In my random meanderings on the web tonight ran across this 55U rack: http://www.server-racks.com/how-tall-can-a-server-rack-be.html There's a real problem that's missed there. Space in data centers isn't based on how much equipment you can fit in a rack. It's based on... Continue reading

A mysql slave will show the number of seconds it is behind the master. Sometimes you just want this to be turned into a date. Granted, this number is never exact and rarely correct to any degree. But here's a... Continue reading

Heh, I guess you can! Don't try this at home. Continue reading

Please read this article.Clay and his partner of 20 years, Harold, lived in California. Clay and Harold made diligent efforts to protect their legal rights, and had their legal paperwork in place—wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives, all naming each other. Harold was 88 years old and in frail medical condition, but still living at home with Clay, 77, who was in good health. via kallen.typepad.com I'll trust my friends over "the county" any day. This is outrageous. Continue reading

worst cabling idea yet Some of you will think this is brilliant. But if you have 'enough' foresight to buy these cables and you aren't willing to do the proper documentation of your work, just go home. This is just saying to everyone on your team 'I'm ok with not doing it right the first time.' And there's no room for you in Ops. Continue reading

What do you do on a rainy day in San Francisco? Make beef jerky! I looked into doing this a while ago, though it seemed a bit expensive. But last month I paid off my last credit card (the 0.0% offer ended) so I figured, what the heck! Thank God I had the fan already! You're looking at $25 worth of furnace filters and bungie cords and $34! in flank steak. I don't know when flank steak got elevated to NY strip price, but WOW. I used Alton Brown's recipe, but I didn't have a box fan and I wasn't... Continue reading

Recently my favorite auntie asked me how to get a song on her iPod. The iTunes music store (iTMS) didn't offer the particular song she was looking for in a non-album form. If she bought the entire album from the iTMS, she could get that track, but it wasn't offered separately. Luckily for everyone, there are still many options available for (legally) expanding our music collection. In this instance the Amazon music store had exactly what she was looking for. (I also check eMusic when people ask me about obscure tracks, they have a HUGE jazz and classical section.) I... Continue reading