March 2008 Archives

I transferred 2 months worth of daily entries (Dec 2007 + Jan 2008) to individual blog entries, using (older) Movable Type v3.35, since that was the version I was using when those entries were made.

It's much easier to reference (via linkage) a particular event .. such as the upgrade to YaBB v2.2 (which did not go well) .. or the Bug's 3rd birthday (which did) .. when I have a daily entry to link to (instead of monthly).

Movable TypeBack in December & January is when I was researching VPS servers, and didn't have time to convert the daily entries to blog entries...

.. after Lunarpages (you might recall) booted us off the server (end of November), and I was worried they were gonna turn off the lights and pull our plug.

But now we're all caught up. (Took me all day, tho. Tedious maximus.) Only the last 2 days don't have blog entries.

Blog entries are also better for search engines, since each page can indexed individually (with its own title).

Frontline airs the first of a 2-part special tonight, titled » Bush's War (the war which will define the Bush presidency) .. to mark the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. (Part II airs tomorrow night.)

If you miss it, you can catch this (and other Frontline specials) online. See here » Watch Frontline Online.

Bush's WarFrontline is my favorite TV show. Besides no commercials (PBS), and a decidedly understated approach, they manage to uncover facts you simply can't find anywhere else (based on more than 400 interviews) ...

.. which helps us become better-informed citizens.

I also like the way they present their findings .. as objectively as possible, focusing more on the facts than trying to sway the audience .. allowing us to draw our own conclusions. And I like their narrator, too » Will Lyman.

A good dad, walking the beachMoms might be different, but I don't think dads can really know what type of parent they will be .. until actually faced with fatherhood.

I mean, certainly we all aspire to excel at one of life's most important roles .. but until we put hand to task, our preconceptions represent little more than wishful thinking.

A friend told me yesterday, "I always knew you'd be a good dad -- an *excellent* dad -- but you have exceeded even my expectations."

"How did you know?" I interrupted, fishing for more compliments, ".. that I'd be a good dad?" (Cuz I didn't know myself.)

"I just knew," he answered, declining to elaborate.

At the time, I was talking on my cell, walking at the Back Bay. (I have a small, but supportive network of friends I can call to help deal with things.)

The Back Bay is where I usually go after I give the Bug back to his mom, and can't see him for several days. Hiking in nature helps me process the feelings of loss that come from missing him.

There I saw a bobcat .. my first-ever out in the wild. Strikingly beautiful animal. Dark colors. Pointy ears. He did not seem alarmed by crossing paths with a human, passing within 15 feet (5 meters).

A lady following some distance behind said he was one of three offspring born several months ago, and that the mother-bobcat was much lighter in color. I know it sounds corny, but the sighting made the day feel special .. like when I spy dolphins, or a whale.

Sometimes, after I give the Bug back, it feels like my heart is ripped apart .. but this week was different. I felt *good* .. a sense of accomplishment .. satisfied I had done a good job, and content he was happy and developing well.

Chris McCandless - Into the WildWatched Into the Wild last night. Read the book last year. Tho I missed the film when it hit theaters last autumn. Had to wait for the DVD release.

I was impressed. Much better than I expected. (And I expected much.) Obviously a labor of love for Sean Penn, who directed and also wrote the screenplay. Easily one of my top-10 films of all-time.

Most noticeable were the film's artistic touches. I must've said, "Wow, look at that shot!" a dozen times. (Composition.)

The (true) story provokes much discussion, and evokes different feelings in different people.

To me, it's about rejecting the damage caused by people who are supposed to love us (more than anybody else), and care for us, even when we can't care for ourselves (parents)...

.. by rejecting their values, especially those they hold most dear .. which, (in the case of Chris McCandless) were » money and "things".

The trailer contains a restaurant-scene where Chris' dad offers to buy him a new car .. following his graduation from college (with honors) .. to which he replies, "Why would I want a new car? The Datsun runs fine .. I don't want *things,* dad."

WiredTree VPS Plans: 256-MB + 512-MB RAM

Today I paid for our second month of hosting at our new web host .. WiredTree (using half the refund I received from cancelling my annual subscription with Lunarpages).

During our first month of service, I've been closely monitoring resource usage .. at our new VPS server. So I have a good idea where we stand.

Everything in the world of Virtual Privates Servers, I learned, boils down to memory usage (RAM). Our hosting plan dedicates 384-MB to the site. (256-MB standard plan, plus a 128-MB upgrade).

If we exceed 384-MB, we would have to purcha$e more memory .. at a rate of $7.50/month per additional 64-MB RAM.

Here's what I found » the highest amount of RAM we've used thus far is 366-MB (see here), which equals 95% of our allowable limit. Kinda close, but this was only a short-term transient (1 hour).

Our highest *sustained* memory use is ~325-MB (lasting a few days), so that number might be more meaningful (85% max). Our average memory use tends to be in the range of 270-to-290 MB (75%)...

.. which is actually pretty comfortable. And it's not uncommon, following a reboot, for our usage to drop down to the 220-240 area, tho these low numbers tend to creep up over time (as Apache caches more pages).

Now that the site has been moved (to a new server), and the forum script upgraded (to YaBB 2.2.1) my sights turn to Ye Olde Rad Blog (MTOS 4.1).

NightOwlOne of the coolest differences between pre-MTOS versions and this (very first) open source release .. is that we can now create as many different blogs as we want.

Prior to MTOS, the Personal Use license limited you to 1 blog per installation, with a max of 3 authors. (Still does, actually.)

Now (with MTOS) » unlimited blogs, unlimited users/authors. So! Of course, I wanna try out this new feature (multi-blog config .. from the same installation).

NightOwl has reluctantly agreed to be my Guinea pig. Yesterday I created my first blog for someone else (on the same Movable Type installation).

Upgraded our forum software today to » YaBB 2.2.1 (released March 5th). This version fixes all the problems associated with the not-yet-ready-for-primetime YaBB 2.2 release (Nov 2007).

I use the term "upgrade," but it's actually more accurate to call it a "fresh/clean installation" of YaBB 2.2.1, followed by importing all the Members and Messages from the old Y2.2 forum.

Last time I did this (on January 22nd) it was a disaster .. as the file-transfer (from old to new directories) choked, and we lost over half our members and 3/4'ers of our posts. I stayed up 'til 4:30, and spent the whole next day restoring files from a back-up.

This time however, everything went without a hitch. I asked the techs who run our new VPS server what they thought would be the best way to transfer such a large number of files (~10,000).

They suggested I log into the root/shell access (using PuTTy) and use the Linux "copy" command from the command line.

It went so freaking fast that I thought something was wrong. But when I looked, all our members, and their posts were there, all accounted for. Boy, was I stoked!

The Lunarpages chapter in Radified's webhosting history officially came to a close yesterday .. when I cancelled the account. See here » Lunarpages Account Cancelled

If the site continues to grow and develop, our next move might be to a Hybrid Dedicated Server (which sounds pretty cool).

If I had cancelled after today, I would've lost $95 (my annual renewal fee) .. which will pay for two months of service at our new VPS (with WiredTree).

This last-hurrah with Lunarpages began back in November, when we were booted off the Production server .. for using "excessive resources." Closure always feels good. "Adios, Lunarpages. It was fun while it lasted."

A Nectar Day in Radland

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Alfred Lord TennysonEver have one of those days where everything seems to be "clicking" for you?

While pulling into the (crowded) lot at the coffee shop this morning, I spied the ideal corner spot. But another car (from the opposite direction) beat me to it. Drat!

I looked around. No other space was even close. So I put the car in reverse. But instead of pulling into the spot, the guy in the SUV backed up, then went forward and drove off.

While passing, he motioned me forward and called out, saying (with a big smile), "Go ahead! You guys are worth it."

Before leaving, I mosied over to his table and thanked him for making my day. "Nice way to start the day," I said.

Sitting across from him was his friend, who related a story where, after pulling into a parking spot at a taco joint yesterday (up in LA), he heard (while talking on his cell) someone pounding on his trunk, saying, "You took my space." We all had a good laugh.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from March 2008 listed from newest to oldest.

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