Earlier this week I received a nasty e-mail from somebody wanting to be removed from an e-mail list. The e-mail went to everyone on the list and wasn't very polite. I belong to several e-mail lists and this is not a unique occurrence. It seems that once a week someone will finally get fed up with receiving so much e-mail and ask to be removed from the list. All of these people must be complete idiots because that is not how one unsubscribes.
If you are not familiar with e-mail lists, they allow people to use a single e-mail address to send information to a group of people. Perhaps you are interested in sailing in Utah and want to be included on the list. Simply sign up and you will receive all sorts of news and information from others with the same interest.
At the bottom of most e-mails distributed by e-mail lists are instructions on how to remove yourself from the list. Generally it involves sending an e-mail with the subject of "Unsubscribe". Sometimes there is a special e-mail address that must be used, but the instructions are pretty clear.
One would think that if a person is smart enough to register for an e-mail list, they would also be smart enough to un-register. Unfortunately that isn't always the case and it can be really annoying to the rest of us on the list. So if you find yourself getting a bunch of unwanted e-mail from one of these lists, do us all a favor and read one of the entire messages. Chances are that you will discover how to unsubscribe yourself and not come off looking like a moron.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
12 Hours of Snowbird
I will be heading back to Utah a day early this week so I can participate in the 12 Hours of Snowbird. One of my coworkers and I will start skiing tomorrow evening at 7pm and ski all night armed only with headlamps and a healthy supply of M&Ms. There are about 15 other teams that we will be competing against to try and get the most vertical feet skied in a 12-hour period. I just hope my legs hold out.
I got an e-mail about 6 weeks ago announcing the event. At first I thought it would be fun and so I showed it to one of the guys I work with. He is young and made me immediately sign up as his teammate. Naturally I did. Now I am committed to giving up a night's sleep in my own bed to participate in this folly. To be honest, I am kind of excited.
I was the start referee at Snowbird for a ski race and got the chance to talk with one of the 12 Hours of Snowbird organizers. His big concern was that we would get a lot of snow the night of the event. If that is the case, then they will have to cancel it due to avalanche danger. Right now, the weather report says there is only a 20% chance of snow. That shouldn't be enough to stop the all-night-ski-a-thon. I wonder if I will have enough gas in my tank to ski any the next day?
I got an e-mail about 6 weeks ago announcing the event. At first I thought it would be fun and so I showed it to one of the guys I work with. He is young and made me immediately sign up as his teammate. Naturally I did. Now I am committed to giving up a night's sleep in my own bed to participate in this folly. To be honest, I am kind of excited.
I was the start referee at Snowbird for a ski race and got the chance to talk with one of the 12 Hours of Snowbird organizers. His big concern was that we would get a lot of snow the night of the event. If that is the case, then they will have to cancel it due to avalanche danger. Right now, the weather report says there is only a 20% chance of snow. That shouldn't be enough to stop the all-night-ski-a-thon. I wonder if I will have enough gas in my tank to ski any the next day?
Friday, February 11, 2011
Foreign Languages
Yesterday I watched a World War II movie on Hulu. During the course of the action, several US soldiers took refuge in a French farmhouse. The woman is there all alone with her daughter and thankful to have the Allied protection. Naturally she only speaks French and tries to communicate with the guys that only speak English. It was fun for me to watch because I speak both languages fluently. It didn't occur to me that there weren't any subtitles until after I was done with the film. I imagine that it must be a different experience for those that only speak English.
Right now I am in the process of learning Morse code (and have been for quite a while). While it isn't a different language, it fells like it sometimes. I am using a program called "Morse" to help me. As I sit and listen to the dits and the dahs, it makes me wonder what is being said in the movies that have bits of Morse code. I understand that most of the time, the code is nothing at all. However every once and a while, it is real and there is a message hidden in there. The original movie about the Titanic called, "A Night to Remember" used the actual code sent from the fateful ship. If you understand Morse, I'll bet that would add to the experience.
Going back to the WWII movie I saw last night, there was also something else worthy of note. One of the German soldiers was my roommate when I lived in Strasbourg, France. He was able to help me learn French and so I had to laugh when I saw him in the German uniform. It is a good thing he didn't have a speaking part as I'm sure it would have come out with a French accent.
Right now I am in the process of learning Morse code (and have been for quite a while). While it isn't a different language, it fells like it sometimes. I am using a program called "Morse" to help me. As I sit and listen to the dits and the dahs, it makes me wonder what is being said in the movies that have bits of Morse code. I understand that most of the time, the code is nothing at all. However every once and a while, it is real and there is a message hidden in there. The original movie about the Titanic called, "A Night to Remember" used the actual code sent from the fateful ship. If you understand Morse, I'll bet that would add to the experience.
Going back to the WWII movie I saw last night, there was also something else worthy of note. One of the German soldiers was my roommate when I lived in Strasbourg, France. He was able to help me learn French and so I had to laugh when I saw him in the German uniform. It is a good thing he didn't have a speaking part as I'm sure it would have come out with a French accent.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Document Store Databases
Today I am doing some testing on MongoDB. We are getting ready to launch a new project and so I have spent the first part of the month getting things configured. I now have our staging area completely set up and ready as the rest of the software comes online.
Most database software like Oracle or PostgreSQL is relational. That means data is stored in tables and those tables can be related to other tables. If you have a PERSON table with five attributes (e.g., last name, first name, gender, etc.), those same attributes are stored for every person in the table. MongoDB is a document store. This means that you can keep track of different attributes for each person. You may store that Jimmy has green eyes and not care about that for any other person in the database.
The reason we are using MongoDB is because of its speed. While we can get 1,000 transactions per second out of Oracle or PostgreSQL, we are getting 25,000 from MongoDB using equivalent hardware. That is a huge difference.
MongoDB also has the ability to automatically partition the data to run on separate servers. If your database starts getting too big, simply add another server and the data is automatically partitioned onto it. Then when you go to look for Jimmy's data, both machines look through half as much data so you get even more speed.
Of course MongoDB does have a drawback. For starters, there are not really any reporting tools. In our system we will be doing nightly pulls of the data and inserting it into a PostgreSQL database. Then we can run reports on a daily basis using tools like BIRT or JasperReports. There is also a bit of a learning curve for database administration. However these issues are a small price to pay for such speed.
Most database software like Oracle or PostgreSQL is relational. That means data is stored in tables and those tables can be related to other tables. If you have a PERSON table with five attributes (e.g., last name, first name, gender, etc.), those same attributes are stored for every person in the table. MongoDB is a document store. This means that you can keep track of different attributes for each person. You may store that Jimmy has green eyes and not care about that for any other person in the database.
The reason we are using MongoDB is because of its speed. While we can get 1,000 transactions per second out of Oracle or PostgreSQL, we are getting 25,000 from MongoDB using equivalent hardware. That is a huge difference.
MongoDB also has the ability to automatically partition the data to run on separate servers. If your database starts getting too big, simply add another server and the data is automatically partitioned onto it. Then when you go to look for Jimmy's data, both machines look through half as much data so you get even more speed.
Of course MongoDB does have a drawback. For starters, there are not really any reporting tools. In our system we will be doing nightly pulls of the data and inserting it into a PostgreSQL database. Then we can run reports on a daily basis using tools like BIRT or JasperReports. There is also a bit of a learning curve for database administration. However these issues are a small price to pay for such speed.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Software Define Radios
I have found my new favorite website. It is www.websdr.org and allows anyone with a Java and Javascript enabled browser to tune into a personal ham radio. You don't have to have an FCC license to use it because you are only allowed to listen and not transmit. However for someone interested in learning about amateur radio, it is a great tool.
The technology that allows each user to individually tune the radio is a software defined radio (SDR). That means that there is an antenna connected to an analog-to-digital converter. The converter listens to the entire frequency band and the user uses software to focus in on a small section of that band. Otherwise it would be impossible to listen to all of conversations at once.
One nice thing about SDRs is that you can create a waterfall display. That makes it really easy to see where others are talking and tune in. On a conventional radio, you are stuck tuning yourself or using an automated scan. It is cumbersome and noisy, not to mention it takes forever to find anyone having a conversation.
When I came across the website, I thought the waterfall display required expensive radio equipment that I couldn't afford. Then I looked into one of the sites and saw that radio receivers are only $20. Now that is really amazing. I may have to get one.
The technology that allows each user to individually tune the radio is a software defined radio (SDR). That means that there is an antenna connected to an analog-to-digital converter. The converter listens to the entire frequency band and the user uses software to focus in on a small section of that band. Otherwise it would be impossible to listen to all of conversations at once.
One nice thing about SDRs is that you can create a waterfall display. That makes it really easy to see where others are talking and tune in. On a conventional radio, you are stuck tuning yourself or using an automated scan. It is cumbersome and noisy, not to mention it takes forever to find anyone having a conversation.
When I came across the website, I thought the waterfall display required expensive radio equipment that I couldn't afford. Then I looked into one of the sites and saw that radio receivers are only $20. Now that is really amazing. I may have to get one.
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