Backup Solutions, 2011 Style

Over the years I struggled to find reliable and realistic backup solutions for my computer data.  Originally (back in the early 90s) I used a tape drive, which took forever to back anything up.  Right from the start of my backup attempts vexing questions arose.  Should I do full backups or incremental backups?  Incremental backups… Continue reading Backup Solutions, 2011 Style

A Sound Card Adventure

Keeping the computers humming along at EP Studios, where there are more computers per cubic foot than the average Google data cluster, is a continual challenge.  A few days ago the TV sound died on MediumHeadBoy.  All other sounds from the computer were fine.  I should mention that MediumHeadBoy is our kitchen computer and is… Continue reading A Sound Card Adventure

Fax Machines Are Stupid

It came to me today as a sudden revelation (an “ah-ha” moment) that our fax machine is a total anachronism, like something out of the 19th century.  Here it is the 21st century, and we are still sending back and forth images of paper documents over the phone lines, using an old-fashioned modem, completely independently… Continue reading Fax Machines Are Stupid

Blogging From My Droid

Yes it’s possible to write a blog post on an Android phone using WordPress for Android.  Why anyone would want to write a post on the Droid’s clunky keyboard is an excellent question.  I suppose if there is something you just can’t wait to write about, and it’s short… 

Emacs Word Wrap Modes

I had problems sending posts to WordPress from weblogger on Emacs because of formatting errors. I have been using auto-fill-mode in Emacs to avoid lines extending off the screen. Auto-fill-mode works by inserting newline characters (ASCII 0A, C-j) at the end of each line. Turning off auto-fill-mode does not eliminate these characters. If you want… Continue reading Emacs Word Wrap Modes

The C++ Way. Part 0.

I’ve decided to write a series of posts on what I call “The C++ Way” analogous to “The Ruby Way,” a book and philosophy of the Ruby Language. After programming in C++ for years, I still struggle to think in C++. I constantly ask myself “what would Bjarne (Stroustroup) do (WWBD)?” when attacking a programming… Continue reading The C++ Way. Part 0.