Roberto Benigni is Absolutely Crazy
And hilarious. Any interviews I find with him are very entertaining. On Conan. Long live Conan:
Fisheye/Crucible Performance Solutions and a DbException Error Workaround
Indexing a repository in Subversion takes a very long time. Especially if you have the Subversion repositories stored on an NFS and the size is over 15 gigs. Below are some performance improvements that worked for the repositories I've dealt with and some workarounds that might not have been previously documented.
For performance, if you have the repository on an NFS share that is also pointed to by the serving mechanism you should duplicate the repository locally using svnsync. This helps remove some of the overhead when dealing with the live filesystem on the NFS share.
Additionally, using PostgreSQL or MySQL in place of HSQLdb is always helpful! The new versions support these external databases, this reduces CPU usage immensely.
If you have a ton of code (who doesn't?), tag versions, then remove the versions at some point in a single merge you'll have to reduce the block size of the repository as it will eat a lot of Memory as it indexes all the files that have been deleted.
If you run into the problems with certain revisions not being indexed and the scanner getting hung in an infinite loop, and get exceptions like this:
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.DbException
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.RepositoryClientException
com.cenqua.fisheye.util.VisitorException
com.cenqua.fisheye.rep.DbException
sun.io.MalformedInputException
What you need to do, in Linux anyway, is set the LANG environment variable to UTF-8 and restart the Fisheye server. I had this problem and it took forever to find a solution to it. The environment variable was previously set to: UTF-8.en_us on the server I was dealing with.
You probably didn’t notice the server down last night.. But if you did…
I host this server with another person and we've been running low on disk space every couple of months and had to jump in and clear up some web logs. This has been happening for years. So I had the bright idea of last night stopping the server and expanding the space of the main drive. It appears our host had given us some extra space so it looked perfect. I shut down the system and started expanding the drive. After waiting 20 minutes I eventually fell asleep. I awoke at 2 am to find myself sleeping with the laptop and lights on. The laptop had lost juice (or the will to stay on) and needed a recharge. But I fell asleep again before going to recharge it, I wanted to rest my eyes for a minute or two more. But in the end the person I host with started the server and I checked and started the Apache server in the morning. Now all is well. Next time I'll be sure to get started earlier or wait until the weekend.
ATI Radeon 5770 Issues
I recently upgraded my computer to take advantage of a great deal at Fry's. Plus the darn thing was running slow sluggishly even after upgrading the RAM to 6 gigs. I upgraded from an Athlon X2 3200+ to:
Intel Core i7 860
MSI X58 Pro-E Motherboard
6GB OC-Z DDR3 Ram
ATI Radeon 5770 1gb From XFX
Windows 7 Professional x64
When first assembled everything seemed fine. I ran memtest86+ to make sure the ram and everything was fine. I ended up getting a bad stick of Ram and had to send in an RMA to get it replaced. I will probably never buy OCZ Ram again, it seems so sketchy after my previous encounters with them. In any case, the computer is running much much better now and seems generally more responsive. I can run multiple Virtual Machines without problem whereas previously it'd slow down for the first and struggle with anything more than one. But I've got a small problem; see, the video card apparently has a problem that ATI is looking into (I will post my sources later) whereas the graphics are a bit glitchy and will eventually cause the computer to lock up and gray screen. This is really unfortunate because its been two weeks since the last revision of drivers and I'm currently stuck with a malfunctioning computer. I found a workaround though that might not work for everyone. I noticed the problem when running fullscreen 1920x1200 on my 24" monitor but not at lower resolutions. When the screen was filled the top part of the screen would get random glitches/refresh problems and after about a day of running it actually crashed on my. I lowered the resolution to 1920x1080 and besides the black bars at the top and bottom of my screen everything is running well. So that might work if you have the same problem. Now to hope they fix this issue in the next driver release...
Update! The recent drivers fixed the problems. Now I'm back to full resolution without flicker and no crashes (yet).
I still don’t get Twitter
Why not just have a blog of quick thoughts? Then you're not limited to 140 characters and you can say what you really want. Hell, we have these things called Hyperlinks so you can link to other people's posts directly, instead of throwing an @Person. Does Twitter even make sense?
Google and China, possibly no more?
According to this post on the Google blog, Google has decided to stop censoring search results on their Google China site (http://www.google.cn/). They are going to go to the Chinese government and basically say they are going to pull out of China or they will run the non-filtered search engine. This is quite a brave move for a U.S.-based company and I wish more companies would shrug off China because of their Human Rights and Censorship stance.
Even more interesting is the fact that this decision came because Google detected an attack against their systems that originated in China. And it looks like the China-based attack went after Anti-Censorship Activists in both China and those outside of China who are against Chinese censorship. I applaud Google for doing the right thing and confronting the Chinese government for its censorship laws. I only hope this gives some REAL change to China and isn't just dust in the wind.
On a side note, I'm trying hard to completely stop buying Chinese-made goods. My actions are likely just dust in the wind, but at least I feel better that I'm not supporting the crazy that is going on in China (basically slave-labour, human rights violations, Tibet, censorship, etc.)
Final nail in Citibank’s Coffin
I got dinged with a $6.50 "account maintenance fee" on my savings account with Citibank. This is the final nail in the coffin for me with them. I'll be switching banks within 7 days. Either a credit union or Schwab's Interest-Checking account (I need to be able to write checks or I'd stick with ING forever).
*UPDATE*: I've opened an account with Consumers Credit Union [Visit Site] for 4.09%, no mininums, some conditions to get that percentage.
Dell is now okay
My Dell laptop is now fixed. The might even give me a free battery they will have to ship out to me separately. But still, the other laptops my family has have lasted much longer, I will probably never buy a Dell again.
Also, droid.
Dell M1330 Problems (again)
My Dell M1330 laptop I bought around last May (in 2008) broke again. The first problem it had was the Video Card was toasted. I found this out when the laptop booted with vertical white lines sometime in early October or late September. After Googling for hours, I came across the problem others were having with the Nvidia card and some possible solutions. I opened a ticket with Dell and they had an extended warranty for the Nvidia card found in my notebook. They happily fixed the problem and sent me my laptop back last month. A couple of weeks following the return, and maybe 5 or 6 uses, the laptop stopped charging and nearly drained the battery because I didn't notice the laptop was "unplugged" since it was plugged in. I was able to plug it in and bend it slightly up to get the battery to charge a little, but shortly after that, it would not charge anymore. So I've been stuck with a brick for 2 weeks. After chatting shortly with a Dell Rep and finding out the motherboard needs to be replace, which won't be covered, and searching for a new laptop but not being able to spend the money on a new one. I decide to contact Dell again about this problem to plead my case. Finally talking with a nice support representative, they offered me a $179 "special warranty" that would send a tech out to fix the laptop and cover it for another year. This offer would not be put into writing to be thought over, and could not appear again if I called back. Okay, thats not very cool, you kind of have me stuck though, what am I to do? Try again... After telling the problem over and over again, which is basically the motherboard needs to be replaced again, they were able to accept it back for a motherboard replacement. Luckily the logic that: The motherboard was replaced for the Nvidia-card problem, the motherboard's DC plug was broken and the motherboard needs to be replaced, they are linked and it should be covered. So they'll (hopefully) be sending me another box and fix the problem and the laptop will be happy for another couple of years. I promise to take it for walks.
Todo list for weekend – Saturday
I've decided to post up my todo list for the weekend, to help motivate me to get it done:
Mow and Edge LawnPull out more crabgrass weeds where neededReset linoleum floor-- Damn thing unset again, have to pull a baseboard now to fix it. Swiftlock flooring seems to have this problem, also problem with edges meeting and odd gaps forming on some boards.Cut&nail baseboards for behind fridge areaCut&nail quarter-molding around oven (two sets)- Patch holes in drywall around sliding-glass-door
- Trim side door (remove old and install new)
Baseboards behind Dishwasher area- Baseboards around eating area
- Quarter-molding around cabinets + dishwasher area
- Cut door for bathroom
- Seal hole in subfloor in bathroom with something
Remove shelves from wall in garage- Wash Car
- Setup Gazeebo thing in backyard patio
- Lubricate the joints in the garage door so I don't have to keep fighting it to get it to go down at night/morning
That list is pretty long, but I think its doable. I need to do some things beforehand though:
- Stain/Seal quarter-round molding
- Order windows for Innocence's Room and Bathroom (Going with Jeld-Wen vinyl, they don't look like crappy other vinyls and have held up well as demos in the Home Depot
- Get up early and start at 8am
Big projects left to do:
- Window, paint, carpet, redo door in Innocence's room
- Change oil and lubricate chain on motorcycle
- Bathroom remodel (down to studs!)
- Floors for house, what to do...
- Do something nice with front walkway and xeriscaping (no water pipes!)
- Get rid of some of the trees in the backyard, plant shade trees, start gardening fruits, veggies, and herbs.
- Replace windows in rest of house
- Replace side door and side garage door
Learn Chinese
System Monitoring Tools
I came home from work and my computer is making a whirring sound. I think it might be dust in one of the fans that is causing the sound as it usually is. I then remember what happened with my Dell Laptop, the video card fried after the fan was on all the time. After researching that issue it turned out to be a faulty video card from nVidia and it will be replaced. But I remembered a name of some software people were using to monitor their systems during the debacle. I finally decide it was a good time to try it out and I'm really glad I did because I found another tool to add to my computer-arsenal. The tool is called Speedfan and you can get it Here.
Basically it monitors fans and temperatures and allows you some access to Hard drive SMART statistics. The SMART stats tell you the health of your drives and can indicate a failure pending or generally how your drives are doing. You can do an in-depth analysis and get some pretty interesting stuff. Here's one for my drive: HD Report Card -- Good to know I might be needing one soon!
Ubuntu and Flash
I've finally gotten Flash working on my Ubuntu 8.04 installation of my laptop. The main issue is using x64 to take full advantage of my processor and ram. The guide I used is from the ubuntu forums and consists of a very simple script.
Link: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=772490
Cash for Clunkers
I'm looking to turn in Beatrix, my 1991 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer, during the Cash for Clunkers event for a fuel efficient Volkswagen TDI Jetta Sportswagen. The only problem is the psychological attachment thats developed between me and my car for the past 7 years I've been driving her. I wonder if my Health Insurance covers the counseling I'm going to need or if Obama's healthcare plan will... In all seriousness though I'd really really like to keep the body of my car. I know they are supposed to kill the engine and transmission as part of the program, but I'd like to keep everything else (they can keep the engine and tranny) to try and tinker in a year or two and give her new life with a fully electric powertrain. I'll ask the dealer if I can buy the frame, body, etc. after they destroy it for $500. But, anyone think that will work? (I already know I'm crazy, so I won't ask that...)
Well thats a good idea
This is a neat idea that has an implementation and is used on the net: http://recaptcha.net/
To prevent bots from spamming websites most website owners have this thing called a "captcha". This requires a human to read a graphic and product two words. This is somewhat hard for machines and easy for humans (in most cases). This site actually picks up on the words from digitizing books that the machines can't read and asks the humans to decipher them. So by using sites with this Captcha we're helping digitize books and also prevent spammers. And as a byproduct helping spammers help people digitize books.
Under the floor… Another floor!
Home improvement, what a fun, fun, fun, time consuming activity. Okay, its not too fun sometimes and it takes a lot of time. Anyway I ripped up the old flooring. And I use the term ripped because the wood was so brittle and wet it basically broke apart when I pulled it up. Took a good 2+ hours too. Part of the problem was there were screws holding it down that can't be removed with a screwdriver and are very very rusty but its gone. I was surprised though at how wet it is, and I found another floor underneath! I can't believe that, it was pretty funny. Made me really think though about how much additional work this is. But it must be done. Pictures of new floor to remove included below...
The asbestos removal company is also done, but I'm not too happy with my subfloor, lots of suspected water damage (that is probably pretty old..):
