Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to get philosophical at work. We’re in the last stages of purchasing a very important and revolutionary system for the company, which will change most of the way we do business, and I’m part of the team responsible for the purchase.

The team is divided into 3, a super user and eventually the system administrator (not IT related), his boss and the IT department (where I come in). We evaluated three systems in total, one of which is by far the best but too expensive to consider.

From the remaining two systems one is basic and lacks most of the advanced functionality while the other one is more powerful, complex and expensive. From a personal perspective I would defiantly go for the second option since I was too unimpressed by the first, but the super user is much more in favour of the more basic system. His boss is undecided because he likes the better system yet at the same time he thinks that our company is so small and inexperienced that we should start with a basic product then upgrade in the future. I don’t agree with this approach and reasoning, because I’m sure that a basic system will bring along basic work practices which will not result in anything significant enough to warrant the purchase in the first place.

In this context who has the right to choose the software; the super user representing the final user, the boss who is supposed to know which product will return the best benefit or the IT man who knows which is the best technical system?

A man walks into a pharmacy and wanders up and down the aisles. The sales girl notices him and asks him if she can help him. He answers that he is looking for a box of tampons for his wife. She directs him down the correct aisle. A few minutes later, he deposits a huge bag of cotton balls and a ball of string on the counter. She says, confused, "Sir, I thought you were looking for some tampons for your wife? He answers, " You see, it's like this, yesterday, I sent my wife to the store to get me a carton of cigarettes, and she came back with a tin of tobacco and some rolling papers; cause it's sooooooooooo much cheaper. So, I figure if I have to roll my own ........... so does she.

Phase 1 – Project Initiation
Phase 2 – Wild Enthusiasm
Phase 3 – Disillusionment
Phase 4 – Chaos
Phase 5 – Search for the guilty
Phase 6 – Punishment of the innocent
Phase 7 – Promotion of non-participants
Phase 8 – Definition of requirements

Today on the last day of the course, at last the training got interesting mainly because it became more applicable to day to day use. The lessons were about disk management and data storage. These are some general important principles:-

• Always use NTFS file system for OS's that support it. NTFS has got security, compression and several other desirable features (ex. remembering previously flagged bad sector locations after a format) that are not present on FAT and FAT32.
• You can ALWAYS use quick format when formatting disk. Full format is only 'required' when you want to delete sensitive data from disk and even then most probably data can still be retrievable. For super sensitive data deletion you have to do a low level disk format.

In line with what I was thinking a month ago, there are millions of features in software packages that nobody knows they exist, which in some cases might be excellent time and effort savers. Windows itself is full of these unadvertised components. If for nothing else, this course highlighted the importance of MMC console; a tool which encompasses all administration requirements of a windows system, both server and desktop machine.

The MMC console can be used for almost all management tasks both within a local machine and also on remote computers. This tool makes remote administration really easy just by simply selecting the machine name you require to administer once you select the appropriate snap-in.

Using MMC console

1. To use the MMC console you just click select run from the start menu [windows key + R] and type MMC (on computers with multiple privileges you might have to use the runas command).
2. You can now add several components to the MMC console depending on the task you want to do. Go to file -> add remove snap/in -> add.
3. Try adding the computer management snap in which is a collection of other snap ins to allows you to do pretty much everything to manage your computer. The disk management facility allows formatting new disks (there is no need for partition magic), changing drive letters and work with dynamic disks to span and strip disks. Other options include monitor event logs, services, disk defragmentation, user and group management etc.
4. Also add the group policy snap in. This allows you to implement a computer policy based on how you want groups of users to use the computer. You can restrict access to most resources by creating policies. For example you can remove items like my computer and recycle bin from desktop, standardise desktop images, hide the control panel, etc.

The last part of the lesson was about disaster recovery management which is a fancy word for backup and restoring. Like all backup classes the golden rule in backup is: Your backup is only as good as your restore procedure.

Now, have you ever wondered what the following items mean in windows?

achieve file attribute

This file attribute is used by windows backup software to indicate that a file requires backup (if the attribute is set).

load last known good configuration

You're likely to see this option after a crash. This option loads the registry settings as of the last log on, so if you logged on installed a new driver and the computer crashed then the last known good configuration loads the registry before the driver got installed. If on the other hand you manage to log in the system after you install the driver than the computer malfunctions this option becomes pretty useless because the cocked up registry is saved.

Creating a startup disk in windows XP / 2000 / 2003

1. Select the show hidden files and folders and uncheck the hide protected operating system files, from the folder options under tools in my computer.
2. Copy
   • boot.ini
   • ntdetect.com
   • ntldr
   • if they exist copy bootsect.dos or ntbootdd.sys
3. From command line type attrib -h -s -r a:*.*

For more details check out the microsoft support site

Today is my third training day of "Managing and Maintaining a windows 2003 server". As usual at work we end up attending things completely unrelated to our work and leave things directly related to us hanging in the closet. Java Pro, Crisis Management Conference bye bye! To ease the pain, we've got full Internet access available at least during the practicals.

At these lectures I try my best to listen, then let my mind wonder around. Yesterday I found some food for thought when discussing Print Sharing. The tutor highlighted that having a cheap separate ink jet for each employee will turn out much more costly than buying an industrial scale printer serving many users. When you think about it, it makes sense because the running cost of each individual ink jet printer is huge comparatively, approx 2c per paper for the inkjet and 0.2c per paper for the large printer.

I realised that the same principle applies very much to software development. Most of the time before writing a new piece of software I am asked how much time will it take. Naturally I calculate design and development time but in fact I must take into consideration maintenance (and application support) which is probably more time consuming than the actual application development. This argument answered a recent thought of mine; why in the last year I wrote only one application while in the previous year I wrote about five.

Although I’m updating the blog quite sparingly, I’m still alive and yesterday I declared the love for my blog by buying a domain name for it. I’ve been meaning to do this from the very beginning but I didn’t believe I’d actually continue blogging for more than a month. Now that I got reassured about my dedication I brought www.mindspill.org

I registered the domain via Go Daddy and I must say that the process was relatively easy, though there are too many options to choose from initially. At first glance the site is so full of dollars and special offers it looks like spam but once I got beyond appearances (after 5 months) I handed over my credit card.

This impression soon fades away as you start using the site. I didn’t manage to get to the front page of my account after I registered so I had to click that miraculous “Forgot your password" button. The process of retrieving the password is quite innovative; I first entered my customer number then had to key in the usual alphanumeric image reference. This sent an e-mail to my account with an activation code and a timeframe of 30 minutes, during which you can change the password. There is also a similar mechanism to retrieve your customer number, which I’m sure I will have to use sometime.

These last months I’ve been spending money like a crazy fool. Yesterday I brought an EZ-Flash 2 PowerStar 256M Card and Linker Set for my Game boy which cost me $157 from BinaryGame. I need to find a way to restrain my spending but I’m not sure I really want to.

Yesterday we went to watch The Village (review). At first we were going to watch the movie as a DivX at home but after my bro couldn’t find the movie we had to go to the cinema. It was money so well spent that I paid for both nachos and film. I will say nothing about the actual film except that the second half of the film is brilliant. Obviously you cannot like the second part without watching the first part but I encourage anyone with even the slightest like for twists in tales to watch it. If you’re not convinced yet remember that the director is the same director of The Sixth Sense. 4/5 Stars

A week has passed and instead of acclimatising myself to normality I’m getting more nostalgic and in need of a holiday. Usually my better half suffers from this effect, but this time we reversed roles. Most probably the holiday video overdose I’m undergoing is enhancing the symptoms. After a whole week I’ve only managed to edit 1 of the 6 tapes I’ve recorded. This is getting a bit tedious and the blog and holiday diary are not getting enough time.

After postponing the film Collateral (review) in favour of sleep, yesterday we went to watch it. I must say it was much better than the trailer. I like films with loads of ruthlessly killed people; most probably it has something to do with my repressed inner desires. (2 stars for the story and 4 stars for the film)

5th September

Since we arrived a day ahead of schedule in Singapore we had two full days to visit the island. From a person who regards major cities with scepticism I liked the small island’s very distinctive character. Despite this though there are very few things Singapore excels in; shopping, eating and strict rules.

Orchard Road is a synonym with shopping in Singapore. Characteristically amongst the various shops the quality and professionalism of the shops varies from the low grade downright cheap like the Lucky Plaza to the more sophisticated malls like Ngee Ann City. At Plaza Singapura there was a wonderful book sale with about 5 huge tables full of older (approx. 5 years) books at $5 each. I was extremely tempted to stock my library from there but as it was the first day of the holiday I restrained myself.

Electronics are always the order of the day and the variety of shops ranges from market like stands to full blown stores like Best Denki. Since we are not used to buying tech gadgets from market stands that could have been selling $1 slippers, I was naturally reluctant of buying the video camera from there. The shopkeepers do not look very reassuring and sometimes over-annoy you for you custom, but this might be just a Westerners impression in an Asian country so don’t put too much weight on it.

One thing which takes time getting used to is that most items do not have a price tag attached. Since I hate being pestered by shopkeepers I tend to hesitate to ask the item price. Most probably the reason for not putting up a price tag is to allow bargaining, however the two times I tried to bargain I was offered no second price over the first. Mind you I’m not a good haggler by any standard.

As planned I brought the camera, case and tapes from Alan Photo Trading at Sim Lim Square. I had already agreed a price by e-mailing him which was better than all the prices I saw in Orchard Road. Like most of the other shops Alan’s shop didn’t inspire much confidence however he was listed as an official distributor on Canon’s site so I put my mind at rest.

The least common cause of death in Singapore must be dying of hunger, since every few paces you’re likely to find some sort of food establishment. I think that Singaporeans are chronic eaters since most of the shops were always full of people during anytime of the day. What’s more amazing is that from the small set out of the 4.3million inhabitants very few looked overweight.

Despite the multitude of different dining options we regretfully had breakfast at an American Coffee shop and dinner at a food court with some of the worst food of the whole holiday. I’m quite disappointed with myself at not finding and trying the Singaporean chilli crab which is one of the most famous dishes in the country. This was the first case of shop overload we had during the holiday, with so many options we finished choosing the worst.

I think the Singaporean government goes out of his way to stand out when it comes to making rules. Amongst the strangest were the chewing gum ban and heavy fines when not flushing a toilet. Needless say smoking is prohibited in most places and the littering carries heavy fines and public humiliation (corrective work orders – CWO) for previous offenders. (More laws)

The law enforcement unit is very serious about adherence to rules and people do actually pay attention to them. While at Kuala Lumpur airport we were approached by a woman who gave us cigarettes 4 packets of cigarettes because of Singapore cigarette import laws. People risk heavy fines, public humiliation and in extreme case even the death penalty for disobedience.

3rd & 4th September

The uncertainty of stand by travel helps you appreciate aspects of travel otherwise taken foregranted. On Thursday afternoon we decided to fly on Friday instead of the planned departure on Saturday. It turned out to be a bold move because at 21:35 we were waiting at the gate of flight BA17 to Singapore. As soon as the check-in assistant called our names at the standby desk in Heathrow our cheeks touched our ears. This overjoy and Handbook for butterfly watchers were essential to alleviate the hour delay at the gate and the remaining 3 hours delay on board the aircraft due to an engine problem.

The BA 747-400 is huge compared to my previous flight experiences. We even had a TFT monitor for each passenger which makes me wonder what joys await the wealthy passengers in club class. Apart from sleeping and reading I killed the 13 hours watching parts of Kill Bill 2 and The Laws of Attraction (3 stars) as well as an episode of friends.

We arrived in Singapore at around 20:00 and to play it safe we rode a taxi ($35) from Changi Airport to the Strand at Bencoolen Street. Taxis have a wide variety of additional surcharges depending on the day and time so the price tends of vary accordingly. We could have taken the metro which is much cheaper at $1.20 and, Dhoby Ghaut stop is just a short walk from the Strand. (Dhoby Ghaut has one of its exits in Plaza Singapura, for the sake of those looking for it on a map).

The strand is a basic reasonably priced ($75 for a double room) clean hotel located in a perfect area for shopping. It is just 10/15 min away from Orchard Road and about 5 min away from Sim Lim Square.

Word of the year: Snafus

At the moment I am in full holiday nostalgia mode. I've been taken over by the digital video editing craze which is accounting for about 12 hours of work each day. Unfortunately this is leaving little time to write my travelogue as I must try to squeeze it between an editing break and an excuse to look like I'm working on work at work.

Life is much better now then when I left it a month ago. We made friends again with our friends which is a big definite plus. Actually the whole situation got blown up probably due to stress overload on our side. Time worked miracles on the whole situation as everything started falling into the right perspective as time went by.

Links:-

• Marc Peters DV Edtiting Guides
• Wikipedia Baseball and Mahjong rules.
• Mobile 9 – Mobile Phone Portal

Signature:-
God made a contract with IT professionals:
God won't fix computers, and IT professionals won't make miracles.

I'm back! After a whole month of abstinence from everything that matters in the normal world I'm trying to regain some ground in day to day routine. I slowly started with the things that matter most - family, friends, blog, games, (another half a million things), ...., and work. I read about 10 emails from the 350+ today). I’ll hopefully manage to finish by the end of the month.

A month on holiday gives you enough time to immerse yourself in a different environment, and forget about most of the previous problems. The expense of this privilege is that the big bang to the normal life is greater. Unfortunately I wasn’t helped much by luck because my grandmother passed away just two days before arriving home and I missed her funeral by a day. Actually luck wasn’t a major player in our holiday because after just a week we were robbed from our hotel room $800 (US) and a Nokia N-gage. A rough cold with and a very tiring descent from Mount Kinabalu will probably commit to our long term memory in the less than pleasant section but for the rest of the 28 days it was a good holiday, way better than home.

I'm now faced with the mammoth task of learning how to edit the 5 hour video of holiday footage and writing the holiday blog. I managed to forget my beloved holiday diary at a phone boot in KK, so I had to scribble my holiday notes on a shorthand notebook which is now tattered to pieces from excess use.

At least our network people were not at work today so managed to find some digital video editing tutorials quite easily.

• Wringley Video
• Adobe Curriculum
• DV Premier