Programming
Note: in the following, I am in no way boasting of my programming abilities. In the past, I've done a little programming using variants of C++, but not since IBM gave up on OS/2. (I liked that OS!) What I'm doing now involves MS Access and Access Basic - Tinker Toys, no more.
Anyway: after entering a few hundred books into my library database, I grew dissatisfied; I've begun a full revamp. (This is version 5.) Right now, I'm just plotting - working out the tables and forms I'm going to need. In some ways, this is the most fun part of the process - deciding just what I want to be able to do and how to do it most efficiently. (The limitations of Access Basic chafe occasionally, I'll admit.) Automate this process, make that information easily available on the fly, consolidate the other stuff so I won't have to enter it more than once - this is a fun challenge, and of a different kind than my workaday research.
I'm probably going to revamp my finances database too, but that can wait. I need to keep the old one around for the next while anyway, for tax and other purposes.
Anyway: after entering a few hundred books into my library database, I grew dissatisfied; I've begun a full revamp. (This is version 5.) Right now, I'm just plotting - working out the tables and forms I'm going to need. In some ways, this is the most fun part of the process - deciding just what I want to be able to do and how to do it most efficiently. (The limitations of Access Basic chafe occasionally, I'll admit.) Automate this process, make that information easily available on the fly, consolidate the other stuff so I won't have to enter it more than once - this is a fun challenge, and of a different kind than my workaday research.
I'm probably going to revamp my finances database too, but that can wait. I need to keep the old one around for the next while anyway, for tax and other purposes.