Harehunter

Sorry, I've exceeded my limit by a factor of 5 -1.

My current endeavors are:

1. Completing on major database/application upgrade,

2. Beginning another minor database upgrade, but with an overloaded tester dragging down the project,

3. Implementing a new tool set to diagnose and solve performance tuning problems

4. Upgrading an Enterprise Database Management system.

5. Re-researching a significant patch update to a third database/application,

6. Beginning research on a major database reorganization on the previously mentioned database in preparation for another major upgrade looming on the horizon,

7. Re-supporting an application I had been shed of for 15 years and have now re-acquired due to the retirement of one programmer

8. Learning another new programming tool to rebuild the just mentioned legacy system.

9. And for dessert, I have begun to chart Exile III. No annotations on the first pass, just graphics.

And who says DBA's don't have any fun.

BTW, This is not complaining, this is anticipation of challenges to conquer. Each task on my todo list is like a game, where the vendor tries to make the process as difficult and convoluted as possible, and I get to thread my way through an Avernum of documentation, looking for the solutions to the puzzles that block my access to final victory.

You guys make me feel like Rip Van Winkle; I put my head down for a little upgrade work, and this topic happens.

Actaeon: I too have had my nits picked to pieces by the ever watchful House of Slarty. I don't take it personally, I just make sure I take the time to research my response before posting it. It takes a greater investment of time, a commodity I seem to be running short on these days, but it makes for a stronger, more reasoned debate.

As for the more deliberate pace of discovery in the field of genetics, I would conjecture that it is, in part, due to the fact that we are talking about a technology that is capable of doing major harm, not just to individual subjects, but to the whole population. Not only are there ethical reasons for caution, there are political causes that seek to throttle research in this area.

Alorael, would you liken genetic research to be akin to reverse-engineering an entire operating system with nothing more than a mound of paper covered with hexadecimal symbols; no system documentation, no documentation of the machine code, no replicatable platform on which to run tests, no way to tell what is executable vs data, except by meticulous and tedious tugging and tweaking of bits and bytes until slowly a picture starts to form? The fact that we have learned as much as we know now, in the time that we have been studying it is, to me, phenomenal.

The time of basic research to product development is longer than we have seen in recent years on the electronic gadget front, but I expect that we will reach a tipping point in the next decade or two where such advances will start coming quicker.

The only thing that is constant is change, but not even the rate of change is constant.

I vote no because I don't feel your justification is adequate. Feeling that you *have to* be running linux because it is *expected* of you is pretty lame.

At work, I live in the world of unix, and I prefer the environment for what I do; working with Oracle databases. I have a few Oracle databases running on Windows, and those are a pane in the glass pain in the keister. Of course my interface with those servers is through a Windows client, so I have to have a good working knowledge of those.

I have never bought a name brand PC for personal use. I have built over a dozen machines from parts alone, installing all the software personally. I have never spent over $900 for a machine. True, I don't run the latest versions of stuff, but hey, if it ain't baroque, don't fix it.

After my last rebuild project, I converted my previous machine to linux and found that it easily equaled the performance of my newer, faster Windows machine. Again, in linux/unix land, the only use I have for gui's is when the installer doesn't have a console mode.

Dual boot does fit the needs you specified, but with the availability of Virtual Machine OS's, I would have to recommend them over dual boot. With VM you gain the advantage of having both environments running at the same time. The one disadvantage is the increase of disk requirements. Here is where I would recommend -building- a midi-tower with lots of expansion room for disk drives. In this scenario, dual, or even better, quad core processors are to be desired.

I've just checked Fry's and found a AMD quad core, 6Gb RAM, 1Tb disk, DVD R/W, Radeon graphics for $599, with Windows 7 installed. Now my mouth is watering like Pavlov's dogs. Add Open Office, and a VM environment running linux and an Oracle 11g rdbms with webserver (there is a free single user license available), and you can rise to the level of UberGeek. That is intended as desirable status.

I just downloaded it from Spiderwebs site Exile 2 page.

I agree that, if Jeff's games are distilled down to three words, It's the Story. Only one other game series has held my attention as well, and that is Rand Miller's Myst series.

That is totally wicked!!!

I wonder how many 'easter eggs' Google has embedded.

(And I've been told *my* sense of humor is a bit askew!)

Have I mentioned that my penchant for puns is a sickness? Here I go merrily browsing the forum, when suddenly a word triggers another bad cross-reference. Since I am constrained to contain my contaminating comedy (a little alliteration, anyone?)I'll just keep it segregated here.

I wonder if Jeff ever got around to fixing that bug in the Fortress.....

You are definitely not imagining things.

In reference to...

I don't believe that prior to 9/11, the tip off would be taken seriously. I am reminded of Dec 7, 1941, when the U.S. knew an attack was imminent, but never dreamed that it would be directed directly at their home port. Security gets complacent until it the consequences of such complacency are felt.

Often times, the simplest plan is the most effective.

Ever have one of those weeks where everything that could go wrong, did, and you have to move at such high speed trying to put out the multitudinous fires that you leave yourself behind. Later you find yourself meeting yourself as you pass each other in the hall. Finally, at the end of the day, you finally catch up with yourself, and drag your exhausted hinny home.

That has described my whole last week. Ah well, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.

Now you guys are making me feel like an old fuddy-duddy. My wife and I have resisted the urge to do on-line banking. I suppose being a DBA makes me more paranoid than most. I work too closely with computers to trust them. I have only one debit card, which I never use for online transactions. I have several other cards that I could use to get cash, but I always say no to the offer of enabling that feature. The only computerized transaction I do have is direct deposit. Any other services I need, I get in the car, drive the two miles to the bank, and take care of it.

I once tried to get my wife to try Quicken. That lasted all of about 15 seconds. She likes her accounting system; the Big Chief method. It doesn't involve learning any computer program; it's simple to use; if it crashes she just picks up the pad off the floor; to reboot, she just click more lead out of the pencil; it's portable; it works without electricity; and it works. Bills get paid by check, and I drop them off directly at the post office.

I have done a lot of online shoppinng, but it still gives me a mild anxiety when dealing with a new vendor. Paranoia is a healthy attribute for a DBA, but it hampers adaptation to new technologies.

I think you summed up the various versions best here. It might be a good idea to post this version countdown with release date in the main Exile forum page.

I was attempting the old ploy of hiding it in plain cite.

I am a day early, because I may encounter another Monday in the morning. I have enjoyed our discourse over the past months, and I wanted to thank you for tolerating me with my poor, but I hope improving, netiquette.

I've got nothing to brag about. I've only donated 6 gallons of blood.

A pint at a time over many years.

You have to wait 8 weeks between donations; not 7 weeks and 6 days, 8 weeks.

Other people have donated much more.

Ad Slarticus, Alorael, Lilith, Tyranicus, Dantius et alii,

I salute you all, this St Crispin's Day.

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here

But one ten thousand of those men in England

That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?

My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;

If we are mark'd to die, we are enow

To do our country loss; and if to live,

The fewer men, the greater share of honour.

God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.

By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,

Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;

It yearns me not if men my garments wear;

Such outward things dwell not in my desires.

But if it be a sin to covet honour,

I am the most offending soul alive.

No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.

God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour

As one man more methinks would share from me

For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!

Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,

Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

And crowns for convoy put into his purse;

We would not die in that man's company

That fears his fellowship to die with us.

This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.

He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,

Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,

And rouse him at the name of Crispian.

He that shall live this day, and see old age,

Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,

And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'

Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,

And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,

But he'll remember, with advantages,

What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,

Familiar in his mouth as household words-

Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,

Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-

Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.

This story shall the good man teach his son;

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,

From this day to the ending of the world,

But we in it shall be remembered-

We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me

Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,

This day shall gentle his condition;

And gentlemen in England now-a-bed

Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,

And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks

That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

I said it was bad, that is why I hid it over here.

And then I missed one.

It is interesting how your goals in life shift about as opportunities present themselves.

When I graduated college with a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, I pictured myself working in a lab doing chemical research. But, by having accepted an ROTC scholarship, I had committed to a four year obligation as a commissioned officer. I was assigned to the Corps of Engineers, trained in all engineering and construction disciplines. After about 8 months being assigned to a combat engineer battalion, I found out how boring such duty can be in a stateside, peacetime army during a period of fiscal cutbacks.

I got a job with the Division Data Center. I was sent to school to learn about programming. (I had already had a few programming classes as an undergrad.) Here I got to work with a computer on a daily basis. My primary job as an analyst was to take problems and turn them into solutions. I found that I enjoyed this even more than chemistry. After two years with the DDC, I was transferred to the Division Financial Management Office. There I was to apply my computer analysis skills to the army's accounting system.

After the army I decided that working with computers was to be the direction of my future. So I went back to school with the goal of a Masters degree in C.S. I had dreams of working for NASA or some such field. But finances ran low and life happened. I took a job at a fast food place and worked my way up to assistant manager. Sometimes you have to make your own opportunities.

Then I landed a job with a manufacturing company needing to deploy a brand new system. I learned more about business accounting and process workflow. Even more importantly, I learned about working with people who needed to rely on the output of the computer, but had no understanding about how they worked. Learning how to communicate with other people is an art. There are no rules, but being able to converse about non-technical stuff helps to lubricate the process.

After three years I landed another job in Houston working for a bigger company. A couple of jobs later, I wind up working with my current employer of 20 years. I work in the computer department of an engineering and construction company that works in the chemical industry, working with their accounting and process workflow systems as their senior analyst.

Long story short (too late!), life presents many opportunities, and your goals may change accordingly. Being prepared to adapt to different situations is equally important to learning as detailed a skill as computer science. Keep your horizons open, don't focus too much on one thing. Enjoy life while taking the best advantage its opportunities offer.