iMatt :: The Blog of Matt Clare

On the weekend I had to come into work because our development server (which I won’t give the DNS of) started to have data coruption issues. We had recently uprgraded the drives from a pair of 40Gs to 120Gs. In this graduated process we started with just moving the information onto the new drives then from there running it off one drive for a week or so and then rebuilding the RAID1 system (two drives working as one, with one as an instant backup).

The RAID build gave a great failure at 100% error. I had assumed we could leave it for the weekend and give it another go on Monday. Apparently not. The data on it started corupting and the drives were throwing short.

So I came in, backed up what had changed since it’s tape backup. Swapped one of the drives for another of the same type/size. Reinstalled RedHat AS3 on it twice – still getting drive errors. FINALLY it occured to me, the 14′ drive cables we bought to facilitate the size of that case and it’s moving drive bay. Swaped the 14’s for 12′ – solved all the problems. Started the long process of restoring over 100MB network card.

But really, who ever hears or gives adivce: “14′ cables work well, but just don’t use two, your computer doesn’t have the power to cover that kind of distance” You hear about bad drives, boards, or even broken cables – but cables that are too long to be paired? That’s a new one for me.

Have you considered trying Linux?

Here’s a good flash animation of what that’s like. I’ll put a posting up soon on why I’m angry with a certain linux server.

www.olene.net/linux.html

Also, here’s another flash he did on switch from Windows to Mac (a little more positive)

olene.net/switch

On the weekend my iPod had a few write errors, and Wednesday night I thought I’d get around to making a backup of the machine, fearing the inevitable. I added a few music files first and got an error after the first one copied. Then I tried to copy the whole thing ASAP and drive died for good!

After forcing a reboot I was presented with an error icon on the iPod screen: a folder with an exclamation mark (pictured). Not a good sign! I did some diagnosis and mounted in disk mode and tried to scan it for errors…. that didn’t go so well. I made a sound recording of the dead fourth generation iPod trying to spin up, by placing it on my PowerBook’s mic as Disk Warrior was scanning it (pictured left). It’s not a pretty sound.

So today I called Apple and they informed me that since it’s within it’s year of hardware warrantee they would ship out a box for me to ship it back to them. They’ll send a new one once they receive this broken one.

Apparently I’m on the hook for shipping, that is, unless you have Apple Care. So since the iPod has been reset about a 1/2 dozen times, and I got an educational discount, I exercised my option to get an extra year within the first year.

Searching around the net it would appear as though Apple is having some quality control issues with the forth generation iPod. I’m relatively pleased with how things are going so far, but that might have something to do with the fact that I initially paid $90 for a 15GB iPod and it arrived as a 20GB model.

I’ll keep my blog posted about how the repair goes, but my parting message is this: if you can get the Apple Care package for your iPod still it’s probably worth your money (though there’s no reason to do it before the years out 😉 ).

As is my habit, more information about each link can be found via the WikiPedia links – they’ll open in a new window, but they’ll all share it.

Why do I love Formula 1 racing? If I had to give on reason it would be the sound. The 3.0-litre, ten-cylinder naturally aspirated engines sound amazing as they rev to 17,000 rpm, 18,000 RPM, and perhaps more. It’s one thing to hear these things on TV, but the two GPs I’ve been to in Montreal’s took that experience to a new level. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is on an island, and as you approach it during warm-up the whole waterfront is consumed by the sound of cars screaming to the hair-pin, thundering down the gears to break, then screaming off again.

An F1 Car the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder naturally aspirated engine in most mini-vans put out between 170HP and 200HP and can hit about 6,500 RPM. The 3.0-litre in an F1 car puts out around 900HP. The valves in F1 cars (which let in the air for the combustion inside the cylinders and allow the exhaust to escape afterwards) use hydraulics because conventional springs can’t open and close fast enough to handle 18,000RPM. The aerodynamics and tyres enable these cars to corner at speeds fast enough to create G-forces that would make you or I black out. The engine, the aerodynamics and the tyres combine to make F1 cars faster than any other single-seater circuit racers and the ‘Formula’ behind Formula 1 the most high-tech and expensive there is.

Lastly, F1 is a world championship with drivers and circuits from around the world. Compare this to NASCAR, which is old technology, American-based and only turns left. Jeff Gordon, for example, is an incredible driver, but I base that more on his results in Juan Pablo Montoya’s F1 car and the International Race of Champions. Despite the fact that NASCAR cars have fenders, they contribute as much to your road car as F1 cars do (if not less). I do want to stop short of calling NASCAR an easier competition, as the drivers are very talented at what they do, it’s just that what they do is so limited in racing scope and puts a huge emphasis on crashes (it’s quite the contradiction that they don’t race in the wet).

F1’s talent has to complement it’s high level of technology. There is a large amount of strategy in the decisions surrounding when to bring the car in for a pit stop, how much fuel will keep a car racing without adding so much weight as to slow it down, how pitting affects staggering/spacing on the track, suspension setup that can cut over a curb but still be stiff enough to corner at 200KmH…….. A lot of these decisions fall on the technical director, and the best at it is Ferrari’s Ross Brawn (who I spotted and briefly talked to at a road-side stop in France).

Similarly, the best driver ever is Ferrari’s driver Michael Schumacher. My personal favourite would be Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian former world champion known as much for his surly attitude as his driving. Well I have a high level of respect for Schmacher, this recent review of his carrier from The Australian, “New challenge gets Schu’s motor running” will perhaps explain my nuanced opinion of this driver who holds almost every record:

Schumacher is 36 and in his 14th season, yet he insists he still relishes every moment.

… and goes on to quote Schumacer about how no car he has driven has achieved perfect balance, even the one in which he won 11 races in 2002, is one good reason to go on, but the article also adds….

Many will never excuse him for the way he won his first championship in 1994 (deliberately or otherwise taking out Damon Hill in Australia as the Briton began the passing manoeuvre that would have made him champion), and the way he tried to win his third in 1997 (a blatant if unsuccessful attempt to do the same to Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez) will always mean he is widely perceived as a flawed, as well as boring, character.

So I throw my support behind the rowdy challengers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve was recently in the news announcing the movie Villeneuve, which is about his legendary father, Gilles Villeneuve. Gilles Villeneuve drove for Ferrari at time when you could still hang the back of the car out and go quickly. Both Villeneuves drive without fear and had the ability to over extend a car and not get caught out doing it — all though I must mention that Gilles died in a huge wreck at the Spa Circuit in Belgium. The movie is to be told through Jacques’ eyes, and should have more of a story than recent racing movies have had.

The first race of the year will be on March 6th, live from Australia.

Good ‘ol Wikipedia. What a great resource it is. I know it shouldn’t be in the bibliography of a high school essay, but it’s always a good place to start.

Today I was thinking how I could embiggen my blog, especially with this lousy Smarch weather we’ve been having. Wikipedia had the answer in it’s entry: Made-up words in The Simpsons