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Details: Written by: Richard_McKie; Parent Category: Information Technology; Category: Software; Published: 23 December 2010; Hits: 7413

Over the years I have written many small applications and utilities.

In order of sophistication these include:

Simple HTML web pages
Command line scripted utilities and batch (BAT) files
Embedded Java code in web pages
Word and Excel macros typically written in Visual Basic for Applications VBA
Simple databases with VBA or Visual Basic (VB) VB frontends
Database related SQL queries batch data manipulators, templates and structures
Simple stand-alone utilities in in VB
Windows utilities written in plain C++ or using the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC)
Fully featured relational databases using SQL Server and VB
Complex applications written in C++

Some examples include:

Automatic footers and metadata updater code for Word and Excel; optionally to bring up a dialog to ensure file naming conforms to a standard.
A utility to process business financial data to reveal a variety of comparable ratios indicative of business health.
An applications to change registry settings and to install and run files on desktops and servers across a network.
A library (DLL) of simple encryption routines that add no overhead (don't change the file size) that can be used on any file; or encrypt in URL friendly characters to secure URL strings sent to web pages.
Several applications based around this library that can easily be called by applications written in languages other than C (VB, VBA, Java, C# etc).
File manipulation software for archiving, file moving and general file management; providing scripted batch processing archiving and reporting.

I'm happy to provide more information on any of these on applications or tools. Use the contact facility on this website.

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Travel

Denmark

In the seventies I spent some time travelling around Denmark visiting geographically diverse relatives but in a couple of days there was no time to repeat that, so this was to be a quick trip to two places that I remembered as standing out in 1970's: Copenhagen and Roskilde.

An increasing number of Danes are my progressively distant cousins by virtue of my great aunt marrying a Dane, thus contributing my mother's grandparent's DNA to the extended family in Denmark. As a result, these Danes are my children's cousins too.

Denmark is a relatively small but wealthy country in which people share a common language and thus similar values, like an enthusiasm for subsidising wind power and shunning nuclear energy, except as an import from Germany, Sweden and France.

They also like all things cultural and historical and to judge by the museums and cultural activities many take pride in the Danish Vikings who were amongst those who contributed to my aforementioned DNA, way back. My Danish great uncle liked to listen to Geordies on the buses in Newcastle speaking Tyneside, as he discovered many words in common with Danish thanks to those Danes who had settled in the Tyne valley.

Nevertheless, compared to Australia or the US or even many other European countries, Denmark is remarkably monocultural. A social scientist I listened to last year made the point that the sense of community, that a single language and culture confers, creates a sense of extended family. This allows the Scandinavian countries to maintain very generous social welfare, supported by some of the highest tax rates in the world, yet to be sufficiently productive and hence consumptive per capita, to maintain among the highest material standards of living in the world.

Fiction, Recollections & News

Dan Brown's 'Origin'

The other day I found myself killing time in Chatswood waiting for my car to be serviced. A long stay in a coffee shop seemed a good option but I would need something to read - not too heavy. In a bookshop I found the latest Dan Brown: Origin. Dan might not be le Carré but like Lee Child and Clive Cussler he's a fast and easy read.

Opinions and Philosophy

Climate Change - a Myth?

Back in 2015 a number of friends and acquaintances told me that Climate Change is a myth.

Half a decade on and some still hold that view. So here I've republished a slightly longer version of the same article.

Obviously the doubters are talking about 'Anthropogenic Global Warming', not disclaiming actual changes to the climate. For those of us of a 'certain age' our own experience is sufficient to be quite sure of that the climate is continuously changing. During our lifetimes the climate has been anything but constant. Else what is drought and flood relief about? And the ski seasons have definitely been variable.

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