BRYAN'S BLOG » Misc

ZFS is a beautiful thing

Bryan Nielsen — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 07:19:14 +0000

ZFS is a beautiful thing. This could be the next generation of NAS servers. Now if only they would support 3ware disk controllers which are very good controllers for handling large numbers of disks which is exactly what ZFS likes, just keep adding cheap disks to the pool.

http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/zfs/whatis/
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/zfs/intro/
http://www.sun.com/software/solaris/zfs_learning_center.jsp
http://www.podtech.net/scobleshow/technology/1619/talking-storage-systems-with-suns-zfs-team
Lots of other useful zfs useful links.

In smary — you only need *two* commands to manage things — zpool and zfs. Nice…

And with solaris 10 you get dtrace. Very handy.

Inbox Zero

Bryan Nielsen — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 20:48:28 +0000

This link is regarding “Perfecting Your Presentations” but the slide show of Merlin Mann‘s “Inbox Zero” is excellent (Merlin Mann of 43folders.com fame). Keeping that Inbox to zero is surprisingly useful (and relieving). Get all that stuff into your trusted system and OUT of your Inbox ala GTD.

Highlights.

Make sandwiches, don’t just take orders. My translation – You need to make Action decisions and “just do it.” Just taking orders is equivalent to just fiddling in your inbox all day.
Turn off your email sometimes.
Am I putting my time into the right place? Is there a way to make this email less noisy and more useful?
ToDo list are for collection, reducing anxiety. Now what do you do with it?
You have to stop sucking before you get good. Just funny.
Addresses How to get started – Create a DMZ in email. Move all current stuff into the DMZ and start over. Deal with DMZ as you go, but do the system along the way.
The technology will do your bidding, but it won’t FIX communication problems or broken practices. (excellent point).
More on Inbox Zero at InboxZero.com.
Common sense stuff. My adage — It needs to be put into practice when most often it’s not.
1-5% of emails are actually actionable at Google. 500+ emails per day. (sounds familar)

Vacation when needed and managed directly into ones work responsibilities.

Bryan Nielsen — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 17:16:26 +0000

IBM has always been a progressive company, and here’s an interesting take on vacation. Of course this only works with certain kinds of jobs and certain kinds of individuals (at least well motivated, pushing workaholic types), but it’s exactly what my philosophy has been for a long time. As long as the work is getting done, progress is good, and things aren’t left “undone” it works nicely in today’s busy world. It also fits into the “GTD paradigm” of Getting Things Done.

“ It’s every worker’s dream: take as much vacation time as you want,
on short notice, and don’t worry about your boss calling you on it. Cut
out early, make it a long weekend, string two weeks together–as you
like. No need to call in sick on a Friday so you can disappear for a
fishing trip. Just go; nobody’s keeping track.”

Anamorphic Video Enhancement

Bryan Nielsen — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 15:07:52 +0000

Perfect explanation of Anamorphic Enhancement of video stream (not just for DVD’s).

Financial advice from Scott Adams

Bryan Nielsen — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:18:37 +0000

Good basic, simple to follow financial advice from Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert:

Make a will.
Pay off your credit cards.
Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
Fund your 401(k) to the maximum.
Fund your IRA to the maximum.
Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it.
Put six months expenses in a money market account.
Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement.
If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, a tax issue), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.

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