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Week of September 10th, 2001
Last Updated: September 18, 2001 10:40
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Email: tom@syroidmanor.com
This pretty cool. I'm sitting on the couch, notebook in my lap (look ma', no wires!), working in Linux. Seems almost surreal to be working in Linux and using wireless. I'm still restricted to the command line (no time to play with X yet), so I'm working in VIM. I'm actually getting pretty good with the VI/VIM keystrokes, and I've finally got to the point where I know enough HTML I no long have to have a reference text open next to me -- thanks largely to number of hours I've spent editing/working/translating in XML recently.
Fall has come to roost in Saskatchewan. The day is pleasant enough, but almost overnight the heat from the sun dropped about 15 degrees. I fear the days of shorts and tank-tops on the back porch are gone for another 9 or 10 months. Oh well. It was a grand summer indeed.
Several people wrote to ask why I decided to go with 2.4.10-pre6 on my notebook. Part it was simply the course of events. It just happened to be the kernel I was using when all the pieces fell together and everything finally worked as advertised. And being the kind of person who recognizes when I'm ahead, I immediately stopped to enjoy the sweet smell of success. I'm still enjoying, BTW. To the credit of pre6, so far it appears stable and well-behaved -- no crashes or inappropriate behavior.
On the other hand, I have some reservations about using the word "stable" to describe the current "stable" versions of the 2.4 series of kernel (that is, 2.4.0 to 2.4.9). I've never had much success with 2.4.5, although I do acknowledge some people have reported no trouble whatsoever with this release. I always found it a bit flakey, though. 2.4.8 -- which I ran under SuSE 7.2 -- had trouble with the TCP stack; networking would occasionally blow up for no apparent reason. Rebooting would resolve the problem until next time. 2.4.9 has some known memory performance issues, plus it has the potential to corrupt filesystems when used in conjunction with ReiserFS (patches are available for the latter I understand; see http://www.reiserfs.org/download.html for the latest links). Which led me to investigate the new 2.4.10 series. As a matter of fact, the ReiserFS site recommends using 2.4.10-pre4 or up if you're using Reiser, as it contains all the current patches.
Of course, I could just be hallucinating. It's happened before. Time to run -- I've got dinner to manufacturer, then I've got to transport this into FP so I can post it. I'd consider trying from here, but I've yet to concoct this week's page from template -- I'm comfortable doing a lot of things under Linux, but I'm not THAT brave just yet.
-oOo-
I stumbled across a dandy reference to Apache when I was surfing this weekend. It's called the Apache Desktop Reference and it was written by Ralf S. Engelschall of the Apache Software Foundation. You can buy it your local bookstore (published by Addison Wesley). The author has also posted a complete copy of the title -- in HTML -- on a companion website, where you can also download a PDF. The PDF (and perhaps even the HTML) appear to have been created and donated by the publisher, as the layout clearly shows the production markings for camera shots. Kudos to AD for allowing the book to be published in a variety of ways, for a variety of audiences.
As to the book's target audience (from the preface):
The purpose of this book is to provide a concise but, fairly complete reference to the various Apache knobs and levers with which the webmaster is confronted at compile time, configuration time, and runtime. Thus the audience of this book consists of webmasters who are already familiar with Apache, but who need a reference on a daily basis.
So far I've found several nuggets I've never come across in any of the other Apache titles I've read. The layout is good, and the writing is clear and concise. Enjoy.
Cheers.
I have no comment today. I've been glued to CNN since 8AM local.
What I see leaves my heart empty and aching all at the same time. I have no words to express the sadness I feel.
My condolences to anyone who's been affect by the events of the day -- which, I do believe, will eventually include the everyone on this planet.
I cannot remember a time I felt words to be so totally insignificant. I'm here, trying to pretend normalcy. It is not working, but I continue to practice.
It's sad -- and some may argue, long overdue -- that what passed for normalcy on Monday, will never be considered as such again.
Onward, I suppose.
My heart goes out to all those who lost loved ones, or know someone who lost loved ones, in the attacks of Tuesday. I wish I could help in a more meaningful way, and perhaps this is why I feel as helpless as I do.
If any good could possibly come of all this, perhaps it is in knowing we all (consciously or unconsciously) appreciate what we hold dear a little more than we did before this all began. I know I look at my children in a different light today; that I appreciate my fellow workers, friends, and business associates a little more than I did last week.
My friend Holden wrote me last night. I share his reflections and insights with you.
I just wanted to let you know that, as appalled and horrified as I am by the terrorist attacks on Tuesday, not all Americans are ready to start unleashing nuclear destruction to "kill them all".
Only a few years ago my youngest brother lived two blocks away from the World Trade Center in New York and his wonderful little daughter went to a preschool in the World Trade Center. My brother had many friends who currently worked in that building and when I spoke to him on Tuesday he assumed that they were probably all dead.
My middle brother and his family also live in Manhattan. Fortunately both of my brothers and their families are safe.
I certainly hope that the individuals and group(s) who organized this are identified and either arrested or killed, but I don't think it makes any sense to talk about killing millions of innocent civilians just because we feel rage toward a few.
One of my coworkers is African-American, but because of his skin-color, moustache, and hair, you could almost mistake him for Anwar Sadat. He told me that yesterday he was walking home and a big Caucasian guy came up to him and said rather threateningly, "Are you Egyptian?", presumeably because some of the terrorists have been identified as having held Egyptian passports. My coworker was completely suprised, but he said, "What difference would that make?" Hearing his African-American accent, the man apparently decided that he wasn't Egyptian, simply walked off muttering to himself.
I also wanted to express my appreciation as an American to you as a Canadian for Canada's having come, once again, to the aid of America in allowing the U.S. to redirect a number of flights to Canadian airports to clear our airspace. As far as Canada knew then, you could have been inviting suicidal terrorists to fly into Canadian airspace and they could have rammed into Canadian buildings, but as you have on many other occasions, once again you came to our aid and we appreciate it. Thank you.
--- Holden
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September 18,
2001