A Weblog…Again

Multiple Channel Bonding on Linux 2.4

Apparently, the bonding driver needs to be loaded multiple times if you want to bond more than one pair of interfaces.  For example, eth0 and eth1 would be bonded to bond0 and eth2 and eth3 would be bonded to bond1.  This is the line that needs to be added to /etc/modules.conf:

options bond1 -o bonding1 miimon=100

Useful article can be found here:

Airport Security

Schneier hits it on the nose in this post about how there are 2 classes of infractions for things that should not be brought on to an airplane according to TSA.  Basically, there are those items that will get you arrested if you try to bring them through security (e.g., gun, knife) and there are those items that will simply be thrown away (e.g., water bottle, lotion).  If the rule is to have any teeth, then there should not be these 2 classes.  Instead, irrespective of which class of item is brought through security, they should both be equally punishable or not at all.

Commonsense Example of Recursion

From here:

A child couldn’t sleep, so her mother told her a story about a little frog,
who couldn’t sleep, so the frog’s mother told her a story about a little bear,
who couldn’t sleep, so the bear’s mother told her a story about a little weasel…
who fell asleep.
…and the little bear fell asleep;
…and the little frog fell asleep;
…and the child fell asleep.

Virtualization: SBC vs VDI

Good article describing SBC and VDI:

http://alsolorzano.com/blogs/opinion/archive/2008/03/24/citrix-xendesktop-vs-vmware-virtual-desktop-manager.aspx

Sliderocket

Rich internet application for creating presentations.

http://sliderocket.com/

Last Week’s Travels

Last week I went to Venezuela for a one day meeting with a customer.  It was certainly a whirlwind to be sure.  Here was what happened:

• Depart from Chicago on Tuesday on Delta.  Since I have no status on Delta, I was one of the last people to board the plane.  Needless to say, there was no room for my rollerboard and even though I told the flight attendant that I had a tight connection in Atlanta and that I was in Caracas for only one day, I had to check.
• The flight from Chicago to Atlanta was running late and my 1 1/2 hour connection time evaporated to 30 minutes.  I had to sprint through the terminal, hop on a train to get to a different terminal, but I made it to the flight.
• I landed in Caracas at about 10:30 pm, which was 1 hour late.  I patiently waited for my rollerboard at baggage claim.  I changed $100 to the local currency while I waited, and waited and waited. 
• The carousel stopped moving and my heart sunk as my bag was nowhere to be seen.  At about 12:30 am, I managed to speak with someone from Delta and filed a missing bag claim.  He told me that the bag should arrive in Caracas on Wednesday night at about 10:00 pm.  I told him that was useless for me, because I was returning on Thursday morning.  I told him to hold on to the bag and have it waiting for me at the Delta check-in counter.
• I got to my hotel, checked email and went to sleep at about 2:00 am.
• My alarm rang at 4:00 am and I took a shower and wearing the same clothes as the day before I made it to the airport at 5:00 am.
• I met my local contact and we had an uneventful flight to the Las Piedras airport, which is near the oil refinery town where I was headed.
• I delivered about 8 hours of knowledge transfer to the client and headed back to the Las Piedras airport that same day at 5:00 pm.
• I was feeling relaxed and had a few beers since the flight wasn’t until 9:00 pm.
• Well, at 9:00 pm they announed that there would be no flight.
• We had 2 options:  1) stay one more day, but I would then have to delay my return; or 2) take a taxi back to Caracas, which was about 300 miles.
• I opted for option 2 and we drove the whole night through country roads. (I saw a donkey cross the road right in front of us as we were careening down the highway at 70 mph).
• I finally got to the hotel at 4:30 am, took a quick shower and was at the airport by 5:00 am.
• I waited 1 1/2 hours in the Delta check-in line before getting to the front.  Lo and behold, they had my bag and nothing was even missing.  This really lifted my spirits, because I was positive that the bag was gone for good.
• The flight was leaving on time at 8:00 am and I even managed to carry my rollerboard on the plane with me.
• I finally made it home by 6:30 pm and I was wiped out.
• I slept early and woke up the next day and worked.  At about 4:00 pm, I took the train to O’Hare to catch a flight to New York City.  I was heading to NYC for a friend’s wedding.  Due to inclement weather, I didn’t get into NYC until after midnight. 
• In NYC, I hung out with friends on Saturday, went to the wedding Saturday night, and took a flight back to Chicago on Sunday at 1:00 pm. 

Luckily for me, I don’t have to travel at all this week, becaue I could use a break.

One lesson I’ve learned when flying with Delta is that they have 9 different "zones" for boarding.  If you status, you are in Zone 1 and can board immediately.  If you don’t have status, then the closer up to the front you are, the higher your zone number.  I thought I was being smart when I picked my seat assignment to be up front, so that I could disembark quickly.  If I had been sitting at the back of the plane on my way down to Caracas, I would’ve had a lower zone and I would’ve found room for my rollerboard.

Birthday Gift – Kindle

I have been eying the Kindle for some time now, but at $359 I thought it was pricey.  Luckily, Amazon had a deal that you get $100 off if you use their credit card.  So, since my birthday is at the end of the month, the wife agreed to give me an early birthday present.  The Kindle just showed up today and is charging.  I’m pretty psyched about it, especially since I’ll be taking an international trip to Venezuela next week.  More detailed review to come soon.

Session State

A good article about why maintaining server side application state is not a good thing:

http://cgi.fark.com/cgi/fark/vidplayer.pl?IDLink=3845739

Back From India

Got back from India this past weekend.  Overall the trip was uneventful and a bit boring.  We did get a chance to catch up with old friends in Delhi.  I had meant to write more while in India, but somehow the logistics just weren’t right.  The power would go out every day from 10:00 am till 1:00 pm, there was no wifi, the kids were always around, etc.  Anyway, I’m back now and need to get my act together and be more productive.