March 2004 Archives

I recently noticed that some of my servers configured to use GMT as their timezone (I will detail the merits of using GMT or UTC as a timezone in another post) had switched and where now reporting BST instead of GMT. FreeBSD provides a utility tzsetup which provides a graphical user interface to select the time zone, unfortunately this list is sorted by geographic region, and is clumsy for what I want to do. To set your system timezone manually, select the correct timezone entry from /usr/share/zoneinfo. When you find the timezone you want, copy it over to /etc/localtime. In my case: # cp /usr/share/zoneinfo/Etc/GMT localtime # adjkerntz -a (adjkerntz = adjust kernal timezone)

So it's settled, my next laptop will have the Intel Centrino wireless chipset. Why Broadcom will not release drivers for their chips is beyond me. Doesn't really matter anymore, they just lost another customer. http://ipw2100.sourceforge.net/

See: CNN/Money: Stewart found guilty on all counts in obstruction trial

Stewart, 62, was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements � charges that together carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Wow, she's lost millions in stock value in her company, she has been plastered all over the news, and now she is going to jail. Well worth the ~$100k she saved by selling Imclone.

So I have been seeing a trainer (Sidney Washington) since July of 2003. I haven't felt this good since I was 16, and in many ways I didn't feel this good back then. I can't recommend Sidney enough, he's great.

"I provide personal fitness training for all ages and fitness levels. Whether you are a beginner or have been exercising for years, my experience as a fitness professional will help you meet your needs. I can design a periodized strength training program specifically for your needs using the integration of functional exercises into a traditional conditioning program. You will feel the benefits of a program that teaches you proper progression by blending science and creativity!"

Check out the Westside Fitness website for more information.

Steps I use to make world on FreeBSD: 1. Install cvsup-without-gui # cd /usr/ports/net/cvsup-without-gui # make install distclean 2. Update the source files # cvsup -g -h <cvsup-mirror> /usr/share/examples/cvsup/stable-supfile 3. Configure a kernel See Configuring the FreeBSD Kernel in the FreeBSD Handbook 4. Grab the Makefile # mkdir /root/make # cd /root/make # fetch www.clarksys.com/freebsd/Makefile 5. Make World # make world 6. Make your Kernel # make -DMYKERNEL=<your kernel name> kernel 7. Merge the updated configuration # make merge That's it, you now have a freshly updated system. Check out the FreeBSD Diary for a more indepth look at the make world process.

Everyone should know about and use Knoppix:

…Knoppix, a Free and Open Source Live Linux CD. Knoppix is a GNU/Linux distribution that boots and runs completely from cd. It includes recent linux software and desktop environments, with programs such as OpenOffice.org, Abiword, The Gimp, Konqueror, Mozilla, and hundreds of other quality open source programs.

Ever crash your hard drive and need to recover data off of the disk? Ever need to mirror two hard drives? The list goes on and on…

Ever need to test if your mail servers are listed in a DNSBL? Check out these two sites for good tools. http://www.declude.com/junkmail/support/ip4r.htm http://www.geocities.com/spamresources/tools-dnsbl.htm

http://www.servercolocation.net/backbone.html http://www.level3.com/LookingGlass/ telnet://route-server.ip.att.net/ http://www.ris.ripe.net/cgi-bin/lg/index.cgi http://www.arin.net/whois/ http://www.internetpulse.net/

See: Fool.com: Grocery Strike Ends

The key component of the settlement appears to be the creation of two tiers of grocery employees, the second for new hires who will receive less in pay and benefits -- including heath care and pensions -- than veteran employees. (According to the Los Angeles Times, this was said to be among the grocery consortium's main goals.)

So as I understand it, the union lost the strike. The existing employees are going to keep their benefits and pay, while the new employees are going to get shafted. What was the whole point anyways? So no all the grocery stores have to do is slowly replace the "veteran" workers with new ones.