Tag Archives: Technology

Some Things Never Change In IT

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Although I have worked in the IT industry for longer than I car to remember – since the mid 1970′s since I know you are going to ask anyhow, I never cease to be amazed by the number of strange acronyms that exist.

Every so often, when I change jobs or have to use some new software, I come across some new acronyms that I have never heard of before, and the worst thing is that every piece of documentation that I find on that software assumes everyone knows what they mean.

I am used to working on the IBM iSeries (although I prefer to call it by it’s original name of AS400) mini-computer, but recently I have had to try and become familiar with Object Oriented Programming (OOP) which is like trying to teach an old dog new tricks.  It’s just so completely different to everything I have done before.

Although I have used some Java routines before to create an Excel spreadsheet from an RPG (Report Program Generator) program, I have done this by cloning an existing program, and not needed to fathom out too much exactly how it works.

Now, however, I need to do create an Excel spreadsheet that is rather more complex in nature, and need to look more into how these Java routines work.

Having found documentation on this, I quickly became aware of a number of acronyms that meant nothing to me, yet obviously mean a lot to those who work with Java.  When I did manage to find an article on what the acronyms all mean (thanks to my trusty Google), I chuckled to see what a sense of humor the creators had.

The first thing that I kept finding is that the Java implementation kept mentioning the Jakarta Project.  I realized eventually that this was a name given because Jakarta is a city in Java, not because the project had any connection with Indonesia.

Next I keep finding references to POI, which to me mean those pompoms that Maori women in New Zealand twirl around when they are dancing.  In this case however, POI stands for Poor Obfuscation Implementation, and related to this is POIFS (Poor Obfuscation Implementation File System).  Well the whole thing is pretty obfusticating to me…

It’s well known that the format behind Microsoft Excel is pretty awful, and so the next acronyms I come across are HSSF (Horrible Spreadsheet Format), HDF (Horrible Document Format) and HPSF (Horrible Property Set Format).

You think I am jesting?  Just take a look at this article from Javabeat and it’s all for real!.

 It’s bad enough when you have to learn a new programming language, but when the documentation is filled with acronyms that you are not familiar with, it just adds a whole new level of obfuscation.

Maybe I should just make this my word for the day…

The Soccer Game

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I was just about to leave work tonight when my ex-wife calls to ask if I want to take my youngest daughter (4 1/2) to her soccer game, seeing as my eldest (8 1/2) had a fever and she wanted to look after her.   So I drove straight from work, somehow managing the 30 miles in traffic in a little over 30 minutes, picked my daughter up and went to the game.

Although it was 73 degrees, sitting on the sideline of a soccer field with a chilly wind blowing and only a thin sleeveless shirt on, I was getting quickly F-R-O-Z-E-N!   Fortunately I remembered that I had a rolled up throw blanket in the trunk of the car, untouched since I left Indiana three years ago (you don’t usually need them in Florida), and so I wrapped that around me to keep the wind off, but by the time I did I was already too cold to save properly, struggling to keep my hands and arms inside the small blanket by clutching it tight the whole time.

The soccer team was comprised of 4 and 5 year olds, but the other team looked more like 5 and 6 year olds, and definitely had more experience.  I don’t think that more than 3 of my daughter’s team had played before this season, and I think this was only their third game.

Well they started off ok, but the other team kept pushing them, and them broke loose down the field, kicking the ball towards the goal.  Our goalie, who was so small he hardly made a difference, came out and picked the ball up, then proceeded to run the twenty or so feet back to the goal with it in his hands and over the line.  That was the first goal!

Another soon followed, with the goalie standing motionless on the goal line, or maybe even behind it, not coming out towards the attacker, and dodging the ball as it went towards him.  Goal number two…

My daughter actually came out onto the field for the last 2 minutes of the first half, and of course by that time she had lost her concentration, besides which she still doesn’t really understand what she is supposed to do.   And then no sooner had she come onto the field, than it was half time.

So the teams switch ends, the other team kick off, head towards our goal, but one of our platers gets the ball, and proceeds to head towards OUR goal with it.  “WRONG WAY” everyone yelled, but the ball went off the sideline most of the way to our goal.  Some of our players were getting well stuck in and tackling, but two of them, although they were right next to the ball and in a perfect position to do something, just stood there, and the other team got the ball of course.  They kicked it towards the goal, the keeper caught it, then dropped it and over the line it went… Goal number three…

Well you get the picture by now, it was a comedy of errors the whole way through, would have made some good clips for America’s Funniest Home Videos if I had the camcorder there.

My daughter only played for the last 5 minutes of the second half too, and since she didn’t get a chance to touch the ball, I reckon she had to be the star player, since she did nothing wrong…  The final score was 0:5, and the game was just horrible, but at least she enjoyed herself.

The team finished off with hot-dogs that one of the Mom’s prepared there, and one of those was my dinner too, since I went there straight from work, and by the time I got back home it was too late to eat before bed time.

Well I drove the thirty miles back home, had trouble parking at the condos.  I have to use a guest parking place when there are people in the next condo to us, but otherwise I use their space.  Tonight seeing as how I didn’t get home until 9:30pm and all the snowbirds are down from New York and Canada, I had to park right around the front of the building, almost the only guest space left, under a tree, so no doubt I will be washing the car at the weekend to get the sticky resin off.

I live on the seventh floor, and although at the weekend I usually walk up the stairs, tonight I felt tired and just wanted to take the elevator.  Well two men have been modernizing the elevators since the end of July, and although one is fixed (supposedly) the second is still being worked on.  It surprises me how long it takes to do this, it’s now six months since they started!  Well anyhow, into the elevator I get, press 7, the doors close, and the elvator makes a bouncing motion as if it’s climbing, yet the floor light is still on 1.   I press the Open Door button, the doors open, and I am still there!  Close the doors, press 7 again, bounc bounce shake bounce, same thing.  Open the doors, and give up and take the stairs instead.

I just find it amazing that having worked on a single elevator for four months, it’s still not working.  Apparently it wasn’t this morning, and it wasn’t yesterday evening either.  Now since the average age of the people in the building must be at least 60, it’s pretty critical if there are no elevators working.  Several of them use wheel chairs or walking frames, so without an elevator they are trapped.   Seems that some technology zips way ahead every year, yet some of the older technology that you would think would be tried and tested just doesn’t work.

Well now it’s gone 11pm, my bed time, so I will end here before I zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz