About Scott

I'm a computer guy with a new house and a love of DIY projects. I like ranting, and long drives on your lawn. I don't post everything I do, but when I do, I post it here. Maybe.

Apparently myisamchk Doesn’t Understand 2-Digit Numbers (MySQL)

MySql Logo

myisamchk If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you’re trying to run myisamchk on a large table and you want to set the –sort_buffer_size to some large value. That’s advisable, of course. However, it seems that some versions of MySQL don’t understand a 2-digit value for that parameter. I was trying to do the following: myisamchk -f -r –update-state –key_buffer_size=4G –sort_buffer_size=16G –read_buffer_size=32M –write_buffer_size=32M /var/sql/myisam-temp/mastersitedb/applicants_master_search – recovering (with sort) MyISAM-table ‘/var/sql/myisam-temp/mastersitedb/applicants_master_search’ Data records: 0 – Fixing index 1 myisamchk: error: myisam_sort_buffer_size is too small MyISAM-table ‘/var/sql/myisam-temp/mastersitedb/applicants_master_search’ is not fixed because of errors Try fixing it by using the –safe-recover (-o), the –force (-f) option or by not using the –quick (-q) flag If you’re getting an error like that, try using … Continue reading

An Open Letter to Amazon and Netflix

Chill, Amazon and Netflix with the DRM

Dear “New Media” Companies, Two years ago I decided to take the plunge and purchase a UHD TV. But I thought twice about it, deciding that I would hold off until there was adequate 4K content available. At that time the 4K market was weak. UHD Blu-rays had yet to be released, and other than some YouTube content and perhaps a few shows from your companies, there wasn’t much available. Finally at the cusp of 2018 I decided to make the move. There’s much streaming media currently available in UHD (as you’re obviously aware), as well as a plethora of UHD Blu-rays. So I now have a very nice Sony OLED hooked up to my HTPC. But the sad part … Continue reading

Disregard: Sealed Lead Acid Battery Longevity Log

PowerPatrol_SLA_Batteries_from_Amazon_2

Edit: ACTUALLY, NEVERMIND It’s now June of 2020, and I figure it’s time to put a big “disregard” in the title of this post. While my objectives were indeed grand, there’s a fundamental flaw in my methodology: Most of the UPSes in question do not perform battery self-tests. As such, I really only find out about bad batteries when there’s an actual power failure. And those happen very inconsistently, and infrequently. (Which is good for me overall, but bad for this “log”.) For example, my power just flickered briefly and one UPS shut down as soon as the power went off. The batteries were dated as replaced on 2017-12-10. However, that UPS survived the last power outage some months ago, … Continue reading

Amazon Echo Look – Teardown

Amazon Look - Teardown - All Parts - Top - YouTube Cover - Attempt 01 - 1080p

The Echo Look I’m working on a full review-type-thing of the Look, but who really cares about that? I’m sure people will want to see the insides of it, though. The most interesting two things on it are an Intel RealSense SR300 module (minus its visible light camera), and what’s basically a full Intel PC motherboard. In fact, here are the main specs: Intel Atom x5-Z8350 (SR2KT) @ 1.44Ghz (1.91Ghz burst) 8GB Samsung eMMC Flash NAND Storage 8GB Elpida LPDDR3 RAM Broadcom 802.11ac + 802.11b/g/a/n + Bluetooth (Not sure of the version) The hardware is fantastically made and well put together, and overall is very clever considering they stuffed all of it into a diminutive cylinder! The Reassembly I did … Continue reading

ZeroFiller: Nearly Fill Up a Disk with Zeroes for Snapshot Backups

ZeroFiller - Some Source Code - Screenshot

ZeroFiller (for Windows!) This might be a relatively niche utility, but I figured I’d share it because it might help someone in the same situation. File Version Description ZeroFiller-v0.8-20171023.zip v0.8a2017-10-23 The ZeroFiller executable only (requires .NET 4.5.2) ZeroFiller-src-0.8a-20171023.zip v0.8a2017-10-23 The ZeroFiller source code (requires >= Visual Studio 2017, probably) Backups I run a lot of VMs and I’m a bit obsessed with backups. I do high-level backups (meaning files, DB data, configs, etc.), as well as low-level backups of the actual VM disk images. The raw virtual disks get snapshotted on the host system, then the snapshot’s raw data is backed up using dd, gzip, and rsync. It’s not fancy, and it basically grabs the machine in a crashed state … Continue reading

Like Bees, the Yellow Jacket Power Strip (by Coleman Cable) is Terrible

Another sh*tty power strip

Welp, they’ve done it again. Any by “they”, I mean people that make poor quality electrical devices. Specifically Yellow Jacket, which is a Woods brand, which is a Coleman Cable brand, which is probably somehow owned by either Warren Buffet or the Koch Brothers.

I got this for $16.22 during an Amazon lighting deal, and even though that’s not a terrible price, the poor quality construction and the basic lie about the materials is what really angers me.

Join me as I disassemble and then curse at this poor excuse for a power strip, in my newest installment of first world problems.

Enterprise Network Switches for the Home: Ramble feat HP Procurve 5406ZL

The HP Procurve 5406ZL and…

…a whole lot of other crap, vis a vis my opinions on used enterprise-grade networking hardware for the home (or small-ish business).

I purchased an HP Procurve 5406ZL on eBay mainly because I “need” 10GbE on my home network, which is almost recursive because it’s for editing 4K video, which I need for editing this video.

The bottom line for me is that you can’t beat the feature/price ratio when it comes to equipment like this. That is, if you can afford the resultant power bill.

The Keurig HOT 2.0 K575 Plus is a Disappointment

YouTube Cover 01 - Screengrab - 1080p

First World Problems I gotta start off by saying that I know that this is an extravagant waste of time and resources. I didn’t make this video because the K575 was slightly annoying, but rather because it baffles me that they became worse at designing coffee machines than before. It’s doubly confounding because Keurig has based their marketing on the K575 being a “2.0” brewer. As in a (supposedly) new-and-improved follow-up to their original line. Yes, it has a couple of advantages over the older B70 Platinum that I used for comparison. However, it seems that they increased the features without increasing the cost. That says to me that they designed these new brewers on a budget. A schizophrenic software … Continue reading

Cadiz – Rental Car Rally 2017: Los Angeles to Lake Havasu

Rental Car Rally 2017: Los Angeles to Lake Havasu

You may ask, “What in the shit is this?”

This is a chronicle of my experiences at the Rental Car Rally.

It’s both easy to explain: It’s a costume-party-road-trip-photo-hunt-food-fight.

And it’s rather hard to explain: You form a team, rent a car, buy some eggs, decorate the car, decorate yourselves, and then follow vague clues through random parts of the southwest for 12 to 18 hours. I guess it’s not hard to explain. But it’s hard to put into words why it’s such a damn good idea.

One thing is for certain: It’s nothing like real life.

Anyone can do this. The more people, the more fun it becomes. Sign up now (unless you’re an asshole). If “YOLO” could ever be used for a substantial purpose, it’s this.

(And no, I’m not getting paid to say anything here.)

Ricky Gervais “Yememememeh” Ringtone

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Download It Yemememememeh If it opens in your browser as a sound file, just right-click and hit “Save As..”, or whatever the equivalent might be on your system. Huh? This is a bit unusual for this site, but I decided to create a ringtone from a brief clip of audio on The Ricky Gervais Show. I figured I’d share it, in case anyone else wanted this kind of nonsense in their lives. Why? In the episode, Mr. K. Dilkington argues that every noise has been used at least five times. He then goes on to ask why things can’t be made to make a different noise to the ones they make. Ricky insists that things make a noise because the … Continue reading