Time for some musings here at Wambooli central.
Thoughts cross my mind regard the upcoming Windows 10.1 (or whatever it will be called), some PorchCam updates, the end of winter, and the PATA adapter I need to continue my efforts to read a 5¼-inch floppy diskette.
Windows 10.1
I’m shocked that we haven’t seen the next release of Windows 10. If you recall from two years ago, Windows 10 was supposed to be the “last version” of Windows, with minor updates shipped helter-skelter. Rumors abound that the next release would be subscription based for enterprise users but free to the hoi polloi. While minor updates and patches have shipped, nothing major has appeared on the Windows 10.1 front.
My guess: They’re waiting for Office 2018. The current pattern would be Office 2019, but occasionally Microsoft releases a new version of Office on a two-year cycle. That’s only a guess, because I think Office 2016 was the last standalone release. Future version of Office will be available only through Office 365. I’ve already seen some minor changes to Word since last year. But, honestly, who knows what Microsoft is doing?
Wambooli Updates
This website turns 21 sometime this year. I don’t know the exact date, though its birthday could be in December. Wambooli ranks as one of the oldest websites still around, older than Google, Facebook, and a host of others. That doesn’t give me extra credits or anything, of course.
I was planning on doing a big anniversary post, but naa.
The PorchCam 2.4 continues to work well, though it’s not captured anything interesting. I did some minor fixes on the code. For example, the timestamp was using seconds instead of minutes, so I fixed that. I also fixed a few glitches, but not enough effort to flag a new software version.
The End of Winter
Our hellacious winter of 2016/17 finally came to halt in early March. Snow remained on the ground until just last week, when the final pile by the driveway disappeared. Locally, we received double the usual snowfall for our area, and temperatures remained below freezing for months on end. I’m glad it’s over, but on the upside I had plenty of projects to keep me busy.
Where’s my Adapter?
In my attempts to hook up an old 5¼-inch floppy drive to a modern PC, I came across the male-to-male PATA adapter roadblock. I ordered such an adapter ($8) from some company on eBay. Apparently the thing hasn’t shipped yet. My guess is that the factory in China where they make the thing is assembling them one at a time.
I toyed with the idea of wiring my own adapter. That process would have been easier 20 years ago, when you could walk into a Radio Shack or Frys and buy the necessary hardware. Today I could use individual wires to hack the thing, but I’d rather wait for the adapter to arrive, which is due later this month. Ugh.
