Asymptomatic

There must be intelligent life down here

How to Choose a Good Web Host
February 01, 2008

Man, this week has been difficult. We’ve had a few server issues with work clients, and I’ve been playing around with my own servers, and it’s just been a mess that I’m hoping will be in the past come next week. But I’ve learned some lessons, and I figure I might as well pass them on because people are apparently still buying hosting from really bad places.

What do I need? This is the most basic question you need to start asking yourself before you even hunt for hosts. Having some idea of your demands, both from a technical perspective and a logistical perspective can save you some pain in the future. Here are some really basic considerations:

Downingtown School Strike is Absurd
January 30, 2008

Abby has been home with me for the past two days because the teachers a Downingtown Schools can’t come to an agreement with their administration over how much money they should be making. We’re lucky that Abby is very low-maintenence and that I’m able to be “at work” with her at home so that there’s someone to keep an eye on her. Still, this teacher’s strike is absolutely absurd, and I’ll be happy to wait out the full state-allowed 23 days of strike to see a reasonable agreement reached - one that likely doesn’t assent to the teachers’ demands.

The teachers are asking for raises over 5 years totalling 23.75%. The board is offering them 18% over 4 years. It seems like a large gap, but think about this: It’s an 18% raise in pay. That’s higher than the average cost of living raises here. It’s more raise than I’ve seen in 8 years. It’s more than generous, but apparently it’s not enough. An opinion article in the Daily Local News expresses my sentiments quite well.

Abbyana Jones and the DVD of Doom
January 28, 2008
Abby movies

On a whim and a wish to watch something with the kids that was not yet another animated film (not that I dislike them, but they seem all that the kids will tolerate in entirely) I threw in a copy of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. I’m not sure I expected them to really watch the whole thing, but being that Indiana Jones was a favorite of mine over the years, I had hoped they would enjoy it as much as I do. As it turns out, my hopes have come true.

Tonight when we were out to dinner, I suggested to Abby that we pop some corn and watch another Indiana Jones movie. Her eyes flew wide open in shock, as she was surprised to learn that there was another movie!

Piano, Sucka!
January 28, 2008

We planned to meet my mom at King of Prussia mall - the world’s largest indoor shopping place by retail square foot, including an Apple store and several high-end stores like Versace and Tiffany’s - for a little white-sale shopping at JCPenny’s. We left a bit early so we could make a couple of stops along the way.

Abby wanted to buy a spring for a recent invention project. The thing she’s building is a kid of box that beats would-be burglars over the head with a piece of wood if they should attempt to open this particular safe-keeping box. This is in lieu of a lock.

Naming Conventions
January 25, 2008

We had a discussion at work the other day, and again on IRC recently, about what to name our computers. At first this might sound like a silly thing, especially to people who use a single home computer, but for people with more than one at home or who use computers every day at work, it’s something that you probably end up thinking about at some point.

All of my computers at home are named after “characters” in books. This computer is Defiant, named after a spaceship in Bill Baldwin’s Galactic Convoy novel. My file server is Naruto after the manga character, and my notebook is named Runcible, after a much higher-tech device that is the center of the Neal Stephenson novel The Diamond Age.