It’s a well-documented fact that RAM in modern computers is susceptible to occasional random bit flips due to various sources of noise, most commonly high-energy cosmic rays. By some estimates, you can even expect error rates as high as one error per 4GB of RAM per day! Many servers these days have ECC RAM, which uses extra bits to store error-correcting codes that let them correct most bit errors, but ECC RAM is still fairly rare in desktops, and unheard-of in laptops.

Makes me want to build my next desktop with ECC RAM.  Of course, that requires a motherboard that supports it, among other things.  When you’re using encryption, a single bit error can result in the inability to decrypt an entire file.  I wonder what steps could be taken to mitigate those sort of issues.

My desktop, on the other hand, I keep squeaky clean.  On the other hand, I sometimes have related files on my laptop and desktop… so even more filesystem mayhem.

So I think I need a good way to manage my laptop files.  First off, more self discipline.    Secondly, I’m thinking of a small utility to merge files between two systems.  Perhaps some sort of bi-directional rsync based on modified dates?  Maybe also a method for mapping particular files/directories on one system to the other.  From the days of Windows 9x, I remember something like Windows Briefcase (if that’s what it was called) and it now seems like a decent idea.  Anyone know of this?  If not, maybe it’s time to learn some Glade and pyGTK.

• Basic SSH usage.
• Public Key Authentication
• SSH Tunneling
• SSH Socks Emulation
• GPG key generation
• GPG signing and encryption (command-line)
• Thunderbird integration (enigmail)

If anyone has any input on additional points to be covered or anything of that nature, please drop me a comment here or send me an email at david -at- webgroup -dot- org.

Here’s the backstory:
My girlfriend and I occasionally travel and we take a LOT of pictures.  (Hey, digital cameras make it so easy, right?)  In the 4 years we’ve been together, I would say we have ca. 10,000 images.  And they’re all sitting on a shared drive off my desktop.  They’re in directories on a per-trip basis, but not really organized beyond that, so finding a photo involves scrolling through thumbnails: sometimes as many as 1000.  What I’d like to be able to do is access this share and tag the photos and be able to search through the tags.  Seems relatively straightforward, but since my girlfriend uses Windows, it needs to be cross-platform.  And I’d like it if it was (semi) stable if both of us access it at the same time.  I don’t need photo editing, though I’d like to be able to directly open a local photo editor for cropping/other work.

Anyone know of something that meets these requirements?  If nothing can be found, I may end up implementing something in, say, Python, but I don’t like to reinvent the wheel.

In any case,  I am usually able to combat this with some of my entertainment sites (see below for the curious), but lately I’ve been looking more for a project to work on.  My learning process is heavily tied to getting something done — I can read a book on Python (or whatever), but for me to understand it, I need a real-world project using it to work on.  No “hello world” application can grab my interest enough.  Perhaps it’s some form of ADD.

So what does this all mean?  I’m becoming restless.  I need a project.  I’ve tried looking into becoming a MOTU, but I’m not sure I fully understand the process (and it’s hard to fix bugs in apps I don’t even use).  Something practical and useful, but not so large as to stretch into months or years.  (At least, I’d like something I can make progress on before months or years.)

Any ideas on ways to combat this crappy boredom?

FYI, these are the sites that typically amuse me somewhat:

• CTRL-ALT-DEL Comics
• User Friendly
• Shark Tank
• Dilbert
• Piled Higher and Deeper (Ph.D. Comics)
• Planet Ubuntu
• Security Monkey Archives
• Bastard Operator from Hell

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4243994.html?page=1

• 3D Desktop Effects
• Tracker Desktop Search
• Fast User Switching
• Dynamic X Configuration (Multi-monitor support, rotation, etc.)
• True Printer Autoconfiguration
• NTFS Write Support
• Encrypted Hard Disk Support
• Major Ubuntu Server Changes

When a customer buys an iPhone, they AGREE not to attempt to modify it. The warranty SPECIFICALLY excludes modifications, as does the software EULA. They also agree to a 2-year contract with AT&T.

Apple does not have a monopoly on the smart phone market, so this hardly amounts to an anti-competitive practice. You can buy a Treo, or any number of Windows Mobile devices, or even the upcoming Neo 1973.

These people make a mockery of the American civil courts system. Essentially, they agree to a contract, knowing the terms of the contract, and then they run to the courts asking them to invalidate the contract.  Perhaps some people are just too stupid to own an iPhone.  I hope they get kicked out of the courtroom with nothing but a bill for Apple’s attorneys.