Another $250 {hand|bail}out
Continual sapping of the same bunch of tax payers. The system is broken. The US is bankrupt.
a sensible heckling for the hecklers
I was quite amazed to read this article on cnn about Republican misbehavior during a congressional speech. It makes me wonder why it is not the case that the sensible Republicans in the Republican party standby and let their party be hijacked by the extremists within it now. It is somewhat ironic that a mainstay of the current right wing in America is fighting extremism elsewhere when it is, in fact, suffering from the same disease. Sensible governing bodies govern from the center. Let’s hurry up and get back there.
juicebox
I secretly like juicebox.
bing
Microsoft is campaigning heavily with bing. This seems like a bad idea. They seem to have already been staved off in such a fashion that even throwing the name “Microsoft” to a product does not ensure its survival in the wild. If this is the case, then it will take a great deal for users to switch from Google to Bing. Mostly this is because humans are creatures of habit and come to expect very little deviation from that of which they are normalized.
poor economy forces cutbacks on cnn stock images
The poor economy causes for strange cutbacks at times. Looks like CNN is trying to save some money on stock photos.
Linux total cpu time used
The occasion might arise such that you’re interested in looking at the total cpu time used of a system since boot. How much time has the cpu spent total, not just a snapshot, in userspace, kernelspace, niced, idle, etc?
The answer lies in /proc/stat!
Exhibit A:
rwoodrum@frums:~$ head -5 /proc/stat
cpu 309822 39124 179438 29687177 65905 873 1703 0 0
cpu0 54749 10781 13377 7193512 14861 278 395 0 0
cpu1 83633 10168 52991 7583192 15939 245 580 0 0
cpu2 81541 8563 49969 7425401 16223 182 381 0 0
cpu3 89897 9611 63098 7485070 18880 168 345 0 0
The above output is from my Goobuntu machine at work which obviously has a four core processor.
The numbers represent the count of jiffies the cpu has spent performing instructions in the following areas from left to right:
- user: normal processes executing in user mode
- nice: niced processes executing in user mode
- system: processes executing in kernel mode
- idle: zzzzz
- iowait: waiting for i/o completion
- irq: servicing interrupts
- softirqs: servicing soft interrupts
- steal: time spent in other operating systems if running virtualized
- guest: time spent running a virtual cpu for another os under control of the linux kernel
Note that you may have fewer columns. Some of these statistics are available only in more recent kernels. The “guest” statistic, for example, is in 2.6.24+. See man 5 proc for more information.
Which begets the question: How long is a jiffy?
The answer to this question lies in the kernel headers for particular architectures. A jiffy is defined by the kernel constant HZ. Take a look:
rwoodrum@frums:/usr/src/linux-headers-2.6.24-gg22/include/asm-x86$ grep ‘#define HZ’ param.h
#define HZ 100
As one may guess from the variable name, a jiffy in this case is defined as 1/100th of a second - this is the case for most, but not all, architectures.
So let’s compare this to the uptime of the machine. Right after the view into /proc/stat, I also looked at the uptime of the machine:
rwoodrum@frums:~$ uptime
10:04:47 up 19:56, 3 users, load average: 0.02, 0.03, 0.00
So let’s look at the aggregate of all cores; the “cpu” line from the above output:
- user: 309822 / 100 == 3098s user
- niced: 391s
- system: 1794s
- idle: 296871s
- iowait: 659s
- irq: 9s
- softirq: 170s
- steal: 0s
- guest: 0s
Note that the idle time is a little more than 82 hours but the uptime is only about 20 hours. Why the discrepancy? Because there are four cores sitting idle.
The output of /proc/stat comes from the show_stat() function in fs/proc/proc_misc.c.
Republicans move to steal another election
It’s disappointing to see it happening again. Al Franken is locked in a court battle with losing Republican Senator Norm Coleman for a US Senate seat in Minnesota. CNN’s political ticker reports that the Coleman campaign has sued to stop the recount.
Sound familiar?
Despite the fact that Norm Coleman stated, while he was in the lead, of course, that he would in fact concede if he was in Franken’s position. Well guess what, Norm? You’re in his position.
So this thing is going to drag on and on. The kicker is that even once the Secretary of State has certified the results, they’re not official until the Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty signs off on it; something that is not likely “until all legal battles are exhausted.” So the Republicans will hold the senate seat hostage until they can manipulate the legal system in their favor… oh… I dunno like in 2000.
And you’ve got nitwits like Republican Senator John Coryn (from Texas, of course) threatening a filibuster of seating Franken if Pawlenty hasn’t christened it with his almighty pen.
Unfortunately, Franken is somewhat akin to Hillary Clinton and is demonized in an irrational fashion by those typically loaded with faux outrage and very little knowledge of issues. You know, the kind of people who are more inclined to follow Hollywood gossip than political issues and those that are so enraptured with their own religion and insecurity that they fail to look beyond the little bubble they live in. What are these people called again? Oh yeah, I remember: “Republicans”.
Franken would no doubt be a great Senator. I’ve got three of his books on the bookcase behind me and they’re humorous, of course, but also pretty thoughtful and incredibly pragmatic. We need more people like Franken in the Congress, not fewer. We need to throw out all of these ideologues and install representatives who make government work for people instead of trying to legislate what you do in your bedroom.
But, alas, I have little faith in our system such that it won’t be manipulated by the Grand Ol’ Party yet again.
Worst shipping service? UPS!
UPS is consistently the worst shipping service I have ever used. Their package guarantees which you pay for are absolutely useless. Their customer service reps do nothing but give you the runaround when you’re trying to figure out what on earth is going on. Their IVR phone system is maddening.
So I ordered Christmas gifts on the 16th with 3-day-select shipping. Today is the 27th and I’m still getting the runaround that my package is affected by the “adverse weather conditions” that ended days ago. If I can get my honda accord up a 12% 230 foot hill with chains, UPS sure as hell can do what they’re paid to do.
I called the 800 number twice yesterday and, after dealing with their useless IVR, spoke to two separate customer service representatives. I asked to have the package held and they obliged saying I’d get a call back within an hour. No phone calls ever received.
You read these package updates and tell me what they mean:
REDMOND,
WA, US12/26/2008 2:07 P.M. THE RECEIVER IS ON A HOLIDAY. DELIVERY WILL BE ATTEMPTED WHEN THE RECEIVER RETURNS 12/26/2008 5:29 A.M. OUT FOR DELIVERY
Call me crazy. Does that look to you like, oh, I dunno, the package is OUT FOR DELIVERY?
So I call again today and what am I told? There was no package delivery attempt. So I ask “How do you know if the business was closed if there is no package delivery attempt.” He alleges that “the system tells them when the business is closed by virtue of the address.” Oh, so the system takes from 05:29 in the morning until 14:07 in the afternoon to process whether or not the business is closed. I’m told it’s on a “holding trailer behind thousands of other packages.” Then what on earth does “out for delivery mean?” No reponse to that little gem.
So apparently the holds I placed on the package yesterday and the customer reps telling me I could get it then were complete and total fabrications. They, of course, keep citing the “adverse weather conditions” (which, in all fairness, are real) but not for the whole week. They’re milking that for all they can get.
3 day select package delivery time 13 days; well before “adverse weather.”
I beg you, Thinkgeek, do all of us LNUX holders a favor and stop using UPS.
UPS is complete and total garbage.
Update: And look at this little gem! A Sikh with the last name Singh signed for a package… guess what the UPS driver wrote as who had signed? “Terrorist.” Wow. UPS really is complete garbage. Here’s the image of the tracking information.
The crooked verbal contract of Speakeasy
I live in the Seattle area, much to my chagrin on a “private road”, where there is little in terms of availability of broadband Internet connections. This is particularly sucky because of the oodles of provider options in the area. I use static IPs, so I typically have a business plan with whatever provider I use. For about the past year and a half prior to the most recent six months, I had been using Comcast cable with a business plan. The speed was great and I never had any problems. It was a relatively decent price for a /29 (almost) and oodles of bandwidth. When I moved, I practically begged them to provide service on the road 
Unfortunately, when I moved, due to the “private road” crap, there is no cable along the length of the road. So I was forced into DSL, which I’ve never really had a good experience with. At the time, it was my understanding that Qwest didn’t offer any business class services, so I ended up going with a provider I actually signed up for while heading up the systems side at Avvo; Speakeasy.
I had been happy with the service, despite it being grossly overpriced for crappy DSL at $150/mo. Originally they had set me up with an 8Mbps/1 line but I consistently had problems with it, and despite apparently trying to sell me the more expensive circuit, the line was too far from the CO to handle it. So a couple of months into service I downgraded to 6Mbps/768k for $130(!!)/mo.
The house I’m living in currently has a 6mo lease, so when I signed up for service I certainly would never had committed to a year contract. And, of course, I did no such thing. The items on my first bill were “monthly DSL” and their outrageous setup fees. But I had not much choice due to the location and I wasn’t going to pay comcast $200/foot to bring a cable to the house.
So I called up the other day after calling Qwest (which is the carrier for my DSL line under speakeasy anyway) and realizing that they do, in fact, provide business class service for … oh… about half the price. Yep, they offer the same speed, same subnet for about $85/mo. So I called up Speakeasy to find out if I had to cancel with written notice or whatever and spoke with Stephen Wille (stephen.wille@hq.speakeasy.net). He was pleasant and, despite my almost immediate frustration with being told I was under a contract, I explained to him the situation, my 6 MONTH lease and that this can’t be right. I also dug up all my old correspondence (of which was only some emails) looking for my old order information. Nothing to be seen about a 1 year contract, let alone the criminal $300 fee for terminating it within the first year.
So he does some checking and apparently the 1 year agreement is a verbal contract. Ha! And by using the service, as seen in the tos below, you’re agreeing to whatever they could have possibly told you over the phone. Which, in my case, didn’t include anything about 1 years worth of service! Yay!
Well today I got an email which I’m not surprised to see:
Hi Ryan,
I’m afraid the use of our service is taken as a contractual agreement, which I’ve linked to below.
One work around may be to have the next occupant take over the contract, or go with Speakeasy at your new location.http://www.speakeasy.net/tos/msa.php
Acceptance by you of this Agreement occurs upon the earlier of: (a) Speakeasy’s acceptance of a Service Order signed by you indicating your acceptance of this Agreement; (b) your acceptance of this Agreement electronically during an online order, registration or when installing the Software or the Equipment; (c) your use of the Service; or (d) your retention of the Software or Equipment we provide beyond thirty (30) days following delivery. If you change Service plans, your term and monthly rate may change (depending on the plan you select), but all other provisions of this Agreement will remain in effect unless otherwise noted.
________________________________
Speakeasy<http://www.speakeasy.net/> - helping small businesses succeed
________________________________
Stephen Wille
Business Support Representative
M-F 07:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. PSTPhone 1.800.556.5829
Email support@speakeasy.net
www.speakeasy.net/myspeak<http://www.speakeasy.net/myspeak>
________________________________
Now I’m usually pretty anal about bills and whatnot. I’m not one to omit reading the fine print. And I’m not stupid enough to agree to a 1 year contract living in a house with a 6 month lease.
You see, what happened was that Grant Hetherington, the lowly sales guy that I apparently talked to when dialing the 800 number to request service never mentioned a 1 year contract. I, of course, only know his name in retrospect. Do you remember the name of the guy you talked to when you signed up for cable, for utilities? Must be nice for his bottom line to sucker people into crooked setups. Unfortunately Grant’s email address is doesn’t seem to correlate to any speakeasy pattern that I can guess within a 5 minute timespan. Although you can view his linked in page here. I would love to post his email address so everyone can let him know how crappy it is to omit telling someone about a verbal contract they’re agreeing to!
So there you have it. Notice in the signature, they’re “helping small business succeed” by suckering them into contractual fees.
So, Speakeasy, you’ve alienated one of your customers who previously would have been in a position to spread the word around Seattle that, despite the higher price, the service is good. No more.
Obama front and center
There’s been a lot of hullabaloo going around for the past week or so about Obama’s staffing picks. There’s a lot of press on how he’s building a “team of rivals” (Lincoln reference # 29,384,132) and how many of his would-be appointees are clear centrists. CNN’s political ticker notes that Obama will be unveiling his national security team tomorrow and that, surprise, surprise, Hillary Clinton is expected to be his nominee for US Secretary of State.
It’s an all too well-known formula to run in the primaries pandering to your party’s base and then move to the center after you’ve secured the nomination. So it’s not surprising to me at all to see Obama move drastically to the center after he won the election. He’s smart in that he’s acting just like the Clintons.
The big difference here is that Hillary Clinton’s campaign proffered this platform from the outset. The reason why I was/am such a big Hillary supporter is because I know exactly what I’m going to get. She’s a centrist and a pragmatist, just like her husband. That’s not to liken her let’s-get-shit-done attitude to his, but rather that’s just how they work. They’re results driven. Emotions have no place on the national stage. (Most of the time.) The world has problems. Let’s solve them. What a novel approach. Democrats aren’t “liberals” they’re progressive. Let’s drop the term the right-wingnuts love so much here and now.
So the NY times runs this piece on Obama “tilting” to the center. Interesting to note that, according to the author:
But the names racing through the ether in Washington about the choies to follow also suggest that Mr. Obama continues to place a premium on deep experience.
Hmmm. I seem to remember someone’s campaign who emphasized just that quality.
I’m tickled to death to see many-a Obama supporter upset about his centrist choices. My response to them would be:
What did you expect? Change??
The fact of the matter is that he’s moved to the center for a reason. Because that’s where the world belongs. Hoity-toity idealogues, right or left, are typically problematic and only serve to polarize any given electorate and the world at large.
What hopefully this portends is a decent administration with enough knowledge of hubris to not commit the atrocities of the Bush administration. A keen eye on the here and now with a practical approach to solving problems is what we need. This and enough foresight to realize the future and America will lead the world stage once again. There’s enough calamity to go around to all the problem solvers after the current knuckle-head finally gets the fuck out.