Ever Forward

Suffice it to say I have not needed to use a projector with my laptop in a few years. I can’t really say what changed or when, but I’ve used various libre systems over the years, and always seemed to be able to just get up and running whenever I needed to connect my laptop to a projector, I just used a Function+Fn key combination to switch between one of three modes – laptop only, projector only or both. Lately, though, my efforts to use my laptop running Kubuntu just left me frustrated... (more...)

If you ever need to work with hierarchical structures in a relational database system, I would like to recommend using PostgreSQL with the ltree module.  Trust me, it will save time and nerves both.  It may not cure cancer, but it might help to greatly reduce stress.  For those following my financial transaction database project, I have been trying to use – for lack of a better way of saying it – the “old-fashioned” approach to managing hierarchical structures.  From what... (more...)

Well, I finally figured it out.  Most of you have long forgotten about my struggles with a hierarchical category tree structure in a relational database management system.  After all, it was August of 2011 when I grouched about how difficult it was to come up with what I thought should be a relatively simple query – one that would let me summarize expenses under the umbrella of a 2nd-tier category, where the expense categories can run 3 levels deep. (more…)  Read More →

I am taking an introductory database class focused on designing databases.  The class uses Microsoft Visio, but the professor has made clear we can use the tools available for our operating system, as long as she can read the diagrams we submit in her chosen tool, Microsoft Office.  Not being sure which design tool would be most suitable, I downloaded both, Dia and Umbrello and tinkered with both for a bit.  Here are my thoughts on which of the two tools works best for this scenario. (more…)  Read More →

I am now the owner of a ZaTab from ZaReason.  I have long desired to have any of this company’s products, but I now actually have a 10-inch ZaTab running Android 4.0 (a.k.a., Ice Cream Sandwich).  I thought I would share my experience with it – the good, the bad and the ugly – to help those of you considering whether to buy one. (more…)  Read More →

On Monday I wrote a fairly technical rant about e-mail security.  That may have been understandable for many of my techie friends, but I am not so sure about my non-techie friends.  Since the reason I wrote the blog post was to raise awareness of a fairly serious problem, it makes little sense at all to not share my thoughts with the people who really are not professional or hobbyist computer technicians. (more…)  Read More →

Users of Road Runner’s POP e-mail servers are in danger of having their e-mail passwords intercepted every time they check their e-mail.  That is, malicious users can see your e-mail password and use it to access your e-mail account using basic network analysis tools.  This is because Road Runner’s POP e-mail servers do not offer encrypted connections – a basic security measure that, frankly, ought to be required as a matter of policy.  Road Runner has failed to correct this... (more...)

I previously installed the native SDBC driver for connecting LibreOffice to my PostgreSQL database server, but had problems with being able to add or edit data in the database.  Now you can get Read-Write access to your PostgreSQL database from LibreOffice Base using the updated native SDBC driver (v. 0.8.1).  Since entering the data source URL is not exactly intuitive – at least not for inexperienced users – let’s take a quick look at how this is done. (more…)  Read More →

I have been reading a collegiate textbook on Information Systems, which offers a discussion of “Open Source” (or libre) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software.  Unfortunately, the authors leave me little choice but to believe that either (a) they do not know their subject and/or (b) they enjoy taking cheap pot shots at libre software.  Authors of collegiate materials addressing open source have a responsibility to conduct due diligence in their research.  They also have a... (more...)

I thought I would add some general notes about our trip to Perú.  This isn’t so much a story as it is a collection of observations, for those who might have an interest in traveling to Perú at some point.  This is about traveling to and from, as well as in Central Lima. (more…)  Read More →