In teaching students programming, invariably we always come to a discussion about order of operations. Anyway, using parentheses will always affect the order of operations regardless of the standard algebraic rules. After going through lots of examples, the principle that is pronounced for all to abide by--"Always be explicit about what you want to do by using parentheses, don't leave anything to chance." Well, not following this principle bit me today. The process went something like: ((x or y) ......
To answer the question of persistence vs. starting over...in this case, persistence pays off. Now I have a documented process as to what it would take to get my system back with my current backup process. Now I need to decide if this is sufficient or if I need to create a better plan. A few things didn't work as well as I had planned, but as far as system configurations, I don't have to start over. I hate installing software (clicking through installation wizards, entering license keys, finding the ......
Yesterday, I mentioned that I was reloading my crunched TabletPC and that I was struggling with getting the backup to restore. Today marks day three of the process. I finally got it! So now I have a question. When is persistence a waste of time vs. just saying "Oh well" and starting over. Let's be clear, we aren't talking about critical data. I had that taken care of long before I even thought about backups. This was a configured system of software installations. Windows XP, Office, VSTS and 10-15 ......
One of the more difficult aspects of consulting is helping people change. Often the arguments "It ain't broke" or "We don't have time" come into play. In a previous post I mentioned that Visual Studio Team System won't change the way you get work done. Unfortunately, "status quo" is the easiest thing to do. True, we are pressured with deadlines, management or marketing agreeing to deadlines before allocating the resources to complete the projects, etc., but that's why it's even more important to ......
Why is it that we tell our customers how to do disaster recovery, be we don't quite do it right ourselves? As an independent I make frequent backups of my work (CD, USB Drive, and sometimes both). I had installed Vista on my HP laptop, but for business reasons, I needed to roll it back to Windows XP. My backup came in extremely handy here--and worked well. Well enough, I consider myself lucky. That was a planned backup and restore. Then my TabletPC somehow got crunched. Things didn't go nearly as ......
Per the recommendation of Scott Hanselman, I am using MaxiVista for using my Laptop as a second (and third) monitor on my desktop system. Right now, they are looking to release a new version, so they have discounted the current version by 30%. Or you can wait for the next release (which will be 50% off for upgrades--so the price is close to the same either way--you just get to start using it today). ......
Ok. Thought I would give the Windows Live Writer a try for making posts to my blog. I find that I haven't spent much time blogging, because I always have to be connected to use my editor. In the beginning, I used an extension to Outlook to post, but that just didn't do it well.
So, here's to hoping I can be a bit more consistent...