Bye Old Server. Hello New Server.

My web server was down for most of yesterday, for reasons out of my control.

I shelled in only to see one error message upon restarting the Apache web service: Segmentation fault. I checked the last few lines of Apache’s error_log only to see many more errors related to the same problem. It’s one of most dreaded messages one can receive on a Linux box, aside from the dreaded ‘kernel panic’.

A segmentation fault usually means one of two things in the Linux world: a software fault or a hardware fault. So, I set out to determine what the underlying cause was.

Continue reading “Bye Old Server. Hello New Server.”

Statistics Canada: Internet users are “weird”.

The results of a recent survey by Statistics Canada caught me off-guard.

According to the survey, a heavy user is someone who spends more than one hour per day online.

I qualify, as do millions of other Canadians (and others worldwide). However, the brief definition of a heavy user is grounds for a flame war.

Spending an one hour online per day does not constitute much time these days, especially with broadband / always-on connections. Maybe a revision to the survey should be in order?

The Effects of Social Engineering

In a survey of office workers in the Liverpool Street Station in London, 71% of employees will part with their password for a candy bar.

You’d think most employees wouldn’t be that stupid. But it happens. All the time. On another note, I’ve seen employees write passwords on everything you can think of — even taped to their monitor (not our workplace though)!

A scene from Hackers comes to mind — one of the first movies depicting social engineering in a similar context (well, a phone conversation).

Bottom-line: one leaked password could cost you a lot more than the price of a candy bar.

Update:

Slashdot is covering a similar story on industrial espionage. Like most users said, it comes down to hiring IT people you can trust, and treating them fairly.

I need more power, Scotty!

The days of the turbo slug were numbered.

I often asked myself how long I would be able to endure running (and using) a slow server to serve up my web site. I’m a patient guy; sometimes too patient.

“Six months?”

“How about one year?”

OK, maybe closer to six months.

Well, that day has come. I chucked the Linksys NSLU2 out the window. It’s laying outside on the pavement, should you want to pick it up. After all the frustration it’s put me through, I think that would suit it well.

Don’t bother running outside. No, seriously. You won’t find much.

If you know me, you know I take good care of my toys. Rather, I auctioned the Linksys NSLU2 off to some adventurous soul on Ebay. May he (or she) have as much fun with it as I did (for whatever length of time that may be ;)).

My web site is now running off a state-of-the-art Pentium III 1 GHz box! 😉 Still energy-efficient, but faster! Time to pimp it out 😉

Teaching at UCFV

Not just yet 😉

After a five year hiatus, one of my contacts at UCFV informed me that there may be another opportunity for me to teach at UCFV in the coming months. UCFV is keeping their lips sealed on the upcoming course’s content, but hopefully it’s something that interests me.

When I last taught at UCFV, I was given a week’s notice to prepare a third-year Computer Science course; however, this time around I was promised more advance notice. I recall being up until 5 or 6 AM several nights in a row preparing course outlines and the first week’s lecture material, only to start work at 9 AM. Believe me, it was a very stressful experience. It turned me into a hardcore workaholic 😉

For those of who you have taught while working full-time, you know the stress I’m referring to. I had never tasted coffee until then. Maybe a couple of Starbuck’s espresso beans during University, but that was it 😉 That said, the prospect of teaching at UCFV again is exciting, provided that I am given adequate notice :)

RAZR sharp…

I’m referring to no other than the Motorola RAZR V3.

I’ve been waiting to grab the Motorola RAZR V3 for awhile now, but the price wasn’t quite right. Since my other phone, a Nokia 3220, was acting up and since my cell phone shop had no replacements, I had to acquire the RAZR V3 — perfect timing I guess.

I decided to go with the silver model instead of the black special edition model. I think it simply looks better in silver, especially with the keypad and all. One of my early annoyances is getting it out of the case it comes with and answering an incoming call on time.

Since the phone is fragile, and I don’t want to remove it from its case and quickly open it whenever there’s an incoming call.. I have two options. Option 1: buy a cheesy case that fits the RAZR V3 so that I don’t need to replace the existing Motorola OEM one, or Option 2: Go wireless with Bluetooth.

Which one would you choose? Hmm… yeah. :-) Being the tech savvy guy I am, I surf over to my friend, Mr. Ebay. I happen to find the recommended Motorola HS850 Bluetooth headset for a half-decent price, so I grab it. For the time being, I will have to torture myself with removing the phone from the case to answer and place calls, ever so carefully, or just leave it out of the case whenever possible.

Pro’s:
– sleek, stylish and sharp
– thin form factor
– reasonably priced, if you can get it on special
– quad band, which is good if you travel
– ultra sharp display — the screen appears to be of better quality than my TFT monitor (not surprised)
– built-in Bluetooth
– the built-in camera is not crappy like 99% of the other phone cameras on the market
– nice selection of ring tones — very clear at 22 KHz, I might add
– intuitive menu system
– nice, thin lighted keypad
– excellent voice clarity
– very good reception

Con’s:
– No included USB cable and software? (Another purchase from Mr. Ebay)
– Price, when you can’t get it on special

That’s all for now. I can’t say too much yet. It’s only been Day 3 with the RAZR :)