A journal.

I don’t know if I’m getting better at what I do, or if technology is just getting easier, but I’ve noticed lately that it’s taking me far less time to accomplish what I set out to do, when I’m working on the computars.

Latest example:

I upgraded my server to the next full version up — sort of the equivalent of going from Vista to Windows 7.  But in the process of upgrading, postgresql — my database of choice — got bumped up a version as well, and in the process, the default character encoding was reset to SQL_ASCII.  Not UTF-8.  WTF, right?

So after a little googling, I found the remedies I needed: how to set the default locale in Ubuntu so that it uses UTF-8, and how to essentially wipe out postgresql’s default template and replace it with the one you want.

This pleases me because I got it done in about a third of the time it might have taken me two years ago.  That, my friends, is progress.

I’m running through about a terabyte of data from old computers and finding some interesting stuff.

For example, here’s a real gem.  I don’t know how this ended up as a Word doc on my machine (e-mail attachments from grandmothers probably).  Since the original author was apparently so excited that he had! to! write! everything! in! bold!, I’ve helpfully highlighted the amazing news below.  Enjoy.

Mars is going to be a second moon of earth for a day

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN.

The Red Planet (MARS) is about to be spectacular! This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history.

The next time Mars may come this close is in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter’s gravity tugs on Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth in the last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as 60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9 and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye. Mars will be easy to spot.

At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m. by the end of August when the two planets are closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That’s pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history. So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

Share this with your family, friends, children and grandchildren!!!!!!!!!!!!

As Snopes helpfully points out, someone left out a key clause here — that Mars is only going to look that big with the aid of 75x power optics. Like a small telescope. Or binoculars. But not the naked eye.  Fools.

Clutter impairs your ability to think.

It’s like cholesterol, clogging things up.

“I was playing good and giving my team its best chance to win,” McCoy said, “but at the same time it was not fun. I was beating myself up. I kept digging myself deeper and deeper in a hole that I couldn’t get out of.” [...]

The people around McCoy say they didn’t notice a whole lot different about him. But McCoy felt it. He brooded. He didn’t reach out to his young receivers. He could feel his usually open personality closing up.  [...]

[But then] “The week after Oklahoma, I let myself go,” McCoy said. “Forget about everything. I walked up to Coach [Mack] Brown and Coach Davis and said, ‘As far as I’m concerned, we’re 0-0. This is going to be my first game. I’m starting over completely.’

Ivan Maisel, Colt McCoy overcomes worst critic to lift Texas Longhorns.

I accidentally shut off SSH access to my web server tonight, leaving me without a way to log in and work on my projects.  It’s as if I locked my keys in my car.

Unbeknownst to me, Slicehost’s control panel let me fix all this.  I looked in my slice’s control panel and found a web-based terminal — basically a back door into my server.  I logged in, opened SSH back up, and I was done.  I got what I needed within 3 minutes of looking for an answer — without needing to call support.

A great service provides what its customer needs, even if he doesn’t know he needs it.

I have more ideas than time right now.  It’s fantastic to have the time to develop them.

Stuff is getting done.  Life is good.

Every now and then, when I’m in the middle of coding in a project that I care about, I get a feeling of delight as things happen just the way I want them to.

I feel powerful.

Clementine oranges?!  I’m alive!