NASA has a page up where they are showing a new astronomical picture every day, with a professional astronomer’s description of the image. Today’s is this literally epic night launch of the space shuttle Endeavor.
I threw the image around in potatoeshop and ended up with the following, which I’m very happy to have as my desktop wallpaper:
I don’t know the rules regarding NASA Images/Copyright, so in the absence of such facts lets just go and say copyright NASA 2010.
I have long believed that our educational system is broken, lacking, and utterly stifling of the innovation and creativity that inspires people to drive themselves to greater things, to push the envelope, and perhaps more importantly to be happy in their chosen careers. So when I was told that, amongst other things, I cannot reasonably expect to get a job in my field of choice at the time (Software Development) without a degree from a recognized college, I was filled with despair. For me this meant that if I was to pursue my dream, I had to endure a system once again which I had abandoned and for all intents and purposes had abandoned me long ago.
So after four and some years, I will soon be released on my on recognizance for my misdeeds from a system that I have grown to despise even more than before, and the question that I ask myself on leaving is “is taking a risk worth it?”. This question worries me on many levels, not least because merely asking the question means that I’ve grown more cynical about my abilities.
Everyone surely has asked themselves at one time or another whether they should take a big risk and throw caution to the wind to risk something for the chances of something so much greater but how prepared are you to risk it all, and could you live with the consequences?
My thoughts are more and more consumed with such questions, is it worth taking a big risk for the chances of something potentially life changing? I think its a valid question regardless of what your particular “big idea” may be. On the face of it, the chance to win big can be incredibly alluring, so much so that it may make you wonder if it is really a question of “if I should?” and not “when should I?” without adequately considering the consequences.
I suppose that everyone has a fear of failure to some degree, worrying that they may not live up to their full potential, or the expectations of others. The problem with taking big risks is that not everyone wins at the game of life, sometimes people lose their way, sometimes not always due to circumstances under their control.
The question that occupies my mind most is whether it is best to leave college and bust my ass like every other poor sod on this blue planet working for a company where I am likely little more than a number, or to take the plunge and start my own technology startup. For years its been ‘the dream’, but after nearly 7 years of being ‘educated’, I’ve fallen out of the habit of being the risk taking optimist.
No doubt I will do it sometime, but whether that time is now… well, the jury is still out.
Just Read This Job Description: “You must have a 1st class degree from a respected University, technical degree subject. You must have 3 “A”s at “A” level, one must be Maths. You must have evidence of a passion for programming.”
They must be dreaming, to be perfect academically AND have *evidence* of a passion for programming? Dream on!
For a start, I can count the number of people I’ve met in my life who have a real passion for programming on ONE hand; of those, most would say that while at UNI their passion for programming was all but entirely extinguished.
Secondly, relying so heavily on academic performance is grounds alone to ignore this company for the rest of time. Academic performance is by far and away the worst indicator of how good an individual is at programming. Particularly because most universities are woefully out of date.
For the most part, GOOD programmers are hackers; people who don’t (or cant) accept authority readily and march to their own drum. These kinds of people rarely find themselves getting all-A’s, quite often the exact opposite is true.
A couple of names come to mind: Bill Gates (Microsoft), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Steve Jobs (Apple), Richard Branson (Virgin).
What kind of company would outright exclude such people. Its madness.
I havent been updating this blog anywhere near regularly enough, so I’m just going to start by starting…
Yesterday I was at DEFUSE, heres a pic:
It was really interesting, each speaker had 15seconds per slide and 20 slides total. There wasnt alot of content, but a good general snapshot, it was definitely a nice break from the norm.
Building your own computer, that’s relatively easy; building your own server is only a little harder; building your own 1u rack-mount server for colocation – that’s a whole new level.
42u Dell Data Cabinet
A few years back -maybe two, I got a real steal on ebay for a Data Cabinet. One of those badass cases that houses upto 42 servers in one glorious case. For around 500eur (560 if you include delivery) I bought a 42u Dell Data Center Cabinet, a UPS, a KVM, rackmount monitor/keyboard, two Switches and a bucket load of cat6 cables. It was only the beginning, ever since I’ve been eager to fill it to capacity with some serious hardware.
This summer I decided the time was right to thrust myself into a bit of debt and fill out the cabinet with some proper hardware, so I began selecting components for a server or three. For this post I’ll just focus on the 1u servers as they gave me the most trouble and perhaps something to be learned can be passed onto others from my experience:
As the proverb goes, “Failing to plan is planning to fail” and so it was with the components I had selected. I hadn’t sufficiently researched the Tyan mainboards in question, had I done so I would have known that they *require* two 8pin EPS12v connectors, so the power supplies I had ordered were never going to work out-of-the-box. To solve this, and to save any headache in returning the PSU’s I took a look at Maplin’s website.
4pin 12v Molex to 8pin 12v EPS adapter
I think we all have a bit of a love/hate thing going on with Maplins in Ireland, they have some really great stuff – all the electronics components and obscure cables you could ever need, its just a shame that they shaft us for it. They’re still working off what can be best described as a 5yr old exchange rate between UK and Ireland prices and have no intention of changing it so it seems. They’re prices are just silly sometimes, but I digress. I bought one of these, a 12v Molex to 12v 8pin EPS cable adapter (£2.99 UK, €4.99 Eire).
And it works marvelously! I would however advise anyone using one of these cables to absolutely make sure that no other devices use the same rail (ie: dont connect any other devices to any additional connectors on the same cable) as overloading it could be disastrous to your motherboard/cpu. I connected some fans to mine but the draw will be such that it should have little to no affect on it, and besides, I have only one CPU in this board at the moment so I’m not worried at all.
Another problem I found was that the motherboard faceplate just simply did not fit the chassis, and the set that came with the Norco RPC-150 didnt suite the Tyan s7002 board. So I didnt use one at all. Ultimately its just a fascia, it serves no real function so I’m happy to not have one.
I’ll end this now with a warning about 1u power supplies, they are incredibly hard to source. I now have a folder full of websites that have various degrees of 1u power supplies but the point I’m trying to drill into you here is that when your designing your 1u server, recognize that the more power it requires, the harder it will be to source a supply. Saying that however, Scan.co.uk and Insight were my top choices.
Things to take care of when building your own 1u server:
* Do your research, even when you get tired, don’t buy until your 100% sure everything will work. Unless you want to live dangerously… both are good choices.
* Most normal heat-sinks will not fit a 1u case, look for and purchase a heat-sink for your CPU that is specifically designed for a 1u chassis.
* Recognise that building a 1u server is not the ‘norm’, it can be frustrating, but take your time and you’ll get it right.
* 1u Power Supplies are the hardest component to source, find yours first and work from there.
Yes that’s right, the iPhone 3GS I got on launch day (26th June) is already useless.
The iPhone3GS is now completely unresponsive to input on the top row of icons on the home screen and has intermittent responsiveness everywhere else. At one point it even opened spotlight search, and typed ‘ipo’ by itself!!
I believe this was an existing issue with the device which was made worse when it dropped on the ground as I was getting out of a car, it fell all of one foot into concrete/grass (only slight cosmetic damage). But ever since, its just gotten much worse, ever since I had the iPhone it was opening apps every now and then without my input. I would take it out of my pocket and somehow it had opened some app or other while in the locked mode.
So, now I’m waiting for apple to send me the coffin to send to them for it to be replaced. Will try to put a hold on my o2 contract as soon as possible – theres no way I’m paying for repair time!!
I’m still awaiting approval to the iPhone Developer Program so that I can actually test the app on an actual iPod and iPhone but in the meantime, heres a sneak of what the BinaryClock will look like:
The latest and greatest phone to come out of Apple’s iPhone camp, the iPhone3GS will hit O2 stores from 8am tomorrow morning.
Apple’s iPhone3GS (‘upto 2x faster’) brings with it a faster processor, more ram, slightly improved battery life, video recording and editing, MMS, Copy & Paste, voice recording, improved GPS thanks to the included compass and more from €199 for the 16GB and €299 for the 32GB models on billpay starting at €40 p/m or alternatively €519 and €609 respectively for speakeasy customers.
Unfortunately, only black models will be available at launch. Customers prefering a white model may request one from staff in participating o2 stores or online.
For eager iPhone3GS customers, the following stores will open at 8am to cater to your technolust:
I don’t blog as a profession, the fact that I do has never gotten me an interview; for the mostpart not even so much as an interested ‘hmm’ from people I want a job – or to do buisness with.
This is I suppose part of the reasoning behind the eclectic nature of this blog, I post about various things, I’ve gone off on tangents – I’ve even made innocent remarks that have led to extremely abusive comments that resulted in police enquiries. Like most bloggers I imagine, I actually dislike any sort of negativity toward my blogging – its a hobby for me, not a lifestyle choice; I doubt it would be any different for a ‘pro’; but I like to at least selfishly believe that what I do here, is valuable to some of you who visit.
People often don’t realise the work thats involved in keeping an active blog even remotely interesting: if all your going to talk about is the meanderings of your inner world, you might end up developing a following after a very long time, but the effort-value trade off to me, and the whole revealing personal details, they’re not my style. This might explain, if you ever wondered why I post those articles from ezinearticles.com every so often. Apart from the obvious ploy to get people to click on the banner advert (which I make no bones about, they’re a good host, I use them and I get something if you click on the link and use their service. seems fair to me), I usually do it to keep an active ‘conversation’ going. Theres nothing worse than a silent blog!
Without speaking for other bloggers, when I make a post I generally try to research the subject, at least enough so I know enough about the subject that I can carry a short conversation about it. Mainly because, perhaps, thats how I like to write – as if I’m having a conversation with you; only inexplicably you’re letting me do all the talking.
If you blog as a hobby, why not post a link in the comments?
Matt Denton on the hexapodrobot forums has a thread about his hexabot robotic CNC router. Its a crazy cool invention, something you’d expect from a science fiction film.
In the video below, you can see the robot carefully carving out a 3D face from some high density foam.
Understandably, the resolution is pretty low at approx 7-8bit, according to Matt. I think though that the ability to move your CNC routing machine around the shop, scaring the bejeesus out of everyone and everything it comes into contact with, its well worth it.
I’m not sure of the actual practical applications of a mobile CNC machining robot, but I’m sure there is one, if only for the creepy cool way it backs away from whatever its just made!
Somehow I’ve managed to avoid most of the weather that Ireland has been experiencing recently, whether by shere bone idle laziness or because we’re just that bit closer to the coast, snow around here has been little more than a light dusting. That was until today, that is!
Consisting of more names than I have patience to read, the list contains nominees for the Irish Blog Awards various categories, including: Best Popculture Blog, Best Blog from a Journalist, Best Food/Drink Blog, Best Fashion Blog, Best Arts and Culture Blog, Best Political Blog, Best Group Blog, Best Technology Blog/Blogger, Best Sport and Recreation Blog, Best News/Current Affairs Blog, Best Specialist Blog, Best Newcomer, Best Blog of a Business, Best Music Blog, Best Personal Blog, Best Humour Blog and Best Photo Blog.
Saying this however, and at the risk of being accused of sour grapes (lol), isn’t February a bit early in the year to be judging the best blog for 2009?
Past to Present
Ireland is represented by the two chimneys of Dublin Bay which are a great symbol of Dublin, our capital city. The Luas represents the new and modern Ireland while the horse represents the famous Irish horse fairs that have been on for hundreds of years – it is a symbol of our past and future.
Name: Kelly Kiernan
Age: 16
School: St. Paul’s Secondary School
County: Dublin
Google are taking public votes for which logo it’ll display on Saint Patricks Day 2009.
The entries are from junior 1st/2nd, 3rd/4th/5th & 6th class, 1st/2nd/3rd year and transitional/5th/6th year students respectively from all over Ireland. The images are categorised by their revelant classes, and the images reflect this.
My personal favourite, shown to the right here, by Kelly Kiernan (Age 16) was in the transitional/5th/6th year section.Ironically, perhaps from a school I went to for a sum total of one day, back in days of old. Perhaps not, it’s still an awesome picture though!
