Blowing the Whistle Peter Parsons' Weblog about Solaris, sport and anything else.

Still Going Strong

After 7 games played, Port Vale are riding high in third place in the table, having not yet conceded a home goal in 4 matches at Vale Park.

Saturday sees a "top of the table clash" at Scunthorpe, who are second on goals scored. Here's hoping that we keep the good form going.

( Sep 06 2005, 05:06:49 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

You Can't Win Them All...

...nice though that would be.

Last night's opening home game for Port Vale was a 0-0 draw with Gillingham. Vale's next game is live on Sky TV next Monday evening (15th). Here's hoping for a good performance.

( Aug 10 2005, 02:47:24 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Opening Day Success

A successful trip to Southend-on-Sea on Saturday for Port Vale. A 2-1 win with two goals from Nathan Lowndes. After a good first half, and a 2-0 half time lead, the second half was somewhat more nerve wracking, but 3 points is 3 points. Roll on Gillingham tomorrow night.

( Aug 08 2005, 10:14:10 AM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

DTrace and Java

Spent yesterday at a customer site looking at the behaviour of some of their Java code using DTrace, and in particular the DTrace VM Agents.

I'm not a Java developer, my main Java application being putting it in the filter machine each morning , but my first use of DVM in anger impressed me. Far more importantly, the customer was impressed too.

( Aug 03 2005, 03:22:41 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Back to Reality

A week away from email and the Internet, which was surprisingly easy to cope with . Admittedly, I did have my mobile phone with me, although coverage was pretty variable, but very good when you are near the top of Snowdown .

Now, however, it is back to reality. One week away from the office = 1200 mails in the Inbox. Must consider trimming the number of discussion lists I am subscribed to.

( Aug 01 2005, 03:23:58 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Seven Days On

Today was my first trip in to London since the events of the 7th. Apart from the obvious effects of certain Tube lines still being closed, the atmosphere was noticeably different. There were definitely fewer people around (there aren't normally empty seats on Bakerloo line trains at that time of day) and a somewhat quieter, more sombre feel than the normal hustle and bustle associated with London in the rush hour.

( Jul 14 2005, 05:30:15 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Fun Day - Lower Earley, Reading, UK

If anyone is in the Reading area tomorrow afternoon, the Woodley and Earley Lions are having their Fun Day on the Events Field, Kilnsea Drive, Lower Earley (off Rushey Way).

It runs from 12 until 4 and entry is free.

( Jul 08 2005, 01:46:58 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Olympic-Sized Opportunities

Today's announcement of the awarding of the 2012 Olympic Games to London is wonderful news to all of us involved in sport in the UK. The Olympic Games will bring so many opportunities to develop both sport and the wider community.

Volleyball is a minority sport in the UK, yet the FIVB (the sport's world governing body) has more member countries than any other sport. Volleyball truly is one of the world's major sports. The Olympic Games will give the UK the opportunity to see the best teams in the world. I can't wait (even though I will have to for seven years ).

( Jul 06 2005, 03:58:26 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

All Quiet on the Inbox Front

It's July 4th. Independence day in the USA. Not something an English person would normally choose to celebrate (although if any culture on Earth would choose to celebrate losing a war, it would be the English ).

However, there is a definite upside to the 4th of July. My inbox is virtually dead. Peace and quiet from my e-mail. It doesn't happen very often, so I guess I should make the most of it.

( Jul 04 2005, 04:53:16 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [1]

Fixture Day Has Come (and Gone)

Last Thursday saw the release of the football fixture list for next season. A bit of a mixed bag for Port Vale sees long away trips on the opening (at Southend United) and final (at Hartlepool United) days, home games on Boxing Day (Blackpool) and New Years Eve (Tranmere Rovers) and reasonably close away midweek fixtures (Barnsley and Nottm Forest).

Roll on August 6th...

( Jun 27 2005, 03:13:13 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Open Sourcing Coke and Ketchup

It's been a week now since the open sourcing of Solaris, and the comments I have seen posted are pretty favourable. The "it's vapourware" merchants have become vapourware themselves. The "they will never do it" merchants have been proved wrong, spectacularly. It's a good week to be a Solaris advocate.

In my early days at Sun, the internal workings of Solaris were commonly referred to as our "secret sauce", the things that made Solaris different from, and better than, other software platform (i.e. OS) offerings out there. Solaris was, and is, our differentiator.

Yet, now we are giving away our recipe for all to try.

It is interesting to compare the attitude towards making source code available against other "closed source" trade secrets. The ingredients list for Coca-Cola is very tightly guarded. Heinz do not tell anyone how they make their tomato ketchup. However, I don't see a movement out there for "open sourcing" Coca-Cola or Heinz Ketchup.

I'm sure that there are many people out there who would be interested in these other recipes. I see plenty of rival Colas and Ketchups on the shelves in the supermarket, and I am sure that the manufacturers of these rival products would love to have the recipes of the brand leaders and to be able to distribute their own "OpenCoke" or "OpenKetchup" recipes. Those who were so inclined could make their own implementations at home (just as with OpenSolaris).

Perhaps I'm on to something here... ( Jun 21 2005, 11:04:32 AM BST ) Permalink Comments [2]

Solaris 10 Wireless Update

Just about to close down my laptop after the first day running the latest build of the wireless driver (IPW2100) for my Toshiba Tecra M2. So far it seems much better behaved than the previous build. Excellent.

You'll all be able to get the source code for the driver here in the near future.

( Jun 14 2005, 05:12:53 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [2]

Something's Different

Check it out.

( Jun 14 2005, 03:59:18 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

1st UK Open Solaris User Group Meeting

The first meeting is scheduled for Monday 20th June at 6pm.

See Ulf's B-log for details.

( Jun 14 2005, 02:25:43 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Swapping Keyboards

One of the benefits of working at Sun is the attitude towards flexible working.

Today I was able to work from home. I am able to access everything I need to do my job from my home setup. On days like today, when I need to wait in for a delivery, it is a real bonus to be able to do this.

Today I was waiting for delivery of a new keyboard. Not for one of my computers, but one of these, an electric piano.

Once I've finished what I need to do for tomorrow, I will be able to swap my Sun Type 6 keyboard for a slightly different one for a while.

( Jun 09 2005, 04:01:52 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]