Cusco and Machu Picchu

I was staying in Cusco at the time, wasting time strolling around the square, visiting the churches and museums to while away the days. Every morning the square was bustling with people and ticket sellers trying to get you, and anyone you might possibly know anywhere in the world, onto a bus with one of their tickets.

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There was little you could do to avoid them – but with the knowledge that by 9am they would all be gone (all the busses having left) it was not too difficult to placate them for an hour or so… and pop up the narrow street off the square to my favourite ‘breakfast’ eatery for toast jam and eggs…
After a few days of this (nodding happily to the frantic sales people as I did my best to escape their requests for me to follow them upstairs to their office) I succumbed, and decided it was time to get the full bus tour…
‘Twas brillig and the slythy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe…  There you go – any other verbal description of the sights would surely not do them justice - you just have to go and see them yourself. It’s good – especially ‘sexy woman’ or whatever she likes to call herself these days…
Machu Pichu by rail…  I was up for the Inca trail – but instead took the Inca-Rail…  I was surprised too that they’d built one so long ago – ok,ok, it’s all lies… However, there was simply no space left on any Inca Trail for at least a few weeks and I’m just not organised enough outside of work to plan ahead, much better to take it as it comes…

Sometimes…  Anyway – bloody good trip on a really old fashioned train with gorgeous food served, a wonderful ‘glass carriage’ and entertainment to keep you occupied, despite the fantastic scenery outside.
The place itself? I say only this – never go alone… Take someone, anyone, ‘tis a memory to share…  Oh – and if you’re interested in actually knowing something about it then read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machu_Picchu
Best memory: supping fine wine and eating gorgeous meals whilst imagining the character building effort it would have been to walk rather than take the train…  Oh, maybe next time - just to say ‘I did’ to those dissenters out there!
Best memory V2: Oh yes, and I mustn’t forget: the the view from the sun gate was OK too… ;)

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Colca Canyon

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Before reaching Arequipa I moved inland to the Colca Canyon – much wider and deeper than the Grand Canyon, this valley is wide enough to feel like a place that is worth living in; and, of course, people do. Those that do are Aloe farmers or runners of mini-rest-points for the fool-hardy traveller that has decided to trek up/down/around it.
Two times deeper than the Grand Canyon (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colca_Canyon), at over 4000m in depth, it makes for a good three day trek (scaling the sides alone can take half a day) with two nights on the canyon floor.
The first stop was as an Aloe farmers retreat that had been made a little more traveller friendly – still, electricity was from car batteries (I think) and after a certain time everything was done with torch light or candles. A healthy meal was had on the first night by candlelight under the stars followed coca ‘tea’ – or at least a coca leaf brew… my first experience of this. The leaves were plentiful and it certainly seemed to clear the head – leaving you ready to retire to the stone hut (with dirt floor) to find your bed in the dark…

The following day’s trek took me through the canyon floor (with my guide) and on to an oasis style swimming pool (with mini waterfall under which one could massage those trek-induced aching muscles) with further torch lit food and drinks and an early night, allowing us to scale the very steep canyon sides from circa 4am onwards. The ascent took until sunrise, which found us at the cliff top watching the blue moonlight slowly retreat as the yellow of the sun took over the sky.
By the afternoon we sat on the cliff edge by the side of the road watching Condors sweep up and down on the thermals and ridge lifts around them… Never has El Condor Pasa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_C%C3%B3ndor_Pasa_(song)) sounded so good – however corny that may sound… (Yes, somebody did start playing it on a tape player after we’d been watching them for 45 minutes or so…) – and in reflection, I’d rather by a human being watching it all…
Best memory: half way up the side of the canyon looking over the opposite canyon sides normally grey rock which was so thoroughly lit with moonlight that it was tinged blue in a way that I previously thought only possible with gel filters on a West End Stage – the world is a stage, after all. I hope we all get to the end of the play alive…
Oh, and Best Memory V2: The wonderful arse’s owner from ‘Lima to Pisco’ had turned up again… Good things always come round again. :)

JQuery Multiple Selection Drop Down List...

 

Not wanting to appear too geeky at this late stage in the day - but...  This is bloody fantastic! ...or, perhaps I should say - this has been implemented to the highest professional standards.  Quite simply spiffing stuff. Change a select tag into a proper drop down list that looks as good as the real thing and works in all browsers.

Here it is in all it’s glory (with inline examples of the thing working – and source code links):

http://dropdown-check-list.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/demo.html

Comma separated list from mapping table as an embedded SELECT statement

Ever needed to get a comma seperated list instead of another mapping table? Well in these days of Linq this may be old hat - but it's still nice to remember how to do it. Here's a quick and easy way to get a list from a linked table constructing the list field using the XML PATH features of SQL Server 2005:

(SELECT CAST(CountryId AS NVARCHAR(10)) + ',' AS [text()]
     FROM UserToCountryMapping AS utcm
    WHERE utcm.UserId = externalSelectTable.UserId
     FOR XML PATH('')) as Regions

I could do with a 'D'

Do you remember the good old days when advertising was fun in some way or another...? I watch it nowadays and it seems to lack something. I'd struggle to say that British advertising was the most innovative now - although many people will tell you it's more subliminal than it was before (I can agree with that),

Gorgeous legs - what was the ad about...?

 

I have to say that much of the entertainment that used to be there seems to have gone missing. The only exceptions seem to be the strange Honda adverts that tell you all sorts of weird and wonderful things whilst you are treated to all sorts of weird and wonderful cartooons... 

 

Anyway - enough of this, for some obscure reason I remembered the phrase I could do with a 'D', the other day...  and I was en-route to the kitchen for a tea break. Shortly afterwards I had found this advert - not the *best* example of advertising humour (although Boycey(?) from Only Fools and Horses is in it); my overriding memory is the first: nice legs...  followed by pretty much everything including 'wouldn't mind living with those three'... Anyway - here it is for you to peruse...

 

Quick and Easy T-SQL Split Statement

Here’s a quick and easy Split function to split a comma separated list (for example, although it could be separated with any character) into a table that can be easily joined in the calling statement.

The only bad news here is that you will need SQL 2005 or above for this to work (if my memory serves me correctly) – but then if you’re still running SQL 2000 one has to beg the question, ‘Why?’. 

Anyway – over to the code:

create function Split ( @StringToSplit varchar(2048), @Separator varchar(128))
returns 
table as return
with 
indices as
(
    select 0 S, 1 E
    union all
    select E, charindex(@Separator, @StringToSplit, E) + len(@Separator)
    from indices
    where E > S
)
    select substring(@StringToSplit,S,case 
        when E > len(@Separator) then e-s-len(@Separator) 
        else len(@StringToSplit) - s + 1 end) String, S StartIndex 
    from
        indices where S >0

Location of SQLCMD and SQLPubWiz Executables

Ever needed the SQL Publishing Wizard as a stand-alone install for a build server - I did and finally found it here:

SQL Publishing Wizard: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=56E5B1C5-BF17-42E0-A410-371A838E570A&displaylang=en

You might find you want a copy of SQLCMD.EXE too, it's here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=d09c1d60-a13c-4479-9b91-9e8b9d835cdc&displaylang=en 

Team Foundation Server Customised Reports

OK, so Team Foundation Server is wonderful (which it truly is). However, I have imported my Microsoft Project file into TFS (or type all the tasks in by hand via the Excel file) and, with extraordinary diligence, I add all my precious time estimates to each task.

 

Now I am truly pleased with myself, assured that somehow, as the project progresses, I will be able to get statistics automatically emailed to me describing how far through the project we are. But no! At least not with the default Process Template for Agile (and I presume the same is true for CMMI as well). 'Why?', you ask...  Well:

 

It seems that strangely, out of the box, Microsoft have installed reports that allow you to see the progress that is being made down to the task level only. So when you have a task that has been estimated as 20 hours work and your diligent programmer updates the number of hours worked (on that task) each day, there is not a single report within the standard process templates that will tell you how your project is performing.

Worse than this, getting a report saying you have 80 tasks left is all well and good, but it means absolutely nothing to anyone (unless you know precisely how long each of those 80 tasks are going to take). Clearly you can export to MS Project to get the information you need - but for small teams (who might not have the luxury of a full-time project manager) it would be beneficial (bloody useful) to see a graph showing progress.

 

Thankfully Microsoft has written a collection of reports to smooth over this minor flaw in their shockingly good system (yes, one day I will apply for a job with them) and they have 'published' them here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A74486B2-F7DB-4A85-97BD-46BF478BDA60&displaylang=en