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Looking For Quacks In The Pavement

  • A wee bit o’ server maintenance

    It’s always so very nice to see a high-profile notification about a new release of key webserver software, one which purports to fix a myriad of security vulnerabilities, right before I go to bed. There’s no chance of getting to sleep without taking care of the upgrade once I’ve seen such a thing. What makes the task much more entertaining is that the OS version for this server is, let’s say, a bit out of date. Getting installers for current software on this old beast can be a nightmare.

    Luckily there’s a Frenchman who believes in keeping certain key software packages installable for old warhorses like my server so I acquired the updates from his repository, crossed my fingers and ran the installers. A couple of post-upgrade scripts later and… here we are at MySQL 5.0 and PHP 5.2.2. Not too shabby, eh? I think the server may even be responding slightly faster now, and that’s the sort of thing which puts a big smile on my face.

    Now to see if I can sleep through the night without feeling the urge to check on the server every twenty minutes. Over the last couple of years I’ve grown cautious of major changes for some reason…

  • You has want tribble?

    Okay, look. I’m going to warn you right up front: What you’re about to see (should you follow the hyperlink) is just plain wrong. You know those now-ubiquitous “cat macro” pictures, the ones with the cute cats and the bad grammar text in the large blocky font? (Examples) Somebody took that approach to… a classic Star Trek episode.

    No, seriously. You can’t make this stuff up. Er, that is to say, I can’t but obviously somebody did. It’s even just a bit funny. It’s also a bit brain damaging, so don’t say I didn’t warn you. Unless, of course, the part of your brain which remembers not to say I didn’t warn you is the part that gets damaged.

    Anyway. Boldly go, already.

  • Much Ado About Authoring

    My goodness but this is going to be an intense linkfest. Are you ready?

    Good.

    LJ user “britpoptarts” posted an entry about Jim Butcher’s “Dresden” novels and how they transated to the television experience, and included links to entries at Mr. Butcher’s LJ which I found enlightening and even a bit inspiring. At about the same time, the roomie emailed me a link to software called yWriter which purports to make the process of writing a novel into something just a teeny bit less dreadful than normal, by virtue of turning every piece into a mobile element which one can rearrange as one sees fit. (There are many other features, but that’s the gist.) The software developer is also a published genre author who has posted some helpful articles about such things as laying out the novel’s plot (in which he highly recommends some “mind mapping” software I was looking at just last week, namely FreeMind) and actually writing the novel (in which he recommends reading someone else’s article about writing the perfect scene, which strangely echoes Jim Butcher’s advice on that particular topic).

    As you can probably guess, all of this has gotten me thinking. I’m not promising anything, but I’m thinking. And taking notes. And taking a mental machete to a lifetime’s worth of worldbuilding, paring it down to just the Really Good Stuff.

    Lest you wonder if I’ve taken complete leave of my senses, I do remember the lessons of NaNoWriMo: There’s a very good chance that I’m still not cut out to be a Professional Writer. I’m just about fired up enough, though, to take one more stab at telling a good story.

  • Jiggity Jig

    Home again, home again.

    Kyla and I spent most of the last seven days housesitting for The Imperial Princess of Cute while she and her man went down to play around at amusement parks or some-such. We tended kitties, occasionally fed a very small fish, played on the Gamecube and read books. Now I’m home, and I get to sleep in my own bed again. Bliss!

    More to come, as I find out how true it is that “a change is as good as a rest.”

  • Luckily, I’m secure in my masculinity.

    My day so far can be summed up by one delightful scene at the Starbucks near my place of employment:

    “What can I get started for you, ma’am?”

    C’mon, dude. I’m standing ten feet away at the most. Sure, I’m rocking my totally awesome scarf, but I’m also sporting reasonably short hair and a big black trenchcoat. Do I really look all that feminine?

    Of course the gods decreed that this moment of joy should take place in a store chock full of patrons, for maximum embarrassment value. Spiffy. Can I go home now?

  • Biff and his mashed potatoes

    Added to the list of things I can’t believe that I didn’t know about before now is the webcomic called “The Book of Biff.” It’s entertaining and educational! For instance, I now know of a fantastic way to harvest mashed potatoes.

    If you end up reading the entire comic archive and find yourself gasping for breath with tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks, don’t run crying to me.

    Er, wait…

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