Woolworths Australia introduces self-serve checkouts

Way cool. Leave more work for the shopper, at the expense of labour costs. Pity, though, as interacting with sales staff is something I enjoy a lot. Trying to bring a smile to their face at the end of a long shift is a nice game to play. The service industry should never be the means to the end, interacting with people should be the end, and the purchase incidental, in my opinion.

Humans are social beings - something I am acutely aware of this week. My family is on holiday, and I am alone at home. Difficult to work, concentrate, and sometimes just plain lonely.

Don't get me wrong, I sometimes struggle to remember the above. But I will keep on trying.

My son walks

And so the journey continues...

Climbing the corporate ladder to the top

I like to move it

Archery skills

Archery skills - Metacafe is a click away
Apologies for the ads at the end. But I agree with the judge, I have never seen anything like this before. Very impressive.

Tree felling gone wrong

Ouch. Trigonometry refresher required, I think...

Resources for small businesses

Blog entries have been sparce, mostly because I have been working my proverbial off. And moved house.

Back to the topic. I have found frequently since November 2007 that when I was sitting at a client's site, I could receive email via Microsoft Outlook, but I was unable to send any email. To do that I had to wait until returning home the evening - very unproductive.

This, together with the need for centralised data, email, and a higher capacity backup system led me to take the plunge earlier the week - I purchased a Dell server, with Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 R2 and Symantec Backup Exec pre-installed.

What will this do for me?
Make available remote access via VPN.
Data storage
Data backups.
Set up the IT side of Vulcan Technologies Pty Ltd for further growth.

Whilst waiting for the box of goodies to arrive, I have been doing reserach on many things server-related. This site is quite useful.

Three front teeth and more coming

Two upper, one lower, and lots of white gums.

Software programming errors galore

Found this link via Steve Lacey's site. The site deals with "Curious perversions in Information Technology". My article of choice concerns a piece of code, commented out, with a header saying "Don't run this piece of code". Or don't touch the wet paint. The last comment on the page states that such headers should be phrased in the positive, not the negative. "Run this code if life no longer has meaning to you. And others. Brilliant!

Feel loved for a change

Enter your name in the first box. Enter your surname in the second box. Click on the Visualiser button. Enjoy.

Via.

Keyboard shortcut to create a new folder

This is something that has frustrated me for a very long time. I am very much old-school when it comes to using the dreaded mouse. Give me a keyboard only, and I will be happy. Why use the mouse to go select word, right click, copy, select new location, paste - when you can just go CTRL-C and CTRL-V?

Well, today I typed in the correct search string into Google Group Search, and hey presto, two easy solutions:
1) In any folder other than on the Desktop: Alt-F W F
2) On the Desktop: Alt-F10 W F

And also, the Alt-F10 shortcut is quite useful for other functions on the Desktop.

Via.

The type (and size) of blast furnace I would like to have at home

I have always dreamt of this. And now I see that someone has beaten me to it. Not to worry, mine will still be unique. I will paint mine green. Anyway, I will also have a sinter plant. Still have to convince my wife that we really need all this stuff, though...

Arnold birthday party 5 Jan 2008

Where to place new empoyees?

http://bitsandpieces1.blogspot.com/2008/01/where-to-properly-place-new-employees.html

Scrapbooking features Katja

Been meaning to post about this for some time now, but kept on forgetting, or without a scanner, etc.

Short story is that Cathy photographed Katja, gave the picture to Maxine to use (with our permission), and Maxine scrapbooked and sent it in to be published. When we showed Katja the magazine, she could not stop looking at the page with her picture on. She was featured in a magazine! Very proud. And so she should be.

Enjoy.

Domain name registration granted

Our own domain name! www.vulcantech.com.au, registered to the business. I just put up a construction page. Expect some content shortly, as soon as cashflow improves.

I can do it myself, but why do that when there are people in the world much better qualified than me?

Theme will be about steel making, with some mining thrown in. If only my picture archives were of better quality. I remember my first digital camera had a resolution of 320x200. That was in 1996. The model of my Nokia phone at the time eludes me now, but it was a brick as well. Memories, what would we do without them?

All the best for 2008 to all my faithful readers. I can now go to bed. Kids are still asleep, as the neighbourhood was very quiet. Just like I prayed.

Arnold crawling

Arnold crawling. Just days before he turns one. And what better motivator to crawl than dad's phone...

Christmas 2007

Two long days behind us. Katja was a sheep in the Christmas production at Riverview. Four services later, and tomorrow I have to do Cockburn Central. Since I have to leave early tomorrow, presents were opened tonight. Here are some pics from both events:

Unfortunately we had Arnold open his firefighting truck first. Sorry, Hanretti family, he came close, but never opened your present (though he loves his turtle pillow now).

But to make up for it, watch Katja's face with her present. Makes it all worth it. By the way, makeup still from the Christmas pageant as a sheep.

Number three on the way

Seems that I have fathered another child. Makes me happy. Slowly nearing my goal of a large family.

Will have to reconsider my aeroplane purchase strategy, though. Now need an extra seat...

Impressive pool skills