Create/modify user passwords in batch mode « The eternal fight between admins and computers On Red Hat Enterprise Linux the passwd command has a flag, –stdin, that lets you echo text into it. Great for scripts. Why Jargon Feeds on Lazy Minds – Scott Berkun "…all you need to remember is this: never use a fancy word when a simple one will do."
Unjust Deserts? "A job well done deserves a proper reward, right? But in collaborative efforts such as agile development, can you single out individual efforts without killing the team’s morale and productivity?" Seth's Blog: Should you ignore the n00bs? "Great design is intuitive. Great design eliminates confusion. But not for everyone, not all the time." Been saying this a lot lately. Eliminating confusion definitely follows the 80/20 rule. Amazon.com: You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books): Roger Hall: Books (tags: to-read) ACM Queue – A Conversation with Jim Gray: Who would ever, in this time of the greatest interconnectivity in human history, go back to shipping bytes around via snail mail as a preferred means of data transfer? …
Unjust Deserts? "A job well done deserves a proper reward, right? But in collaborative efforts such as agile development, can you single out individual efforts without killing the team’s morale and productivity?" Seth's Blog: Should you ignore the n00bs? "Great design is intuitive. Great design eliminates confusion. But not for everyone, not all the time." Been saying this a lot lately. Eliminating confusion definitely follows the 80/20 rule. Amazon.com: You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger (Bluejacket Books): Roger Hall: Books (tags: to-read) ACM Queue – A Conversation with Jim Gray: Who would ever, in this time of the greatest interconnectivity in human history, go back to shipping bytes around via snail mail as a preferred means of data transfer? …
Matt’s post over at Standalone Sysadmin about flash drives as archival media made me remember conversations I used to have with coworkers about the bandwidth of the U.S. Postal Service, a colleague’s pickup truck loaded with tapes, etc. Sometimes the fastest way to get data to a location is to mail it, even now. The late Jim Gray had a fantastic interview in ACM Queue back in 2003 where he talked about disk access times vs. capacity vs. Moore’s Law, and especially how he was mailing computers and disks to people. His price comparisons are a little dated now, but the rest is a good use of ten minutes, if you ask me. (and you didn’t, I know). 🙂
Scott Lowe, Martin MacLeod, and I were interviewed by odinJobs about virtualization technology, namely how you get started with the technology. I always get self-conscious when I see an interview posted, but it looks like all three of us were on the same page. It’s really nice to see their takes on where we’re at and where we’re going. Thanks guys, and thanks to Carl Williams for setting it up!
With all my coworkers getting iPhones there’s a shortage of unique ringtones around here. As such, my previous post with iPhone ringtones has some new stuff on it now, namely the Star Trek TNG door, “incoming subspace message” by request for Harry Kanasa, a Star Wars blaster sound, green tree frogs chirping, and cows mooing. Enjoy.
The BEST Summer Vacation Ever! – Diggerland In years past the Minnesota State Fair has had a dirt pit where you could drive Bobcats, small excavators, etc.
I have a hunch that the hardware clock is off on this host… …but by 134 years into the future? I didn’t actually get to see what it was set to, as the machine fixed itself via NTP shortly afterwards. I suspect the last mount time is some sort of unsigned integer that overflowed. Of course, on the subsequent reboot it needed to check the filesystems yet again, putting the last checked time back to normal.
Apple bails on Black Hat talk "Marketing got wind of it, and nobody at Apple is ever allowed to speak publicly about anything without marketing approval" First rule of Apple is you don't talk about Apple, unless you are praising it.
The New Atlantis » The Hydrogen Hoax "To get serious about energy policy, America needs to abandon, once and for all, the false promise of the hydrogen age." Interesting stuff. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Harry Potter Series), Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling, Book – Barnes & Noble Great, another one. I wish they'd hurry up with the movies. Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe are getting old. Windows Vista Magazine | PC Heaven "Save power – disable Windows Aero at will" Going to try this on my laptop tonight.