Big Dave’s Blog

Today, I was scheduled for Jury Duty. Actually, I was an alternate with instructions to call a number after 3:00 PM the day before. The instructions said there would be a recording to let us know whether we would be needed or not. Like a good citizen, I called the number at 3:15 PM, but instead of a recording I heard:

“Jury pool. Leave a message.”

Not particularly informative. I tried again several times throughout the afternoon without any luck. After looking around the web, I was able to find another information number that I called. After many questions and a long wait, I finally got to someone that let me know that I “probably” will not be needed.

Now, it snowed pretty good here last night, and my original letter from the court said to call the same day after 6:30 AM if there is snow. I did, and this time I heard:

“Enter your extension.”

Again, not very informative. I entered by group number, thinking that maybe that is what they wanted. I was rewarded with “That extension is busy.” Nice.

Anyway, I’m going with what the person at the info line told me, but you would think they might have this process figured out by now. Hopefully, I don’t end up with a big fine down the road because you know that part they probably have pretty well figured out.

I like to think that I am pretty green. I have an efficient house, no more SUV, not a ton of garbage, etc. Recently, however, I began to wonder if it is possible to be green if you are a techie and/or into gadgets. Gadget lovers and techies have tons of electronic stuff around the house, but most people don’t realize how much power is going down the drain. How many little transformers do you have plugged in around the house? TVs? Cable Boxes? DVD Players? Receivers? Amplifiers? Computers? Typically, those little transformers consume 1-5 watts even if the device is not on or even connected. Then you add the DVD players, clock radios, TVs, etc. and power usage starts to add up. Remember, anything with standby or an instant-on feature is using power just sitting there. Reports are that this power accounts for 5-15% of all power use.

What did me in, however, was thinking the other day while mowing the lawn. I know. Why am I thinking while I’m mowing the lawn? I just do. Anyway, back in my younger days, I went to a LOT of concerts. As a result, I pay attention to my ears and wear earplugs when I mow. Since I bought an iPhone with new earphones that are basically earplugs, I listen to music while I mow. Often, I use the fantastic Pandora application, and it’s this that got me in trouble. Ever thought about how much infrastructure is required to listen to streaming music? It’s a lot. Let’s start at the Pandora data center and work our way to my yard.

• Pandora Data Center
  • I can only guess at the architecture of Pandora, but let’s guess that there is at least 3 servers (web, app, and db). I suspect there are a lot more both for load and redundancy.
  • 3 servers
  • 1 switch
  • 1 router
  • 1 firewall
  • Again, I highly doubt there are singles of anything in the data center. Otherwise, the entire system would go down with one server failure.
• Pandora Hosting Provider
  • It all depends on where Pandora’s machines are hosted, but there could be dozens of machines managing the data center. Plus, there will be various networking equipment.
  • 5 desktops
  • 2 large switches
  • 2 large routers
  • 2 firewalls (for hosting internal network)
• Backbone
  • A quick run of traceroute shows 12 hops between my house and Pandora’s date center.  That’s at least one router per hop.  The first and the last are me and Pandora’s data center.
  • 10 routers
  • Various management servers, etc.
  • 10 servers
  • 20 desktops
• Pandora’s Offices
  • Again, I don’t know how large Pandora is, but figure 10 people plus various testing servers.
  • 10 desktops
  • 5 test servers
  • 1 router
  • 1 switch
  • 1 firewall
• My house
  • My house is fully wired, so I probably have more than most.
  • 1 firewall
  • 1 router
  • 1 switch
  • 1 cable modem
  • 1 music server
  • various desktops

That’s a whole lot of hardware, and I’m not even mentioning all of it. Now, I know that most of this hardware is shared, but if there weren’t a lot of customers at least some of this hardware would not be required.

My point is to be careful when you call yourself green and you have a lot of gadgets. You many be personally green, but your habits may bring along a lot of extra hardware to feed your gadgets. Your actual power usage is a lot more than what shows up on your electric bill.

Windbelt – Third World Power – Wind Generator – Video – Breakthrough Awards – Popular Mechanic

I love it when people take something simple and make it useful. Turning this macro will be a trick, but it is a neat concept regardless.

Put this down as another one of those “Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?”

Leadership: Watching “The War”

I’m also a history buff, especially 1939-1945. Ken Burns new documentary, “The War”, is so far one of the best series I’ve seen on the subject. I know this has nothing to do with technology, but it is about life and what happened in our past to allow us to be what we are today. Ignoring the sacrifices made for the moment, 10 million soldiers coming back from the war went to college on the GI bill. Prior to WWII, the US was still mostly an agricultural nation. Technology gains during WWII as well as all those new new college degrees that followed had a lot to do with our technological progress since.

If you can, check it out. It’s fascinating television.

SWRDA : News Centre

Now this I like. Waves move around, and this system uses the motion to generate electricity. It’s clean, and no one sees it. Keeping everything attached in the North Atlantic seems to be a challenge though. Keep an eye on this. If it works, I suspect we will see more of them. Spending $56M to save over $1B (that’s a B) is tough to pass up.

Management Methods | Management Models | Management Theories

No wonder things are often messed up. How many methods can there be? For me, it’s simple. Lay out the ground rules and goals, and then get out of the way. The people are here to do a job. Let them do it!

Been away for a while. Between working on my new company, Inquisix, and a much needed vacation, I haven’t had a chance to write anything in a while. Waking up every day to see the view below really does cause one to simply relax instead of working much.

This is Newport Beach, CA, and my family and I stayed right on the boardwalk — walk out the front door, cross the boardwalk, and you’re on the beach. What a great way to relax!

Anyone have a chance to try a Segway? The Segway shop in Newport beach sells more Segways than anywhere else in the world. As a marketing ploy, they will take you on a tour. It is amazing how intuitive this machine is. Within a couple minutes, you are off exploring like an expert. Now, if I could just get myself one of these, I would be all set. Then again, I usually prefer to walk when I golf.

I will have lots more to say about Inquisix and other technology issues in the coming weeks.

It’s good to be back!

How-To: The ultimate iTunes Media Server – MacTalk Forums

OK, I’m a big Mac fan, but there are some things that a PC (Windows or Linux) just does better, and a media server is one of them. I’m an audio / video nut. Combine that with some handiness with construction and computer knowledge, and you end up with a fully automated home theater and multi-zone audio system built by yours truly. The above system is nice, but it breaks a couple of hard rules for me.

1. I don’t want to have to fire up a computer to choose what to play. The system must be available via a learning remote.

2. It needs to easily support multiple zones of audio and UPnP players.

3. My mother should be able to use it. This is nothing against my mother, but she is a good test case when it comes to technical issues.

My media server is a Windows PC running J. River’s Media Center, TheaterTek, and various other automation applications. There is no monitor, keyboard or mouse connected to this server. It is connected to a display but only for playing DVDs. All audio equipment is in a locked closet. If I do need to connect to the server for maintance, I use VNC from one of my other computers. From my Phillips Pronto remote, I can play any album, playlist, song, or DVD at the touch of button without navigating a computer screen. Users of the system do not know they are dealing with a PC. Apple and Microsoft expect you to have a computer running to select anything. That’s great, but how many people have a computer in their living room?

With my system, all I need is a small handheld remote to choose anything I want. I can be watching a movie downstairs, listing to a playlist outside, and have a Roku playing music in the kitchen at the same time. It’s all served from the same server, and I never once had to look at a computer screen. There are commercial products that do the same thing, but they are several times the cost.

For most people, this is how it needs to be.

Why music really is getting louder-Arts & Entertainment-Music-TimesOnline

For a serious music lover like me, this has been an issue for several years now. How loud and distorted became synonymous with sounding better is beyond me. Maybe I’m an audio snob, but I like to hear all the dynamic range. I like all the small details, and I don’t want them clipped off in the name of making the recording as loud as possible. Maybe if I only listened on an iPod, it wouldn’t be as much of a deal, but I built myself a media room in my basement (when I’m not coding and building products, I’m coding some new automation system or tweaking the sound down there). Most new music is hard to listen to on a good system. Rather than sound better because it’s louder, it becomes difficult to stand. I know what you’re thinking. Maybe I just don’t like the music. I assure you that is not it.

To really hear this, set up a playlist with a combination of old and new recordings. When an old recording is playing, set the volume fairly high and wait for a newer recording. When the new recording comes on, you will find yourself reaching for the volume control.

Please Mr. Recording Engineer, let is hear the music as the artists intended.

June 6, 1944

It was a long time ago, but it is a day no one should ever forget. Several thousand men and women died on that first day, and many more would follow on the road to Berlin. Personally, I’ve always been fascinated by history, but this particular period has always been the most interesting to me. It’s hard to fully comprehend what those soldiers went through unless you go to the Normandy beaches at low tide and stand at the waterline (as I have). In front of you is 200+ yards of open beach with nowhere to hide. Behind that is an amphitheater of bluffs where you can still see some of the machine gun emplacements. It amazes me how anyone got all the way across the beach in one piece. Saving Private Ryan got a lot of things right, but the beach they filmed it at was nowhere near as wide as the Normandy beaches are at low tide. Obviously, you got an idea of the carnage, but not of the distances.

I will be saying a lot of silent “Thank You’s” today.

Check out the D-Day Musuem if you are ever in New Orleans. It’s quite a place. Note, the museum has since changed its name to the National WWII Museum.

I highly recommend these books:

Some other sources:
Invasion of Normandy
The Staff Ride to Normandy