The weekly weeknotes are no more… whilst it’s great to catalogue my life, each post was taking 3-4 hours to write (and much of it is on Twitter anyway!). Even in chunks through the week, that’s a lot of time, though I seem to have found another time hoover to fill the void (edging out Twitter): Sim City.<\/p>\n
I may still publish some weeknotes\u00a0in 2018… they might just be in a slightly different format…<\/p>\n
So, what’s been happening over the last 3 weeks?<\/p>\n
\nHey, @EMTrains<\/a>. Perhaps you could change your procedure to and check the train is empty before locking doors? Luckily I managed to grab attention of platform staff to let me out of 1F02 at Sheffield… pic.twitter.com\/ESl38ozvx4<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 18, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
(After the train arrived at its destination, I sent an email and used the lavatory before getting off but it seems the Train Manager was more keen to get away than I was…)<\/p>\n
Azure subscription woes (caused by credit card changes)<\/h3>\n
A withdrawn credit card led to some worrying emails about my (PAYG) Azure subscription potentially being disabled.<\/p>\n
Although this article<\/a> says:<\/p>\n
“When you update the payment method, Azure immediately processes the payment for all outstanding charges”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
it needed a support call to get Microsoft to charge the card and put my account back where it should have been…<\/p>\n
Some tweets I liked<\/h3>\n
On ideas\/new technology…<\/p>\n
\nWhen it’s an idea: “It’ll never work!”
\nWhen it works: “It’s a fad!”
\nWhat it’s not a fad: “What’s this doing to our society?!”<\/p>\nThe bicycle, telephone, motor vehicle, television, headphones, personal computer, Internet, smartphones… #VR<\/a>, #AR<\/a>, #AI<\/a>, $crypto<\/a>…<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jamie Skella (@JamieSkella) December 12, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
On software maintenance…<\/p>\n
\nWonderful quote about the right mindset for software maintenance. #springone<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/aFMEGNn2Gf<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Richard Seroter (@rseroter) December 5, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And a couple I didn’t<\/h3>\n
Exhibit A:<\/p>\n
\nGoogle is a giant machine that eats energy to make an encyclopedia.<\/p>\n
Facebook is a giant machine that eats energy to make yearbooks.<\/p>\n
Bitcoin is a giant machine that eats energy to save and trade value.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jeremy Welch (@jeremyrwelch) December 16, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nWrong. The first two exist to sell advertising and make money. The products are a side-effect! https:\/\/t.co\/5rLpwItLXB<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 18, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Exhibit B:<\/p>\n
\n2010:
\nAWS: Cloud is real
\nOther vendors: Lol, bookseller, real money is in virtualisation<\/p>\n2017:
\nAWS: Serverless is real
\nOther vendors: Lol, real money is in Containers<\/p>\n\u2014 Cloud Opinion – BRB (@cloud_opinion) December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n2010: Azure: PaaS is real; AWS nah… IaaS is where it\u2019s at ;-) Sometimes you have to do what the market is ready for. Some customers are ready for functions… and some haven\u2019t even got their heads around production VMs in the cloud, let alone containers… https:\/\/t.co\/nARNaLnyxq<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Photography<\/h3>\n
I got the chance to give a presentation about\u00a0architecture (in IT form) to some colleagues, which let me draw parallels with architecture (in construction form). That gave me a reason to pull together some images from a visit to Kings Cross and St Pancras International last summer:<\/p>\n
\nI’m presenting to the #risual<\/a> Cloud Infrastructure team today about architecture (in an IT context). I’ve used these pics that I took last summer at London St Pancras International and at Kings Cross. Both feature stunning architecture (in a building context) pic.twitter.com\/SxhlhYlWzc<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 15, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I like this image of my son’s (frozen) bike loaded on my car ready for a morning or cyclocross racing:<\/p>\n
\nSunday morning #cyclocross<\/a> #lookslikeamuddyone<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/N4Tq1gJua5<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 17, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And then I got creative on Christmas Eve:<\/p>\n
\nFizz pic.twitter.com\/bpxMrAeIXo<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nReady for Father Christmas… pic.twitter.com\/ORMMdXs8x0<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nRhubarb and ginger… #AnotherAlcoholicStillLife<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/nKFFhR3xAc<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 24, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Could there be a correlation between the alcoholic theme and my being relaxed enough to see photographic opportunity?<\/p>\n
A trip to York<\/h3>\n
My family had a little mini-break in York between Christmas and New Year (narrowly avoiding the chaos that ensues when the UK gets a few centimetres of snow…). Of course, being on holiday inevitably led to more photos:<\/p>\n
\nNational Railway Museum pic.twitter.com\/NOA3LMJxIO<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nSpotted in a pub in York… #RulesOfTheInn<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8YuKFw42JG<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 27, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nGhostly tales on the streets of York pic.twitter.com\/nEkKri2B2M<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nViking history pic.twitter.com\/nDxYndXxof<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nLoving this T-Shirt (and the others in the series…) #HystericalHeritage<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OKhlb1Hz3g<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This was disappointing though (especially on a bright sunny day with no sign of ice):<\/p>\n
\nUnfortunately the #York<\/a> Bar Walls are closed today due to the ice ??<\/p>\n
\u2014 City of York Council (@CityofYork) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
This wasn’t – it was a great recommendation from Brian Cain (@BrianCainUC<\/a>)!<\/p>\n
\nYork\u2019s Chocolate Story pic.twitter.com\/3V2OPFEH3N<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
More alcohol…<\/p>\n
\nA proper pint in a proper glass pic.twitter.com\/mrERdVWaQc<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nBeer-barrel snowman pic.twitter.com\/j6XGC4aKdU<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I didn’t try this place but I will if I’m back in York again…<\/p>\n
\nMuch better than a kebab! pic.twitter.com\/raP8j6ENbk<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 28, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I really liked this cafe<\/a>:<\/p>\n
\nFab cycling-themed caf\u00e9 in York @yourbikeshed<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/wzYXYRUpGJ<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
And I finished the trip by going full-circle…<\/p>\n
\nAnother trip to the @railwaymuseum<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/sqiNlcYkt0<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 29, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Incidentally, the collages are created using Diptic on iOS<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A bit of DIY<\/h3>\n
\nTada! Not bad for some old shelf supports, scrap 2×1\u201d, MDF and a stool #DiyXboxDrivingRig<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Eb90M7CUKs<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Mark Wilson ???? (@markwilsonit) December 31, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n