Too many VMs

As part of my work life I regularly need to run windows development software on my Mac. Typically for a client engagement. This is a really convenient setup. I can take a snapshot before I start work on something new and then at the end roll back to the original state ready to work on the next project.

One of the downsides I have encountered recently is the need to keep all these machines up to date with patches and other software updates that seem to be part of everyday life.

Don't get me wrong I think its great that we have this steady stream of updates to make things better but when you start multiplying this up for the VMs I have on my machine the effort to keep them up to date starts to be become a bit of a pain.

I think it is time to start rationalising to a smaller number - just so I can keep them up to date.

Quietly Does it

I have had my eye on a pair of Bose headphones for some time but never managed to justify the cost. And to be honest I am not sure that I ever will. Except that they are truly fabulous and on my first tip with them on a plane left me feeling relaxed and comfortable. The noise onboard a plane seem to raise my tension levels but removing that noise really helped me enjoy the flight. I was told when I bought them that the batteries were fully charged and would each last 10 hours. I can only testify to 8 on one battery with almost continuous use. I will confess that I have tried a number of different headphones, both in and out of ear, with and without noise cancelling but nothing comes close to the peace that these phones bring with them. So maybe I have justified them :)

Toronto - Sunday

Today is my first day in Toronto, preparing for Agile 2008. After a surprisingly smooth and peaceful crossing from the UK, and an even smoother journey to downtown Toronto I find myself preparing some slides for my short experience report 'TeamPace - Keeping the build times down' on Thursday. I am staying at the Hilton just across the street from the conference at the Sheraton Centre for an early morning start.

Code is Poetry

On a recent visit to the Wordpress sight I was struck by their tag line "Code is poetry". I have been searching for some time for a phrase that would sum up how I feel about well crafted code; code that is easy to understand, read and generally feels 'just right'.

I am not completely convinced that code is poetry - but it comes pretty close.

Agile2008

Next week I will be in Toronto for Agile 2008 to present a short experience report, catch up with friends and immerse myself in all things Agile :)

Trains and WiFi

I am just returning from Leeds to London by train with power and free Wireless internet. Ok it is not the fastest link but works well - even for blogging

Keyboard touching

I am definitely with Jeff Atwood on when it is appropriate to touch monitors - NEVER.