An archive of my old LiveJournal
I usually use an LJ client called Drivel to post from Linux. Like many software projects, they use code names for each release. (1.0, for instance, was also known as “Yeah, it really happened.”)
The latest version, 1.2, appears to be called The Hero of Canton.
(I really need to pick up a Firefly icon or two.)
My boss and I just finished installing 1300 pounds of extra batteries for our server room’s UPS* units, more than doubling our previous backup coverage.
See, the power company has decided they need to cut power to our block for 8 hours tomorrow night in order to do work on the local grid. And here we were with only enough battery power for 2½-3 hours. (This was more than enough back in the era of rolling blackouts, since those only lasted an hour or so.) We can shut down everything on the inside network, no problem… but a five-hour outage for all the websites, email accounts, dialups, DSL accounts, etc. that we host is not something we want to be stuck with.
So we got more batteries.
We’ll still have to be here at least part of the time tomorrow night, keeping an eye on things, turning off internal systems to conserve power, etc. I can’t say I’m looking forward to that.
* That’s uninterruptable power supply, not united parcel service.
I’ve been reading a lot of Trek related stuff lately, but this it just a bizarre case of reality catching up to fiction: Glass breakthrough.
Taken from a comment on sclerotic_rings.
(Incidentally, I don’t want to even think about gigapascals…)
Heard a story on KCRW this morning. Apparently lactic acid might not be responsible for muscle fatigue after all (as my high school biology class taught). The connection was made because lactic acid was found in fatigued muscles, but recent research suggests that it may prevent muscle fatigue. It turns out that if lactic acid is removed from overworked muscle fibers, they actually stop working.
Of course, it is probably responsible for the burn you get while exerting.
(It’s kind of like when I learned that a fever was actually an immune system technique to fight infection, and not something the infection did itself.)
“Dry ice is fun.”
This morning I stumbled into work and almost screwed up the coffee again. (I usually get in at least half an hour before any other coffee drinkers, although the one mug from home is usually enough.) Except this time, I was ready to start it without putting the urn in place!
Must sleep earlier tonight…
Which Trickster Are You?
Take the Trickster Test at www.isleofdreams.net.
Well, considering that when I hear the word “trickster” my first thought is generally “coyote,” it makes sense…
In light of a recent in-joke that most of you probably weren’t even aware of, allow me to introduce you to a bizarre little song called “The March of the Sinister Ducks.”
I just got back from the dentist, where I had a filling replaced. Strangely, the numbness from the novocaine spread to just under my eye socket, making it feel as if my eyelid was numb!