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Sun, 12 Nov 2006
[20:11] MySQL Camp
I volunteered to help host the MySQL Camp at Google this weekend and ended up having a really good time! Admittedly, due to unforseen circumstances (someone's arm fell off), I ended up playing a bit more of a hosting role than I originally intended and thus wasn't able to partake of all of the discussions I'd hoped to. However, I still managed to ingest some information via osmosis on Saturday and actually sat in on a couple of talks on Sunday when things were a bit quieter. Since I'm no DBA and certainly not a MySQL specialist I'll leave it up to you to go find out what actually happened if you're interested (the MySQL Planet would probably be a good start). From my laymans point of view it certainly looked like good things were happening!
I managed to make a couple of faux pas (apparently that is both singular and plural); firstly asking Jay Pipes what he thought of the book Pro MySQL which I was eyeing off as a sysadmin firefighting resource, only to find that he's actually the author of said book (which ended up scoring me a free copy - thanks Jay!) but I think my crowning glory was asking David Axmark (one of the MySQL co-founders) who he was and what had brought him to the MySQL camp.
So, thanks to all the MySQL guys for being so cool (special props to yet another ex-pat Aussie, Ronald Bradford) and to my Google-buddies Leslie and Mikal for helping make the weekend go so smoothly!
[Posted at: 12/11/2006 20:11]
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Wed, 08 Nov 2006
[22:41] Sysinternals Got Bought!
Wow, Microsoft bought Sysinternals on July 18 and I completely failed to notice until now! This was around about the time I was busy getting married and moving and not having internet access so I guess that's probably why.
Looks like Mark is still happy to document his discoveries though and all the old freeware tools are still available here, which is nice! Looks like there're also plans afoot to roll a lot of stuff into something called the Diagnostic And Recovery Toolset (possibly just a rebadged Winternals package) early next year. Hopefully having these guys on the inside will mean less problems occur outside 'cause they've already hammered on things before they get to the public arena. It should also mean that the OS will have a lot more useful CLI features shipping with it by default (I hope).
[Posted at: 08/11/2006 22:41]
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[19:32] Transit Of Mercury
There was a telescope or two set up at work today so that we could watch Mercury scoot across the face of the Sun (known to smart sciency people as the Transit Of Mercury). It's cool to get a chance to go and see these things but for those of you that missed it I have reproduced below what I saw in all it's resplendent glory. Behold:
<taking_the_piss>
|
. _ |
Actually, that's pretty much what it looked like! The . is Mercury, the _ is a sunspot that was also visible. Apparently, if your 'scope was good enough, there were three sunspots on show. If you missed it today, never fear! There's another one coming; set your alarm for the ninth of May 2016.
[Posted at: 08/11/2006 19:32]
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Sun, 05 Nov 2006
[11:16] Access all areas
I've been interested in the idea of lockpicking for some considerable time but never really got much further than paperclips/hacksaw blades/Swiss Army knives. Granted you can get quite a long way with such tools on really low-end locks but more useful locks require actual picks (not necessarily commercial tools but certainly things that are the right shape at least).
We had the opportunity to play with some real-life commercial lockpicks (possibly these) this weekend and I was surprised at just how amazingly easy it is to open cheap locks! I've spent a reasonable amount of time messing with these things and done a lot of reading so but Shona hasn't done anymore than watch a presentation with me (the 2006 ShmooCon one by Deviant Ollam, "Lockpicking and Physical Security Fundamentals"). Within 10 minutes of starting to play with these things she was able to pick open our front door!
Even with that in mind I don't think that lockpicks are an inherently bad thing. I for one would much rather carry one pick/wrench instead of the massive selection of keys that is required to open my door/other door/bicycle lock/car/etc, and that's just in this country. This requirement for a plethora of keys also provides a reasonable argument in favour of biometric and/or RFID keys - although that also provides a reasonable argument (depending on your perspective on "reasonable") for other people to remove my biometrics.
Just for the record, my reading of the local California law, specifically Penal Code Section 466-469 seems to indicate that ownership of lockpicks WITHOUT intent to commit a crime is not illegal. I'm not a lawyer and could be wrong.
I also learned something by perusing the penal code - apparently ceramic or porcelain spark plug chips (aka Ninja rocks) are very good at silently breaking automobile glass! Who'd a thunk it?!
[Posted at: 05/11/2006 11:16]
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Thu, 02 Nov 2006
[22:09] Microsoft Doesn't Hate Linux (as much) Anymore
Here's the official word from Microsoft and Novell.
Go check out the furore.
[Posted at: 02/11/2006 22:29]
category: /tech | permalink | Comments suspended due to spamwhores