ITwhirled
by Amy Bennett

A tribute to the weird, funny, twisted, technology-driven world we live in.

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How to conceptualize physical vs. virtual servers

Takeaway: Although their use continues to grow by leaps and bounds, conceptualizing a virtual infrastructure requires a new way of thinking. Here's a short explanation to help you along the way.

Posted on 12/1/08 at 9:49 pm | data center, physical, servers, virtualization, VMware
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How to manage database log files gone wild

Takeaway: Sometimes, things don't go as planned. Database log files are critical to proper operation. Here's one log file situation that ended well.

Posted on 12/1/08 at 9:40 pm | database, ERP, log file, management studio, SQL
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Down and out? Nope. Just out.

In which Elias explains to the suit why he can't get there from here.

Posted on 12/1/08 at 2:47 pm | cartoon, humor
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Disk Storage Drops to Dime per Gigabyte

Combining constantly dropping hard disk storage pricing with the holiday desperation on the part of retailers everywhere gave me a sign I've been anticipating: a 1TB (yes, one terabyte, or 1,000 gigabytes) hard disk drive with a $100 or less price tag. I saw an ad for a 1TB Samsung hard disk for $99.

Posted on 12/1/08 at 11:06 am | 1TB, Flip, Fry's, Samsung
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Implement first, design later

If I were to utter the two words "implementation" and "design" in the context of an IT project, would you be inclined to re-order them in your head? I.e. to think in terms of "design" first and "implementation" second?

Posted on 12/1/08 at 8:28 am | Design Implementation
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How do you encode hundreds of data points into one single graph? Use Sparklines.

Have you tried to visualize your traffic flows? Did you have the problem that your graphs got really cluttered? Did you find a way around that problem? Did you filter data? Did you aggregate multiple nodes into one?

Posted on 11/30/08 at 5:13 pm | network, sparklines, traffic analysis, tufte, visual analysis, visulization
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Spider loose on the International Space Station?

Two spiders have been launched into space to examine the effects of zero-gravity on their Web spinning. The problem: only one of them seems to be in their little spider home at the moment.

Posted on 11/30/08 at 12:28 pm | NASA
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They saved Copernicus' skull

Some clever DNA detective work has confirmed that some bones found under one of the side altars in the Roman Catholic cathedral in Frombork, Poland were in fact those of Nicholas Copernicus.

Posted on 11/27/08 at 8:18 pm | Copernicus
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Linux command: Side by side diff

Tired of looking at strings of "28,30d27" characters separating the differences between files you're comparing? Try a side by side diff listing that works the way your brain does.

Posted on 11/26/08 at 12:46 pm | diff, diffutils, Linux, Sandra Henry-Stocker, side by side, Unix
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Quiz: This week in quotes

This week we learned (among other things) that Indonesia plans to tackle AIDS with RFID chips; that Spam is just like any other business; and that Apple discussion forums are a gateway to divorce court. Can you match the quote to the quoted? Go on, give it a whirl.

Posted on 11/26/08 at 11:48 am | Apple, iPhone, iTunes, RFID, spam
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