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Sometimes it feels like I’m stating the obvious. But the fact that users only care about the interface of the service is something we often say, but seldom understand. If this is true, how can we think that we can develop the interface as an after though to the central system. Not all your users might be human. And the computerized users are treated even worse. If the non-human users also care about the interface, how do we think that they ..
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So a quick update. I spent 2 hours or so yesterday working on the netflix data mining. I basically just tidied it up and started testing. I was almost finished and was about to post a blog with results, but decided I wasn’t happy with the results. It turned out there was a bug but that my code which worked out how related users are wasn’t as effective as I thought it would be. See I used the vector space index to calculate how similar users..
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I’ve made two new interesting discoveries about wpa_supplicant since writing my last blog post on the subject. (Actually, I pretty much made both of them while reading documentation in order to write it, and have been lame about writing them up). Using wpa_gui It turns out that wpa_gui not only allows you to select existing networks, but also to scan for and add new networks to your configuration file. In addition, you can run it as yoursel..
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I’ve made two new interesting discoveries about wpa_supplicant since writing my last blog post on the subject. (Actually, I pretty much made both of them while reading documentation in order to write it, and have been lame about writing them up). Using wpa_gui It turns out that wpa_gui not only allows you to select existing networks, but also to scan for and add new networks to your configuration file. In addition, you can run it as yoursel..
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Today I sold my car to a guy from France. He took a plane to Vienna yesterday, this morning we met, he looked at the car, we took the contract to a notary office, we paid in his cash into my bank, then took my number plates to a insurance company who canceled my insurance (even though it was with a different company), and gave us temporary number plates (precondition was the contract had to be notarized).
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As most of you probably know, X has several different mechanisms for copy-paste, used by different applications in different ways. I know some people who use them deliberately, juggling two pieces of text in different clipboards at once, but for me, it’s always just been annoying. When I copy something, be it by Gnome C-c, emacs C-w, or selecting it in an xterm, I then want to be able to paste it again, no matter what mechanism I use.
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As most of you probably know, X has several different mechanisms for copy-paste, used by different applications in different ways. I know some people who use them deliberately, juggling two pieces of text in different clipboards at once, but for me, it’s always just been annoying. When I copy something, be it by Gnome C-c, emacs C-w, or selecting it in an xterm, I then want to be able to paste it again, no matter what mechanism I use.
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So everyone in the “blogosphere” is going on about Google Chrome . From one day to the next, a bunch of personal blogs written by random people I don’t know which I for some reason subscribed to all suddenly had 1 new entry – subject “I like Chrome”. A bit like a few days before when Mozilla released some new feature and exactly the same thing happened. And now if I write about Chrome I am one of them as well….
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There’s a bunch of stuff online about the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. And there’s a lot of comment online, people saying that they feel electronic-shift is unnecessary, and over-complicated. I’m mostly interested in why I might want to ride Di2, and I think there’s a bunch of reasons that I would want to, despite all the negative comments that are flying around! So, the big thing that I see as an advantage in the system is the fact tha....
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There’s a bunch of stuff online about the Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. And there’s a lot of comment online, people saying that they feel electronic-shift is unnecessary, and over-complicated. I’m mostly interested in why I might want to ride Di2, and I think there’s a bunch of reasons that I would want to, despite all the negative comments that are flying around! So, the big thing that I see as an advantage in the system is the fact tha....
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Intermedia Writing Systems, revised 3rd edition is a textbook I wrote for a theoretical class at a hypothetical school. It was staple bound and printed as a zine that I distributed to various shops. Here is a beast fable from the book: The Platypus and the Chimaera Once upon a time there was a platypus […]
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I recently attended part of the recent Techcrunch 50 conference, and when I wasn’t there I was watching much of it online. For probably 80% of the companies when it came time to ask about their business model, they said ads. Then they talked about cause they have all of this great information about the user they can advertise better than they used to. The problem is they’re forgetting all about user intent. This is why ads on facebook simpl....
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I recently attended part of the recent Techcrunch 50 conference, and when I wasn’t there I was watching much of it online. For probably 80% of the companies when it came time to ask about their business model, they said ads. Then they talked about cause they have all of this great information about the user they can advertise better than they used to. The problem is they’re forgetting all about user intent. This is why ads on facebook simpl....
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I finally got fed up with Blogger, and am moving this blog to live on Wordpress hosted off of scripts.mit.edu. In the process of converting everything over and setting up Wordpress I’ve decided I hate it, but hopefully I hate it less than I hate Blogger. We’ll see. I’ve also changed the URL to this blog from http://nelhage.com/blog to http://blog.nelhage.com, which I like better as URL anyways. It should redirect to the toplevel of the new ..
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I finally got fed up with Blogger, and am moving this blog to live on Wordpress hosted off of scripts.mit.edu. In the process of converting everything over and setting up Wordpress I’ve decided I hate it, but hopefully I hate it less than I hate Blogger. We’ll see. I’ve also changed the URL to this blog from http://nelhage.com/blog to http://blog.nelhage.com, which I like better as URL anyways. It should redirect to the toplevel of the new ..
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I received an overwhelmingly warm welcome as the new chief scientist at Steria
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jhannes.github.io
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17 years ago
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eng
I am changing employers. As of October 1st, I will no longer be lead software architect at BBS Nordic. Instead, I will be the chief scientist at the Norwegian division of Steria. This weekend, I was invited to join my new employer at their gathering at a resort in the south of Norway. I’ve had a chance to speak with a lot of my new colleagues, and I was overwhelmed by the number of skilled, thoughtful and friendly people.
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Sometimes I am accused of suffering from the “Not Invented Here Syndrome”. It has been suggested I would rather program something myself than take an already existing e.g. open source solution to the problem and integrate it with the product being developed. I mean that’s clearly a blanket statement. The right solution differs from project to project. (But, for sure, when making such a decision, one must not forget about the cost of integ..
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I’ve learned the value of dealing seriously with connecting requirements to the actual code. The JBehave project started work to make formal, “business friendly” requirements into executable specifications, but due to limitations in Java, it was very clunky to use. JBehave 2.0 has just been released, and it has a much better model. Here’s a specification: Story: Play Tabs As a music fan I would like to convert guitar tabs to music So that I..
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I’ve looked over some of my code lately, and found ways that I often improve my tests. I’m planning on writing a blog post for each of my five favorites. First out: Using the data storage. I upgraded our API for billing customers. I had a few compilation errors in my code, as the API had changed somewhat. After fixing these errors, I was left with a test that broke mysteriously with a MethodNotFoundException.
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As mentioned previously, my new Rollapaluza best time. Not really posted for that reason, but mainly due to test out the new IXUS 960IS I have been given!
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As mentioned previously, my new Rollapaluza best time. Not really posted for that reason, but mainly due to test out the new IXUS 960IS I have been given!
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VLDB 2008 proceedings, Oracle optimizer plan stability, adaptive cursor sharing and SecureFiles
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tanelpoder.com
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17 years ago
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eng
If you’re interested in leading edge database research (as of 2008 :), the VLDB 2008 proceedings are publicly available now. Here are direct links to some Oracle-specific ones: Oracle SecureFiles System Optimizer Plan Change Management: Improved Stability and Performance in Oracle 11g Closing The Query Processing Loop in Oracle 11g (this one is about adaptive cursor sharing) Enjoy! :)
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VLDB 2008 proceedings, Oracle optimizer plan stability, adaptive cursor sharing and SecureFiles
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tanelpoder.com
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17 years ago
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eng
If you’re interested in leading edge database research (as of 2008 :), the VLDB 2008 proceedings are publicly available now. Here are direct links to some Oracle-specific ones: Oracle SecureFiles System Optimizer Plan Change Management: Improved Stability and Performance in Oracle 11g Closing The Query Processing Loop in Oracle 11g (this one is about adaptive cursor sharing) Enjoy! :)
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Forget the benchmarks, forget whether its truly faster or slower, forget whether the market share is 30% for non-IE browsers (though is this only for US or internationally). Google Chrome evolution or revolution, whatever you want to call it, it makes me actually want to stay in the browser. I just want plugins, that function as well as the browser alone does. Yeah theres rendering problems, and some oddities, but the browser as a whole is ....
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Forget the benchmarks, forget whether its truly faster or slower, forget whether the market share is 30% for non-IE browsers (though is this only for US or internationally). Google Chrome evolution or revolution, whatever you want to call it, it makes me actually want to stay in the browser. I just want plugins, that function as well as the browser alone does. Yeah theres rendering problems, and some oddities, but the browser as a whole is ....
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Éste es el aspecto de varias aplicaciones ejecutándose en Windows XP. Como se puede ver en la imagen últimamente las empresas optan por una diferenciación en cuanto a aspecto de la ventana (Look & Feel), perdiéndose la integración a la que estábamos habituados con el sistema operativo. De hecho, en la captura de pantalla, la única aplicación que mantiene el L&F de Windows XP es el Explorador de Ficheros. Y tú qué opinas acerca de ésto:..
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Tras varios años de rumorología acerca de si Google iba a publicar un navegador web propio o no, finalmente se ha aclarado: su nombre es Chrome. Será un proyecto opensource basado en WebKit de Apple (el motor de renderizado de Safari) y según comentan, incluye un motor Javascript escrito desde cero, con el fin de mejorar el desempeño tanto en tiempo de ejecución como en consumo de memoria, con respecto a los navegadores que actualmente hay ....
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Oracle hidden costs revealed, Part2 – Using DTrace to find why writes in SYSTEM tablespace are slower than in others
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tanelpoder.com
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17 years ago
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eng
_I have written two posts in one, about a performance issue with writes in system tablespace and introduction of a little DTrace stack sampling script. _ Have you noticed that DML on tables residing in SYSTEM tablespace is slower than tables in other tablespaces? Here’s an example, I’ll create two similar tables, one in USERS tablespace, other in SYSTEM, and inset into the first one (Oracle 10.2.0.3 on Solaris x64): SQL> create table....
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Oracle hidden costs revealed, Part2 – Using DTrace to find why writes in SYSTEM tablespace are slower than in others
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tanelpoder.com
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17 years ago
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eng
_I have written two posts in one, about a performance issue with writes in system tablespace and introduction of a little DTrace stack sampling script. _ Have you noticed that DML on tables residing in SYSTEM tablespace is slower than tables in other tablespaces? Here’s an example, I’ll create two similar tables, one in USERS tablespace, other in SYSTEM, and inset into the first one (Oracle 10.2.0.3 on Solaris x64): SQL> create table....
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As I currently work at a startup I have a small stake in the company. When talking with one friend of something I have been working with someone with on the side, the question came up over if this was a conflict of interest. I was actually quite shocked to hear the question at first, not only did I expect them to do likewise, as I know many that do. The full on conflict of interest statement just shocked me. Being at a startup it does make ....
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As I currently work at a startup I have a small stake in the company. When talking with one friend of something I have been working with someone with on the side, the question came up over if this was a conflict of interest. I was actually quite shocked to hear the question at first, not only did I expect them to do likewise, as I know many that do. The full on conflict of interest statement just shocked me. Being at a startup it does make ....
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In recent past I’ve blogged few scripts which use specially crafted ordered nested loop for sampling contents of V$ and X$ views fast, with plain SQL. If you haven’t read them yet, here are the links: WaitProf LatchProf LatchProfX I wrote the above scripts having special purposes in mind (e.g. profile session waits or latching activity). Now I introduce a simple but powerful sqlplus script for ad-hoc sampling of any V$ view. I..
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In recent past I’ve blogged few scripts which use specially crafted ordered nested loop for sampling contents of V$ and X$ views fast, with plain SQL. If you haven’t read them yet, here are the links: WaitProf LatchProf LatchProfX I wrote the above scripts having special purposes in mind (e.g. profile session waits or latching activity). Now I introduce a simple but powerful sqlplus script for ad-hoc sampling of any V$ view. I..
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I just watched another amazing talk from the TED conference. Spencer Wells is a natural public speaker. He talks about where we all, as a species, came from. Amazingly enough, everyone who is alive today share a common ancestor in Africa no more than about 2000 generations, or 60,000 years ago. Wells describes the fascinating questions and their answers, as we know them today. The TED conference is full of remarkable talks.
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A week or so ago, I spent a very enjoyable day watching some great bike polo - again with my camera. Enjoy the photos! .
I also managed to knock my Rollapaluza quick-rollers PB down to 22.16s :-D
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A week or so ago, I spent a very enjoyable day watching some great bike polo - again with my camera. Enjoy the photos! .
I also managed to knock my Rollapaluza quick-rollers PB down to 22.16s :-D
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Looking back at my projects for the last two years, we’ve had a tremendous improvement in the way we’re working. There are many things that we have done to make it better, and I’m be hard pressed to pick just three things I’ve learned. After much consideration, my favorites are: Partial production; Whole team; Requirements = Tests. Partial production: Using real production data for production in various scenarios has been extremely helpful.
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I’ve been using wpa_supplicant to manage wifi on my Ubuntu laptop for a while, and have found that it’s pretty close to what I want for managing wireless — closer than anything else I’ve found, at least. I figured I should document my setup and experiences. Some Background You probably all know just how much wireless on Linux can be a pain to get working right. Getting drivers and so forth working is usually fine these days, especially if y..
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I’ve been using wpa_supplicant to manage wifi on my Ubuntu laptop for a while, and have found that it’s pretty close to what I want for managing wireless — closer than anything else I’ve found, at least. I figured I should document my setup and experiences. Some Background You probably all know just how much wireless on Linux can be a pain to get working right. Getting drivers and so forth working is usually fine these days, especially if y..
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When the building blocks of your program fail and you don’t notice, the problem can be very hard to diagnose. In most of my projects, the building blocks are the persistent objects. Using Hibernate makes it easy to create a data access layer, but if you don’t watch out, errors can sneak into equals or hashCode, bidirectional relationships or properties that for some reason don’t get persisted correctly. Or the code you use to search for you..
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Many people criticize Wal-Mart for the way they run their business. I personally find no problems with it, as their goal is simply to make prices competitive. If you care about the other details then either A. shop else where or B. donate to those causes you feel should be supported with the money you save. While sure some of these qualms may be justified I’d like to hint at another thought, of why people don’t take advantage of the same ap....
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