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For those that don’t know, Saturday marks the beginning of the Cherry Blossom festival, and consequently the annual Smithsonian Kite festival – always a blast. Last year I wanted to make a kite for the event, but never got around to it. So, last Sunday I opened up that roll of nylon sitting in the corner and got to work.

Last night, I bought a cheap sewing machine for the appliqué work necessary for the design (the obvious fractal). Clearly, home ec in middle school was worthless. I had to take apart the machine twice to remove big gobs of thread stuck therein, until I learned how the bobbin is supposed to be threaded. Then, tonight I went to work on the kite after some practice and proceeded to sew some really hideous seams.

So, I’ve decided this will be my “one to throw away,” though I still hope to have it in the sky this weekend. First I have to fix the hole I punched in the sail.

A few weeks ago someone contacted me regarding my OMFS filesystem driver for the Rio Karma. His interest is in getting it working for ReplayTV to do who knows what. This is coming a bit full circle, as I discovered long ago that the RK and RTV use the same proprietary filesystem, and indeed the ReplayTV hackers of yore had documented nearly everything there is to know about the FS, without which I would’ve been lost writing the Linux kernel driver in the first place. Of course, there are some differences in the way the two devices do their thing.

I don’t own an RTV, but I like a challenge so I asked him to send me a dump of the first gig of the disk. One look and it is the crack-headedest thing I’ve seen in some time: somewhere along the way, their block layer must’ve moved from a big-endian to little-endian platform, without changing the code. OMFS is a 64-bit FS but the RTV block layer apparently works on 32 bits, so for example the 64-bit value 0x8877665544332211 gets written to disk as 0x5566778811223344. And it’s not just the metadata: *everything* is swapped. Filenames look like “tusCzimo..re” instead of “Customizer”. File data blocks are all swapped. Very odd.

Well, for a time I’ve been wanting to experiment with OMFS written in FUSE, so I took my userspace routines from omfsprogs and in the space of an hour or two had a read-only FUSE-based OMFS that did the necessary byte swapping to work with Replay’s file system.

The payoff is the text file that RTV developers apparently used in their version control process. I give you: ReplayTV “Token Haiku” (after the jump).

The RTV4.1 Token Haiku List ---———————————

Change 14195 by tchen@tchen on 2001/06/27 09:16:31 Token Haiku #1

oops, slip finger. changes hasn’t get in yet. Now there is

Change 14994 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/08/06 09:22:47 Token Haiku #2

the checkin token I am all done with it now go about your day

Change 15017 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/08/07 14:51:37 Token Haiku #3

Here is the token I’m all done with it for now but there are still bugs

Change 15120 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/08/13 20:33:17 Token Haiku #4

Building takes too long we need a build machine please it would help alot

Change 15501 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/08/27 21:56:38 Token Haiku #5

‘Smoking’ the token Is a very dumb saying haikus are more fun.

Change 15787 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/05 16:52:08 Token Haiku #6

Gaea is announced and there was much rejoicing work still to be done.

Change 15819 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/09/06 14:01:37 Token Haiku #7

Bits into ether Another checkin is made Why is the sky blue

Change 15856 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/07 11:41:13 Token Haiku #8

AVS Forum, those guys ask lots of questions they know they can’t ask.

Change 15903 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/12 08:55:45 Token Haiku #9

the hud was all dark Bruce said he wanted it light and now it’s all right

Change 15951 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/13 11:39:30 Token Haiku #10

I submit this token in order to fix some bugs. This haiku is poor

Change 16040 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/09/18 01:20:11 Token Haiku

This has no number Because I’m an idiot And I don’t like math

Change 16115 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/19 12:38:42 Token Haiku #12

Terrorists make war Poke sleeping bear with sharp stick They will pay dearly.

Change 16199 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/21 03:47:45 Token Haiku #13

Kent is in Cabo having more fun than we are. Assign him more bugs.

Change 16246 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/09/24 02:35:15 Token Haiku #14

Don does first haiku Does not like non-ryhming poems Still dull humor found.

Change 16320 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/25 02:57:04 Token Haiku #15

Why if we now have the RLOG facility Do printfs still grow

Change 16337 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/25 19:29:41 Token Haiku #16

The code keeps changing One day we will be all done I hope it is soon.

Change 16374 by tlandrum@04064ops on 2001/09/26 07:00:52 Token Haiku #17

Did grab the token Built the code and smoked it Gaea will rock the world

Change 16398 by svasudevan@04062ops on 2001/09/26 21:21:34 Token Haiku #18

Marshall gave me values so that I Shall change the code. Will this make video better ? Well, only MKE seems to bother.

Change 16368 by mgriffiths@oxford on 2001/09/26 02:32:38 Token Haiku #19

Had a few printf’s Which made a few people mad Peace be with you now

Change 16372 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/26 06:39:41 Token Haiku #20

I work hard all day But Gaea still sucks big time Is that negative?

Change 16379 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/26 07:19:55 Token Haiku #21

Why all haikus sound As if talking, Yoda is Power of the force?

Change 16403 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/09/26 22:57:46 Token Haiku #22

A quick checkin here Reminding all a haiku Is five-seven-five

Change 16407 by eronsheimer@curly on 2001/09/26 23:51:43 Token Haiku #23

When the code is smoked The deadline is close at hand truth is not our friend

Change 16414 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/09/27 02:17:33 Token Haiku #24

Video jitters. Epilepsy might be caused. Send to Terrorists.

Change 16419 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/09/27 07:03:20 Token Haiku #25

Three days do I toil, ‘Cuz Kent says “Clean it up now.” What must I do next?

Change 16422 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/27 17:27:43 Token Haiku #26

Always remember and never forget, haikus are five-seven-five

Change 16432 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/09/27 19:02:43 Token Haiku #27

Ten squared megabits Runs like hardened mollasses Within Sonic Blue

Change 16422 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/27 17:27:43 Token Haiku #28 (Special Bonus Haiku)

Bachelor party Lap dance at 20/20 My tendon snapped

Change 16434 by dwesterh@rtv01169 on 2001/09/27 19:36:11 Token Haiku #29

Why bother with vowels Unix conserves on keystrokes While being cryptic

Change 16439 by tchen@tchen on 2001/09/27 20:36:09 Token Haiku #30

Is ACA for you? This check in turn it back on.

Change 16445 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/27 21:15:04 Token Haiku #31

Hmm, I broke the build Silly little merge error Shame, shame, shame, shame, shame

Change 16445 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/27 21:15:04 Token Haiku #31 (Special Bonus Haiku)

Tim overwrote Dave Pa-lease always diff the file And number haiku

Change 16450 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/09/27 21:24:09 Token Haiku #32

Birds sing in summer. Electronics smell good fresh. I have many needs.

Change 16457 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/27 22:34:41 Token Haiku #33

File Open with “w” Make new or zero current Unix commands suck

Change 16472 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/09/28 05:43:11 Token Haiku #34

The FPGA Is a hexadecimal Get the version right

Change 16483 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/09/30 17:43:34 Token Haiku #35 (Special makeup Haiku for screwing up #33)

Favorite Vulcan Jolene Blalock as T’Pol Please remake “Amok Time”

Change 16485 by dwesterh@rtv01169 on 2001/09/30 17:48:19 Token Haiku #36

Networked video Will ultimately be cool Mere matter of code

Change 16495 by mgriffiths@oxford on 2001/09/30 20:07:04 Token Haiku #37

Must check in quickly Can not think up a Haiku Oh, it seems I have!

Change 16493 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/09/30 19:55:25 Token Haiku #38

Penguin cum Pirate With a bloodthirsty sword drawn Will kill VxWorks

Change 16500 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/09/30 23:32:53 Token Haiku #39

I drew a penguin and then made it a pirate Don added bloodlust.

Change 16547 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/01 23:44:34 Token Haiku #40

Market has gone soft. Stock price is in the toilet. Come back baby please.

Change 16553 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/02 00:45:41 Token Haiku #41

Buffy is alive Is she still a human girl? We find out tonight

Change 16557 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/02 02:14:52 Token Haiku #42

If you play remote And it plays until the end Code should not assert!

Change 16586 by dwesterh@rtv01169 on 2001/10/02 18:26:02 Token Haiku #43

Looks great outside now Skipping meals is not healthy Better go to lunch

Change 16595 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/02 20:33:37 Token Haiku #44

Computer is slow Random Access Memory Need greater amount.

Change 16573 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/02 16:47:01 Token Haiku #45

Two hours last night Season premiere of Buffy Best show on TV.

Change 16610 by dwesterh@rtv01169 on 2001/10/02 23:46:13 Token Haiku #46

Rejected as weak This haiku stands crumbling Without expression

Change 16618 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/03 17:31:49 Token Haiku #47

Programming is fun. I like to assault all bugs. Squash Squash Squash Squash Squash.

Change 16626 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/03 19:38:41 Token Haiku #48

The compile takes long The tools are very shitty Give me some ice cream.

Change 16653 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/04 15:08:31 Token Haiku #49

The Phantom Menace on DVD, good, what about The previous three?

Change 16660 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/04 18:04:40 Token Haiku #50

Big stick of metal a UHF Antenna Hi-Def here we come!

Change 16686 by tchen@tchen on 2001/10/07 16:21:33 Token Haiku #51

New FPGA code along with service functions needed to change

Change 16715 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/10/08 22:12:21 Token Haiku #52

Haiku doesn’t rhyme But I think now is the time A fine crime is mine

Change 16721 by dwesterh@rtv01169 on 2001/10/09 10:00:06 Token Haiku #53

Annoying message Indicating something’s wrong Needs to go away

Change 16782 by lkunz@qa-stud on 2001/10/10 18:36:50 Token Haiku #54

Fixed Asset stickers We should all be wearing them What are those barcodes?

Change 16786 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/10 22:19:35 Token Haiku #55

The video out Was three confusing panels Now it is just one

Change 16805 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/11 10:37:40 Token Haiku #56

printfs suck donkeys Use of real debugger would Make these go away

Change 16769 by markn@frodo on 2001/10/10 11:18:09 Token Haiku #57

This token haiku Is really not very good And the last line is far too long for a real haiku anyway.

Change 16814 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/11 13:56:14 Token Haiku #58

Peer Video, so… Cool! Now the guide comes up with last view position

Change 16823 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/11 16:19:06 Token Haiku #59

Time for vacation no work for the next eight days arent you all jealous! :)

Change 16823 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/11 16:19:06 Token Haiku #60

I fly tomorrow I usually like it I’m a bit nervous

Change 16829 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/11 21:03:03 Token Haiku #61

We go back and forth On the Quick Setup panels And no more asserts

Change 16839 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/12 08:41:34 Token Haiku #62

ASSERT did suspend Those tasks that were unruly How dumb and useless

Change 16850 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/12 12:17:02 Token Haiku #63

Kent thinks the stop key Is a universal key That should work always

Change 16860 by eronsheimer@curly on 2001/10/12 12:17:02 Token Haiku #64

Alone in the dark Bug list is getting smaller Peace is in my heart

Change 16858 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/12 13:49:43 Token Haiku #65

The day will come soon When the token will retire Until next release

Change 16870 by tlandrum@04064ops on 2001/10/12 17:01:14 Token Haiku #66

Must write a haiku Have nothing to say in spite Don made me do it

Change 16882 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/13 12:57:11 Token Haiku #67

Tati, oh, Tati ¿Por qué tu haiku chulo no fue español?

Change 16885 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/13 14:22:38 Token Haiku #68

I code on weekends if bugs are known in advance to be squashable.

Change 16891 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/14 13:56:41 Token Haiku #69

ASSERT verily into the depths of handlers. The red screen of death.

Change 16896 by dbehr@dbehr on 2001/10/15 06:02:38 Token Haiku #70

quiet friday night i am checking in first time will the tree catch fire ?

Change 16908 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/10/15 09:24:24 Token Haiku #71

This Monday checkin Is my first since last Tuesday I should work harder

Change 16926 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/15 15:42:26 Token Haiku #72

Quickskip and instant replay can now be used to change the guide spinner

Change 16930 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/15 18:31:54 Token Haiku #73

do not change log suffer the wrath of don, but another haiku

Change 16959 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/16 14:25:41 Token Haiku #74

with patrick gone now I have a chance to be king with the most haikus

Change 17038 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/10/18 20:21:19 Token Haiku #75

I don’t speak Spanish But upside-down question marks Are cool. ¿Don’t you think?

Change 17052 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/20 17:14:39 Token Haiku #76

these files are not going to be used yet but i want them in now

Change 17057 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/21 12:22:50 Token Haiku #77

a new fence was built with don today, so very nice. the dogs are contained

Change 17060 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/21 18:05:25 Token Haiku #78

only twenty three K after all that work, i need a faster machine

Change 17064 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/22 03:38:21 Token Haiku #79

A haiku this dumb Should be placed in the annals of all dumb haikus

Change 17081 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/22 06:37:25 Token Haiku #80

the build unstable much worse than two weeks ago when do we ship it?

Change 17104 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/22 10:01:32 Token Haiku #81

tomorrow patrick comes back to work because he wants more bugs to fix

Change 17104 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/22 10:01:32 Token Haiku #82 (special bonus Haiku)

patrick back from cruise do you think he got nookie on his vacation

Change 17121 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/23 04:36:45 Token Haiku #83

Save architecture RPlatform must be contained Sans dependencies

Change 17162 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/24 08:07:14 Token Haiku #84

Went on cruise last week All children and old people No action for me

Change 17172 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/24 11:06:53 Token Haiku #85

No Closed Captioning When our panels are displayed Makes them look better

Change 17181 by mgriffiths@oxford on 2001/10/24 13:58:52 Token Haiku #86

Another fix that May stop the macroblocking Credits to David

Change 17182 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/24 15:05:40 Token Haiku #87 (special bonus Haiku)

martin oh martin please always put the haiku in the checkin file

Change 17127 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/23 07:21:19 Token Haiku #88 (an absolutely true story about tech support at Sonic Blue)

voice mail does not work tell tech support, no hear back they left me voice mail

Change 17194 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/25 Token Haiku Quintet #1

C++ mem-ry Operator overload Standard Lib changes

new and delete are good but implementation in language bogus

overload delete and it will never get called save for exceptions

Must modify lib To shanghai compiler call So delete will work

Naturally this is only problematic with global new/del

Change 17219 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/25 10:27:38 Token Haiku #94

Look to the sky and you will find my checked in code soaring blazingly

Change 17230 by tchen@tchen on 2001/10/26 01:30:58 Token Haiku #95

make OS_DbgPrintf empty call and prints nothing

Change 17238 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/10/26 04:12:38 Token Haiku #96

running FSShell bad if diskimages gone now part of clean get

Change 17244 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/26 06:09:14 Token Haiku #97

Check-in, oh check-in, Happiness to me you bring, My life does not want.

Change 17258 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/29 00:31:51 Token Haiku #98

C++ Mangle Of a language spawned from C Is Obfuscation

Change 17281 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/29 06:08:01 Token Haiku #99

Dahdit didahdah Dididah dahdidahdit Dah didididah

Change 17285 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/10/29 10:27:51 Token Haiku #100

Release doth grow near Dinner is served yet again Leaves me wanting more

Change 17303 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/30 03:50:29 Token Haiku #101

Dinner’s back again It never should have left us Could free drinks be next?

Change 17315 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/30 06:05:08 Token Haiku #102

Gaea stores Photos Select just one gigabyte Two thousand Photos

Change 17336 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/30 08:51:05 Token Haiku #103

Thread safety is key Don’t access variables Without protection

Change 17340 by eronsheimer@curly on 2001/10/30 10:33:04 Token Haiku #104

To strict of controls Stifle a creative mind Anarchy will reign

Change 17338 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/10/30 10:18:05 Token Haiku #105

Main Menu left edge Was set too far to the left So I adjusted

Change 17361 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/31 01:29:59 Token Haiku #106

I can smell shipping An aroma like dinner Around 6pm

Change 17363 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/10/31 01:47:54 Token Haiku #107

A big word is this: Antidisestablishment- arianism

Change 17367 by markn@frodo on 2001/10/31 02:49:48 Token Haiku #108

tlhIngan Hol haiku ghItlhlaH De’wI’ ghunwI’ ‘ach luyajlaHbe’ Hoch

Change 17374 by eronsheimer@curly on 2001/10/31 03:52:27 Token Haiku #109

When Klingon is used in a new checkin haiku I am not worthy

Change 17398 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/10/31 07:59:39 Token Haiku #110

I’m all out of bugs, I feel so lost without them Air Supply was cool.

Change 17409 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/10/31 23:40:10 Token Haiku #111

I am like Patrick A soul with no bugs to fix Except pesky D’s

Change 17423 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/11/01 04:04:51 Token Haiku #112

A lawsuit cometh Free publicity Maybe sales will grow

Change 17435 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/01 08:08:11 Token Haiku #113

Who knows klingon? Gasp! Could it be Mark made this up verification?

Change 17441 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/01 10:24:33 Token Haiku #114

Missing question mark and bad tab in last haiku I am fixing now

Change 17443 by lkunz@qa-stud on 2001/11/01 11:56:29 Token Haiku #115

If token haiku May be subpoenaed in court I have no comment

Change 17445 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/11/01 12:46:55 Token Haiku #116

HTTPGet Wrote beyond end of buffer Causing big crashes

Change 17454 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/02 02:21:01 Token Haiku #117

Haikus that I choose Are often tender and soft And smell like berries

Change 17474 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/02 05:01:14 Token Haiku #118

flaws in CTrace found local debug enabled all the time, no more

Change 17475 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/02 05:01:56 Token Haiku #119

Coding at top speed Need Knight Rider’s red button Turbo Boost, baby

Change 17492 by bwilson@bwilson on 2001/11/02 10:05:57 Token Haiku #120

Tune to channel 6 If 6 is marked inactive Channel Guide had bug

Change 17526 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/03 10:40:59 Token Haiku #121

Coffee, Burrito Lethargy and vim shall meet when coding on fumes

Change 17536 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/04 03:51:28 Token Haiku #122

why all the trouble keeping uniform format for the token haikus?

Change 17541 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/04 17:24:04 Token Haiku #123

Last day for checkins Has clear skys and warm weather Oh what a feeling

Change 17561 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/05 13:23:45 Token Haiku #124

Matadero place No satellite for two weeks How will I survive?

Change 17566 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/05 14:08:22 Token Haiku #125

tv is so dumb we should replay youth instead that would be useful

Change 17579 by markn@frodo on 2001/11/05 16:19:08 Token Haiku #126

jan rarHa’lu’DI’ jabbI’ID mevlaHbejchugh je’wI’ nuQqu’lu’

Change 17605 by eronsheimer@curly on 2001/11/05 19:45:26 Token Haiku #127

This is the last bug Joy, freedom, home, sleep - oh-no nine new, sleep no more

Change 17619 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/05 21:26:51 Token Haiku #128

penguins fly so fast bouncing off Patrick’s noggin when not having s-x

Change 17622 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/05 21:58:47 Token Haiku #129

Midnight on the date When I release the token Pushin’ it baby

Change 17627 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/05 22:35:05 Token Haiku #130

pointers pivotal my coding is criminal dogg-style digital

Change 17659 by dbehr@dbehr on 2001/11/06 19:21:36 Token Haiku #131

noc juz nadchodzi bledow jest kupa cala jestem zgubiony

Change 17675 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/07 16:01:23 Token Haiku #132

haiku formats same and pay per view highlites same two birds, one stone, yeah!

Change 17686 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/07 18:11:15 Token Haiku #133

The birds and the bees Don’t have anything on me First shot does the job

Change 17685 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/07 18:09:47 Token Haiku #134

Much respect I seek The sign to my office says Dorkville 7-ft

Change 17724 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/08 14:37:29 Token Haiku #135

Once More, With Feeling Best episode ever i say Deserves an Emmy

Change 17724 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/08 14:37:29 Token Haiku #136

Boy band boy respect? Obsessed with Ben Folds, next Ben Dover stalked

Change 17724 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/08 14:37:29 Token Haiku #137

Nothing happy have I to say, be thankful I do not think out loud

Change 17740 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/08 18:27:40 Token Haiku #138

Two with one blow, yes Too bad I screwed things up in the first place, damn

Change 17687 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/07 18:37:13 Token Haiku #139

Jane Goodall spent years Quietly monitoring The rare horned penguin

Change 17758 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/09 11:25:59 Token Haiku #140

file system haiqueue services my datapump just like your

Change 17773 by mgriffiths@oxford on 2001/11/09 18:30:23 Token Haiku #141

“Is this my last bug?” I ask myself this every day. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Change 17774 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/11/09 18:30:24 Token Haiku #142

Thanksgiving draws near Cranberry sauce from a can and other delights!

Change 17775 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/09 18:41:24 Token Haiku #143

CRB pressure My code undressed, inspected Melting point attained

Change 17784 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/10 14:10:31 Token Haiku #144

It’s annoying when people do checkins when I have the dang token.

Change 17797 by lkunz@qa-stud on 2001/11/10 18:41:13 Token Haiku #145

With token haiku Steve Miller Band references Are gone from checkins

Change 17798 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/11 10:53:07 Token Haiku #146

impossible to hear AC/DC without playing air guitar

Change 17826 by dsletten@dsletten on 2001/11/12 20:26:11 Token Haiku #147

Flag-draped S.U.V.’s You do know your gas money Goes straight to Saddam

Change 17805 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/11 23:19:52 Token Haiku #148

Taliban running It seems that the bombing worked Get Bin Laden soon

Change 17805 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/11 23:19:52 Token Haiku #149 (Special Bonus Haiku)

It seems to me I Write Haikus about anything To be the winner

Change 17805 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/11 23:19:52 Token Haiku #150 (Special Bonus Haiku)

Puppies and kitties And thoughts so very pretty This is one fiddy

Change 17844 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/13 14:46:09 Token Haiku #151

Fiddy not fidy Fixing the token file does not require a review

Change 17861 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/13 19:32:39 Token Haiku #152

compound abstraction of undue complexity what a f—— mess

Change 17864 by kewilliams@rtv0c869 on 2001/11/13 21:43:33 Token Haiku #153

The rain keeps falling The workmen will not come back Still have no T.V.

Change 17869 by mgriffiths@oxford on 2001/11/14 11:05:58 Token Haiku #154

We are almost there I am very very excited Let’s ship this baby!

Change 17870 by pellis@04024swapps on 2001/11/14 11:06:26 Token Haiku #155

Tendon heals nicely Don’t make me break it again Kent’s a haiku whore.

Change 17880 by dwoodward@metropolis on 2001/11/14 14:28:00 Token Haiku #156

Management limits On my brain activity DISSATISFACTION

Change 17919 by lkunz@qa-stud on 2001/11/16 19:23:28 Token Haiku #157

Oh, macrovision It was so very broken But now, not so much

Change 17924 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/16 20:18:13 Token Haiku #158

out of baling wire so the fearless leader says use a coat hanger

Change 17955 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/19 20:04:38 Token Haiku #159

when laura sends mail if you neglect to reply you will go hungry

Change 17952 by abriggs@roll on 2001/11/19 19:44:30 Token Haiku #160

days of misery testing coding until night apologizing

Change 18022 by dwoodward@metro2 on 2001/11/28 13:51:40 Token Haiku #161

oops slip finger tokens hasn’t get in yet. Now there is

-= Final Score =-

kewilliams: 43 dwoodward: 34 pellis: 22 dsletten: 15 bwilson: 11 abriggs: 6 dwesterh: 5 eronsheimer: 5 mgriffiths: 5 tchen: 4 lkunz: 4 markn: 3 dbehr: 2 tlandrum: 2 svasudevan: 1

I used a complicated computer model to make bracket picks this year, and I’m 83.7% so far, which is good enough for 4th place in our office pool of eight (1 point off the 3-way tie for first). Ok, that part about the computer model was a lie but that would be cool wouldn’t it? Random guessing ftw!

With 6.5 months to go, here’s the wedding planning update:

• Location - check

• Reception location & catering - check

• Photographer - check

• Hopefully non-cheesy DJ - check

• How to be married class - check

• Rehearsal dinner location - check

• Flowers - check

• Dress - check

• Craptacular wedding website - roger that!

I’ve had a lucky streak: even with the occasional hard drive failure I haven’t had any major data loss for a long time. But tempting fate all this time has become worrisome, so a couple of days ago I signed up for an account at rsync.net, a place that charges $1.60/GB/mo for network accessible hard drive space. This solves the problems I’ve always had with using my own disks or DVDs for backup: if it isn’t automatic I won’t do it, and it had better be offsite. As a bonus, they gave me half off for being open source developer. My setup detailed after the jump.

Here’s how I set up my machines to use it:

First, I created the RSA key for rsync.net and copied to the remote server:

$ ssh-keygen -t rsa
$ scp ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub account@machine.rsync.net:.ssh/authorized_keys

I want to have two directories on my storage space: one that is just a subversion root with various open source software, my websites, etc. And a second that has sensitive things such as tax returns or email mbox files, all encrypted. I haven’t set up the second part, but the plan is to create a disk image for dm-crypt and then sync that up to the server. One could even use sshfs to mount the remote file system, then mount the image with dm-crypt directly so you can just copy files into it without having to keep an encrypted disk image locally.

For non-sensitive stuff, I created a directory containing symlinks to directories I want to backup. The rsync program sports a command line switch to resolve any symlinks that go outside the current tree, but maintain those that are inside. This works out great because a link inside a source tree stays a link, but the link from the backup directory to the tree itself results in the tree getting copied.

I put this in my crontab along with scripts to periodically mirror my web page and my LJ:

crontab:
0 4 * 1 * cd projects && wget -r -N http://bobcopeland.com
0 5 * 1 * cd projects/ljdump && ./ljdump.py
30 13 * * * cd /backups && ./sync.sh

sync.sh:
rsync -avz --copy-unsafe-links -e ssh stuff me@machine.rsync.net:

With this setup, I just have to link the non-sensitive things I care about under the /backups/stuff directory, and that will get replicated to the offsite backup daily. My website and LJ get mirrored once a month and synced that day to the remote server.

Bring on the nukes!

[This entry backdated to when I actually wrote it]

I’m currently sitting in the Atlanta airport as part of a quick in-and-out to visit a sick relative. I’d easily give a digit for a sausage biscuit right now, but alas the best I can do is trail mix.

More evidence that the terrorists have won: while waiting in the security line with 2000 of my closest friends, having disposed of the Purell I forgot to check, they started playing some Glenn Medeiros over the intercom. You know,

Nothing’s gonna change my love for you You ought know by now how much I love you One thing you can be sure of I’ll never ask for more than your love

There, now you have it stuck in your head too.

I’m reading Kitchen Confidential on the strength of this blog entry by “No Reservations” star Anthony Bourdain. It’s a humorous look at how the restaurant industry is much less glamorous than one might think. [Later on the plane, my single-serving friend, a philosophical sheet metal worker, said this is like life: first you want to get with some beautiful woman, then you realize she’s nasty inside, but by then it’s too late because you’re already married.]

In other news, Angeline and I saw a famous celebrity while dining at the White Flint mall the other night: Matthew Lesko, the question-mark-blazer-ensuited guy who exhorts us to get FREE government money. He was in uniform and looked lost. Doesn’t ring a bell? Here’s Andy Dick’s impression of him.

Congratulations, NASA, on finally managing to make space interesting again!

In other last week’s news, bunnie of Xbox hackery fame has a nice rundown on why the ATHF debacle was such a sad commentary on our society. I hope the 2 mil extortion that Ted agreed to is just a face-saving thing and no money actually changed hands.

I’ve been trying out a few new Linux features lately. First, kernel 2.6.20 is shipping with kvm which includes support for the new virtualization instructions on recent processors. This is great because I can use the kvm-modified version of qemu to boot other Linux or Windows XP images while in Linux. Emulating Linux is nice for debugging those kernel bugs that lockup the box, while Windows could theoretically be useful for reverse engineering drivers. Qemu also sets up a NAT transparently so you can easily use the network once you’re in the guest OS. No news to anyone that’s used vmware, but this is free, and a heckuva lot faster than all-software emulation. Pictured is my little XP-under-Linux test:

Also, I’m playing with Xgl a bit. This is the X server that’s built on top of OpenGL, providing window managers the ability to add eye candy to mundane things like dragging windows around. My laptop JustWorked with the builtin i945 graphics chip, which is interesting because glx still claims to be using the software renderer. Coupled with beryl, all of your virtual desktops get mapped to faces of a cube, so when you Ctrl-Alt-(left/right/mouse) you can rotate the cube to find the appropriate workspace. The window manager has active corners like OSX which default to exposé-like features. When you drag around windows under this thing, they have a cute little warping animation, and when you bring something to the front, the other windows become transparent. It’s still a little buggy and I’m not sure that I won’t find the eye-candy ridiculously annoying at some point, but for now it’s a cool toy. A screenshot wouldn’t do it justice, so visit youtube for demos of it by unaccountably shirtless dudes.

Clock, side view
Originally uploaded by bluesterror.

I constructed this a week or two ago, but only just now got a chance to photograph it with a real camera. This represents the first theoretically useful circuit I built with the Arduino platform. It utilizes the 7 segment decoding program along with a real time clock (RTC), blinking out the time one digit at a time. The RTC speaks a serial protocol called I2C so only two pins on the microcontroller are needed to read the time.

This is part of a project I’ll be building on soon, but it’s mostly still in the proof-of-concept phase.

Angeline and I took our first cooking class last Saturday, despite her having the worst case of pink eye I’ve ever seen (we tried to find a stand-in for her prepaid slot unsuccessfully). Anyway, the class was on basic Chinese cooking, and an area chef supplied us with recipes and went over some basic techniques. I can’t say that I learned much that I didn’t already know, apart from the Mandarin words approximately meaning ‘slice’ and ‘shred’ (and ‘death’), but this was a nice format for a class (that is, much wine was consumed).

We’ll see how it goes when I remake all of these dishes in my own kitchen, which is coming because Ange was unable to taste anything we prepared. I had to describe it in my uninformed-food-critic vocabulary: “hmm, I guess it is salty and grassy.”