2010: Week 11

As the eleventh week of 2010 progressed I was reminded of the opening sequence of the film Primer, where the voiceover introduces the characters and, more importantly, their nature:

"Meticulous, yes. Methodical. Educated. They were these things. Nothing extreme. Like anyone, they varied. There were days of mistakes, and laziness, and infighting. And there were days, good days, when by anyone's judgment... they would have to be considered clever. No one would say that what they were doing was complicated. It wouldn't even be considered new. Except maybe in the geological sense. They took from their surroundings what was needed... and made of it something more."

Some weeks are lazy, and some weeks are good, and this week was definitely one of the good ones!

A wide range of topics crossed my path this week, some technical, some less so. And we got to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with the time honored tradition of spending the day drinking.

Technology:

Oracle: Early in the week I was reminded of a technique for recovering an Oracle database that has suffered the loss of a datafile by recreating the control files to exclude the reference to the missing file, thus allowing you to get in to make repairs. While this is nothing too exciting it made me think about how important it is to understand recovery strategies for all systems in use as this knowledge will remove any mystery about what to do in the event of something going wrong. When something breaks down, be it a computer system or your car, it's the uncertainty around the failure and how to get back to normal operations (and how much that will cost) that brings high-stress levels. If, on the other hand, you're familiar with the system and are not intimidated by the recovery process, then life is a little easier.

The conversation that reminded me about the control file thing also touched on the subject of Oracle GoldenGate, more importantly it's footprint to cost ratio - a small install of GoldenGate may be less than 100MB in size but can still set you back in the region of thirty grand! The bloke I was talking to seemed to be of the opinion that he shouldn't have to pay so much for such a "small" programme, so I hit him a slap and moved on (<- please not that this is a joke and not an admission of a crime - that comes later!).

Wordpress: My tinkering with the Wordpress content management system (it's now far too well developed to still think of it as merely a blogging system) has continued in the test environment at home. This week my time was spent on customising the login screen via a neat little plug-in as well as uploading files to an embedded gallery. The gallery side of things impresses me greatly as it's easy to upload large quantities of picture files, particularly as the system (NextGen gallery) creates thumbnails automatically and allows for picture sequences to be changed with ease. The custom login screen is also pretty decent, but some of the changes I'd like to implement will require some manipulation of the PHP code itself and will definitely need some testing to get right. In the meantime the login imagery has been altered and looks OK. I'm now kicking around the idea of a complete change to the login using the full screen as opposed to the default notion of a dialogue box.

I can foresee a time when I implement Wordpress for any website I'm involved in, and it'll hopefully be soon when The Hackers Coven (http://www.hackerscoven.net/) moves over.

Microsoft Security Essentials: I've been a disappointed with the performance of Avast AV at home as this week a nasty little file managed to sneak in and mail itself onto a mate of mine. This prompted an immediate shutdown of Outlook operations on the PC until the AV situation could be improved. I liked Avast up to this point as it allowed for multiple schedules to be setup and the voice alerts were fun, giving your computing a Star Trek type feel. However, like so many things in life, AV is only as good as it's last screw up and Avast screwed up. MS Security Essentials has moved from Beta to V.1 and is getting decent reviews, coming second in a recent list of AV tools, the highest ranking free tool by far. It's now installed and we'll see how it gets on over the next while.

Apple iPad & the Safari Web Browser: My current employer has a retail operation adjacent to the offices and I was thinking about public-facing IT and how important it is, as even though the IT used isn't created by my employer it reflects badly on the professionalism of the organisation if that IT performs poorly, or even just looks bad (as in old and busted). The iPad goes on general release early next month and it occurred to me that it may just be the ideal tool for use in our showroom as the guys there use Microsoft's CRM retail portal as their primary application for processing sales and the iPad looks flash. I've begun testing the use of Safari with CRM Portal as, if the iPad is anything like the iPhone, Safari will be the only supported browser. Early tests with the Portal are positive, though only Internet Explorer works with CRM Back Office. The testing will continue but hopefully I'll be getting my grubby mitts on an iPad soon enough!

MSXML 6: What a pain in the arse! My employer uses an application that has SQL Server express built in and one of the lads needed it installed onto his laptop. He'd tried and failed himself so I took a crack at it. Sure enough, the install routine conked out when it got to installing SQL Server. Turns out that there's a problem where PCs have run an update on MSXML before installing SQL and the SQL install stops as it hits a newer version. Microsoft provide a neat little tool called the Windows Installer Clean Up that allows you to remove the reference to MSXML and therefore gets SQL Server installed - check out the link below for more details.

Towards the end of the week I came across an article about a CIO who was changing the way his department is perceived by basically assigning a business value to the work of IT and talking about IT in business terms. It's an interesting idea and worthy of consideration but definitely requires not only the right vocabulary but also a real understanding of how other's in the business think. What struck me though was how much of a revelation this seemed to be to everyone involved. I've always thought it a little strange when IT heads don't think in business terms as their entire function is to support business operations. Still, the article was a good read, and I liked the bit about changing the words used to describe IT related things. (There's a link to the article at the bottom of this page).

Entertainment:
Week 11's primary entertainment was found in the pub on Wednesday as we got together to celebrate all things Irish for St. Patrick's Day. Tradition dictates that we hole up in a small place about seven miles down the road from home (safer to be away from home on 17th March) where we hit the sauce the moment the Angelus bell stops ringing and stay there until we can take no more. This tradition was followed to the letter and a most entertaining day was had, however the volume of booze consumed did lead to one small problem:

Caprica: The latest episode of the prequel to Battlestar Gallactica was viewed while I was extremely under the influence, so my recollection of what happened is hazy at best, but I do remember that the show ended well with Daniel figuring out an important deatil about his shiny new Cylon. Caprica is shaping up nicely, it's nothing like Battlestar so I'd imagine some fans are a little disappointed, but I like it, though the Greystone's are the main focus and should get more screentime as the Adama storyline is bogging down a bit too much in Touron culture.

Hustle: I'm still working through older episodes of Hustle and I think I'm somewhere in series four at the moment. This episode featured Patrick Bergin as a diamond fanatic who'd had a necklace stolen for his collection that was subsequently lost by the thief (a friend of Micky and Albert's) who he had beaten up. Micky steps into the mix to help his friend and get one back at Paddy Bergin.

Poltergeist: On Tuesday night this gem of a horror got a spin on the DVD player. My opinion of this great movie is well documented and if you're so inclined you can find out more here: http://hackerscoven.blogspot.com/2009/09/27-days-of-fright-reprint-day-four.html

Two Thumbs Up for 2010 Week 11.

Links:
Windows Installer Clean Up vs. MSXML:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968749

Dr. Doeslitte, the CIO who talks to the Accountants:
http://searchcio.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid182_gci1456760,00.html

Karl Spain Wants To Rock?

It's an incredibly weird feeling watching yourself on TV. It's one thing to see yourself on the security camera feed in the off-license or even on a big plasma screen in the window of an electrical goods shop but it's something very very different to sit down at home and see yourself on Network 2 of a Monday night.

Karl Spain Wants to Rock is a five-part documentary that follows comedian Karl Spain as he travels from Limerick to Dublin with a bunch of hard rockin' tribute bands, stopping in various spots along the way to play gigs and vote off one band each time in the style of most reality TV programmes. One of the stops the gang made was in Tullamore, and this is where I came in.

I know a couple of lads in the radio business. To be fair, anyone who's ever been to a pub in Tullamore knows someone who spins a few tunes for the local radio station, Midlands 103. One of those fine gents was approached by the production company, Bang Bang Teo, to be a panel member for the Tullamore round of "The Scrap Metal Tour", but unfortunately he couldn't participate, due in part to his lack of interest in rock music, but mostly to the fact that he had a regular paying gig as a DJ that was on at the same time. He sought me out, knowing that I love a bit of the ol' rock music and am well able to talk shite when called upon.

Karl Spain - Rockin the mike!

After he'd passed my details along to the production company they got in touch and had me call down to the Bridge House one rainy Sunday evening. There I met the lads from the bands that were still in the competition at that point namely, Ireland Maiden (Iron Maiden), Metallitia (Metallica), The Rubber Plants (Led Zeppelin), and User Illusion (Guns n' Roses). The AC/DC tribute, Thunderstruck, had struck out the night before in Limerick. I also met Karl, the production team, and the other two panel members - local warbler and choirmaster Brendan Keeley, and the legendary Brian Tatler from Diamond Head.

Brian Tatler - Riffmeister

I had a great old chat with Brian, and whilst busy trying not to sound too much the fanboy, I still managed to draw him out on subjects like his experiences meeting Metallica (which was an easy conversation to have as I had only watched "Some Kind of Monster" the night before). Brian Tatler is a gentleman, an elder statesman of rock, if you will and it was a pleasure to meet him and, I suppose, work with him. I say work, but all we did was sit at the back, listen to the bands, talk a little to the camera, and drink free booze. Karl was cool enough too, but he really was working and so he was 'always on' - making funny little comments at the drop of every hat - I would like to get chatting him in more relaxed times to get his perspective on being on the comedy circuit in Ireland.

The bands were great and while I'm not going to go into why we voted the way we did, I will say that it was a unanimous decision to send Ireland Maiden home and we voted in isolation, not knowing that they had come second last in the Limerick round the night before.

Tribute rockers Ireland Maiden

Watching the show on Monday night was odd. I had no idea about the task that the bands had been set to get punters into the gig, so that was fun, however any enjoyment I might have gotten from the programme was wiped out by my trepidation at seeing myself on the boob-tube. The best way to convey the feeling of watching yourself like this is to ask a question:

Have you ever listened to a recording of your own voice?

Most people have, and most people hate the way they sound. The first reaction to hearing yourself is "My God! Do I really sound that way to other people? Jesus Christ!" This is usually followed up with a short-lived vow of silence. Now, multiply that feeling by a million-billion times and you're still not close to what it's like seeing yourself on TV. After watching myself I not only swore a vow of silence but also promised to redouble my efforts on the invisibility potion I had been working on since I was a child. However, once you realise that you're your own worst critic these notions quickly pass and you can get back to the idea of fame and fortune as a TV star (though probably not for RTE).

I will admit to one coping tactic I employed, though not deliberately, I watched a recording of the show on my own in the middle of the night, more than a little concerned about how it would turn out. This fear was baseless as it wasn't me that looked so bad but Tullamore itself, which if Karl Spain Wants to Rock is anything to go by, is a practically deserted, dreary, grey, little place inhabited only by senior citizens, who all hate rock music and snubbed the show by not turning up for the gig.

Firstly, the town was quiet that Sunday, unusually so, due to the fact that local sporting hero Shane Lowry (all the way from Clara, just up the road from Tullamore) was that very afternoon busy winning the Irish Open Golf Championship. This would lead to a huge piss-up in Clara that night, which is where everyone was instead of in the Bridge House listening to the bands with us.

Shane Lowry - Local Hero

Secondly, and probably most importantly, no one knew it was on. There was no advertising in Tullamore that a gig like this was taking place, never mind that it was being filmed for a TV programme. This may have been down to the producers wanting the bands to do the task of drumming up business, but a few posters wouldn't have gone a miss. A bit of radio advertising might have helped, but Midlands 103 probably serves the wrong demographic, which is almost certainly why the radio station that features in this weeks episode is not the local one at all, but i105-107 in Athlone - a town over twenty miles away from which few people would travel for a rock gig in Tullamore.

Tullamore is not blameless. The town has a very poor live music scene and there is no venue ideally suited for bands of any persuasion, especially rock. This means that there's no real interest fostered in the town, so those who like live music are more likely to travel further afield to see bands. The really sad part of this can be summed up by the way Karl Spain bigged up the next episode of the show, when the bands travel to "the metal capital of the Midlands - Mullingar!" Sarcasm aside, there's a grain of truth in that label and it's a shame that the live bands who once graced the stage in #1 Church Street all those years ago haven't been seen in town for such a long time.

I'm glad I got the chance to be a part of helping Karl Spain rock, if for no other reason then I got to down a few pints and listen to some great bands without having to put my hand into my pocket. I'm also glad that it made me take a second look at Tullamore and how it's music and other cultural outlets need to be helped along, especially after three successful Fleadh Cheoil were held in the town. I'll definitely be making more of an effort to annoy local landlords and promoters into putting on some decent music. I might also pester those lads on the radio too.

I won't spill the beans as to who won the overall competition as there's still three more episodes to go, so if you want to know you'll have to watch, or ask me in three weeks time.

One final thought - the best part of being on TV is seeing your name in the end credits, I nearly knackerd the Sky+ box rewinding that part!

Martin Minnock - Metal Blogger (as they said in the show, though this new blog has yet to feature any music stuff - yet! (This will be resolved this week (promise (brackets!!!!!)))

To find out more check out these lovely, lovely links:
Programme Website: http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/karl_spain_wants_to_rock.html
Tour Website: http://www.scrapmetalthetour.com/
Diamond Head: http://www.diamond-head.net/
Fleadh 2009: http://www.fleadh2009.com/
Shane Lowry: http://www.eskerhillsgolf.com/shane_lowry/introduction.html