Following-up a recent post on copyrights, I want to share some further thoughts I have on the topic, and about patents, too. First of all, the concept of a copyright is meant to protect the author from others unduly benefiting from their work. One obvious conclusion to make from that statement is that after the …
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the gold standard
This is going to ramble a bit, and I’m not 100% sure my opinions are even remotely reasonable, but I had a great conversation on the Gold Standard recently, and thought sharing that would be fun. The quoted sections are relevant parts of the conversation from my friend*, and the unquoted segments are my responses. …
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storage strategies – part 4
Last time I talked about storage robustifiers. In the context of a couple applications with which I am familiar, I want to discuss ways to approach balancing storage types and allocations. Storage Overview Core requirements of any modern server, from a storage standpoint, are the following: RAM swap Base OS storage OS/application log storage Application …
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storage strategies – part 3
In part 2, I introduced SAN/NAS devices, and in part 1, I looked as the more basic storage type, DAS. Today we’ll look at redundancy and bundling/clustering of storage as a start of a robust storage approach. Before I go any further, please note I am not a “storage admin” – I have a pretty broad …
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storage strategies – part 2
Continuing my series on storage strategies and options (see part 1), today I want to briefly look at SAN and NAS options. First, storage area networks. SANs are “dedicated network[s] that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage”. Storage presented to a target server appears to the machine as if it is a “real” …
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fixing copyrights
ars technica has a great article on some short-term, easy-to-implement fixes to the current copyright fiasco in the United States. I have a bevy of thoughts on this myself, but not quite enough time today to write them down.
storage strategies – part 1
In follow-up to my previous article about bind mounts, here is the first in a series on storage strategies (while everything contained in this series is applicable to desktops and laptops, the main thrust will be towards servers). Today we’ll look at local/simple storage options (DAS – both the spinning and solid-state varieties). The most …
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professional lying – or is it laziness?
I have noticed an unusual percentage of professional CVs/work histories/resumes on LinkedIn (specifically) that have some fairly blatant errors in them. For example, I have seen people list multiple full-time jobs that they could not have had at the same time (eg, both at one employer and also at the company that acquired their old employer). I’ve …
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binding your mounts
Over the past several years, I have grown quite fond of the ability to do bind mounts on Linux. First, a little background. Most applications have specific directory structure requirements. Many have wildly varying space requirements depending on how a given install is utilized. For example, HPSA can use anywhere from 40-400-4000 gigabytes of space …
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what are the odds
This morning I got stuck in an elevator for about 20 minutes during a power failure in the building. The ironic part? It’s the elevator that my colleague and I had thought would be most likely to screw up because it makes funny noises, doesn’t always know what floor it’s on, etc. Sigh.
groupon is no good!
I think I might have to boycott Groupon: a few months back they had a deal for an introductory flight, first ground school time, and pilot log book for about 50% off the normal rate from the local flight training company, NexGen Aviation. I arrive at the airport a little before 1400 for my flight …
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using social media at/for/with work
I am very curious to know how people utilize social media in relation to work: blogging tweets etc I know it’s not horribly scientific, but if you’d be willing to participate in this inquiry, please leave a comment. I’ll be putting up a more formal poll in the coming days. Thanks!
a plea for following standards
If you ever install or setup something that someone else will have to maintain, please, please, please follow as close as possible the vendor’s typical installation process. And whether you go “standard” or not, please, please, please document everything you do! Those of us who will come after you will be intensely grateful for your …
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why have email confidentiality notices?
Lots of corporations automatically append something like the following to emails sent outside their own servers: CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email communication is intended only for the personal and confidential use of the recipient(s) designated above and may contain information which is subject to Federal and/or State privacy laws. In the event that you are not …
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selecting where to host a project
Especially for software projects, there are a wide variety of places that will host them – sourceforge, google code, and many more. You can even elect to host it yourself. In follow-up to my question on selecting a content distribution license from yesterday, what should go into selecting where to host a software project?
choosing a content distribution license
With the plethora of various licenses available for various types of content (writing, music, software, etc), it’s a highly daunting process to choose which one a creator or publisher wants to use. Connexions uses the Creative Commons Attribution License (v3.0). Some projects use the MIT or BSD license formats, others are public domain, some are [effectively] unlicensed. Open …
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church planting
Jesus called us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation” [Mark 6:15] and to “make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” [Matthew 28:19-20a]. The first church in Jerusalem grew huge …
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fill-in-the-blank takeout and delivery
Somebody should start a fill-in-the-blank takeout and delivery service. Want Arby’s? Call FITB. Want Chinese? Call FITB. Want groceries? Call FITB. I bet there are a *LOT* of people who’d take advantage of services like that if they were offered – I would. Maybe I should start the first one in Lexington.
nclb – you know, unless you’re in one of these 10 states…
Pick your slant report – Huffington Post or Fox News: it has been reported that President Obama’s administration will be issuing waivers to 10 states with regard to compliancy with No Child Left Behind (which, in my opinion, is one of the biggest debacles in public education ever). If the point is to “leave no child behind”, why …
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why are Bibles so expensive?
I understand that printing a physical book entails some cost, but what makes Bibles so darn expensive? As an example, Lifeway has a KJV Study Bible that costs $99.99! Seriously? The book is hundreds of years past copyright – why is it [nearly] one hundred dollars? It CAN’T cost that much to print it – so …
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piano
After a very long time of looking, we have found a piano to add to our home – and my wife is quite excited! It’s a spinet style, which is perfect for our living room. And it helps displace the tv which all too often can become the focal point of a home, family, and …
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the two things
I recently came across “The Two Things“, a somewhat old, but possibly still accurate (or at least humorous look) at a variety of topics. You know, the Two Things. For every subject, there are really only two things you really need to know. Everything else is the application of those two things, or just not …
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ground school
A few months ago one of the Groupons available in Lexington was for the first hour of flight along with an initial ground school lesson at the private pilot training company next to the airport. This Saturday from 1300-1500 I’ll be taking ground school. Woot! I’ve known a lot of pilots in my life, and …
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a new website
I’ve had a domain sitting [basically] unused for several years, but have finally found a purpose. Along the lines of freshnews, I have launched an rss aggregator/launch service at datente.com. There are several categories of feeds (imperfectly broken-up, but it’s what makes sense to me) that display in quasi random order. And on the front …
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out with the old…
…and in with the new. On the 31st of December of last year (boy that sounds weird to say “last year” and it only be 4 weeks ago), I traded-in my 2004 Ford Escape which had served me well for 4.5 years (including racking-up nearly 90k miles in the time I had it (and for …
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