TODO list

This is a list of things I have to do if anyone can offer any advice then please feel free, I am open to suggestions as always. 1. I need to find out why my wifi connection seems to go to sleep from time to time and then take a while to wake back up 2. I need to be able to connect automatically when the machine switches on, I was told this works if you switch off roaming and put the details in there but so far no joy. At the moment I get prompted for my keyring password, which is and always will be different from the login password so no use getting pam_keyring installed. 3. I need to create a wiki on the system, as I didn't want to get an off the shelf one I already started this I may blog this somewhere. 4. I need to reduce the noise made by the unit, I think I will strip out the current psu and replace it with a 12v supply fed by an inline transformer, I have one spare from a laptop that has breathed its last, it is an ex-laptop (norweign blue it was called!) I have investigated the way to do this and its very simple, the current psu will be replaced by a jetway 12v dc-dc board and an ac-dc transformer is then plugged into this. The dc-dc converter costs £23 (roughly) and to ensure I use a compatible transformer that also costs around £20, I am not sure that it is worth spending £43 at the moment especially as I think its the cpu fan that causes the most noise. To stop the cpu fan from making noise (ie. spinning) I think I could get away with down clocking it to 1.2GHz and either switching the fan off in bios or unplugging it. As an interim measure I think I will change the heat dependant settings of the fan so that it only spins at higher temperatures. Currently I think its on about 6k rpm at 45 degrees which is probably a little too over cautious. 5. I need to respoke a bicycle wheel but for some reason keep getting a simple 3-way crossover pattern all messed up d'oh!

Fuel Prices

everyone moans about fuel prices and in turn then they moan about the government for taxing it. I would be a liar if I said fuel isn't taxed a hell of a lot here in the uk but I did read a survey that said that taxation hasn't kept up with inflation rates. If tax is removed from the fuel it will then have to be added somewhere else because the government can't cope with losing revenue. I hear the ridiculous scare tactic of panorama talk about "negative equity" in a car, well durrr the value of a car never increases so how could you ever have anything other than negative equity!! Put quite simply we are much richer now than we were say 20 years ago. Don't believe me, well think of this one 20 years ago how many 17 year olds had cars?? Let alone brand new cars!! How many families has more than one car or would even consider a large capacity vehicle (ie. a 4x4) unless it was an absolute must. Also on panorama they said high quality hydrogen cars were still many years away?? I've not checked yet but I was sure Honda made one. What is starting to really get on my nerves is that a lot of people moan and winge about the price of fuel but still refuse to change their habits. From making sure the car being driven is not carrying extra weight and has well inflated tyres to not using the car for journies under a mile or so plus more fuel is used when accelerating quickly and hard braking yet you see this all too often. Once again I am reminded that oh so many people refuse to think.

Prince2 and Bullshit Bingo

Have you ever been in a meeting with non-technie-but-trying-to-be type managers and listened to some of the drivel that spews forth from them in vast quantities with little regard for usefulness or even factual content?? I have, ad was surprised to learn that not only was I not alone but that some people play bullshit bingo whereby you listen out for certain middle manager buzz words that sound ~nice~ but mean absolutely nothing, you then tot up the number of buzz words and see if someone can beat it in another pointless meeting arranged to make the MM's (middle managers) feel needed/wanted and useful. Well earlier I saw the course text for Prince2, what a pile of poo that is!! Seriously if bullshit bingo could be personified its name would be prince2. This just seems like an aimless collection of terms designed to hide the fact that the manager knows nothing of a technical nature whilst at the same time convince someone not fluent in prince2-eze that they know more than they do. No wonder the government has such a bad project delivery history if they are always trying to use this stuff, the people that know what they are doing are being prevented from communicating it by this all consuming language barrier created and perpetuated by Prince2. The only thing that I can see with regards this tripe, is that it will ensure that particular groups of friends can muscle their way in ensuring that they have a job that is then perceived as being important enough to not fire them whilst at the same time ensuring that they never have to actually do any work.