Is Bluetooth Too Much To Ask For?
I consider myself to be pretty easy-going when it comes to hardware input devices for computers. If I have a keyboard that is easy to type on, and a mouse that has more than 2 buttons and a scroll wheel, I'm happy.
Apparently though, I've come up with a requirement that's hard to satisfy. All I want is a full-sized Bluetooth mouse that doesn't come in a $150 keyboard + mouse set. By using Bluetooth, I won't have to plug anything into my computer; it'll "just work."
I first tried the Apple Mighty Mouse, and returned it after about a week of "maybe it will grow on me today." The scroll ball is pretty slick, but I just find the thing too uncomfortable to hold, and I grew frustrated with its inability to accurately discern which finger I had clicked with.
Next, I've found the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 8000. Looks good so far. Except it has a catch - the batteries are rechargeable, and it requires a USB port to power the cradle. So, your wireless mouse still requires a USB port. Bummer. I guess I could use an AC adapter with a USB port on it, but that's a bit of a hack.
Logitech, my other preferred keyboard and mouse manufacturer, has nothing. The di Novo keyboard set does look slick, but I happen to like my Apple Wireless keyboard, and it's a bit of a stretch to buy a $160 keyboard and mouse set just for a mouse.
Seriously, is it too much to ask? Full-sized (not notebook) Bluetooth mouse. That's all I want. Apple met my requirements, but failed with the design. Microsoft still requires a USB port for it's Bluetooth wireless mouse, though not 100% of the time. Logitech doesn't even offer anything. I guess I'll have to try the Microsoft one, but it's really not ideal.
Virtualization
Yesterday, I attended a talk at CSUCI by Dmitrii Zagorodnov of UCSB on cloud computing. Their in-house developed system, Eucalyptus, is essentially an open-source , API-compatible implementation of Amazon EC2. The concept of virtualization has interested me in quite some time, and I've even put VMware and OpenVZ into production at work, so this is quite up my alley.
It turns out the concept of on-demand virtual computing isn't as complex as I had originally hypothesized. My concept of "cloud computing" had the virtual machines running on a network of multiple machines, tightly integrated to share responsibilities in hosting the VM and simultaneously fault tolerant. Apparently, at least in the case of Eucalyptus, that's not the case. There's essentially a set of controlling servers which manage the cluster and host the VM images, and the controller picks a node to boot the VM on. There's a little more to it, like the injection of SSH keys into the root filesystem on boot and virtual private networks (not VPNs) but that's the gist.
The VM image is fault tolerant in that it's stored on a RAID array, and if the node running it goes down, the controller can simply boot it on a new machine. This is possible because the cluster never guarantees the integrity of the filesystem itself - it actually guarantees that it will be destroyed by always booting a fresh copy. In the context of being able to provide computing power on demand as Amazon advertises, this is acceptable anyway - each machine could automatically configure itself at boot, and within minutes of staring the instance you'd have an additional Ghz of processing power and associated resources.
However, I see a gap between the EC2/Eucalyptus model and the VPS model used by providers such as my own, Slicehost. EC2 allows one to instantly create a VM and charge by the hour that it runs, while Slicehost charges me monthly for one always-on, persistent solution. I've been pondering a system that would be something in the middle, with persistent file systems, dynamic host-node selection, and a central, highly fault-tolerant storage system.
"But wait," you say, "that's VMware ESX!" Correct, it is. And everything it can do, like virtualization with live migration and a distributed file system, are all doable with open source software.
And with that, I think I have an idea for my Master's Thesis.
Updated Blog, and the Un-Bucket List
It started out simple: for Comp 578 - Data Mining, I need to have a place to post my assignments. So I thought that instead of using the school's system, I'd use my own website. In the process, I also thought it was time to get my blog ready for Django 1.0. This all turned out to be not nearly as easy as I expected, but it was all doable. If there was one thing I knew beforehand, however, it would be this: Django kept trying to write the form submission URL for the login page to /django.fcgi/admin, which is incorrect. Using FORCE_SCRIPT_NAME = '', I was able to solve the problem of not being able to log in.
So, now that I got it running, and got my assignment page created, I think it's time to post my "un-bucket" list. This list started out as a list of things I want to do someday, and was named as such because I'm not planning on dying any time soon, but simply want to do these things "some day." I also thought it'd be helpful if I could write down what's stopping me from accomplishing it, so that I can work around those things in the future.
- Learn to fly
What's stopping me? Cost - Learn to scuba dive
What's stopping me? Cost - Live somewhere different
What's stopping me? Cost, fear of the unknown - Teach a college course
What's stopping me? Now it's just time - next semester I believe I'm eligible as a MSCS student - Go to all 7 continents
What's stopping me? Cost, time, fear of the unknown - Make a piece of software for my personal profit. (i.e. not something I wrote as an employee of somebody else, or just for kicks like this blog)
What's stopping me? Creativity (or lack thereof), Employer's "Invention Agreement", lack of business savvy Learn more about my heritage
Actually started this one last weekend visiting my grandfather and great-grandmother. Pictures from the turn of the 20th century to come as soon as I get a scanner worth using.- Visit (some) states bordering the 49th parallel, as well as New England. (NYC and NJ aren't what I had in mind...those were for business anyways.) And I have this weird desire to visit Maine more than the others, and drive through the forest. Or Oregon or Washington. Or Wyoming. Or Colorado.
What's stopping me? Cost, time - Lose weight (to <200)
What's stopping me? Lack of self control, discipline - Make 6 figures/year
What's stopping me? Time, education, environment, experience
I like to think that this list is lofty, yet doable. Sure, it won't be next week or anything, but I can consider them life goals, and work towards them. Plus, completing some helps with the completion of others - making six figures a year helps pay for flying or SCUBA lessons, for example. Now, let's see which one I can check off first.
Ripoffs and Airplanes
I don't know why I keep doing this. I had my truck serviced at the local Toyota dealership on Saturday, and it only cost me $279.95! What a bargain, you say!
Hold up now. Sure, I had 30,000 miles, so it was time for a somewhat major tuneup, more than just a quickie oil change. The part that bugs me though is what they actually do vs. what they "inspect." They actually replaced a lot of scary sounding things, like part number 17801-0P010, "Element Sub-assy Ai". Google, however, comes through and reveals it's not - it's the air filter. I replaced it once already - it's 2 snaps, not even a mere screwdriver required. And I got it for $31.95 too, what a bargain! (It was something like $12.95 plus shipping when I bought it previously.)
It gets better. "88508-01010 Filer Sub-Assy, Air" sounds menacing - what if it were "cabin air filter" - and if I had already seen that before and cleaned it with a shop vac? Another bargain at $32.95. Have I mentioned that the labor charge on this invoice isn't itemized, and therefore includes these wonderful replacements, which would have taken all of 15 minutes myself?
Those two parts were the most expensive ones on the whole thing. Of course, there's the little ones, like oil, oil filter, etc. But even if they were overpriced, they weren't much anyways, a few bucks here and there. I'll pay for convenience.
It's things like this that make me wish I was more mechanically inclined. I have a feeling that I could have spent $60 on parts plus another $30 on the service manual and done this myself. I could not have done a tire rotation, but I also get those for free at the tire shop.
I know, I know, you're not just paying for the time of the shop workers, but for their expertise too. That doesn't change how they get you (read: sucker you) into their shop - if you don't pay for their super-special service, they specifically note it on your service records, and say that it could affect your ability to get your vehicle repaired under said warranty. Sure sounds like backmail to me.
My next service, at 35,000 miles, is the last one before my bumper-to-bumper warranty is up at 36,000 miles. After that, I plan on continuing to follow the maintenance schedule suggested by the manufacturer. Things like the spark plugs that were replaced, which I really don't know how to do, can be done by a shop, but others, like measly air filters that take all of 2 minutes each, will be done by myself, thank you very much.
In a totally unrelated note, I dragged Leigh Ann to the Camarillo Air Expo today. Definitely worth the $14 for both of us, as we got to see a lot of the neat older planes doing flybys. I still think the Point Mugu air show is a tad more exciting due to the use of modern vs antique military aircraft, but this one still had a lot of neat different planes to see. Plus, some of the exhibits on the ground were kind of neat, like what I think was an Eclipse 500, a Diamond DA-40, and a bunch of other planes whose names I'll never be able to remember. I only took a few photos during some of the formation flying; I'll have to get them up here at some point
If nothing else, the expo made me continue to want to take flying lessons in the near future. Anybody want to loan me the money? :)
Anyway, enough for now. I'm still refining my "un-bucket list" which I hope to actually be happy with soon so that I can post it.