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Entry tags:
some of the right tools
This week we have customers in for a big development-and-integration event, with the result that I'm expected to basically spend the week in a lab doing development (configuration, not Java code, but pretty complex configuration). The lab, for sound security reasons, is not on the corporate network nor on the internet.
Monday morning was spent setting up customers' servers, providing an overview of changes since the last release, and stuff like that. So I really only spent about half a day working on that lab machine, but it was still exhausting. The default Windows configuration is not one that works well for me visually, and the tools available to edit XML (and read server logs) were Notepad and Wordpad, and, well, that sucked. Oh, and while I'd managed to get another monitor (the standard setup had them bolted to the back of the table; it's our deployment configuration but that's too far for me to see), I realized late in the day that it was at the wrong height and that was part of why my neck hurt.
Ok, then. Yesterday morning I appropriated a thumb drive (after confirming I was allowed to connect it to my corporate machine), went upstairs to my desk, and grabbed a few tools I'd need: Windows display theme, emacs (with my configuration file), and KeyTweak to remap caps-lock to control like Jim [1] intended. (The Cygwin installer relies on an internet connection so no joy there, but I was mostly just repeating the same command lines over and over in the DOS shell, so ok. And no IntelliJ for licensing reasons.) And a ream of paper, for the monitor.
Ah, much better. I can get through the rest of this week now. If we could do something about the fluorescent lights it'd be even better, but at least they aren't directly overhead or in my line of sight.
[1] Jim Gosling. I used his emacs for a few years before I encountered Stallman's, which morphed into Gnu, which is what everyone uses now. And back in those days, the control key was just to the left of home row (VT100 terminal), easily accessible -- important for a program where almost all commands involve that key. I have never, ever adjusted to the PC (and Mac) putting that key down on the bottom row where I can't easily reach it without actually moving my left hand out of typing position.
Monday morning was spent setting up customers' servers, providing an overview of changes since the last release, and stuff like that. So I really only spent about half a day working on that lab machine, but it was still exhausting. The default Windows configuration is not one that works well for me visually, and the tools available to edit XML (and read server logs) were Notepad and Wordpad, and, well, that sucked. Oh, and while I'd managed to get another monitor (the standard setup had them bolted to the back of the table; it's our deployment configuration but that's too far for me to see), I realized late in the day that it was at the wrong height and that was part of why my neck hurt.
Ok, then. Yesterday morning I appropriated a thumb drive (after confirming I was allowed to connect it to my corporate machine), went upstairs to my desk, and grabbed a few tools I'd need: Windows display theme, emacs (with my configuration file), and KeyTweak to remap caps-lock to control like Jim [1] intended. (The Cygwin installer relies on an internet connection so no joy there, but I was mostly just repeating the same command lines over and over in the DOS shell, so ok. And no IntelliJ for licensing reasons.) And a ream of paper, for the monitor.
Ah, much better. I can get through the rest of this week now. If we could do something about the fluorescent lights it'd be even better, but at least they aren't directly overhead or in my line of sight.
[1] Jim Gosling. I used his emacs for a few years before I encountered Stallman's, which morphed into Gnu, which is what everyone uses now. And back in those days, the control key was just to the left of home row (VT100 terminal), easily accessible -- important for a program where almost all commands involve that key. I have never, ever adjusted to the PC (and Mac) putting that key down on the bottom row where I can't easily reach it without actually moving my left hand out of typing position.
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