This was something I learned as a kid which was ingrained in me by my parents. It didn't stop there. In college, I was reminded of it when I was part of the program. I was told countless times "thanks for saying thanks". Now, it is coming up again in my career. Over and over, our team is being thanked for their effort. When done sincerely and not when expected, it makes people feel appreciated.

If only we can instill this value in our daughter - I think we are off to a good start.

This is a handy command I ran across today.

lsof -Pni

Great for troubleshooting network connections on Linux or Macs (probably others). I have used lsof before, but without these switches.

This is where I read about it (I haven't tried that script yet).

I have been using gvisit.com to track visitors to my website. This is just for fun and I like to see where visitors are coming from - plus gvisit integrates with Google Maps API which is pretty cool. I just ran across an article about Google's Analytics. It looks like Analytics has a number of reports and features included with it. I might have to give it a try. Hopefully, it integrates with Google Maps.

I need a HFI system for my truck. This article talks about Great Plains Trucking using it in their 18-wheelers. Very interesting. My preference would still be to telecommute, but this would be nice if I have to continue to drive.

Recently, I needed a way to load data into a database. The trick was using a Spring+Hibernate model to load the data since I already had that written. I decided to give JRuby a try. I have been using regular Ruby the last couple of weeks and I liked how easy it was to learn/use. I am no Ruby expert, but it hasn't taken much to pick it up.

Looks like Burt Rutan is up to it again. This article has some insights to what he is working on next although it doesn't have many details. He is also looking for people with "fire in their eyes" to join their team.