Hashemian Blog
Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Server Room from Hell
Ok, admit it, how many of you have server rooms that look like below? We did, for a couple of days while we were moving the machines out to a new location. That's a real picture below.
Believe it or not this worked out rather well while we finished the migration. The company's web site operated fine until we pulled the plugs and moved the servers out. Then there was a short outage while we drove the servers across town to the new location and plugged them in.
And no, this was not hashemian.com's server room, it's from the company I work for :)
datacenter,servers,web serversLabels: computers < Server Room from Hell>
// posted by rh
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Toyota's Misfortunes
 A quarter of century or so ago a friend of mine dumped his American-made car for a Toyota. back then the Japanese were also making alarm clocks and calculators, but that was the first time I'd heard about the Japanese auto quality and that memory has stuck with me ever since.
Over the years I've owned a few different Japanese car models, all used cars. Some have been better than others, but I've been generally satisfied with them. Interestingly I've never owned a Toyota, the paragon of quality in Japanese autos.
It's difficult to see a once unblemished record scuffed by the faulty accelerator issue. I suppose no one is more rattled than Toyota itself. But it would have been naïve not to expect something like this after years of flawless operation. Perhaps the company is now too big, too arrogant, too careless, or too distracted. It's hard to maintain a perfect record year after year while growing at the same time. The laws of probability eventually caught up.
In the end, Toyota will pass through the storm and will become a better company for it but alas its reign won't last. New rivals will emerge, old rivals will rise, tastes will shift, and times will change. It's just the way it is with everything in this world, nothing lasts forever.
toyota,carsLabels: cars < Toyota's Misfortunes>
// posted by rh
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Miami Beach Running
 Last year when I was at Miami Beach on business, I went out for a jog on the boardwalk on the western side of the island, but after some distance hit a construction barricade and was forced onto the streets.
This year however, with the construction apparently over, I was pleasantly surprised. The boardwalk extends for a few miles with a good portion nicely made of wooden planks. Now on these trips I don’t have the luxury of jogging in daylight, it's either in early dawn or late at night and in either case I don't get to see the ocean. In those times one must sharpen the other senses to enjoy the proximity to the waterline.
The boardwalk is however nicely lit, so one isn't running in the dark, unless you do as I did on my last run. On my last day I woke up before the dawn and hit the boardwalk running for a good distance, and then I jogged back right at edge of the ocean where the waves crash onto the beach creating a firmer surface to run on. That was probably one of the finest runs I have ever had. With nobody else around, it felt like having the entire beach all to myself.
If you are ever in the Miami area, you might want to give the Miami beach boardwalk a try. Running or walking, day time or night time, it will be an enjoyable experience.
miami,miami beach,boardwalk,runningLabels: running < Miami Beach Running>
// posted by rh
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Night Running
 Running at night time is nothing new for me. I've been doing it for 2 decades after work. of course there's a big difference between the 8 PM hour in summers when it's warm and light versus the winters when it's cold and dark.
In winter time, when I run after work, I usually stick to well-lit streets such as the downtown area in my hometown. Running in the back woods, where I live, is just asking for trouble. Cars can't see you and you can't see where you're stepping most of time. If you're not stuck by a car, there's a good chance to slip on snow, twist an ankle on a chunk of ice, or run into a ditch.
But tonight, after an earlier engagement I decided to skip driving to downtown and for the first time I hit the back roads. For that I used a head lamp that was graciously given to me by a colleague after he had picked it out in a secret Santa gift exchange at work.
The head lamp fits comfortably over the head with an elastic band. The adjustable front part rests on the forehead, in this case over my ski cap. It's made with LEDs so the batteries don't drain as fast as a conventional flashlight.
What an exhilarating experience to run in the cold and crisp air, where the only sounds are your own stride, your breathing and the trees creaking in the occasional gust of wind. There is no question that the head lamp played a big part in my safely finishing the course. The occasionally passing cars could see me from afar and would steer clear and the glow had just the right brightness to illuminate the road without being too intense.
If you are an early morning or late night jogger, having a head lamp is a must. To be doubly sure you should have an extra one with fresh batteries on you. The last thing you'd want is for your only head lamp to suddenly cut out on you in the middle of some dark back road far away from home.
running,jogging,winterLabels: running < Night Running>
// posted by rh
Monday, January 11, 2010
Walking on Water, er, Ice
Much of the US, including New England, has been gripped by a long-running cold snap that doesn't seem to want to quit. No complaints from me. I love the cold and crisp weather. Now I don't have to be outside for my job, otherwise I might have had a different opinion on that.
Anyways, over the weekend, I went for a long jog (outside, of course) and then hiked on a nearby lake, nicely frozen and covered with snow. It's a little hard to fathom walking on something that was all water only a few weeks ago. Gives you an appreciation for the properties of water and the forces of nature.
A few nice shots of the scenery while walking on the lake.
lakes,water,winterLabels: environment < Walking on Water, er, Ice>
// posted by rh
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