Been working on making Battle Blog work with MS SQL server. My overall hit rate between Tampa Rail, this blog, and my pal Chuck are starting to stretch the limits of the MS Access back end this whole engine is built on. Hits have been up, up, up! I coded Battle Blog with enough flexibility to be able to eventually do this, but for the most part, it's taken the entire weekend to actually make the expansion. It's pretty clear taking an existing Battle Blog and jumping it to MS SQL server is going to be a project. However, any Battle Blog from scratch should be a piece of cake thanks to this weekend's progress.



Doing my thing in Channelside yesterday. Got stuck under all that doggone rain and lightning!

While exploring Channelside today I trotted up Franklin Street to remind myself what that Teco Line extension to Whiting was going to be like. One step led to another and eventually I found myself at the Tampa Public Library. There I finally got a library card and took note of the joint. Surprisingly the place was packed, but not with avid readers. More like with avid computer users, many of who appeared homeless. It's incredible to see the power of free communication and outreach at the fingertips of anyone and frankly I found it inspiring. The provision of baseline PC access to the community seems like a natural extension and evolution of library services, but in fact many libraries are only able to do the bare minimum. Retrofitting libraries for IT distribution is expensive, but I have to wonder if someone doesn't re-adjust how the money water flows, what exactly libraries will be good for if not supplying net access in 15 more years.