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El Capitan Time Machine on NAS running very slowly?
So I upgraded my Macs to El Capitan and everything was rosy - with the exception of Time Machine.Time machine backups to local USB drives (Seagate 2TB if it makes any difference . .) seemed to work...
View ArticleThe Magical Progress Fairy - are you using one on your project?
Some time ago IBM had an advert featuring a 'Universal Business Adapter' (YouTube here) which would magically connect anything to anything.Not surprisingly, everybody wanted one. However not everybody...
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Invalid web-site certificates? Check the obvious first: is the time on your...
So, I'm downloading the MQ Explorer support pack.I run a Mac, and this only works on Linux or Windows, so I fire up my Windows 7 VM image to do the necessary.Onto the web-site, sign in, choose download...
View ArticleWatch out for 'watch' as a variable name in IBM BPM with V8+ coaches
Found an obscure issue the other day at a customer site - writing it up here in case I forget what the details were . .In summary, if you have a variable called 'watch' in IBM BPM with next gen (V8 and...
View ArticleWhy I like App Stores . . .and it's nothing to do with walled gardens
App Stores: It's a concept that seems to divide opinion but I quite like them for the following reasons:One credit-card stored in one placeIf I have an app store, I have one means of payment. I can...
View ArticleWhat are you smoking? What is the real meaning of 'Smoke Testing?'
As a mathematician (sorry!) I have a keen interest in defining terms before they are used - it's kind of become a habit.That's why things like 'I was so shocked I literally died' really grind my gears...
View ArticleIBM Interconnect 2016 presentations
If you didn't go to IBM Interconnect 2016 in Las Vegas (and why didn't you? ;-) or even if you went and want to share the goodness, it appears that you can get access to and download some of the...
View ArticleGetting the Best from your Consultants - a 'just my 2c' guide
I work as a 'Consultant', although I have a number of other job roles and titles e.g. 'Solution Architect''Subject Matter Expert''Agile Coach''Business Process Management Expert' etc etc.For the...
View ArticleBeing a good audience - how to attend a presentation
I've just come back from another technical conference. I presented on a number of topics and I also attended a fair few as well.One thing I noticed as both a presenter and an audience member is that...
View ArticleMicrosoft Office / Visio not activating even though you have a license?
I use Visio 2010 at work- this is not about the product or the version!We also have Office 365, but that doesn't include Visio - so I need to order it. The company obtains a license and sends me a link...
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Is parentalcontrolsd eating your memory on your mac?
If you have a Mac, take a minute and run the Activity Monitor(quickest way for me is to type: Cmd-Space and type 'activity' - good old spotlight)Do you see a process called 'parentalcontrolsd'? If so,...
View ArticleQuick reminder on self signed certificate generation
Purely a quick reminder to myself on how to generate self-signed certificates . .This assumes you have openssl - example here works on both Mac and Linux. .Generate the private keyopenssl genrsa -des3...
View ArticleSorting eMail into folders? Why would you do that?
I picked this up from listening to 'More or Less' on BBC Radio 4 (podcasts are available here http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads).Since I got a large (multiple gigs) allocation...
View ArticleMac Safari running slow / slow to start loading page?
My Mac Safari has been running slowly for a bit - it seems to take ages to start loading the page.Firefox has no such problem - so I'm pretty sure my ISP is OK (I have fibre at approx 40Megs)So, with...
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Life in the Hybrid Lane(or ‘Can you still be a petrol head if your car plugs into the wall socket?’) Due to a combination of:Extreme age – over 10 yearsExtreme mileage, one at 165,000 miles and another...
View ArticleStatic IP addresses with VMWare Fusion on a Mac
One of the issues with using VMWare fusion is that the IP addresses for your guest OS images can change when you restart them.Annoyingly, they can also change when you suspend/resume them!When creating...
View ArticleBooking the last 2 seats at the theatre - an alternative way of explaining...
How to book two seats when there’s only a row of three in a cinema or theatre.(Or ‘An alternative and obscure way of explaining ACID Transaction Processing’) "There are ways around that!" - David...
View ArticleThe Monica Geller excuse – ‘It’s hard for some people!’
(or “The one with Monica from Friends”)Ross: Monica couldn't tell time till she was 13!Monica: It's hard for some people!(Friends, Season 7, “The One with Rachel’s assistant”)I was having a...
View ArticleGarratt's first law of . . .
Garratt's 1st law of Agile states:"Agile is a good thing. It's endorsed by major companies and analyst firms. Lots of people are using it.""Agile projects get funding - usually for the above...
View ArticleWhy I want someone else to own my career
"You own your own career""You should own your own career""You can own your own career"These three sentences are subtly different in words but hugely in the impact for you as an employee of a...
View ArticleWriting Technical Documentation like Van Halen!
I write a lot of technical documentation - I've actually written three IBM Redbooks (not all on my own I must add).Most of my documentation is for customers. Sometimes they ask for it. Sometimes it's...
View ArticleDriving in America - my personal guide for Brits driving in the USA
Drive on the right!That seems to be the standard advice when you look up 'What do I need to know when I drive in the USA?'. After all, everything else is in English, right? How hard can it be?This is a...
View ArticleHot and Warm Desking: Why I have hot-desking problems and how to fix them
"Where do I sit?""Anywhere that's free - it's hot-desking here"Thinks: OMG - not again . .We're working to an agile world where people move teams and projects on a regular basis.We have flexi-time and...
View ArticleHA is NOT DR - no, really it isn't!
"Let's sort out the NFRs of this system!""OK, First we do HA/DR""Errr . .which one do you actually want to do first - HA or DR?"Garratt's 1st Law of availability: HA is not DR(Garratt's 2nd Law of...
View Article#livingInTheFuture: Things I couldn't do x years ago . . .
I've made a few tweets with the hashtag of #livingInTheFutureThis was inspired by some books I had when I was growing up which showed visions of what the future would be like in 20 or 30 years time....
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