Since I mentioned that I would write further about IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS), I’ve had several requests. Well, one. But I’m going to write about it anyway.

I thought I’d write a nice, concise guide to using WebSphere on UNIX. Something more straightforward than the IBM documentation, which appears designed to bring on a mental collapse. Almost thirty pages later …

Download Using WebSphere Application Server on UNIX in PDF.

I hope to say more about WebSphere and about LaTeX, which I used to write this paper, later.

Manchester City Council recently launched a Challenge Manchester campaign to tidy the dump up a bit, under the slogan “Love Manchester? ImProve it!” Presumably the counterargument to that is “Loathe Manchester? Bomb it!” Or even better, it’s the Up Yours Manchester web site and spoof posters (“Helping to keep the city safe for Yuppies”).

Doing it for the kids

Now that the first episode of the new Doctor Who series (“Rose”, or “Rose1.avi” to give it its proper title) has leaked on to the net, it would obviously be ethically wrong, not to mention a waste of an enjoyable surprise, to take advantage of the opportunity for a sneak preview. Doctor Who should be savoured in the traditional manner: sat cross-legged in pyjamas before the TV on a Saturday evening, perhaps with another interminable installment of “The Duchesses of Duke Street”, “When the Boat Comes In” or the football results preceding it.

On the other hand, it’s only a bloody TV show. BB didn’t agree with all that faux mystique and pompous embargoing when the last Harry Potter book came out, and we’re not about to go along with the hype now.

Besides, I might be hit by a bus tomorrow and die never having seen it, and that would be a great tragedy. (Yes, I am the kind of person who turns to the last page of a book before finishing the first chapter.)

Read on for a review and probably lots of spoilers.

The gap in the photography book market for advice on working digitally in monochrome is slowly filling. I’ve posted reviews of Darkroom to Digital by Eddie Ephraums and Digital Black and White Photography by John Beardsworth on Nikonians.

Canon Powershot A40
only £149.99

…said the advert in the window of my local branch of Jacobs. Heck, that sounds like a good price, I thought. Pity I didn’t want a digital camera. Actually, it’s a real shame. Later, I checked out the spec and typical A40 prices on the Internet; 2MP, last year’s model, due for replacement but still reasonably new, good reports. Yep, it’s almost a crime that I don’t want one at that price. Because I can’t justify it. At all. Not another camera. Oh no.

Lost and disillusioned at having their thunder stolen by a bunch of smart-alec engineers, the marketing guys at Sun decided to introduce their own innovation in Solaris 10 by designing a new logo:

“And with this historic Solaris 10 release comes a new logo – a logo that captures the energy and power of this unparalleled platform. A logo that was designed and tested with disciplines and rigors that took their cue from the Solaris operating system itself.”

Altogether now: WAAAAAAAAANNNKEEEERRRRRRSSSSS!!!

Hubris and impatience once again overcame caution and bitter experience this weekend, as I upgraded my PC to Fedora Core 3. I had planned to hold back until FC4, but with no news or roadmap announced, and an increasing urge to use the GIMP v2.2.2, I caved in and downloaded the FC3 ISOs. Backing up all the vital config files, crossing my fingers and fingering my cross, I rebooted into the installer.

Executive summary: f**k me, it works!

A C Grayling suggests that you can be too tolerant in this comment on the play Behzti and it’s alleged offence to Sikhs, but goes equally for the BBC’s grand inquisitors: you have the right to practise your faith, but the responsibility to accept free speech about it. Unless you have some kind of weak, pansy-ass, bed-wetting religion that can’t withstand a little robust criticism.

I’ve made some further enchancements to SARGE, the SAR graphing package. I tried to run them past Ed Finch, the original author, but email to the address on his web page bounced.

I’d still like to see SARGE store the data in RRD files…we’ll see how bored I get this year.