The need for code - work blog and server thoughts

From time to time I almost feel a physical addiction to the "need for coding" similar to the driver or motorcyclists "need for speed" (though less alliterative!) and this has been with me for a week or two now.

At the same time I may have the chance to build a new computer soon which is no doubt part of the mix. The itch gets strongest when it comes to wanting to upgrade and make my literary blog more "accessible" and at the same time I am painfully aware of the need for more marketting and a few website updates at work.

So I have come to the decision that comm-tech should have a newsletter mailing list and a blog and just maybe a portal to our customers' sites. I can see a few advantages to this although I have to admit to being uncertain how effective a marketting tool it may be. But better to try it and see than be suspicious of it and never know. Plus there is an added benefit that I shall be able to call on the resources of the Comm-Tech volunteers in a "safe" way and have them do the legwork. Rather that than set them loose on things like the hardware repairs - last week one of them managed to break an Apple G4 in for a new optical drive and it was pure luck we still had one in stock to offer replacement.

How useful it shall be getting the experience of Chyrp! version 2 from an intital setup rather than an upgrade remains to be seen - a lot of the work of upgrading my own blog is the upgrade of the tools and preservation of the data.

Moving house also presents it's own geeky challenges and I am working on those - my bright idea there is to locate a server at work and SSH Tunnel to it for access. I am taking that a step further and thinking about putting a beige tower PIII there too which was my debian box and dual boot just for photoshop - which I never seem to have used.

Anyway - between all that hopefully the "need for code" I have been feeling will be satisfied!

Disposable income beckons - thoughts on blogging

OK, this is a slight variance from the geeky theme maybe.

But I am moving out of my rennted accomodation and into a shared house situation. this means I shall, after at least four years without it, actually have MONEY to spend on STUFF. After too long without being able to build a current computer I shall be able to indulge myself with a laptop update and a new desktop... It makes me feel pretty geeky how excited I get at the prospect!

And I am thinking, having discovered other blogs in the arena, that maybe I or me and my colleagues, ought to have some sort of blog on the topic of reuse and recycling of technology to help raise the profiile of Comm-Tech where I work. then there is finding the time - this would be tough. And I know it is dumb to ask here since I am not convinced anyone much reads this blog, but the big question is whether anyone would read it, and, if so, whether it would serve Comm-Tech to good effect?

Any feedback appreciated - mainly on the latter point (but if you have any recommendations for current technology that too, since I am woefully out of date.