Posts from September 2007

Enjoyed this BBC4 program on the history of Factory with lots of interviews with Tony Wilson, Peter Saville, Vini Reilly, Shaun and Paul Ryder, Stephen Morris, Peter Hook and Bernard Sumner.

So many amusing anecdotes and quotes:

New Order insisted on playing live on TOTP and, unusually, 'Blue Monday' promptly fell down the charts thanks to their abysmal performance (Sumner's appalling vocals).

Martin Hannett's unconventional approach to production: 'He used to piss the drummer off so he would hit the drums harder.'

Factory lost money on every single copy of 'Blue Monday' thanks to the prohibitive costs of the sleeve.

Peter Hook worked as crew at the Hacienda for 10 quid an hour and his wages were paid by New Order royalties.

The sandpaper sleeve for The Durutti Column's 'The Return of' may have destroyed the adjacent records but many customers found the record itself was totally damaged.

A really weird, early photograph of Warsaw with Peter Hook attired in black leather complete with moustache and cap.

Happy Mondays being dispatched to a heroin free Barbados to record an album only to discover crack cocaine was freely available on the island.

'Never did any drugs. A lot of people think he did because on some of the TV performances he looks like he's on some sort of drugs because of his arms but he wasn't on any drugs at all. That was just him losing himself in the music' - Sumner on Curtis

'The doctor says to him: 'I want you to be quiet. I want you to take it easy. No late nights. No alcohol. No drugs. Oh what do you do by the way ?' 'Oh I'm a librarian. No I'm a singer in a post punk rock band.' He didn't really have much chance, did he ?' - Hook on Curtis' diagnosis with epilepsy

The problem with installing typo is that, during the research for hints and tips to get the software installed, configured and running on a shared server environment at Bluehost, you Google across like-minded ~~obsessives~~ individuals who have also successfully installed typo in 30 seconds flat.

These people are technical types who sneer at PHP and lie awake at night, worrying about Ruby's scalability. These geeks tend to be obsessive characters who have now tired of typo and have subsequently migrated to a brand new exciting platform called django.

Django is a Python Web framework - not a blogging platform or a CMS - but you could use django to create your own perfect blogging platform.

Django has a endearing, minimalist administration screen and although the finished product looks like a 1980's HTML page or the stripped down WordPress sandbox theme, it's pretty impressive for 10 minutes and 100 lines of Python and HTML.

I was going to write a superb article, with lots of screenshots and poorly formatted code blocks, detailing all the obstacles I overcame before finally claiming success. However, as always, the very clever aforementioned people have already been there and done that.

So, if you are interested in installing django on bluehost, consult this thread. One quick note: my preferred method of installing into a sub-directory failed (403 permission denied) so I used a sub-domain which worked fine.

For a more generic django tutorial about how to create a project, add models and templates, read (and bookmark) this excellent article. This gentleman has a rare combination of technical skills and a brilliant, light hearted, humorous writing style. His site also serves as a brilliant example of the potential appearance and functionality of a django powered blog.

In fact, if I could summon up the time and energy to master HTML, CSS and Python, I would create my very own unique, stylish and distinctive blog but I don't so I won't.

I was about to say there was no Wordpress to Django import utility until I just discovered this.

Am I the first blogger to have more blogs than published articles ?

I have upgraded this blog to the recently released WordPress 2.3. However, I have deep rooted concerns that the new tagging functionality will simply overload my tiny brain.

The WordPress upgrade went smoothly enough although the editor now reports a missing table (wp_post2cat) which is slightly irritating.

Also, I sense increasing disquiet amongst some long standing, intelligent and loyal WordPress users so I took the precaution of installing YABP (Yet Another Blog Platform). Please put your hands together and welcome Typo (powered by a delightful lady called 'Ruby on Rails').

Update: The Google Sitemap Generator plug-in was causing the error. The problem is resolved in the latest version.

Im not normally a sucker for these free, pyramid style, link exchange schemes to drive more traffic to your blog but as simply everyone is not just talking about it but actually doing it, I thought I'd better add BlogRush to this blog.

Now, I must hurry into town and join the lengthy queues at Northern Rock to withdraw my 1 million pounds life savings. To be honest, I think this media fuelled panic is a little overblown and as I have a contrarian investing style, I have just purchased £5,000 worth of NRK shares at £3.10 waiting for the 'dead cat bounce'.

The shares are currently trading at ~~£2.93~~, ~~£2.80~~, £2.69...

I like Robert Scoble. While I dont always agree with him and I have a love-hate relationship with his laugh, his blog is worth reading and he posts some varied and interesting videos but one thing is obvious.

The guy has a real passion for technology and writing. On occasions, he is subjected to vitriolic comments, hurtful criticism and abuse that is completely unjustified but he calmly takes it all in his stride and rarely retaliates.

Scoble is a family man and has a lovely wife. Indeed, he is a very lucky man. As I recall, my wife didn't have the forethought and love to buy me an expensive digital camera hours before she went into labour. Inevitably, Scoble will be posting live updates of his wife's lengthy and arduous labour via Twitter. I'm surprised he isn't live streaming the whole event.

Another 'A' lister recently admitted to hospital was Dave Winer. Unfortunately, Dave repeatedly broke rule two, regaling us all with updates on his state of health.

3 September - The saga begins...

'Had to take a break, I got a really bad cold, the flu, not sure what -- but it knocked me down. I had a fever, nasty cough, wheezing, and it was getting worse so fast that I went to the emergency room at a Berkeley hospital, where they gave me something to control the cough and help me sleep, and today I feel much better.'

6 September - Our hopes are briefly raised. Don't laugh. This is a disease !

'Yesterday was the first feel-good day after a horrible bout with whatever it was that hit me and dragged me under. But Naked Jen, who said she had the same disease, warned against believing you're better when you start feeling better.'

8 September - Our hopes are dashed but at least Dave received my email of support.

'I've gotten email from people who are concerned. Thanks for the concern. Yes, I have seen a doctor, even went to the hospital to get chest x-rays. I don't have pneumonia. Just a realllly bad cold. A monster proportioned cold. It attacks everything but my sense of humor.'

9 September - My diagnosis is that this is not merely a heavy cold. This is a life threatening bout of man-flu.

'It's been a really interesting morning, in a sick kind of way (that is, I'm still really sick, coughing and wheezing, rasping and sneezing).'

10 September - Dave manages to summon the strength to type a blog post with no mention of his health.

11 September - A nation sighs with relief.

'Feeling much better today. Health is beginning to return. I owe it all to patience, lots of sleeping, drinking fluids, and not trying to be healthy before I actually am. Today I'm going to take a 20 minute easy walk in the sun.'

Winer by name. Whiner by nature.

I thought it would be interesting to analyze the number of postings by month from 1997 to August 2007 to the Usenet newsgroup comp.databases.oracle.server.

However, I was wrong.

Spending a lot of time in airports is an occupational hazard in the glamorous and fast moving world of IT consultancy. Most of us are intimate with the various methods of tuning Oracle databases and Siebel CRM but here are some quick tips about optimising the airport experience.

1. Most airlines have succeeded in shifting the massive queues from the check-in desks to smaller queues at the self-service kiosks. The most obvious method to avoid this is to check-in online and print out your own boarding pass from the comfort of the office. One word of caution - ensure you have the hardcopy of the boarding pass in your hands before leaving the Web page. If, for any reason, printing is unsuccessful, it is impossible to check-in online a second time to print the page again. It is a little embarrassing to explain to the customer service agent that an unknown pre-sales guy mistakenly took your boarding pass as it was sandwiched between his 89 page RFC. Worse, it also wastes a lot of time.
2. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt to attach your own luggage labels thinking this will save time. The baggage label must be coiled in a loop Origami-style and stuck together in a very specific way. Please, I urge you, leave this to the experts at the Fast Bag Drop desk.
3. Look nervously at your shoes and repeatedly wipe your sweaty brow in the queue for security screening. This behaviour guarantees that you will be 'randomly selected' by BAA security staff to go through the new full body scanner. Don't worry when other passengers start giggling as you are asked to raise both arms and stand on one leg to assume a star shape. Revenge will be sweet when you are re-introduced at the head of the queue in front of the X-ray machine, skipping 23 people and saving a vital 17 minutes.
4. In the current climate, passengers are increasingly asked to remove their belts and shoes as part of security checks. Save time by investing in a pair of black, leather slip-ons. No need to waste time struggling to tie up your shoe laces. Consider buying some tighter trousers that don't need a belt.
5. Always select a seat at the back of the plane. Do not think you will disembark quicker if you are located near the front of the aircraft. You won't. Everyone else thinks the same way so the most determined, forceful personalities will always be seated in rows 1-18. You also risk being struck by an oversized case (that should have gone into the hold) from the overhead lockers. Worse, your brain will be irradiated by the hordes of business types eagerly turning their mobile phones back on after being incommunicado for a whole 55 minutes.
6. Make a date with Iris. In the UK, you can register to trial the optical recognition system at immigration. Watch your colleagues from Consulting gasp in amazement as you leave them behind in a lengthy queue as you waltz up to the empty Iris desk and quickly make your way out of the terminal.
7. Use a professional, competent taxi company and arrange to be collected at the airport. This may seem blindingly obvious but for reasons that now escape me, for a period, I used a completely incompetent taxi firm who were always late for the rendezvous, didn't have the right change for the car-park and couldn't even find my home address. The final straw came when they woke my family, in the middle of the night, by ringing my door bell at 05:45 for a 06:00 pickup.
8. The ever increasing capacity and falling prices of USB memory sticks now make it possible to think the unthinkable. Leave your laptop behind. Copy your mini-technical library onto a memory stick. I have done this on a couple of domestic engagements and it is truly liberating. My dodgy, aching back is also feeling the benefit. You can normally access SupportWeb, MetaLink and collect email from most customer sites.

One advantage of being severed from the laptop is that it really focuses the mind on what technical material is truly essential to do your job. Consequently, you incrementally build up relevant content on the stick. It is also perfectly feasible to copy all your email folders onto a memory stick. The only element I have occasionally missed is my own Siebel 7.8/Oracle 10g sandbox environment. Have a good trip.

[An edited version of this article was originally published in the Spring 2007 edition of the Expert Services' Newsletter where, unsurprisingly, it was met with a stony silence.]

Just installed the Lightning extension which provides an embedded calendar (Sunbird) within Thunderbird.

This is made even more useful by the addition of the Provider for Google Calendar add-on that enables seamless, two way synchronisation between Google Calendar and Thunderbird.

When I went to bed, I closed the curtains. Unfortunately even at full stretch, the curtains only spanned half the width of the window. This was excellent news as I was able to cancel my 07:30 wake-up call as the morning sun streaming into the room at 05:45 was just as effective.

The shower worked although it was a little tardy to empty. So slow, I thought I was going to have a minor flood on my hands but fortunately the sill was pretty deep and disaster was narrowly avoided.

Breakfast was disappointingly adequate - cereals, bread, cheese, ham, fruit coffee and tea. The churn labelled 'Milk' was empty so I took my chances on an adjacent, unlabelled silver vessel. Consequently, I drenched my Frosties in natural yoghurt which was an unusual combination but a pleasant change.

There was also a strange fruit juice which was a hybrid of mango and orange. Similar to what is called cheap 'Orange Drink' in England; neither fresh orange juice nor orange squash and tasting rather artificial and very sickly.

After breakfast, I decided it would be prudent to double-check on the availability of the presidential suite in 406 just to ensure that Carol Smiley, 'Handy Andy' and Laurence Llewlyn-Bowen had finished building walk-in wardrobes from MDF and covering the bed in dark red, Gothic materials.

Slowly and carefully, I explained the situation and the pretty receptionist duly confirmed 'Yes. Mr. Anderson. I have you booked into room 406 for 4 nights.'

I immediately crossed over to the Hilton, heaved a huge sigh of relief as the desk told me they had some availability and booked in for two nights. I crossed back over the road and checked out of Grand Central 2 days early, claiming my Grandmother had just died and I had to return to England immediately.

The nightmare was finally over. Only it wasn't. The young lady on reception was a new-hire and couldn't process my booking (or cancellation) using my credit card. Finally, with the unconvincing words 'OK. I have read the big book and I think I have done it now', I left, thankful to make my escape.

I am now installed in the Hilton which is bland and very overpriced but it's like going into Macdonalds, you know exactly what you are going to get.

Pity really as the Dutch version of 'Flowery Twats' would undoubtedly have provided a wealth of valuable blogging material for the next 48 hours.

Arrived in Rotterdam and checked into the Grand Hotel which isnt quite as grand as the inviting and expensive (but fully booked) Hilton across the road.

The kind lady on reception welcomes me to Rotterdam, quickly locates my booking, gives me an electronic key and directs me to room 401.

I take the lift to the fourth floor. There is no room 401 - just 403-417. I know because I walked all around the fourth floor with my bags. Twice.

Convinced I am an idiot, I ask two decorators where room 401 is hidden. One of them puts down his roller and accompanies me around the fourth floor with me before concluding there is indeed no room 401.

Thinking I must have misheard the receptionist, we try to force entry to rooms 407 and 411. The startled honeymooning couple in 407 thought it was a drugs raid and were very cross. The decorator helpfully offers to paint their bathroom as compensation and I claim to be part of the International Tulip Delegation who got separated from his party.

I deposit my bags with my new found friends, the decorators (must include that piece of good news in my review) and return to reception. Either the lady was mistaken or the stupid Englishman misheard and so it transpires. The correct room number was in fact 406 all along. Silly me.

I return to the fourth floor and look for room 406. I walk the familiar circuit of the fourth floor wondering where I will finally end up. Only I don't have to wonder. Deep in my heart, I already know.

Sure enough, I find room 406. Unusually for a hotel, the door is already open and curiously, the bed is positioned in the middle of the room. There are two familiar bags (a stylish black Samonsite hold-all and a battered laptop case) sitting on the floor. And, inevitably, there are two decorators feverishly applying white paint to the walls.

They look perplexed, I admire their work and we all laugh. We return to reception. Thankfully, there are a couple of spare rooms so I get re-allocated to room 116 and have the option to take room 406 tomorrow (if the paint fumes have fully dissipated).