Infoworld tells employers to quit sniveling about their workers not having enough skills and train them.
Sounds good. It worked in the organization where I work.
The stupid juice–it burns
John Dominik has been on a tear lately. Yesterday he wrote twice; the latter piece, The Stupid Juice–it Burns, shows an attitude that’s far too rare these days and frankly is one of the best pieces I’ve read in a very long time, anywhere. He laments people’s tendency to act as if those who disagree with them are subhuman and have no right to exist.
If you haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you do.
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How to make persistent headers in Excel
My boss and I are compiling a huge Excel spreadsheet that summarizes everything our organization has ever done. It’s as big of a pain as it sounds. What makes it worse is having to scroll all the way back to the beginning to view the headers. The solution: make persistent headers in Excel.
The trick to making a persistent header that shows all the time, even after scrolling, hides in the View tab in Excel 2007.
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Unix-to-Windows copies with PSCP
I’ve been moving files between Linux servers, and to and from Windows boxes, as part of my server migration. I started to write about how I’ve been doing it, but it seemed oddly familiar.
Yep, I’ve written about SCP and its Windows port, PSCP, before. Do this long enough and you find yourself repeating yourself.
A free tool keeps Windows from hibernating during long downloads
So you’re downloading a large ISO image like a Linux distribution, or Windows with an integrated service pack. You get the download going, then go to work, and come home expecting to find a it waiting for you, only to find your computer went to sleep after just an hour. It makes your day, doesn’t it?
A free, portable program called Coffee–I guess it’s named that way because it keeps Windows from going to sleep–can fix that for you without you having to diddle with power settings and then having to remember to change them back.
Marx trains and Lionel 1121 switches
There is some unfortunate misinformation circulating on various train forums. I first read this misinformation in the outstanding book by Peter Riddle, Trains from Grandfather’s Attic, published in 1991. As Classic Toy Trains editor Bob Keller noted while we were finishing up my article late last year, incorrect information in print lasts a long time. A very long time, sometimes. Lionel 1121 switches and Marx trains are rumored to get along famously. I am sad to report they do not.
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Is TRIM better than Native Command Queuing?
Another question from the big bag ‘o search queries: When you’re shopping for an SSD, is TRIM better than Native Command Queuing?
It’s an interesting question, and my first inclination is to say no, because TRIM and NCQ solve two similar but distinctly different problems. But the more I think about it, the more I understand why it’s possible to confuse the two.
The old days of viruses
Blogging pioneer John Dominik, inspired by my Michelangelo memories, wrote about his memories of viruses later in the decade. So now I’ll take inspiration of him and share my memories of some of those viruses. I searched my archives, and at the time it was going on, I didn’t write a lot. I was tired and angry, as you can tell from the terse posts I did write.
I have a server… and about four years’ worth of content
My new server is up and running, and let me tell you, it’s spectacular.
And if you’re reading this on 6 March 2012, you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about, because everything looks just as slow as usual. That’s because the new server is still behind my firewall because I’m struggling to get my content all moved to it.
Customize Firefox before it hits the ground on a new PC
Here’s a nifty-looking program: Firefox Addon Maker, which allows you to create customized Firefox installer packages.
This is helpful if you install Firefox a lot, whether in corporate or home settings.
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