“Value cannot be null. Parameter name: encoder” when importing with Toad for MySQL

I’ve been working on importing some data sets for a project tonight and keep coming across the error message “Value cannot be null.  Parameter name: encoder” when using Toad for MySQL v.4.1.  The files I’m importing are comma separated text files where strings (text) are not enclosed in any quotation characters.  As an aside, I’ve [...]

Excel Sparklines

About a month ago I upgraded to Vista Enterprise and Office 2007 Professional on my desktop computer and boy howdy have I been seeing this message frequently!

Grrrrr…another shutdown!

This has not been a fully random experience but occurs when modifying data series and axes in graphs.  Some days I don’t experience a shutdown at all while [...]

Blogging, rainmaking, and relationship building

No posts in over a month…now that’s a stale blog.  The issue goes back to one of the original questions, to blog or not to blog.  The risks are numerous: frequency of posting, relevance of topics, saying something stupid, blog forum or specific topics may undermine appearance of professionalismm.  Yet, in the face of these [...]

Business haiku

Pick

Tradeoffs are inevitable…
You can have it:

Cheap

Fast

Accurate

Pick two
Pasted on Van Bain’s monitor back in the day when he was a ’software janitor’ and my job title was one of those strange combinations used when they don’t want to use the word secretary.

On change

“We need above all to know about changes; no one wants or needs to be reminded 16 hours a day that his shoes are on.”
- David Hubel

About consultants

Just for laughs…
A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud towards him. The driver, a young man in a Broni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and YSL tie, leaned out the window and asked the shepherd…
“If I tell you exactly [...]

On torturing data

“Given the magnitude of the challenge, systems for knowledge creation and use will be obviously pushed, perhaps to their limits. It is important, however, not to push them too hard and too far. To draw on an analogy from statistical analysis, it is one thing to torture the data until they confess; it is something [...]

One of the processes I follow

“Hallo!” said Piglet, “what are you doing?” …
“Tracking something, ” said Winnie-the-Pooh very mysteriously.
“Tracking what?” said Piglet, coming closer.
“That’s just what I ask myself. I ask myself, What?”
“What do you think you’ll answer?”
“I shall have to wait until I catch up with it,” said Winnie-the-Pooh.

From A.A. Milne’s classic.  Paul Velleman puts this snippet at [...]

Road, sweat, and a Blue Heron

One of the beauties of life is that we all work and do things differently.  For me, one of the paths to good clean thought is through the body, working out or working hard that is.  Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a short but intense bike ride through the hills.  Road, heat, sweat [...]