Author Archives: Martin Packer

(Originally posted 2007-03-18.) Some time ago a colleague pointed Scratch out to me. It’s a programming environment for children. When I was a kid I kind of learnt programming from the Elsevier Monographs my Dad had on his bookshelf. He (who’s probably going to read this) gave them to me for safekeeping some time ago.Continue reading “Scratch – A Great Way To Teach Children Programming”

(Originally posted 2007-03-18.) Here’s an interesting BBC News Article: Vehicle warning system trialled. So let me see now, when we said the fridge would talk to the microwave – as everything would have an IP address – did we really envisage that they would Twitter? 🙂 Can you imagine “The Bloggings of an uncleaned fridge?”Continue reading “Not Just People Twittering – Vehicles As Well”

(Originally posted 2007-03-17.) Here’s a useful contribution to the debate about Twitter: From a friend’s blog. There’s much mileage in the comments – which is where the action really hots up. 🙂 Actually her blog is in general a good read – but maybe I’m biased as she’s a friend of mine. She’s a WebContinue reading “Twittering and Blogging”

(Originally posted 2007-03-16.) Twice the “128GB” question has come up in newsgroups (the latest in DB2-L). This sort of thing freaks people out – so let me tell you what I know of the matter… I was fortunate to attend the T3 for DB2 9 in February. This question came up in the context ofContinue reading “DB2 9 Memory Requirements”

(Originally posted 2007-03-14.) On Twitter I once followed Steve Wozniak – but it turned out not to be him. 😦 Now I’m following John Edwards (and it really does appear to be him). See his Twitter page. I say “it does appear to be him” because the twitterings seem to support that conclusion, plus thereContinue reading “Famous Names on Twitter – And Is It Going To Change The Face Of Politics?”

(Originally posted 2007-02-24.) I’m writing this in the back of a taxi – on my way to Heathrow. (A 3G card for my Thinkpad was waiting for me when I got home yesterday.) My conclusion is that we live somewhere “sufficiently rural” as I’ve lost signal once. (That was between us and Henley.) Any moreContinue reading “3G Card and Sufficient Rurality”

(Originally posted 2007-02-23.) Whichever it is, here’s my Twitter badge. Feel free to befriend. 🙂 http://twitter.com/flash/twitter_badge.swffollow martinpacker at http://twitter.com

(Originally posted 2007-02-18.) Whatever one’s feelings about the definitiveness of Wikipedia a lot of people find themselves there, looking for information. Having twice anonymously edited articles – in one case to correct an error, in the other to add a minor snippet – I finally succumbed to the urge to get an ID. So myContinue reading “Wikipedia”

(Originally posted 2007-02-08.) Willie Favero is also blogging about this – and I stole the link from him… Here’s the End of Service announcement for DB2 Version 7. It goes out of service on June 30, 2008. I’ve just sat through four days of the T3 class for DB2 9 for z/OS – in SiliconContinue reading “DB2 9 and End Of Service For DB2 Version 7”

(Originally posted 2007-02-08.) See the z/OS Release 9 preview statement if you’re interested in z/OS. There are lots of interesting Performance items previewed, as well as other line items. It’s expected to become available in September 2007, following the current pattern of a new release each year (preview in the so-called Spring :-)and release inContinue reading “z/OS Release 9 is Previewed”