Archive for February, 2007
ecto & Wordpress 2.1
If you happen to be an ecto user with a Wordpress 2.1 blog and notice that you can't actually use ecto anymore, worry not. There is a known bug in Wordpress and a solution to the problem. You can apply it yourself or wait for the maintenance release. I don't like to wait. 
Challenge Number Four
Starr-ving Artist: Challenge #4 – Not-A-MeMe – SL Circa 2009
Dixie posted the next challenge, "What will be Second Life's biggest positive change and biggest negative change in two years (circa 2009)?".
This is a toughie. I tend to side with Dolmere on this with the "I don't know or I don't care" bit. I also expect SL to go off in a direction we don't quite expect. What I do think we'll see are more businesses moving their presence into SL, much like they did on the Web. That trend is already happening, so that's an easy one, really. I think people will find new uses for SL outside of what we're currently seeing. My *very* first idea prior to even knowing SL existed was to make a world very SL-like that could be sold to companies. Workers could then do their work within this alternate world, from any place in the physical world. It would be a true virtual office, but in a more work-focused environment. I considered it more of a visual IM. But my plan was to be able to embed work type things within this world so that folks could easily wander the halls, interact with each other, view each other's computer screens to provide the same level of support as we do physically, etc. I think SL will become the basis for this sort of thing in the future. Or it ought to.
For bad stuff? Who knows. I know griefing will increase, but that's just the nature of the beast. Open world = abuse the world. I can live with it (means BanLink will need more work, but yay!) I imagine LL will throw a few other wrinkles into the mix that will piss off the loud majority (typically the minority). Mostly I'm in it for the ride. I've not found LL to do many things that I've really disagreed with on a large scale. I'm a pretty big supporter, so what can I do? I imagine the integration of voice into SL is what will kill it mostly for me. Not because I don't want to talk to my friends, but because in text, your thoughts aren't lost in the mix by being talked over by someone that's more excited or louder. That's why I liked SL from the start, and I've said it plenty of times, "In SL, my 'voice' is heard." Adding voice, while fun, will also hinder many good people from showing their true potential.
Oh yeah, we'll get Mono by 2009.
Lost Packet!
What's going on in Second Life? Packets are being lost in droves! Since I am, by nature, a very caring individual, I've become seriously worried about my lost packets. How do I find them? Will they ever make it home? I tried calling the police, but they just wouldn't listen to me. I got some lame excuse about packets not being in their jurisdiction. I assumed there was something going on at the station from all laughter I was hearing. Lazy cops. But then it occurred to me that these packets are likely coming from California, so of course it's not something they would be able to handle. Perhaps the FBI could help out.
Before I could place the call, however, I got word from a few other friends that have also lost packets in Second Life. A conspiracy, perhaps? Are packets being stolen and forced into the sex trade? Knowing the nature of the Internet, I assumed the worst. The authorities must be alerted! Again, my calls were badly timed. I think I must've interrupted "The Office" or "That's So Raven", judging by the laughter on the other end. The authorities are going to be of no help. That's right, it's all up to me.
I continued my quest by doing a little research of my own. This lead me to famed packet wrangler, Ned "Packy" McRobertsontonburg. Packy has been handling and training packets for 20 years. He's got a slow southern drawl, which combined with his cowboy hat emblazoned with a gold encrusted shield declaring his "Best in Packet" win of 1994, really put me at ease.
Mera: "Mr. Robertsontonburg, my packets in Second Life are being-"
Packy: "Packy, please."
M: "Oh. Ok, Packy. My packets are disappearing left and right. I feared at first they were cold and alone in a strange router, but I've heard from others that their packets aren't coming home either. I think someone is stealing them and making them do who knows what!"
P: "Calm down. It's ok. Packets are known to do that from time to time."
M: "What?"
P: "Folks think packets are easy to herd from one place to another. But they ain't. Packets are an ornery bunch, let me tell ya."
M: "But it's happening to everyone. It wasn't always this bad. I know something terrible is happening to them."
P: "Let me tell ya. Them varmints got it comin to them if it is."
M: "Packy!"
P: "No, no, hear me out. You see, them packets are usually pretty good about keeping to the heard and following in line. But some of them good-fer-nuthin scuds like to do things all on their own. Some'll be too fast. Some'll be too slow. And when that happens, the whole herd suffers. Then there are those that just wander off all willy-nilly as if they don't even care. It's them wanderers that you got to get rid of. You don't want more like 'em. Survival of the fittest and all. You've been losing more and more. That's 'cause folks like you have been wandering around trying to find and care for them beasties. Now they're back in the mix, making other packets just like 'em. Soon all of them will be off wandering around taking their time, stopping to smell the duplex. You gots to stop it now before it gets worse. Leave them lost buggers be!"
M: "…"
P: "You see, them packets ain't lost. They'd just rather not go see you anymore. They're off having their own fun who knows where. Probably Wichita. They always seem to like Wichita."
M: "So you're saying I don't need to worry about my lost packets? Not even Gordon? Gordon was always so cute-"
P: "Gordon's a goner! Let him rot and the rest like him."
M: "Packy, I'm shocked to hear you like this. I thought you'd have some advice to find them and train them to be better."
P: "Listen. I've been wrangling packets my whole life and there's one thing I can't stand, it's them new lolligagging packets that have been infesting the breed. You got to cut your losses and let 'em go. They ain't never gonna learn no diff'rent. Trust me."
With that, Packy tipped his hat, spurred his token, and rode away to the next station.
I returned home tired, and a bit sad. I still worry about those packets I've been losing. It does help knowing they're not being forced into labor camps for the Home Shopping Network. I do think about Gordon from time to time, though. I hope he made it to Wichita.
Continuing the Database Optimization Tips
It's been pointed out to me that I should remind everyone that these techniques can really only be applied when you have complete control over your MySQL instance. Many users in a hosted environment don't have this control. However, most users won't need to worry about this sort of tuning. It is important, however, when you have a heavily used system, such as BanLink, where you're getting constant transactions 24×7.
So this is part two in our MySQL Database Tuning series. Last time we looked at the number of opened tables versus the number of tables cached. Next we're going to look at the index buffer. The trick is that you want to give as much memory as you can (go figure) to the index buffer without allocating all of the memory in your system.
The rule of thumb is to set it to a quarter to half of the available memory in your system, provided MySQL is the primary use of the system. How can you tell when you've got enough memory and things are working great, well we again return to the extended-status that we talked about last time. There are two status variables that we'll need to look at: key_read_requests and key_reads. You'll want to divide key_reads by key_read_requests. You wan that resulting number to be less than 0.01. If it's not, bump up the key_buffer value in your my.cnf file.
A companion to these values are key_writes and key_write_requests. As above, divide key_writes by key_write_requests. This time you want the result to be less than 0.1. Again, this is affected by the key_buffer setting in your my.cnf file. Once you have it tweaked to where both your reads and writes are optimal, your database will be nicely humming along.
Purple without the Blue
Challenge #3 (reply): Have you ever burned out on Second Life?
This challenge comes from Jacek. This is a little tougher than I first thought when I saw the post. My first instinct was to say "Absolutely". But that's not completely true. I've burned out of aspects of Second Life, but not so much Second Life as a whole. You'd think my burnout would be because I took on too many tasks, but honestly that's not true. This despite a bunch of people warning me to stop volunteering for more lest I burn myself out.
What I have burned out on, though, is volunteering for Linden Lab. Not volunteering as a whole, mind you. I just worked real hard to help Linden Lab out by becoming a Greeter/Mentor/Instructor/Live Helper. And I was dang good at it as well. But things went sour and I'll not go into it once again. I've focused my efforts in other directions since then. I don't really care about money or fame or bling. All I want is a little appreciation for my efforts, so I focus my energies where I know my small contributions will be appreciated.
Aside from that, my only other close to burnout comes from the intense drama that Second Life seems to enjoy. Again, it's not been enough to keep me out of SL, but enough to keep me away from parts of SL that I once enjoyed. The trick is to just find something else to do until things die down.
Not-A-Meme Challenge Numero B
Ok, so now it's my turn to post a challenge. I promised myself I'd have something planned ahead of time, but we all know that none of my plans ever work out, so no great loss.
Alright, so our challenge, my friends, is:
Name two Newbie Locations
No, wait. I mean:
Name your most favorite color!
Eh, too easy. Alright, this one for sure:
Name your top two optimization techniques when dealing with a transactional database receiving commands from second life at a rate of about two commands per second.
What? No?
Fine!
Tell us what you like most about Second Life.
There, that should be a good one. A lot has changed since I arrived, not to mention the population double triple quadruple uh, thirtyipling. But let's take a step back and define that statement just a bit. We want to exclude the all encompassing 'people' category from this topic. That's the easy answer. What we want to know here is what it was *before* you had all of these friends that kept you interested enough to make said friends. There had to be some promise to the world that kept bringing you back for more. Sure, the prospect of meeting like-minded people is allowed as a response, just not "all the friends I've made so far." However, "Mera" is always a valid answer.
Inquiring Minds Want To Know
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Challenge Response: Name Two Newbie Locations
We've got a new thing going with some friends here. Twice a week one of us will post a challenge and we'll each respond. This week's challenge is provided courtesy of Dolmere Talamasca (who is the creator of this idea). The challenge this week, Name Two Newbie Locations. Easy enough. I'll not mention The Shelter in Isabel or Swinside, since I think each of us encounters newbies primarily in those locations. So let's go with the only slightly less obvious.
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