New PC

It's taken me a long time to get back online in a way that allows me to do more than just converse on Twitter and handle emails. But I am back now, with a new PC, and will be back to publishing more posts very soon. I hadn't realised how dependent I am on my computer until it fried and I was left without one - boy, oh boy! That is not an experience I ever wish to repeat

Over the years I have given freely of my time and expertise to open source projects, contributing code, writing documentation, and providing one-on-one support for hundreds of people. All without charge. During the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the US, I worked tirelessly for months to reunite families who were separated by the disaster and evacuations. My Disastersearch site served millions of unique visitors and I bore the costs. While I never expected anything in return, I did believe in karma and, naively thought that if I ever needed help then maybe some folk would step up to help me out.

Two people stepped up with donations when my computer fried and I asked for help.

I sent emails to the companies for whom I had provided free support over the years. Not one replied. However, people on Twitter, some of whom I have never met in person, rallied around to offer to lend laptops to me so I could stay online. To all those people - thank you.

Huge thanks go to the two people who made donations. They are wonderful men to whom I am very grateful. Robert Tyabji and Jason Kemp - thank you for your support, it is much appreciated!

I still believe in karma. I'm not sure what the secret is to getting donations but clearly I was useless at it. The $120 I received was, however, enough to kick-start the build of my new PC and was certainly enough to assure me of the goodness of strangers. I was lucky enough to meet Jason Kemp last week and to thank him in person. I hope to also meet Robert Tyabji one day.

My PC build is still not complete so if anyone wants to donate towards some added RAM this would be very welcome

I didn't stop writing while I was away from my site - there are Moleskine's full of notes and posts ready to be made. I will be going through these to check for relevancy and will be publishing as soon as more content is ready. See you back here soon!

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