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Nice web server script to serve any directory using WEBrick

At present, I am doing some web development in the form of a rich Javascript client. Now I have a need to serve up pages locally, but I don’t want to run a heavy web server just for that. So I wrote a little Ruby script to allow me to start a WEBrick server in any directory on the fly, which is great for testing content locally.


Running Ubuntu 8.04.1 Server on XP with VirtualBox – Part 1

Not only does running your own Linux Server make you feel like a big man, but like having a towel in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, it will make everyone else think you’re a hoopy frood. Moreover, it’s a great way to learn Unix on the side. In this first installment of a two-part series, I will show you how to install Ubuntu Server in VirtualBox on a Windows XP system.


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Life on Ubuntu

It’s been months now. I’ve lost count. I can’t remember when I made the switch. But it’s final. Windows is a thing of the past (well, not 100%). I’ve been having a great time on Ubuntu (or U, as I’ve started calling it).


SAP and The Matrix: an analogy

When you think about it, working in SAP is much like The Matrix (the ABAP side at least, and to ensure a good analogy, let’s exclude BW from the picture or focus just on ECC).


A long absence

This Monday I returned to work after nearly one-and-a-half weeks of leave following the birth of our lovely daughter. Now we have a family of four. Her brother is very sweet with her, strokes her gently and always talks about his sister. We are really blessed with him being so loving to her, especially with me back at work and my wife looking after both children and not having as much time to dote on our son as before.


A problem for this decade

How will this decade be referred to in twenty years’ time? It’s fine to talk about anything from the 20s to the 90s, but the first two decades of a century are problematic. We look at something today and say: “Man, that’s so 80s!” or “I like the music of the 70s”. But what will the children and teens refer to in years to come when talking about this decade and the next? “I’m a child of the units” or “That dress is so 10s!”. It just doesn’t have the same effect.

I wonder, was this problem prevalent in the 1900s and centuries before that as well or did we only start referring to decades in this way recently?


ABAP exploit/vulnerability exposed

Firstly, let me just make this disclaimer that I don’t know what the difference between an exploit and a vulnerability is. I don’t know the proper definitions of each, either. I’m pretty sure what I’m about to reveal is not a security flaw though. However, using the information contained herein, a malicious user can wreak a fair bit of havoc on an ABAP system.


Slide guitar by Hannes Coetzee – you’ve got to see this!

While searching YouTube for videos of slide guitar (because I own a metal slide and have never known how to use it), I came across this amazing video of South African Hannes Coetzee, playing the guitar, using a spoon in his mouth for the slide!


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More on piano lessons, and a new job

Two posts ago, I was talking about piano lessons on YouTube. Since then, I have started taking piano lessons at a nearby music school. This was just what I needed. You can only get so far on your own; then you need someone to guide you along and challenge you. I must thank my brother-in-law though, because although I’ve been talking about taking lessons for a while, he urged me to do it, having taken guitar lessons himself. I’m glad he did. All I needed was a gentle kick up the butt.


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Moving House

Not really. I’m simply about to reinstall Windows. But as I was about to go “Start -> Turn Off Computer” on this installation, it suddenly felt very final. I was not going to see this installation again. I had another look around to make sure that I had backed everything up, that everything was packed and ready to go. I was a bit nervous about whether my backups would end up OK on the other side.