A Xserve Newbie Install
Ok, so I’m not a complete newbie. I’ve played around with Linux servers, WAMP, MAMP and other server technologies. But by no means do I consider myself an IT professional.
My office in the last couple months has invested in not one, but two Xserves. I was extremely excited about getting the first. We use it as a web server, and it helped me learn a lot about web server technology without having to learn all the complex command-line calls all at once.
Then, I needed to upgrade PHP, because some Open Source web apps didn’t like the version that came with Snow Leopard. Google-fu to the rescue. Here’s what I turned up in that search.
http://www.entropy.ch/software/macosx/
http://www.gen-x-design.com/archives/recompiling-php-5-3-on-snow-leopard-with-freetype-support/
http://www.afp548.com/article.php?story=20040726020639560
Recompiling PHP was an exciting and stressful experience, to say the least. The nice thing was that this was not on a production server (at the time). So I had a little bit of wiggle room, and if I had to, I could wipe the OS and start fresh (as a last resort, of course). So that server is now humming along, barely scratching 10% CPU usage, cool as an ice cube in the wickedly air-conditioned server room at my work.
And of course, having money to spend, they decided to buy another one. With the low CPU usage on the existing one, I thought I should plan another usage for the new Xserve.
The idea? Storage. We do a lot of video work at my office, and video takes up gabs of storage. But with the 6TB limit (and non-redundancy) of the Xserve, I needed a revised plan.
Enter the DroboPro. I’ve heard many good things about the consumer versions, and having the VMware seal of approval, it’s got to be good. At least as good as the hard drives attached to it.
Because we have an IT department where I work, this idea was not so well received.”That’s IT’s job.” That seemed to be the whole argument. The problem is, when we ask for high capacity storage, they gave us a virtual machine with 4TB of (tape) backed-up storage. That thing goes down, it’s down for days.
The head of the IT department met with me and advised that as long as it wasn’t for production (ie, for serving to the general public) that the DroboPro would be a good solution, and that it would last us the year. I hope he meant that the storage capacity would last us for the year, because I think that the folks at Data Robotics would almost be insulted if an IT head thought their products would die after a year.
Two Xserves are under my power. And they even talk to each other for authentication (that was an ordeal in itself). I’d love to hear from you. Leave me a comment!
Double Crunch Challenge: Day 5
Let me answer your question: Yes, it still hurts; but not as much as it did yesterday. That means my body just might be getting used to it. I spread out the crunches throughout the day – fifty when I wake up, fifty just before (or when I get) to work, fifty at lunch, fifty when I get home or after dinner, then fifty before I got to bed. It only really hurts once I hit the forty mark.
The greens: last night I had green beans. Leftovers went good in a salad for lunch today too. Tonight: I’m thinking spinach. Raw, in a salad. Throw some fruit in there and a light vinaigrette – that’s good eating!
Today’s question from PrimalStride:
Where do you get your power from? Are you able to survive, to thrive, and to flourish through the strength of your friendships with others? Do you have a deep religious fervor that keeps you going? Perhaps you just know, deep within yourself, that you are able to do whatever you wish?
I said in yesterday’s update that I wanted to be able to do physical activities with my family without running out of steam. I believe that drives me more than anything else. I am a Jesus follower, however, I don’t know that my relationship and belief in him would push me to get in shape; though I do like to joke every once in a while that “the Catholic Church says that gluttony is one of the deadly sins; I don’t know if it will send you to hell, but it sure will get you to heaven faster.”
New Year’s Resolutions
It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. Yes, I’ve been on twitter, I’ve been on Facebook (but only because facebook grabs my tweets automagically) but I’ve never really done any significant writing in over a year.
That’s about to change.
I’ve seen others talk about wanting to blog again, and making a new year’s resolution to blog at least once a week. I think that’s an attainable goal. But here are some other goals I’ve been thinking about.
Time Management
I spend way too much time in front of the TV. I probably spend too much time sleeping (6-7 hours is enough, right?). So actually saying “I’ll only watch 1 hour of TV a night, 2 hours if there’s something good on” might make a meaningful difference in productivity and brain power. Besides, I’m already getting into the habit of holding my son in front of the TV and letting him watch because it distracts him. Not a good habit to get into. And scheduling time that I sleep will let me do more…
Exercise
Oh yeah. The big fat (pun intended) popular New Year’s resolution. Go to the gym. Work out. Lose weight. I’ve made it before, and judging by my waist size, it’s never really stuck. I’m sure 90% of people who make that resolution fall off the wagon within a few weeks. Time management should help me out a little… if I schedule it, I must follow through.
And a little backing doesn’t hurt either. Primalstride.com, run by Seth Simonds, is a week-by-week weight loss challenge – so each week, you get a new challenge. This week’s challenge he’s dubbed the double crunch challenge: 250 abdominal muscle crunches a day, and a new green vegetable each day.
Blogging
Well, obviously, if you’re reading this, you see why I want to blog. As the tag line of the blog says, I’m going to write about technology, new fatherhood, politics, health and just about anything I feel the need to write about. I’m just going to write what I want, when I want; but try and do it at least once a week.
I’ve made my resolutions… wait, no. I’ve made promises to myself. Resolutions just seem to get broken. What about you?
It’s No Wonder
Yet another mud-slinging session in parliament. I’m really getting sick and tired of this sort of thing.
Just read this for the back story. I don’t want to reiterate the whole stinkin’ thing.
This is yet another reason that voter apathy in Canada is at an all time high. So here’s my take on the whole thing:
- The Liberals are accusing the Conservatives of bribing. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Do we remember the reason that the Liberals got voted out in the first place? Oh, that’s right. We don’t remember. The collective memory of Canada is shorter than the attention span of an ADHD kid.
- The Conservatives are making bribes. Can we say Liberals all over again? I think they should just merge those two parties, give the other parties (that seem to actually give a damn) a chance to get into office. Except the NDP. I shudder at the thought of “Prime Minister Jack Layton.” I need to go and clean myself now.
There are some days when I wish I didn’t care about my country and its political system. That might account for part of my high blood pressure.
Obama-nation
I have never really understood American politics. It seems a little redundant and convoluted. But of course my American teacher would take offense to that; many an American would even go as far as to say that Canadian (and, by association, British) politics are confusing. That’s not really the purpose of this article.
Rick Mercer, a comedian/Canadian political pundit (that could very well be compared to Jon Stewart) put the real comparison that needs to be addressed. Canada is known – even prideful – about its diversity. People of all nationalities, religions, sexual orientations and skin colours all live in relative harmony up here in the great white north.
But one look at our party leaders, a big white guy, a skinny white guy and a mustached white guy, would make you think otherwise. Sure, there is one female that I know of that is the head of a party, but that party does not have any seats currently, so you really can’t count it (how ever much you may or may not want to).
America is known the world over as a “melting pot,” which means (for a lack of a better dictionary) that everyone that enters into American citizenship does his or her hardest not to show the culture from whenst they came. And yet their political landscape, yes, has a few white guys themselves, but the front runners for one of the parties are a woman and a black man.
I say – good for them. Canada needs to learn a political lesson from the Americans. Not the confusing ones… the ones that show that the norm – or the white lawyers from Montreal, Toronto and Calgary – don’t need to be followed anymore. Voter apathy in Canada with the 30 and below set – including yours truly – is at an all time low. The political landscape in the US is more exciting than it’s ever been.
I think its time to kick out the white guy, the white guy and the other white guy. This coming from a white guy.
Facebook is Killing My Inner Child
Another barrage of useless “applications.” People who develop these things better not call themselves developers; I’d call them annoyance mongers. More “events” that I won’t attend. People challenging me to another “Lost” trivia game. And the list goes on and on.
I find that every time I visit Facebook that all I’m doing is saying “no” to something else someone has invited me to. Don’t get me wrong, I like the fact that I can catch up with people I haven’t seen in ages and have been trying to find (or not, but still don’t mind getting in contact with again). I just don’t want to waste more than 5-10 minutes a day on Facebook, just see what people are up to – but when I waste that time, like I said before, saying “no” to ridiculous wastes of time, I tend not to check in on people out of pure annoyance.
I guess it doesn’t help that I’ve got 150+ people on my list; more than the average guy, thankfully a lot less than a musician or celebrity.
I would be the first person to sign up to “Facebook Light,” You know, back in the good ol’ days when Facebook was friends finding each other, posting pictures (which I won’t do anymore, but that’s beside the point) and joining groups of like minded/similar interested people. I miss that. The only problem seems to be that I may be one of a select few that do.
Observations of a Canadian in America
Ok, so I figured I’d rattle the chain a little just to see if I can stir up some more readers. After driving for two days on US highways, here are some observations I’ve made.
- No one on the eastern seaboard has cruise control, nor knows what keeping a consistent speed is.
- Quebec is the 51st state.
- Turn signals are an option on most vehicles sold in the eastern United States.
- When the speed limit sign says, say, 65mph, the actual speed limit is 52mph in the right lane and 78mph in the left lane… and if there’s a middle lane, the limit is 59mph.
- Traffic is a phenomena that people have not really experienced to it’s fullest… drive into Toronto on any given day at 9am. Taken into consideration the size of the cities that I’ve been in traffic in (Toronto, Calgary and Chicago) and the time taken to get through said traffic, Toronto still seems to be the worst I’ve experienced. (I realize that Los Angeles and New York City are probably worse.)
That’s all for now. I will probably think of some more in the next few days.
Insomniac Art
I’m starting to think that my best work (or craziest photoshops) come out of a lack of sleep. That would put me in the good books with one of my classmates. About a week ago, I couldn’t sleep due to asthma. I was reading news, and came across a website that actually made money turning a photo of a person into an iPod ad. I thought to myself, I could do just as good a job… But finding a picture of myself in a dancing posture was, well, impossible; being the fact that I’m usually the one behind the lens, unless my wife or other shutter bug friends capture me with a goofy grin. But this shutter bug friend who will remain nameless took a shot of another friend of ours doing a “Stayin’ Alive” kind pose – and by the time I was ready to sleep, I created this:
Now, for all of you who are reading this, I offer you a Merry Christmas from both me and my wife in the latest installment of insomniac art.
Games I Don’t Understand
About a week back, I was watching CSI:NY and they were trying to solve a crime that involved Second Life. Once upon a time, it wasn’t called Second Life, At least, I don’t think it was. Or maybe it was just so long ago that I think it was named something else.
Anyway, I’ve been playing around on it, and all I can say is: BLAH. I’ve played it on both my Mac Mini (equipped with the less than stellar Intel GMA950 graphics chip) and on the School Supplied MacBook Pro (With an ATI Something-Rather in it) and both of them make it look like playing Doom 3 on a 386.
I also have a hard time with “User Created Content.” Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all crap, just mostly. I think the only nicely designed user area was the airport that I encountered. With the exception of some usability issues, it looked like a not-so-distant futuristic looking airport.
But, as I was reading was saying, there is no goal, no end game in Second Life. As much as WoW sometimes can be annoying (due to the fact that are idiots out there), at least there is a goal to reach that can be done at least a little on your own.
All in all, I don’t think it’s worth paying for. If you like it, all power to you; if you make money, well, be the second life’s answer to Donald Trump. But my experience, in usability and design, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Almost Another Canadian Heritage Moment
As many of you know (or don’t, whatever), the Canadian Dollar has past parity with Greenback and is now sitting around $1.07 USD. So, you’d think, after many years of having to pay more than our American cousins, we’d be able to get a break because of the “strength of our dollar” (read: weakness of the US dollar).
Just when I thought I would have to buy the iPod Touch State-side I caught this:
That’s right. It’s Apple Canada’s site, both by the address and the Page Title. But, when I grabbed my credit card to go and get my new fancy gadget on this momentous occasion, this is what I found.
No joy. That’s right, whoever maintains the Canada site was either too tired, too lazy, or two ignorant to change 3 characters of text with that fancy font that Apple uses. I shouldn’t be ragging on just Apple. It’s the consumer electronics industry as a whole. But I wants an iPod Touch and I wants it now. But that ain’t gonna happen.