Fixing Subversion branch and trunk directories

August 3, 2009 Reluctant Computers, Internet, Linux, Technology, Uncategorized

subversionThe other day, at work, we came across a bad situation with Subversion (a version control system).  We had created a secondary repository for a common library (YUI) of code that we want to use in multiple other repositories.  YUI doesn’t provide a subversion repository, so we had to create one “in-house.”

I’m sure nobody else has done this (wink, wink), but we spaced off creating the typical trunk, branches and tags directories.  I think we assumed that we would never really need them.  But of course, there’s always a reason for following best practices.  We got to a point where one of our branches needed the old version of YUI (2.6.0) and the new branch needed the current YUI branch (2.7.0).  This didn’t work because of our lack of trunk/branches directory.  Here’s the steps I took to rectify the situation:

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Why are women less happy?

May 25, 2009 Reluctant Rant, Society

A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that women are less happy now than in the 1970′s, when a similar study was conducted. Not only did the subjective happiness of women decrease absolutely but also relative to men.

female-depressedThere are several theories as to why. Some guess that the women’s movement was unsuccessful. Others posit that men have gained more than women from women saturating the workforce, but that doesn’t really explain the absolute decrease in female happiness.

Many are overlooking a few fundamental reasons:

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"Evil" areas of the United States

May 23, 2009 Reluctant LDS Life, Personal, Society

Have you ever wondered where the “worst” areas of the country are? So did the Kansas State University Geography Department. So they mapped it out. They looked at each of the “seven deadly sins” and plotted the highest and lowest concentrations of each.  The breakdown of their methodologies of calculations:

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21 Suggestions for Success

March 7, 2009 Reluctant Family, Inspirational, Personal, Rant, Society

Key to successA friend of mine tipped me off to these suggestions, but they are both profound and simple:

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.
2. Work at something you enjoy and that’s worthy of your time and talent.
3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
4. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.
5. Be forgiving of yourself and others.
6. Be generous.
7. Have a grateful heart.
8. Persistence, persistence, persistence.
9. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.
10. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.
11. Commit yourself to constant improvement.
12. Commit yourself to quality.
13. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationships with people you love and respect.
14. Be loyal.
15. Be honest.
16. Be a self-starter.
17. Be decisive even if it means you’ll sometimes be wrong.
18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.
19. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you’ll regret the things you didn’t do more than the ones you did.
20. Take good care of those you love.
21. Don’t do anything that wouldn’t make your Mom proud.

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I vote for Google

February 13, 2009 Reluctant Internet, New Technology, Technology

Unlike Pedro, Google has made “all [my] dreams come true”. Just recently, Google announced a public beta of a new sync product for mobile devices. Not only do they have cool online services, but now my iPhone can easily take advantage of those services.

Some of you may wonder why this makes me so happy.  Let me explain.

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The Budget Balance

February 12, 2009 Reluctant Politics, Rant

Wow!  Scary.

budget deficit

(thanks Greg Mankiw)

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Happy 25th B-day Mac!

January 24, 2009 Reluctant Apple, Random, Technology

Many of you may remember that I recently converted from using a Linux computer to an Apple MacBook Pro. However, that wasn’t my first experience with Apple hardware. My first programming was actually done on an Apple IIe (in 8th grade – it was the coolest computer drawing of a B52 bomber). And I spent far too many hours designing the layout for the high school newspaper on a Macintosh stuck away in the library.

Today is a significant day in the world of computers.  The Apple Macintosh was introduced (or rather introduced itself) to the world exactly 25 years ago.  The Macintosh was revolutionary in so many ways.  For the first time, personal computers had a graphical user interface (GUI). And sound was an integral part of the operating system.

Check out the following video (thanks TUAW). And notice the young Steve Jobs.

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The future is here: Wireless Kitchen Appliances

January 21, 2009 Reluctant Electronics, Technology

You read it right.  The kitchen (and office) of the future is available (although expensive as all early technology is).  Who wants all those cords hanging around when you can move your appliances where you want without having to worry whether the cord will still reach.  Check out the video below for some kitchen coolness:

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Build your site with Concrete

December 21, 2008 Reluctant Family, Internet, New Technology, Technology, Web Development

For those of you that have always wanted a web site, but don’t want to deal with all the cost of updating it when your content changes, there’s a solution for you.

Concrete5 is a new Content Management System (CMS) that blows everything else I’ve used out of the water.  Everything else I’ve used (and I’ve been around the block with CMSs) has been either overly complicated and not user-friendly or too simple to really work for my needs.

In steps C5.

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Fresh Financial Tracking with Mint

November 30, 2008 Reluctant Endorsement, Internet, Personal, Technology

If you are like most Americans, not only do you have money deposits at multiple financial institutions, but you also have credit cards, 401k account and perhaps a stock market account.  If you’re like me, you hate having to flip through multiple paper statements or web sites trying to get the big financial picture.  You can use an installed application like Quicken or Microsoft Money, or you can try something fresh in the financial scene — Mint.com.

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