Cancelled Olympic Events
Breaking news: These sports will be immediately eliminated from the Olympic games, due to the fact that they are incredibly lame and arbitrary. Any sport that is judged is "inherently flawed and unfair," the UN ruled today, and subjecting the worldwide public to these events will be deemed an "act of cruelty." Any medals already awarded in these sports in the undergoing Olympics will be reclaimed and turned into equipment for legitimate sports, like weights or shot puts (much like turning "swords into plowshares").
- Boxing: A borderline event, it does have a clear scoring system, but matches can be called when "in the referee's opinion, (a boxer is) being outclassed or excessively punished." Also, boxing is brutal and thuggish.
- Diving: Until and unless the diving competition becomes quantifiable (e.g. splash height and distance in the belly flop competition), diving is prohibited from the Olympics.
- Equestrian: While this isn't always judged, any Olympic sport that uses another animal is so obviously disqualified it needs no further comment.
- Gymnastics: The king of judged sports. Incredibly popular world-wide. This event pits tiny men and girls (and they're almost entirely girls, see the "16" year-old Chinese girl) in events where grace and style are actually part of the scoring. There have been scoring controversies every year. Until and unless scoring can be done by an objective computer, this event is banished to the WE channel between reruns of Hallmark movies.
- Judo & Taekwondo: While these are awesome events, they are judged. An electronic scoring system, similar to fencing, would be acceptable.
- Modern Pentathlon: See equestrian, above.
- Rhythmic Gymnastics: See gymnastics, above. Also, no real sport needs a ribbon which one twirls artistically.
- Synchronized Swimming: While the world loves a pool full of young women in swimsuits (see Baywatch), any sport set to music and that has choreographers is clearly eliminated from the Olympics. Dancesport isn't in the Olympics, and Synchronized Swimming shouldn't be either. (*)
- Trampoline: Most don't even know this is in the Olympics. So most won't miss it.
The UN also ruled that in evaluating future Olympic sports, the IOC will only consider events that Stephen Skory cares about.
(*) With apologies to my good friend Chris S., it seems to me that Dancesport is hijacking the word "sport' like so many humanities hijack "science.' If dancing was obviously recognizable as a sport, it wouldn't need to append the word at the end. We don't call it Baseballsport. Or Physicsience.
more ...Cray Coolness
I'm back on the new supercomputer in Tennessee: the Cray XT4 Kraken. The coolest command on the computer, in my opinion, is xtshowcabs
. Below is the (anonymized) output. This shows which job is running on each node (each processor has four cores in one processor). The lower-case letters correspond to jobs listed at the bottom. Each vertical set of symbols (eight wide, twelve high) is a physical cabinet of nodes*.
What you see below is one job running 8192 cores (a
), another running on 4096 (h
), one with 2048 (k
) and a smattering of smaller jobs. My jobs are i
and j
, running on 8 cores each. The computer is just about full here, about 96% usage.
This also allows me to know who to blame when my jobs are sitting waiting to start for days.
Compute Processor Allocation Status as of Fri Aug 1 18:14:16 2008
C0-0 C0-1 C0-2 C0-3 C1-0 C1-1 C1-2 C1-3
n3 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n2 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n1 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
c2n0 -------- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaak
n3 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 --- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 SSSSS--- -------- hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 SSSSSSSS -------- --lihhhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 -------- --ljhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 SSSSSSSS -------- ---lihhh hhhhhhhh SSSSaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C2-0 C2-1 C2-2 C2-3 C3-0 C3-1 C3-2 C3-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C4-0 C4-1 C4-2 C4-3 C5-0 C5-1 C5-2 C5-3
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh hhhhhhhh aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C6-0 C6-1 C6-2 C6-3 C7-0 C7-1 C7-2 C7-3
n3 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhcccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 hhhhhccc cccccccc bbbbbbbb gggggggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbgggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc bbbbbbbb bbbbbggg aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 hhhhhhhh cccccccc ccccbbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 hhhhhhhh cccccccc cccccbbb bbbbbbbb aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C8-0 C8-1 C8-2 C8-3 C9-0 C9-1 C9-2 C9-3
n3 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ggggffff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 gggggfff ffffffff eeeeeeee dddddddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeedddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 gggggggg ffffffff eeeeeeee eeeeeddd aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 gggggggg ffffffff ffffeeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 gggggggg ffffffff fffffeee eeeeeeee aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
C10-0 C10-1 C10-2 C10-3 C11-0 C11-1 C11-2 C11-3
n3 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 ddddkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c2n0 dddddkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
c1n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaa
n3 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n2 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
n1 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk Xkkkkkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
c0n0 dddddddd kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkkkkk kkkkXkkk kkkkaaaa aaaaaaaa
s01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567 01234567
Legend:
nonexistent node S service node
; free interactive compute CNL - free batch compute node CNL
A allocated, but idle compute node ? suspect compute node
X down compute node Y down or admindown service node
Z admindown compute node R node is routing
Available compute nodes: 0 interactive, 149 batch
ALPS JOBS LAUNCHED ON COMPUTE NODES
Job ID User Size Age command line
--- ------ -------- ----- --------------- ----------------------------------
a 155793 xxxxxx 2048 9h00m xxxxxxxx
b 156058 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
c 156060 xxxxxxxx 128 0h50m xxxxxxxx
d 156062 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
e 156064 xxxxxxxx 128 0h49m xxxxxxxx
f 156066 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
g 156068 xxxxxxxx 128 0h48m xxxxxxxx
h 156080 xxxxxxx 1024 0h33m xxxxxxxx
i 156085 sskory 2 0h22m enzo.exe
j 156087 sskory 2 0h21m enzo.exe
k 156089 xxxxxxxx 512 0h04m xxxxxxxx
l 156091 xxxx 4 0h02m xxxxxxxx
(* I'm pretty sure that's the layout. I could be wrong, so don't invade a medium-sized oil-producing country based on that intelligence.)
more ...No, You Are Not Cool
I've seen this Lotus Elise parked on campus often, but recently it got this "007" sticker. Putting the double-oh-seven on your car is about as bad as putting random Japanese characters on your windshield. James Bond did drive a Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, but it went underwater. This Lotus doesn't even have a roof. And yes, this is the same parking lot where I saw the Hawaiian GT-40.
After I took this photo, the driver came up and I chatted briefly with him. I did not say to his face that he's a doofus, but I was thinking it the whole time. Apparently he has the numbers on because he took the car to a race course, but there are 998 other three digit numbers he could have chosen that were less ridiculous than 007. He said his other car he races has "666" on it and he calls it "The Beast."
In the same lot today I saw this Smart Car. While I disagree with the color choice (red? on a 71 HP car?), the owner of this car is ever so much cooler.
more ...Huzzah!
I have previously groaned about the Tour of California ignoring everything south of Los Angeles. But today it was announced that next years tour will visit San Diego County! The final stage is Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. They must plan a circuitous route as those communities aren't very far apart.
I'm excited.
more ...Car Pit
Today Steve Lynch and I did some exploring off Peñasquitos Park and came across these derelict cars dropped into a small gorge. A VW Beetle, Audi and Ford Explorer (high gas prices, you know) were ones I could identify. There were two others rusted beyond recognition. It looked like after the cars had been shoved into the pit, they had been sledgehammered, to make sure they were really dead, of course. The Beetle was missing its motor, among other things, while the Ford didn't have any seats in it. The Audi was probably a nice car once upon a time, it had a sun roof (or moon depending on trademarks).
I like to imagine this is what might happen if the world order collapses. People just junking once useful and valuable things when you can no longer get gasoline or electricity. Kind of like Mexico.
more ...Tour de France Fantasy Pool
For the last few years I've participated in a friendly Tour de France fantasy pool with some friends. We get together, have a barbecue, and pick teams of riders. It's very much like fantasy football or baseball teams. Each team pays $20 to enter, which goes to the winner (naturally). However, the winner is obliged to use that money for a party after the Tour, so everyone wins in the end.
Some years ago an Excel spreadsheet was written to help calculate the scores. It's kind of clumsy and surprisingly un-automated. So I threw together a Python script in an afternoon which is much more automated and puts the results on the web for easy viewing.
Above is the graph of how each team is doing as a function of stage. Along with three friends I formed two teams, "Storky's Bitches" and "The Pump Handles." Neither names were my first choice; I blame Kris Wells. I've never done very well at the Tour Pool, and it's looking like this year will be no different. Of course, it's early, so things may change.
Take a look at the full results page, and check back each day throughout the Tour to see how things are progressing.
more ...Supercomputers
Faithful readers will remember me posing with my favorite supercomputer about a year ago. Datastar is going to be turned off in a few months. When it was turned on three years ago, it was the 35th fastest computer in the world, it has since slipped to 473rd. Despite the fact it's no longer the fastest thing around, it works wonderfully, and as I write this, there are at least sixty people logged onto this machine. Everyone I know loves Datastar, and wishes it wasn't going to be turned off. I am starting to move my work and attention to the newer machines. They are faster, and have many more processors, which makes queue times short (which is the time it takes for a job I request to run)
A few months ago, Ranger was turned on. It is a Sun cluster in Texas with 63,000 Intel CPU cores. It is currently ranked fourth fastest in the world. Datastar has only 2528 CPUs (but those are real CPUs, while Ranger has mutli-core chips which in reality aren't as good). By raw numbers, Ranger is an order of magnitude better than Datastar, except that Ranger doesn't work very well. Many different people are seeing memory leaks using vastly different codes. These codes work well on other machines. I have yet to be able to run anything at all on Ranger. For all intents and purposes, Ranger is useless to me right now.
If you look at the top of the list of super computers, you'll see that a machine called Roadrunner is the fastest in the world. Notice that it is made up of both AMD Opteron and IBM Cell processors. The Cell processor is the one inside Playstation 3s. Having two kind of chips adds a layer of complexity, which makes the machine less useful. The Cell processor is a vector processor, which is only awesome for very specially written code. The machine is fast, except it's also highly unusable. I don't have access to it because it's a DOE machine, but a colleague has tried it and says he got under 0.1% peak theoretical speed out of it. Other people were seeing similar numbers. No one ever gets 100% from any machine, but 0.1% is terrible.
Computers two and three on the list are DOE machines, so I don't have access to them. On the near horizon is a machine called Kraken, in Tennessee. It's being upgraded right now, but when it's complete it will be very similar to, but faster than the fifth fastest computer on the list currently, called Jaguar. It is a Cray XT4 that runs AMD Opteron chips. I got to use Kraken recently while it was still an XT3, and it was awesome. Unlike Ranger, it actually works. As an XT4, it should be even faster than Ranger. It will also have a great tape backup system, unlike Ranger.
I am predicting that Kraken will be come my new favorite super computer, replacing Datastar. However, I think it's a shame that Datastar is being turned off even though it's still very useful and popular. When it's turned off to make way for machines like Ranger and Roadrunner(*), that's just stupid.
(*) The pots of money for Ranger, Datstar and Roadrunner are different, but you get the point. Supercomputers aren't getting better; in some cases, they're getting worse!
more ...Hawaiian GT-40
Parked in front of my building this morning is a Hawaiian Ford GT, which retails for the suggested price of $139,995. Someone has to be serious about their car to bring it all the way from Hawaii. They even have driving gloves that match the seat belts.
This is the first time I've seen one parked, I never realized how deep the vents behind the radiator are in the hood.
Like all expensive cars, the motor has its own window.
more ...My Lacerated Digit
Be careful around those sharp coconut milk can tops, or else you could cut your finger. Then you'd have to go to the emergency room to get your finger glued and a tetanus shot.
I'm just saying, I think it's best if you take my word for it.
more ...Music History Graph
Above is a small part of my music listening history as reported to last.fm over the last year and a half. Time is plotted left to right, overall number of tracks by the width of the shape, and the colors represent individual artists. I used LastGraph3, which if given your user name will make a set of graphs from your data.
If you click on the image above, you'll see the full history. It looks like I go through periods where I listen to a fair bit of music, and then stop, and start again. I think there's a fair amount of smoothing of the data. I think my history would look even more jagged without smoothing.
I like plots like this because they show multidimensional data using colors and shapes in an intelligent way. Of course the classic example is Minard's famous depiction of Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign. I think everyone should have to learn how to make good plots, and understand how to read one. When I was a TA, I constantly had to remind students the point of making graphs - I think nearly all of them felt it was busy work rather than a way to organize and visualize data; a way to recognize a physical effect.
Just like significant figure errors (I am bothered enough by those to contact newspaper reporters: I've done it in the past), I cringe at the sight of misleading or poorly organized graphs. The worst offenders tend to use Excel, whose plots are instantly recognizable as probably being garbage. I also dislike the USA Today charts and many plots seen on the various network evening news shows. Too much artistic influence from graphics artists (no offense K.P.!), and not enough substance.
more ...New Hosting Service, Again
Two and a half years ago I moved my website off my father's computer at home to Site5. For a while it was great, especially compared to serving a website over a cable modem connection. However, over the last year or two it's gotten progressively worse, something I discussed in this post about a year ago. Also over a year ago, Site5 promised to move everyone to new servers. It hasn't happened, and my service has gone steadily downhill.
My first two-year prepaid period with Site5 went up in December last year, and I seriously thought about moving. I looked at other shared hosting companies, but I felt I would probably have the same problems on a new shared host. I looked into hybrid solutions, but that too didn't seem a guaranteed improvement. I liked the idea of Virtual Private Servers (VPS), but I couldn't find one with enough disk space in my budget.
A few months ago, my lab mate Rick pointed me towards s3fs, which intrigued me. s3fs puts your data on Amazon S3, but allows the data to appear to be local to the server, like another hard drive. You pay for only what you use with S3, and it has virtually unlimited space. Suddenly, a VPS hosting solution fit into my budget. I could pay for a VPS with less disk space than I needed, but still get the power of VPS. It was also an upgrade because now me and my family could upload as much data as we wanted, and it would be much more secure from disk failure than before.
This website and other sites that were on the old server are now being hosted on a machine from linode.com. I'm using their lowest option, which has 10GB of space. I installed Ubuntu Hardy Heron which seems like a solid Linux distribution. s3fs has proven to be reliable and fast enough, although it's much slower than having the data on a local disk. Using Apache rewrites, my father and I have made it such that when a web browser asks for items on a page that exists on S3, the request goes there instead from this server, which saves lots of time. I've also figured out how to shoehorn Gallery2 into using S3.
So far I am very happy with the new server.
more ...A Rainbow over Mesa
Today it rained nearly all day long. As the sun was setting I saw this rainbow over the Mesa Apartments. I looked for gold - no luck. So I'm staying in grad school.
more ...Ride History Mashup
Below are some mashups showing the frequency density of where I have ridden my bikes in the last three years. (I never use my GPS on the track, so velodrome riding is not represented here. And besides, that isn't very interesting.) The circles on the maps represent a place I have passed through, and the color how many times. Red means many, perhaps as many as 5000 times for the area near my apartment, and blue means few, as few as once. That 5000 doesn't mean I've done 5000 rides, it means that there are 5000 GPS waypoints in the 100 meter radius circle around that particular point. As waypoints are recorded closer than 100m apart, the same ride could have multiple waypoints inside each circle. Also note that the circles on the map are much larger than 100m.
Click on each for a larger view.
I made a Google Earth KMZ file containing all the points. If you open it, be patient as it will take a bit of time to load. Download it here.
I think I'm planning on posting the code here, as I think other people might like this fun bit of code. But I want to clean it up a bit before I make it public.
more ...