I've always thought that OSPF was one of the rotten tomatoes in the generally nicely-looking suite of core IP protocols. Its architecture is simply not suited well for real-life carrier networks. OSPF tries to impose its own rules on how the network should be built, instead of providing flexibility to adjust the protocol to the network. However, instead of throwing OSPF out and concentrating on a better IGP (e.g. something EIGRP-like), Internet/IETF community kept adding more and more band-aids to it. As a result, we've got a number of monstrous and complex specifications, which even vendors don't fully understand, resulting in bugs and incompatibilities between implementations, as well as lots of confusion to engineers.
A few days ago I got hit by another case which re-enforced my beliefs. I had to implement an OSPF network which had both Type 5 LSA E2 and Type 7 N2 routes for the same prefix. Moreover, there was a mix of IOS and JUNOS speakers in the same network. So, what is the route selection algorithm in that scenario? Google and you'll find at least three different answers. An incorrect answer from one of very reputable sources will say that E2 route will win over N2 no matter what the cost is. Another answer is that E2 route will be preferred if it has the same or lower metric than N2 route. And the third answer is the opposite: N2 route will win over E2 if it has the same or lower metric.
Well, to ease the pain of future generations, I'll say that the correct answer is that N2 route will win unless E2 has lower cost. That is, unless that future generation lives in a world where they have released an RFC to supersede RFC 3101, since things might change the same way as they did since RFC 1587, which apparently specified opposite behavior. If you're using Cisco IOS, it depends on which IOS you use, many IOSes will prefer E2, as they follow the behavior from RFC 1587, even though they were released much later than RFC 3101. Other IOSes will prefer N2.
I rest my case.
Long live OSPF, the reason for late-night maintenance headaches! As well as an additional source of revenue for network engineer certifications. :)
It's been a while I posted something here, so as well it might be a rant.
TODAY:
Confortel Atrium hotel in Madrid tried to put 60 EUR worth of bar/restaurant charges on me, ignoring the fact that they were dated BEFORE the date I arrived.
Aegean airlines screwed up web check-in Madrid-Athens-Larnaca. I managed to check in for Madrid-Athens, but then the system would not let me check-in to Larnaca.
Aegean airlines did not manage to register me to Larnaca even in Madrid airport registration desk. "We use different systems". It should be mentioned that my transfer time in Athens was planned to be just one hour, which is already tight, without having to obtain a boarding pass...
... and then the flight to Athens was delayed.
The duty-free in Madrid didn't put the bottle of wine I purchased in a sealed bag. So the bottle was happily confiscated by Athens airport security.
My passport got damaged (peeled off) just on the place where my photo is.
At last I received my Karcher RC 3000 RoboCleaner. My carpet already looks more vibrant than ever :) The thing goes around the apartment collecting the dust, finds the base, dumps the dust into a bag in the base, and then starts again from the beginning... until you stop it. Perfect. As long as it can find the base ;)
I caught a glimpse of MAD Video Music Awards 2008 and I must say I was impressed. Greeks managed to stage a world-class show, with a vivid scene setup and excellent camera work.
It was the first time I saw a live production of such quality from Greece. Eurovision 2006 doesn't count as it was supported by European Broadcasting Union.
PrimeTel is building its own submarine fiber cable landing station and will bring one of the biggest international submarine cable systems to Cyprus. If you think that your connection is slow compared to what people in rest of the Europe get, wait until 2009 :)
Last few washes we had faced a really weird problem: some clothes would come up with dark-brown permanent stains after treatment in a washing machine. At the same time, majority of other clothes would not have any stains. We were thinking of how this could happen, checked the washing machine, the washing powder, all to no avail. We made test runs with pieces of clothes, but they were always coming up clean.
I turned to Internet. Imagine my surprise when I discovered the following post on the Royal Horticultural Society's forum: "Wisteria Growers Beware. The sap stains your clothes. The stains are invisible until after washing". Aaargh!! This is the vine that we are growing on the entrance!! Turns out that the sap which leaks out while pruning makes a chemical reaction together with the washing powder in hot water. My mother does most of the pruning and her clothes were indeed the most damaged ones.
Hail the Internet - it has saved us a washing machine which we started thinking to replace.
I have decided to move hosting of hazardous-area.org to a VPS in USA. Before it was on my personal PC situated in my apartment, and was turned off every night. :)
My main PC was kind of dead and as a result it happened so that I watched lots of movies on LTV during one day.
Finding Neverland: I almost weeped at the end. Brilliant Johny Depp performance. 9/10 The Brothers Grimm: Fun, great camera work, nice fantasy setting, definitely NOT for children. 8/10 Wedding Crashers: Comedy, ending of which you can predict after 3 minutes of watching. A few good laughs. 5/10
My experiene with LinkedIn for hiring is not impressive so far:
Expensive: $95 for one ad for one month
Buggy: I managed to purchase "extension" of the ad on the same date as I ordered it - e.g. say I ordered the ad on Sep 1st till Oct 1st, and then immediately purchased extension for the same period Sep 1st to Oct 1st. After I complained I took them one week to reimburse the credit.
Not effective: response has been lower than through traditional channels.
I have more credits left, we'll see how other ads will go. :)
From my personal experience and experience of my friends I have come to a conclusion that quality of private medical service in Cyprus is not of a high standard. There are good doctors, at the same time you have a high chance of getting in hands of somebody who doesn't know or care much. For example, it seems to be a common thing that a doctor will diagnose you with a virus and prescribe antibiotics ...
Based on this, I have come to the following set of indicators I will use to judge doctors, which should be universal to any doctor in any country:
It is a good indication if a doctor spends time to explain his/her reasoning. If otherwise automatically decrease level of trust. Always ask doctors about what he has prescribed, and challenge him/her if you have concerns.
It is a good indication if a doctor asks you about your symptoms, your past illness history, whether you have allergy etc. If otherwise automatically decrease level of trust.
Doctors working in hospitals/clinics are to be more trusted than those working alone. The reason is that they have a pool of colleagues to exchange knowledge and have second opinion, and they have the hospital itself interested in keeping its image.
Increase level of trust to doctors who keep your history in written form when you visit them.
If a doctor has many patients, it may be a positive sign in that he/she is trusted by people, at the same time it may mean that loosing one client won't affect him/her much. So it does not mean you will get good service.
If a doctor has good equipment, it is better than not, but it doesn't mean that he/she is not a charlatan.
Today I went to Larnaca to perform some maintenance in our POP. The problem is, Larnaca is being digged everywhere and there are more diversions than open roads ... and the last time I have been to our POP is a couple of years ago. So, inevitably I got lost. I was on the phone with Dimitry who was trying to explain me where to turn and when, but his instructions were leading me to the same place where I was one minute ago. :)
So, suddenly it struck us - I have GPS in the car and Dimitry has Google Earth. I tell him my coordinates, and voila ! He sees where I am, and starts to give me instructions on the level of a Cyprus Rally navigator - "go until T-junction, turn right, now you'll see a small park, turn left, now turn right on the T-junction, now follow the turn with a 30 degree bend ..." and I'm there!
Fantastic. One of those rare moments when you feel that you live in 21st century.
Total population: Total 749.200 people as of 2004; Nicosia 219.200, Limassol 172.500
Major offences as of 2004/1990: Against property 1685/824; Against person 926/511; Against public order 502/407; Sexual 27/10.
Consumer price index 2004/1998: Total 118/100; Food and non-alcoholic beverages 126/100; Clothing 93/100; Housing, water, electricity and gas 125/100; Health 131/100; Communication 67/100; Restaurants and hotel 133/100
A video shot by employees of a security firm providing services in Iraq showing how they protect themselves by shooting any car which is approaching too close. New Wild West, indeed.
Ever heard of Pitcairn? According to CIA factbook, its an island in Oceania with an area of 4.5 sq. km and population of less than 50 people. Britain's most isolated dependency indeed - vessels visit the island about three times per year, so you should plan your trip ahead. :-)
Visitors are welcome to use Pitcairn's facilities:
The General Store, open several times a week. Note that flour, eggs, meat and butter are provided only if ordered several months in advance as they must be imported from New Zealand.
The Health Centre, staffed by Resident Nurse, an Assistant Nurse and a local Dental Officer who also doubles as an X-ray Technician. From time to time, doctors visit Pitcairn, usually as part of their own planned holiday, giving their services to the community. The Resident Nurse is usually the wife of the Island Pastor. Pitcairner, Meralda Warren currently serves as the Assistant Nurse. She is also the Island's Police Officer and Secretary of the local Co-operative Store. Steve Christian, who holds the position of Supervising Engineer, swaps his over-alls for the white Dental Officer's Coat to attend to the dental needs of the islanders. He has recently extended his skills to include the manufacture of dentures and has many satisfied clients. Steve is also the X-ray Technician.
The Church. Note that The Seventh Day Adventist Church is the only faith represented on the island.
And of course, the cosy Hostel, with enough space for eight people.
The island has two generators which provide 240 volt electric power for approximately six hours each evening and for three hours each morning. First paved road was opened on 13th of October 2005.
In October 2004 the economy of the island was stuck by a crisis due to arrest of 1/4th of the labour force was arrested and ships couldn't be unloaded (the island has a labour force of 12 able-bodied men).
There is an intresting article in Financial Mirror about Carrefour acquisition of Chris & Carry and its plans for domination on the island. My feelings are a bit mixed, as for sure Carrefour will purchase everything abroad if it is cheaper and local business will suffer, while on the other hand they will bring more efficiency and lower cost of living, which in general should be positive for the economy.
"Carrefour took over the Management of Chris Cash and Carry on August 18th 2005 after the resignation of the three Directors -- Mr. Christos Vakis, Mr. Andreas Constantinides and Mrs. Vasiliki Andreou -- and the appointment to the Board of Directors of a) Mr. Jerome Loubere, b) Mr. Michael Hrostoff, c) Mr. Alain Goanvec."
"The policy of Carrefour worldwide is to be 3% cheaper than the cheapest retailer operating in the market."
"The giant has already imported 20 private label products under the Carrefour brand and now they are busy unloading containers of non-durable goods such as washing machines, refrigerators, TV screens, and their arsenal will soon be completed."
"Moving on to Limassol, where Carrefour is aiming for the town’s 28% share of the total market value for Cyprus and CYP 182 mln spent in food and drink per year, market rumours claim that Carrefour is busy with a gargantuan 7,500 sq.m. hyperstore at the Old Lanitis Stores, previously bought by Chris Cash and Carry having obtained a town planning permit already."
Of the 31 cars that earned top rating, 29 were Japanese. Of these, 15 were from Toyota and its Lexus division and eight were from Honda.
Of the 48 cars that earned the lowest rating, 22 carry American nameplates, 20 are European, 4 are from Japan.
Some European models, which have had poor reliability in our previous surveys, improved slightly. The six-cylinder BMW X5 and X3, for example, earned average Ratings and are now the first European SUVs reliable enough to be recommended. However, most European models still scored far below average.
Linux file-system ACLs have been available in Red Hat Enterprise/Fedora for some time. ACLs allow you to have more flexible access control to the filesystem than standard UNIX access semantics (user/group/other). Today, I encountered a case where two groups had to have rwX access to the same directory. A quick search on the 'net revealed the following:
Enable ACLs: edit /etc/fstab and add "acl" option to the filesystem. To activate ACL functionality without rebooting, run mount -o remount [mount point] Add additional group access to a directory: setfacl -R -m g:[group]:rwX [directory] Check that ACL is correct:getfacl [directory]
Finally I have started to seriously prepare to change my Nissan Pulsar Neo-VVL built-in car acoustics and head-unit. The last part is easy: a few years ago I acquired Empeg Car, a Linux-based MP3 player with 20 GB HDD, but never got to installing it. The difficult part is selection of amplifier and acoustics. And I'm no professional in car audio. So far my selection is as follows:
Now, apart from reviews, a major role in my selection was the popularity of the brand. Such brands as MB Quart, DLS, Art Sound are not present in Cyprus and I couldn't find them at any online shops. I'm especially concerned with Alpine SPS-171A.
"I'm personally against seeing my pictures and statues in the streets - but it's what the people want"
-- Saparmurat Niyazov, Turkmenbashi, president for life of Turkmenistan since 1991.
Niyazov's face appears on all Manat banknotes and large portraits of the president hang all over the country, especially on major public buildings and avenues. Statues of himself and his mother are scattered all over Turkmenistan, including one in the middle of the Kara Kum desert as well as a gold-plated statue atop Ashgabat's largest building, the Neutrality Arch, that rotates to face the sun. The logo of Turkmen national television is his profile. Institutions that cannot be named after him are named after his mother. All watches and clocks made must bear his portrait printed on the dial-face. The two books he had written are mandatory readings in schools, motorclubs, and homes. They are a central part in education from grade school to university, and knowledge of the text - up to the ability to exactly recite passages from it - is required for passing exams, holding any state job and qualify for a drivers license.
Some of Turkmenbashi's decrees:
Banning news readers from wearing make-up as Niyazov had difficulty telling male and female readers apart
Banning ballet and opera, describing them as "unnecessary"
Banning public smoking in 1997 when Niyazov quit smoking after major heart surgery
Banning lip syncing when performing songs
Ordering that young people not be permitted to get gold tooth caps or gold teeth, suggesting instead that they chew on bones to preserve their teeth.
Closing nearly all public libraries outside the capital
Dismissed 15,000 medical workers, replacing them with army conscripts
"
Gaah. I don't tend to bother about slashdot, because quite frankly, the
whole _point_ of slashdot is to have this big public wanking session with
people getting together and making their own "insightful" comment on any
random topic, whether they know anything about it or not.
[ And don't get me wrong - I follow slashdot too, exactly because it's fun
to see people argue. I'm not complaining ;]
"
-- Linus Torvalds
Several times I read claims that there is no innovation in open-source projects, everything is a replica of existing proprietary software. Well, how about Perl?
This week started from a huge flood of German propoganda spam generated by Sober Worm. Messages were coming every few minutes and our current SpamAssassin installations couldn't do anything as the scores were very low. What made matters worse is that this spam was coming to our support addresses handled by Request Tracker (ticketing system), which meant huge waste of time spent on dealing with bogus tickets.
It took me a few days to fight off this spam. Main things I did are the following:
- Enable Vipul's Razor on SpamAssassin installations and increase its score.
- Add "Spam" button to RT web interface to resolve the ticket without further confirmation and feed incoming SPAM emails into SpamAssassin, which in turn would submit it to Vipul's Razor.
Razor seems to be the only method to fight off this new wave of SPAM. Right now most of the spam messages are recognized by the Razor and cut off before they can waste time of our staff.
Last Monday my Motorola A780 mobile phone finally arrived. This is a Linux-based quad-band GSM smartphone. Below is a review of my experience with it so far.
Ergonomics: a little bit bigger than I would like to, but still fits fine into a pocket. User Interface: Fast. A bit confusing, probably because I'm used to Nokia. All applications have uniform layout and you can copy/paste between several applicatoins running at the same time. Phone functionality: T9 search in address book is very convinient. However, contact management can only be done in fullscreen, meaning that you cannot use keypad or T9 (only through virtual keyboard). Web browsing: built-in Opera shows most of the pages, including non-English ones, although Russian font is a bit weird. Email client: IMAP works, but not very useful when you have 700 messages in your mailbox. :( VPN: seems to support only IPSEC (not PPTP). Photo: built-in 1.3MP camera makes adequate photos, however nowhere close to digital camera (out of focus, bad lighting etc). Media playback: MP3, WMA, mobile MP4 play fine using built-in RealPlayer. RealPlayer can be accessed without use of fullscreen. MP3s can be used as ringtones. Third-party applications: most of J2ME applications run without problems. MIDPSSH works great as a telnet/ssh client. VNC client is available, but I didn't try it yet.
Now I'm working on synchronization of Calendar with Ximian Evolution. Stay tuned.
Just now I spent four hours trying to figure out why after I made some changes to a STRUTS app it stopped working. It turned out that Tomcat keeps cached Java code ACROSS RESTARTS. That meant that it was taking bytecode it compiled for my sessionid four hours ago. To make it more confusing it did partially recompile it, but did cache DynaActionForm settings!!!
Now that doesn't happen often, but now I feel really pissed off. rm -rf to /var/cache/tomcat5 ...
Yesterday I went to the nearest electrical shop and purchased a pair of Phillips headphones for 15 CYP. I listened to them once. I don't think I will ever listen to them again. It was foolish from me to expect my ears to tolerate cheap stuff...
Probably I'll buy these instead. Good sound requires investment and prior research.
Today I have publicly released a videoclip regarding trip to Troodos I did about a week ago. The scenery was beautiful and together with Lev we have filmed some nice moments. Of course the clip is nowhere perfect, especially as regards to camera shaking.
This is a milestone as it is the first videoclip which I completely edited under Linux. I'm quite impressed with Cinerella and its capabilities. Video was grabbed using dvgrab, and deinterlacing and MPEG-4 conversion was done using transcode.
Right now on MTV they are running a show to support UNICEF Tsunami relief effort. People from various countries can send a premium SMS and be charged 2-5 euros, which will supposedly be allocated to help tsunami victoms. Well, some further research shows that only about 50-60% of the collected money will actually go to the relief support fund... the rest is going to the pockets of GSM operators and other middlemen. :-\
If you want to donate more directly, visit UNICEF website, where you can donate through credit card.
Still, what MTV does is a good thing. It has made spend a few minutes and donate, even though I realize that most of the money will end up in the wrong hands.
I have upgraded to Fedora Core 3. The following issues appeared during upgrade:
1) If RPM needs to create a directory, but file with the same name exists, it fails.
2) In my /etc numerous files are protected using chattr. RPM fails to upgrade a package if it encounters such files.
Both of these issues are unlikely to happen on an average workstation. The main problem is that the Fedora Core 3 installer does not provide any clue as to why it had failed - it just writes that a fatal error occured and the only choice is to reboot. I had to manually try to upgrade the packages, see what the problem was, fix it and then restart the upgrade.
It has been reported that finally there is snow in Troodos. We're thinking to go there this weekend. Since the road might be slipery I have decided that the best car must be my 4WD Ferroza. So I googled to find whatever tricks there are for driving 4WD in snow. Here comes the big surprise: 4WD does not have much difference than 2WD when driving. 4WD does provide benefits when starting on a slippery surface, or can go through up in snow in a place where 2WD would spin wheels. However, 4WD does not provide any benefits when steering or breaking. Actually, it is reported that 4WD statisticly have more accidents in snow because drivers are not careful enough.
Only one thing substantially improves driving in a snow - chains. For more information, good set of tips can be found here and here.
Earthquake happened just now. In five minutes there was an update on EMSC regarding it - see here. USGS also updated their earth-quake list, about 30 minutes later.
Anybody knows Chinese? :) Here is a HOW-TO on how to connect to Motorola A780 and edit ezx_camera.cfg. Some further search showed that there is a big online community around Motorola's Linux phones (especially E680) in Asia.
Huygens had an almost perfect landing on Titan, and is returning a lot of valuable scientific data, including photos. One can clearly see methane "riverbeds" and shorelines. I wonder, is there any fish out there? :-)
I hate describing movies I like. I cannot convey the feeling I get while watching them.
So, "Almost Salinas" was quite good. By far most of movies shot for TV are crap. This one is a shining diamond. Or maybe it just fit perfectly into the mood I had.
A new world record for alcohol content in blood has been set by a 67-year old gentlemen from Bulgaria: 9.14 promile (approx 2 litres of vodka). It is considered that concentration above 5 promile leads to death. However, the record-beating hero got into a hospital for another reason: he was run off by an automobile and is now in a safe condition. It is also reported that doctors did blood analysis five times because they couldn't believe results they got...
In year 2002, a Tupolev aircraft carrying 70 children from Russia on a trip to Spain collided with DHL's Boing. Initially Russian pilots were blamed by Europe for not obeying orders from air traffic controller, but in the end it was discovered that they did and the blame was largely shifted to the air traffic controller himself. (More)
Things are getting better and better. Apparently Motorola released GPL'd kernel source for the A760. Now they need to do the same for A780 and there will be nothing stopping me from buying it. :)
I'm trying to assemble two Mini-ITX PCs - one based on EPIA-M 10000 motherboard, another one on Insight P4-ITX. So far first one continuously beeps (memory?), the other one remains silent, but does not boot as well (red LED turns on the motherboard). :-(
Seeing how people play Drug Wars, I have remembered my old love - VGA planets strategic multiplayer turn-based game. I have spent a few hours spending time and looking at modern clients. Apparently clients PCC and VPA are the bast. I have setup a small page with various link and host interface here. Anybody who is interested is welcome to send me an e-mail with his race. For now you can download turn files from the webpage I mentioned and play with them, as map would be regenerated when we start a new game.š I'll be playing Rebels. (More)
Here is a page with brief description of Control Data 6600, one of the fastest time-sharing computers of the time. You should visit this page just to look at the last photograph... my jaw almost dropped on the floor when I saw that one.
Having nothing else to do, I have decided to start watching my movie collection. Ninth gate is one of my favourites. Mysterious, dark and classy, set in beautiful sceneries around Europe. Direction, camera work and Johnny Depp's performance are top notch. I give it 9 out of 10. Unfortunately comments on IMDB show that most people do not understand it. (More)
Despite very scarce information regarding Troodos 2004, together with Leonid we managed to attend and see last stage of it today - Monagrouli. I'm sure Leonid will post photos and further info about it on his blog very soon. Although nowhere near WRC, it is still refreshing to see something new. :) (More)
Here is a link to a PDF describing USA's Navy ELF communication system, together with some pictures. Basicly it is a set of antennas about 14 miles each which transmit @ 76 Hz. Wow. Another link to a brief description. I wonder if Russians have something like that. UPDATE:Russians do seem to have it, it is called "ZEVS", located near Murmansk.
Due to the secrecy of Russian space program some people tend to think
that it was very successful. The following links prove that space
travel was and still is a dangerous business. Secrets of Soyuz.Mir Close Calls.(More)
I found NASA TV to work quite well with RealPlayer 10 on Linux. Sometimes they show interesting stuff, like footage from Russia which you would never see on Russian television. :)
Not many people know about CYCOFOS, a University of Cyprus-based sea weather prediction service. They make a weekly forecast map of sea around of Cyprus with water temperature, currents, wind speed etc. I was impressed. :)
