2007-04-30 10:11:00
Ahh!... *sigh* This is nice and relaxing... Sleeping in until nine, surfing the web under my blanket on the couch, munching away at some cruesly. Good stuff! It's hard to imagine that only a kilometer away from my couch there's hundreds of thousands of people bustling through the city for Koninginnedag (that'll be the celebration of the Queen's birthday). In a few hours I'll join my friends Menno, Peter and Wendy to trawl through the city and to end up at some restaurant. Hopefully Marli can join us later on, if she can find the restaurant ~_^
Yesterday we'd gone to Menno's new place in Veenendaal, to inaugurate his backyard with it's very first barbecue. We'd dragged the Gamecube, our barbecue and some meats and veggies down there and had a very nice day. And I even learnt something about BBQing: using ordinary charcoal instead of the so-called briquettes is a lot different! On the one hand it's much easier to get the heat going, but on the other hand charcoal gets used up much quicker as well.
Also, speaking of national holidays, it's a shame we're not in Finland this week. I'd have loved to celebrate Vappu with my family. Vappu has become famous as "the day that the whole of Finland gets collectively drunk", but of course of more than that! It's a celebration that revolves around Labour Day, around students, and around family and friends. I wouldn't mind flying up to Helsinki for a nice picnic and my first taste of real Sima.
kilala.nl tags: holiday, friends, relaxing,
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2007-04-27 21:57:00
Aiee! Ze goggles! They do nothing!.. |
Ever since Apple introduced the iPhone I've been lukewarm about the device. It's a wonderful piece of engineering, sure enough, and of course it's pure eye candy. But it didn't really manage to make me feel all gooey inside. |
If you happen to have a spare ninety minutes and you're curious about the presentation genius that is Steve Jobs, go have a look.
Seriously, it's a good thing these presentations aren't broadcast nation-wide 'cause that'd just be a danger to the public. People'd be scrambling like maniacs to get the products Steve's talking about. ^_^
I have no clue how he does it, but Steve really -is- the best public speaker I know. The imagery is polished, the story is clean and well rehearsed and (in my book) most importantly: they have backups! If something goes wrong, Steve just flips a switch and on goes the show! Take that Bill Gates!
kilala.nl tags: apple, iphone,
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2007-04-27 14:32:00
Ever since Apple switched to Intel processors in their systems and Parallels came out with their Parallels Desktop software it's been possible to run Windows, Linux and other Unices inside virtual machines on your Mac. That's totally great, since it allows you to run various test systems without needing additional hardware!
A lot of people also got Solaris 10 to run in PD, although some ran into a little bit of trouble. Well, not anymore! Sun has created a pre-installed Solaris Express image for use with Parallels Desktop. This allows you to immediately get up and running with Solaris, without even having to go through any of the normal installation hoops.
I know what I'll be doing when I get my Macbook in ;)
Thanks to Ben Rockwood for pointing out this little gem.
kilala.nl tags: unix, apple, sysadmin,
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2007-04-26 15:57:00
There's something about myself that rather confuses me. You see, I get embarassed about public speaking at the weirdes times.
I have absolutely no qualms about holding a presentation for forty people and I'll happily chat away about the subject at hand. It all depends on proper preparation and having a "feeling" for the story I'm about to tell.
On the other hand, doing a roleplaying exercise with seven people there with me completely blocks me up. Not just stuttering or searching for words, but drawing a complete blank: not thinking straight, not making sense and feeling like there's a knot inside that keeps me from moving. Seeing how roleplaying relies purely on improvisation as opposed to preparation this could be a clear indicator that I don't deal well with improv situations (which is at least partially true).
The odd thing though is that I had a "blocked" experience yesterday -at-home-! o_O
Someone had written something flattering about me and Marli asked me to read it to her. Playfully I went "Noooo, I'm embarassed!", followed by some more "nonono's". But for some reason (I have no clue why) this actually turned into a real block. As in: picking up the paper, reading the first few words and then getting an almost physical reaction to put the paper down again. Weird!
The human psyche is a wondrous thing!
kilala.nl tags: life,
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2007-04-24 18:36:00
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Of course we all know ol' Jack Thompson, the gung-ho lawyer who saves our poor children's souls from the pits of hell by protecting them against violent video games. Jack of course firmly believes that juvie delinquents are frequently influenced by video games and takes every chance he gets to tie in FPSs and the likes in with violent crimes.
Well, what if he were right? What if kids really are influenced by the games they play? See above for my logical deduction...
kilala.nl tags: annoying, internet, geeky,
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2007-04-23 00:04:00
It's been a long time in coming, seeing as how I first blogged about the game in October, but Introversion and Ambrosia have finally managed to complete their Mac-version of DEFCON. I'm still very curious about the game and will try to find some time soon to try my hand at it.
No doubt I'll suck at it as much as I do at other strategy games ^_^;
Get the game over here.
kilala.nl tags: games,
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2007-04-22 12:23:49
This is truly a piece of art! |
Oh my. Thanks to a page on Engadget I've found a thing of true beauty: A steampunk computer. It consists of modern-day laptop parts, combined with an antique typewriter and some various other trinkets, including a morse key. |
kilala.nl tags: awesome, internet, geeky,
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2007-04-21 23:51:00
Tonight was interesting, to say the least :)
A few days ago a mystery guest called Nathalie left me a message in my blog's commenting section. Apparently she knew Marlijne from long ago and wanted to talk to her again. Well, it turns out that this Nathalie was one of my wife's best friends in high school! A few phone calls and IMs later it's decided that we'll go visit her on her ship sometime soon and that we'd visit her at her parent's place tonight.
The girls seemed to have a blast, acting just like they were fourteen again :D Nathalie's younger sister didn't help matters much, since she's the typical playful twelve year old ;) We had a great time and we hope to see much more of the family in the near future.
Which reminds me that I really ought to give my primary school / high school friend Xander a phone call again. It's been about five years since we last spoke.
kilala.nl tags: friends,
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2007-04-21 15:24:00
Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. o_O |
While browsing through all of the pages at Steampunk Workshop I stumbled on a link to a supposedly rather good steampunk-themed webcomic called Girl Genius. Always interested in comics revolving around that theme I read a few pages and immediately recognized the hand of Phil Foglio. I was first introduced to Phil's work through various cards from the Magic: the Gathering game and then through his comics for Inquest magazine. |
kilala.nl tags: comics, reading,
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2007-04-21 15:17:00
A lot of work went into something this pretty. |
Thanks to Edmond I think I've found a hobby I'd like to pursue once the whole Anime 2007 show is over. On his website, Edmond told a little about The Steampunk Workshop, which basically is a guy combining his love for the steampunk theme with a creative hobby. |
kilala.nl tags: creative,
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2007-04-18 21:58:00
I'm usually not that big of a National Geographic fan, but this evening I did happen to run into something nifty. NG run a show called Deep jungle in which a number of scientists trek through the world's jungles armed with modern-day equipment.
Among their equipment is a high speed camera that shoots film at an amazing 500 FPS, which seems insane to me. This piece of kit is required to shoot footage of the yellow-thighed manakin's mating rituals since, apparently, the bird's movements are just too quick for the human eye to follow. The little bird's wings actually flit faster than those of a hummingbird at 80 Hz, with the bird bouncing from tree to tree in split seconds.
I usually zap past any nature documentaries on TV, but this one managed to catch my attention:
* That manakin really is a rather cool bird. It even moonwalks!
* Kimberley Bostwick is a true geek among ornithologists. She's the first person I've seen who actually demonstrates a bird's mating dance herself :)
Video here
kilala.nl tags: awesome,
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2007-04-18 14:38:00
One of the obvious down sides to using a scripting language like ksh as opposed to a "real" programming language like Perl or PHP (or C for that matter) is that, for each command that you string together, you're forking off a new process.
This isn't much of a problem when your script isn't too convoluted or when your dataset isn't too large. However, when you start processing 40-50MB log files with multiple FOR loops containing a few IF statements for each line, then you start running into performance issues.
And as I'm running into just that I'm trying to find ways to cut down on the forking, which means getting rid of as many IFs and pipes as possible. Here's a few examples of what has worked for me so far...
Instead of running:
[ expr1 ] && command1
[ expr2 ] && command1
Run:
[ (expr1) && (expr2) ] && command1
Why? Because if test works the way I expect it to, it'll die if the first expression is untrue, meaning that it won't even try the second expression. If you have multiple commands that complement eachother then you ought to be able to fit them into a set of parentheses after test cutting down on more forks.
Instead of running:
if [ `echo $STRING | grep $QUERY | wc -l` -gt 0 ]; then
Run:
if [ ! -z `echo $STRING | grep $QUERY` ]; then
More ideas to follow soon. Maybe I ought to start learning a "real" programming language? :D
EDIT:
OMG! I can't believe that I've just learnt this now, after eight years in the field! When using the Korn shell use [[ expr ]] for your tests as opposed to [ expr ].
Why? Because the [ expr ] is a throw-back to Bourne shell compatibility that makes use of the external test binary, as opposed to the built-in test function. This should speed up things considerably!
kilala.nl tags: unix, work, writing, sysadmin,
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2007-04-18 01:08:00
I just love the look and feel of their website! |
Just another quick post before going to bed. |
It's funny how I've been following Ben Rockwoods's blog for months, knowing that he works for Joyent, but having no clue what they do. And now to run into them again through Ars :)
kilala.nl tags: other tech, internet,
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2007-04-18 00:49:00
Uhm, what? |
Some time last week I paid a visit to my local, favourite game shop Dr Games. They have a rather decent collection of retro games and the store itself is actually run by a bunch of game-fanatics. If you happen to be in Utrecht, be sure to drop by their shop on the Amsterdamsestraatweg. |
I also picked up Phoenix Wright 2: Justice for all for the Nintendo DS, after hearing so much good about the series. So far I'm half way through the second court case and I have to admit that I'm not 100% enthused.
For those not in the know: the PW series has you playing the role of a defense attorney, defending seemingly impossible cases where the accused can't be anything but guilty. Or is he?
My opinion? Yes, it's a good game and I enjoy it. But no, the game is hardly exciting.
* The animation is crude and repetitive.
* The english translation can get on your nerves with lame jokes.
* The pace of the game is sloooow. This isn't something that I mind, but oodles of people will most definitely be turned off by it.
That said, the game does have its moments and it'll have you thinking hard about what evidence you'll need to present at what times. All in all it's twenty-nine euros well spent, though I wouldn't have bought it if it'd gone over thirty-five.
EDIT:
Heehee, this is funny. Just tell the website how you feel on a subject and let it generate Phoenix's OBJECTION! for you! ^_^
kilala.nl tags: games, childhood,
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2007-04-16 16:38:00
When writing shell scripts for my customers I always try to be as clear as possible, allowing them to modify my code even long after I'm gone. In order to achieve this I usually provide a rather lengthy piece of opening comments, with comments add throughout the script for each subroutine and for every switch or command that may be unclear to the untrained eye.
In general I've found that it's best to have at least the following information in your opening blurb:
* Who made the program? When was it finalised? Who requested the script to be made? Where can the author be reached for questions?
* A "usage" line that shows the reader how to call the program and which parameters are at his disposal.
* A description of what the program actually does.
* Descriptions for each of the parameters and options that can be passed to the script.
* The limitations imposed upon the script. Which specific software is needed? What other requisites are there? What are the nasty little things that may pop up unexpectedly?
* What are the current bugs and faults? The so-called FIXMEs.
* A description of the input that the program takes.
* A description of the output that the program generates.
Equally important is the inclusion of debugging capabilities. Of course you can start adding "echo" lines at various, strategic points in the script when you run into problems, but it's oh-so-much nicer if they're already in there! Adding those new lines is usually a messy affair that can make your problems even worse :( I usually prepend the debugging commands with "[ $DEBUG -eq 1 ] &&", which allows me to turn the debugging on or off at the top of the script using one variable.
And finally, for the more involved scripts, it's a great idea to write a small test suite. Build a script that actually takes the real script through its loops by automatically generating input and by introducing errors.
Two examples of script where I did all of this are check_suncluster and check_log3 with the new TEC-analysis.sh on its way in a few days.
So far, TEC-analysis.sh checks in at:
* 497 lines in total.
* 306 lines of actual code.
* 136 lines of comments.
* 55 lines of debugging code.
Approximately 39% of this script exists solely for the benefit of the reader and user.
kilala.nl tags: work, unix, writing, sysadmin,
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2007-04-16 05:44:00
No wai! |
Heheh, sometimes my brother just knows exactly what to say (or what to e-mail me) to make me crack a smile. So when he sent me a link to this Mighty Wombat cartoon, it was sure to have good results :) |
kilala.nl tags: awesome, geeky, maths,
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2007-04-15 22:17:00
Some of the jokes are really, really bad :D |
Hmmm... That was a good weekend and it's helped me on my way a little bit. |
Jimmy (MK) and Jasper had rode their bikes from Den Bosch (60km) and Veldhoven (100km) over to Utrecht as part as a bet shall we say? They made it in one piece and they actually seemed pretty healthy at the end of the trip ^_^; We watched a great Korean flick called Marrying the mafia 2 and went to bed around 2300 since I was really broken :D
Today I was supposed to meet my dad in Lemmer around 1200, so we kicked J&J out of the house around 1100 (which made me late). Fred and I were going to take his boat out on the IJsselmeer to relax a little. Since there was nearly no wind we just putted around on the engine for a few hours, getting sun burnt :D That was a -great- way to spend the day because we really didn't do -anything-. That is, until getting back to port which was when we needed to stow everything away neatly, including all the sails etc.
All in all, a weekend spent very well!
kilala.nl tags: health, life, friends, sports, relaxing,
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2007-04-10 06:35:00
* Family
My mother and her husband had flown over to the Netherlands for a long weekend, so we went to see them at my sister's yesterday. It was very nice to see them again since it'd been at least a year! I'm sorry to say that we had to leave early, in part due to the crap I described in my previous blog post.
@ Anu: we're sorry for leaving so early, we really -do- miss you you know? :)
* Website
I've been cooking up ideas for a completely new build of Kilala.nl. Most of the content will remain the same (although some parts will be taken offline) and the change will be mostly visual. I plan on finally -really- learning CSS so I can implement some nice, graphical trickery.
In order to get to a point where I can start working on the new code I'll first need to get some things sorted. I'm already working on moving all archived blog posts into the database (only 2002 and 2003 remain) and I've set up MySQL + PHP on my Powermac so I can run a local version of the website. Still, it'll be a very long road 'till I finally get to the end result and I hope that the creative process involved will keep me a bit happier.
* Doubts about work (see yesterday)
One of the doubts I was talking about earlier, about work, is that I would love to do something more creative than systems administration. Of course I "make" stuff now as well, but I can never go: "This is me! This is what I've built! Marvel at my handiwork!". Scripts and proposals and solved incidents just aren't tangible like that.
I think this website is here to at least partially fill that gap: I'm trying creative processes that I never would get to use otherwise. Thing is though, jobs with tangible, creative processes start to sound more and more enticing! Jobs like gardening, cooking and carpentry where you make something and people care.
That's something jobs in IT are renowned for: most people outside your sphere of influence, but inside the same organisation, don't really seem to care about what you do. So if you're part of a team of sysadmins the "we care"-level drops steadily once you moved outside your department.
For now I'll stick to my current job and get more creative hobbies. There's still that sewing project lying in the corner and woodwork sounds rather relaxing by now :)
kilala.nl tags: family, website, career, life, relaxing,
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2007-04-09 20:49:00
I do, you know? |
You know? I don't think I'm doing too hot :[ |
I've known about these feelings and doubts all along, but I've only realised just now how deep things are getting. While on the phone with my friend Kaj, who's just come back from Japan (glad that your back!), I noticed a tremble in my voice and some moisture cropping up in my eyes... That ain't no good sign as far as I'm concerned.
I think I need to think things over...
kilala.nl tags: health, meh, life, career,
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2007-04-06 22:54:00
Rhino space-police! It doesn't get any better than that! |
I can't believe I haven't found the time to blog about this yet! ^_^ |
Something else that makes me really happy is that the BBC have brought the Dr Who fear forecast back to life :) I wrote about the Forecast last year and now it's back. I just love reading the observations of small kids watching Dr Who. *glee* You'll find that each 2007 episode has a Fear Factor button.
kilala.nl tags: tv, doctor who,
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2007-04-06 10:57:00
Yay! There wasn't much reason for my doubting :) I passed with a 690 score (on a 200-930 scale), which boils down to 87% of 73 questions answered correctly. Not bad... Not bad at all...
Next up: ITIL Foundations!
kilala.nl tags: work, lpi, unix, studying,
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2007-04-06 08:55:00
I can't get over how quickly Snow's grown the last two years! When I joined them in June of 2004 I think I was something like the 45th consultant, with 15 more folks in the "overhead" (sales force, operations, hr, etc). In two years' time we've attracted forty new employees, with the hundredth n00b signing on this week. Imagine that!
The downside to growing this large is that our office building really isn't suited for us anymore: the meeting room has grown rather small and oxygen quickly runs out during our monthly meetings. Good thing that we're looking for new accommodations! Apparently they're either looking to rent an existing building, or even to build a completely new one. The deadline for the move is guestimated at Oct 2008. Shiny!
My presentation didn't go too well, since I hadn't prepared at all. I'd made the slides alright, but I'd never gone through all the things I wanted to say. I bet I came off as very nervous :) I'm very happy though that at least three additional guys indicated that they'd be interested in joining the group travelling to Assembly.
Studying for my LPIC-102 went rather oddly. The past few nights my head's felt like it was completely full and like it was unable to take up anymore information. I'm afraid that it rather affected my mood last night, making me all grouchy and bitchy.
@Marli: I'm sorry honey, that you had to endure that... again...
So... I'm off to the exam! Wish me luck!
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2007-04-03 23:41:00
The LPIC-102 summary is done. You can find it over here, or in the menu on the left. Enjoy!
kilala.nl tags: work, lpi, writing, studying, unix, sysadmin,
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2007-04-03 23:37:00
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Ruddy heck, what a day! All in all it took me around thirteen hours, but I've finally finished my LPIC-102 summary. 41 pages of Linuxy goodness, bound to drag me through the second part of my LPIC-1 exams. |
kilala.nl tags: writing, work, lpi, unix,
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2007-04-03 10:50:00
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Meh, this sucks! I don't know what's going on but I just can't get going at a proper pace today! I overslept this morning, my body feels like it just won't move, my typing is -way- off (making much more mistakes than usual and typing a lot slower) and my head just keeps wandering off. |
As Mr Mudkips used to yell in order to inspire me: Faito! Faito! Gambate!.
kilala.nl tags: rhythm, meh, lpi,
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2007-04-03 09:19:00
I don't know whether it's irony, or just daft old me...
At the office I'm in charge of the duty roster for our team, making sure that all holidays are booked, that all daily tasks gets planned and that everybody knows what they ought to be doing on which days. I even send out an e-mail every Friday, reminding the team of their duties for the next two weeks.
So why is it that I forgot that I'm on stand-by duty this week? XD
My phone was turned off, my laptop's in my drawer at the office and I missed an emergency call at 0600. Luckily it was only a category B server which means that in the end the customer did get what they were paying for ^_^;
Oh dear...
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2007-04-01 17:38:00
M-mm. This -is- a tasty beverage!.. |
I had to hop into town for a few bits and bobs for the AV setup and while I was at it I also went by Tiny Tokyo for a few of our favourite Japanese soft drinks. I really love this stuff; it's a shame they're so fscking expensive at TT. |
* UCC coffee with milk, which simply is cold coffee. It's rather weak coffee with a lot of milk and a bit of sugar. Personally I find it very refreshing on a warm, spring afternoon.
* Calpico, which is the drink that got us started on Japanese sodas. It's a still soft drink based on some dairy product. It's very hard to describe the flavour and the description depends on who you ask :) I think it tastes of chilly, melted vanilla ice cream, while Marli likens it to a dairy drink we have over here in the Netherlands.
EDIT:
Thanks to Technorati's tagging I've found a great clip on YouTube: part of a Japanese TV game show where the contestants are asked to guess why American's would be disgusted at the idea of drinking Calpis (the original name for Calpico). If the first few minutes are too boring for you, zap to around the 1:45 mark where you'll see the disgusted reactions of a few Americans on the Japanese streets ^_^ They're hilarious!
kilala.nl tags: drinks,
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2007-04-01 03:01:00
You're the motherfscker should be on brain detail. |
Especially for my mates at $CLIENT ^_^ I'd been meaning to put this up a long, long time now. See you guys on wednesday! o/ |
kilala.nl tags: movies, geeky,
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