In case anyone is wondering what I'm up to this week, it's working on the new server for ATP.

It arrived yesterday and I am busy getting it ready. I hope to have it in production and running the site within a couple weeks.

I like what's showing on that middle screen ... other than that it all looks like a bunch of technical stuff to me.

Very nice!

It's like seeing behind the curtain, where the Wizard of Oz works his magic mojo.

Good one Rick! Personally, it scares me just to look at it. Our company just did a major upgrade to a new server and we have had two days of disaster, with more to come!!!

>> Personally, it scares me just to look at it. Our company just did a major upgrade to a new server and we have had two days of disaster

Sad to say, I think that is typical. "Major upgrade, new and improved systems" ... everyone might as well stay home for several days while we try to get anything working again.

However - note how Dave got this whole site up and running with hardly ANY glitches - and those so minor that few people even SAW them. And I think those were mostly related to browser idiosyncracies. It amzes me that anyone can write code that works for multiple, competing browsers!

The command-line text scrolling past actually scares me less than "modern tools" that hide all complexity behind a facade that "does it all for you".

Or they "do it all TO you" and you have no recourse when anything goes astray.

Things at the command line level tend to be relatively simple and "knowable", whereas power tools tend to have us at their mercy.

I don't WORK with PCs or their networks and applications. Thank goodness I only work with embedded microcontrollers in environments much simpler than the PC - OS - application - Internet - browser - network snake pit..

To me, that stuff is black magic dominated by vendors who want to entrap you into their toolchain and then own your soul (or, at least, your entire development budget) for eternity.

I "have to" use PC-based development tools, and have learned to fear the difficulties caused by my tools more than any difficulty in the engineering itself. Complexity is always harder!


Simplicity is prerequisite for reliability
- Edsger W.Dijkstra

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
-Albert Einstein

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
- H L Mencken

There are two ways of constructing a software design.
One way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies.
And the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies."
- C. A. R. Hoare

That's great Dave.

Karen

Well, Dave...it's all geek to me.

GREAT quotes, Rick!!

Dave thanks for the tour of ATP Headquarters

And you now run the server at home? Am I remembering the days when you had to drive umpteen miles to some big building that housed your server(s), Dave? And now it just sits on a table in your office? Have things changed that much in a few years or was I thinking of old Lost In Space movies....

Shoe (congrats on modern day gizmos)

I'm putting the server together here in my home office, but when it's all installed and ready to go, I will drive it to the big building in Dallas.

Thanks for the ATP Headquarters tour, very interesting.

Ohhh, okay, thanks, Dave. Still sounds exciting to me!

Happy Day!
Shoe

Oh my...when I think of "server" I picture something that is bigger then my house but one must understand that some days I can't even turn this beast off the right way Congrates Dave on your "new baby"

Did something you 'urp' here about an hour ago? It kept telling me the site was unavailable for about 5 minutes. I had to have a drink to recover
Seriously - it looks most impressive!!

Yes, the site was very overloaded.

I'm really looking forward to getting our new server installed!

Wow, that is impressive Dave. I don't understand the whole server thing.
But sure glad you do.

I installed the new server in Dallas yesterday. I've been putting the finishing touches on it and will move ATP over to it soon - early this week.