Tech and travel

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Automating Word with Python

2004-10-17

Sometimes you have to create loads of M$ Word documents, with only small changes in all of them. Given that we’re in the software business, it makes sense to automate this. As Python is a fantastic scripting language, we’lll use it in this article just to do that. The magic that makes this all happen is the Python Win32 Extensions module from Mark Hammond. This allows you to access COM (aka OLE, ActiveX or whatever the Microsoft marketing machine calls is these days) objects.

Compiling PL/SQL within Vim

2004-08-24

Vim is a great Vi clone, which also works on Windows. It supports using external programs to compile the code you are writing. The following will show how to use this to compile PL/SQL code. Cygwin is also used. The command ‘:make’ in Vim will call an external program on your current document. This external program is setup using the makeprg variable in Vim. Here we will set this to be a shell script, which will be run using Cygwin’s bash shell.

Galapagos

2004-06-05

Some pictures of a trip to the Galapagos islands and Guayaquil.

The tortoise breeding grounds in the Charles Darwin research foundation

The tortoise breeding grounds in the Charles Darwin research foundation

Oaxaca

2004-05-28

Some pictures of a trip to Oaxaca.

The convent of Santo Domingo, now a museum

The convent of Santo Domingo, now a museum

Mayan riviera

2004-05-21

Some pictures of a trip to the Mayan Riviera

A few days on the beach in Playa Del Carmen

A few days on the beach in Playa Del Carmen

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