Geek Conductor in Mauritius

Adventures in a foreign land

IT Projects (warning much geek content!)

In my last post, I alluded to the fact that I was involved with a couple of IT projects but they were all a bit hush hush.  Well, both of them are now out in the open, one is live and the other is under development.

The first is the Conduction website (http://www.e-conduction.org) as announced by Andrew Sutton (http://www.conductive-world.info/2010/09/conduction.html), meant as a virtual meeting place and think tank for those interested in Conduction Education.  I am providing the web hosting (well, it isn’t my server but you get what I mean) and have set up the technical side of the site.  For those interested, it is running WordPress V2.9.2 with a very heavily customised version of the Bluebird 2.0 theme.  It is using various extra plugins, most notably to provide the automatic notification of new content, Facebook integration and the ‘AddToAny’ (social-)bookmarking plus whatever else we dream up as time goes on.  Right now I am a bit restricted as the current server only has PHP V4 and a lot of the plugins require V5.  I am considering a server move (same host, different server) but there is always an element of the unknown when doing something like that – something even a full backup won’t soothe.  I might have to though as it really does restrict what you can add to the site.

The second project is still under development and was announced by Gill Maguire on her blog (http://www.gillian-maguire.info/2010/09/new-source-of-information-on-conductive.html).  I am creating this in PHP as this is what powers WordPress and I want to integrate it into the Conduction website.  It is a challenge for me as I have never programmed in PHP but, so far, it seems pretty easy – although I am not really pushing at the moment, it is basic CRUD DB work.

I have to say that I have been enjoying, and continue to enjoy, taking part in both of these projects.  Although I decided to get out of IT in a professional capacity, I never lost the enjoyment of creating systems – programming.  I haven’t really done much of it over the last few years and it has been great to get back into – particularly as I am using systems and programming languages that I do not know and therefore have to learn.  It doesn’t make me want to go back doing it full time but I am happy to engage this part of my brain – particularly as it is actually combining my previous life and my current one.  I have no idea quite where the Conduction site, and the virtual library, will go but I am happy to be part of it.

There is a third system, still in the concept stage in my brain, which could prove very interesting.  More on that in the future…

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1 Comment by jaden on September 2, 2010
filed in CE, IT
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Last couple of days

I have had an interesting last couple of days with some great bits and some not so.  Interestingly some of the great and the not so great refer to the same thing – and not CE.  Basically I have been involved with a couple of IT projects – one is a customised installation of the Wordpress blogging system for use with a website that I can’t tell you about yet and another is a custom website for another project I can’t talk about.  Both have involved working with technology that I haven’t really used before and coding in a language that I haven’t used.  I had almost forgotten how much fun creating systems and coding applications could be and how stimulating working with technology, particularly that which you haven’t used before, is.  Both are small fry in reality but they keep me happy.  On the bad side, my Skype installation has randomly decided to stop working.  Yesterday it was fine, today it won’t do anything – it won’t even log on now and sometimes can’t even start up.  I haven’t made any changes and I have removed the two Windows Updates that occurred so I am stumped.  It is this kind of thing that gives IT a bad name – if stuff works then it should keep working not just randomly break.  I am a pretty techy user with quite a lot of knowledge and the ability to investigate things at quite a low level – and I can’t get it to work!  Imagine if I was your average user, I would not know where to start.  It is doubly annoying for me as Skype is my primary way of keeping in contact with family and friends.  If I cannot get it to work, I may have to use Brigi’s PC just to talk to people at home – which is just stupid.  More investigation will happen but right now I am not happy.

[Update] Looks like it was one of the two Windows Updates that was the problem and, after properly uninstalling it, my system is happy again.  If you have Windows 7, you might want to think twice about installing KB982110.  Nothing to do with Skype in the end, several of my applications stopped working.  Microsoft eh?  Always keeping you on your toes.

On the CE side, I had a great session today and it re-energised me – sometimes it is difficult to maintain the high expectations that CE demands but today I got a little glimpse of the good things that could happen with the child I was working with.  Who knows if we will get there and how long it will take – but I will gladly take the glimpse I was given and run with it.

Yesterday I was reminded, yet again, of what a slightly random country Mauritius is.  There is an exhibition currently running which we wanted to take the students to.  It was the last week of the exhibition so we expected a few other visitors.  When we arrived – I might add there were no car/bus parks near the place, it was a case of just pull up and dump your kids – we were confronted by just about the most school children I have ever seen in one place.  They were streaming from every direction and the street down to the exhibition was full of kids.  To be fair, they were well behaved and standing in fairly orderly lines but the sheer number was overwhelming.  No provision had been made for children with disabilities and, after a conversation with those in charge, we abandoned our trip as the thought of negotiating the avalanche of children with our wheelchairs was daunting to say the least.  I understand that the exhibition was popular and coming to an end, but how did the organisers allow this to happen?  A simple system of registering when a school wanted to go and then managing how many arrived at the same time would have prevented a lot of problems.  And no carparks near the entrance, who thought that would be a good idea?  I like this country a lot, I really do, but sometimes you do wonder…

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No Comments by jaden on August 27, 2010
filed in CE, IT, Mauritius
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First week back

So, it is 6:40am here and I am wide awake.  Can’t blame the dog chorus, I just woke up and that is that.  However, I did go to bed before 11pm and so probably got about 7 hours sleep which, I am told, is all I need although it doesn’t feel like it.  So, rather than lay in bed getting annoyed, I thought I would update the blog and perhaps do a bit of work.

The first week back has passed very quickly, just like the holiday did.  The weather here has been variable, some days beautifully sunny and hot, others overcast and cooler and others with fierce downpours.  We have managed to get to the beach only once thanks to the weather, although it was a a stunning day and a stunning beach.  We also visited the oldest Hindu temple on the island and got an impromptu tour guide from a guy who seemed to just be hanging around.  It is a complex faith with lots of Gods to pray to which meant several different buildings with many different representations/statues of the different Gods.  It was a strange mix of the old buildings which had been fairly recently refurbished and painted and decorated in an almost childlike way with strip lights on the outside of the temple, modern double glazing protecting the representations and a digital combination safe in each temple to hold donations.  For me it wasn’t particularly cohesive or inspiring although the representations (I can’t think of a better word, statues doesn’t seem right) were quite impressive and detailed.

Last couple of days have been at work but without any students – it has been preparation, paperwork, etc. They are back today and it will be great to see them and find out what they have been up to.

The diet is on-going, albeit with a major fail yesterday when a visit to a friend for dinner – consisting of roti and lots of lovely curries – meant I ate more than I should have.  I haven’t seen any major weight loss after the first day despite what I thought was a fairly radical reduction in calorie intake.  This has been frustrating, however I haven’t really started the exercise side yet (I intended to yesterday but it rained all afternoon).  I intend to try this afternoon and hopefully that will accelerate things.  A huge thank you by the way to everyone who posted their encouragement on the blog and on Facebook.  I have managed to stay off the juice despite the offer of Palinka (spelling?) yesterday.

I utterly adore (in a geeky way) my new laptop which I am using right now.  We have watched some films on it and it works brilliantly, the sound is excellent and the screen big enough.  I do occasionally forget that is touch screen and managed to send an email by accident when trying to clean a bit of fluff off it yesterday!  Luckily the email was already finished.  It is so nice to have a full sized keyboard and screen!  I am not enjoying the crappy Internet access we have here though – I was spoilt at home with my mums cable which could get over 1Mb/s download speeds, here I am back to 100Kb/s if I am lucky.  Ah well, you can’t have everything!

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No Comments by jaden on August 18, 2010
filed in Mauritius, Personal
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My 35th year

It was my birthday yesterday (thank you again to all of those who sent me birthday wishes).  I am 35 years old and am in terrible shape.  I am overweight, unfit and I drink too much.  So far, not news to anyone who actually knows me.  On various occasions I have attempted to loose weight and get fit and these have worked to a greater, or usually lesser, degree.  But now I am approx.  half way through my life and it is time to get serious.  No more excuses.  So, here is the plan:

1. Reduce calorie intake.  Basically dieting.  Although my current diet is actually not too bad, my general problem is eating too much – I am greedy.  Therefore, portion sizes will be reduced and lots of processed stuff will be cut out.  I might go on a very radical diet for a while to kick start the whole thing off before then reverting to a sensible, fairly low calorie diet.

2. Increase exercise.  Basically, I am a bit (!) lazy.  I hate gyms and will never join one again after wasting hundreds of pounds on them over the years.  My plan is to start running (particularly as my brother and sister in law got me some very nice running shoes!), slowly at first but then increasing.  I did try running a few years ago and quite enjoyed it, but found that the knuckle on my big toe on one foot was incredibly painful after going out for a run.  This was with inappropriate trainers though and so I am hoping that these new ones will sort that one.  I also intend to get back in the sea and do lots of swimming and fulfil two dreams – to learn to kitesurf and to learn to dive.

3. Cut out drinking.  Completely.  This is probably the best thing, and the hardest thing, I can do.  I, like many other people, drink a fair bit and use it to chill out after a hard day etc.  However, I find it hard to have one beer, one glass of wine, etc.  I always have to finish the bottle and so one drink turns into many.  Therefore I have take the radical step of saying that I will not drink during my 35th year.  That’s no alcohol for a year.  The only exceptions will be alcohol in deserts, although I am obviously going to stay away from deserts anyhow (see point 1).  Obviously I could have just reduced my intake or said only when going out etc. but I have tried that before and the list of allowable times to drink slowly gets bigger and bigger until it is pointless.  So, big bang, all or nothing approach.  Gulp.

Why post this on my blog?  Well, apart from the obvious attention seeking aspects, I want people to know so that I am less likely to slip up.  Of course I may still do that and, if I do, then I will have to deal with it and move on.  I am not doing this for a bet, to raise money or in competition with anyone else and so if I have a bad moment and a fail then it is just going to affect me.  It is just me versus my ‘devils’.  The aim is to loose at least 2 stone in weight and hugely increase my basic fitness.  I will aim to complete the weight loss before Christmas, the fitness will be unending I suspect.  My overall aim is to be in the best shape that I have been in since I was a teenager – basically the last time I was slim and fit.  I have no idea whether I will manage it or not – past performance indicates not – but I can but hope and have resolve.

I have an app on my new shiny phone that tracks my runs and will post them on Facebook apparently, I will see if I can get that to work.  There might also be a weight loss one, I have yet to investigate.

So, there it is.  No more excuses.  Time to sort my body out.  Lets see if it works….

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5 Comments by jaden on August 13, 2010
filed in Personal
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In Dubai

Arrived safely on Dubai where it is 0130, the outside temp is 39 deg c and it costs me £1.50 to receive a call. Thats receive not make! I have successfully covered my white t shirt in food and coffee and so look like a tramp. Using my new shiny phone to type this which is hard work with my fat fingers. More later.

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No Comments by jaden on August 10, 2010
filed in Uncategorized

Almost time to go back

As per the title, it is almost time for us to return to Mauritius after just over 3 hectic weeks in UK/Hungary.  For me this has meant driving almost 1000 miles in the UK whilst visiting 5 different towns/cities, travelling 2000 kilometres one way by plane and again in return by car to visit Hungary and generally trying to see as many people as possible.  Even with the travelling and the visiting, it has not been possible to see everyone.  For those of you I managed to see, I am sorry it was so brief.  For those who I wasn’t able, I’m sorry and hopefully next time.  For those who couldn’t be bothered to respond to my email or Facebook messages, pfth.

For me, the highlight has been seeing my nephew who has gone from being a couple of months old when I left to being 8 months old and, unsurprisingly, the change has been profound.  When I left he was a cute baby who, frankly, didn’t do very much other than eat and sleep.  Now he is interacting, laughing, rolling, bouncing around in his bouncer, moving around in his walker and generally being amazing.  From a professional point of view, it is always great to see ‘normal’ children and just how fast they develop.  From a personal point of view, god he’s cute!  It was also great to see the development of some of the children at the Forest of Dean Opportunity Centre Playscheme, something I have been involved with for years and the place that introduced me to CE and, ultimately, is responsible for me being in Mauritius!  Again, I was only able to spend one day there which was a shame but better than nothing.

Thanks to all the running around, and my continuing inability to sleep continuously for enough time culminating in waking up at 4am this morning, being unable to get back to sleep and so coming downstairs and writing this blog entry, this holiday has not exactly been restful.  We will have a few days when we get back before school starts and perhaps I will get some rest then!

I have had quite a geeky, and expensive (!), holiday culminating in the purchase of a new smartphone and laptop.  The phone is a T-mobile Pulse for those of you interested and is a fairly cheap way of getting on the Android bus.  It is a great phone and, after some fairly geeky customisation, can do lots of interesting things including free built in sat nav (which may or may not work in Mauritius), Google Maps, Facebook, email, chat and lots of random things like being able to point it at the sky and it will tell you the constellations that you can see.  It even makes and receives phone calls and text messages!  Downside is that, with everything enabled and working (particularly the sat nav), it eats batteries.  Continuous sat nav will kill it in about 4 hours!  The other purchase was a laptop to compliment the netbook that I already have.  I was getting increasingly frustrated that to do planning, photo or video editing, I had to borrow the school or Brigi’s laptop.  Now I have a 17.3″ Dell monster which is very powerful and should keep me going for a few years.  I got it from the Outlet store on the website and saved about 50% on the retail price which enabled me to get one that was much more powerful than I expected.  It is fully loaded with Windows 7 Ultimate, great sound, huge high res touch screen (touch screen!), bluetooth, etc. etc.  Weighs a ton though!

Actually the weight thing is a bit of a concern as we have quite a lot to bring back and (only) 60 kilos between us to do it.  There will be some nervous weighing of bags today in preparation for flying on Tuesday.

Right, I will either try and do something useful or perhaps go back to bed and try to sleep.  Next post will be in either Dubai or Mauritius and I will try to keep this thing a little more up to date than I have of late…

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No Comments by jaden on August 9, 2010
filed in UK
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Back in the UK

We have arrived safe and sound in the UK after an uneventful and easy journey, spoilt slightly by the 1/2 hour wait at passport control in the UK.  Whichever genius timetabled at least 4 flights all arriving at the same time should be thanked, preferably with a sharp stick in the eye.  The irony of arriving back in the UK and then immediately having to queue was not lost.

Am knackered but ok, going to stay up until normal sleep time to beat the jet lag.

Fed my family Mauritius style chillis and pickles and it was predictably amusing to see their reaction to the level of heat – many thanks to the ladies at work who prepared them for us.

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No Comments by jaden on July 18, 2010
filed in UK

In Dubai (again).

So, stage one of the return trip is complete and we are in Dubai.  If you have never been here (and I haven’t actually stepped outside the airport) then you should imagine two things.  The first is the heat outside the airport – we landed at 5.30am local and it was already 30+ deg C – the heat was like a physical wall as you got off the plane.  The second is the size – Dubai airport is Big with a capital B.  There were at least 25 planes connected to the terminal and who knows how many more who, like us, had landed away from the terminal and were shipping passengers in via bus.  The terminal/duty free is like a massive shopping centre which, even at this hour, is crammed full of people buying shit they don’t need just because it is cheaper than normal.  I hate shopping centres even more than I hate airports so you can imagine how much fun I am finding it here.  I was actually looking for something specific – at laptop with at least a 17″ screen – however all they seem to have was 15 or smaller.  So, it is back to looking at hotukdeals.com for a better deal than the ones I have already found.

The flight itself was relatively uneventful save for me breaking not one but two of the in-flight entertainment systems.  In my defense all I did was try to use it but the first refused to show any video at all and, after swapping chairs with Brigi who wanted to sleep, the second stopped playing films in any kind of watchable way about 1.5 hours out from Dubai.  The system, when working, is really very good although there seems to be a lack of films that I would like to see this time.

Randomly I have sat next to someone who is not only going to Birmingham, but is going to a part of Nottingham not far from Ruddington.  Small world!

Right, a sandwich is required and then off to board to place.  Next post will be from the UK…

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No Comments by jaden on July 18, 2010
filed in Uncategorized

Homeward Bound

In less than 4 days I will be back in the UK after over 5 months here in Mauritius.  I am very excited to be going home, not because I don’t like it here (I like it a lot here) but because I will see my family, in particular my little nephew, for the first time in months.  I will also hopefully meet up with some friends, go down to see some children in a playscheme I used to go to and generally travel around a bit.  However, I will also be taking the opportunity to rest and sleep and try to recover ready for next term.  I will be in the UK for about 3 1/2 weeks which seems like a long time but I know will fly by.  It seems like ages since I was in the UK and will probably feel a bit strange at first.  Oddly, it may well be hotter there as it is Winter here and the temperature as dropped to the high teens – that is cold in Mauritius terms!  Predictably, we have all picked up colds in various forms although luckily mine wasn’t too bad.  Getting a cold when it is still t-shirt weather most of the time is an odd feeling but, when you are surrounded by children and lots of them have runny noses, it is to be expected.

Must finally finish this post, my first for some weeks, nothing but laziness plus fairly hectic work to blame I am afraid, I will try to do better!  Next time I post, I will probably be back in the UK and may be using the new laptop I have promised myself after finally getting very tired of using my netbook all the time.  We shall see….

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No Comments by jaden on July 14, 2010
filed in Uncategorized

Time

We all think we have time.  Lots of time.  But we don’t, not nearly as much as we think.  So today, on the anniversary of the death of two people who I loved dearly and who were taken from us by events that will probably never be fully explained, you should follow this simple request.  Any chance you have to show those that you love how you feel, take it.  Even if it feels like it could be left for another time – because know this – you have no idea what will happen in the next few seconds, let alone days or weeks.

My life is now very different from one year ago.  Then I could not see beyond what was happening and did not know how I could move forward.  Now I am this amazing place and sharing my life with an amazing person and I can see a future.  I don’t know what that future is and, if there was one thing that the events of a year ago taught me, I don’t intend to plan too much because you just don’t know what will happen.

Today is full of sadness for me and for a lot of people whose lives were touched by the two that I knew and the others who also died.  But, together with the sadness of lives cut short and regrets of things unsaid and undone, we also have the happy memories and shared experiences and it is these latter things that we should concentrate on.  Otherwise, how can we ever allow ourselves to get close to anyone ever again?

Follow my request though.  Stop reading this and go and give your loved ones a hug.  Do it right now because you never know if you will get another chance.

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6 Comments by jaden on June 1, 2010
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