MJR's slef-reflections - Entries tagged softwareEntries tagged softwareTold You So: Exhibitions and Spammer Registrars- May 30, 2008 I used to help staff more exhibition stands than I do now. Part of the reason I stopped was that few free software people seem to appreciate the basics of running a good exhibition stand and I got bored of arguing that we should give people space, avoid putting a counter across the stand, keep notes of contacts made and basic stuff like that. So, it was good to read Connecting People: Making an exhibition of yourself - the exhibitor and the linked Business Startup Coach shares Exhibition...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Told_You_So__Exhibitions_and_Spammer_Registra... Getting Linux InfraRed Beaming to a Palm III with a Belkin USB Device- May 29, 2008 I lent someone my old Palm IIIe as a data entry device for an exhibition this week. I don't use it much since I got a Samsung K608i last year. They weren't comfortable with using their smart phone as a data entry device. I can understand that: I'm still pretty slow at phone-typing and it corrupted data when its memory filled recently. The batteries had been removed from the Palm to avoid them leaking, so it needed reloading with useful Palm free software for data entry. The first problem was..http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Getting_Linux_InfraRed_Beaming_to_a_Palm_III_... Quick Question: opticaljungle.com = publicdomainregistry.com- May 28, 2008 Are opticaljungle.com and publicdomainregistry.com the same people Their addresses look identical but their phone numbers are different. Both appear to have some connections to directi.com. Is there any way to check if they are the same people I don't know how to verify US companies when they appear not to want to be verified... Domain Detectives thinks they're both directihttp://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Quick_Question__opticaljungle_com___publicdom... Bristol and Bath Perl Mongers- May 27, 2008 The first meeting of the new Bristol and Bath Perl Moungers is tonight (Tue 27th) at 7pm, according to this mailing list post. Despite their rules, I've already been well-flamed by one member, so it will be interesting to see what sort of group it becomes. Hopefully the flamers are nicer in real life.http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Bristol_and_Bath_Perl_Mongers.html Updating the Accounts- May 22, 2008 I finally closed my cooperative's annual accounts for the year to 5 April 2008 yesterday. We wrote off one project (not bad for a year) and now we can start on the annual reports. For day-to-day entries, we're still using my simple schemeweb app called SQL-Journal and I should make a new release real soon now. I've added some features since 1.3 and there's a few more I want to add, but I'm no accountant, so it will remain simple and stupid, but good enough for me. Bristol Wireless's...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Updating_the_Accounts.html Met Calyx about Koha- May 20, 2008 I met Irma and Bob from Calyx yesterday. They're fellow Koha service providers from Sydney, Australia who are over in Europe visiting various people. It was nice to see them (first time I've met Bob) and have a bit of a chat about where we're each going with Koha. One interesting difference is that they have several private-sector clients, while I don't think my cooperative has yet done a private-sector Koha, but there seemed to be more similarities than differences, including adding...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Met_Calyx_about_Koha.html BBC TV: Click: Free=beer and facebook-flaming- May 16, 2008 Free software finally gets significant coverage on BBC TV's Click show this week, but I think it's very much Linux rather than GNULinux and free cost rather than freedom. They mentioned free security software and even raised the possibility of trojans, but didn't mention how free (as in freedom) software allows any random end-user to check or have it checked. Quite a missed opportunity! However, Click has a regular letters section, so watch it (times below), email clickbbc.co.uk and see if..http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/BBC_TV__Click__Free_beer_and_facebook_flaming... No Battles - Just Stand Firm On Best Practice- May 16, 2008 "Here are three examples of rules that I think it's time to abandon. These particular examples are all about email. 1 Top Posting ... 2 HTML Email ... 3 Reply-To On Mailing Lists ... So, yes, the barbarians are at the gate. The lunatics have taken over the asylum. Good ideas have been crushed by the number of people who don't understand them. But there's no point in complaining about it. You just have to accept it and move on." -- Pointless Battles For Geeks, By Dave...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/No_Battles___Just_Stand_Firm_On_Best_Practice... Posting Ahead- May 15, 2008 I'm convinced by The Argument for Posting Ahead Network Blogging so why didn't I set it up for my recent trip Well, a while ago, I had a bit of an email discussion with Steve about delayed posting features for Chronicle which I think ended with the addition of chronicle-spooler to the released files. I initially suggested ignoring a post when its Date is in the future, like Wordpress does, but I think that wouldn't be backwards-compatible and isn't as flexibile as it could...http://mjr.towers.org.uk/writing/reflections/Posting_Ahead.html |