Quite a bit has happened since November...

First off my Kubuntu install fell apart after most of my games library was locked out regardless of WINE. The titles that did work with WINE were too big a pain to get working again and I just wanted my incredible gaming rig back! Since my Windows 7 CD Key was coming up invalid, I found myself forced to install Windows 8 and after an initial "I hate Metro" period it proved to be quite a usable OS...if you throw Metro out the window. Still miss the Kubuntu desktop though and a revisit would be in order if it wasn't for the hassle of installing Windows 8 again.

I also upgraded my monitor to a 1920x1080 display so I am finally in the land of HD! With a dodgy TV, the XBox also got hooked up via VGA to use as a DVD player.

Work is going fine although I want to expand my thoughts on the Data Manager career at some point. It seems like one of those secret careers you never hear about, like those guys who determine insurance risks that train for years. Most of the time I just tell people I work in school admin, but I have this fear that I am being locked in to the SIMS database and not really learning much about proper data management in other sectors. Never had to use SQL, never grabbed data from a database and dump it into Excel and vice versa, not even had to design a database yet or mess around with XML.

Everything seems a bit too specialised and SIMS-centric. Do other data managers on this forum feel the same?

One last point is I have been playing with Silverstripe on my private domain. Not posting it here yet (it'd involve a crossing over of personal and professional even though you can probably find the site anyway, especially if you clicked through from Twitter). It's worth a look for small private sites since the features are limited but very easy to use.