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SGI, we hardly knew ye
At UMBC, we have a bunch of web apps which are running on SGI hardware. The SGIs are no longer under maintenance, no longer being upgraded, no longer getting new software builds, etc. etc. Let’s just say “we’re phasing them out.” I can’t help but feel a little melancholy about this turn of events, having…
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Ubuntu fonts
I think I’ve finally got an Ubuntu font setup that I can live with. It’s not perfect, but it’s livable. Here’s what I did so I can replicate it if necessary. Install msttcorefonts package. Install MS “Tahoma” and “Tahoma Bold” fonts, neither of which are included with msttcorefonts. Set X server to 96x96DPI. Install a…
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Scaling down the pool project
Over the past weekend, I came to the conclusion that I’ve bitten off more than I can chew with my swimming pool repair project this year. The moment of enlightenment came on Saturday, when I spent most of the day working on the pool. It occurred to me that to effectively re-bed my loose coping…
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Installed Ubuntu
I tracked down a spare 8.5gig disk today (the one that came with my old P2-300 box, ironically) and installed Ubuntu on it. First problem: I installed the spare disk as an IDE slave, and the Ubuntu install totally hosed the boot loader on the master (Grub). After installation, the boot loader gave some cryptic…
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First impressions of Ubuntu, etc.
Last Friday I tried out the latest release of Ubuntu Linux. They provide a “live” CD, which boots and runs directly from the CD just like Knoppix. My goal is to find a nice desktop-oriented version of Linux that “just works”. On the server side, I’m sticking with Debian, but I find vanilla Debian a…
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MySQL Replication
I’m about done with my computer shuffling which I started a month or so ago. I have a 300g drive at work and a 120g drive at home. The idea is to replicate stuff like the MP3 collection, photos, system backups, etc. in both places, to guard against losing data to a disk crash. The…
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Whew… what a day
Thursday was quite the day of triumphs and tribulations. It all started out with a successful swap-out of my home Linux server. It had been running on an old, trusty-but-tired Dell P2-300mhz, and I upgraded it to a slightly-less-old Dell P3-450mhz (Linux is far from perfect, but it truly shines at getting new life out…
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CWebProxy channels and self-signed certs
OK. Just so I don’t forget this when I inevitably have to do it again. We are starting to add some CWebProxy channels that access the portal web server via its external URL rather than one of the loopback interfaces (long story why, but there are a few issues with proxying to a localhost URL,…
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Pool coping project drones on
Work on the pool coping project continues slowly but surely. I didn’t intend for this to be an all-summer project, but that’s how it’s turning out. The hot weather has really slowed it down, which is not all bad, as it’s keeping me from overextending myself. I’ve done most of my recent work in the…
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Pipe Insulation Adventures
Now that our boiler job is complete, I’m going through and insulating all of the near-boiler pipes, which put off quite a bit of heat. First priority is the primary loop (1-1/4″ copper), followed by the secondary loop for the indirect water heater (1″ copper), followed by the DHW piping near the indirect (3/4″ copper),…