Re-use replaced backup harddisks

Now you have RAID system. It runs perfectly, but it also runs full as all storages do over time. You buy new 1.5TB harddisks, replacing the old 500GB ones. Now what do you do with those old ones? They are still perfectly healthy disks.

Well, you buy an external SATA dock!

Then you can do off-RAID backup to the disks. Those disks probably last longer than your DVD backups.

The next Backup iteration

Finally I have a backup strategy for my server too. Not actually perfect, but it works for me. I even added backup of some data from my home RAID system and vice versa to it. The data is backed up to two different locations (rsync.net and Amazon S3) and additionally to the RAID. Some data, like photos is transferred from the RAID to the Server and from there to Amazon S3. All Laptops backup to the RAID. That is too much data to be stored at either offsite location price-wise.

All data transfer is encrypted. The data files are encrypted at either offsite backup but not on the RAID for easy access.

Twitter - what?

In contrast to my last post, I am using twitter now. More for telling the world what we do, than what I personally do for my leisure. It is the only valid way for me. Giving an idea of what's happening in research.

New Job - Industry Liaison Manager

I have changed jobs and moved away from the Fraunhofer Society to take a post as Industry Liaison Manager for a Machine Learning and Neurotechnology Research group at the Berlin Institute of Technology.

My main focus now will be to manage our industry relations, organize talks and seminars and work on technology transfer. The research project works on non-invasive neurotechnology to improve sensors, data analysis and apply the results in neuro-usability and other applications related to man-machine interaction.

This is going to be a challenging and most interesting job.

Amazon S3 / WebDAV proxy updated

I took the liberty to check out my old code and work on it to finally fix some of the problems. It now correctly uses the last-modified time and the cache handling as well as lazy download from S3 is implemented. To really work with the server it will need better cache handling. After many tests the basic and copymove finally run through repeatedly without failure.

Still a long way to go.

Update: (2009-01-28) In the meantime I implemented the property handling which only fails for some strange UTF-8 property values. Now the litmus test runs 99% through. Using MacOS X Finder to test looks promising.

twitter: the public chat

I have been following a few friends twitter messages via Google Reader and I get the impression that it works much like a group chat system. The conversations are similar to cross-linked comments in weblogs and have a similar publicity.

Unlike these friends I never really started to use twitter and even deleted my account there, as well as in a few other social networking systems. I give away so much already so I don't want to make the harvesting too easy. What strikes me though is, why a service like twitter has taken away the public chat room from classic instant messaging systems. It works much like IRC (Internet Relay Chat) where you can just join into an open chat. However, it looks crude that you have to read the others chat to actually communicate.

I guess the real advantage of twitter is the simple user interfaces on loads of different systems that heavy weight instant messaging systems failed to provide until now.

Amazon EU

Well, it is one big continent (plus the little island). I ordered at amazon.co.uk and when my package arrived by "Deutsche Post" it turns out it was even sent from Bad Hersfeld, Germany. Actually, Amazon should get real and drop the delivery fee from UK to Germany. Seems to be a penalty for ordering in their UK shop.

Nothing to read …

I don't know why. There are about a thousand books in my little library, but I cannot find one to read.

Logitech Harmony Support: Excellent

I have had the best telephone support experience ever. To make it easier for my family to operate all the gadgets crammed underneath out TV I have a Logitech Harmony Universal Remote (model 885). This device works quite well, unless ..., unless you leave it uncharged for about one year. Then the battery is gone and reviving it almost impossible.

Anyway, when I came back from Korea I called the free hotline and even though I did not expect it, they immediately tested the device online and filed an exchange for me. That was the first good thing.

Now, last week I bought a Dreambox, which is a nice little tv receiver with built-in disk. Took me a few hours to get my smartcard running as german cable tv is encrypted. The Harmony remote works okay if you use the default device settings found in the database. However, some keys react slowly and some seem to emit double signals so it always skips. Reading in some forums I found that I should get a copy of a special Dreambox profile into my user account.

Calling the hotline again, I had a helpful and very friendly person on the phone within less than 30 seconds and after presenting serial numbers was escalated to second level support in Canada where another friendly technician copied the profile into my account in no time.

That is service! No fuzz, friendlyness and last but not least speed.

The End and The Beginning

In three days my assignment to Korea ends. It was a good time, a stressful time, we did meet new friends. I am grateful.

In three days I will be back in Germany. It will be a good time, great changes show their signs at the horizon. I am looking forward to it.

The quiet Tokyo

View Larger Map

This is a map of all buddhist temples I have visited during my short holiday trip to Tokyo. Out of the 22 temples I visited I can prove 16 through my pilgimage book stamped and nicely signed by the priests. At first I choose the temples randomly but then decided to read a bit more. Here is a nice explanation of Buddhism in Japan. From this site I then selected temples by pilgrimage to give my walks more of a sense. However, since the Six Amida Pilgrimage (see bottom) can take a while when on foot, I decided for a bycicle. You can rent one just outside Kamakura station.

The best trip though was my trip to the Izu peninsula. Here you can either just visit the Shuzenji onsen or visit the similarily named temple and then hike along the Hiragana path to Okonuin temple. To get there I took the Shinkansen to Mishima and then the local railroad to Shuzenji. It then only takes ten minutes to the temple by bus.

It is an excellent way to experience this city and its surroundings.

Neue Technik, Alte Technik

Irgendwie ist das schon eine komische Sache mit der modernen Technik. Sie verspricht komplizierte Dinge einfacher zu machen. Aber in letzter Zeit komme ich mir vor, wie ein Ingenieur vor hundert Jahren. Wenn etwas nicht funktioniert, nochmal etwas Öl dran, ein ordentlicher Tritt und dann ging es meistens.

Ich hab das jetzt ein paarmal durch. Zum einen wollte Outlook partout nicht mit meinem IMAP Server und mir ist bis heute nicht klar, warum. Ein paarmal virtuell drantreten und nochmal Schmiere in die Konfiguration und plötzlich gings. Das gleiche hatte ich gerade mit einer WLAN Konfiguration. Allerdings hatte die Einrichtung eher was von einem Kurbelstart. Ein paar Umdrehungen und ab gings. Auch hier wieder das gleiche: theoretisch weiss ich wie es geht und praktisch hab ich keine Ahnung warum es erst nach x-mal umkonfigurieren und reset funktioniert hat.

Naja, nur keine Panik und ein kleiner Schubser und alles geht :-)

Secure Online Banking?

I think I wrote about this before, but it annoys me every week. Internet banking here in Korea is only possible using a PC with Microsoft Windows. Not only that, it is only possible using Internet Explorer. Still not done, I can only do it by installing ActiveX plugins that employ trojan horse like technology to protect me from other trojans and key loggers. Actually, I had to install about 3-4 different plugins before I even see the login, which in itself is a plugin that manages the certificats.

Fortunately I have a Parallels virtual machine to protect me, but it does not protect my online account. I wonder why on earth only here in Korea I have to do it. I have had accounts in different parts of the world and I was always able to use standard web browsers of different kinds to do the online banking.

i600 = M6200

Looks like the Samsung Blackjack sold in Korea is identical in most parts with the European version i600. When I tried to update the phone using Samsungs MITs Upgrade Wizard the process stopped at 89% for some reason and I was left with a non-functional phone. Fortunately there are lots of adventurous people around who write about their experience flashing phones. While trying to get it back I decided to give it a try and flash WM6.

First I had to find the USB flash mode, which can be enabled by pressing and holding the green "Receiver" button and the power button. This is quite different from what you find on the net elsewhere. But then it all works as advertised.

Important, though, is to run the MITs wizard first in emergency mode to get the original flash files, just in case. Now the phone has a working WM6 with all its pros and cons. One drawback, however, is that the phones buttons change. In the european version, the number buttons are located in the middle and not the left side of the keyboard. However, that is something I can live with.

The Random Pick

How do I get music like Teranoid? Whenever I am in Japan, I enter one of the big book, video and music stores and look randomly through the shelfes. I usually end up in the "Hardcore" section, where you find lots of fun stuff to listen to. If you cannot read what you're about to buy this is the way to go for me :-)

Rauschkapsel

After month without a car I started driving in Seoul end of last year. The traffic is terrible, just like most drivers experience. When I enter the Gangbyeon Expressway near Hannam-dong I usually put myself into a sound capsule. Right now this is Teranoid Overground Edition. Some japanese techno stuff that simply drives you through.

I tried The Prodigy, but it does not work as well.

Pyongyang

I am back from a trip to North Korea. It was a very interesting trip I now have to reflect on. The following pictures are a night and a morning view from the Yanggakdo Hotel. They make Pyongyang look much better than it actually is ...

I have seen many things in North Korea and I need time to think about many things. This is just a tiny little surreal impression.

Saxonia meets Korean …

My office is still in need of more furniture. However, now that I have managed to get a multi-function printer with fax I can at least do most of my work now. Yesterday I wanted to buy some more stuff for my office, like paper and pens. Conveniently located in our building is an Alpha store. It has most of what you need and we get reasonable prices and discounts. One specific pen I needed I could not find, so I asked the clerk to help me. He quickly found it and let me try one on those try-out strips you also find in paper and pen stores. I said OK and went back to the counter to pay. The clerk followed me and had five of those pens in its hand. I was wondering why and it took me half a day to realize, I had said "Ohhgei", which happens sometimes and is the result of having lived in South-East Germany for a while. For those wondering, "오게" (o-gae) means 5 pieces in Korean.

Watch you language …

Nethack - where you don't need graphics

Some may know my port of Nethack 3.4.3 to the PSP. It has always been fun to play nethack. Not just to solve the game, but also to just run around and kill monsters.

I tried several versions just for fun. There is an interesting Nethack3D variant, but it lacks overview. So I reverted back to a white on black terminal with a few colors.

But I have to admit, I play cheating by copying the save games :-)

New Connectivity … Samsung Blackjack

With the introduction of Apples iPhone the market has changed a lot. However, looking at the iPhone it may have a nice new interface but its more like an iPod than a real business phone. I have checked quite a few options of replacing my nice KTFT EV-W100 with a usable business phone.

Here is my solution: The Samsung Blackjack v3

It features

• WCDMA/HSDPA (up to 3.8MB/s downstream)
• 802.11b/g Wireless LAN
• Windows Mobile 5
• L2TP IPSec and PPTP VPN support
• two cameras (VGA and 1.3 Megapixel), but thats ignorable
• Opera Mobile web browser
• Email (Outlook Mobile)

The best part however, it runs fring which puts these additional services on the phone:

• Skype
• Voice over IP (VOIP), here I put in my 1und1 account
• Google Talk
• MSN, or Windows Live Messenger now
• ICQ

That makes it the ultimate communications device as it allows me to make normal phone calls, call and receive via SIP (VOIP) and be available on the road by chat. In addition to that I have the ability to quickly check Email and look up web sites.

What is missing? Actually, I do miss a builtin GPS receiver, so I think about getting an external bluetooth GPS. Together with Google Maps Mobile I won't ever get lost again.