tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-204085042024-02-06T21:08:19.878-06:00the kengell chroniclesa collection of thoughts culled from nearly thirty years studying physics, math, computer science and observing people and processes in general...kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-9305610803273486802009-05-25T08:08:00.002-05:002009-05-25T08:13:57.830-05:00NIST Engineers Discover Fundamental Flaw in Transistor TheoryA reprint from The National Institute for Standards Tech Beat (May 20th, 2009):<br /><br /><blockquote>There’s a newfound flaw in our understanding of transistor noise, a phenomenon affecting the electronic on-off switch that makes computer circuits possible. According to the engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) who discovered the problem, it will soon stand in the way of creating more efficient, lower-powered devices like cell phones and pacemakers unless we solve it.<br /><br />While exploring transistor behavior, the team found evidence that a widely accepted model explaining errors caused by electronic “noise” in the switches does not fit the facts. A transistor must be made from highly purified materials to function; defects in these materials, like rocks in a stream, can divert the flow of electricity and cause the device to malfunction. This, in turn, makes it appear to fluctuate erratically between “on” and “off” states. For decades, the engineering community has largely accepted a theoretical model that identifies these defects and helps guide designers’ efforts to mitigate them.<br /><br />Those days are ending, says NIST’s Jason Campbell, who has studied the fluctuations between on-off states in progressively smaller transistors. The theory, known as the elastic tunneling model, predicts that as transistors shrink, the fluctuations should correspondingly increase in frequency.<br /><br />However, Campbell’s group at NIST has shown that even in nanometer-sized transistors, the fluctuation frequency remains the same. “This implies that the theory explaining the effect must be wrong,” Campbell said. “The model was a good working theory when transistors were large, but our observations clearly indicate that it’s incorrect at the smaller nanoscale regimes where industry is headed.”<br /><br />The findings have particular implications for the low-power transistors currently in demand in the latest high-tech consumer technology, such as laptop computers. Low-power transistors are coveted because using them on chips would allow devices to run longer on less power—think cell phones that can run for a week on a single charge or pacemakers that operate for a decade without changing the battery. But Campbell says that the fluctuations his group observed grow even more pronounced as the power decreased. “This is a real bottleneck in our development of transistors for low-power applications,” he says. “We have to understand the problem before we can fix it—and troublingly, we don’t know what’s actually happening.”<br /><br />Campbell, who credits NIST colleague K.P. Cheung for first noticing the possibility of trouble with the theory, presented* some of the group’s findings at an industry conference on May 19, 2009, in Austin, Texas. Researchers from the University of Maryland College Park and Rutgers University also contributed to the study.</blockquote><br /><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">* J.P. Campbell, L.C. Yu, K.P. Cheung, J. Qin, J.S. Suehle, A. Oates, K. Sheng. Large Random Telegraph Noise in Sub-Threshold Operation of Nano-scale nMOSFETs. 2009 IEEE International Conference on Integrated Circuit Design and Technology. Austin, Texas. May 19, 2009; and Random Telegraph Noise in Highly Scaled nMOSFETs. 2009 IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium, Montreal, Canada, April 29, 2009.</span>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-92137002326019636812009-05-01T20:28:00.003-05:002018-01-18T21:22:49.918-06:00Microsoft Windows is *not* an Operating SystemAfter recently contracting for an investment firm who insists on using Microsoft Windows for an 'operating system', and after having my/their developer box re-imaged several times because of the Win32.Polipos virus rampantly running across their network, it occurred to me that Micro$oft Windoze is NOT an operating system... it's a binary petri dish with the sole purpose is to create a multi-billion dollar business for the likes of Symantec and McAffe.<br />
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As for me... I'm thankful my personal computers and laptops are running <a href="http://freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a>. Long live the <a href="http://www.freebsdfoundation.org/">BSD Foundation</a>!kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-11494491102122260382008-12-05T08:03:00.025-06:002009-01-03T19:30:58.948-06:00Free Network Attached Storage - FreeNASI recently installed <a href="http://www.freenas.org/">FreeNAS</a> <a href="http://downloads.sourceforge.net/freenas/FreeNAS-i386-LiveCD-0.69RC2.4084.iso?modtime=1228051441&big_mirror=0">0.69RC2 (Kralizec)</a> on an HP Pavillion 7915. The install was the easiest server product I ever installed and worked flawlessly <span style="font-style: italic;">right out of the box.</span> Here is what I did to add extra <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage">network attached storage</a> for zero dollars.<br /><br />Server specifications for the HP Pavillion 7915 are:<div><ul><li>1.1GHz Celeron processor</li><li>Intel 810 chipset</li><li>128 Mb SDRAM</li><li>40 GB HD</li></ul><br />I burned the <a href="http://downloads.sourceforge.net/freenas/FreeNAS-i386-LiveCD-0.69RC2.4084.iso?modtime=1228051441&big_mirror=0">0.69RC2 (Kralizec)</a> ISO onto a CD and started the Pavillion. The boot and install is very similar to a <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a> install (no surprise since FreeNAS is built on FreeBSD) so for those familiar with the FreeBSD installer this is a simple task. Follow the prompts to install the minimal OS and network services. Rebooting yields a server that boots in less than 16Mb of RAM. Detailed installation instructions are <a href="http://www.howtoforge.com/network_attached_storage_with_freenas">here</a>.<br /><br /><large><b>Why FreeNAS?</b></large><b></b></div><div>Well, as the name implies it is free. Since the HP was donated to me by a coworker the server was free also (a real bonus). Secondly the ability to repurpose old hardware and create a new use for it is always a plus. Lastly the reasons to install FreeNAS include its ease of use and rock solid reliability and many more listed below.<br /><br /><large><b>What ships with FreeNAS?</b></large><b></b></div><div>FreeNAS is a free NAS (Network-Attached Storage) server, supporting: CIFS (samba), FTP, NFS, AFP, RSYNC, iSCSI protocols, S.M.A.R.T., local user authentication, Software RAID (0,1,5) with a Full WEB configuration interface. FreeNAS takes less than 32MB once installed on Compact Flash, hard drive or USB key. The minimal FreeBSD distribution, <a href="http://www.freenas.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15&Itemid=28">Web interface</a>, PHP scripts and documentation are based on <a href="http://m0n0.ch/wall/">M0n0wall</a>.<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ8W8UB3nDeC3XddiGREcFUeWyoA4fTIqNACU-zXjlxf5mKGreZ6Z1rWnR_Vbrw1P4DS1esIZGrU4vqKP3bcczuP5u8AVF1IFnJXXyTWtHxIbqN-npY_ioBN4s5jRxxOWTrIVlw/s1600-h/New+Bitmap+Image.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 283px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZ8W8UB3nDeC3XddiGREcFUeWyoA4fTIqNACU-zXjlxf5mKGreZ6Z1rWnR_Vbrw1P4DS1esIZGrU4vqKP3bcczuP5u8AVF1IFnJXXyTWtHxIbqN-npY_ioBN4s5jRxxOWTrIVlw/s320/New+Bitmap+Image.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284619018679621346" /></a><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><b><large><br /></large></b></div><div><b><large>Will FreeNAS work with Windows based clients?</large></b><div></div>Absolutely! FreeNAS ships with Samba server so Windows clients have no problem connecting, storing and retrieving data. See the snapshot below.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWW0V8o9axAwU92Yjcad-CozUeGs4H4-wxRLayJO2RY8Q6BYL9cdhyhyphenhyphen3ViQa1BATW4NSK1EIJERuAF1tnSqMP9oGdxP9eL5MvUtsIKLQ-JuQfQaFZ5FT3HVu0szEPcgoYwF0NA/s1600-h/New+Bitmap+Image.bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 163px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWW0V8o9axAwU92Yjcad-CozUeGs4H4-wxRLayJO2RY8Q6BYL9cdhyhyphenhyphen3ViQa1BATW4NSK1EIJERuAF1tnSqMP9oGdxP9eL5MvUtsIKLQ-JuQfQaFZ5FT3HVu0szEPcgoYwF0NA/s320/New+Bitmap+Image.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284617447132244882" /><br /></a><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBBR8eeee-EyXSVfKx108yuSfsKecXjgTcoeqq94ZCfCzmWwj9Onu1x5xmfyLfGtFgDDgcyifh8y4h2XJU9C4Y6y2JfhVHICriecUNhWH2bR2YJZ6tFLMzxsfW8OsEvwVs_ISqw/s1600-h/New+Bitmap+Image+(2).bmp"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgBBR8eeee-EyXSVfKx108yuSfsKecXjgTcoeqq94ZCfCzmWwj9Onu1x5xmfyLfGtFgDDgcyifh8y4h2XJU9C4Y6y2JfhVHICriecUNhWH2bR2YJZ6tFLMzxsfW8OsEvwVs_ISqw/s320/New+Bitmap+Image+(2).bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284617517994378386" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><b><large>Other Solutions:</large></b></div><div>To be fair, there are <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,677853,00.asp">other NAS solutions</a>, for a price, but why pay when that old family computer is begging for a second life. There are other open source based NAS solutions (<a href="http://www.serverelements.com/naslite-2.php">NASLite</a>, <a href="http://www.openfiler.com/">Openfiler</a>, and a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage#List_of_opensource_implementations">host of others</a>), but for the ease of install, web-based interface and <i>works out of the box</i> simplicity of FreeNAS, you owe it to yourself to download and install the very stable and full functioning NAS from <a href="http://www.freenas.org/">FreeNAS.org</a> (<a href="http://freenas.blogspot.com/">FreeNAS blog</a>).</div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-49505249465921358922008-11-09T10:18:00.006-06:002008-12-27T07:47:20.338-06:00Morris Worm - two decades later - little has changedIt was November 1988 and I was an undergrad at<a href="http://www.colostate.edu/"> Colorado State University</a> when the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morris_worm">Morris Worm</a> started hitting computers on campus. I remember the excitement in the Physics lounge as we started to discuss and reverse engineer the virus.<div><br /></div><div>The worm infected BSD based operating systems by exploiting buffer overruns using the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">gets</span> function call in the utilities <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">fingerd </span>and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sendmail</span>. The worm collected host, network and user information and then, in turn, used this information to infect other servers using TCP or SMTP and the buffer overrun defects in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sendmail</span> and/or <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">fingerd</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div>The detection of the virus started with strange files showing up in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">/usr/tmp</span> directories, strange entries in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">/var/log/</span> files, but most notably was the vast number of processes running when one issued a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">top</span> command.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shortly after discovery, UC Berkley had created a patch for sendmail and made suggestions to limit the spread of the Morris Worm. Oddly enough the Morris Worm exploited a debug option (e.g. -d) in <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">sendmail, used</span> by many system admins (and users) to test mail configurations.</div><div><br /></div><div>So here we are twenty years later and I am still disappointed to find my colleagues using unbounded string copy functions like <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">gets, strcpy, strcat</span></span>, etc. I recently worked with a networking group to close a security exploit in one of their communications libraries that, you guessed it did a blind copy of a buffer passed in from the user (doh!) and caused the daemons using the library to crash and dump the stack.</div><div><br /></div><div>Therefore I have written on the whiteboard by my desk:</div><blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Use of the function <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">strcpy</span> is a clear indication to anyone reading your code that you are willing to walk forever to find nothing (e.g. a NULL).</span></div><div></div></blockquote><div>As a footnote: Whatever happened to that Morris guy who created the Morris Worm? Well, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tappan_Morris">Robert T. Morris</a> was represented by the law firm Bonnor and O'Connell; tried and convicted of violating the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse act and eventually sentenced to three years probation and fined 10,000 USD. Shed no tears, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Tappan_Morris">R. T. Morris</a> is an associate professor at MIT (the exact same university where he created the worm).<br /></div><div><br /></div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-19102468847685709392008-10-22T22:28:00.005-05:002008-10-25T15:55:59.483-05:00Breaking the century markNo, this post is not to celebrate my turning 100, though at times I do feel a hundred years old. No, this post is to celebrate the 1o1st country to join the viewing ranks of the kengell chronicles.<div><br /></div><div>Ranked by number of page views, the top ten countries to visit the kengell chronicles are:</div><div><ol><li>United States</li><li>Canada</li><li>United Kingdom</li><li>Norway</li><li>Spain</li><li>Austria</li><li>Germany</li><li>Netherlands</li><li>Denmark</li><li>Finland</li></ol><div>The 101st country to join the kengell chronicle ranks is Malawi. Thanks to all who have read the chronicles.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ranked by page views the continents are:</div><div><br /></div><div><ol><li>North America</li><li>South America</li><li>Europe</li><li>Asia</li><li>Oceania</li><li>Africa</li></ol><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">I just need one person in Antarctica to read this blog and the continent list will be complete.</span></div></div></div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-54741280007771081942008-10-17T21:51:00.010-05:002008-12-27T07:29:25.311-06:00Surfing the Green Wave in CopenhagenIn Chicago we have what's known as the "Chicago Pace" (not to be confused with the PACE buses). Simply put, if you walk at the right pace you can cruise from intersection to intersection without stopping (not that jaywalking is unknown among Chicagoans). I've been able to walk from my office on the corner of Wacker and Adams to the Art Institute (Michigan Ave and Adams) in under ten minutes; a distance of about 1 km. The same applies when walking up Wacker Drive from the Sears Tower to the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue.<br /><br />In Copenhagen they use the term "Green Wave". If you cycle (Danes cycle everywhere) into Copenhagen on certain high traffic streets (Nørrebrogade being one of them) and maintain a ~20 km/hr pace you will be into city center in no time at all. Colville Andersen has produced a neat little video capturing the 'green wave' in action. Have a look at and treat yourself to a little Danish '<i>bicycle</i>' rock; Iben's <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Ibens/_/Jeg+savner+min+bl%C3%A5+cykel">Jeg savner min blå cykel</a> - (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">I miss my blue blue bicycle)</span> and Tue West's <a href="http://www.last.fm/music/Tue+West/_/S%C3%A6t+dig+bag+p%C3%A5+min+cykel">Sæt dig bag på min cykel</a> - (Sit up on the back of my bike).<br /><br /><object width="400" height="300"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1910758&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /> <embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1910758&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><br /><a href="http://vimeo.com/1910758?pg=embed&sec=1910758">The Green Wave in Copenhagen</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/copenhagenize?pg=embed&sec=1910758">Colville Andersen</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com?pg=embed&sec=1910758">Vimeo</a>.<br /><br />Notice, in the video, the street lights changing to green in the upper right hand corner. Also take note how the Danes have separated the main street (lowest level), the bike path (cyclevej) on the next level up from the foot path (highest level).kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-80372229907105138232008-10-13T16:11:00.009-05:002008-10-13T22:28:27.261-05:00PC-BSD on a USB memory stickMy goal was simple: create a bootable USB memory stick and copy the install image of PC-BSD onto the USB memory stick.<br /><br />This was achieved w/o much trouble using my <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD</a> server at work. I performed the following operations logged in as <i>root</i>.<br /><br />The <a href="http://www.pcbsd.org/content/view/21/11/#USB">USB image</a> was downloaded from the PC-BSD <a href="http://www.pcbsd.org/">website</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Assumption: the USB memory stick is plugged into the server at /dev/da0</span><br /><verbatim><br /># fdisk -BI /dev/da0<br /># bsdlabel -w -B /dev/da0s1<br /># newfs /dev/da0<br /># dd if=/usr/home/kengell/PCBSD7-x86-USB.img of=/dev/da0 bs=1m<br /></verbatim>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-70768762428048462042008-09-09T22:05:00.009-05:002008-12-27T08:01:44.877-06:00Blogger Tips and Tricks - enlarging the text areaDisappointed with the standard blog templates? Text area too small? Well with just a few changes to your blog template you can make your blog much more laptop friendly (wider) by hand tweaking any template. Here's how:<br /><br />Select 'Layout' -> 'Edit HTML'<br /><br />Then modify the following lines in your template.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">#header-wrapper</span> {<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> width:1024px;</span> margin:0 auto 10px;<br />border:1px solid $bordercolor;<br />}<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">#outer-wrapper</span> {<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> width: 1024px;</span> margin:0 auto;<br />padding:10px;<br />text-align:$startSide;<br />font: $bodyfont;<br />}<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">#main-wrapper</span> {<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);"> width: 800px;</span> float: $startSide;<br />word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */<br />overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */<br />}<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">#sidebar-wrapper</span> {<br /> <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">width: 200px;</span><br /> float: $endSide;<br /> word-wrap: break-word; /* fix for long text breaking sidebar float in IE */<br /> overflow: hidden; /* fix for long non-text content breaking IE sidebar float */<br />}kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-43942759576019439412008-09-03T21:15:00.006-05:002008-09-03T21:45:48.583-05:00400 years of QA - not much has changedIn a recent <a href="http://mags.acm.org/communications/200809/?pg=27">ACM Communications article</a> George V. Neville-Neil describes the QA process involved when the Swedish Navy tested the (now infamous) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vasa</span> battle ship:<div><br /></div><div><blockquote>In 1628 the ship was finally ready for quality assurance (QA) testing. Seventeenth-century QA of ships was a bit different from what might happen today. Thirty sailors were picked and asked to run back and forth, port to starboard, across the deck of the ship. If the ship didn't tip over and sink, then the ship passed the test. You did not want to be on the QA team in 1628. After only three runs across the deck the Vasa began to tilt wildly and the test was canceled. The test may have been canceled, but not the project. On August 10, 1628, in a light breeze, the Vasa set sail. She was less than a mile from dock when a stiff breeze knocked her sideways. She took on water, and sank ... killing 30 to 50 sailors. In response to the catastrophe, the King wrote a letter insisting that incompetence had been the reason for the disaster (even though the King was the project manager and chief architect). Of course, the King could not be held at fault, so the final verdict was an "act of God."</blockquote></div><div>Some personal footnotes:<br /></div><div><ul><li>QA still using antiquated methods for testing</li><li>Projects continue along blindly believing nothing is wrong even after QA flags serious errors<br /></li><li>'acts of God' still being invoked by managers to explain defects</li></ul></div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-44635535345884531322008-09-02T20:20:00.012-05:002009-01-11T08:28:24.951-06:00Google Chrome Rocks!<div>Today, <a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a> released their new <a href="http://tools.google.com/chrome/">Chrome web browser</a>! Immediately I downloaded it and am now creating this entry using it. First impressions are:<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Cleaner interface when compared to Firefox and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">certainly IE</span></span>: which could also be taken to mean fewer bells and whistles.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Consumes less vertical real estate:</span> no status bar and no toolbars which is a big plus when using a smaller <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">netbook</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> with a 12 inch monitor</span>.</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Only available for Windows XP/Vista OS</span>: certainly since Chrome is the child of Apple's Webkit and Mozilla's Firefox the Linux and Mac OS versions will be release soon.</div><div><br /></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Auto-magically imports Firefox bookmarks and passwords</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> and allows for viewing and editing of passwords.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Dynamic tabbing</span> allows one to pull the tab into its own window and back onto the tab bar.</div><div><br /></div></div></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsO8CF_Iw-Ca6i5gEcMbc2wM7HuLeLbEu512-uO83pOYl4w6aNkDl3eZ-5D9ckN8x4YlVKy8zLSqWVUqK2dFXg1BROGpr9yaa30O_fEID-AlSApuEcY17yRlroLh4UtAxYntHjHw/s1600-h/chrome-tm.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsO8CF_Iw-Ca6i5gEcMbc2wM7HuLeLbEu512-uO83pOYl4w6aNkDl3eZ-5D9ckN8x4YlVKy8zLSqWVUqK2dFXg1BROGpr9yaa30O_fEID-AlSApuEcY17yRlroLh4UtAxYntHjHw/s320/chrome-tm.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5241626272730832562" /></a><br /><div><div>A <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">right-click in the </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Tabs Section</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> allows one to start a mini-Windows Task manager</span>. A great feature to see, on a tab by tab basis, how certain tabs are behaving or misbehaving; allows for termination of a tab if so desired.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Incognito mode</span>: The pages viewed in the incognito window won't appear in browser or search and no cookies!</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:arial;font-size:48px;"><br /></span></div><div>When maximized it <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">prevents with the Windows toolbar from auto-hiding</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">/showing</span>. Oh well - something to fix in version 2.<br /></div></div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-21414208825857125592008-08-25T19:48:00.003-05:002008-08-25T19:54:57.090-05:00Rockwell Turbo Incabulator TransmissionI think General Motors installed this in my 1999 Chevy Silverado Z71. It would explain the amber 'Check 4x4" light on my display panel.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W9LXG7rPQfE&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W9LXG7rPQfE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-42769073323012429352008-08-25T18:51:00.027-05:002008-10-26T16:47:11.151-05:00Painless Acer Aspire One upgrade for wpa2-enterpriseI recently purchased an Acer Aspire One netbook running the <a href="http://www.linpus.com/">Linpus </a>(fedora) OS. Long story short I love it! At 1Kg it's the envy of my fellow geeks!<br /><div><br /></div><div>However I could not use it to connect to our corporate wireless network because the Linpus OS and Network Manager installed does not support WPA2-Enterprise. So starting with <a href="http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=1028">this</a> conversation on the <a href="http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/">Acer Aspire One Forum</a> here's what I did to upgrade the Network Manager:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBdMlX7faOSII4kIze2VB0HRa1xKmm-RO85qQmyVdZbCOoRDE9CUhXhWwVUnUOuEhSzygdCZjCSwm9ESpgucrqY88XQWt3f7uEQFpNOd2YXF1YBlCWAFmB1vXwNTgAJPKJPc2fw/s1600-h/wpa2-enterprise.png"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyBdMlX7faOSII4kIze2VB0HRa1xKmm-RO85qQmyVdZbCOoRDE9CUhXhWwVUnUOuEhSzygdCZjCSwm9ESpgucrqY88XQWt3f7uEQFpNOd2YXF1YBlCWAFmB1vXwNTgAJPKJPc2fw/s320/wpa2-enterprise.png" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256840219356071186" /></a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">NOTE</span>: It would appear that the prior instructions, as of 2008-10-09, are no longer valid. Therefore a shell script and archive that contains all that I needed to update the default Network Manager to one that supports WPA2-Enterprise are stored on <a href="http://sites.google.com/site/kengell/acer-one-wpa2-enterprise">my google site page.</a><br /><br />Reboot the Acer Asprie One after installing the new Network Manger and enjoy WPA2-Enterprise.<br /><br /><div>For more information about this and all things Aspire One checkout the very informative <a href="http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/">Acer Aspire One Forum</a>.<br /></div></div>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-83242825653048621112008-05-26T07:38:00.007-05:002008-11-13T09:32:20.279-06:00The Phoenix has landed!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZNCeBpf4RjAzprNCJnNw4gf07Ypxbr3t4Nmo6RNAZoQ7fbJ_QitwaGMGsWqLQVP38sLZZNR0vIZeqzbO0atpEKZ5PBGZAcfnrJLDmeF-5hQWS-FmgQLIExYzddHXkOREtnEb5Q/s1600-h/229961main_combo-1-427.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZNCeBpf4RjAzprNCJnNw4gf07Ypxbr3t4Nmo6RNAZoQ7fbJ_QitwaGMGsWqLQVP38sLZZNR0vIZeqzbO0atpEKZ5PBGZAcfnrJLDmeF-5hQWS-FmgQLIExYzddHXkOREtnEb5Q/s320/229961main_combo-1-427.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204667900028573874" border="0" /></a><br /><br />After spending the better part of a year traveling toward Mars, the Phoenix has landed on the surface. First images arrived shortly after touchdown. Some interesting numbers to ponder:<br /><br /><ul><li>422,000,000 (miles traveled to reach Martian surface)<br /></li><li>12,500 (initial entry speed in miles per hour)</li><li>3200 (distance in feet from Martian surface when the parachute separates)<br /></li><li>2600 (heat shield temperature in degrees Fahrenheit)</li><li>900 (entry speed in mph after Martian atmosphere slows the craft)</li><li>250 (entry speed in mph after the parachute deploys)</li><li>125 (speed of Phoenix, in mph, when the parachute separates)</li><li>15.3 (number of minutes for signal from Mars to reach the Earth - on 25 May 2008)</li><li>7 (number of minutes for entire Entry Descent Landing - EDL)</li><li>0.5 (thickness of heat shield in inches of 'cork')</li></ul><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjPdk2-WiQ7t_E7iWgHVIvkhOZdXfLzi9ZKwGL1HEbK8iqeS3782IfM1mmzEvinms7HGzrpJ0ERrhcwhCQyObiV-jQeR5s3-BJL5uKldKn8yRsEkCZRGDADQj3ocLjT0shlOvYw/s1600-h/230127main_post-427.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjPdk2-WiQ7t_E7iWgHVIvkhOZdXfLzi9ZKwGL1HEbK8iqeS3782IfM1mmzEvinms7HGzrpJ0ERrhcwhCQyObiV-jQeR5s3-BJL5uKldKn8yRsEkCZRGDADQj3ocLjT0shlOvYw/s320/230127main_post-427.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204668948000594114" border="0" /></a>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-71374332393810456562008-05-25T14:01:00.005-05:002008-11-13T09:32:20.658-06:00Urinal Games...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESETFSUABO0RhTuJmzOSIbnxQa-zlO3bLyLCdtNOGbST4cs0FdwD56Bol003mpT5kN0zVkh-tcxGRsnTdOaINZMveU5_ihQ_dmLhlisf6AHvKZYVgUJ9cA21DcSfcNsL3oN4XUQ/s1600-h/ontarget.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjESETFSUABO0RhTuJmzOSIbnxQa-zlO3bLyLCdtNOGbST4cs0FdwD56Bol003mpT5kN0zVkh-tcxGRsnTdOaINZMveU5_ihQ_dmLhlisf6AHvKZYVgUJ9cA21DcSfcNsL3oN4XUQ/s320/ontarget.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5204397549017159842" border="0" /></a><br />I know parents, who in their attempt to 'potty train' young boys, pour <a href="http://www.cheerios.com/">Cheerios</a> into the toilet and tell the young lad "<span style="font-style: italic;">now try and sink them</span>".<br /><br />A more expensive version of this game has been produced by <a href="http://www.yankodesign.com/">Yanko Designs</a> (designed by <a href="http://www.apartment10.net/">Marcel Neundorfer</a>) called the <a href="http://www.yankodesign.com/index.php/2006/03/21/on-target-by-marcel-neundorfer/">'On Target'</a> in which the 'participants' control the video game with... well... a stream of urine.<br /><br />According to <a href="http://www.yankodesign.com/">Yanko Designs</a> the reason for doing this is the same as my friends when they use <a href="http://www.cheerios.com/">Cheerios</a> at home with their young boys:<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><blockquote></blockquote><blockquote>Recessed into a urinal is a pressure-sensitive display screen. When the guest uses it, he triggers an interactive game, producing images and sound. The reduced size of the target improves restroom hygiene and saves on cleanings costs - Yanko Designs<br /></blockquote><br />Note: Too bad Nintendo didn't invent this... they could have called the "Nintendo Wee".<br /></span>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-65780155864200419102008-04-23T21:06:00.000-05:002008-04-23T21:48:10.571-05:00Generation Y - You've got to be kidding me!A recent <a href="http://management-issues.com/2008/4/15/research/generation-y-still-wants-it-all.asp">management-issues article</a> claims "<span style="font-style: italic;">Generation Y still wants it all</span>". Here's quick list of Gen-Y demands that many managers will have to deal with even in these difficult times:<br /><ul><li>less than a 40 hour work week</li><li>flexible work hours</li><li>concerned they would not be able to keep up with interests outside of work</li><li>concerned they would be overworked by their employers</li><li>33% want to 'travel' on the job but less than 10% want to relocate<br /></li></ul>Hey Gen-Y! Get a clue! It's called work for a reason - you're expected to work your A$$ off. If you're concerned about your social life try being 'social' w/o a dollar in your pocket! It doesn't work so well does it? Concerned you'll be 'overworked'? Get used to it!<br /><br />Here's my suggestions to Gen-Y:<br /><ul><li>Be thankful you have a job</li><li>Work your a$$ off</li><li>Keep your mouth shut</li><li>Keep your eyes open<br /></li><li>Help those in the cubicles around you</li><li>Show up early</li><li>Leave late<br /></li></ul>We IT veterans are tired of picking up the pieces left behind by you Gen-Y flunkies! Get a clue! You're young, inexperienced and now you want your boss to cut you some slack because your social life is interfering w/ your work assignments? Not on my watch!kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-66343047491511839782008-03-01T20:47:00.002-06:002008-12-28T09:27:22.754-06:00NetBSD Toaster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdabVcUoUbK7mxAfvNHlvVd1VF9gMiq-n0e3ab81YhpLrdRoXS41S94EWDMwYWXTKUsYtBUB_iYmZJTHGuKcVALyOFfEEyrbLKze1P977skBpnPwBHkP5UeVSDCU4wqje8r0M65w/s1600-h/netbsd-toaster-pc.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdabVcUoUbK7mxAfvNHlvVd1VF9gMiq-n0e3ab81YhpLrdRoXS41S94EWDMwYWXTKUsYtBUB_iYmZJTHGuKcVALyOFfEEyrbLKze1P977skBpnPwBHkP5UeVSDCU4wqje8r0M65w/s320/netbsd-toaster-pc.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172972057294638338" border="0" /></a><br />So it may not be the most practical use of <a href="http://netbsd.org/">NetBSD</a> or a <a href="http://www.embeddedarm.com/products/board-detail.php?product=TS-7200">TS-7200 SBC</a>, but you can't fault the imagination of the engineers at <a href="http://www.embeddedarm.com/index.php">Technologic Systems</a>. Did I mention, it comes w/ an RJ45 connector an Apache Web server and it plays MP3s while making toast!<br /><br />Sure beats the Micro$oft Flying Toasters!<br /><br /><br />More <a href="http://www.embeddedarm.com/software/arm-netbsd-toaster.php">here</a>.kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-33608582630912020622008-02-02T20:45:00.000-06:002008-02-02T21:17:43.319-06:00Who cares about Fermilab? (Part II)In an <a href="http://kengell.blogspot.com/2008/01/who-cares-about-fermilab.html">earlier post</a> I pointed out that the entire computer industry owes its success to high energy physics (HEP); that medical imaging would not be where it is today without physics research done a few generations ago. In this second installment of "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Who cares about Fermilab?</span>" I raise awareness of research in retinal implants and track their development back to, you guessed it high energy physics.<br /><br />In a <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/19613/">2007 article,</a> written by Emily Singer, that appeared in the <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/">MIT Technology Review</a>, she interviews <a href="http://scipp.ucsc.edu/personnel/profiles/litke.html" target="_blank">Alan Litke</a>, a physicist at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) who's applying his particle detector expertise to neurobiology in what is titled the <a href="http://scipp.ucsc.edu/personnel/retinalread.html">Retinal Readout Project</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Litke and his collaborators modeled their [artificial retinal] chip after the silicon microchip detectors that line supercolliders to capture signs of elusive, high-energy, subatomic particles, such as the Higgs boson.</span><br /></blockquote><br />So once again I ask "<span style="font-weight: bold;">Who cares about Fermilab?</span>" The answer might just be we all do, or should, because we just never know what good may come from deep under the ground where particles collide at near light speed.kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-30118725011614797862008-01-21T20:45:00.000-06:002008-01-21T21:14:19.318-06:00Painless FreeBSD upgrade (6.2 to 6.3)Just follow the steps below to upgrade to FreeBSD 6.3 (taken from the <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.3R/announce.html">FreeBSD 6.3 release notes</a>). <a href="http://kengell.blogspot.com/2007/08/painless-freebsd-upgrade-61-to-62.html">Earlier in this blog</a> I wrote about upgrading my <a href="http://kengell.blogspot.com/2007/02/freebsd-on-dell-inspiron-3500.html">Dell Inspiron 3500 laptop</a> and my <a href="http://wiki.engell.us/">wiki server</a> from FreeBSD 6.1 to 6.2. This was a painless process thanks to the fine folks at <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD.</a> Well, now that 6.3 is out, the upgrade to 6.3 was even easier.<br /><h2>FreeBSD Update</h2> <p>Starting with FreeBSD 6.3, the freebsd-update(8) utility supports binary upgrades of i386 and amd64 systems systems running earlier FreeBSD releases, release candidates, and betas. Users upgrading to FreeBSD 6.3 from older releases (in particular, older than 6.3-RC1) will need to download an updated version of freebsd-update(8) that supports upgrading to a new release.</p> <p><tt># fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz</tt></p> Downloading and verifying the digital signature for the tarball (signed by the FreeBSD Security Officer's PGP key) is highly recommended. <p><tt># fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc</tt></p> <p><tt># gpg --verify freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz</tt></p> The new freebsd-update(8) can then be extracted and run as follows: <p><tt># tar -xf freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz</tt></p> <p><tt># sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf -r 6.3-RELEASE upgrade</tt></p> <p><tt># sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install</tt></p> The system must be rebooted with the newly installed kernel before continuing. <p><tt># shutdown -r now</tt></p> Finally, freebsd-update.sh needs to be run one more time to install the new userland components, and the system needs to be rebooted one last time: <p><tt># sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install</tt></p> <p><tt># shutdown -r now</tt></p> For more information, see: <p><tt><a href="http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-11-10-freebsd-minor-version-upgrade.html">http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-11-10-freebsd-minor-version-upgrade.html</a></tt></p>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-47168643125160384552008-01-20T20:20:00.000-06:002008-01-20T20:45:48.874-06:00Overheard<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">"If it weren't for the fact that I was AWOL from the Army I would have told the warden my name."</span><br /><br />I ride the Metra to Chicago for work each day and I don't generally eavesdrop on conversations, but I admit, I had to stop reading my book and listen in on this conversation. How could you not eavesdrop? This has to be the best opening sentence to a personal story I've ever heard!kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-12299166279179545712008-01-20T08:03:00.000-06:002008-01-20T21:18:12.521-06:00Who cares about Fermilab?Who cares about <a href="http://www.fnal.gov/">Fermilab</a>? Well, more accurately, "Why should I care?" I'm asked this quite frequently by my Wall Street colleagues, knowing that I had worked at Fermilab (for most of the 1990s). "Why should I care if some scientist loses his job?", they ask. "Can't they just go back and teach at a university?" or "What does it mean to me if the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson">Higgs boson</a> is discovered?" These questions may best be answered by going back about three generations.<br /><br />In the late 1890s the British scientist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.J._Thomson#Work_on_cathode_rays">Joseph John "J J" Thomson</a> conducted a series of tests on the then mysterious cathode rays (e.g. electrons). His apparatus consisted of two charged plates inside an evacuated glass tube, a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathode_ray_tube">Cathode Ray Tube</a> (CRT). A generation after JJ Thomson, in the 1920s, the concepts of the CRT were applied to produce <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscilloscope">oscilloscopes.</a> Twenty years later the Allied forces in World War II used CRTs, along w/ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radar">radar</a>, to detect enemy airplanes. The television, medical imaging and computer industries, just a single generation later, would never have flourished without the ground breaking work of JJ Thomson. You would not be reading this article now without the efforts of the early pioneers in high energy physics (HEP).<br /><br />Who cares about Fermilab? Perhaps the question should be "Why don't we care more?" Will the discovery of the Higgs boson have a direct and life changing effect on us now? Many doubt it will, but then again could anyone, in JJ Thomson's time, have predicted the life changing technologies that emerged just a few generations later?kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-69922056634936013042008-01-03T13:46:00.004-06:002008-12-28T08:37:22.268-06:00Market Data Center EfficiencyHaving spent the last few years calculating, monitoring and measuring data center efficiency, my coworkers and I created our own unit of data center efficiency; the <span style="font-weight: bold;">kengell</span>.<br /><br /><p>kengell -- A data-center efficiency metric. </p><p> </p><ul><li> Main Entry <ul><li> kengell </li></ul> </li><li> Pronunciation: <ul><li> 'king-gull' </li></ul> </li><li> Function: <ul><li> technology term </li></ul> </li><li> Keith Engell 1962- ; American computer scientist <ul><li> a data-center measurement equal to one message processed per one unit of power <ul><li> NOTE: one Joule = one watt-second or rather 1W = 1J/s </li></ul> </li></ul> </li></ul> <p> </p><h6><a name="Example"></a><a name="Example_"></a> Example: </h6> <p> An application on a server processes 500,000 messages in one second. The server consumes 160 watts (160 Joules/sec). The application has a data-center rating of <strong>3,125 kengells or 3.125 kilokengell (kK)</strong> </p><p> </p><pre>500,000 messags/sec / 160 J/sec = 3125 messages/Joule = 3125 kengells (or 3.125 kilokengell)<br /></pre><br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="3"><caption>Quantities of kengell</caption><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" align="center"><strong>SI prefixes (decimal)</strong></th><th colspan="2" align="center"><strong>IEC prefixes (binary)</strong></th></tr><tr><th align="center"></th><th align="center"></th><th align="center"></th><th align="center"></th></tr><tr><td>1000^−8 = 10^−24</td><td colspan="3"> yoctokengell (yk) </td></tr><tr><td>1000^−7 = 10^−21</td><td>zeptokengell (zk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−6 = 10^−18</td><td colspan="3">attokengell (ak)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−5 = 10^−15</td><td colspan="3">femtokengell (fk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−4 = 10^−12</td><td colspan="3">picokengell (pk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−3 = 10^−9</td><td>nanokengell (nk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−2 = 10^−6</td><td colspan="3">microkengell (µk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−1 = 10^−3</td><td colspan="3">millikengell (mk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^−2/3 = 10^−2</td><td colspan="3">centikengell (ck)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^-1/3 = 10^-1</td><td colspan="3">decikengell (dk)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^0 = 10^0</td><td>kengell (k)</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>1000^1 = 10^3</td><td>kilokengell (kK)</td><td>1024^1 = 2^10 = 1.024·10^3</td><td>kibikengell (KiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^2 = 10^6</td><td>megakengell (MK)</td><td>1024^2 = 2^20 ≈ 1.049·10^6</td><td>mebikengell (MiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^3 = 10^9</td><td>gigakengell (GK)</td><td>1024^3 = 2^30 ≈ 1.074·10^9</td><td>gibikengell (GiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^4 = 10^12</td><td>terakengell (TK)</td><td>1024^4 = 2^40 ≈ 1.100·10^12</td><td>tebikengell (TiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^5 = 10^15</td><td>petakengell (PK)</td><td>1024^5 = 2^50 ≈ 1.126·10^15</td><td>pebikengell (PiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^6 = 10^18</td><td>exakengell (EK)</td><td>1024^6 = 2^60 ≈ 1.153·10^18 </td><td>exbikengell (EiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^7 = 10^21</td><td>zettakengell (ZK)</td><td>1024^7 = 2^70 ≈ 1.181·10^21</td><td>zebikengell (ZiK)</td></tr><tr><td>1000^8 = 10^24</td><td>yottakengell (YK)</td><td>1024^8 = 2^80 ≈ 1.209·10^24</td><td>yobikengell (YiK)</td></tr></tbody></table>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-12352491973545426812007-12-02T11:47:00.000-06:002007-12-02T12:46:10.198-06:00Gmail 2.0 performance issuesThe new Gmail 2.0 interface kills the performance of my <a href="http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/linux_3x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs">Dell Inspiron</a> 3500 laptop running <a href="http://www.freebsd.org/">FreeBSD 6.2</a> with the <a href="http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/">Fluxbox-0.1.14</a> <a href="http://www.x.org/wiki/">x11 window manager</a> and the <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/">Firefox 1.5</a> web browser.<br /><br />Using <span style="font-weight: bold;">/usr/bin/top</span> shows the difference. Once Gmail 2.0 loads up and the initial load spike settles down 'top' shows CPU activity between 10-30%. Switching back to Gmail's <span style="font-weight: bold;">Older Version</span> drops the CPU down under 2%. Also, I configured <span style="font-weight: bold;">/usr/local/bin/pine</span> to use the Gmail IMAP interface (<span style="font-weight: bold;">gmail -> Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP</span>), in the meantime, so I can read my email w/o Firefox.<br /><br />I hadn't noticed the performance issue at work where I run FreeBSD on a dual AMD64 platform. However on my ~10 year old Dell Inspiron 3500 laptop Gmail 2.0 sucks the life out of the PII CPU.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">$ uname -a<br />FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-p9 FreeBSD 6.2-RELEASE-p9 #0 Thu Nov 29 04:07:33 UTC 2007 root@i386-builder.daemonology.net:/usr/obj/src/sys/GENERIC i386<br /></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">$ dmesg | egrep "CPU</span>|MB"<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">CPU: Pentium II/Pentium II Xeon/Celeron (397.05-MHz 686-class CPU)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">real memory = 134152192</span><br /><br />Also, it appears the new Gmail interface is buggy. In fact, while typing this entry the browser (<a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/">Firefox 1.5</a>) crashed and left a nice core file for me in my /home directory. Apparently, according to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,139761/article.html">PC World</a>, I'm not alone in my complaints.<span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br /></span>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-28569867226465322802007-08-18T16:56:00.000-05:002007-08-18T17:09:10.523-05:00Painless FreeBSD upgrade (6.1 to 6.2)I've dreaded upgrading my personal web server from FreeBSD 6.1 to 6.2 because I'm new to FreeBSD and totally screwed up my unbuntu dev box the other day upgrading from 6.10 to 7.04. However I must give Colin Percival a giant THANKS for making this FreeBSD upgrade a very painless exercise. Trust me folks, if I can do this anyone can! Yet another reason to dump your Linux distro and run FreeBSD.<br /><br />Check out <a href="http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2006-11-26-freebsd-6.1-to-6.2-binary-upgrade.html">Colin's notes on upgrading FreeBSD</a> from one version to another.kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-88750148303626310462007-05-01T20:16:00.000-05:002007-05-01T20:37:08.209-05:00Isaac Newton: Ocean of Truth<blockquote style="font-style: italic;">I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.</blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">Isaac Newton, From Brewster, Memoirs of Newton (1855)</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> English mathematician & physicist (1642 - 1727)<br /><br /></span>I have always enjoyed spouting this quote to family and friends, but have been haunted by the exact meaning. Is Newton lamenting that his studies in astronomy, light and mathematics kept him from studying (fully) alchemy? Or, rather that he did not see his accomplishments in the same light as we?kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20408504.post-45092751340328184302007-04-15T19:53:00.000-05:002007-04-15T20:36:23.120-05:00Lost in translationSometimes the right words elude me. Sometimes what I want to say just doesn't come out of my mouth. I have these problems in my native tongue. Imagine the problem of trying to precisely express yourself in a 'foreign' tongue. <br /><br />The Associated Press reported a story of a German passenger who used the wrong idiom to express his desire to use the toilet but ended up in jail for nine months. <br /><br />How could this happen?<br /><br />Apparently the idiom he used was "<span style="font-weight:bold;">the roof would go</span>" or "<span style="font-weight:bold;">then the roof goes</span>". To a flight attendant, a passenger using words that indicate the roof of the plane is about to come off is not a laughing matter and one, apparently, that will force the plane to make an emergency landing.<br /><br />I did find a link to the AP article (name changed to protect the innocent... we'll just refer to him as 'G'):<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS<br /></span><span style="font-style:italic;">An intoxicated German passenger jailed for making a bomb threat really meant that his bladder - not the plane - was about to explode, a federal judge ruled. G, 23, who speaks little English, was freed Wednesday after spending nine months in prison on federal charges of interfering with a flight crew and making a false bomb threat.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Source: United States v. G, 841 F. Supp 1169 (S.D. Fla. 1993)<br /></span><span style="font-style:italic;">G was a passenger on a charter flight from Fort Lauderdale to Hanover, Germany. Shortly after take-off, he went to the middle of the plane, and, in the court's words "acted as if he thought he was in the toilet." Id. at 1170. When stopped by flight attendants, G announced "the roof was going to go." Id. He then made a broad sweeping gesture which the attendants thought indicated an explosion would occur. He became unruly, and the plane returned to Fort Lauderdale because of fear that he had brought a bomb aboard. Later, at his guilty plea hearing, G claimed his gesture was "to show that his bladder was going to explode and not the roof of the aircraft" and elaborated, "well, if my bladder explodes, then also the roof would go." Id. at 1171.<br /></span>kengellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07204329050098535840noreply@blogger.com0