Monthly Archives: October 2013

An addendum to the findslowdisks DTrace hack

In the previous installment, I posted a script that will output a series of lines that look like this: multipath/s33d7: 417.3 ms > 372.9 ms multipath/s25d22: 682.9 ms > 372.9 ms multipath/s29d5: 699.2 ms > 372.9 ms multipath/s25d4: 1449.1 ms … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2013-10-31 by | Tagged , , ,

My first (well, ok, third) DTrace hack

Posted on 2013-10-29 by

We have a storage server with a bunch of marginal disks in it. They aren’t bad enough to return read errors, and of course the SMART data claims they’re just fine, but the built-in error-recovery takes much too long (sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Computing, FreeBSD | Tagged , ,

The cost of public broadcasting

Posted on 2013-10-28 by

One morning this past week, I spent some time listening to BBC Radio 4 “open up”. (It was actually yesterday evening for me, because I was listening live, and 0520 BST, when Radio 4 switches from relaying BBC World Service … Continue reading →

Posted in Broadcasting & Media | Tagged , , , , , ,

New car update

Posted on 2013-10-19 by

I spent most of this afternoon working on the new-car thing. First stop was the closest dealer that actually had a 370Z coupe in stock. I really, really, like that car. Unfortunately, the salesman confirmed that it is really impractical … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,

The admin’s manifesto

I am a network administrator. I work on a team of fewer than a dozen people, only one of whom is a full-time developer (and it’s not me). But I do write code — software that supports the operational needs … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2013-10-18 by | Tagged ,

What Congress should do now

Posted on 2013-10-18 by

In a statement today, the President spoke about what he wants to see from a long-term budget deal. But the voices of ordinary people ought to be heard, too, so here are my wishes, some of them process-related and some … Continue reading →

Posted in Law & Society, Transportation | Tagged , ,

Hybrid options begin to fill in; automaker Web site usability

Checking up on the hybrid front, I found that the Acura ILX hybrid for 2014 is finally on sale, as of Tuesday, and an Accord hybrid, which I didn’t even know about, goes on sale at the end of this … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2013-10-17 by | Tagged , , , , , , , ,

First test drive

Posted on 2013-10-14 by

Over the Columbus Day weekend I managed to see a number of car dealers and learned a bit, plus I finally got to test-drive something. Some random notes in no particular order: That Nissan 370Z is looking less and less … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Game proficiency and mental health

I have exactly two games installed across all of my computing devices. (Obviously I’m not a gamer and not likely ever to be one.) I’ve been musing on long-term trends in my performance in these two games, and I have … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on 2013-10-11 by | Tagged , , ,

What business do car dealers think they’re in?

Posted on 2013-10-07 by

After navigating a series of unspeakably awful automaker Web sites to gather the raw data for my previous post on fuel economy, I spent about an hour today looking at dealer locations and hours — particularly service hours. When I … Continue reading →

Posted in Transportation | Tagged , , ,