Hi welcome to my little home on the web.

This is kind of an experiment with WordPress to see what I can do with it, mold it to my needs and try out different templates and plugins.

I got into web publishing many years ago, learnt a little ASP, PHP and how HTML worked, however, I have sort of been left out in the cold somewhat, the world seems to have revolved quicker that I can keep up.  So that confounded Javascript (someone please go back in time and shoot the author) seems to be a big part of the new world.  Whilst I can read the code and understand it fairly well, it annoys me that if you don’t get the case of a method or property exactly, then your script won’t work.  So if I do ever bump into the author will I use a little finger or a big finger to poke in his eye? Does it matter? No not really as he would still have a saw eye.

My interests have changed over the last few years, shifting in and out of programming (I mean using Google for code snipits), designing active directory structures and networking systems and fixing databases.  But at my core, I still have a keen interest in making Computer Technology work, making it accessible and using it to save people some thing that can never be replaced – time.

I love a good rant, sometimes my opinion is very close to the mark and other times very practical – e.g. Windows 8 – what was that all about, not very practical for most humans, I think they must have released an early beta of Windows ME or something and put a touch interface on it.  Ok Windows needs to evolve or die, however it should never sacrifice the right of every PC user – that is the right to choose.  If the customer whats a “Desktop” experience then give them a start menu, if they want a tablet experience then give them the full screen touch swipe thing with “live” tiles.  I see what Microsoft are attempting to do and that is tap into the rather lucrative market of Apps, it seems that the Giant has finally understood the concept of micro payments.  The thing that I don’t understand is why Microsoft are still intent on charging a premium for the OS, why not give it away or at least make it much cheaper for consumers and corporates to purchase.

I work in the education sector and seemed to be the only one in a room of techies asking the question, how do I control the Windows 8 interface, with the classic start menu an administrator could define which applications were available to each machine or person.  Now finding out what is actually installed on a computer requires a skill in computer clairvoyance.   So Windows 8 ideal for schools – fast boot times, but rubbish for schools as computers are not personal to the pupil, they are always shared and need to maintain a consistent presentation so that the teaching staff are able to feel confident in teaching a subject without the technology standing in the way.