Author: Peru 2019
We went to Peru this month.
On writing
Yesterday I responded to a blog post by my friend Jason, who (prolific writer that he is) has responded in kind less than a day later. I don’t want to dismiss the lengthy post in which he makes some interesting observations, but I have thoughts about the last line: Randolph says I’m a writer. 18,767Continue reading On writing
What makes a writer?
My friend Jason Irwin, whom I’ve never met in real life, is one of the most prolific writers I know personally. One can expect a blog post from him every day. I honestly don’t know how he does it. Yesterday I spent seven hours working on the next SQL Server book for Microsoft Press, andContinue reading What makes a writer?
Disable Windows 10 task view or timeline on a Parallels virtual machine
This is mostly for my own sanity, because I keep losing the Parallels KB page link. On a Windows 10 virtual machine running inside Parallels, some random touch pad or mouse movement opens up what is variously called the Task View or Timeline, depending on the version of Windows 10. Either way, it’s annoying andContinue reading Disable Windows 10 task view or timeline on a Parallels virtual machine
Core memory in IBM mainframes from 55 years ago
Did you know that computer memory used to be stored in cores linked by hand-woven nets of copper wire? The core was a small ferrite ring (iron because magnetic), and wires were woven between them to read or set the electrical current in that magnetic ring (which ran clockwise or anti-clockwise depending on the value).Continue reading Core memory in IBM mainframes from 55 years ago
hello yes im still here
This is like a Five Things post but I may do more or less than five so let’s see how it goes. Social GD media I disabled my main Twitter account again because honestly it’s just becoming the crutch that Facebook was. I’ve set a reminder to reactivate shortly before the 30-day expiration, but we’llContinue reading hello yes im still here
Converting a VMware thick-provisioned disk to thin-provisioned
Tonight on my ESXi host I noticed that I accidentally created a virtual machine with a thick-provisioned disk of 127 GB which was only using 13 GB, so I wanted to free up the 114 GB for other VMs. The following instructions were extremely useful in resolving this problem: Turn off the VM which containsContinue reading Converting a VMware thick-provisioned disk to thin-provisioned
There was no bear
https://twitter.com/_randolph_west/status/1097642652542033920
Thoughts and considerations about what I’m doing with my life
The Internet has a long memory and my blog is 17 years old. That said, my website has been around in various forms for over 23 years so it’s not like I don’t have a wealth of content to be embarrassed by. Reading old posts has reminded me, often in excruciating detail, of who IContinue reading Thoughts and considerations about what I’m doing with my life
Five things
(I’m blaming Jason for this.) 1. Kondo Living There’s a Netflix show I haven’t yet seen about a certain Marie Kondo, who cleans your house by saying if something doesn’t spark joy, you should get rid of it. Folks were happy with her getting rid of shoes, but apparently there was a stink when sheContinue reading Five things