tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72248623830527748212024-03-13T23:49:10.541-07:00My ThoughtsSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-66708950525588344672013-06-11T14:56:00.001-07:002013-06-11T14:56:50.271-07:00My name for the new mac pro, the ICAN!No one has thought of this yet, so I thought I would. The new mac pro looks like a trash can, so the name should be the "ICAN" the trash can that can!<br />
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ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-86381418496045446052013-05-22T22:24:00.002-07:002013-05-22T22:24:58.924-07:00Cool Package Manager for OSXFor those of you who like me, rather are crusty unix admins, but don't want to fight with apples lack of cool tools (I die without htop!), I have discovered a package manager that won't clobber your system:<br />
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Brew. Its basically a package manager that installs things the 'apple way' and won't clobber system libraries like fink, or macports. Its really easy to install:<br />
<pre style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0.9em; margin: 0 -3em; text-align: center;"><code id="selectable">ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.github.com/mxcl/homebrew/go)"</code><code id="selectable"> </code></pre>
Brew lets you install all kinds of things: (like ntfs support!), htop, encfs (for encrypted on the fly dropbox encryption), REAL bash, as SYMLINKS in your /usr/local directory, and won't clobber things when updating. I love it.<br />
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Brew, when macports drives you to drink.<br />
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ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-92045298710869485272013-02-12T07:48:00.001-08:002013-02-12T07:48:14.745-08:00Why the US has expensive broadbandI keep seeing all of these people whining about why the US seems to be 'behind' other countries in broadband. So I had a hypothesis: Tis NOT the evil broadband companies, but the low population density of the USA as compared to most other nations.<br />
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Population USA: ~280,000,000<br />
Land Area USA: 3.719 Million Square Miles<br />
Average population Density: 87.3/squre mile<br />
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Population Europe: 500,000,000<br />
Land Area Europe: 1.67 Million Square Miles<br />
Population Density: 265 people per square mile<br />
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Population South Korea (often cited as the 'model' country) 48.5 Million<br />
Land Area South Korea: 38,023 Miles<br />
Population Density: 1279 people per square mile<br />
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Finally China:<br />
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Population China: 1.35 billion people<br />
Land Area China: 3.601 Million Square Miles<br />
Population Density: 376 people /square mile (noting that most of china is uninhabited, so its really MUCH higher).<br />
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Hypothesis:<br />
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Low population density as related to geographic area means broadband is MUCH more expensive. You have to run correspondingly more wire, have less revenue per square mile covered, and have more infrastructure to support in order to get your population 'on the grid'.<br />
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So I don't think its 'oh the us is falling behind' but rather "We are a HUGE country, so its harder for us to have 'broadband' at cheaper prices like other countries with higher population densities.<br />
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<br />Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-16898551469909484312013-02-06T00:16:00.002-08:002013-02-06T00:16:32.152-08:00Getting more $$$ back from my cell phone providerIt all started out as a simple quest to 'turn off' those annoying SMS messages (the spam ones) that came from the internet.<br />
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It ended up in my looking at my cell phone bill to see $10.00 for 37 messages. So after perusing the website (they make it REALLY hard to find the 'turn off all of my sms messages, dammit, button), I have turned 'off' my SMS messages on my cell phone.<br />
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I can still send and receive them via Google Voice, (for free as in Gluten Free Beer), and to others who happen to own the Superior Phone, Iphone, via apples free messaging service.<br />
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Its funny how a cell phone bill can just 'grow' without even noticing it. So after spending about 20 minutes looking at the company's website, I simply 'blocked' ALL messages (including internet ones). But you have to do it in like 3 different places all well hidden below the main menu. Obviously intended to make it really hard to turn these things off, since the Cell phone companies are making a killing off of these. That’s 0.25/message. Almost cheaper to send snail mail, since I can get close to 2k of text on a single spaced page w/ both sides.<br />
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Oh Well.<br />
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ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-81241055055797702992012-10-27T22:20:00.000-07:002012-10-27T22:20:07.025-07:00"Open" Pandora Saga, My final venting- NOT the song service!Well, back in 2007 I saw what seemed to be a very cool emulation project called Openpandora. Basically it was supposed to be an open emulator for old arcade games, as well as having 2 sdhc card slots. It was supposed to have bluetooth, a real keyboard, etc. etc. So I pre-ordered.<br />
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They took my money, but barclays (the bank they were trying to scam the money they couldn't raise) cancelled all of their accounts. I need not say that at this time us currency took a dive, so the 'refund' was $100 < what I originally paid (400).<br />
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I stupidly sent my money back (2008) and waited, and waited, and waited (I bought a house), bought a new car (lexus), Bought an Iphone (MUCH BETTER and works with emulations and has NICE ability to be a phone too!) Ipad, with an ICADE (REAL arcade controller that actually works!).<br />
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So I recently tried one last gasp to get my money back. HA HA! I think craig and company (that’s the guys who pt barnumed me) really enjoyed several pints at the expense of my poor old 400.00. It was a GREAT learning lesson. NEVER preorder anything like this, especially when the guys are in England and are going to steal your money and go to tahiti.<br />
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I should add that I did get a good fire-sale price on their 'icontrolpad' at think-geek. Even if I had my pandora, from the build quality of the icontrolpad, it would have sucked major rocks. They even have the audacity to charge >$500.00 for the crappy successor, something called 'pandora II'. Don't even waste your time! The icontrol pad simply stinks. The dpads get stuck, the build quality looks like something a third grader could have designed, and the fire buttons keep getting suck. So, if you ever see guys like 'evildragon' or google anything for 'openpandora' or 'gbax' AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE!<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
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Thomas J. MunnSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-15742153130770985772011-08-20T10:52:00.000-07:002011-08-20T10:53:03.961-07:00Strike over YEA!Strike is over! YEA!!!!
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<br />Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-23408214866574021162011-08-13T14:45:00.000-07:002011-08-13T14:50:48.763-07:00Life in pittsburgh and the strikeWell, my company decided that I needed a change in venue and impressed me into strike-breaking duty.<div>
<br /></div><div>It has been quite a whirlwind of interest. The main thing is the tragedy of it all. Its so strange wandering through the building where 1000 union workers used to be, with empty floors all to myself. Pictures of kids, and personal mementos of the former occupants and general detrius of former life.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The unions haven't done much in my mind to endear me to them. We had 10 year old kids walking a strike line spouting vitreolic hate filled speech. If I had kids an my 10 year olds spoke like those did, I would probably discipline them severely. </div><div>
<br /></div><div>I am also amazed at the decay that this city represents. Smells are quite awful, and the building (old telecom) looks like something out of 1950's communist era germany. Grey, dismal, and all around a depressing place.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>One bright spot was this weekend, walking around the fort pitt park. Its quite beautiful. Traffic is also quite awful.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>I miss my home and my dog. At least we are getting paid. Perhaps that new bathroom will be a reality!</div><div>
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<br /></div>Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-69320946936846587332010-05-23T20:45:00.000-07:002010-05-23T20:58:00.730-07:00Ipod touch and SkypeWell, I bit the bullet after foing a whole lot of research and bought an ipod touch third generation (the 32gb model (strange to think that 32gb is in silicon now!)). My first impressions are as follows:<br /><br />The skype app is beautiful. It integrates nicely with contacts, no more kludgy skype phone numbers (I always hated the feature of skype that doesn’t let me type in first and last names!) The ipod version just 'works' with contacts, I choose them and hit 'call'. Nice to have 'saved' phone numbers, but I also like being able to search by name. Which is another cool feature of the skype app, has 'a' b c in the skype contacts window!<br /><br />The wifi 'just works' once you get WDS setup with a pair of airports (My apartment had spotty reception, having two airports made a HUGE difference.) The airpors were a little tricky to setup, but the apple guy got me working in < 1 hour (Normal linux WDS takes FOREVER with WDS!!).<br /><br />Battery life is a little low, skype pounds the HELL out of the battery. Probably not apple's fault. I think I will be getting one of those external battery thingies. Talking for about 2 hours seems O.K. But it needs FULL recharge after that.<br /><br />ITs USELESS as a primary phone for incoming calls due to inability to 'ring' with headphones plugged it. So I just leave my old phone there for incoming calls, and 'turn on' the touch by the third ring things work great. I should mention that I have an skype 'appliance' which is very old, but faithful.<br /><br />Due to having the existing unit, I simply use the old phone for 'incoming' calls, or turn on the ipod touch when I hear the other phone, and pick up then.<br /><br />I also HATED using the on-screen keyboard, for typing in my horrid long WPA2 passphrase on the IPOD it took FOREVER to get it right.<br /><br />Overall, however, for outgoing calls that don't piss me off, and for having 'way coolness' factor for things like being able to remotely control my x10 stuff, insteon stuff, as well as having a VERY nice pandora/air1 app thingy for listening I love it. Tomorrow I will try my bose headphones with the built in mike to see if it works. Otherwise I will get the amazon mike that works with 'normal' head phones. Thee sound quality was quite good. Watching videos is RAD. It has beautiful (a little dim), pictures, and doesn't slow down at ALL.<br /><br />Finally, evernote is cool. I LOVE evernote, and the 'offline' option finally gives me 'portable' evernote WITHOUT having to pay ridiculous charges for data links! I guess if I tried to enter notes into evernote with the ipod I would be mad, but since I really, really, hate the on screen keyboard, I don't think I will be putting too much in evernote via the ipod. I also like the 'just works' backup (I won't say why, but I got to use the 'restore' fuction today due to some stupidity on my part). Worked great. Pretty fast as well. I thought I would hate itunes, but its not too bad for the apps. Not really feeling the need to 'jailbreak' it. Looks like there are plenty of stuff to download.Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-71875365911069780492010-03-15T20:07:00.000-07:002010-03-15T20:22:32.514-07:00Nook ReviewWith all of these idiot journalists publishing reviews of the Nook and not reading the manual I thought I would like to share some of my thoughts on the nook, now that I have owned it for 1 month.<br /><br />The Good:<br /><br />Epub- I can download free books from google, project gutenberg, and the internet archive, and put them on my memory card. Did I mention that the nook has a user replaceable battery, and accepts microsd (I wish it were sd!) cards up to 16gb??<br /><br />Screen- So many of the reviewers are kind to the sony. The sony is EVIL. The screen made my eyes turn purple and fall out. Their use of resistive film in front of the eink display is STUPID. The screen on the nook is Beautiful, and in strong light is almost better than paper.<br /><br />Page flipping- Contrary to the authors who don't read the manual, you CAN turn the pages on the nook with a gesture of quickly running your fingers across the DARKENED color touch display. If it is 'on' this gesture doesn't work.<br /><br />Library Management- Calibre all the way. I don't have do deal with that closed sourced amazon crap that locks me into their propriatary formats. I do undertand that the amazon is capable of working like a usb drive, but has no memory expansion.....sadness. Calibre can also package news sites for consumption on your ereader for FREE....and its much better than the for pay stuff I saw on b&n sites.<br /><br />Wifi- MUCH faster than at&t's crap network.......<br /><br />Rootable- can do pandora, and browse calibre's book server, as well as do things like have a web browser (but with the awful screen keyboard, I wouldn't want to even try to internet on the thing...)<br /><br />The bad:<br /><br />Searching- the on screen keyboard is HORRID. Kind of like typing with all of your fingers cut off or trying to type with your toes. The search is a tad slow as well.<br /><br />UI for 'my library' doesn’t scale much beyond 1000 books. There is no search feature within titles, and no way to easily navigate thousands of titles. Its kind of mitigated by calibre, since you just keep 'main' libarary on computer and download those books you want to read.<br /><br />If B&N would just let me 'scroll' through the book covers like I do on the b&n library, and 'search' through titles, this problem would go away.<br /><br />No backlight- I really don't think this is too bad, since normal books don't glow in the dark unless you use radioactive ink.<br /><br />The non-standard usb almost thingy that plugs into the computer. Why could'nt they have used the 'standard' mini usb that everyone else is using? Replacing cable will be expensive. The connector is also hard to tell which way it fits due to its design. I always futz with it when I try to recharge the thing.<br /><br />No cover-You charge me $270.00 for an ebook reader and don't include a cover? Its $30.00 for a decent nook cover. I found a nice place that makes really cool leather nook covers it is ttp://www.oberondesign.com/shop/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=1137 They make all kinds of cool covers for a little more. Much MUCH nicer than even the 150k ugly ones that b&n sells.<br /><br />I have read 6 books on the thing now, and its nice getting books like classics for free, and current 'best seller's' instantly for $10.00. I still like library for fiction, since I raraly read fiction more than once. But for any 'classics' that I like to read again and again, nook rulez. Caliber + nook REALLY rulez.<br /><br />The B&N drm isn't too onerous, just uses your cc# and name as the key for the book. Not too hard to remember, (unless you use virtual credit cards like I do).....Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-37455768335154860872010-02-10T02:38:00.000-08:002010-02-10T02:41:32.788-08:00Arcade Unit is Finished at last!I just got the computer stuffed inside of the arcade unit, all the controls work, wireless works, blinkies work, and I can finally play MAME! Still have lots of things to do in terms of final 'ui', stuff, I also blew out two of my ports on my usb hub when farting around trying to get the computer in the case. By away the hardest part of this project was getting the computer mounted in such a tight space. Next time I will use a SFF pc for sure! WHat a disaster. My hands are all cut up, I have bruises, and I am glad that the unit is 'inside'. Very serviceable, since I can just connect automagically via wireless to the unit and perform basic maintenance. I hope to not open it up for many years.....<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-48247046340065069802010-01-31T19:28:00.000-08:002010-01-31T19:29:55.164-08:00Mame arcade cabinet final controls soldered and ready for attaching!Well, I finally have almost finished my arcade unit. The third / fourth player controls (actually 1 & 2) are soldiered, and tested, Ready for attaching. Kind of strange, since I started this whole mess in October.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-77335008039112343442010-01-24T19:47:00.001-08:002010-01-24T19:48:50.942-08:00Reading PDFs on the MacJust a quick note. I have re-discovered the wonders of reading PDFs with a program called "TOFU" It makes all pdfs into a news story (e.g. columns etc). Very nice for reading quickly.<br /><br />My arcade project is almost done, I am getting ready to do the final soldering. Gave a presentation at the local Linux Users Group, which was well received. Don't forget your Normal vga, though when giving presentations at Redhat world headquarters, since they only have 'old' style analog vga.<br /><br />Oh well.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-32321141521115168712009-07-21T13:28:00.000-07:002009-07-21T13:30:53.030-07:00Mozy added to my craplistI tried using mozy after using their free service for nearly 2 months. I paid them $82.00 for a 2 year contract. Thus far things aren't going very well. The first time I tried to do a backup the system locked my out and thought that I was on more than 1 server when I wasn't. This happened twice.<br /><br />Today WhenI tried to continue this I recieved another issue, this time with port 443 not being able to reach their server. I sent out two technical support requests with no avail.<br /><br />I am getting ready to get rid of them via the wonderful power of a visa chargeback. Thus far I cannot recommend doing business with them due to their colossal incompetence.<br /><br />I am tired of calling them every time their program bombs. Probably going to try spideroak.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-62047276055327344622009-07-09T15:34:00.000-07:002009-07-09T15:40:06.314-07:00A tale of Customer Loyalty and why its goodI am one of those people who has the memory of an elephant. While I do believe in forgiving and forgetting (with people), I tend to be very harsh on companies that lie, cheat, or otherwise try to bamboozle me. <br /><br />I am also especially generous when a company treats me right. If I have a company who I trust, and who loses perhaps a little bit of money on a transaction, I will stay with that company even if their prices are double their nearest dodgy competetor who has wronged me.<br /><br />Case in point: Tom Tom vs. Garmin. I bought a tom-tom and the thing destroyed itself even before working. The firmware update process wrecked it, and I ended up returning it.<br /><br />Garmin (I am going on my third garmin now) has pretty decent products, and occasionally has quality issues, but they make up for it. On my first garmin, I had trouble with the auto plug in adapter. They sent me 'free' ones even after the warranty expired (to the tune of about $40.00). So when my trusty street-pilot finally died (7 years!!!) I bought another garmin, the Zumo 550. The zumo recently bit the dust, and garmin STILL honored the warranty even though the device is > 1 year ownership. NO COST other than shipping the defective unit to them.<br /><br />I will admit that I did have to go through about 3 hours of technical support hell, but ultimately when everything else failed, they gave me a warranty exchange.<br /><br />So when I didn't want to do the 'cross' ship option (nearly .3 kilodollars) I went to tiger direct and bought, you guessed it, another garmin. So they have made money by honoring the warranty and made me a loyal customer again.<br /><br />THomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-73181497927491108882009-07-05T00:04:00.001-07:002009-07-05T00:07:38.374-07:00New Sun Recumbent (LWB)I got a good deal on a Sun recumbent this weekend. I took it out for a 14 mile spin today. The LWB is really smooth, but takes some getting used to. High speed handling was excellent, the seat (I prefer mesh seats) is not too bad for a 'hard' seat. I will be experimenting with different seats, as well as different tires. I also like the simplicity of the chain drive, as well as 'default' components that aren't expensive to replace.<br /><br />20 Inch tires are also nice, 20 tire choices vs 3. for the old 16's. I also like the shocks. VERY good, in fact better than my crane creek shock on the old satrday.<br /><br />LWB is also easier to get up the stairs.Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-18176978372066987492009-06-28T14:23:00.000-07:002009-06-28T14:26:22.621-07:00Ereader disaster and don't shop at borders!Well, since I am going to be going into the hospital for an extended stay, I decided to look at an ereader (ebook) reader from sony, thinking that it would be worth a go.<br /><br />I went to borders thinking it would be easy to return it, but only to find that they won't accept returns. The sony prs-700 is HORRIBLE. It is unreadable, it has awful resolution and the software blows HUGE chunks. E-ink display technology just isn't there yet, not enough contrast. I also found I had to make the text so large just to read it.<br /><br />I will be waiting 5 years or so before trying e-ink agian. Otherwise, you are just better off buying a mac and using it to read....<br /><br />I put it on ebay, and only hope to lose $25.00 in the deal.....will find out. Don't shop at borders, they suck!!!!! They are on my 'i am never going to shop here again regardless of how much they offer me in incentives".Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-58763488823883602972009-06-08T19:18:00.000-07:002009-06-08T19:22:35.530-07:00Safari 4 and My thoughts on the MacWell, I am writing this on the new safari 4 browser. It seems loads faster than firefox. I can read google without waiting an eternity. If this was the one thing keeping me from going from firefox it was the speed. But safari thus far seems cool, fast, and stable. I will find out more. I also bought the brickmaster 200 by cuisinart. Its basically a convection toaster oven with rocks inside of it to get nice even heating and a good loaf of artesian like bread. <div><br /></div><div>I finally perfected my chia seed loaf, and a friend is editing my book. I also love my new (actually old) noisy clacky keyboard from unicomp (I got the endura pro with the built in track-point). My mouse story also takes an interesting turn. The Microsoft mouse that I so horribly complained about is working fine now, and is my main mouse on the mac. Just don't use the Microsoft mouse drivers!!!!!</div><div><br /></div>Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-32566467987026830082009-05-05T16:13:00.000-07:002009-05-05T16:26:28.663-07:00Freebsd 7.1 and Zfs for my NASWell, I finally updated my nas to 1tb this weekend. ZFS thus far has turned out to be very cool and easy.<br /><br />1. No waiting 10,000 years for filesystems to format, zfs is instantaneously ready<br />2. ZFS automatically takes care of mirroring, even correcting 'bad' blocks on EITHER primary or 'mirror' e.g. if bad on primary, will look to 'mirror' for correct blocks. It can then correct the primary.<br />3. ZFS is still 'experimantal' and requires at least 1gb of memory to work. Here are the tweaks to add to the kernel:<br /><br />vmem.kmem_size="512M"<br />vmem.kmem_size_max="512M"<br />zfs_load="YES"<br />vfs.zfs.arc.max="100M"<br />vfs.zfs.vdev.cache.size="10M"<br />vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable="1"<br />vfs.zfs.zil_disable="1"<br /><br />Those entries go into the loader.conf in your /boot directory.<br /><br />ZFS also uses TONS of processor. When I was sending 190gb of files processor was at 80-100%. So a multi core is necessary if you want to use on your 'main' machine....<br /><br />I also threw in some apple customizations:<br /><br />first, the MDNSresponder.conf file<br /><br /># sample mDNSResponder conf file<br />#<br /># name type domain port text record<br /># ---- ---- ------ ---- -----------<br />Marilyn _afpovertcp._tcp local. 548<br />Marilyn _ssh._tcp local. 22<br /><br />this lives in the /usr/local/etc mDNSResponder.conf file.<br /><br />You also need to install the netatalk and the Mdnsersponder, and "HOWL" to get apple working. YOu also need the following in your /usr/local/etc/AppleVolumes.default<br /><br />Just put your shares at the end e.g. /export.<br /><br />The system went from 20mbps on a 1gbps network to 36mbps with appletalk. Also nice is the fact that I can 'browse' to the share.<br /><br />The freebsd has seemed very stable, with the appropriate modifications. ZFS does use TONS of memory, however (200mb) on my setup....<br /><br />Also cool is the ability to 'send' backups to any other nas on the network via a single command, and well as adding to the pool w/o having to do considerable resizing.<br /><br />I haven't finished my 'time machine' project on it yet, but zfs quotas will ensure that they won't eat up the entire 1tb of disk.Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-52073219528898248732009-05-05T16:05:00.001-07:002009-05-05T16:11:46.521-07:00Do Thomas' Dream of Electric Grills?Well, I decided to get an electric grill this year since my old george foreman grill died after 5 years of hard service.<br /><br />I had read about the weber q140 electric grill and balked at the price. $220.00 for a stupid grill! I shrieked. So I went to wally world and purchased a 'cheap' grill Still a benjamin, however. The thing turned out to be useless.<br /><br />So I went out to a local ace (everyone else didn't have the q in stock, and that’s why I went to wally world) , and purchased it.<br /><br />The other grill barely got up to 200 degrees. Fine for smoking, but for grilling 350 degrees or higher is needed.<br /><br />My first burger on the q140 was great. Instead of being dry and poorly cooked, the hamburger was juicy, and cooked in only 8 minutes (the wally world special took nearly 15 mins to cook, and the burger was dry and horrid).<br /><br />Th grill does require a table, since it isn't a free-standing unit. It did cost me $300.00, but I can now successfully grill on the required electric grill (we live in a complex that bans gas grills).<br /><br />Don't waste your time on 'cheaper' grills.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-13069632311107894552009-03-24T13:57:00.000-07:002009-03-24T14:05:40.101-07:00Mousetrap, Or How NOT to build one!!Well, my mouse horrors are finally over. After trying out no less than 5 mice, I finally found one that works well with the mac. Here's the sordid tale:<br /><br />1. Microsoft bluetooth mouse 4000- drivers wrecked mac, and the bluetooth would randomly wake the pc from sleep. Bluetooth required frequent re-pairings, and never worked reliably<br /><br />2. Logitech wireless trackball (the coordless trackman optical), logitech control center blows up mac (time machine restore required), and the primary button hurts my thumb<br /><br />3. Kensington wireless presenter mouse (bluetooth)- wonderful tracking, bluetooth flawless (power switch so it wouldn't turn on the computer from sleep), and no requirement for drivers. Hurts my hand after 5 minutes of use DOH!<br /><br />4. Targus bluetooth laser mac mouse- it didn't hurt my hand as much, but the optical tracking thing for scrolling really stinks. It also takes longer to hurt my hand, 60 minutes.<br /><br />5. SUCCESS! Logitech wireless LX8 cordless mouse. Nice tiny reciever, no ()#*()$&#()*%&()$*57 bluetooth, doesn't hurt my hand, has middle click and nice scrolly wheel. Avoid drivers like the plague since they brick the mac....<br /><br />Tips: DO NOT buy a mouse online. There are so many different ones that its almost dizzying. Most of them suck, even though they look really cool. I bought at a local computer store and went back 4 times!!!!!!!<br /><br />thomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-50878952414346050582009-03-21T18:26:00.000-07:002009-03-21T18:27:17.562-07:00Named My macI had to re-do my pfsense soekris box yesterday because I forgot the password. In doing this, I found a new name for my mac. Igor (who is a munnster's character, the pet bat that grandpa used to experiment on, the bat is also emotionally sensitive).<br /><br />I thought it was a very good name for the mac.Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-62025072072524513612009-02-19T06:02:00.000-08:002009-02-19T11:45:23.146-08:00Bluetooth Mouse BluesWhile I have been very happy with the new mac I bought, I have been VERY unhappy with the bluetooth mouse. I bought it thinking "Hey, no wires to worry about". Well, the stupid thing never works right, is always having to be re-paired, and turns itself off after a ridiculously small amount of time.<br /><br />Specifically, if you have to buy a bluetooth mouse DON'T buy the Microsoft 5000 bluetooth mouse. My $10.00 corded logitech does much better, and doesn't frustrate the living daylights out of me.<br /><br />I also did some more research and it explains my 'sleep' problem that I was having with the mac. The unit will randomly wake up the mac. This doesn't happen now that I am not using the stupid thing. All in All, a very horrid waste of $35.00. Just stick with wired. I will try with just the windows pc to see if it is any better. I did like the tracking, but with all the other attendant problems this unit is just 'junk' when considered for mac use. Don't!!!!<br /><br />THomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-31906077556090574782009-02-07T17:09:00.000-08:002009-02-07T17:10:50.925-08:00Found place to Hawk my new bookI am going to be teaching some cooking classes (gluten free) at the local earth fair store. Basically I will be helping gluten intolerant people to cook things that taste good. <br /><br />It will be a good venue to sell my book.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-82450491773219826732009-02-07T17:05:00.000-08:002009-02-07T17:07:24.726-08:00VIrtualization experience under MacI tried vmware fusion under the mac. It was awful. It was so slow I deleted it within an hour. Parallels was interesting, but the import of my windows (yech!) machine resulted in adobe programs that didn't work. I was also unhappy with the lagginess of the apps. It would be nice for 'temporary' use, but for heavy duty desktop publishing, it was terrible. It went into the trash can as well.<br /><br />So I guess virtulizing for DTP is a "NO Winner" in my book.<br /><br />ThomasSymgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7224862383052774821.post-68784757148024845142009-02-07T17:01:00.000-08:002009-02-07T17:05:22.443-08:00New Mac makes editing Book really easyWell, I sprang for a new mac, mostly because of a cool writing tool known as 'scrivner'. It basically allows a completely non-sequenial person like me to write.<br /><br />I am currently writing a gluten free reciepe book, and dreaded the thought of having to take all 85 of my reciepes and get them into a single file.<br /><br />Well, scrivner let me avoid doing that. I took the html files, opened them in firefox, selected the text, and dropped into scrivner. It automatically created the new titles for me, and put the text into the body of the document.<br /><br />What makes scrivner so different is that you don't edit a whole document. You chop it into little bits, and then put those bits together (at the end) once you decide on structure etc. I can drag and drop 'index cards' or chapters within the text, not having to bother with the stupid word tricks etc.<br /><br />Anyway, it is a MUCH cooler process than just word processing. It also allows me to take 'snapshots' prior to doing some major editing, rather live cvs, or git. I can 'roll' back to previous versions. Very nice feature. The price is also right: $39.00.Symgryphhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02286594740674806709noreply@blogger.com0