PSSH + GPRS = reboots on the road

SSH shells on the treo 600 with PSSH is not exactly something I would want to be doing all day long but it’s definatly usable.

My previous laptop + TDMA/CDMA phone experiences have been so slow that it was like ssh via carrier pigeon. I haven’t tried CDMA2 or 1X as Aliant calls it but I assume it’s similar in speed to GPRS. I would compare GPRS speed and latency to the average 33.6 K dialup session. I’m sure using the Treo as a wireless modem for my laptop would result in a usable connection on the road but the Rogers Wireless data fees are insane. $40 a month for 3 megabytes of data per month works out to a dollar for every 76 kilobytes of data.

On another note, what ever happened to laptop IR ports? Every notebook I’ve ever owned has had one and now when I finally get a device I’d like to use with the IR port my new Dell doesn’t have one!

Porn for Sysadmins

Having a perverse interest in all things sysadmin I sometimes go on google.ca enduced journeys in search of sysadmin blogs/pictures/info etc. I find it’s a neat way to see what my peers are up too, hopefully picking up some new tricks along the way. One of the most openly documented HA website’s I’ve seen in recent memory is wikipedia. They have hours worth of reading regarding their setup as well as admin blogs to detail the day to day problems they encounter. Here are some links to get your reading binge started.

Wikimedia Servers
Server Admin log
Wikimedia NOC
Wikitech

HP is robbing me blind

Since when was 25ml of ink worth $30 and why package the print head with the ink? Pretty sad when the price of the replacement ink is more than the price of the latest and greatest printer.

My Epson dot matrix printer that came with my first computer (an apple IIe) still prints fine and it’s 20 years old! Each replacement ribbon is $9 and a ribbon is good for hundreds and hundreds of pages of text.

I guess this is how HP can be a complete failure in the pc/electronics department (hp/compaq pc’s are the Ugo’s of the computer world) and still be a profitable company. It’s the Gillette business model, give them the razor for cheap and make a mint on the blades.

Upgraded the site to WordPress 1.5

Ughhh.. forgot how much time I had into customization on my old 1.2 install. The theme and css stylesheet layout for version 1.5 is completely different. So instead of trying to make my old css work I opted for a new theme, equix. Already I don’t like some of it but it’s a good base to work off. That’s the wonderful thing about OSS, I can take his style and modify it to my liking.