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is a Professional Geek for Microsoft Australia. More info lives underneath the About Box...

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Dear Viewers Using IE6

By Nick Hodge | January 6, 2009

Dear Internet Explorer 6.0 (IE6) Users,

Only 20% of browsers in the world are still using IE6, and 22% of visitors to this site are still using IE6. IE6 is the work of the evil @basementcat. I strongly suggest you upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 or 8.

Why? Later browsers support more web sites, especially the many that are now written with Web Standards in mind. Sites designed with Web Standards render quicker as browsers do not have to magically interpret bad code.

Also, security. As Microsoft takes Internet security seriously, there are strong features in Internet Explorer 8 to stop nasty things happening.

So, please upgrade your browser.

kthxbai

Topics: technology | 1 Comment »

Personal and Professional Resolutions for 2009

By Nick Hodge | January 1, 2009

Godley Head, Christchurch

2009 is going to be a rough year

The time between the end of 2008 through the beginning of 2009 is an artificial boundary. Just because the moon enters a new cycle, and scientists have added an extra second to time, does not automatically mean all is going to be well.

Unprecedented change is coming to all levels of the system in which we live and work in the coming 12 months. Driven by the global financial crisis, global warming, and a dramatic change to the US Presidency; the mechanisms of the financial industry, more background levels of political unrest, China growth wobbles. The list goes on. The world is going to change, and not just because President Obama wishes it so.

Never a borrower nor a lender be

Festering in Wall Street for many months, it began with the Lehman Bros collapse. 30 other banks were either nationalised or went bankrupt within weeks. The stable post-war banking system has failed. (note: Hedge funds started in 1949, more information on the current credit crisis)

Hedge funds and other financial engineers discounted risk, and found that what the market giveth, and the market also taketh away. With the withdrawal of easy credit in the market, consumer and corporate spending has slowed significantly.

There are issues with the government bailouts and buy outs: the profits over the last 10 years has accrued to the few, whilst the losses have been socialised to the taxpayer. The only upside is if the large bailouts increases the velocity of money, and churns in positive ways within the economy. Giving credit to the non-creditworthy is not sustainable.

Easy credit, once the oil of business and the way consumers lived up to lives they expected, has disappeared. Using credit, either obtained from credit cards or housing refinancing: cashing out the perceived value of a property; is spending money from the future. A small scale personal ponzi scheme that only works if the future is bright.

However, the future is not always bright. Perceived value is at the whim of the markets.

There is no global upside until 2010 at the earliest. Sadly, 2009 is not going to be magically brighter than 2008. And Access Economics has stated that Australia is likely to experience a recession in 2009.

Crisis as a Catalyst

Why all the rhetoric and pessermism above? Where is the optimism? What about the future? The world has survived these bad economic times before!

Firstly: Lower free consumer cash via easy credit equals less spending results in reduced corporate revenue.

As the corporate reporting season starts in mid January through to mid March, the full corporate impact and cost of the crisis will be revealed.

The reduction in corporate revenues, and therefore expenditures will demand dramatic changes; business as usual will not be sustainable. The status quo cannot be supported. Now is the time to trot out the sacred cows and to ask: do we continue to feed this cow, or eat it now?

With a recession, the revenue doesn’t magically stop; finding it becomes more difficult. Good managers should and will reevaluate every dollar spent.

My IT Industry Predictions

For 2009, there is one thematic word: Austerity

  1. Online Social Networking will break out of walled gardens of sites and appear in desktop apps and on web sites. Some of these placements will be surprising.
  2. Weaving into social graphs will become the new search engine optimisation
  3. Operating Expenses Squeeze: Less corporate travel, more virtual meetings: video conferencing, shared whiteboards, use of social tools.
  4. Any product/service that cuts costs will succeed in the mainstream: Netbooks, IPTV, VoIP, small cars. All premium brands and premium product lines will survive in the face revenue challenges.
  5. Clouds on the horizon can sometimes have a digital lining. Based on the needs of the above four drivers, apps that live online and can mash together in a scalable way will succeed.
  6. The future is dynamic. Platforms that will succeed in 2009 will be based on two languages: Ruby (Rails, Merb and others) and Javascript (Larger, more complex apps as performance increases).
  7. The semantic web will slowly emerge. Before the full RDF revolution comes the evolution of microformats, but there needs to be more and better tooling across all vendors.
  8. From the ashes of 2008/9 will emerge the next large, profitable success story. Calling who this success is will be a sport amongst pundits through 2009. Twitter is my call. They may get purchased or develop a revenue model.

Personal Strategies for 2009

So, from these observations, what does it mean me personally?

  1. Follow the Social
  2. There will be a little less travel; countered by a little more time in the office.
  3. Cloud is the future. Look for the digital lining
  4. Dynamic (and functional) language-based platforms made on the changes the development game

Calendar year 2008 is a mere road bump that is the year ahead called 2009. Buckle up, and hang on.

Topics: 2009 | No Comments »

Latest from the Kitchen Renos

By Nick Hodge | December 31, 2008

For the non-Australian readers, renos is short for renovations. Pronounced renOEZ

Behold: my new Zip tap.

New Zip Tap

Not only hot and cold running water, we now have filtered colderer and filtered boiling (ie: hoterer) water – right at the sink.

This is my Christmas present from Avril, and the only request I had for the kitchen renos. At current costs, this should pay for itself by 2025.

Topics: personal | 4 Comments »

2008 in Review

By Nick Hodge | December 31, 2008

2008

Inspired by the Delicate Genius’ Year in Review 2008

Firstly, what did I say last year

from Personal and Professional Resolutions for 2008

  1. The home matters
  2. Weigh Less than 2008 FAIL! no change
  3. Geeks Who Care matters presented at various Senior Citizen groups
  4. Think simple, be social

I have really only succeeded on #1 #3 and #4. On the home front, I spent many more days not travelling and working from home.

Thinking simple, being social: fail, I think. Whilst I added 1000 twitter followers; mainly from Australia – this whole area needs more work on my part. I think.

So, what did happen in 2008? I’d like to say the theme of 2008 was black and white. No grey. Pure Black and White (yes, Neil Finn always says it best)

Other forward thinking posts:

Two posts from early 2008 have returned with a vengeance: And this early 2008 post (oh the irony): Our Benevolent Federal Government should Filter More and Australia is going to be stupider in 2008. I think I called these two issues correctly!

2008 was characterised by:

Topics: 2008, personal | No Comments »

16 ways to know you are addicted to Twitter

By Nick Hodge | December 29, 2008

  1. You received a tiny URL to this list via Twitter. And links to the other n lists of “How do you know when you are addicted to Twitter” via Twitter.
  2. You have re-followed @ev just to send him dm’s about features that were once in twitter, and have disappeared.
  3. Without thinking twice, you grok #2.
  4. Before a conference or meeting, you stress about which #hashtag to use
  5. When meeting people IRL (real-life) you immediately start talking to them where their twitters left off. “So, is your partner out of hospital now?”
  6. Your avatar based on your mood, season, latest craze or just random stuff. Never a normal picture of yourself.
  7. Of the 400-odd twitter client applications, nothing really works the way you want it to.
  8. There is a twitter client, or at least http://m.twitter.com/ bookmarked in all your internet-enabled devices.
  9. You have twittered whilst over caffeinated, intoxicated or medicated.
  10. After friends make fun of you on twitter, you have regretted #9. But now you are a dead-set legend for a few days on twitter, so it all works out.
  11. Each day, you speak to more twitter friends than IRL friends. In fact, you would consider your twitter friends as real friends, anyway.
  12. Twittering is the first thing you do before calling, writing or speaking to someone after a life-event.
  13. Before going to a news web site (or let alone the TV), you jump onto twitter to see what is going on.
  14. You lose concentration after 140 characters of a sentence. In fact, you miss the character count when typing blogs or emails.
  15. Rather than emailing a work-colleague, you dm them a link. To a twitter message.
  16. You will retweet this link almost as second nature.

Topics: twitter | 8 Comments »

I ARE SERIOUS CAT stars in The IT Crowd

By Nick Hodge | December 29, 2008

I just <3 The IT Crowd. Plenty of current themes are spread on tshirts, posters, toys and stickers throughout the series.

Series 3, Episode 6 has a LOLCAT on Jen's office door: (yes, that is an 8-bit Ernie and Bert T-shirt)

it crowd Episode 6, Season 3

And here is the original:

533267369_21815683be.jpg
more animals

Topics: lol, lolcats | 2 Comments »

My Relative from 18th Century: George Hodge

By Nick Hodge | December 26, 2008

georgehodge_1745_p2

This is page 2 of a contract between Charles and Robert Fall of Dunbar, Scotland and the fishermen of Crail, Fife, Scotland.

Charles and Robert Fall held many interests in Dunbar in the 18th Century. They also had family connections in Fife. In an agreement signed by them on the 9th November 1745, the fishermen of Crail agreed to deliver their catch of white fish to them for a period of 6 years. This shows the final part of the contract made between the Falls and the fishermen of Crail. Here, agreement is made for the carriage of fish, notably saithe, to the Fall's cellars, to be paid by them. At the end are the signatures or 'marks' of the fishermen of Crail. The most easterly of Fife's fishing ports, Crail Harbour dates back to the 16th century. At one time the village was an important herring station. The few fishermen left today fish inshore, mainly for shellfish.

On the left hand side, just below the fold, there is the follow text: “George GH Hodge mark.” In this instance, George Hodge could not sign his name, and therefore marked with a “GH”. I am related to this George Hodge.

George Hodge was born in 1717 to George Hodge (himself born in 1686) and mother Katherin Moncrief in Crail/Fife, Scotland. He was 32 when he marked this document. His younger brother was a James Hodge, where my paternal line descends.

crail harbour 1850s

Crail Harbour: The harbour was 'new foundit' in 1610, destroyed in 1707, and what is shown here dates from the rebuild of 1728.

The fish stocks in this area started to drop in the later part of the 18th Century, and therefore there was not enough room in the family business. As the younger brother, James Hodge left the family business and slowly drifted north to St Andrews in the latter half of the 18th Century. From 1764 in Crail, 1766 in Kingsbarns (3.5km north of Crail) and 1771 in Brown Hills (just south of St Andrews). This George Hodge is also the witness to the birth of James Hodge's first and second children: Andrew and Mary. The third child of James Hodge is a John Hodge; again from where my paternal line descends. This John's son, Melville, emigrated to South Australia in 1853.

In the 1841 census, Mary Hodge (daughter of James Hodge, born in Kingsbarns in 1766) is listed as living in Thorgate, Crail. Based on the position in the census, it is likey she was living with the Scotts of Crail at this time.

I suspect that James travelled north either as a farm labourer, or as a hand loom linen weaver; as was his son. Kingsbarns has a noted history of both. And golfing, but I doubt my family was of the correct glass for golfing.

Note: This information was found using the http://scran.ac.uk system. Scran is:

Scran - part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland - aims to provide educational access to digital materials representing our material culture and history. This is provided through the wholly owned trading arm Scran Ltd. We are one of the largest educational online services in the UK supporting over 4,000 schools, libraries, colleges and universities.

Topics: family, history, personal, sastories | 3 Comments »

Hoge’s of Duns, Scotland. Near Blackadder

By Nick Hodge | December 24, 2008

Duns near Blackadder

It is possible that my paternal ancestor, some 11 generations ago, was born in Duns. Very close to Blackadder. Maybe not the same Blackadder, but interesting in a historical sense.

Epic laughs.

Topics: family, personal | No Comments »

12 O’Clock High Trivia

By Nick Hodge | December 22, 2008

1960sCoiffureDressStyles

Amongst the ladies with perfect early 1960s hair-dos and dresses in a series set in the mid 1940s; and the eucalypts of Southern California appear the episodes of 12 O’Clock High

And there is lots of smoking: even by the combat pilots in-flight! Maybe cigarette companies were primary sponsors of the original shows as the screened on US TV? Without a doubt, there are many young American fliers chasing after English girls in pubs and the countryside.

Many of the cut-scenes are repeated; both in air and on the ground. These were genuine WW2 gun camera footage and in combat shots.

In these stock shots you can see reversed insignia, old USAAF insignia, mixture of B-17F and B-17G types. The German planes are Hudsons rather than Heinkels, yet the interior of the B-17 seems authentic.

Robert Lansing is like a Brigadier-General Superman who commands his B-17 “Piccadilly Lily” with a constant sneer and consistent coolness. Nazis in the air, nazis on the ground and evil spies; he wins against them all. Never promoted with at least 3 crash landings and near death at least four times.

Other bits:

Onwards to Series 2 and 3, then Combat!

Oh, I love holidays

Topics: personal, tv | No Comments »

This Holiday’s TV Obsession

By Nick Hodge | December 19, 2008

On previous holidays I have immersed myself in old TV Shows: Red Dwarf, The Office (two name but a few)

12oclockhigh

This year, it is two old TV Shows from the 1960s: 12 O’Clock High and Combat!

As a young’un, my parents kindly let me watch these shows in the 1970s. These shows left me with an enduring interest in WW2 history.

12 O'Clock High depicts the 918th Bomb group in Europe during WW2 and stars Robert Lansing. The first episode follows a similar story thread of the 1949 Acadamy Ward winning movie of the same name starring Gregory Peck. Combat! shows US soldiers in the European theatre of operations, post Normandy.

A sobering sight in our 2004 trip to the US where these two monuments: (note, the panels shown is only a small selection)

IMG_1191

Outside the American Air Museum, inside the Imperial War Museum, Duxford there are many panels etched with a mini picture depicting each of the 7,032 American aircraft lost during WW2.

In the lower levels of the museum, a series of American building is a list of over 30,000 Americans lost during WW2: (note, the panels shown is only a small part of the total panels)

US Airmen Lost in World War II, ETO

The reality is nothing like the TV show. Then again, what would I know.

Topics: history, holidays | No Comments »

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