perl -e "print \"Hello, World\""

I spent most of yesterday working on some scripts (small programs) to automate some repetitive tasks that the writers must perform when writing or verifying their documents. I'm not sure which is more frustrating - working a long time on something because it's hard or because it can't be done and I don't know it. The work is further complicated when I use multiple languages (JavaScript, shell scripts, FrameScript, Perl, and others). Each language is slightly different, so it's easy to get them confused. In addition, these scripts can behave slightly differently on Windows and UNIX.

One time when we were complaining about finances or work or something along those lines, a member of our family said, "I'll trade checkbooks with you."

Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal has updated his computer buying guide. Walt's clear and respectful writing is unusual among technology professionals. A recent study of AOL users in the UK showed, not surprisingly, that a large percentage of users did not understand the terminology commonly used to describe computer security threats.

By some accounts, between 4 and 10 in 100 email users have bought something from spammers, making it an attractive business.

My grandfather thought that the English system of measurement that was crazy, that it made carpentry and just about everything else more difficult. With the metric system, you can do the arithmetic in your head. (I've worked with engineers who can do hexadecimal math in their heads. It's fun to watch until you realize what they're doing and then it's scary.) On the other side, however, a pilot told me that he didn't like the metric system because a degree covered a wider range of temperature. A temperature of -.5°C is, to this pilot, significantly colder than -.5°F when you're watching for ice formation on your wings. Anyway, today is the 210th anniversary of France's adoption of the metre (meter). A couple of years ago, Ken Alder published The Measure of All Things, telling the story of the astronomers who tried to establish the length of the meter.

If we have time on Saturday, we'd like to get to the River Rat Race in Athol.