tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31467154793042104342024-02-19T17:21:43.292+10:00NoPrivatePartsMusings by Simon.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-91496839374227833652015-11-15T17:45:00.001+10:002015-11-15T17:45:50.503+10:00crashplan backup to a remote drive (nas / unc)<a href="http://www.code42.com/crashplan/">Crashplan</a> is a very nice backup solution. Lots of options, easy to use... all good stuff. However, what it lacks out of the box, is a way to backup to a local, network share. For example: a NAS device.<br />
<br />
Turns out, it's remarkably simple to set this up<br />
<br />
<br />
1: Create a symbolic link to your network drive. For example:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m3DbAh5IvDa_OEnt5y5BSbgiDbqx7R9VjDNFQz00j-XEjXfAcdNAsraCxfksnWXoZ6RN4OtBfXTikkvOkESwCiTBYoTyYXTuSLxf_A0BDH6WcjDaK0D883uJOexOhaqJuqfwFhOcvkM/s1600/2015-11-15+17_31_20-Console2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m3DbAh5IvDa_OEnt5y5BSbgiDbqx7R9VjDNFQz00j-XEjXfAcdNAsraCxfksnWXoZ6RN4OtBfXTikkvOkESwCiTBYoTyYXTuSLxf_A0BDH6WcjDaK0D883uJOexOhaqJuqfwFhOcvkM/s1600/2015-11-15+17_31_20-Console2.png" /></a></div>
<br />
2: Change the account that crashplan runs under from LocalSystem (which will not have network access) to an account that has network access.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgomldg1NCTNFm5hd1WsSfTYbq05LweSSUWZ9n81zEa9Uz1D4NpokxxloOSl1zS5gA4DBto0y5m8J91HUVhZTMLzHfmV7EHHH9wxGs18_d6b4G55wELCQPu3N_ODFcUjZQLaBAzHBhJiRE/s1600/2015-11-15+17_35_19-CrashPlan+Backup+Service+Properties+%2528Local+Computer%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgomldg1NCTNFm5hd1WsSfTYbq05LweSSUWZ9n81zEa9Uz1D4NpokxxloOSl1zS5gA4DBto0y5m8J91HUVhZTMLzHfmV7EHHH9wxGs18_d6b4G55wELCQPu3N_ODFcUjZQLaBAzHBhJiRE/s1600/2015-11-15+17_35_19-CrashPlan+Backup+Service+Properties+%2528Local+Computer%2529.png" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
3: Select the local folder as a backup destination within crashplan<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRAKLjdIIgFsIHb7KJncOt5dU_e9PLli3RK_qlkWIBYYBaUfc5R0QFAnG-ijr9P6AH7iArV4RnFuwqBqHj1_Tm8d-KE-iU6m5ndGOaZfEfb3TOVCHKaBZW29neonPke4RZXEWzO1rQD4/s1600/2015-11-15+17_38_49-New+notification.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwRAKLjdIIgFsIHb7KJncOt5dU_e9PLli3RK_qlkWIBYYBaUfc5R0QFAnG-ijr9P6AH7iArV4RnFuwqBqHj1_Tm8d-KE-iU6m5ndGOaZfEfb3TOVCHKaBZW29neonPke4RZXEWzO1rQD4/s320/2015-11-15+17_38_49-New+notification.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Job done.
<br />
<br />
<ol><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1m3DbAh5IvDa_OEnt5y5BSbgiDbqx7R9VjDNFQz00j-XEjXfAcdNAsraCxfksnWXoZ6RN4OtBfXTikkvOkESwCiTBYoTyYXTuSLxf_A0BDH6WcjDaK0D883uJOexOhaqJuqfwFhOcvkM/s1600/2015-11-15+17_31_20-Console2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></ol>
Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-29530009115352221402014-07-11T21:53:00.000+10:002014-07-11T21:53:16.136+10:00windows updates could learn a lot from the ubuntu unattended-upgrades packageI was already pretty darn impressed with the ease, and simplicity of upgrading the entire operating system. Seriously, it's as simple as <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/14.04/serverguide/installing-upgrading.html">one single command</a>:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">sudo do-release-upgrade</span></blockquote>
<br />
But what I now wanted, was a simple way to keep a bunch of ubuntu servers patched up with the latest upgrades. Keeping things nicely up-to-date between major releases. I toyed with some fancy, centrally managed solutions, like the ubuntu <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/management">landscape</a> offering, even <a href="http://puppetlabs.com/">puppet </a>or <a href="http://www.getchef.com/">chef</a>. But ultimately, if you've only got a handful of servers; why not just go for something dead simple...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">sudo apt-get install unattended-upgrades</span></blockquote>
<br />
Done. The machines will email you if they need an occasional reboot. But otherwise, they will keep themselves up-to-date, without bothering you too much.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxruuP6lOFNJogGTK4pe9seh9vu1NqdEqPR4phpuXLl0ad205TjH6h7rdgL99a6GuPawU0rx52ffry3Ho5LBMRSBLxm4bhZLMsS-lpuwJOgPSesIS8wpg2I-ZSPoTOWshdnDjh008ree8/s1600/win8_ubuntu.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxruuP6lOFNJogGTK4pe9seh9vu1NqdEqPR4phpuXLl0ad205TjH6h7rdgL99a6GuPawU0rx52ffry3Ho5LBMRSBLxm4bhZLMsS-lpuwJOgPSesIS8wpg2I-ZSPoTOWshdnDjh008ree8/s1600/win8_ubuntu.png" height="201" width="320" /></a>There's a bunch of other stuff you can tweak - nicely <a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AutomaticSecurityUpdates#Using_the_.22unattended-upgrades.22_package">detailed on the ubuntu wiki</a>. For bonus points: if you plop your <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: monospace; font-size: 13px; line-height: 13px;">/etc/apt/apt.conf.d/50unattended-upgrades </span>file into dropbox, and symlink it on each server, you can ensure all machines are using the same upgrade settings. Easy peasy...<br />
<br />
Actually: to be fair, <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windowsserver/bb332157.aspx">windows update services</a> is pretty cool too. But for only a handful of machines, it's a bit over the top (imho).Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-53060652511744704182014-07-08T00:06:00.000+10:002014-07-08T00:06:40.304+10:00howto: send emails from ubuntu server, via gmail, with 2-step verificationI've done this about 10 times over the last few years, and every single time, no matter how hard I try, I always forget something...<br />
<br />
Fortunately, there's some nice simple instructions here: <a href="http://www.havetheknowhow.com/Configure-the-server/Install-ssmtp.html">http://www.havetheknowhow.com/Configure-the-server/Install-ssmtp.html</a><br />
<br />
While this guide is great, there's two little extra things you will want to check:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Are the messages actually being sent? Take a look at <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">/var/log/syslog</span> -- any problems will show up there<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEndDntRh97otv7FIZgx_cSWeGAH5-OaWiTr8supVomdv-gbQoW7oUXx4rWI-aoT13v6t79_05qgtNhS0qTe1MalIOevrZXvKV0LOBEqMwcrdB5xt0Ih_l0CIHHL05BdlZO_MO1poZCY/s1600/2014-07-07+23_58_20-simon@clamps_+~.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhEndDntRh97otv7FIZgx_cSWeGAH5-OaWiTr8supVomdv-gbQoW7oUXx4rWI-aoT13v6t79_05qgtNhS0qTe1MalIOevrZXvKV0LOBEqMwcrdB5xt0Ih_l0CIHHL05BdlZO_MO1poZCY/s1600/2014-07-07+23_58_20-simon@clamps_+~.png" height="69" width="640" /></a></li>
<li>If you are getting authorization errors, and you know it's the right password -- perhaps you have 2-step verification turned on. In which case, you'll need to create a new application-specific password, and use this in the <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">ssmtp.conf</span> file instead.<br /></li>
</ul>
<div>
Maybe I'll remember next time...</div>
<div>
(unlikely)</div>
Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-61857268192015254112013-05-31T22:23:00.001+10:002013-05-31T22:23:18.518+10:00What is the best way to upgrade an existing BizTalk application?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkB0Cfa0SbLSHxti0QjJWmFj5cO_RuM6A25k_CmCMAY2nmhr6HHfZVxEpDUwvLhgvfk497FxxaXDJ2kpTAuIMXBQRSqBOaGdGj9bRpaR8m23HDDt4Y5pIkMjvsblEu-Zcru4HaEnRHqFk/s1600/hammer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkB0Cfa0SbLSHxti0QjJWmFj5cO_RuM6A25k_CmCMAY2nmhr6HHfZVxEpDUwvLhgvfk497FxxaXDJ2kpTAuIMXBQRSqBOaGdGj9bRpaR8m23HDDt4Y5pIkMjvsblEu-Zcru4HaEnRHqFk/s320/hammer.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I recommend a claw hammer, over the more traditional ball peen. It helps with uninstalls.</div>
<br />Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-76276170560177396052013-03-28T22:32:00.002+10:002013-03-28T22:32:48.463+10:00.net reflector is free** again - why didn't anybody tell me?Well "almost" free - the functionality that I loved about it most - the ability to rewrite IL - is available in two free products...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_4hrR1S6eXdpx8qu4avrlD6nzNrddxrT8IDP34CyY3vhz2Q5m0uKzYtLm1BccoaMpkwiHbW8hSeciBLnssxZ2nFioofo0vrNbrpO_24oDXrAnTa3_GmzK9F_Aa9UXZrlxngviapIEW8/s1600/Windows-Live-Writer-ff9a8d33d869_1CA6-image_10.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN_4hrR1S6eXdpx8qu4avrlD6nzNrddxrT8IDP34CyY3vhz2Q5m0uKzYtLm1BccoaMpkwiHbW8hSeciBLnssxZ2nFioofo0vrNbrpO_24oDXrAnTa3_GmzK9F_Aa9UXZrlxngviapIEW8/s320/Windows-Live-Writer-ff9a8d33d869_1CA6-image_10.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<ol>
<li><a href="http://www.telerik.com/products/decompiler.aspx">Telerik's JustDecompile</a> - takes the place of <a href="http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/reflector/">.NET Reflector</a>; and doesn't cost a cent.<br />This in itself is nothing earth shattering. There are a stack of other free de-compilers. However, when you add on...</li>
<li><a href="http://reflexil.net/">Reflexil</a> - you regain the awesome ability to edit assemblies as you please. Make those locked down private method's public, adjust resources, or just rewrite chunks of code.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Neat...</div>
Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-19457109823346667682013-02-28T23:59:00.001+10:002013-02-28T23:59:28.167+10:00The compiler made me do it...From the <a href="http://www.3proxy.ru/faqe.asp">3proxy FAQ</a>...<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Q: Why the code is so difficult and non-intuitive?</i><br />A: First, I'm not programmer. Second, <snip>. Third, <snip>. Fourth, the aim is to support different platforms. It's well known - the worse code is, the better it compiles.</snip></snip></blockquote>
This chap is <i>way </i>too harsh on himself. Sounds to me like he is a programmer - and of the highest order.<br />
<br />
It's so good, I'm using in my next code review.<br />
<br />
Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-80711661181175524862013-02-22T22:47:00.003+10:002013-02-22T22:47:36.924+10:00Asus Eee complains about 'Assuming drive cache: write through'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.abaxcom.com/products/eeebox.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.abaxcom.com/products/eeebox.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
I had an old <a href="http://www.asus.com.au/Eee/">Asus Eee</a> kicking around. Seemed like a perfect candidate for a headless <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/business/server">Ubuntu 12.10</a> server.<br />
<br />
That is, until it booted the first time, and played back the following message, over and over again:<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">[sdb] Asking for cache data failed</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">[sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through</span><br />
<br />
Everything works fine. But the message is, err, annoying to say the least. Fortunately, the easy fix is to just turn off the buggy drivers. Which is a doddle. Just edit<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> <b>/etc/rc.local</b></span> and add a line to turn it off.<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>rmmod ums_realtek</b></span><br />
<br />
Reboot to make sure it kicks in, and we're done.<br />
<br />
Source: <a href="https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/925760">https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/linux/+bug/925760</a>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-57507815162437714852012-10-31T22:02:00.000+10:002012-10-31T22:02:20.177+10:00Change your ubuntu computer name<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
This is an incredibly easy (trivial even) task - but it involves two steps. Which means I <i><b>always </b></i>forget one of them. So this might stop me from doing it in future...<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Say you want to change your computer name to be: <span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">bender.example.org</span><br />
<div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><b>Edit the /etc/hostname file</b><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> sudo nano /etc/hostname</span><br />There's only one line in this file, change it to the desired computer name. <br />In this case: "bender".<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDbrccwEyhUw3657-kYc8vPG7cl2lzz24AhWaks7nG00kccEFsGcP7HbjqQzURfA2G4G7ZSWkoz8pk4BLUKvsqVbZcY7VE3mjmtdkxBUPvUp4AhozMP_p8LKLwd8klKL3dmF3tW06_wU/s1600/rename1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="61" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDbrccwEyhUw3657-kYc8vPG7cl2lzz24AhWaks7nG00kccEFsGcP7HbjqQzURfA2G4G7ZSWkoz8pk4BLUKvsqVbZcY7VE3mjmtdkxBUPvUp4AhozMP_p8LKLwd8klKL3dmF3tW06_wU/s400/rename1.PNG" width="400" /></a></li>
<li><b>Edit the /etc/hosts file</b><br /><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"> sudo nano /etc/hosts</span><br />Leave the first loopback (127.0.0.1) line alone, but change the second one to list both your computer name, and the fully qualified domain name (if it has one). <br />In this case: "127.0.0.1 bender.example.org bender"</li>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5C9KU1RGgy9zZi-q2ClDouXWlPAvt-azGNnCKwvpF6KcOeLIrZGeQ7-yk2RfwI-Xqv8BxpNHnjgjRSEvChyHkLaGQxGaiAbz5QT-SWrYk3nTVUBVQU7IMG17XKk54dudGYmVIURcEjw4/s1600/rename2.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="65" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5C9KU1RGgy9zZi-q2ClDouXWlPAvt-azGNnCKwvpF6KcOeLIrZGeQ7-yk2RfwI-Xqv8BxpNHnjgjRSEvChyHkLaGQxGaiAbz5QT-SWrYk3nTVUBVQU7IMG17XKk54dudGYmVIURcEjw4/s320/rename2.PNG" width="320" /></a>
</ol>
<div>
Now you're changes will stick after a reboot, and you can still SSH into your machine. 'cause it's always embarrassing when you can't connect to the computer you just renamed...</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-13018422302638220692012-07-12T23:22:00.000+10:002012-07-12T23:22:00.147+10:00Microsoft, please wipe my phone. I don't need it anymore...While trying out a ROM based on stock 4.0.1 (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_version_history#Android_4.0.x_Ice_Cream_Sandwich">Ice Cream Sandwich</a>); I noticed a scary warning when setting up Exchange ActiveSync to my work account:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBavN3f3STAlLYHQDYLiZ-ru-VukaWv4hXAf5PRHoM4EFnMKGrc-HOgljI7tvR6GomYpMGrbHqMqCv32kx_yP-XvPVD36qWT5M6LTsqicyHNtnC3H1KJa79rm-k6s-WxozUIIUGncKWMg/s1600/image_thumb8.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBavN3f3STAlLYHQDYLiZ-ru-VukaWv4hXAf5PRHoM4EFnMKGrc-HOgljI7tvR6GomYpMGrbHqMqCv32kx_yP-XvPVD36qWT5M6LTsqicyHNtnC3H1KJa79rm-k6s-WxozUIIUGncKWMg/s320/image_thumb8.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
So I'm thinking: would I really like someone else to be able to:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
</div>
<ul>
<li>change the way passwords work on <b><i>my</i> </b>phone?</li>
<li>change the lock screen settings on <i style="font-weight: bold;">my</i> phone?</li>
<li>change the encryption on <i style="font-weight: bold;">my</i> phone?</li>
<li>remotely wipe <u style="font-weight: bold;">all</u> data on <i style="font-weight: bold;">my</i> phone without warning?</li>
</ul>
<div>
I could easily imagine our daughter playing with the unlock screen, and triggering a remote wipe. Which would be fun for the first 1 to 2 seconds. Then pain for the subsequent 1 to 2 days.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
How would one combat this (to me) potentially draconian IT policy?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Turns out (like most things with android); it's relatively easy - provided you invest a few minutes. The exchange sync provider, like most things, is shipped independently as an APK file. The source code for the the provider is freely available, and if you don't like how it works -- well change it damnit...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Better yet - someone has already compiled it and packaged up the APK file. So all you really need to do is install it. <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=775007">xda-developers has all the goodies...</a> To be clear:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Download the APK from the link</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">Delete the stock Email.apk file</span></li>
<li>Copy the patched version in it's place</li>
<li>Setup an exchange account as you normally would.<br />Instead of the scary Exchange policy - you get a nice message that it will be ignored and a disclaimer that you are on your own.</li>
</ol>
<div>
Easy peasy. Kids can now draw pretty pictures with the lock screen without fear of triggering a remote wipe.</div>
</div>
<br />
<br />Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-39550875331125760442012-02-22T16:20:00.002+10:002012-02-22T16:20:00.086+10:00android 2.3.5 + htc sense 3.5 + facebook do not play nice...I finally tracked down the incredibly annoying problem of incoming calls crashing <span style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">com.android.phone</span> (ie: the process that actually handles the incoming call!) Turns out something was attempting to draw absolutely nothing onto the canvas of the dialler (thanks android logs!). It was in fact a Facebook linked contact (with no image).<br />
<br />
While there are a few documented work arounds. The simplest (albeit brutal), is to stop Facebook from synchronising contacts. More details are on the <a href="http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/Google+Mobile/thread?tid=23181f1899e4cf53&hl=en">google group</a>. In short:<br />
<br />
Load Facebook app:<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZBnaUcigRzFor796oGMbyGCsz2QmTH1_8AawZ8AF_b5x-8Baor4wmgD7UAuGyj0_Wxt-hVxzPqErBoBxh29iqeTUBfFuLrQyukCGmOU6ixLLMPKw2508IK-7EwwDq_MJ9Ga2g5rgg_M/s1600/icon_256.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhZBnaUcigRzFor796oGMbyGCsz2QmTH1_8AawZ8AF_b5x-8Baor4wmgD7UAuGyj0_Wxt-hVxzPqErBoBxh29iqeTUBfFuLrQyukCGmOU6ixLLMPKw2508IK-7EwwDq_MJ9Ga2g5rgg_M/s200/icon_256.png" width="200" /></a><br />
<ul><li>Settings -> Syncronize -> None</li>
<li>Logout</li>
</ul><div>Android Settings:</div><div><ul><li>Accounts and sync</li>
<li>Remove Facebook</li>
<li>Remove Facebook for HTC sense</li>
</ul><div>Start answering incoming calls :-/</div></div>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-88623491043236654812012-02-20T16:01:00.001+10:002012-02-20T16:01:02.125+10:00rip aopen red thingyCirca 2004, AOpen EZ65, With the delightful opening engrish passage in the user manual: "fun your life".<br />
A subtle shade of bright red too.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhTqEwVcWG-fzAB_WlseYaK3hd_8uj4Lj1XTRVHyIqzGubEnkjXfqMEO0Cj_R8qg2j3GhhMIwvZ3zVNBVxD3T1fC5mq_GdPn4-77uFx8VvRHsynNj9HlnTuCjkJ9ttr43i2yDWjY36-s/s1600/image735.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPhTqEwVcWG-fzAB_WlseYaK3hd_8uj4Lj1XTRVHyIqzGubEnkjXfqMEO0Cj_R8qg2j3GhhMIwvZ3zVNBVxD3T1fC5mq_GdPn4-77uFx8VvRHsynNj9HlnTuCjkJ9ttr43i2yDWjY36-s/s1600/image735.jpg" /></a></div>8+ years of 24/7 use. Firstly as a (at the time) pretty reasonable Windows desktop; then as a no-hdd, usb bootin' webbrowser/kiosk machine; then a general purpose linux/samba/ssh/lamp/dns/virtualbox/general-shit-kicker server. I think I paid about $400 for it. So that's pretty good mileage.<br />
<br />
I briefly considered looking harder into the reason it failed, maybe reanimating it Frankenstein-style (since I can't buy any new parts that would actually fit). But I figured it deserved some peace and quite after all these years of service without hiccup (until now).<br />
<br />
I guess it's time to see if it's old duties can be services by a virtual machine now...Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-24756816665326347012012-02-18T15:57:00.001+10:002012-02-18T15:58:39.871+10:00At 64KB/s, there's only one choice for search...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gC82SFzEHXQ0LX1AVzEoSTAhibSzP6OqyPCukwNhMv8t-pfKJ0chemnKNmo4K7LTtMYIDo_zFvsNbF1XHf_i82qKeCAQR27jMoVk41VxTvVUabgbVolpzOF7YKbhvSEWEGQOm_UTGpg/s1600/google_page_speed_service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gC82SFzEHXQ0LX1AVzEoSTAhibSzP6OqyPCukwNhMv8t-pfKJ0chemnKNmo4K7LTtMYIDo_zFvsNbF1XHf_i82qKeCAQR27jMoVk41VxTvVUabgbVolpzOF7YKbhvSEWEGQOm_UTGpg/s320/google_page_speed_service.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Sad days over the weekend, we where were capped at 64KB/s on the home ADSL connection.<br />
<br />
I'd hardly call myself a fanboy, but Google still trumped Bing by a long margin.<br />
<br />
Results for searching for a pretty popular term:<br />
Google loaded the first and second results pages. I even had time to click on a search result and have the site load up <i>before Bing even bothered to show me a home page and textbox</i> to type anything! Good thing I wasn't in a hurry (64KB/s teaches patience if nothing else).<br />
<br />
Regardless, 64KB/s is a pain I don't want to relive...Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-54042936023509189982011-07-28T22:32:00.000+10:002011-07-28T22:32:01.955+10:00The Scrum Guide 2011... snap!During a 30 minute spike today on UI blocks, the discussion wound around to...<br />
<blockquote>Couldn't the "developers" implement some of the BDD steps?</blockquote><blockquote><i>Well the "testers" do that.</i></blockquote><blockquote>Oh... Well we're accruing quite a bit of debt from the rough UI we have at the moment. Couldn't the "developers" work on the UI/UX?</blockquote><blockquote><i>Well the "business analysts" and "UI experts" do that. </i></blockquote>It seems very, very odd when you think about it. It also seems to run counter to some pretty basic scrum principals. I was going to let it slide, but then I saw there's been an update to <a href="http://www.scrum.org/scrumguides/">The Scrum Guide (2011)</a>.There have been a few refinements made to the document, they are <a href="http://www.scrum.org/storage/Scrum%20Update%202011.pdf">listed in the summary page</a>. Have a read, it's very easy to follow. There's a few gem's on page 6 (some paragraphs removed)...<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote><b>The Development Team</b><br />
Development Teams are structured and empowered by the organization to organize and manage their own work. The resulting synergy optimizes the Development Team’s overall efficiency and effectiveness. Development Teams have the following characteristics:<br />
<ul><li>They are self-organizing. <b><i>No one</i></b> (not even the Scrum Master)<b><i> tells the Development Team how to turn Product Backlog into Increments of potentially releasable functionality</i></b>; </li>
<li>Development Teams are cross-functional, with all of the skills as a team necessary to create a product Increment; </li>
<li>Scrum recognizes <b><i>no titles for Development Team members other than Developer</i></b>. Regardless of the work being performed by the person, <b><i>there are no exceptions to this rule</i></b>;</li>
<li>Individual Development Team members may have specialized skills and areas of focus, but accountability belongs to the Development Team as a whole; and,</li>
<li>Development Teams<b><i> do not contain sub-teams dedicated to particular domains like testing or business analysis</i></b>.</li>
</ul></blockquote>At the risk of getting all high and mighty, shouting "you're doing it all wrong!" or "the book says you're not allowed to do that!"; which obviously achieves nothing, and irritates a lot. I've been trying the gentler "as part of improvements for next sprint, what could we do to become a more <i>cross functional</i> team?" approach in our sprint retro.<br />
<br />
We shall see...Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-6303999267377738892011-07-14T21:17:00.000+10:002011-07-14T21:17:46.157+10:00He said: "What do you think of my manifesto?"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhze5UbYHNtigwy1euuD_VGfKiZS1XBzuuWLN_fFpWCHJ98AsXyyy8dujjUwtn7-5cqYltWqoNt0Pl1SFJ_-ULZToLcoa1gUlvuQUwMcR3OL9Ndv9dbCXP2-HOfN6joNiwuRGrS3IdTQrk/s1600/agile-manifesto1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhze5UbYHNtigwy1euuD_VGfKiZS1XBzuuWLN_fFpWCHJ98AsXyyy8dujjUwtn7-5cqYltWqoNt0Pl1SFJ_-ULZToLcoa1gUlvuQUwMcR3OL9Ndv9dbCXP2-HOfN6joNiwuRGrS3IdTQrk/s400/agile-manifesto1.gif" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_Manifesto#Agile_Manifesto">Agile Manifesto</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
I said:<br />
<blockquote><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"I like your manifesto, I'll put it to the testo"</span></i></b></blockquote><br />
Alas, the room fell silent when I said that. There might have also been a tumble weed, I'm not sure.<br />
<br />
Apparently agile project management frameworks are a little more popular than old Irish punk bands. Oh well...<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvC34h4wFESac-3j4lHic8JCuNOk8BAamgtusg2pxojCLDXVSqgQCe6rX6plwFlXmrzRjk_o_fD2p_lM2XstmWLVNFbnD-LDy-IVPOHv417VrQtuHyb1json-obfePrme4nNOfv4wrpAo/s1600/sultans-of-ping-fc-wheres-me-jumper-divine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvC34h4wFESac-3j4lHic8JCuNOk8BAamgtusg2pxojCLDXVSqgQCe6rX6plwFlXmrzRjk_o_fD2p_lM2XstmWLVNFbnD-LDy-IVPOHv417VrQtuHyb1json-obfePrme4nNOfv4wrpAo/s320/sultans-of-ping-fc-wheres-me-jumper-divine.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sultans_of_Ping_FC">Sultans of Ping FC</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-62219428109945362772011-07-13T22:23:00.000+10:002011-07-13T22:23:13.720+10:00Samba server is easy... Samba domain login is, err, tedious...<b>Server = easy</b><br />
To get a samba server up and running (as a PDC or just a file share), is easy peasy...<br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html">https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/serverguide/C/samba-fileserver.html</a></li>
</ul><div>Four steps - two really, since you are really just:</div><div><ul><li>editing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/smb.conf</span></li>
<li>restarting the daemons</li>
</ul><div><b>Client = hard</b></div><div>Ahh, but getting another Ubuntu desktop to authenticate to the Samba PDC like a regular dumb Windows box -- now that's a pain in the ass. If you are using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_directory">Active Directory</a>, you can cheat and use <a href="http://www.likewise.com/products/likewise_open">Likewise Open</a>. But I'm not, so I have to wade through <a href="http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/howtos/add_linux_workstation_to_the_samba_domain">http://www.clearfoundation.com/docs/howtos/add_linux_workstation_to_the_samba_domain</a></div></div><div><br />
</div><div>I mean it works and all, and I'm grateful for the help -- but really:</div><div><ul><li>editing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/smb.conf</span></li>
<li>manually creating <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/home</span> folders</li>
<li>editing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/nsswitch.conf</span></li>
<li>blowing away (yikes!) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/pam.d/common-account</span></li>
<li>blowing away <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/pam.d/common-auth</span></li>
<li>editing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/pam.d/common-password</span></li>
<li>editing<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> /etc/pam.d/common-session</span></li>
<li>reboots</li>
<li>editing <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">/etc/sudoers</span></li>
</ul><div>Come on, really, couldn't that be a <i>little</i> easier?</div></div><div><br />
</div><div>Even the pretty "Ubuntu Software Center" was less than helpful...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYSLuFmYCX3pfKfxcjBUiIjwd3jaBMrgP7zbc-GNQ1abG9Oq1xKWF5_buXGK-S6vyGKVZUgG55j9YPY1m5JctyC4tkd36TVqWxnoLriGuxTJYFO40dEi687Nlq1BUMq40w4kLZDMnOMI/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="435" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiYSLuFmYCX3pfKfxcjBUiIjwd3jaBMrgP7zbc-GNQ1abG9Oq1xKWF5_buXGK-S6vyGKVZUgG55j9YPY1m5JctyC4tkd36TVqWxnoLriGuxTJYFO40dEi687Nlq1BUMq40w4kLZDMnOMI/s640/Capture.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><div><br />
</div><div>Which to the novice end users pretty much means:</div><blockquote>Well we installed it like you asked -- but you're on your own from here. Go wade through <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">man</span> pages why don't you...</blockquote><br />
Oh well, on the plus side -- the (lengthy) steps outlined above do result in domain+single-sign-on goodness for my Ubuntu desktops. So I'll probably forget the installation experience sucked.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-13585866595718917812011-06-01T22:07:00.000+10:002011-06-01T22:07:10.681+10:00Linker? What's a linker?For better or worse (mainly worse), I had to dip back into some "retro" development recently.<br />
<br />
I'm talkin' 1998...<br />
<br />
I'm talkin'...<br />
<br />
<ul><li>Cher - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Believe_(Cher_song)">Believe</a> - <b>yikes!</b></li>
<li>Aerosmith - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Don%27t_Want_to_Miss_a_Thing">I Don't Want to Miss a Thing</a> - <b>ewwwwww!</b></li>
<li>Celine Dion - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart_Will_Go_On">My Heart Will Go On</a> - <b>my ears! they burn! they burn!</b></li>
<li>Run DMC vs Jason Nevins - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Like_That_(Run-D.M.C._song)">It's Like That</a> - actually, that one's not bad I suppose...</li>
</ul><div>I'm talkin'.... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_Basic">Visual Basic 6</a>...</div><div><br />
</div><div>So wallowing in the fun that ensues from supporting 12 year old technology, a colleague asked about a particular build error spat out of the command line:</div><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file xxxx.lib</span></span></blockquote><div>and then, shortly after...</div><blockquote>Linker? What's a linker?</blockquote><div><br />
</div><div>Oh dear. I have been using the .<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Language_Runtime">Net CLR</a> for way too long. It's been around for over 10 years now, and the idea of having to manually resolve external symbols, reallocate addresses and "bake" libraries into a single executable is now totally foreign.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Oh well, at least I can enjoy some sweet '98 tunes while I lament the loss of static linking...</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div>FYI: a linker <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linker_(computing)">is like that</a> and that's the way it is...</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRWPzMHlQM7lMwSWrRkNY9fr6j0gKTULwygpYuuEf8brjUQO8mVQc08KSTbb2D2kyWUmM6pKa2JC02K9_tdV11OvvEjdFch49Q0y4mTA0cSSPcnVphOEdwAMVajb9PeyxIoKnM7-CWvk/s1600/200px-Linker.svg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWRWPzMHlQM7lMwSWrRkNY9fr6j0gKTULwygpYuuEf8brjUQO8mVQc08KSTbb2D2kyWUmM6pKa2JC02K9_tdV11OvvEjdFch49Q0y4mTA0cSSPcnVphOEdwAMVajb9PeyxIoKnM7-CWvk/s1600/200px-Linker.svg.png" /></a></div><div><br />
</div>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-24973541394193769962011-06-01T21:32:00.000+10:002011-06-17T01:46:09.813+10:00BDD?<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;">Feature: Acceptance Testing</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> In order to spend more time doing the things I enjoy</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> As a developer</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> I want to spend less time remembering to run a set of tedious manual tests</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Scenario: Feature Testing</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Given I have worked out how to test a new feature</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> When I complete the new feature, passing the test</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Then I should be able to move on to something more interesting, safe in the knowledge the feature is tested, correct and complete</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Scenario: Regression Testing</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Given I have implemented a feature</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> When I complete testing the first time</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Courier New', Courier, monospace;"> Then I should never have to do it again, via dull tests for regressions</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL71lqW5tpSYINPsZgmq0P8m6SbMJ3EcthAxmypOdcGa43LZ8RQFVaApLcc1oP96DIH4FJXrQrM-ELKu5Mf66my49-D74UbNk4NIZbOHPRQFd-jmEvoMlVK8VNvbtS40SL9pDjMEIcTgY/s1600/gherkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL71lqW5tpSYINPsZgmq0P8m6SbMJ3EcthAxmypOdcGa43LZ8RQFVaApLcc1oP96DIH4FJXrQrM-ELKu5Mf66my49-D74UbNk4NIZbOHPRQFd-jmEvoMlVK8VNvbtS40SL9pDjMEIcTgY/s200/gherkin.jpg" width="153" /></a></div></div>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-83341598031580284052011-05-20T17:52:00.000+10:002011-05-20T17:52:30.007+10:00Ubuntu 11.04 install is, err, quick...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJa93FklYHenRczZPmncmcPV8hShr32vuo1GpCLrMt07aEj0jI7wS_yso0e11e8xc0D0MfuwwcOtudPvTyShZwyauuwQs0qcsqnG6jioORjUvHNEI4Ux0FfeQ1oGRtDoBAt-DzARNhYUA/s1600/Install+the+operating+system.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJa93FklYHenRczZPmncmcPV8hShr32vuo1GpCLrMt07aEj0jI7wS_yso0e11e8xc0D0MfuwwcOtudPvTyShZwyauuwQs0qcsqnG6jioORjUvHNEI4Ux0FfeQ1oGRtDoBAt-DzARNhYUA/s320/Install+the+operating+system.jpg" width="320" /></a>Kind of a follow up to my <a href="http://noprivateparts.blogspot.com/2010/11/after-month-living-with-gnome-i-dont.html">last post on using a VM to run Ubuntu </a>for all my desktop stuff. I freshened it up to 11.04, and the installer required all of (and I did actually count them) 6 clicks. It's been a while since I've done a Windows install, but I'm pretty sure even Win7 (which is nice) -- needs 14 or more.<br />
<br />
I wonder how long an OSX install takes? I guess I'll never know... :-)<br />
<br />
Well I thought it was nice at least. 6 clicks, and I have a full install, sensible partitioning, admin accounts setup, all the post-release updates installed, and a minty fresh install -- ready for me to destroy! Plus, with all my account data synced across machines -- it's instantly got all the goodies I need to make use of it.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAaxJ2i9Qv0E7ZOLY8f_r7beJLF4Ej5Ccg-taOIfjNNVGlaOB4xzck6xHyb4GrcsXlsN0JFG-7JjWFS7LWuaKSl8xmhLlAa9ET8P8cJWPgsPshWd1vlY5g6niKipuhFz_82aqwE2HXqo/s1600/dvdflick_tetris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUAaxJ2i9Qv0E7ZOLY8f_r7beJLF4Ej5Ccg-taOIfjNNVGlaOB4xzck6xHyb4GrcsXlsN0JFG-7JjWFS7LWuaKSl8xmhLlAa9ET8P8cJWPgsPshWd1vlY5g6niKipuhFz_82aqwE2HXqo/s320/dvdflick_tetris.jpg" width="214" /></a>About the only improvement I could suggest is adding a Tetris game while you install -- ala <a href="http://www.dvdflick.net/">DVDFlick</a>...<br />
<br />
Actually, maybe a tower defence clone would be better?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>The install took 3 hours! -- 5 minutes for the file copy, and 2:55h for me to battle the hordes in stage 11 of tower defence!</blockquote>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-23295871028629036252010-11-18T21:21:00.000+10:002010-11-18T21:21:56.792+10:00After a month living with a GNOME, I don't feel any tallerIn an experiment to see what it would be like to take a full plunge into Windows-free-living on the desktop, I put myself on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lampoon's_Animal_House">double secret probation</a> to see if I could live without my Windows trinkets for 30 days, and 60 if I could stretch it. (At home though - at work would be a whole new challenge)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ScYvGa_aSfvfu0m4kJgj8dWQRTENgkd4pdrlHGatKyMViCzTfBd91zJ_-9obKI5ydzziGuUMYInA5KU4pxuwkB2C3-OeQ4BMdSgzfXimQ5IJD82WDHpo3_h1BUHbI22LEAdYFbe2RXs/s1600/win7-ubuntu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-ScYvGa_aSfvfu0m4kJgj8dWQRTENgkd4pdrlHGatKyMViCzTfBd91zJ_-9obKI5ydzziGuUMYInA5KU4pxuwkB2C3-OeQ4BMdSgzfXimQ5IJD82WDHpo3_h1BUHbI22LEAdYFbe2RXs/s1600/win7-ubuntu.jpg" /></a></div><br />
So in through the window comes the penguin...<br />
<br />
The highlights so far are:<br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/">Ubuntu </a>10.10 installer (for the desktop) is a <i>very </i>neat bit of kit. While I haven't actually tried it - I think it stands an excellent chance of passing the "even my mother could install it" test. I wouldn't dare let her try a Windows install.</li>
<li>The baked in s<a href="http://www.google.com/support/chrome/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=165139">ync features of Chrome</a> make it easy peasy to keep all your browsers at work and home in step. With the added benefit that I can expose all my personal details to Google to harvest for fun and profit (ho hum).</li>
<li>A <a href="http://www.virtualbox.org/">VirtualBox</a> install of <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop">Ubuntu Desktop</a> is hands down, the fastest, snappiest desktop VM I've used. Windows XP was usable, Windows 7 was better, but it's waaaaaay faster than that.</li>
</ul><div>So far, so good...</div>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-65061509529956822862010-09-25T21:07:00.000+10:002010-09-25T21:07:13.945+10:00"p" is for "please don't sue me"<blockquote>Duck! Duck!</blockquote><i><br />
</i><br />
<i>...minutes pass...</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<blockquote>Cat! Cat! (giggles)</blockquote><i><br />
</i><br />
<i>...a little while later...</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<blockquote>Bee! (squeals)</blockquote><br />
I thought I had picked up all the kids picture books lying around the floor. I double checked - yup - no picture books. Yet our daughter was making all the fun noises that usually following a reading of picture books.<br />
<br />
A little further investigation reveals she has got hold of a Linux magazine I bought on a whim.<br />
<br />
Turns out this is a <b>Duck</b>...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tFl1KPjsRbXTmNymjXFPfvr8Boz2NC4UkVHwKgQW4GfQq1HbELQ00l58ZxWYAsW8_XdZfgBCCUhkTL5vD0Ak5heHRYbLqkDmMKqKVfMzoFlzQk8ayqRo_-Ls4sDNtOHwMh1LULoqxxU/s1600/Tux_small.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0tFl1KPjsRbXTmNymjXFPfvr8Boz2NC4UkVHwKgQW4GfQq1HbELQ00l58ZxWYAsW8_XdZfgBCCUhkTL5vD0Ak5heHRYbLqkDmMKqKVfMzoFlzQk8ayqRo_-Ls4sDNtOHwMh1LULoqxxU/s1600/Tux_small.png" /></a></div><br />
a fair mistake - any bird is classified as "duck" at the moment.<br />
<br />
This is a <b>Cat</b>...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SeLHxq2YOkPMn9V-ZNpPlgEFMAhlmnakiyyT04QbI6T8tOBNZx3NocEdae7GBexadJw7OM5cEPLQ7bz7N3SIOa1ZPTa_TlJvuv_2Wo7uQ1fiGZfjjZScJy5IOh65PWqNuW3H5geM0ms/s1600/open-suse-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4SeLHxq2YOkPMn9V-ZNpPlgEFMAhlmnakiyyT04QbI6T8tOBNZx3NocEdae7GBexadJw7OM5cEPLQ7bz7N3SIOa1ZPTa_TlJvuv_2Wo7uQ1fiGZfjjZScJy5IOh65PWqNuW3H5geM0ms/s320/open-suse-logo.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />
getting a little harder to see the association now.<br />
<br />
And this is a <b>Bee</b>...<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZOJjzJ1BaKmBwSg6IFC5J7Iw9JLo4NJtPcuXvSmPZCE5EDXvwAXcfaK94FCLdMhXWp1m9bfWS-kj1CMglM0oj3PZeVA8WreUUobspsGlXwNvLXQ4SNsSfP95V8xQgRlRrBlw5YZWsM8/s1600/android-logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAZOJjzJ1BaKmBwSg6IFC5J7Iw9JLo4NJtPcuXvSmPZCE5EDXvwAXcfaK94FCLdMhXWp1m9bfWS-kj1CMglM0oj3PZeVA8WreUUobspsGlXwNvLXQ4SNsSfP95V8xQgRlRrBlw5YZWsM8/s1600/android-logo.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Turns out these mags are great for kids (and cheaper than most picture books). I was thinking of trying a Mac magazine next. So she can go for the traditional "a is for apple" - but I'm worried of copyright or trademark infringement.Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-26704282462506380022010-02-10T23:01:00.001+10:002010-02-10T23:02:32.203+10:00A belated link-blog lamentA few weeks ago, <a href="http://www.arjansworld.com/2009/12/31/waving-goodbye-to-the-old-embracing-the-new/">Arjan Zuidhof officially shutdown operations</a> on his great .NET (and development in general) link-blog. It was not a huge surprise; it was alluded to it back in <a href="http://www.arjansworld.com/2009/08/27/no-linkblog-for-aug-27-2009/">August</a>. He's now concentrating solely on productivity, gtd and lifehacking. While these are also great topics (and still hold a personal interest for me), I will miss the great development content and ideas the posts inspired.<br />
<br />
From the back row: <i>"Gee, that's sad. Blogs come and go, get over it man!"</i><br />
<br />
True enough, but... I couldn't help make a loose connection between this and a fairly hot topic raised on DNR - <a href="http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=476">Is software development too complex?</a> back in November. It spawned a huge series of follow ups and comments (both for and against). But it's hard to argue that the number of CLI languages, data access choices, logging frameworks, etc, etc (ad infinitum) are reducing. When you start a new project, which one to do you choose? Which one is "right"? Which one will still be a good choice in 2 years? In 2 minutes?<br />
<br />
<blockquote>Q: There's a huge amount of choice out there, and it's constantly increasing! What are we to do?</blockquote><blockquote>A: (That guy from the back row is still here) <i>"Get over it man!"</i></blockquote><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrwW6XkvGXkc2NXKuiAtpWJ3otOce1xiqzGB1ZLU5IYq-VGhtwU8xnWC4SAWnahuIlmlZXKNShl-VV-09EMNM5yR7iYs6TmL5_qcahLHm-snWLIUxhMthsfXHw3CZf0D-URO8nUaF3dQ/s1600-h/Haemoglobin50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrwW6XkvGXkc2NXKuiAtpWJ3otOce1xiqzGB1ZLU5IYq-VGhtwU8xnWC4SAWnahuIlmlZXKNShl-VV-09EMNM5yR7iYs6TmL5_qcahLHm-snWLIUxhMthsfXHw3CZf0D-URO8nUaF3dQ/s320/Haemoglobin50.jpg" /></a></div>This is a great time for .NET development. The platform is mature, popular and stable. The huge variety of technologies available within that platform are a sign of this. Sure you will pick technological dead-ends, or the next-shiny-thing will seem so much better. But perhaps this helps focus the effort on design - being able to back out of dead-ends, or support switching to the next-shiny-thing.<br />
<br />
I just hope the (seemingly) overwhelming choice is not driving talented people (like Arjan) away from the .NET platform. I honestly don't think so - but for a brief moment the connection was made in my addled mind.<br />
<br />
Maybe a fitting salute to Arjan's contributions is to select some of the gems (there's plenty more):<br />
<br />
<ul><li><a href="http://codebucket.org/archive/2009/11/15/it-doesnrsquot-matter-if-you-know-what-yoursquore-doing.aspx">It Doesn’t Matter If You Know What You’re Doing</a><br />
<i>Doesn't matter who you are, or what you are doing, or even if you (think you) did it well. A review will always help...</i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://highscalability.com/blog/2009/10/26/facebooks-memcached-multiget-hole-more-machines-more-capacit.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">FACEBOOK'S MEMCACHED MULTIGET HOLE: MORE MACHINES != MORE CAPACITY</span></a><br />
Don't you wish you had that sort of problem. Adding the 801st server makes things worse...</i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/somasegar/archive/2009/10/26/spec-explorer-a-model-based-testing-tool.aspx">Spec Explorer: A Model-Based Testing tool</a></span>Kind of "research QA team" crowd, but an interesting way to try and solve state-explosion...</i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.pseale.com/blog/WebsiteBackgroundServicesAreHot.aspx">Website Background Services Are Hot</a></span>Getting your webserver to do something else it was not designed to do (but still needs to do). Personally I prefer <a href="http://website%20background%20services%20are%20hot/">Jeff Atwood's cache depndency version</a>, but I'm easily swayed by the next-shiny-thing...</i></li>
<li><i><a href="http://www.caffeinatedcoder.com/writing-an-svn-precommit-hook-in-net-that-integrates-with-jira/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Writing an SVN PreCommit Hook in .NET that integrates with Jira</span></a><br />
Very simple example of how to integrate the hooks and avoid some of the pain with SharpSVN.</i></li>
<li><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><a href="http://blog.jonasbandi.net/2009/09/passionate-developer-i-do-like-my.html">The passionate developer: I do like my profession, I don't like my job</a></span>Passionate about something you know is imperfect. Those zany developers, what were they thinking...</i></li>
</ul><br />
<br />
<br />
<b><i>Dammit! - Now I've started a link-blog!</i></b>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-35536453289816785822009-08-05T21:29:00.004+10:002009-08-05T21:54:53.377+10:00There's a bear in there, people with games, stories to tell and box of balloons with a featherlight touch<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_vC8pPY9W0L_YMNXM8MXzCWC2fBj4vWQ9_y70fkbB-gE2hSq-Bi5SBA3FN8Gm-HwFIiacmx9biFNFXuAvkmpe6C6fQ50Bg0M7UkUayWUYwYx3afuK8Qhj4pFEmRM6_VT48QgoqpPf3w/s1600-h/LITTLETED.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV_vC8pPY9W0L_YMNXM8MXzCWC2fBj4vWQ9_y70fkbB-gE2hSq-Bi5SBA3FN8Gm-HwFIiacmx9biFNFXuAvkmpe6C6fQ50Bg0M7UkUayWUYwYx3afuK8Qhj4pFEmRM6_VT48QgoqpPf3w/s400/LITTLETED.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5366446875256559266" border="0" /></a><br />I was watching <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/children/play/default.htm">Play School</a> today with my daughter - enjoying the crowd favorites: Incy Wincy Spider, Clap your Hands, Sing a Rainbow. For the finale, we got a piano accompanied sing-a-long version of <a href="http://www.madness.co.uk/">Madness</a>'s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Fun">House of Fun</a>. Perhaps not entirely appropriate (not that she can understand the lyrics yet); more of a gentle reminder that I'm old and out of touch, and things aren't going to change :-).<br /><br />I'm trying to recall if they had anything similar when I was watching it as a kid? I think I remember Little Ted and Humpty Dumpty on a cardboard barge floating down a crepe paper river chanting "no future". Then again, maybe it's my shoddy memory...Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-54221120247303333312008-08-19T06:15:00.003+10:002011-06-17T01:16:09.367+10:00<div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlZrCLUKi7VcabGligN25j_Z5eQnXYATMyzKca4sQxQp9rPp2fjyMVj8OAwfPCPppSxhVnLMvZfPbBTtVbtHXpy6igRO7fxhwFIGFS3BRURefVdgeI99x1WzSElAc72F8vWsX_4nAZDk/s1600-h/20013.strip.print.gif"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNlZrCLUKi7VcabGligN25j_Z5eQnXYATMyzKca4sQxQp9rPp2fjyMVj8OAwfPCPppSxhVnLMvZfPbBTtVbtHXpy6igRO7fxhwFIGFS3BRURefVdgeI99x1WzSElAc72F8vWsX_4nAZDk/s400/20013.strip.print.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5235954130383641042" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(sigh) It just made so much sense today...</div>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-68290573402709267732008-02-05T21:05:00.000+10:002008-02-05T23:22:58.358+10:00Vista reparse shenanigans with rsyncAs part of my backup script overhaul, I have switched to using <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rsync">rsync</a>. The main reason is I now have to support Windows XP, Vista, Linux and maybe Mac in future; and I don't fancy re-doing all this backup stuff each time.<br /><br />The good news first: rsync works a treat on Linux (well duh!) and XP (via <a href="http://www.cygwin.com/">cygwin</a>). I was extremely happy with how easy to configure and quick to run the Linux and XP backup's were. But it seems I was fooled into a false sense of security...<br /><br />I tried running exactly the same rsync script (that worked on XP) on Vista and was greeted with a slew of errors, the most confusing being:<br /><pre>rsync: /cygdrive/X/your-file-here: Permission denied (13)</pre>Initially I thought it was the old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control">Vista UAC </a>playing up. But I confirmed that I had disabled UAC. The "permission denied" in this case, was a red herring. The real problem was the <a href="http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365503%28VS.85%29.aspx">reparse points</a>. These little symbolic links are available in XP, but not used much. But in Vista they really went to town, and scattered them all about the file system like the Easter Bunny hiding eggs.<br /><br />rsync (well more likely the way it works with cygwin) is not too happy about reparse points, and after more careful inspection of my "Permission denied" errors, it turns out they were all on reparse points.<br /><br />My hack to get around this is pretty simple. The backup script, just before running rsync, generates a list of all the reparse points and tells rsync to exclude them. Thus rsync never encounters a scary directory it doesn't know how to deal with.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >VER | findstr /i "6.0.6000" > nul</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />IF %ERRORLEVEL% EQU 0 GOTO backup_vista</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />...rest of script...</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> <br /><br /></span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >backup_vista:</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >REM (dir) build a list of all the reparse directories</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />REM (sed) swap around the path separators</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />REM append to a file to use in rsync</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />dir c:\Users /A:LD /S /B | sed "s/c\:\\/\//;s/\\/\//g" >> exclude.local.list</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />dir c:\ProgramData /A:LD /S /B | sed "s/c\:\\/\//;s/\\/\//g" >> exclude.local.list</span> <span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >rsync </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >options</span><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" > --exclude-from=exclude.local.list /cygdrive/c/ </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" >destination</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);font-family:courier new;font-size:85%;" ><br />...rest of script...</span><br /><pre><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSV1bn4GrehalHN05R-b2Nd6JSgMQU-U8b0VZB5OKAg8wm9Y6aGsm6AZ729yf72dGFBscui9WRG_NaCHsx8nlCd_wwjU1OkPxHeIAtdyDixDfldRoQzce_4cbRrOiE9fmHtjSfizKRyOA/s1600-h/cookiemonster.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSV1bn4GrehalHN05R-b2Nd6JSgMQU-U8b0VZB5OKAg8wm9Y6aGsm6AZ729yf72dGFBscui9WRG_NaCHsx8nlCd_wwjU1OkPxHeIAtdyDixDfldRoQzce_4cbRrOiE9fmHtjSfizKRyOA/s200/cookiemonster.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5163484527839186050" border="0" /></a></pre><br />It's not pretty, but (to quote Mr C. Monster) "it's good enough for me".<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">For bonus points, you could keep a copy of the reparse point list, and for a restore resurrect them all. I don't need this.</span>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3146715479304210434.post-67937110818459488112008-01-25T06:39:00.000+10:002008-01-25T07:04:57.888+10:00readynas is smokin' hotI bought an <a href="http://www.infrant.com/">Infrant ReadyNAS NV+</a> a little while back to "delay" (I dare not say "solve") some of our storage problems. It has worked perfectly for over 10 months and was, without doubt, the simplest computer equipment I have ever set up.<br /><br />Unfortunately last weekend (after being out of the house all day, on a hot day) the expensive scent of burning plastic started to waft through the office. A brief nasal inspection of all the computer equipment revealed the fault was with the ReadyNAS. The stench of death lasted another 10 minutes before the unit switched off, never to return.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebqbzkt9ii4A4lpAXRLIL4qhQIldhvKyxmj5Jzz7oPynzzs6N03LPx8bru1RSN8tBdN9jBLqiB7cq8LOSWwSeKtX6AfB1F6aWwzl2u5IK7l4tOipo9uXEUl_kHhWipk7eJ4Xnnf4XfZw/s1600-h/ReadyNAS.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 187px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebqbzkt9ii4A4lpAXRLIL4qhQIldhvKyxmj5Jzz7oPynzzs6N03LPx8bru1RSN8tBdN9jBLqiB7cq8LOSWwSeKtX6AfB1F6aWwzl2u5IK7l4tOipo9uXEUl_kHhWipk7eJ4Xnnf4XfZw/s320/ReadyNAS.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5159150729743862898" border="0" /></a>Fortunately it's still under warranty and should be RMA'd within the week, but it made me question my choice of the ReadyNAS. When I bought it, I was under the impression it was one of the most full featured and reliable home NAS devices you could get (I'm not a fan of <a href="http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/terastation/">Buffalo</a> - dunno why).<br /><br />After calming down, I remembered I was <a href="http://www.infrant.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=10259">warned about this situation</a> (and emailed) from Infrant way back in the cool of winter. I remember thinking "yeah - that's a good idea, I will do that..."<br /><br />(so you know what that means)<br /><br />I didn't, and now it's toast.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">So tip of the day: If you have a ReadyNAS that needs the temperature patch and is not in an air conditioned office, apply the patch </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">now</span><span style="font-style: italic;">.<br /><br /></span><span>It's still a great home NAS box and I would recommend it. But it's not quite as bullet-proof (when it comes to heat) as I hoped.</span><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>Simonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03508362113620473623noreply@blogger.com0