Archive of July 2008

Mac OS X Leopard Server: Using htaccess

When I first started to install Chyrp - which uses an htaccess to format the nice links and to lop-off the www, I couldn't understand why the .htaccess config files were being ignored. It seems though that you need to enable them under Sites in Server Admin for them to work.

The screenshot above shows the option in Server Admin. To allow the use of .htaccess files, you need to enable the box: "Allow All Overrides". To me it seems mindnumbingly stupid to disable it by default.

Server Issues

A couple of hours ago I killed this blog - again. Firstly I thought it was down to overloading my PowerMac, which runs this. Although it is turning itself into something which is really quite slow and does need something done about, that is of course happening right now. I am currently on the process of moving over, it's not however as quick of a job as you may think and I have come into some issues.

I have, for example just gone through a spout of two quite time consuming problems. The first was discovering where my loading problem was behind.

To start with I thought this was down to my server; I am pounding it at the end of the day, which explains the on average 10 second load times. Unfortunately though it was down to a previous DNS records adjustment. I had originally planned on moving over to my own DNS servers, but I had unintentionally done something at my end. So I moved them back to my registrar's DNS servers to keep it running, but doing this deletes the original records, therefore I had to re-enter them. I entered it wrong and ended up no-where. If you can read this post, it's working right.

After this I had some problems, although on my newer server rather than this is running on, to do with MySQL. I'm going to follow up my solution in another post I was unable to connect locally to the MySQL Database causing quite a few irritating run arounds. Unlike with using a bash shell, or editing config files, I'm not as proficient with SQL commands so I generally fall back to a GUI tool to help me.

Although I am unwilling to give a definate time frame, the blog should be over and nice and speedy in the next few days. Preferably tomorrow, and if I can get up when I plan on, before midday.

Computers and Temperature

A couple of days ago was the hottest day of the year, in the UK at least. For computers this you would have thought would be a nightmare. For my machines though, even with my dust problem, it's seemingly not.

In my bedroom/office I have 5 computers. Although only 4 are constantly running, that is quite a lot of heat and thus noise being pushed out by these machines. Fortunately, two are laptops (My MacBook and my iBook); these are not as badly affected by dust and heat than the desktops as they seem to be able to cool themselves down effectively.

You could say that this is because they are almost entirely plastic, which although being a good insulator is quite thin on the ground in a laptop.

The most of the problem comes from the desktops. They are both noisy and in confined spaces. The noise is less of a problem to me than space they are in, as this is of my own choosing. You could suggest that, if I were to move them, then surely I could eradicate the noise problem, unfortunately it is not that simple.

The problem with moving systems is that, among other things, I will have no where to put what was once there, the second problem is that there is now a problem with where to put them. Datacentre's typically have a style of airflow that allows systems to be cooled at the same time as keeping the ambient temperature of the server floor down. This keeps the levels of humidity and the general room heat down.

The latter is what my problem is at the moment. The position of the room itself is quite a problem. In the morning the room receives a full dose of sunlight until around 1pm. This has the effect of raising the room temperature by a dramatic amount, and then the wall insulation keeps this heat in whilst I try to lower it by keeping the one large, and other small window open. This is unfortunately not that successful until around 10pm at night when the temperature starts it slow nighttime decent.

The highest temperature that I have recorded over the last day or two is 29°C. At night this, still with all the windows open goes down to around 25. I have for the past two days been leaving windows open until around 1am. Although I can't check the accuracy of my thermometer, this is by far the warmest room in my house - bar of course the kitchen when the oven is on.

So, what can I do? Unless I were to build a mount - which would raise the two desktops off the ground and allow air circulation I am unable to do much. I can't afford to buy or run an aircon unit, and given that the current survival rate of my machines hasn't diminished I can't see a reason to need it.

Maybe it would be something more important if I were to run more machines, for the moment though, it would be a bit silly - I can't use 5 as it is...

The Store of the Big G

Today I rediscovered the Google Store - full of Google related merchandise. It made me think about buying something from there. Among all of the respective rubbish I found three interesting things which I thought I could buy. Although one is ecause I could do with one, the other two are there because I thought that it could be nice to have them, so here goes..

A Google Speaker in Black

I've needed some replacement speakers for a while, the ones I have are "stolen" from the same pack my old Dell was in and I have since given that to my Mum, replacing the speakers would be a good idea too. This Google branded one isn't so bad looking either and it's in one package and USB powered - one less socket to use. What is debatable though is the sound quality, I was planning on getting a 5.1 system for my room/office/desk, a Google one would be kind of cool though.

A Lava Lamp

It's not that a need one, or would probably use it, but a lava lamp seems cool too. It would of course take up a socket rather than save one, but it would give me another light and something to look at when I am thinking. Which I often do, of course..

A Google logo'ed Fleece

It might not be Winter where I am, but I could still do with a fleece. Every year I seem to grow old of the clothes I have, because I end up wearing it too much.

The thing with a fleece is that it isn't used that much, but when it is it needs to be small, good looking and useful.

Is it time that I had something completely different? I thought this about ordering some stuff from ThinkGeek, I'm yet to do so - but that's beside the point. I'm quite up to the idea that I could be marketing someone else's brand. Maybe I should bring out some Four Cores, or Nick's Blog branded rubbish?

I'm not sure yet what I should order, but I have at least lopped the lava lamp of my list given that it is entirely pointless. I am thinking that the speaker should too, although it does look good - I can get a much better system for about the same price. The fleece on the other hand is £35, not somethng I am willing at the moment to throw out. Maybe it is time to go back to ThinkGeek?

Mood Enhancing Drugs: Stepping into my Mind and Presenting Ideas

Warning: I will not be held responsible for the information held within this post, however you use it. Drugs, should only be taken with the advice of a Doctor, it's common sense and its a matter of free speech that this information should be published.

I can usually only concentrate at certain times of the day, with a certain amount of backed up sleep. This is often between 1am and 4am after having several days off. As I write this it is 2:55am and I have been off and having a good amount of sleep for the last week, at least. Although today as a whole was good on the concentration front, I did lag at one point, in between coffee.

I went to sleep at 4am the night before, then woke up at 9:30am. I'm probably going to go to bed at 4am again tonight. Apart from around 10:30-12 I was fine and did not feel tired. The trouble with this as a plan however is that it is dependent on having a good amount of sleep before hand.

To not try and put it in any other words; drugs seemingly provide an answer to the normal day where having a good amount of sleep is not possible. I find it interesting how open some people are to drugs compared to those who are not. What I mean by this is that some people try to (badly) cope with situations given to them rather than trying to use the minutes/hours/days they do have in a productive and effective way.

In a normal given week I get up a 6:30am and go to bed at around 1am. This doesn't leave me with much sleep, especially for a person who does seem to require a large amount.

Not having enough sleep is generally only a problem for me when my workload is high, such as around projects and such not. For this, which is *not* everyday, drugs could provide the answer to staying alive, getting everything in on time and keeping my attention levels up.

It is debatable that I have some form of ADHD. Maybe AD, I'm certainly not hyperactive, I never really have been, but I do loose my concentration when I am stressed, the general stressor for me is having a large amount of stuff going on at once. Many IM conversations can do this to me too.

The ideal drug of course would be one without side effects, that isn't physically addicting, keeps you awake if you need to be awake, but at the same time allows you to sleep easily. As I don't know if one exists, I'm going to look at all of the ones which I can find information about, then go through each one. I will say first though, that I haven't tried any of them.

Caffine: Causes jitteriness, an irregular heartbeat and addiction.

Amphetimines: Crash and Burn type of drug, illegal and most probably dangerous in the long term. Makes you high.

Modafinil/Provigil: Prescription only, prescribed for nacrolepsy. Does not act quickly, affecting wakefulness rather than shocking your brain with a fast hit. Reportedly does not stop you from sleeping and does not leave you with a sleep debt. As there is no high, there shouldn't be a low. Usage in the long term is unknown. It's expensive (just around £3/tablet).

Ritalin: Somewhat like speed, apparently. There are less reports on it's effects, but it is a much older, and cheaper drug.

After reading many articles on the subject, I came down to three conclusions.

1. That the use of such drugs regularly would most likely kill me.
2. Usage off-hat when I'm trying to complete hard work on time when I cannot concentrate could be very useful.
3. Generally, there is a max amount of time, being accepted as 48 hours before your body will need a real amount of sleep. Basically you can stay up for 48 hours without going mad.

I also came to the conclusion that the best way forward was to try it when I didn't need to get anything done. Like, now.