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slicehost, vps

A Move to Slicehost

Yesterday I moved this domain over to Slicehost.

Ian first told me about Slicehost when we were both looking to move away from Dreamhost last November. Initially, we both intended to find another shared host, but that proved far too difficult – it seems most hosting companies have something against shared hosting with decent limits and ssh access (that last part is the kicker).

I signed up with Slicehost at the end of last year and tinkered around with it for a month or so, experimenting with setting up the server in different ways. Eventually, I found an Ubuntu-Nginx-PHP-MySQL-Postfix-Dovecot setup that I enjoyed, and one which I was comfortable administering. In the beginning of the year, I moved a couple of my domains over to the Slice. It’s been a great experience. I’m not sure why it took me 6 months to finally move this domain – my primary one – over. Running a VPS is deceivingly simple* and well worth the effort. If you’re currently running on a shared host and have some basic competency in a UNIX environment, I’d recommend giving it a shot.

In a bit I’ll post a series of guides, compiled from my notes, on how I setup the server.

  • It’s deceivingly simple if you’re not running a full mail server with virtual users running around everywhere. That part was a pain. Hence, the move to Google.
gpg, google apps, crypto

Google Apps

Last week I outsourced my email to Google Apps.

For years, my paranoia has prevented me from moving my mail. I never liked the idea of Google parsing through each message for keywords to generate ads. In fact, I usually don’t even allow Google to cookie me. But now most of my regular email contacts have started using GPG. Enough of my mail is now encrypted that I’m comfortable with Google.

I haven’t decided yet if I prefer the Gmail interface or Thunderbird. In the web interface, I use FireGPG for signing and d/encrypting, which of courses places signatures inline. Since I’m jumping back and forth between that and Thunderbird/Enigmail, in order to maintain some measure of consistency, I’ve told Enigmail to sign inline instead of using PGP/Mime. It is a bit annoying, and will probably frighten the sheeple, but that’s the way it is for now.

So, please encrypt all email. And if you don’t, be aware that Google is reading it.

photos, the road, quote

Walking

Walking

Walking itself is the intentional act closest to the unwilled rhythms of the body, to breathing and the beating of the heart. It strikes a delicate balance between working and idling, being and doing. It is a bodily labor that produces nothing but thoughts, experiences, arrivals. ... [T]he mind, the body, and the world are aligned, as though they were three characters finally in conversation together, three notes suddenly making a chord. Walking allows us to be in our bodies and in the world without being made busy by them. It leaves us free to think without being wholly lost on our thoughts. - Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust
photos

Photo Booth Is Much More Entertaining Than Work

Photo Booth

gear, review, sole, feet, superfeet, footwear

Sole and Superfeet

Last March, I used part of my REI dividend on a pair of Sole Ed Viesturs Ultra Cushion footbeds. Prior to this, I’d been using Green Superfeet in my Lowa Renegade boots.

When I pulled the Green Superfeet out of my boots and attempted to install the new Sole footbeds to insure I had a proper fit, they were quite hard to insert – much harder than the Superfeet. I took them out and compared them with the Superfeet to see if they wanted trimming, but they appeared only a millimeter or so longer. They were, though, much thicker than the Superfeet – particular in the arch area – which was what, I deduced, made the fit a bit more tight.

So, I tried inserting them again, this time shoving them almost all the way in, then put in my feet to force the footbeds into place. I felt around a good deal to assure myself that there was no bunching at the toe, then took them out again and popped them in the oven.

Sole includes a sticker on the bottom of one of the pair that turns from silver to black when properly heated. They claim that 2 minutes in a 200F oven should do it, but that, if not, give ‘em 5 minutes, then assume the sticker is defective and stick the footbeds into your boots anyway. Well, it actually took 6 minutes in my oven at 200F. After the sticker had turned black, I stuck the footbeds into my boots, laced them up, and stood up straight, feet shoulder-width apart, toes pointed forward, for two minutes. The warmth was actually quite pleasant, particularly on a cold, wet day.

An aside on Superfeet:

I purchased my first pair of Green Superfeet last summer while working for the National Park Service. My footwear at the time was a pair of Merrell Sawtooth boots – easily the stiffest, most uncomfortable boot I’ve ever worn. Any more than 6-7 miles in those and my feet would start to develop an ache. And going over ridges: that was absolutely no fun. The boots were completely lacking in support during downhill endeavors – which, to be fair, was not entirely the boots’ fault. My arches aren’t completely collapsed, but I do have flat feet, which, as you may know, equals zero shock absorption. So when I traversed my way down a rocky slope in the Sawtooths, I felt it. Shortly after purchasing the boots, but long enough after that I felt I had broken them in as much as I could, I went out and bought the Green Superfeet. The difference was stark. Really quite amazing. They were hard and awkward for about the first week, but after that break-in period, the Superfeet turned the Merrell Sawtooths into completely acceptable boots. I could log far more miles, over any terrain, with any slope, all without ache. They were great. When I left the park, I bought a second pair of Superfeet, this time for my 5.11 HRT boots, in the hopes that I could breathe a little more life into them. Alas, it was for naught. Even with the Superfeet, I had to admit to myself that the 5.11s were at the end of their life.

While I would certainly call the Superfeet supportive, I’m not sure I’d term them comfortable. And in fact, Superfeet claims that the insoles should not be comfortable. If it felt like one was walking on a soft mattress, the insoles wouldn’t be giving the feet any support. I don’t know much about feet, but the argument makes sense to me. Personally, while moving with the Superfeet, I had no complaints, but standing still for more than a few minutes, they would start to become noticable uncomfortable. Not painful, but uncomfortable. The discomfort originated in the arch area of the footbed, which I felt was too high for me. A bit like if I had a small ping pong ball or somesuch under my arch. Again, I don’t know much about feet, but this made complete sense to me. My feet are flat, thus I have very little shock absorption. The Superfeet provide shock absorption, thus they must be pushing up my arch. So I couldn’t, and still can’t, complain.

While I’m here, I’d like to make a comment on Superfeet sizing. My boot size is a US 9.5. Superfeet classifies their insoles by letters. Their size E equates to shoe sizes US 9.5-11. I’ve used size E Superfeet in three different pairs of boots (all size 9.5), and it’s always been a perfect fit. No trimming necessary. Great for me, but if you happen to be size US 11, I’d be a little weary. Definitely buy them from a store with a decent return policy, as you may find yourself wanting to upgrade to size F.

But when I heard about Sole, who made footbeds that actually molded themselves to the wearers feet, and that wearers often termed them as not only supportive, but comfortable, I was intrigued. I thought perhaps they could reach a pleasant medium between pressing up the arch for support, but not pressing it up too much.

Back to Sole:

After the initial 2 minute molding process, I walked around them a short while. An immediate, very stark difference from the Superfeet was evident. The Soles were, in fact, comfortable. The level of comfort worried me, actually. I feared they wouldn’t give me any support what-so-ever.

I have by now logged enough mileage, over enough terrain, under enough of a load to over a verdict: thumbs up. The comfort, compared to the Superfeet, allows me to to travel slightly greater mileages in the same boots than before.

I still keep the Green Superfeet in my running shoes, but I, personally, find the Sole footbeds superior. I would caution that feet are extremely variable, and the merits of both Superfeet and Sole are strong, but, it would seem, complimentary to different foot types. Experiment!

There is absolutely no reason not to purchase a pair of non-standard insoles for your footwear – even with good boots. The thin, non-supportive, flimsy things that manufacturers include standard cannot match a custom pair. I expect the majority of those reading this site probably recognize their feet as extremely valuable assets, and are not unaccustomed to spending uncommonly large sums of money on a good pair of boots and socks. So do yourself a favor, take the next step, and buy decent insoles. There is little less valuable in this world than mobility, and, whatever brand they may be, custom insoles will allow you to go harder, better, faster, longer.

shaving, ablution

Badger Brush Cleaning

I’ve been wet shaving now for 6 months. Earlier today, I decided to clean my badger hair brush.

The brush is soaked with soap and water during every use, and there doesn’t seem to much of a consensus online whether that is enough or if a dedicated cleaning is warranted. For those who say the badger hair brush should be occasionally cleaned, the period I most often see is 2-3 months. Performing my first cleaning at 6 months, then, is a little off.

To clean, I mixed a solution of baking soda and lukewarm water into a thick paste. Covering the brush with the paste, I attempted to rub it into the hairs as best I could. This, I let sit for about 3 hours. Then, I thoroughly rinsed the brush with water, drying it as usual.

No animal funk is radiating from the bristles (I actually liked the smell of it new) and the hairs appear to the eye as both fluffy and dark. During the rinse, the brush held as much water as usual.

It seems to have worked.

3-6-08 Update:

I hadn’t really noticed anything to warrant the cleaning – no caked soap, and the brush seemed to hold as much water as ever. Was I ever wrong. During my first use after cleaning, there was a very noticeable difference. The brush held much more water, providing for a better lather. It’s one of those things where the degradation is so slow and gradual that you don’t notice it.

film, feminism

Sex and High Heels

Wajahat Ali has a well worth reading review of “Sex and the City” Through a Man’s Eyes.

I’ve never seen the show, but always assumed it was simply about sex (and maybe a city). Apparently, I was wrong. The tv show and film, according to this review, are at best a regurgitation of every harmful female stereotype, and at worse nothing but an advertisement for mass-consumerism. I can’t understand the appeal in shoes, bags, and dresses individually worth thousands of dollars, much less the appeal in watching fantasized characters discuss and prance about in said items for any extended period of time.

Despite their professed independence, pride, ego-centricism and hedonism, the women were still unhappy and discontent without the acknowledgment of some form of a fulfilling male relationship.

It’s as if feminism never happened! As a male who hasn’t even seen the film, I’m insulted by its portrayal of women. Where does its audience come from, I wonder?

In Femininity and the Electric Car, Virginia Scharff discusses the automobile industry at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. She analyzes the marketing of electric cars to women and gasoline cars to men as a form of control of female mobility. The electric cars of the day had top speeds of around 25 mph. They had trouble making it up hills and were limited to a circumscribed range of 60-80 miles. This was seen as conforming to the “sphere” of women’s activities. In the end, this absurd notion lost to the reality of gender. In my mind, high heels – repulsive manifestations of some primordial Evil – are but another instance of patriarchal oppression of women’s mobility. Yet, unlike the electric car, women seem to accept them.

Sex and the City, according to the reviewer, has its women strutting proudly down the street in their torture devices as if proclaiming to everyone in the vicinity “I am an oppressed, ignorant creature! Use my body for what pleasures you will, but please don’t allow my genes to reproduce. Think of the children!”

os x, firefox, apple, linux

An Update

It’s been brought to my attention – repeatedly – that I neglected to post anything for the last month and a half. Oops.

I upgraded my macbook to 10.5.3 earlier tonight. Upon reboot, everything was shiny till I attempted to launch Firefox. It did one little bounce in the dock and gave up. Attempting to run it from the terminal in safe mode was no better.

Of course, OS X does its best to insulate the user from the system, so finding useful logs was out of the question. All /var/log/system.log told me was that Firefox exited with error code 1.

In a fit of desperation, I deleted my version of Firefox and downloaded Firefox 3 RC1. After the install, it launched. So now I’m running that less-than-polished software.

I’ve been running the Firefox 3 betas on my Ubuntu machine at work since February or so. Each release seems to get progressively worse: they’re all of them unstable, slow, and have an annoying new address bar. Now that I made the mistake of updating the work machine to Ubuntu 8.04, I’m stuck with using Beta 5 everyday. (Dear Canonical: Please don’t ship stable releases with beta software. Thanks.) I’ve enjoyed coming home to the stable, usable, and speedy Firefox 2.

To be fair, my Firefox 3 experience up to now was limited only to the Linux versions, and I’d not used the release candidate on any platform. So far, RC1 on OS X doesn’t seem too bad.