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I have a server… and about four years’ worth of content

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , ,

My new server is up and running, and let me tell you, it’s spectacular.

And if you’re reading this on 6 March 2012, you’re probably wondering what I’m talking about, because everything looks just as slow as usual. That’s because the new server is still behind my firewall because I’m struggling to get my content all moved to it.

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Kids these days, not knowing the name Grace Hopper

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , ,

The guys at Hackaday dug up a video of the late Commodore Grace Hopper (the rank is now called Rear Admiral, but the rank of Commodore just seems appropriate for a computer science pioneer) and the poster admitted he’d never heard of her before. The resulting discussion was rather… interesting.

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Upgrade update

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , , ,

My new fire-breathing dragon of a server is sitting idle at the moment. I would have liked to have had it up and running today, but now I’m starting to realize why it took me so long to migrate off my Pentium II-450. Setting up Linux web servers is a lot more complicated than it was in 2001.

They can do a lot more than they could in 2001 too, but when I first built that server, the process literally went in about three steps: Install Debian, apt-get install apache mysql php, then download blogging software, create a MySQL database and account for it, edit a config file, then start blogging. You could get it done in an hour, and a lot of that time was waiting for stuff to load off a CD-ROM or download over a 256K DSL connection.

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Why I’m not selling anything on Ebay these days

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized

This story is why I’m concerned about selling on Ebay these days. The subject of the story sold a coin for $470 and shipped it via UPS, insured. The buyer claimed he received an empty envelope, filed a claim with Paypal, received a refund, then refused to cooperate with the seller, so the seller couldn’t file an insurance claim.

The seller believes the buyer is refusing to cooperate because he’s lying. But UPS can’t investigate since the buyer won’t even pick up the phone, and Ebay isn’t interested in helping him.
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Taking things to the next level

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized ,

I got a comment over the weekend suggesting that I could really take things to the next level with photos, illustrations, and videos. I don’t know if it was a serious comment or spam (the link provided looked very suspicious), but I’ll address the comment.
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Time to make a new rule for work

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , ,

I propose a new rule. I think it’s a very modest and very reasonable proposal. It has two parts.

1. No meeting can last longer than 6 hours (the length of the CISSP exam)

2. Material presented in said meetings may have no more than 250 items (the same number of questions in a CISSP exam)

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Don’t write 3D printing’s obit yet

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , ,

Christopher Mims argues that 3D printing is the next Virtual Reality. I think he misses the point. I see 3D printing as having a bright future, but not because I see it as necessarily the future of mass production. I see 3D printing taking over the fringes, because it makes small-scale manufacturing practical.

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Micro Center’s 18-minute pickup works spectacularly

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , ,

It was like ordering Chinese takeout.

I wrote yesterday about how I needed a motherboard to try to solve my ongoing webserver issue. I don’t live or work anywhere near Micro Center. The computer store near my house closed, and I don’t like the one near my workplace anymore since they jerked my friend around. Frequently I order computer equipment online, but Micro Center’s pricing is really good right now, so I asked my wife if she would mind trying a pickup order.

It worked. Splendidly.

I went to the web site, created an account, then added the items I wanted to my cart. I’ve known for a couple of days that I wanted an Asus P5G41T-M LX motherboard, a Pentium E5700 CPU (two cores of 3 GHz goodness for 65 watts and 50 bux0rZ), and 8 GB of Kingston DDR3. I also added a 32 GB SDHC memory card for my wife’s new camera, to make the trip worth her while. I added my wife as an authorized pickup person and created a PIN for her.

Seven minutes later, I received an e-mail message saying my order was ready.

She went to the store, walked right up to a sign at the front of the store that read Internet Pickup, handed them her driver’s license, told them her PIN, and they grabbed a pile of stuff with my name on it, put it in a bag, and handed it to her.

And I know now that you can place your order and pick it up any time within three calendar days.

I already have a 40 GB SSD and a Corsair power supply I’ve been saving for the project. Now I just need to find an ATX case to gut, put my pieces together, install Linux, and I’ll have a new web server.

Know someone who needs computer skills? Send ’em to the library

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized

One of my coworkers asked me a good question this week. He said one of his neighbors just bought a new computer from a big-box consumer electronics store whose name doesn’t really matter all that much (but it’s one I pick on frequently) and didn’t really know a lot about computers.

He asked what someone in that situation can do to avoid being taken advantage of, and what they can do once they get the computer home, to learn how to actually use the thing. For now, they’re asking him, but long-term, that’s not the right answer. At least I don’t think it is.
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Why do European trains look so much better than U.S. trains?

Dave Farquhar Uncategorized , , , , , , ,

I guess there’s something floating around Facebook right now comparing sleek, elegant European trains against clunker, junky trains that roam the rails in the United States. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve already had some questions about it.

There was a time when U.S. trains were pretty bleak to look at, but that time isn’t now.

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