Inert Ramblings

Month: July 2003

  • Is your dashboard sticky?

    One of my pet peeves is eating in the car. Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with munching on a nutrition bar or drinking a soda in transit but there’s something seriously wrong with attempting to balance an entire meal on your knee while driving. Like mobile phones, not only is it a distraction to the driver but it also has the tendency to make quite a mess.
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  • WebGUI Configuration Tricks

    Database Name

    The database name can be changed on the dsn line of the WebGUI.conf configuration file. This is convenient if multiple WebGUI instances will be run on the same server or if WebGUI tables must be inserted into an existing database.

    Tuning mod_perl

    In order to get the best performance out of WebGUI, mod_perl must be installed and enabled for the directory that will be serving index.pl. In addition, preloading WebGUI using the preload.perl script will also increase performance.

    Modifications will have to be made to the preload.perl script:

    • Update the path on the use lib line.
    • Select use ModPerl::Registry instead of use Apache::Registry.

    Now, add the following line to httpd.conf within your virtual host config:

    PerlRequire /path/to/WebGUI/sbin/preload.perl

    Caching for fun and Profit

    Install the Cache::FileCache Perl module using CPAN and restart Apache to enable caching.

  • Where do you stash your media?

    Now that you’ve gone through your entire CD collection and ripped everything, what do you do with the media? And no, I don’t mean bringing all your discs down to the local music store and selling everything used to pay for an iPod. I’m interested in sealed long term archival storage since, for the most part, I probably won’t be touching the master discs again once they’ve been ripped.
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  • Atkins evangelism…

    It’s official…Andrew, my navigator, will be starting a mix of Atkins and The Hacker’s Diet to drop 30 or so pounds. We had quite a long discussion about it this evening and he’s quite psyched…especially after he stayed for dinner. Grilled steak, grilled chicken, mozzarella with spices in oil and cheese, spinach and artichoke dip as a side. 100% Atkins legal!

  • Toilegami

    2 Roll Holder I had always suspected that there was a complete science behind the proper usage of toilet paper. Everyone has their own individual ritual when it comes to exploring their nether regions. So, not only do most people have their own highly customized system, but they also evangelize when given the chance.

  • Evidence Eliminator Sucks

    A recent article on Slashdot shows that Evidence Eliminator is back in the news. This time they’ve released the rabid lawyers in an attempt to shut down and silence Eric Lee Green, one of the primary critics of Evidence Eliminator on the Internet today.

    Some may remember my previous entry on the subject…this goes to show even further that the Evidence Eliminator folks are extremely unprofessional. Even if I did need some sort of forensics defeating software, like I’d trust a company that can’t even maintain a professional looking Web site and has the writing and grammar skills of a fourth grader.

    Update: The Evidence Eliminator Web site has been offline for quite a few hours now. Looks like they’ve been hit with a DDoS since the Slashdot story.

  • Rudy Rucker – The Hacker and the Ants

    0380718448.01.MZZZZZZZ.jpg It really is a small world. An old girlfriend purchased a copy of The Hacker and the Ants for my birthday and, due to its cheesy title, I was reluctant to read it. I eventually picked it up and turned it into a quick afternoon read. Overall, I was quite amused by the storyline and decided that it was, indeed, worth reading.

    Fast forward a few years…it turns out that John Walker, the author of The Hacker’s Diet, is friends with Rudy and wrote the epilogue to the book! I find it rather interesting how small links like that can unexpectedly join together…especially since I’ve been using John’s book to lose weight.

  • The right tool for the job…

    It has been said to always use the right tool for the job. Sometimes what seems to be the right tool for the job, in actuality, is not. I just spent the last two hours fighting with a compressor and an automotive spray gun trying to prime our exercise room with Gripper. Logic would dictate that a spray gun is a spray gun and, since acrylic Gripper is a liquid of the same approximate consistency as acrylic automotive paint, things would be all fine and dandy. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
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  • Power Genitalia

    Power Genitalia…sounds like some strange new form of penis enlarger or sex toy. Nope…it’s actually an Italian firm that produces power generation products. You’d think that someone would check up on these things…
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  • Commemoration

    Waternoodle Thugette 0wn3d

    Yesterday was my twenty-seventh birthday. I think…carry the two, yeah, twenty-seventh. Kelly put together a small barbecue party, we had some friends over and we took full advantage of the children’s wading pool and the new deck set. A simple meal of hot dogs and hamburgers was served with dozens of condiments and snack chips.

    On the Atkins front, mozzarella in seasoned oil and T.G.I. Friday’s Spinach, Cheese & Artichoke Dip (extremely low-carb) rounded out the meal. For dessert, Kelly found a low-carb cheesecake at a local bakery and we topped it with sugar-free chocolate sauce and homemade raspberry sauce. The leftover pulp from the raspberry sauce was kept for smoothies.

    Did I mention that my wife totally rules?