Concatenating PDFs
A while back I downloaded the Basic Cryptanalysis Army Field Manual from the University of Michigan. The manual is available as a PDF-per-chapter, but I'd like to have the entire manual as one complete...
View ArticlePostgres 8.2.4 Segmentation Fault on Mac OS X
I've been having an annoying segmentation fault with the recent install of PostgreSQL on Mac OS X. This happens whenever I quit psql after changing to a different database.psql(336) malloc: *** error...
View ArticleThe Genome Is Miscellaneous
Hopefully by now you have read David Weinberger's Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder. It's quite an interesting and absorbing read, one of those books that makes you...
View ArticleRodenbach
I recently discovered the joy of Flemish sour ale. That's some damn fine beer.
View ArticleUnreal
If anyone ever doubts that the Internet can truly be a powerful democratizing force in the world, where the average person can say something and have it matter, check this out.I started this blog last...
View ArticleTransformers: Members of the Coalition of the Willing?
I'm going to a conference tomorrow, and decided to check on the TSA's website to make sure I wasn't going to be breaking any of their wonderfully inane rules, like bringing 4 oz. of shampoo (horrors!)...
View ArticleCost-based vacuum delay caveat in Postgres
I've been trying to vacuum a 25M row table in Postgres and it has been taking forever; we're talking over 22 hours (thought I'd let it run as I flew to Philadelphia for this conference). A bit of...
View ArticleLiskov's Substitution Principle, equals, and Hibernate Proxies
Hibernate's CGLIB dynamic proxy classes reared their ugly head today. I've been using the Eclipse-generated hashcode() and equals() methods in my domain objects for quite a while, with no problems....
View ArticleProperly setting up a crontab entry using 'date' to generate timestamps
I have a custom backup script that I want to run every night. I'd also like to have all the output (standard and error) redirected to a timestamped log file for subsequent review. My first stab at...
View ArticleProScope HR: Coolest Geek Toy Ever?
In preparation for my impending fatherhood, I've been keeping an eye out for fun things to do with my daughter once she's got a few years on her. Like any good geek, I'm looking for fun, geeky things...
View ArticleQuicktime / iTunes Update breaks Eclipse?
I upgraded my Quicktime and iTunes today and found that all of a sudden I couldn't compile anything in Eclipse! Apparently, the update got rid of the /System/Library/Java/Extensions/QTJSupport.jar...
View Article
