Posts by Moof

BOFH: Press 1. Press 2. Press whatever you damn well LIKE

InfoCom / Zork

They actually have this as a free game on IOS.

Rackspace restored after DDOS takes out DNS

Still a PITA

We use Rackspace and it caused a major pain in our tech support. About 1/2 of our customer base was affected (those that needed to do a DNS lookup). We were patiently explaining how to type in the load balancer IP into the address bar and to accept the certificate to get back into the system.

More savvy users modified their hosts file to make it work. Posting directions on our FB page and internal FB area for customers only, which is the only presence we have other than Rackspace-controlled DNS websites helped quite a bit. Luckily most of our customers are great and took it in stride.

Dying HealthCare.gov bagged JUST SIX registrations on first day

Re: Is this really an IT issue?

I am self-employed and currently pay about 1200//mo for health insurance. I want NOTHING to do with the government controlling our healthcare. As a developer, I wouldn't put my name on that website. Unbelievable. The major issue I have with it is my insurance covers 100% over 5k and I can have a healthcare savings account. Obamacare's choices are less than that and cost me more (for the family). What especially gets my goat is they are going to tax me 1% of my earnings if I don't cave, going up to 2.5% in a couple years.

Apple handed Samsung-busting nuke after Steve Jobs patent U-turn

Re: Damn.

It's called "reading."

US.gov - including NASA et al - quits internet. Is the UN running it now?

Great Scam!

Hire all the developers to come up with redirects and a simple page that screams "oh noes, the government ntertubes are broken!" ... then bail on paying for it all because they are broke!

ZERO-G DINOSAUR made from bits and bobs by space station flight engineer

Re: Beware of reapers ...

I think you mean reavers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reaver_(Firefly)

Deep inside the iPhone 5s lurk a few surprises

Re: Samsung processor

As someone who went from a Blackberry (HATED), to Droid (Semi-Hated) to an iPhone 4S (actually really like), I have to disagree with your anti-fanboi comments. Like most iPhone people, I find the integration and interoperability a huge plus. The "just works" is what a lot of Apple fans care about. The 4S is the first phone that actually works well for me without having to cycle power, remove batteries to reset, deal with laggy processors, etc.

Rackspace won't match Amazon on prices

Love Rackspace!

I have 8 VMs running off of Rackspace and for the most part have been very pleased. I definitely feel they provide better support than Amazon. While I manage my own servers, when there is a need for their support, it is always awesome.

Ubuntu support periods slashed

Re: This will only effect the terminally stupid

I switched from a straight Debian to Ubuntu LTS for my 8 server VMs primarily because of the 5 year cycle, but I have to say I am not impressed. It seems like there is a kernel update almost every week requiring a reboot, making any kind of uptime laughable in comparison to my Debian servers, throwing the quality of the kernel itself into doubt. I have a feeling the next time I upgrade I will go back to a straight Debian release or something else.

Rackspace: Why we're designing our own cloud servers

As a Rackspace User ...

I had a lot of issues initially with the robustness of Rackspace's switches, but since their major update in the beginning of December, I've been very pleased overall. We moved to the cloud for several reasons, and overall, we are very pleased with the 8VMs we have running. Out of any of the major cloud providers, I'd recommend Rackspace over any others.

Amazon tries to shut .book in face of authors, publishers

Abuse of Power

And to think Apple was the only one "monopolizing" the book market.

Six things a text editor must do - or it's a one-way trip to the trash

I'll stick with my Mac

On the Mac? BBEdit forever! On the PC? Right,s edlin still available? I'd have to use UltraEdit or SlickEdit if I went down that road. Unix? vi or nano. Probable favorite if it wasn't so buggy was Pe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pe_(text_editor)

Apple releases fix for iPhone 4S iOS 6.1 connectivity cockup

Re: The Bitterness is strong....

At least Apple is updating their software for supported phones, something other companies can learn from. As much crap as Apple gets on this site, that might get overlooked.

Speedy MySQL 5.6 takes aim at NoSQL, MariaDB

PostgreSQL

In the meantime I will stick with PostgreSQL and not have to worry about it.

Wireless performance will collapse, prices rise: Deloitte

I am very rural in Central Virginia. Wireless is overcrowded and one of the few ways for many to get internet access. Our speeds are atrocious during days when there isn't any school, although at night (after kiddies go to bed) and early morning is is decent. We just started to get LTE in the area, but I will need to spend an extra 500.00 for a bi-directional amplifier / antennas to get the signal strong enough to be more useful. I wouldn't envy the situation. Verizon needs to invest in backhaul which I am sure is way too little for the number of people who are using wireless as their main internet connection. Don't even get me started on what it costs!

Amazon outage whacked Netflix US customers on Christmas Eve

Re: @Moof

Yeah, I don't regret my decision in that regard. We very well may go back to physical hardware for part of the database cluster (master and one slave) when we go to PostgreSQL 9.3, although we are currently pretty happy with where we are now for the time being.

Re: @Moof

Prior to the move to the cloud I had a half dozen 2U Dell servers running my SaaS in a data center. Great pricing, but I did (and still do) all IT-related functions. I had a 1/2 rack and bandwidth in a semi-secure colo. During that 5 years I was using them, I had one (1) minor network outage and a few unscheduled hardware outages to my own hardware, a couple of which required me to drive an hour to hard cycle one of the boxes (same box every time). I generally trust unto myself and that greatly pisses me off. I have several machines on a load balancer that are constantly synced and an 'emergency' backup in case the load balancer goes tits-up or the internal network goes down. Unfortunately, the hardware was getting old and I didn't want to replace it all for my own virtualized setup, so I looked around and went with Rackspace.

My regret is that Rackspace had some virtual switch issues that really affected performance and in several cases caused outage. It seems like they have cleared things up in their last update and I am cautiously optimistic, but remain vigilant. I run a PostgreSQL 9.1 cluster with no real master/master solution. I opted not do do something like DRBD for the database data due to speed issues and if I need to change to a new master all I have to do is kick off a script. That has never happened except while testing failover.

The bottom line is I believe in trusting unto myself. I'll happily use their hardware resources, but I don't like shared database environments so I have my own. I have several slaves in my DB cluster, have multiple forward-facing machines that are kept in sync and I keep a very close eye on things. Several times I have noticed larger than normal I/O issues that were being caused by someone else sharing the same hardware on one of my VMs. Sucky I/O really affects database performance a LOT and each time I notified Rackspace that they had a problem and they responded immediately, including after the 3rd time in the same morning, in which they disabled the VM of the idiot who was causing the issue until they could prove it was fixed. Their support is AWESOME and one of the main reasons I went with them.

My service is a small business solution geared towards the pet / dog daycare industry. There is a marketing component, but mainly scheduling and tracking pets. Short of the virtual switch issues Rackspace had with their Open Stack cloud, and the couple other instances, I have been more than pleased with their service.

Re: Pass the buck

Maybe not to "pass the buck", but to be honest and forthright about the issue. I have a SaaS running off of Rackspace and have had my share out issues with the cloud, almost ALL of them virtual switch related. In the end, many customers don't care; it is YOU who are at fault, regardless of what the actual issue was.

Do I regret the move to the cloud? In some ways, yes. I love the virtualization and the ability to ramp up horsepower as I need it. Do I TRUST it? Let's say I am cautiously optimistic. As long as there aren't any switch issues that take down internal communication between servers, it runs great and I don't have to run out at O'dark-thirty and drive an hour to kick a server that doesn't respond to anything other than a physical hard boot.

I also like the fact that I can scale as much as I need to without incurring more hardware costs. I also monitor various metrics on the hardware using munin and also paging when something is misbehaving. Rackspace won me over with their excellent support which is stellar, btw, so I plan on sticking with them. I believe what Ronald Reagan said about trust when it came to the Soviets ... Trust, but verify.

BOFH: Hasta la Vista... luser

We just fix it by formatting it and installing Ubuntu.

iPad Mini vs Nexus 7: inch makes all the difference, says Apple CEO

Re: Missing the point ..

Speaking as a "fanboi", this is pretty well spot on and very typically Apple. That said, I have an iPhone 4S (my first iPhone) and am immensely happy with it and worlds better than the Droid I had prior to that ... oh, and the maps are more accurate than Google in my very rural Virginia location. I waited until the iPad3 and bought a tablet to do some IOS development and it is a great tablet. I have a 30" Apple monitor and 17" MBP. I enjoy the integration and while I have issues with the direction Apple is going in regards to the walled garden, it does make sense from their perspective.

I am also a small business owner and web developer. As such, I use the tools that make the most sense. Debian / Ubuntu only for servers. They are rock-solid, just as my Mac development environment is. So this typical "fanboi" is like many ... we use the tools that make the most sense for our environment and don't like to settle for less. Most of us don't go out and buy the latest and greatest every time Apple comes up with an update, but we stick with Apple because it is the best choice for us. YMMV

Google sneaks in back door, slips YouTube onto iPhone 5

You forgot ads

The Apple version today doesn't have ads while Google's new version does. I think this is part of the fallout when contracts change. In the end it has nothing to do with a new iPhone, but with IOS 6. Who cares about this?

Hipsters hacking on PostgreSQL

Love It.

I've been a PostgreSQL user since 1998 or so and have a number of databases running off it. The current version, 9.1x supports streaming replication very well along with other solutions like slony. The PostgreSQL team loves 3rd part integration too, so there are options there too. It has proven to be absolutely rock-solid over the years and it is about time people noticed.

Ssssh. Apple quietly mashes monster MacBook Pro

I knew this was going to happen

I've owned the 17" laptop since they came out. All of them (even my original G4) drove my 30" monitor without issue and I use it as my main machine. The extra real-estate is excellent and I will be missing the 17" when I replace my current one. Regardless of the bias on this site, the MBP's quality really is worth the price, IMO. You do get what you pay for and when you make your living working in front of a machine all day, some things are more important than price.

Princeton solar researchers take leaf from plants’ book

Re: We knew this 40+ years ago, in grade school/scouts.

Damn Colonists!

Apple tells staff to 'capture' iPad 3s with Wi-Fi troubles

Long Time Apple User

I've been an Apple user since the Apple II and while I have never ben to an Apple store, I have been to various Apple-sanctioned stores for repairs several times over the past 30 years or so. In each case, the service from them AND from Apple has been stellar, so I think your comment about it being missing a bit off the mark. I recently bought an iPad for development purposes and have been very pleased with its operation. No overheating, no wi-fi issues that I have experienced, just a damn nice piece of kit.

Confirmed: iPad 3 runs hotter than iPad 2

Re: Like that other thermal wonder...

Not at all! I have radiant heat and my feet stay nice and toasty. Maybe I should line my floor with iPads?

Carmageddon

Early Parental Bonding!

I used to spend hours playing this with my then teenage sons across our home network. Call it "parental bonding" because of the huge laughs we had over this game. Almost as good as playing paintball against them and whooping their butts. The game wasn't taken seriously and a lot of fun was had by all. One of the best games I have ever played during that era.

Fat margins squeeze Apple against Android

Apple cares about putting a quality product with a positive experience from start to finish, which is why they do the whole widget. If they do that right, the profits will follow ... and they do the vast majority of the time. Most of the press and competition get that wrong. That is why Steve & Co. got so PO'd at Samsung who was trying to replicate the whole package. Remember that they were caught with their pants down with the iPad2. What they were shipping at that time was crap.

Call me a "fanboi" as I use a Mac (because it works and doesn't get in my way) , but my servers are debian because that is the right tool for the jobs they need to do. My phone is Android and I don't use an iPad ... yet.

Apple files patent for 'polished meteorite' keyboard

Re: In other news...

Prior art since the dawn of man I'm afraid.

Apple antagonist Proview unveils its own iPad

Re: Unoriginal iMac

I call BS. The original Mac was in production long before that piece of history. The iMac was Jobs's firm belief in building an "appliance", controlling the experience by controlling both hardware and software. It is a direct descendant of the first Mac.

Verizon: Samsung 4G ban not in our, er, public interest

Re: Verizon

Speaking as someone who has Verizon as a telco, I think that is wishful thinking. I tried getting them to provide a T1 and they quoted over 20k for line conditioning on THEIR side of the demarc. Granted we are very rural, but that is BS. Verizon Business (different business unit apparently) was awesome though.