Software runs my life

Month: April 2009

PHP Frameworks not displaying error 500 remotely

I found when using Kohana in FastCGI mode that I was getting error 500 messages without the usual stack trace or error message. This was only happening when I accessed the development server remotely, not when I ran it locally (i.e. http://localhost/). Turns out this is actually the default behaviour for IIS7 with FastCGI. To change this you simply run the following command:

%windir%\system32\inetsrv\appcmd.exe set config -section:system.webServer/httpErrors -errorMode:Detailed

All fixed! If you want to change it back when you put the server into production then change the errorMode to “DetailedLocalOnly”.

Long Weekend Garden Bed




garden bed

Originally uploaded by Scott Savage

My achievement this weekend was this fine looking garden bed! It consists of seven original river red gum railway sleepers, cut to size and propped up on bricks and pavers where necessary. I also had to move the rest of the dirt, probably about a ton in all. We had to get a trailer down the side path, the sleepers weighed over a ton in total so I didn’t want to carry them any further than necessary. Two tons in all, not a bad effort for a Sunday! Tomorrow I need to get some sand to lay under the pavers behind the bed, and some potting mix to combine with the organic mix. Yet more money sunk into the Bunnings empire, but it will be worth it when the first vegetables come out of the ground.

Microsoft Interview

Steve Ballmer

Steve Ballmer

Sometimes people ask me, why do I like Microsoft so much? Most people think it is because of Steve Ballmer, but that is only part of the reason. Really I have loved Microsoft since early in my university days. I even have some content dedicated to myself on the Microsoft.com domain! Wow what a fanboi.

In fact I don’t love Microsoft, I just respect them. Look at the number of markets they are in. Look at how fiercely they fight in those markets. You fear Google will outsmart you if they enter your market, but you fear Microsoft will destroy you by any means necessary. Are they overly ruthless? Even unethical?

Personally I don’t think so, I think they are not afraid of competing and competing hard. Their haters might say their staff are “injected with blue blood”, but wouldn’t you like your company culture to be that strong? Wouldn’t you like to get market dominance, even if it means trench fighting your competitors? What’s so wrong with wanting to be the best? Surely this isn’t just my ego talking. 🙂

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