Failure?
Posted by tjlegg @ 05:43 PM EDT on 04/07/03My junior high geometry teacher always said that the difference between a failure and a success is the failure will wonder how or why something is done but is more afraid of appearing stupid by asking a question than curious about the way things work.
I know people who are far more worried about their appearances and pride than in being a success. But I ask the questions when I don't know. (Yes, even I have those times.) Today it paid off and I learned a bit more about how and when linux kernel modules get loaded.
Thankfully that job is done. The fans on that beast were giving me a headache. But yesterday I might have picked up a small side contract. A monthly maintenance deal to manage a local vendor's web site. Good stuff. And I've gradually started to work on some of the secondary sites here at The Eleven updating them after years and years of neglect. But if nothing else it's proven to me that Microsoft is more interested in backwards compatability than being correct, since the same bug that existed in IE5 for Windows still exists after 5.5 and 6.0.
Anys... woke up way too early. Time for a little nap I think. More later.
Strange Things
Posted by tjlegg @ 10:48 PM EDT on 04/01/03Haven't updated in a few...
SARS keeps getting worse and worse. 75 new cases on Tuesday. They've evacuated a block of the Amoy Gardens Housing Project. They aren't sure what is causing it to spread so quickly in the E block. 30 new cases in Ontario. I guess my trip to Hong Kong is on indefinite hold.
I've been working on a new project for Rockport. I've been digging through api documentation for java and linux (api = application programming interfaces). At least I can be sure in this job that I'm not going to get thrown the same challenges this week as last. Tomorrow I have to go help a friend of Rockport set up a home wireless LAN. Should be a breeze but you never know what you're going to get when going to someone else's home.
There are some other strange things on my mind for the moment, but I'll keep them under my hat for the moment. More later.
Solution?
Posted by tjlegg @ 09:24 PM EDT on 03/27/03So I implemented the OS/2 solution. Works like a charm. *patting myself on the back* I may not have to deal with this particular set of programs ever again, but it was a fun challenge. Definitely let me play around with and get to know OS/2 a lot better. Nice operating system. No wonder Microsoft played dirty, there was no way that Windows 3.1 or 95 could compete with it.
Now the group has a new client and a new set of challenges. So I've got a test build of one of their computers sitting on my floor waiting to be worked in to the system.
Things in Hong Kong have continued to deteriorate. 11 dead now. 51 new cases of SARS (viral pneumonia) yesterday alone. I just sent my gf a box of surgical masks. Because of the crisis 3M is running their factories 24/7 here in the States to supply Hong Kong and the price for a mask has jumped to as much as HK$100 for 1 mask. (US$1 = HK$7.8 pegged) It's frustrating to have to just wait this out. I want to go and be with her, but they are all telling me to wait. I'm just not very patient sometimes. Oh well.
The Substance
Posted by tjlegg @ 05:00 PM EDT on 03/19/03So I've finally gotten files transferred on to this OS/2 machine. I'm working on a data conversion problem. The software developer recommended that the best route would be to work from capturing data going to LPT1. They have a non-standard binary data format with no conversion utility. So I've been scrounging the 'net for utilities to do print to file and then conversion of that file to something actually useable by the client's other software.
I also have been working on installing and recruiting folks for a new web forum. Watching Meeting of Minds on PBS when I was a kid intrigued me about "the salon". Salon.com, now on the verge of closing its doors, provided a great outlet for writers to get paid for their work. It just didn't seem to bring about much discussion. I've come across a bunch of interesting people in my life. If I could get them all to a place to discuss life, the universe, and maybe the English Premier League, then I'm sure all sorts of interesting things would appear.
The journey should be an interesting one, if nothing else.
Super Bug
Posted by tjlegg @ 05:50 PM EDT on 03/16/03So the World Health Organization has issued a travel warning over atypical pneumonia. It seems that the two spots that have been hit hardest are Hong Kong and Hanoi. I'm less concerned with Hanoi. But I'm supposed to go to Hong Kong next month. My baby has already told me to cancel the visit, if things don't get better.
Strange illnesses started to pop up in Hong Kong about a month ago with the reappearance of a few cases of the bird flu. At the same time there were cases of atypical pneumonia in Guangdong, across the border in mainland China. That died down and then last week, a report surfaced in the Hong Kong press about a number of hospital staff falling ill and a ward being closed. A week later the illness was traced back to an American traveling from Shanghai to Hanoi via Hong Kong. After he became too ill in Hanoi he was evacuated to Hong Kong, where he died. It seemed contained in Hong Kong a few days ago, but this morning reports surfaced of a mother and child dying in Vancouver, BC after returning from Hong Kong. *sigh*
So I will sit and wait and hope that they figure out what is causing this illness and how to contain and then treat it. The world may be overdue for a pandemic, but I'm not ready to live through one while I'm separated from my honey.
Another Day
Posted by tjlegg @ 06:51 PM EDT on 03/08/03So it was a beautiful Saturday with temperatures up near 50 F. Very nice, but it's not supposed to last. Oh well. Back to winter.
A scope of work was submitted for a Lotus Notes development project to a client. If approved by the client I'll develop a custom document management system for them. Also working on a data conversion project for another client running OS/2. I end up being the backstop for the company. Anything out of the ordinary on a project rolls to me.
Still working on the Cantonese. I can know ask how much the mangos are selling for. This is crucial for me as I love mangoes. Actually the girlfriend is most concerned about me learning "taxi Cantonese", since about the only place in Hong Kong that Cantonese is really required is in the backseat of a taxi. Public transit in Hong Kong is phenomenal, but every once in a while when time is crucial or you're going off the beaten path, a taxi is a great thing.
Anys... I think it is time for some dinner. More later...
Everything old is new again
Posted by tjlegg @ 06:28 PM EDT on 03/04/03So let me reopen this. There still is development work that should be done. At least now I'm not waking up at 4:30am to work on it. Looking at the testing entries reminds me of a time when life was starting to spin out of control. But even as the maelstrom spun, I still got work done. I accomplished my goals as I could.
New goals include working on mastering the lessons in Colloquial Cantonese. So far so good. Maybe I won't make the language a two week class, but even on the second day I'm starting to understand the romanized conversations in the text. Eva has good things to say about my pronunciation, except for the word I (ngoh). I look at as punishment for using I excessively in my day-to-day conversations.
More later...
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