What a struggle it has been to be able to keep the site up to date! We had a major emergency with our web server this past weekend while I was working in DC and we are no longer able to connect to it to work the way that we have in the past. We used to use a Microsoft technology called Routing and Remote Access Server that allowed us to work (very slowly) with files on our web server as if they were on our local machines. But that died and we were not able to recover it so I spent the weekend coming up with another viable solution.
As it turns out, it was all for the best and we are now using an open software package called OpenSSH on Windows that allows us to do many of the functions that we could before even faster. So we are now learning how to use that effectively. It allows us to work faster than we did before but it is a little different so we just have to get used to it. This new technology will also allow Josh to be able to connect here and he might even be convinced to do some updates.
I should also mention, for those who actually take an interest in our web server, that in making the switch from the MS VPN to the OpenSSH system, we have gone from an average processor load at about 12% to a little less than 1%. That should help a little with response time since the system isn’t so busy. We are also hoping (but not counting any chickens yet) that we will be able to add a second processor to the system sometime in the next six months. It won’t make too big of a difference but it will be noticeable sometimes.
I got tired of the slow download times on this main page so I have added, finally, the 2002 Archives page now so you can go look at January hiding there. February was pretty slow so I will keep it around for a little while. Also, I know that there is a bad link in the Bios section to my website – I will get to it as soon as I can. And yes, I know that the buttons look funny, that was the idea.
The Llamas would like to wish a happy birthday to Amanda who turns the big 24 today. And, don’t forget, that Nate turns 26 tomorrow. And of course, last but not least, Miranda is turning 22 on the 22nd. So don’t forget about her either. (For those wondering – Josh is next up on the birthday list in early April.) He is pushin’ thirty now! We are hoping that Mary and Jocelyn will be coming down this week to hang out with us. We haven’t seen them in over a year (which means that they have practically been able to escape from being mentioned on here!)
Not a lot of Llama news. I have been working in DC a lot and Dominica was nice enough to spend the weekend with me this past weekend. We had a really good time and even got to go out for St. Patrick’s day in Annapolis.
Eric is due to be in town tomorrow after working at Arnott-Ogden hospital in Elmira.
Loopy is doing a little web design work on the side (contact him if you need a site made) and you can see his latest creation at www.lifestylepropertiesithaca.com. He is also working at Cornell for the next while (3-6 months) working on a SQL Server/Access web application for them. Not very interesting but work is work and the market is better but not good yet.
I am going to start a new thing of having weird websites that you never would have thought to have gone to if I hadn’t told you to. Today’s web site is www.pez.com.
Today is also going to be the first day that I attempt to run this page through an HTML optimizer to speed up the download time a little bit. We will see if it makes any difference.
Today is the two year anniversary of Loopy and I moving to Pittsburgh to begin the Waste Watcher project there at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
[Ed. – The server stayed online, to some capacity, until it was finally replaced in 2007. And the second processor was never added.]