I'm on the computer committee of the Beaverton SDA Church and we need to replace the old server (which is used mostly for file storage among the 4 office staff). Some believe it to be at least 8 years old. We're all amazed it's still running. It has SCSI drives that are starting to make a lot of noise and we're getting quite nervous. So at a recent meeting, we decided to not push our luck (or faith) too much further--it's time to to get a new server.

I've heard it said in many conversations, blog entries, and articles that people automate tasks because they're lazy. I disagree. Often, this "laziness" is in the context of programmers writing scripts to do some mundane operation over and over. They're supposedly lazy because they don't want to do the task themselves.

ThinkVitamin is a blog from carsonified.com. They believe the web industry is one of the most exciting places in the world and show it with their creativity. Their mission is to connect, encourage, and train the web community--and have fun doing it.

Cornelius Concepts is a member of the OCCA (Oregon Computer Consultants Association) and has been for many years. David Cornelius is proud to have served as its vice president one year and the newsletter editor for three years--until everything moved to the new web site. Here's a statement about them from their web site:

The OCCA is a not-for-profit association established to provide a structure and forum for independent computer consultants working within the State of Oregon to share their knowledge, skills, and resources; to promote the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct; and to promote the common interests of its membership.

Sometimes national news gets boring for those who are really into computers. Here are just a few sources of news geared just for techy heads:

• CNET - Product reviews, software downloads and technical news. "Bringing tech to life."
• PCWorld - Reviews and News on Technical Products
• InfoWorld - Business Technology News and IT Strategies
• The Register Science/Technical News from around the World. "Biting the hand that feeds IT."
• SlashDot News for nerds. Stuff that matters.

Google Labs showcases a few favorite ideas that aren't quite ready for prime time. Give feedback to help improve them by playing with these prototypes and send your comments directly to the Googlers who developed them.

Have you ever wondered what a Blog is? OK, that term may be an every day verb/noun by now. But what about DHTML or Landing Page or Reciprocol Link? Do you know what a Spider does? Have your heard of ODP or know what your Page Rank is?

All these terms and more are listed on the Glossary of Web Terms.

I recently had a discussion with a fellow developer who sees a new feature in Delphi as opening a possible security hole in the application. The Welcome Page in Delphi 2005 and 2006 is an embedded web browser that views a local HTML file. This file has some JavaScript code that calls ActiveX objects to load Delphi projects and such, but mostly is a great collection of resources for the over-burdened programmer trying to remember where everything is. There are links to local help files and PDF documents, short-cuts to open a project, a quick way to get the latest updates from Borland, and links to many blog entries by Borland folk. I feel it's a great productivity enhancement and I look there first for news and updates.

I had no idea infections could cause a sunburn-like rash, but that's what happened on my stomach after going home from my appendectomy. I thought a heat-lamp had been too strong on me during surgery or something. Anyway, my bandages were leaking and not looking good, so Saturday morning, my wife drove me to the hospital again and I checked myself in for post-appendectomy check up. I figured I'd be waiting in the lobby for her to come pick me back up. Wrong. The appendix was so bad when it was removed, there was actually very good possibility of infection--why hadn't I been told that when I left just days before? I guess the surgeon always likes to think positive. Anyway, it looks like I'll be in just as long this time as last.

Well, let's turn that sad face from the last entry upside down! Or, at least make the best of my current situation.

Saturday morning, I awoke early with a horrendous stomach ache. It was hard to move, I did everything slowly and I couldn't find a comfortable position, so I got up. But that didn't help much or for long. I skipped church, didn't do much all day long, but went to an evening vespers program--which I barely lived through. That night, using an old piece of software called Family Doctor, I learned I might have appendicitis. Early Sunday morning, I called my doctor who asked similar questions my software had and arrived at the same conclusion. I drove myself to the hospital and had my already gangrenous appendix removed the same day.

Well, as I get more and more into content management systems, one client has determined which one will be the one I get intimate with first: Drupal. It is a highly rated one (see Open Source CMS) and has lots of configurability--themes and modules. (For comparison with other CMSs, also check out CMS Matrix.)

It's these themes and modules that are going to be the challenging part. No web site wants to look like another and there are only so many themes that come with Drupal. I'll have to choose one to start with and figure out how to modify it.

Well, I'm trying out a new way of building web sites--using a CMS (content management system). It's pretty cool, but there will be some customization, of course, to get it to do everything I want it to. However, it adds lots of features I did not have time to put into my current site. Features such as aggregated RSS News feeds, and out-of-the-box support for blogging, which is something I've thought about doing, but just never had the time to implement.