cuddletech


Next Article at SearchDataCenter.com

Posted on November 28, 2008

My second article for SearchDataCenter.com is up here: Examining MySQL in real time using DTrace. The interesting back story is that this article was requested after I spoke on DTrace at the MySQL Users Conference, but I've stalled on it... to the point that 3 weeks later I felt embarrassed to even submit it. As much as I love writing, its very different and difficult when its expected. My favorite mantra "You get what you pay for" ...

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Giving Thanks

Posted on November 27, 2008

Happy Thanksgiving one and all. Already the year is coming to a close... and what a year. Many unfortunate things have happened this year, if you've checked up on your 401K or IRA's your feeling it. Uncertainty still hangs in the balance and many of us are fearful of the future, and thus all the more important that we stop, reflect on what we've accomplished, what we have, and most importantly who we have around us. For myself, I' have ...

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Help with SAPro: Request for Participants

Posted on November 26, 2008

No, the SA Pro podcast isn't dead... but it needs help. I've been surprised how many great interviewees don't want to do a podcast interview. Between work and shy guests its stalled. I want to do 2 separate podcasts next week. I'd like 3-4 SA's per round-table. Here are the topics: Time-Management and Project Management for SysAdmin's on the move. Managing a lot of spinning plates is tough, especially when you have to manage ...

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Today and interesting post came across Slashdot: (Useful) Stupid Unix Tricks? The post points out other users that were unaware of the write command. This doesn't surprise me, a lot of sysadmins likely don't know about some of these tools... after all, the "write" command isn't exactly self-evidently a tool to communicate with another user. There are several tools that allow users to communicate with one another through the shell, we'll ...

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Best. Wife. Ever.

Posted on October 29, 2008

I'm older... it won't stop. But my wife makes me feel better with kickassness. Behold my "new" mint condition Faber-Castell 2/83N. To compliment, I just recently bought a copy of Euclid's The Elements. I love mathematics.... I suck at it, but who cares, I enjoy it.

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The Cascading Crash and You

Posted on October 9, 2008

I've been surprised how few people are blogging about the current market situations. Its coming up in casual conversation "around the water cooler" and dominates the news channels, but tech outlets aren't jumping on the bandwagon. Today on CNBC's "Fast Money", following todays almost 700 point drop, bringing the Dow under 9,000, I heard the first mention of the word "crash", or more properly what they called a "cascading crash". IBM ...

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Exciting Goings On

Posted on October 1, 2008

There are a lot of exciting things going on... here are some I think you might enjoy. Iron Man releases on DVD & BluRay today. At Target BluRay was sold out by lunch even out here in Tracy (ie: the sticks). If you've got a PS3 nab it, if you don't have a PS3, buy one its a tremendous value if you compare it against the cost of a vanilla BluRay player. Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle presents its new sermon series: ...

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SAPro is coming…

Posted on August 26, 2008

Systems Administration is a lonely job. There is very little support for professionals and we're all very divided. There is, I find, a common desire to know what "the other guy" is doing or thinking, what tools they use, how they arrange their day, how they deal with stress, how they select one gig over another, how they provide for a wife and family in it all. A podcast is a great way to do this, but there isn' t much out there. ...

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Brocade To Buy Foundry

Posted on August 23, 2008

This isn't new, but simply new to me, at least if I saw it before I didn't pay sufficient attention... Brocade Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Foundry Networks, press release dated 7/21/08. I mean, is commentary even required? This, naturally, just adds a massive blow in the "fibre channel is dead" debate; assuming there is anyone that will continue to argue the point. Clearly 4Gb FC-Fabric has a useful place, but its clear ...

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Hard Drive Recovery 101

Posted on August 11, 2008

About 6 years ago or so I got tired of fixing problem with Tamarah Windows/Linux box and decided to pay the money for a 15" PowerBook. It was an excellent investment, she could work on the couch, no more lockups and reboots in Windows or mysterious "Bennnnnnn!" problems in Linux. Since then she's upgraded to a black MacBook, and when I joined Joyent they provided me with a MacBook Pro (which I'm typing on now). So far each of these 3 ...

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