Vista SP1 and VMware Server 1.0.5…

Anyone following my tweets last night would know I installed Vista SP1 and VMware Server 1.0.5 last night.

While I was doing the Oracle workshops I didn’t really want to mess with my laptop much, but now I’m having a right good rummage.

The Windows Vista SP1 installation took about 45 minutes and didn’t report any problems. Since the install I’ve seen no problems. My AntiVirus software (AVG) works without complaint. My VPN software (Checkpoint) is happy as Larry. The box still talks to my Linux boxes and my NAS, which is a Linux appliance using Samba. So all in all it worked out OK, considering the various worry mongering going on in the press.

Remember, this is one laptop being used by a computer gumby. I’m not suggesting it’s safe for your whole organization to go Vista ans SP1. I just thought it was worth a mention.

While I was waiting for the SP1 installation I thought I’d give VMware Server 1.0.5 a go on my Linux (CentOS 5) server. It installed fine, and apart from having to update my VMware tools on each VM, everything ran as before. There doesn’t seem to be anything new compared to 1.0.4, probably just bug fixes, but I guess the big change will be when version 2.0 comes out of beta.

Once the SP1 installation was complete I put the new version of VMware Server on my laptop and it worked fine there also.

So it was a pretty successful evening, considering the devastation that could have resulted. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Shoot ‘Em Up…

I saw the film Shoot ‘Em Up recently and thought it was pretty cool. I had no intention of seeing it, but it was the only thing on when I got to the cinema, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Now, when I say it was cool, I don’t mean it had a wonderful story or anything like that. It’s a designer violence type flick. Lots of completely over the top cartoon style shooting scenes. If it had looked even slightly real (like Rambo) I would be complaining that it was too violent, but the cartoonish style (like Kill Bill), makes it almost funny.

If you fancy an over the top bad-guys vs. anti-hero film it’s good fun.

Cheers

Tim…

Copenhagen (again)…

I mentioned in a previous post I had a days sightseeing before I started my workshop. Copenhagen is a really cool place. I would definitely like to visit again.

Regarding the workshop, I think it went really well. The people were very friendly and interacted a lot. It’s hard work presenting for 12+ hours, but it’s cool when the audience are getting involved.

One of the attendees (Ian) was a guy I worked with in a previous job, so when we finished the workshop on Thursday we went out for a drink in the city centre with one of Ian’s friends (Tony). That evening led to a rather messy morning, which I’m not going to elaborate on, but I did manage to get to the airport on time… 🙂

All in all, I had a really good week. I’d like to thank everyone at Oracle for allowing me the opportunity to do the workshop, and everyone who attended for making me feel welcome.

Cheers

Tim…

Copenhagen…

I’ve got a single day to do Copenhagen before I have to start working tomorrow. The local tourist office recommended a 3 hour route round the city, which I did this morning. I’m going to spend this afternoon checking out some of the stuff off the main route.

So far the weather has been bright, but very cold. The wind is cold enough to take your breath away. I must be a wimp because I’ve seen a few women walking round in tshirts. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Webserver upgrade woes…

My hosting provider did an upgrade of server hosting my website a couple of days ago. Since then I’ve been getting an intermittent “HTTP/1.1 200 OK” message on screen, accompanied by a bunch of HTML tags. After a couple of refreshes the page appears normally, so it’s not a total right-off, but it’s very annoying.

If you’re having trouble with the site I’m very sorry, but there is nothing I can do. I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for the support guys to look at this because they are currently upgrading everyone else’s Linux hosts also. I suspect they are going to ge increasingly busy as the day goes on. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Reaper Man, Witches Abroad and Small Gods…

It’s a while since I mentioned any books, so I thought I’d get myself up to date…

Reaper Man – Death takes a holiday and chaos ensues. Death is my favorite character in the Discworld series, so I really enjoyed this one.

Witches Abroad – Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick have to go “abroad” do some “fairy god-mothering” to make sure a few fairy tales don’t end they way they should. These three characters work really well together as they are all so different. The funny thing is 4th fro last sentence is, “There’s a billion places like home. But only one of ’em’s where you live.”, which seemed really appropriate as I was reading it whilst feeling totally at home in Vienna.

Small Gods – What happens when people worship the politics and process of their religion rather than their God? Answer… Their God becomes a one eyed tortoise who can only be heard by the last person who actually truly believes in him. A very funny book with more than a hint of truth in parts.

That’s 13 books done and I’m still only 1/3 of the way through…

Cheers

Tim…

My Vienna Experience…

I’m home now and I’ve had some time to reflect on the whole Vienna experience…

I enjoyed the teaching, and was surprised how relaxed I felt. I expected to get nervous, but felt really calm through it all. It’s very difficult to get 13 hours of material across in 2 days. I know it’s not practical, but I’m sure these sessions would be easier for the attendees if they were 4 mornings rather than 2 whole days…

I mentioned before how much I liked Vienna. On the morning before I left I did some more sightseeing, and even though the weather was dull and wet I was still very glad to be there. If I was a bit younger and a bit less set in my ways I would seriously consider working in that neck of the woods for a while to get a true feel of the place.

Next stop Denmark…

Cheers

Tim…

More sightseeing, then home…

I’ve got another morning of sightseeing, then I fly home this afternoon.

I’m going to write a post summing up my Vienna experience, but for now all I will say is I love Vienna. I spent the whole day walking round checking out the center of the city. Later in the day my dodgy knee felt a bit sore, so I did what any sane person would do and went ice skating in a park. 🙂 The weather has been great so far. I got a bit sun burnt yesterday, which isn’t bad considering I was expecting 6-10 degrees and rain… 🙂

I feel totally at home here. Pity I have to leave…

Cheers

Tim…

Teaching mode off, holiday mode on…

I’ve just finished my second day of teaching Oracle PL/SQL Tuning. I’m now switching into holiday mode for a couple of days before returning to the UK.

Everything went well, but I’m sure over the next couple of days I’ll start to think about things I’ll do differently next time. It will be interesting to see the summary of the student appraisal forms. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…