Ok, if there is an issue with GrabPERF or any of the other services on this server this weekend, it is unlikely that I will be able to fix it.

We are going to see friends in Maine, and we aren’t even sure if our mobile phones will work.

I will try and check mail once a day, but don’t expect long essays or grand thoughts this weekend.

Tags: GrabPERF, GrabPERF.org, HTTP, IE, it, mobile phones, Om, One, server, the other

The second measurement agent is now up and running on Ubuntu!

And the happy news is that it is reporting CONNECTION ERRORS!

Well, ok, not so good news for those of you who are getting them. On the other hand, a gap in the measurement data should indicate a serious problem now.

Tags: app, data, GrabPERF, it, measurement, Om, pr, run, the other

I have permanently blacklisted all of people making comments from blogspot.com — it appears that Google’s little nightmare is getting worse.

Thankfully b2evolution makes that easy. I hate to think about what the the other blogging platforms will have to go through to make this happen.

PS: This is in response to Chris Pirillo’s well-timed rant on this topic. [here]

Tags: app, blog, Blogging, evolution, Google, HTML, HTTP, IM, it, Om, the other

I have flamed two recruiters this week.

Why? Because they never bothered to read the resume.

One wanted me to be a technical support rep. The other wanted me to be an Oracle DBA/Developer.

One recruiter saw me copy the top executives at his firm with this lack of intelligence. This had a very positive result: I was able to engage in a conversation with these executives; they realize know that they need to approach things differently.

Why were these recruiters so stupid? Why don’t they get the new world? Why don’t they want to engage me in a proactive conversation about my future?

Why didn’t they bother to read the resume and then ask me what I want?

If this is what most recruiters do, then they are doomed, bound to go the way of the foosball table. They need to understand what Doug has: Candidates have the power.

Ignore this at your own risk.

Tags: app, conversation, EAD, HTML, HTTP, IE, it, Om, One, PHP, pr, the other

Over the last two days I have been trying to optimize the performance of the Index Charts/Graphs. I think I have found the fix, and you should see results for these charts in the sub 1-second range.

To explain how this works, I have to open up the GrabPERF data model and let you folks peer under the hood.

The Daily Index graphs are created using two tables: hourly_site and data. hourly_site is a rollup produced asynchronously at the end of every hour that aggregates the Arithmetic and Geometric means, as well as a count of successful measurements. data contains over 30 days of raw measurement data which is purged at the end of each day.

All of the days in the daily graph, and all of the hours in the hourly graph are pulled from hourly_site. That is with the exception of the most recent day (daily) and the most recent hour (hourly). These are pulled dynamically from data to ensure that all current results appear on the right-hand side of the graph.

With this design, performance was awful. I have tweaked the code as much as I feel comfortable doing (I am an analyst, not a developer!), but it was slow. I increased the size of the query cache, but the boost only lasted for a while. Then I realized that the data I most cared about was being pushed out of the cache by all of the other cached data.

I have now set MySQL to cache queries only on demand. This reduces the load and means that only the results I care about, and which are accessed most frequently, are cached.

When I restart the database, the Daily Blog Search chart takes about 5.5 seconds to generate, and the hourly chart takes about 30 seconds. Yikes!

After this initial pain, both charts take less than one second to be generated.

I am still working on it, so let me know if you see any weirdness.

UPDATE: Seems that the first query of every hour pays the performance penalty, and all other queries will not.

Tags: app, blog, current, data, database, design, geometric mean, GrabPERF, IE, IM, it, measurement, mysql, Om, One, optimize, performance, pr, search, the other, update

Effective immediately, The Newest Industry is on hiatus.

Most readers are not aware that for most of my life, I have fought a constant battle with depression. Thankfully, my symptoms can be effectively moderated and controlled through medication…most of the time.

Right now, for a variety of reasons I am not comfortable getting into, I am losing the battle with my illness. The canvas is blank, and so is my mind.

For those who say there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, I just found out that mine happens to be on front of a high-speed train coming toward me. And when I reach these depths, no amount of happy, motivational, power-of-positive-thinking drivel can bring me back quickly or easily.

My life has to change. I don’t know how yet, but when I come back, it will be because something has changed.

Thank you for dropping by; see you on the other side.

Technorati: depression, hiatus, blogs

IceRocket: depression, hiatus, blogs

Tags: app, blog, control, EAD, HTTP, IE, IM, it, LAN, media, Newest Industry, Om, pr, Technorati, the other