ianneubert.com

phpBackupS3

July 28th, 2008

I’ve just published my PHP backup script to github.com. If you are looking for an easy to use, PHP based backup script to send things to S3, check it out.

Download the source at github.

It’s been in production for over a year at various sites. Works fine for me.

Here is the feature list:

Simple to use
Backups all databases on a MySQL server
Backups and compresses (using bzip2) directories and files
Uses URL type storage keys, so it’s easy to browse the backup bucket
(optionally) Removes old backups according to a grandfather-father-son based schedule

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My New Favorite Band: Metric

July 21st, 2008

For the last decade my favorite band has been Garbage. But, after hearing my new favorite song, I think it’s finally time to change the rankings. So without further wait, my new favorite band is:

Metric

They’ve now released three albums, and I love them all. Check out the song that finally tipped the charts, “Grow Up”. For more info check out the band’s All Music Guide entry or their Facebook site.

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Netflix streaming over Xbox 360

July 15th, 2008

I’ve been reading several reports that Microsoft will be bringing Netflix streaming to the Xbox 360 sometime this year. What a great value-add feature for the Xbox 360. I’m actually surprised that Microsoft pulled it off, and isn’t even charging anyone extra to use it, besides the Xbox Live Gold subscription. I had been considering getting rid of my subscription, but I think I’ll keep it for now and see how it goes.

Rock on! Now Netflix, just needs some worthwhile streaming movies.

Also, no word on if any of those movies will be in HD. I highly doubt it, at least for now, as Netflix doesn’t stream HD anywhere yet.

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Disabling Time Synchronization in VMware Fusion

June 17th, 2008

I’ve been trying to figure out how to disable time/clock synchronization in a VMware Fusion guest for the past few months, and I finally stumbled upon the answer! This will prevent the VMware Fusion guest from getting the correct time from the host OS on boot or restore.

The following lines need to be added to the .vmx file inside the virtual machine package:

tools.syncTime = "FALSE"
time.synchronize.continue = "FALSE"
time.synchronize.restore = "FALSE"
time.synchronize.resume.disk = "FALSE"
time.synchronize.shrink = "FALSE"
time.synchronize.tools.startup = "FALSE"

VMware KB #1189

Tags: vmware
Posted in Computers | 3 Comments »

Cool BMW with fabric body

June 11th, 2008

The body of this car is built with and aluminum frame connected to hydraulic and electric motors, and all wrapped in a fabric skin. It allows the car to change shape at will. Pretty amazing! This car is headed for the BMW Museum in Munich, and won’t see actual production.

[ From Wired Autopia ]

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3G iPhone let down

June 9th, 2008

Apple announced the 3G iPhone today. It’s a pretty small feature enhancement, only three new things:

3g Network
GPS built in
$200 for 8gb, $300 for 16gb

I think the best upgrade is the price. I was hoping for a lot more I guess, because that just doesn’t seem all that exciting. There are still a bunch of holes:

No MMS support
No stereo Bluetooth
No video recording support

They basically just changed the chipset inside and called it a day. Whoopie.

UPDATE: The price is not cheaper in the long run, it’s a lot more expensive. The new iPhone 3G plan will cost me $75/mo, compared to $60/mo for the original. That means I would end up spending $160 more for the new iPhone over 2 years, versus the original.

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Is twitter ever working?

May 30th, 2008

After noticing some trouble with the twitter feed on ianneubert.com, I checked the site: istwitterdown.com and guess what it said?

I’m really tired of twitter being down all the time. I probably won’t be using it much longer.

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Netflix streaming directly to your TV

May 20th, 2008

I just read an article on Ars Technica about this little set top box from Roku. It lets you connect your Netflix subscription to your TV and watch any of the 10,000 streaming movies that Netflix has available. The unit only costs $99 and doesn’t require any changes to your Netflix subscription. You’re good to go with a basic $8.99/mo subscription.

The box appears to have all the ports (HDMI, component, and optical audio) necessary for HD content too! Although Netflix doesn’t have any streaming HD content yet.

Flash forward a few years from now, and I bet I’ll be able to get rid of my satellite or cable TV boxes and just stream everything via Netflix. Now, that would be awesome.

[ From Ars Technica ]

Posted in Life | 5 Comments »

Signed up for Twitter again & updated website

May 9th, 2008

I’ve signed up for a twitter account again. Now that I use Facebook, it has some neat integration to control the current status messages that many people seem to be using nowadays. Now I can sync status updates across Facebook, Twitter, and my own web site. Sweet!

I’ve also removed the last.fm flash player from my site’s side panel. It felt like it was slowing down the site too much. I just replaced it with a simple link to “Listen to my music“.

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Viruses and funny Windows XP install screen

May 7th, 2008

A friend of mine asked me to help him fix his Windows machine from a virus that he got infected with. Since I switched to a Mac a couple years ago I really hadn’t thought much about viruses, they’ve really gotten pretty evil. This one compromised the machine and then tried to extort him to buy anti-virus software to cure it! Lol.

Anyway, as I was reinstalling Windows I got this screen:

It reads:

Surfing the Internet: safe, fast, and flexible

Windows XP includes the most secure version of Internet Explorer to date.

That’s reassuring.

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