debfoocode.net

Finally!! I did take a day longer to get a blog software installed on my computer than I would have liked. It is amazing how fast the weekend went…

I decided to go with WordPress. I have a feeling that I can be quite creative with WordPress. It also has a few books released. I can get nerdy and read up on the different styles and ways to make my site more ‘me’.

Right now it has the default screen. Soon it will look a whole lot better and will actually have some content.

I have a comment already!! Thank you Takeshi for being the very first person to leave me a comment.

It’s late and I really should be watching Futurama…

deb.foocode.net

Finished SAP training for the week.

I just read an article on the IT Predictions for 2007

In it they claim the following:

“Highly sought technology skills are C#/.NET, Java/J2EE, VoIP, SAP, Oracle, Siebel, security, compliance (SOX), ITIL and storage.”

It is amazing that SAP is a highly sought after skill. After doing training for three days (as an overview) I realise that there is so much to learn. There really was a lot to take in. It’s a good thing I got a huge book to take home and read…

deb.foocode.net

I am still writing my journal entries in Notepad. I haven’t yet had the chance to delve in to blog software; although I have had a quick look at some of the programs out there that are available for download. Some of the ones I am going to look in to are WordPress, b2evolution, nucleuscms and pMachine Free

All of the mentioned blog software is available free for download and installation on the web server I am hosted with. Choosing one and getting it installed should be very easy (just a click of a button I believe).

I am sure there are many others out there that are really good too.

I just noticed Geeklog… It looks really good and it matches my criteria of running on mysql and it is written in php. I also like that it is called Geeklog too. It seems to be perfect for what I want!!

Before I get too carried away, I will investigate some more. I want to be happy with whatever I decide to use.

SAP

I am on a training course at work at the moment. I am learning SAP – well it is more of an intro to SAP course rather than anything technical. The course goes for three days. The company that I work for is a German company. SAP was developed by a group of German ex IBM employees back in the 1970′s. It is interesting. I still have two more days of the course to go. I am so impressed with the conference room that the company I work for has. It is so lovely!

VISTA or Lack there of…

I don’t have a copy of Vista yet but Matt (aka Burge) does. He bought a copy of Vista Ultimate this week. It is installed on his computer. Whenever I get the chance I hit the Windows and Tab key to make all the screen flash past. It is one of those things that I can tell is going to amuse me forever. I have just been informed that Vista does not come with Pinball. I might have to have XP for a little while longer…

Guild Wars

Last weekend was a special event weekend on Guild Wars. I played a lot more than I normally would. It was the New Year celebrations. I was playing in the hope of scoring myself a pig mini-pet. Just as I was about to give up (and after I had payed 10,000 gold for one) I ended up with three!! I have offered to give one away to a friend that helps me out a lot when we play (as soon as she can make some room to store it). *Name deliberately left out to protect the innocent…

deb.foocode.net

My first plan of attack for getting a blog going is to research the blog software that is available for free download. I have set up web hosting (thanks to Matt (Burge as most people know him) for pointing me in the right direction and getting me started.

The hosting company that I am with has several blog applications that I am going to look in to before making a decision. I would really like people to leave messages, and I want everything to be stored in a mySQL database. They are two of my main considerations. I guess I would also like to be able to code in my blog site if I want…

I guess my goal for this week is to choose which way I am going to go with the blog and hopefully by the weekend I will have something up and running.

In the mean time I will continue using notepad to retain all of my thoughts…

deb.foocode.net

The time has finally come where I have decided (like millions of others) to start a blog. I have never wanted to just blog about anything. My career and helping others to make a start in their career is something that I feel quite passionate about. It is my plan to write a blog about my career and along the way offer some advice. I have no idea who will read this or if anyone will benefit from what I have to say. At the very least, I will have something to look back on years from now and reflect on what I was doing in 2007 and compare it to where I am now (in whatever year that may be).

Who Am I and Why Would you bother reading my Blog?
My name is Debbie Timmins. I am a self confessed geek. During the day I work as a Systems Analyst. In the evening I continue my enjoyment of all things geeky. I love to learn new things and I love to play computer games. Guild Wars at the moment (and probably for quite a while) is my game of choice.

I was a programmer for 6 years. For 4 of those years I worked while studying at TAFE and then University (Flinders University). I love programming. Even though my role no longer requires me to code full time; I still like to dabble whenever I can.

As well as my job, I am the Special Advisor for the Australian Computer Society (ACS) National Young IT Board. I have been involved with the National Young IT Board for 4 years. The last several years I was on the ACS Branch Executive Committee (BEC) with the last two as the Deputy Chair. I decided this year I would take a break from being on the BEC and focus on other things in my life. I have wanted to be involved in other projects. Sometimes when you take on too much it stops you from being able to try new things as there just isn’t any time left. My goal for 2007 is to try new things. Starting a blog easily qualifies as starting something new.

My challenge to getting this blog up and running will be selecting the right blog software and then deciding whether or not to use already coded creations or if I should develop something myself. As I am writing this first entry I have no blog up and running. My first few entries will probably be written in Notepad until I can find something that I will be happy to use.

I would love to hear feedback as I go with this blog (preferably positive) If you would like to leave comments, please do so. I am sure it will probably help guide the direction of what I write in the blog too. I have got plans as to how I would like this blog to go but for now, I will just play it by ear…

deb.foocode.net