Wednesday, May 18, 2005

I've been going through a bit of a trough. I've been sleeping a lot lately and my symptoms (of schizophrenia) have been more pronounced. I've got the latest copy of SuSE Linux 9.3 Professional ready to install but I just can't face it at the moment. In fact I'm having difficulty sorting out my bills and things. Although it's an unpleasant time to be going through, I'm glad that it didn't happen while I was at the Oxford ACCU conference. I've also bought a couple of books 1) SuSE Linux for dummies and 2) Networking SuSE Linux. A friend of mine, Joe Miller, wanted to have a Linux box on his network. Maybe these books will sort out these problems. And I'm scrounging old Windows/Office CDs from anyone I can.

I've been teaching people at Contact, Morpeth, how to use computers. Even the people who think they know computers are learning new things. And we're asking members of the public to donate unused computers to be lent out to people for a couple of months at a time. Some computers that have been donated will have wiped hard drives. So, as I am unwilling to pirate Microsoft software (Windows or Office), I will have to install Linux/Open Office instead.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

I've reached another milestone - attending the
ACCU conference and I didn't have a psychotic episode. There were a few moments where I was thinking "this is not real, I'm hallucinating" but overall things were OK.

Since the last conference I attended, in Spring 2001, there were a few changes. Python had a stream for itself. So did security. And Template Metaprogramming replaced the usual talks on Generic Programming and the STL.

My house is a mess - too many magazines and books - so I bought 4 wide tall bookcases. Hopefully that will clear the clutter and remove my piles of books from my kitchen table. I've been reviewing books for the ACCU, including an eye opener on the Itanium architecture and the Linux kernel.

SuSE Linux 9.3 Professional is out and I asked SuSE if people on DLA (Disability and Living Allowance aka Disks and Licensing Agreement aka Drugs and Lager Allowance) could qualify for the student discount - and they said yes which was very nice of them.