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August 31, 2008
Linux + netfilter FTW!
I have a Motorola WPS870G 802.11g print server that's served me well for several years. Unlike most wireless print servers available, it's got a parallel port, which means it talks to my trusty old HP LaserJet 1100A.
Trouble is, when we got our NAS a while back, I enabled Jumbo Frames for better perf and discovered that the network stack on said print server barfs in the face of jumbo frames. This afternoon, wanting to print something, I decided I was going to fix this.
A bit of goggling later, and I found another reason to love and respect iptables (I first learned to fear it when Titus and I wrote a netfilter plugin to do TCP socket migration whist in grad school):
$ sudo /sbin/iptables -t mangle -A OUTPUT -p tcp --tcp-flags SYN,RST SYN -d 192.168.0.5 -j TCPMSS --set-mss 1460
Viola.
Now if only someone could tell me how to do that under OS X I could enable Jumbo Frames on Nise's mac, and make Time Machine backups way lots faster...
Posted by dberger at 2:29 PM | Comments (0)
August 30, 2008
An evening gone sideways
Last night I decided, somewhat on a whim, to shuffle around some furniture. We have two sets of sofas - one set that in the game room, and one in the front room - and I wanted to swap them; both to change up the look of the room, and because we use the ones in the front room more often, so spreading wear more evenly seemed like a good idea.
Continue reading "An evening gone sideways"
Posted by dberger at 5:46 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2008
So frustrating...
I've been working on porting a sizable body of existing code to OS X of late, and the last week has been incredibly frustrating.
I've discovered that OS X (10.5.4) doesn't correctly support poll(2) on fifo's, and also doesn't support aio_read/aio_write to sockets, and doesn't document either limitation anywhere aside from the kernel source.
The poll issue was easy enough to work around, once I wasted time figuring out it didn't work, but the aio one looks to be harder.
And to add insult to injury, the misbehavior in poll goes against the POSIX spec, which says "The poll() function shall support regular files, terminal and pseudo-terminal devices, FIFOs, pipes, sockets and...") and the Apple man page is just plain wrong about aio_write/aio_read - the enqueue call for aio operations against a socket return EINVAL - but none of the three conditions listed on the man page are the cause.
Posted by dberger at 6:11 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2008
Good Food
One of the things that frustrated Dawnise and I upon moving to Washington was our inability to find good Indian food. We had a set of favorite places in Southern and Central California (Diamond Palace in Diamond Bar, and Taj Palace in San Louis Obispo for example), and upon arrival we set out to find local equivalents.
We had some adequate experiences in Seattle proper, and tried what passed for Indian food on the Olympic Peninsula several times - always coming away disappointed (and occasionally downright disgusted).
Fortunately, Dawnise found Pabla, in Renton. We'd been there several times to partake of their lunch buffet, and tonight made our first (but definitely not our last) trip for dinner. From the chili pakoras to the lentils, the food was great - well spiced, very flavorful. The service has always been prompt without being pushy, and while the atmosphere and decor aren't going to win any prizes, it's a comfortable place for a casual meal.
One thing I don't "get" about Indian food is how when the food arrives at the table your first thought is always "this isn't going to be enough" - and when you've made it through half, or two-thirds of it, you flip to thinking "there's no way we can eat all this."
It's a kind of magic, really.
Posted by dberger at 8:53 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2008
Hold On To Them Hats And Glasses...
We're officially in the "remodeling the kitchen" business. I met with our chosen contractor today, got the contract, a copy of the final bid, and handed him a check to get the cabinets ordered and a deposit to cement us on his schedule for early September.
Continue reading "Hold On To Them Hats And Glasses..."
Posted by dberger at 10:35 PM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2008
Bringing Telephone into the modern Age
One of the steps in deciding to move forward with (and self-finance) the kitchen was to do a quick review of our monthly expenses, and the only thing that really jumped out as proverbial low-hanging fruit was the nearly $50 a month we spend on the home phone line. We decided to take advantage of the fact that Dawnise's cel is now through T-Mobile and try out their T-Mobile @ Home offering.
Continue reading "Bringing Telephone into the modern Age"
Posted by dberger at 9:29 PM | Comments (2)
Anansi Boys
In fits and spurts over the weekend, I finished off Anansi Boys. I wish I could rave about it, but it left me relatively flat. None of the characters really stuck with me, and the plot, though interesting enough, didn't get me all that excited.
Solid fiction, to be sure, but after several Gaiman novels, I think it's time to turn back to non-fiction for a while.
Posted by dberger at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)
August 9, 2008
If you can't pronounce it, stay the hell away from it...
I caught a statement from some policy wonk on the radio about Iran's "nucular" program.
Is it that fucking hard to pronounce nuclear? I mean really.
New. Clear.
You say it pretty much like you spell it. (Perhaps they can't spell, or read.)
If you can't say the word, you should be disqualified from being involved, in any way, with US policy on the subject.
Posted by dberger at 3:03 PM | Comments (1)
August 8, 2008
Wildlife in the 'burbs
We were worried, when moving back to the burbs, that our wildlife quotient would bottom out. Seems the concern was unwarranted. Since moving in we've seen squirrels, deer, coyote, and even a bobcat in the back yard, not to mention the various birds that come to the feeder.
I'd probably be less stoked about the bobcat if I had kids (or a dog), but since I've neither, watching it trot through the back yard was pretty cool.
Posted by dberger at 1:49 PM | Comments (0)
August 7, 2008
My Time of the Month
I've been in a downright bitchy mood for the past week.
No good reason.
No success in self-analysis and correction.
And I'm afraid I'm dragging Dawnise along despite her efforts.
It's to the point where I'm grumpy 'cause I'm grumpy.
That doesn't feel positive.
Posted by dberger at 10:00 PM | Comments (2)
Rats!
I finally got around to calling an exterminator to come look at the basement, and just to make sure he wouldn't say "nope, no problem here" we walked in to find a dead roof rat on the floor.
He looked around the basement, agreed with me that there was no obvious point of entry (which is bad - it means that stopping them will be difficult/damn near impossible) and then proceeded to enumerate my options.
Continue reading "Rats!"
Posted by dberger at 7:41 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2008
Neither a Borrower...
We've decided to move forward with the kitchen remodel, despite it costing significantly more than we'd planned. We've got a meeting with the contractor mid-week next week to go over the final plans and discuss scheduling.
Continue reading "Neither a Borrower..."
Posted by dberger at 10:41 PM | Comments (0)
Stardust
A week or so ago, I found myself at the local library picking up some books for Dawnise. While there, I wandered into the stacks and emerged with a Gaiman trifecta - Fragile Things (a short story collection), Stardust, and Anansi Boys.
I worked through Fragile Things over the past week or so (quite liked A Study in Emerald, which I'd read before, and The Monarch of the Glen - a novella-length sequel to American Gods.
Dawnise went out to dinner with a friend this evening - her increasingly busy social calendar being one of the positive upsides of our move back to suburbia - and I found myself with a glass of wine, a book, and a cat on my lap.
Stardust was entertaining - predictable, in a good way, and nicely self-contained. The pacing was good, and while I felt like it was dragging a bit, I read it basically in one sitting, which has been harder and harder in recent years.
I've half a mind to crack open Anansi Boys, though the cat's left, and the wine's nearly gone...
Posted by dberger at 10:25 PM | Comments (0)