Archive

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Sun outage

I suppose this sort of thing can only happen near the equator. Spotted in Singapore.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Geek volunteers needed for Global Voices conference in Delhi

Global Voices is holding their annual conference in Delhi this December. They need a volunteer to help with their live audio webcast. If you’re interested in helping out, contact Neha Vishwanathan.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Upgrade

The 15″ MacBook Pro is perceptibly larger than the TiBook. It’s also very, very fast.

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Half-away

I’m in Singapore for the weekend, hanging out with

arucard2,

deepakjois and Divya.

We met Kayako, Preetam Rai and Adri over dinner. Kayako is Japanese. Preetam is Indian and travels around East Asia. He’s been trying to convince me to relocate to Singapore, because it’s perfect for getting around the neighbourhood. Adri is Singaporean of Chinese descent, and travels around India, particularly the northeastern regions. She occasionally passes off as a local herself.

An Indian traveller who finds his passion in China, and a Chinese who loves India. Both prolific bloggers. They make fun conversation.

Friday, September 22, 2006

Swindlers

HDFC Bank says they appreciate my decision to register for their ‘Do Not Call’ service, but this opportunity to take my money via ridiculous interest rates was too good to pass up.

What kind of idiots do they take their customers to be?

Thursday, September 21, 2006

400 schools forced to shutdown for the crime of teaching English. Thousands of students suddenly without a school to go to. Either this administration is insane, or there’s a massive scam in the works here. “Pay up for your English language licenses and be allowed to operate.” Who is the government to interfere when the people who voted in the government clearly want their kids to learn English?

Monday, September 18, 2006

Today is being much better

The bike mechanic delayed it, as usual. I had to stand at his shop for twenty minutes before regaining possession of my bike. He wanted Rs 100 for the service. For basically turning the tank upside down to empty its contents. I was in no mood to bargain, so I settled for 90.

I was too late for the visa application. It went out the next day. With any luck, I’ll receive the passport with a visa in it this Thursday.

Yesterday, I went to the bank to arrange for forex, but they were closed. They used to be open Sundays, closed Mondays. I don’t remember receiving any notice of the change. Now I’ll lose another half a working day.

The presentation went very well. I hadn’t read the book, but seemed to have enough of an intuitive grasp of what “language” in the context of new media could be to describe it. I explained the concept of a language between unequal entities, particularly when one of them is not a human. For illustration, I used First Person Shooters and MMORPGs, differentiating between the illusionary physics that must be maintained by cooperation between the various computers involved, and the complexities that creates, vs the manner in which real life physics manifests in the virtual space, and the language of representation of this manifestation. If I understand Manovich correctly, the scroll bar that shows up when a web page is loading is part of the vocabulary of the language of new media.

Then I contrasted this with Vannevar Bush’s 1945 Memex vision, and why it must have been necessary for him to describe the physical construction in explicit detail:

Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility. It is an enlarged intimate supplement to his memory.

It consists of a desk, and while it can presumably be operated from a distance, it is primarily the piece of furniture at which he works. On the top are slanting translucent screens, on which material can be projected for convenient reading. There is a keyboard, and sets of buttons and levers. Otherwise it looks like an ordinary desk.

In one end is the stored material. The matter of bulk is well taken care of by improved microfilm. Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism. Yet if the user inserted 5000 pages of material a day it would take him hundreds of years to fill the repository, so he can be profligate and enter material freely.

The closest we have to realising the vision today is Wikipedia, which looks nothing like this description, but does what Bush expected to do while sitting at it.

I may get to write a full length piece about this for term assignment, due November.

The code got written after class. It looked good, but two days later hit me with exponential time and memory consumption effects. If it takes a minute to generate 100 units, it’ll need ten minutes for 1000 units, right? Wrong. My target run is 5000 units. It’s been running over 24 hours on my desktop at work, the disk is thrashing mad, and when I last looked at it Saturday night, needed another day to finish. Production use will involve 30,000 runs of 5000 units each. Not looking good at all.

The website is back. No significant losses there. I did however lose the entire 2005 archives of

jacemobile, and there’s no backup anywhere.

It appears the disk has only flaked out in parts and what’s lost is the directory entry for 2005, not the files themselves. Do you know of a recovery tool for ext2 volumes that I can set about to recover all jpeg files? I don’t have physical access to the disk. It’ll have to run under Linux.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Sued

Do you remember Oracle Singh? Looks like he received a lawyergram.

PS: We are back from the week-long outage.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Site outage

The server on which this site is hosted experienced a hard disk failure earlier this week, taking down everything that was hosted on it. The crash was not instantaneous. Services failed one by one, leaving a trail of incomprehensible error messages. At first we assumed a full disk. Since even SSH had failed, we saw no option but to reboot the machine. The ISP then discovered the disk was failing and wouldn’t boot anymore. They replaced it with a new drive and a freshly installed OS. I’ve spent the last few days probing the old disk to see what could be teased out of it. This is the first instance of data loss this site has experienced in over six years online. Backups have been highly irregular, so, much of what is lost is lost permanently.

The following description includes much technical jargon. Please feel free to skip if you’re not up to it. It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

This server ran three instances of Zope, with Plone versions ranging from 2.0 to 2.5, one Trac database, one instance of Lotus Notes, and the image archives of Jacemobile. All three Zope servers use ZODB via ZEO (also separate instances) with the default FileStorage backend. This means that the entire database is stored as a single file on disk. Damage to the file becomes damage to the entire database. As luck would have it, only one of three databases was rescued unscathed. This site’s database lost a few megabytes towards the end of the file.

But ZODB FileStorage is also of an incredibly resilient design. It is an append-only database. Any changes, whether additions or deletions, are added to the end of the file. Changes are undone by adding yet another record to the file to invalidate a previous record. A pack operation must be performed periodically to discard all invalidated records. What this means in the context of the crash is that losing the tail end of the file was equivalent to undoing the last few changes, which in this case turned out to be a few days worth of comment spam. Not a bad deal at all.

The other bits were not as lucky. Having lost several files in the Zope and Plone code bases, I decided I might as well upgrade to Zope 2.9 (from 2.8) and Plone 2.5.1 (from 2.5). Zope 2.9 requires Python 2.4, installing which promised to be a miniature nightmare. This server runs Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3. If I had a choice, it would have been something Debian-based, like Ubuntu, because in my experience, Red Hat-based systems inevitably turn into package maintenance hell. RHEL3 comes with Python 2.2, which Zope has never supported. There are no standard Python 2.3 or 2.4 RPM packages for RHEL. I had previously built them for 2.3 and those files were thankfully uncorrupted too, but for 2.4, I had to start over.

Python.org has Fedora RPMs for 2.4. Rebuilding the SRPM worked on RHEL, but Zope wouldn’t take it. 2.4.3 wanted. Py.org’s 2.4.3 RPMs page refers to 2.4.2 — must report that to the webmaster — and the 2.4.2 RPM won’t build on RHEL. After similar lack of luck with other SRPMs obtained from the distribution networks, I had to get down to editing Py.org’s 2.4 RPM’s spec file to build from the 2.4.3 sources. That finally worked, but after blowing out two hours of my time for what should have been a 2-minute affair at most.

One Zope site (this) is up and running now. Two more to go. Lotus Notes was totally hosed but that has regular offline backup. The worst casualty was Jacemobile, my moblog. The entire 2005 archives were lost. A phone storage card crash earlier this year wiped out my local backup too. The last backup was in November 2004, when switching servers. The WayBack Machine missed it too. It appears the 2005 archives are permanently lost.

Unless I can lay my hands on an ext2 recovery tool. Do you know of one?

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Today is not being a good day

My bike has water in the petrol tank again. It’s with the mechanic, who’s promised to have it cleaned by 2:30, but if he delays it again, as he usually does, I’ll get late submitting my visa application.

I’ve cumulatively lost half a day assembling that application with various bits of proof that I will indeed return to the shabby country that I came from. It’s sufficient to provoke outrage.

Bro wanted to tag alone, but he sat on it too long, and suddenly that weekend’s flight is the most expensive for the rest of the year. I held on to my application, waiting to submit with his. Now he’s got everything ready but isn’t coming. He’s trying to smile.

I have an inch thick book to present on this evening. Two hours to go, and I’m barely ten pages into it. I have an hour and a half to fill. I’ve had that book on me all week, carried it everywhere, seeking an hour or two of peace to read in. About ten pages so far.

I went to Chennai over the weekend and discovered my phone couldn’t get on the network. No roaming access. They left it out of the plan when switching last month. Mailed customer service, but they didn’t bother to respond. They’re usually prompt, going out of their way to be helpful, but I’m suddenly a non-entity. Because it’s no longer billed direct to me?

My bank demanded I change my password again last week. They remember all the old ones and won’t let me dare use them. So I invented something new, got distracted, and promptly forgot what it was. Another two hours lost visiting a physical branch at a time when they may have their shutters open to nod and smile and prove my identity and please let me have yet another password. It arrived in the mail yesterday. All for my convenience and security, of course.

Today the server’s hard disk crashed. My website is gone. As in, gone. No rebooting to fix it. Just gone. As have several hours in prodding to figure out what happened. Backup is in patches of various months vintage. I’ve been religious with the portable device backup, but not with the server. The ISP was very expensive (I wasn’t a direct customer) and ought to have had a tape backup in the plan. They’re offering to send the disk to a recovery firm, but when an expensive firm says it’ll be expensive, it’s time to get spiritual and ponder deep thoughts like letting it all go. Minutes before it all went away, I got to look at the logs and discovered that spammers had pounded 14 GB of phentermine into a forgotten anonymous wiki and were still pumping strong. When getting that to stop, the disk flaked out. Maybe it died of virtual drug overdose. Maybe it was one of those destined by higher authority to exit early.

My web presence is not all in one place, so it’s not all gone. Small consolation.

In the middle of all this, today was supposed to be a working day. “Work” in one connotation somehow excludes all other forms. I have a bit of code to write, one of those occasional jobs that shouldn’t take more than an hour or two, if I had the freedom to pay attention.

But the office has no air conditioning or ventilation. They can’t fix it because the transformer on the road can’t deliver any more power, and the power company says the only space for a new one is in the middle of our parking lot, and the neighbours are already getting militant with their No Parking signs. Not just their gates anymore.

So instead, everyone breathes everyone else’s exhaust. Phones screech all day and voices bark orders to associates in the countryside, who have to push against other meaningless barriers. I don’t get enough sleep as is, and it delivers a massive wallop in what ought to have been the most productive hours of the morning. So I’m home today, but the code’s not flowing. It’s piddling code, but if it doesn’t get done on time, it’ll be far more than just me in trouble. Maybe it’ll work if I ingest sufficient stay-awake tonic and stare at it tonight.

On days like this, I feel like moving to some part of the world where the administrative bits of my life just take care of themselves. There are societies that have figured this out. So that, you know, I could get things done for a change.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Bouncing cargo

They tossed a 747 tire out of the cargo as we were boarding. It was unexpectedly bouncy.

Getting off into Bangalore weather was the pleasantest sensation in two days. Felt even better than a shower.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Get it done with quick

In Chennai and offline because Airtel somehow figured I didn’t want
roaming anymore.

Friday, September 8, 2006

Blogcamp tomorrow

Blogcamp is tomorrow. I’ve been on the planning list the last few weeks (mostly lurking) and now have a better sense of what’s going on.

As noted before, the core planning team has been far more concerned with staging a grand event than with figuring out what is going to make it so grand. To this end, they’ve done a remarkable job. They’ve also turned out to take criticism very well — Kiruba Shankar in particular deserves mention — and have graciously allowed “outsiders” to take over content planning, which Dina Mehta, Neha Viswanathan and Peter Griffin have done.

The event still lacks focus. It’s not clear exactly what aspect of blogging is to be discussed, as “all of it” is too generic to mean much. I’m going to speak about the public nature of conversation on the web, but in the absence of anyone else covering a related topic, I’ll have to cover a large breadth and sacrifice depth, as will several others. Thankfully, it appears that sufficiently large numbers of thoughtful and articulate people are planning to attend, so that alone should make up for it.

If you are attending, see you in Chennai tomorrow.

Friday, September 8, 2006

Cart and cottage

At Inglawadi village in Anekal taluk, south of Bangalore.

Abandoned bullock-cart on a lane of mud-brick houses in Inglawadi village, Anekal taluk, south of Bangalore city. This is a typical rural Indian setting.

What’s not visible is the kiosk immediately to the left, featuring multiple computers on a broadband internet connection, with a solar power backed UPS, and offering a range of facilities from generic internet access to government services. ~~This is my workplace.~~ This is where my work is deployed (to be more accurate). In six months, 800 such centres will open up across Karnataka. In another two years, several thousand across India.

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

Descriptive naming

Cut off portion at right said “Pvt Ltd”. That’s the company’s name. Do they have an air cargo subsidiary named “Fly by Night”?

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Every available surface on this rickshaw was covered with Rajkumar cutouts. The driver was wearing a headband and scarf with the Karnataka flag colours, and atop the rickshaw was the flag itself. The backside announced affiliation to a Karnataka Rakshana Vedike.

It’s a sad day for a nationalist movement when they’re so thoroughly obliterated by a language they anyway never had much hope of standing up to, that they’re reduced to waving flags, demanding token acknowledgement, and generally appearing comical more than inspiring.

Tuesday, September 5, 2006

Moving up in life

When you’re young and hungry, you’re naturally jealous of the high flying. Not the celebrities you read about in the papers, for they’re inaccessible, but the folks a few notches up the social ladder, far enough up to visibly afford a lifestyle you can’t, yet not so far up that they don’t bother telling you about it, to which you nod and hum and say “oh” and “nice” before wandering off to a reverie.

One day you too will be able to afford a car. You too will travel around the world and live in a beautiful, big house. You too will build a business empire and have attendants waiting for your orders, and genuinely be too busy for someone. And then you’ll stand up to those show-offs and look them in the eye.

Then you grow up and the economy booms and one by one, those dreams become reality. And yet, somehow, they don’t feel like a big deal. Those folks you’re preening at don’t even notice. You’re neither great nor eccentric. You’re just “normal”. It’s the worst response you could have anticipated. You look at your finances and see how much of your substantial earning is being eaten up by your substantial lifestyle and how little you’re saving. Makes you wonder. Are you actually achieving something remarkable, or is it just that the economy has changed and brought it within your reach, to which you’re responding like a reckless spendthrift? Friends point out the same and make you feel worse for yourself.

But you know what? It was worth it. It did wonders for your self-esteem. It took you out from being Mr “oh, but I’m not good enough” to being normal. And for others seeking inspiration, you’re a hero.

There are greater dreams unfulfilled. You’re now a person of the world. Go for them.

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Kiran Jonnalagadda’s Blog

Archive for September 2006

Sun outage

Geek volunteers needed for Global Voices conference in Delhi

Upgrade

Half-away

Swindlers

Today is being much better

Sued

Site outage

Today is not being a good day

Bouncing cargo

Get it done with quick

Blogcamp tomorrow

Cart and cottage

Descriptive naming

Moving up in life

Note to self

Silly me

Survey of roadwork

Thumbing their noses

Roadwork

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