I've been keeping myself busy for the last two weeks. It all started when I read a mention of SquirrelMail on CamWorld. I tried it, loved it and just had to have it.

Since I was on a roll, I decided to install an OpenLDAP server to manage our various address books. It was a little trickier than I originally thought, but I did find a great tutorial on YoLinux. I spent quite some time making sure the LDAP attributes where compatible with Outlook Express and Entourage. I also found ldap-abook to provide web access. It's really ugly but quite functional. I'll revamp it whenever I have time. Finally, I located NcSv2Ldf, a nifty little utility to convert my address book to LDIF.

I wasn't quite done yet.

I wrote a Perl script to archive my old mail into MySQL. I used the Mail::Box module to handle the parsing. I had to tweak things to properly handle attachments, but I'm pretty satisfied with the end result. Of course, I had to build a web interface using jTalk to search, view and edit the archives.

I kept on going, and going…

I searched for a good web-based calendar/reminder-type tool, and stumbled onto the excellent WebCalendar, which I promptly tried and setup.

I just wouldn't stop.

I configured CVS and imported most of our source code. I even enabled ViewCVS to provide some web access.

I stopped. I had to get back to real work.

Seriously. What I've effectively done is moved all of my daily tools to server-based solutions. Most of them web-enabled. In the process I've seriously improved my productivity. No more flip-flopping between computers, everything I need is available from anywhere.

The sad part is that I haven't had a chance to play with the new Toshiba PDR-M25 digital camera we just bought for Vicki. We went to Costco a little while ago, just to see what they had, not really hoping for much and found this gem for a mere $199. I don't know much about cameras, but I know a good deal when I see one. As a matter of fact it was good enough for my partner, who had been looking for the right deal for a while, to rush to get one too.

p.s. I was the 27306^th person to sign.