their SDKs, and they recognise a Forrest and Cocoon and Ant ...
I drove yesterday as I had a dozen laptops to take with me, and I'll be driving tomorrow to pick them up after the course - but what a waste of time that is. Today, it's the train and I've got a too-rare opportunity to sit, think, write, read ... perhaps the ulterior motive of Oxford's town planners (where they discourage people driving in) is to further increase the study opportunities people have. Is an Oxford Bus a mobile study room? Ah ... best save this away. Changing trains at Didcot in a minute.
Posted by gje at 09:55 PM
August 09, 2004
How much does fuel cost for an airline flight?
When I spend hundreds of pounds on a transatlanic air fare, and hear the airlines complain on high fuel costs, I wonder how much of the money I pay is for fuel.
British Airways have just raised their fuel surcharge to 6 pounds per long haul flight, stating that the surcharge is to cover the 12.5% rise in fuel cost that they've just had. So that means that fuel costs are 48 pounds per single transatlantic flight, or 96 pounds on a return ticket. I think I trust this estimate - someone else talked about a 45% fuel cost rise over a year and how the surcharge covers a third of it ... and I understand that Virgin Atlantic have also applied a similar 6 pound charge.
Posted by gje at 07:35 PM
August 08, 2004
Writing on a Sunday
Is it just the first flush of enthusiasm that has me writing on a Sunday?
Probably not! Although I was never a diarist in the days BC (Before Computers), I've felt comfortable sitting down and typing thoughts - well - for the last xx years, and I don't see why I won't carry on doing so for another xx years. The tools, the way of doing it changes and the audiencability of what I write might, but I don't foresee myself stopping, just like I don't foresee myself stopping working - maybe ease off a bit in future years but it's my hobby, too.
13:00, Sunday. One training module (Technology overview, CVS, SOAP and Cocoon - what an odd combination) completed this morning. Visitors due in an hour for assistance in recovery of data from a hard drive, also social. 12 machines to be prep's for the coming 3 day course - Java Deployment, tailored, in Oxford.
No - I don't see the flush of enthusiasm fading. I do see that there will be time that I don't post for a few days - during on site courses, for example, and I think I'll have better things to do when I'm GeekCruising in October. But then ... I expect I'll come back with a lot of interesting material.
Posted by gje at 01:04 PM
August 07, 2004
Blog v Forum
Look around this site and you'll find lots of changing information including a Blog and a Forum. You'll also find a "what's new" page and a library listing that changes with our ever-increasing number of Open Source books.
What are they all for? Why do we have them all? Each has a different purpose!
The Blog - known as "The Horse's Mouth" - gives me an opportunity to write on any and every subject just in case people are interested - almost like an interactive diary. With search technology leaping forward, a diary / daily note need not be a boring document in which the occasional gem is so well hidden that it will never be found ... rather, the search technology can be used by the visitor to find the gem. Syndication and listing content on search engines can widen the potential readership (or should I say searchership? ) and turn personal ramblings into, potentially, a useful resource.
Our Forum - "Opentalk" - provides help for the community of newcomers to Open Source programming to ask questions and discuss issues with others in a similar position, with some more advanced folks helping along and guiding. It's subject based (as opposed to a Blog, which is Author based) although once again the searchability of the Forum, site and Web make the resource far more valuable than a mere paper publication.
The "What's New" page is a quick update for our busy customers who visit our site to find out what we're doing and don't have the time or inclination to trawl and find out.
Links:
Horse's Mouth (Blog)
Opentalk (Forum)
What's new
Home Page
Posted by gje at 07:46 AM
Driving in the UK for new arrivals from the USA
I'm not *just* about Open Source - I do get involved in other things. As this is my first weekend post here, I'll give you a read of what I've just written ... to help sort out some issues with driving in the UK that people moving here from the USA were having.
1-2-3-4- drive in the UK!
1. If you come from the USA to the UK and hold a full driving license (and not just a learner's permit) from the USA, you'll be legally allowed to drive in the UK for up to 1 year from your date of entering the country (visitor / student) or becoming a resident (if settling). (There are more restrictive exceptions if you want to drive a bus or a truck). See
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/drvingb.htm
2. If you want to drive beyond 1 year and you hold a driving license from the USA, you'll need to
a) Obtain a provisional license (a learner's permit). Apply on form D1 which you can get from the post office.
http://www.dvla.gov.uk/drivers/applydl.htm
then
b) Take a hazard test, a theory test and a practical test and pass all three
before you're allowed to legally drive on the UK roads once your year is up.
3. UK citizens who are driving for the first time have to be accompanied by a mature driver with some experience while driving on a provisional license, but holders of full USA licenses do not need to be accompanied during their first year even if they also have a provisional license in preparation for their UK tests.
4. When you've passed the practical test, which is the last of the three, you'll send in your paperwork and get a full driving license which is what a lot of job applications ask for. Most employers would accept copies of the papers if you've passed your test and sent off for the full license and it hasn't arrived, and I think most would accept your USA license if you're in the process of getting a full UK one - what they want is someone who they can ask to drive.
Other notes
Note that drivers with European and certain other driving licenses can exchange them for British ones without taking a test, but this concession does NOT apply to USA licenses.
There is a legal requirement to be insured up to a certain level when driving in the UK, and most insurance policies cover named drivers for particular vehicles. If you're joining someone in the UK and going to be using their vehicle, they will need to add you to the insurance. Sometimes, this may mean that they will have to change to another insurance company as some won't insure certain classes of drivers - e.g. drivers who have not held a full UK license for x years.
All of the above is written to the best of my knowledge, but I may be out of date / incorrect on some issues and you should check with the relevant web sites or authorities. I have also provided just the "bare bones" of answers and simplified in some areas.
Obtaining a provisional license is NOT just as easy as sending off a form. You need a photo signed by a person of some repute in the UK who is not a relative and who has known you for two years, for example. We don't have identity cards in the UK, and the driver's license is often used as an alternative - so the issuing authority takes great care to avoid identity theft.
Personal comments and suggestions
Roads in the UK are narrower, parking spaces smaller and traffic faster. The UK test is much harder to pass and (I understand) has a higher failure rate than USA driving exams.
Rules of the road are different to the USA, and you should study these and get plenty of practise before your test with a stick shift (if you're going to want to drive one - a test taken on an automatic is good only for driving automatics), driving on the left, and negotiating roundabouts, etc. It's worth paying a professional for lessons even if you've driven for years and think you know it all.
The UK has an excellent public transport system in may places and although you might think you need a car / need to drive, this may NOT be the case. I would not want to own a car in central London or Bristol, for example, and could do very well by train / bus except for my job. I routinely use public transport when visiting London and Oxford, and try to do so when flying out of Heathrow or Gatwick because parking costs there are crazy.
((Updated, 23rd September 2004))
Posted by gje at 04:33 AM
August 06, 2004
Seeing the wood for the trees.
I write training notes and examples, showing people how things work in Perl / PHP / other languages.
Newcomers need short examples to show them the real "nuts and bolts" of how a job is done. Live applications need additional code for error checking, for handling security issues, and to make applications robust and user friendly. As a rule of thumb, this extra code accounts for over 50% of the code volume.
Solution(s) to this dilemma.
a) Examples in our training folders are kept short so that newcomers CAN see the wood without it being lost in the trees
b) Training notes include warnings that the code shows the mechanisms, but needs to be extended to take into account usability / error / security issues as applicable to the individual application
c) All examples include a disclaimer when displayed on our web site which emphasises that they are training examples.
d) During our courses, we include coverage of programming standards / security / maintainability issues, with examples. Coverage of these important topics is more thorough than you would expect, and we include the subject on private courses even if it's not explicitly requested by the customer.
Posted by gje at 06:52 AM
August 05, 2004
Looking for a donkey
Why is it that the most common-place of things is hard to find when you need it? I was driving around the countryside early this evening looking for a donkey to photograph ....
Posted by gje at 08:29 PM
Diary entry - 5th August 2004
Training at our Melksham training centre - day 2 of 2 of an Apache Tomcat course.
I always get a feeling of achievement as I train - the extracting of the vital information on a subject from the huge flood that's available, and the presentation of that information in a way that's suitable for the trainees. We publish a running order for the public courses such as today's ... and yet (with the agreement of all the trainees) we can go off topic - adding in subjects not usually covered, and skipping over topics that aren't relevant to anyone in the particular group.
Perhaps today's course was the most varied from the regular. I have a huge respect for people who have the guts to attend a course in a language which is not their native tongue - but where their understanding of English is only patchy, it's twice the work for me and more importantly it can disrupt the rest of the class. And I really wonder what such trainees gain, or if they're wasting their money. Yet ... I look back at today and I say that xxxxxx left us knowing a lot more about Apache httpd and Tomcat than when he arrived. He had configured up both of the servers and installed web applications, unpacking .war files and making adjustments. And he's bright enough to pick up other topics later now that he has the broad brushstrokes in place. Successful course, me thinks.
Posted by gje at 08:19 PM
First Jottings
99% of what I see is forgotten. 99% of what I think remains locked inside me. 99% of my words are lost within a short while of them being spoken. "Silence is Golden" but there may be a few of those words that are worth sharing. Projects and lists and thoughts jotted down but incomplete; they could just be useful to someone. A thought - a trigger - a reminder. So I'm going to post them here. Hey - I might look back and they might be useful to me at some time!
Posted by gje at 07:41 PM