Another elderly program; it was written to convert the output of nroff (now groff) to use terminal escape characters instead of backspace and underline. The task is done by "less" these days, but "bd" can do it for arbitrary terminal types, even printers.

A program originally written for the C= Amiga, which had a case-insensitive file system like the Apple Mac, it renames files to either upper, lower or title case (by first renaming to a temp name, then back to the revised one).

A program providing piped combinations of the Unix programs "head" and "tail".

Although I was typically late in deciding it, this year's new year resolution was to be that I make a positive change in my work circumstances, be it by a new employer or an changed role within Global Graphics.

It seemed to me that the New Year seemed to start with a whimper, rather than a bang, which is perhaps a good thing, when all's said and done. Bangs can be uncomfortable things. Christmas 2007 was, as usual, at Mum and Dad's house in Somerset, and the family had a very nice break. Early in January I had a nice walk at the local NT property, Wicken Fen, and took the photo reproduced here. On the return part of my walk, the grass track started off looking only damp, but got wetter and wetter and wetter until I was hopping between drier patches amongst the pools.

This year started with work... lots of it, and I hope you won't mind if I elaborate a bit here. In my last Newsletter I noted that I was working for Global Graphics. I was to work on software plugins for the company's RIP (Raster Image Processor - software that converts text and pictures from a word processor page into dots that a printer or a typesetter can print). The plugins communicate with the "real world" - particularly in translating the RIP's basic output into a form that a printer itself understands. In some cases this is simple, but in most it isn't!

It seems so soon since the last Christmas letter, as if time itself has sped up recently. On mentioning this to others my age it seems as if this might even be true ! Anyway, when I really think about what has happened it has been a busy year. Back in January I was still working for Stuga. It was good, the work was challenging enough and working from home does have good points - no getting stuck in traffic, for example! However, I did find it lonely, both socially and technically.