11/15/08 12:27 - 53ºF - ID#46697

Bug Fix

I love open source, we had a problem in a vendor library and we fixed it ourselves. If we had to wait for someone else to do it, who knows how long it would've been broken.

It was only a change to a couple lines of code, but it was very hard to track down. It took me and a co-worker a day of pair programming to narrow it down and figure out what to change, but damn it feels good to have done. And to have our specs and continuous integration running reliably again.

It was like 4 layers deep worth of metaprogramming. I feel like I know our spec library very, very well now. :)

Permalink: Bug_Fix.html
Words: 123
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: internets

11/13/08 12:54 - 51ºF - ID#46672

LOLCAT

Permalink: LOLCAT.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: work

11/11/08 12:44 - 41ºF - ID#46646

More Work

Servers have been ordered. Clustering and failover designed. Weeks and months of testing and automation. Probably a hundred hours of work total. Super excited, I've been prepping this stuff for 6 months now and it's going to see the light of day.

We're going for paired mirrors to start, then splitting out each VM container type into their own tiered clusters as we need to add capacity and can judge bottlenecks.

I know no one cares about this but me, but it's my journal so, what the hell :)

Permalink: More_Work.html
Words: 89
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: culture

11/08/08 09:14 - 50ºF - ID#46601

An Evil Good Book

I'm reading a book, "The 48 Laws of Power".

It is by turns interesting and disturbing. Each law has it's own chapter, with historical anecdotes and analysis.

Some are fairly neutral:

Law 5: So Much Depends on Reputation -- Guard it with Your Life.

Others, not so much:

Law 17: Keep Others in Suspended Terror -- Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability. Or, Law 33: Discover Each Man's Thumbscrew.

Now, part of my enjoyment of this book is that it appeals to the inner dictator in me, a side that I never knew that I had. But, hmm... I do. Hate to admit it.

Generally, it's an interesting look at the 'pack of monkeys' part of our brains and culture. Everything I have read so far I can relate to experiences and situations that I've been in. I'm hoping to keep my eyes more open to this side of human interaction, without using it to scheme and plot.

If I ever start to seem unpredictable, though, cower in terror!

hodown writes at 12:52:44 11/11/08 - Comment #41972: Keep others suspended in terror. I love that!

metalpeter writes at 03:20:55 11/08/08 - Comment #41807: I'm guessing that there are some sublaws in there somewhere and so 48 isn't exact. On a side note it is a good thing "The Brain" and "Stewie" didn't find this book or they might figure out how to leave cartoon form and take over the world. I Know Bush claims not to read but I wonder if he ever read it, HA.

tinypliny writes at 12:36:00 11/08/08 - Comment #41802: Who wants to bet with me that there are #48 laws in that book.

jim writes at 12:30:08 11/08/08 - Comment #41801: Law #49: If you can't get household appliances to respect you, what person will?

tinypliny writes at 12:14:44 11/08/08 - Comment #41800: HAHAHA.. I regularly threaten my rice cooker.

james writes at 12:09:32 11/08/08 - Comment #41799: You should see the sadistic BDSM relationship Jim has with our appliances. "You will wash those dishes you filthy dish washing pig!"
"Ya, that is right you whore. Turn that bread into toast!"

paul writes at 11:57:19 11/08/08 - Comment #41797: I saw that in you and thats why I made you the commander. Someday, when we form the estrip Army - which is the whole secret plan (not so sectret anymore) of the site, you can whip them into a frenzy and have them take over buffalo.

tinypliny writes at 09:44:56 11/08/08 - Comment #41780

Gasp. Blank Comment.

MUST GUARD REPUTATION*

----
PS: So Much Depends on Reputation -- Guard it with Your Life.

PPS: And it somehow reminds me of that scene in Stardust where the captain is totally devastated when his crew sees him dressed up in a ballet tutu. Hahaha. It was a fun movie.

tinypliny writes at 09:42:50 11/08/08 - Comment #41779

tinypliny writes at 09:41:21 11/08/08 - Comment #41778: I think its safe to say that I quake in my boots everytime I see your hair. It's the K2 of unpredictability after the Everest of that actor who always confuses me.

Permalink: An_Evil_Good_Book.html
Words: 173
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

11/06/08 12:42 - 67ºF - ID#46571

Purple Country

I'm trying to remember in my glee that 53% isn't the same as 100%. :)

Some maps from

By county:

By county, stretched to fit population:

Permalink: Purple_Country.html
Words: 33
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: humor

11/05/08 04:55 - 67ºF - ID#46560

Not me, no sir...

CC Licensed from

Permalink: Not_me_no_sir_.html
Words: 8
Location: Buffalo, NY

Category: politics

11/05/08 11:13 - 53ºF - ID#46551

Democratic NY

According to unofficial results, Democrats captured 32 out of the 62 seats in the Senate. The shift marks the end of an era for New York Republicans, whose control of the Senate had come to depend on a bloc of senators, some in their 70s and 80s, who had put off retirement to help preserve the party's majority. --

So, the Democrats are in full control of the legislative and executive branches in New York State. Personally, I am hoping they legalize gay marriage, something that has previously passed the Assembly and has heretofore stalled in the Senate. Gov. Patterson is willing to sign such a bill. We'd be the first state to postively enact such legislation, instead of having courts make the call. A big, big, deal.

In general, it is now up to them to figure out how to cut the state budget by billions of dollars. I am not sure if they are up to the task or not, but I'll give them the benefit time to see if they can.