Django's Portion

Synergy in Leopard

I've mentioned how cool the cross platform mouse/keyboard sharing utility Synergy is. However, it doesn't run well in Leopard which I just installed on my macbook. There is a solution however, which .

FireFox Download Manager History Retention

It bugs me when FF keeps the download manager filled up with previously downloaded items. I have to look up the about:config setting every time, so here it is again:

browser.download.manager.retention

Set to 0 (zero) to clear an item after it successfully downloads
Set to 1 to clear after the browser exits
Set to 2 to clear it manually (default)

Another handy setting is browser.download.manager.openDelay - which if you set to something like 15000 (15 seconds) then you won't have to see the download manager when downloading small files.

SLOW MySQL innodb alters

I like MySQL. I like InnoDB. But damn, when you have a big table with a lot of data in it and you want to alter a column, the change can take hours. And then time out. Apparently this is because when InnoDB is set up to use 1 file for the entire database (as it does by default), when you make changes to the structure of in the global table space, it has to copy the entire database with the new changes and then replace the existing copy. Very IE intensive.

It's really too bad that InnoDB doesn't have anything that allows it to reclaim free disk space when data is removed from a table, because that's what has caused this problem in the first place since the data is no longer needed in the table. The typical solution with InnoDB is to remove the data, export the tables and then re-import. But I can't even get to that part of the process because one of the columns is set to NOT NULL. So if I try to alter the table, it takes hours and then fails. If I try to drop the column it takes hours and then fails. If I try to create a new table based on the old table, but without those columns, it takes hours and then fails. Maybe it's time to look into having innoDB use a different file for each table via the innodb_file_per_table setting. All of those on the edge of your seat, I'll keep you updated.

Warren Buffet is buying railroads

I've been thinking this for the past few years, that economical than trucking goods from place to place. They'll still use trucks for local deliveries, but the long hauls will all switch over. I imagine the some travel will begin switching from airlines over to trains as well. That is, unless the airlines come up with some radically different ways to keep their jets in the air more efficiently or with a different power source.

So anyhow, I guess Warren Buffet is on my page with the trains.

"The key is knowing where your cars are at all times," explains Kremar. Sophisticated software calculates the best way to put different cars together into trains. And onboard electronics assess topography, track curvature, train length and weight to calculate the optimum speed for conserving fuel.
Overall, the Federal Railroad Administration calculates that productivity has more than doubled since 1990.

Synergy high CPU load problem
Do you use Synergy? (if not, read here for the description). Are you using a Windows system as the host? Do you encounter problems with it not allowing the cursor or keyboard to work across your other systems when the host system is under high CPU load? There is a solution, in the options of the host system, turn on the option for "Don't take foreground window on Windows Servers" and voila, you're in business.
The high CPU load bug really frustrated me until I stumbled across this work around. Sadly there still is no fix for the copy and paste bug that forces me to restart the host application 3-4 times a day. Still, it's worth the pain in the ass.
Synergy, what is it?: Remember those clunky KVM switches you used to have to use in order to use one keyboard and mouse over several systems? Well now because of the magic of TCP/IP you no longer need the switch, and as an added bonus, the solution is cross platform as well! You just set up one computer as the host and then configure how the other systems you have are physically adjacent to it. Then, move your cursor to the other systems and you can begin typing. You can even copy and paste between the systems and there is literally no lag for mouse of keyboard actions. One keyboard, many systems. I use it day in and day out to create a 4 screen system (far left, Fedora Core, center two screens, windows host system, far right, macbook). Note that the host system can be on any platform depending on your preference.
Get Synergy

The United Countries of Baseball
I haven't posted anything here in a while and since my website/blog was feeling neglected and I saw this back a week or so ago and thought it was neat, I figured I'd share the love. Click on it for a larger version.
Pretty good for an advertisement, it took me 30 seconds to even realize it was an ad.

A New RSS feed
I got tired of going to (or forgetting to go) view the NASA Astronomy picture of the day website, so I created an RSS feed to do the job for me (why NASA doesn't already have an RSS feed for it, I do not know). The feed isn't just based on a link to the post for the day but actually includes the picture and description in the feed itself.

Subscribe and Enjoy

6 Questions The Last Harry Potter Book Had Better F#@king Answer
This article is pretty funny, but I only recommend reading it if you've already read up to and through Half Blood Prince.

Linux Distro Timeline
It's pretty neat to see the .

Driving Directions from Stanford, California to Stokholm, Sweden
I step 33: Swim across the Atlantic Ocean - 3,462 mi.