• Matlab fixes

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    Wondering what happens when you install matlab 2008a on a system that has an older version of glibc? Well, it bitches and moans and complains to you, despite the fact that the Mathworks people have since come out and said that the version of glibc that you have installed on the system will in fact work fine and not cause any problems.

    The fix? Easy… just patch your oscheck.sh file in your matlab distribution and the whining will go away. Here is the patch:

    --- oscheck.sh    2008-05-28 09:48:55.000000000 -0400
+++ oscheck.sh.old    2007-12-02 01:34:35.000000000 -0500
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@
#                  of the data. Set oscheck_debug=0 for shipping.
#
# Copyright 1996-2007 The MathWorks, Inc.
-# $Revision: 1.1.12.1 $  $Date: 2008/03/24 17:59:41 $
+# $Revision: 1.1.6.4 $  $Date: 2007/12/03 21:53:17 $
#----------------------------------------------------------------------------
#

@@ -153,8 +153,8 @@ else
#                   arch   OSprefix minimum_ver release_ver future_ver
#
oslist="        sol64   SunOS    5.10         5.10         -"
-        oslist="$oslist glnx86  glibc    2.3.4       2.3.4       -"
-        oslist="$oslist glnxa64 glibc    2.3.4       2.3.4       -"
+        oslist="$oslist glnx86  glibc    2.3.6       2.3.6       -"
+        oslist="$oslist glnxa64 glibc    2.3.6       2.3.6       -"
oslist="$oslist mac     Darwin   8.7.0       8.7.0       -"
oslist="$oslist maci    Darwin   8.7.0       8.7.0       -"
oslist="$oslist maci64  Darwin   9.0.0       9.0.0       -"

    📂This entry was posted in Me 📎and tagged

  • Riding and Interviewing

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    So I have been riding a lot lately. It has been good, and I think I am getting better with the bike. Some things I have learned:

    • Boots are a must. You can get away with a little riding in tennis shoes, but the top of your left shoe will wear out quickly.
    • Make sure everything is battened down prior to moving off. It sucks to have something flapping in the wind at sixty miles an hour, particularly if it is something like a collar and it flaps into your clavicle.

    In other news, this past weekend I sat on the board to receive presentations for the next Hoggetowne Medieval Faire chessboard. Now, let me get this out right now: THIS IS A JOB INTERVIEW! When most people go in for a job interview, they dress up in order to impress… at least, they do this if they are going for a job of any sort of importance higher than that of a short-order cook. So why is it that year after year I have seen these presentations, and the same people keep turning up not dressed for the role?

    Anyway, the presentations went… well, the first two went poorly. Let’s just say that showing up with only one of your staff members for the production is not conducive towards getting the job. The third presentation group was incredible, however. They were organized, almost all of them were there, and all of the higher level members were there. The only one missing was the costumer, which was not a big deal because they had posters of what they were planning on doing with costume colors and designs. They ran the show for the most part, and we basically had to just sit there and watch instead of ask many questions to figure out what they were going to do. Instead, they simply told us. At the end, after they walked out, the five members sitting on the panel to make this decision simply looked at each other and said “is there really any doubt here?” It was a unanimous decision.

    Anyway, after that, I have some tips for people who are going to propose a show for our group:

    • Dress appropriately. This is a job interview, not a bunch of friends getting together to have some fun. The Guilde is giving you a good amount of money in order to make this thing happen, and we want to be sure that you are not going to be wasting that money.
    • Don’t bring your child along with you to the interview. You wouldn’t do this at any other job interview, even at a fast food restaurant, so why would you think it is appropriate to do it here? Your child will be a distraction to both yourself and to the members of the panel, and that is going to lower your chances in a couple of different ways. First, it detracts from your presentation. Second, the panel is going to look at the situation and wonder how that child is going to affect your production down the road.
    • Have as many members of your production team there that you can. The more the merrier, and it shows the panel members that you are all serious about what you are trying to do. If only one or two of you are there for the interview, what is going to happen come time for rehearsals? Are only one or two of you going to be showing up then as well?
    • Ensure that all of your members know their jobs and what they are going to be doing for the next year. Again, this is a job interview, and if you know the job you are that much more competitive.
    • Ensure that all of your members know the script that is being presented. One of our favorite exercises is to have the production team quickly act out their production in about five minutes.

    Obviously a bunch has to be left out, but the idea is to see whether or not everyone knows the general idea of the show from beginning to end.
    Finally, don’t tell the panel that you are going to be directing other shows during this time. We are going to take that into consideration for your capability to run this particular show.


    📂This entry was posted in Biking Drama 📎and tagged

  • Another Ride

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    Took my longest ride yet yesterday, down through Newberry and Bronson. It was a good ride, and I passed the 1000 mile mark outside of Bronson near the township of Raleigh. I also managed to run out of gas and had to go to the reserve, and I didn’t really know where the nearest gas station was. Made it back to G’ville and filled up, but it was a bit touch and go there for me for a while.

    Vax party also happened last night. I brought the usual mini-quiches, which went over well, but I think they were a bit underdone and could have used a good five more minutes in the oven to brown a bit. At the party it was basically a “see old friends” thing, punctuated with playing Rock Hero way too much. I decided to leave early because… well… the game bored me.


    📂This entry was posted in Biking 📎and tagged

  • Biking

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    OK… I spent all of last weekend learning how to ride a motorcycle at a beginners motorcycle safety course. I am certainly not going to go into something like this without something like that to back me up.

    Let me tell you, it was worth the $185 to take the course. It taught me a lot in a controlled situation, and it also eliminated the nervousness of taking the exam at the licensing bureau, since all I had to there was show them the graduation card and I was endorsed. Besides, it gets me a discount on my motorcycle insurance.

    So, having finished the training and getting my endorsement, I went looking for a bike. I tried two different dealerships, as I want my first bike to at least be somewhat safe since I don’t really know what to look for on them in terms of things that would not be safe due to someone messing with them and modifying them.

    Both Streit’s motorcycles and Polaris had bikes that I thought were appropriate for me, appropriate meaning that I like the look of the bike and it is not too much of a bike for my experience level. There were two bikes, one at each dealership, that I thought were appropriate. A Suzuki S40 at Streit’s and a Suzuki S50 at Polaris. I went with the S50, as I think I would probably get bored with the S40 in no time and be looking for something a bit more powerful in no time. Having ridden the S50 for the last four days, I think I was right in my assessment.

    So Monday evening I plunk down seven grand for the S50, drove home and got a ride back to the dealership, and rode it home…. scared to death the entire way. Let’s face it… when I got on that bike to ride it home, all I could think of was that it was rush hour traffic on US 441, something that I really didn’t want to have to deal with on something that I was somewhat unfamiliar with. I made it fine, but still it was something that I don’t think I ever want to have to experience again.

    That evening I took it out again, and went to a training meeting for the Thieves Guilde. I had to leave early because there was no way that I was going to be driving that thing at night on the first day. No way in hell.

    Next day I take it into work and get a tag for it so that I can park without getting a ticket… tickets on campus have gone up to $30 a pop, so it just isn’t worth it. In the afternoon I drove down to the Brain Institute and talked to Larry there, and he offered to me a couple of books on riding that he thought I would be interested in. Had to follow him to his house, which was interesting for me, and he managed to beat me there despite leaving first. No big deal, since I don’t feel like pushing myself all that much yet on the bike. Got the books, then took Millhopper road out to 241->232->235->235A which spit me onto 441. Took 441 into High Springs and grabbed a burger at the Hardees there in town, then back to 235A->235->241->Millhopper road and home.

    Wednesday I took a long way around town to get to work, heading out to NE 15th and then heading south and winding my way through town until I got to 8th Ave, which I took west to NW 22nd, which took me straight into campus. In the afternoon I headed out to Williston road where there is a nice little windy road out of Robinson Heights out to Hawthorne Rd. Passed down along 2082 through Rochelle, then bounced up along 234 through Windsor until hitting 26, which I took back into town.

    This morning was nothing special, but this afternoon I took an interesting run up north through La Crosse, Brooker (mile 900 on the bike!) then south on 225 back home past the racetrack. It was a good run, and I enjoyed it. Found along the way that posture really helps in making the ride that much more comfortable at higher speeds, and the road was empty enough that I was able to practice a bit on swerving to avoid things.


    📂This entry was posted in Biking 📎and tagged

  • Respect

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    I just read an article concerning three students who were given in school suspension because they did not stand during the pledge of allegiance.

    Now, I can understand the unwillingness of a person to pledge their allegiance. That is perfectly fine by me. The problem I have here is that they were not giving any respect to it whatsoever. Here is how it boils down in my view: You are in this country, benefitting from a “free” public education which was created for you by the efforts of the people. The least you can do is show some amount of respect for that country. I am not asking you to pledge your allegiance or anything, but show respect for something that is providing you with so many things.

    Aside from that, there is a school district rule that states that they must stand during the recitation. They don’t have to recite, but they do have to stand. They chose not to do this, and received punishment as a result. One of the things that they accept when they choose to go to school is that they must also follow the rules. This was one of them, and they chose to break it. This is one of those things that you just sort of have to accept as being a member of society.

    Now… as for the reason why I feel this way about this situation… when I was growing up, I grew up in an Air Force family. My father was not particularly gung-ho about bombing people, and that was something I respected. However, what affected me most was when we would go to see a movie at the base theatre. Before every movie, they would play the national anthem, and everyone would stand and place their hand over their heart… except for my mother. She would stand, but her hand would not go over her heart. I asked her about this, and her answer was that she was not an American citizen. Despite this, she respected what everyone else was doing and would still stand with everyone else as a show of respect for what was happening, regardless of the fact that she was not a citizen. What this taught me was respect. If I am in a different country and their citizens stop to do whatever happens to be the method for allegiance or whatever, you had damned well better believe I will stop and show my respect and appreciation for what they are doing, even though I am not showing my actual allegiance to that situation.

    Another situation that I have run into quite recently was when I walking out of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Every afternoon at 5 or 6pm they play the national anthem and hold a retiring of the flag ceremony in the main street area. As I was walking, the national anthem started up and the flag was being retired. I stopped right there in the middle of the street at attention and held my hand over my heart in civilian style salute, getting more and more angry at those around me who ignored it and continued with the hustle and bustle of being at an amusement park. Afterward I calmed down, resolving with myself that they just did not understand what they were missing in this land of ours.


    📂This entry was posted in Disney Me 📎and tagged

  • Frustration

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    So for the past day or so I have been helping out someone on IRC get her computer put together. Yesterday afternoon she finds out that the fan on her PSU is not working at all (this is a new PSU, just pulled out of the sealed box.) The odd thing is that she doesn’t want to go back to the store and return it for a new one because for some reason she has it in her head that the store is no longer trustworthy… despite the PSU having come from the store in a sealed box, thus the store not having anything to do with the quality of the PSU inside the box.

    She just would not take the blatant hint that she should TAKE IT BACK.

    She has been building this machine (a relatively simple desktop build) for the past 36-48 hours now, and still doesn’t have it done. This is something that I would have had built and going in about half an hour, and that someone with no experience whatsoever should have done in about two to three hours tops.

    </frustration>

    In other news, the new aptitude is a bit annoying in how it handles upgrades of the debian system. Just thought I would mention that.


    📂This entry was posted in Me 📎and tagged

  • Exams and studying

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    Exams are coming up shortly, and I have slowly been preparing for them. I just have issues with actually studying, as I never really learned how to study properly. Some people can sit down and study for hours on end and learn the material. My problem is that I get the general idea of things way too quickly, and the specifics have a tendency to bore the daylights out of me, which means that I don’t really want to learn them all that much. They are in the books, so why bother to actually learn them? If I need them, I go look them up in the books, dammit! The key is knowing that those details exist and where to get my hands on them when I need them.


    📂This entry was posted in Me 📎and tagged

  • Storage Networking World, Day 4

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    The last day of the conference… here are the sessions that I went to:

    Session 1: Infiniband Technology Overview

    Some of the things that were of interest to me in this session were things like NFSoRDMA, which could be a useful solution assuming that NFS can handle the traffic. We have seen problems with machines trying to serve out to too many hosts via NFS. The other things was iSER, which is iSCSI over infiniband using IPoIB. It is starting to gain some ground out there, though I am not exactly sure how we would put it to use. I suppose if we were to get some iSCSI targets we could serve those targets over infiniband using iSER.

    One question that came up in my own mind during this was how we might be able to utilize QoS on the infiniband fabric, or even if it would be feasibly useful. It is soemthing to look at for us.

    Session 2: Fibre Channel Over Ethernet (FCoE)

    This was an interesting session as I didn’t know a lot about FCoE. it requires switches that support it which means added cost, and it is intended to stay within the datacenter and not go out on the WAN. This is caused by the requirement for lossless ethernet, something that it hard to do on a WAN network. Normal ethernet will be able to share these links, of course, so basically it would be double utilization of the network.

    A minimum of one FCoE switch is required at the edge. Others can be used, but at least one is needed. I am wondering if this might have a use in the Tier 2 group that we have here.

    Session 3: PCI Express and Storage

    This was a great session. I didn’t write down very much because the slides were pretty self explanatory, but the information on those slides is incredible. Basically gen 2.0 of the PCI Express architecture is going to be twice as fast as gen 1.0, and gen 3.0 will be twice as fast as 2.0. As gen 2.0 was started to be released into the wild in the fourth quarter of 2007, I expect it is starting to make its way into the server board market now.

    That was all of the sessions I went to on Thursday. After that third session, I got in the car and drove home, making a pit-stop at my mom’s house where we went and ate dinner.  🙂


    📂This entry was posted in Linux 📎and tagged

  • Storage Networking World, Day 3

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    So on day three there were basically some big general sessions in the morning that I went and attended…

    Session 1: Doing More with Less: The Future of Digital Preservation in a Constrained Fiscal Environment

    An interesting talk from Laura Campbell, the CIO of the Library of Congress. What I wonder about this was whether this is a possible use for the NLR/FLR networks in regards to transmitting data from regional libraries to the Library of Congress. They have a website: (digitalpreservation.gov). I also wonder whether or not I should talk to Ben about this a bit.

    Session 2: The Greening of IT at Marriott

    One of the things that I took away from this was a question on whether or not using SSD drives in place of normal harddrives in a cluster would benefit in the long run from power savings. Obviously speed would be helped quite a bit, but would the power savings be worth it? Since we don’t pay for power ourselves, it is a bit of a moot point, but perhaps the University as a whole would be interested in paying the difference in cost in order to create a power savings.

    Session 3: Next Generation Information Infrastructure

    Some more musings about SSD drives during this lecture. Also, a fact that popped up is that data growth is approximately 57% a year, which is really huge.

    Session 4: The Greening of the Data Center

    As can be seen, a major focus of this years conference was on green computing. The only thing that really popped up to my attention was the concept of a MAID (Massive Array of Idle Disks).

    Session 5: Transform Your Data Center: The Path to a Transparent Infrastructure

    I didn’t really get anything out of this, but as my mind wandered I mused on how the University would know just how much power our group is using at any given time if they decided to start charging the different groups around campus for power. There aren’t really any meters around that measure this sort of thing, so if they went to this kind of format, would each group have to pay for a meter or something?

    Also, is there something that allows for NFS on an ESX server?

    Session 6: NERSC – Extreme Storage and Computation for Science

    While this talk was interesting for me, I noticed that there was a large exodus of people in the audience as the talk progressed. I figure this happened mainly because the talk given by William Kramer of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center was not focused properly for the group that was there. It gave a description of what the center was doing without really going into how they were using the technology or how it could benefit the attendees. In addition, the slides that William was using were very dense and had entirely too much information on them, something that academics seem to be consistently guilty of. While the slides may be useful to a select few, most of the information on them is useless for the folks in that audience.

    The rest of the day I spent in the showroom learning more about what was available. I left around dinner time and found an Indian restaurant near Downtown Disney that was quite enjoyable.


    📂This entry was posted in Disney Linux 📎and tagged

  • Storage Networking World, Day Two

    Posted on by Wells Comment

    Didn’t go to any of the lectures today, but did get to talk to an ungodly number of vendors. Aside from the typical booth bunnies and stuff like that, talking to the Mellanox folks indicated that apparently they are working on getting a card out that will incorporate both an infiniband connection and a 10gbe connection on the same card, which is huge for our group.

    Aside from that, spent the evening with Shannon and AJ and ate out at the Cheesecake Factory.


    📂This entry was posted in Linux Me