Renewal

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Eric

Last year got swallowed up by a new job and home renovations. But this is the year of the boat! While I had hoped to do all the boat projects myself, a few of the projects were simply too big. As I write this entry, the boat has been on the hard for several weeks receiving the professional attention it needs. The two major projects are thru-hulls and chain plates. Other work includes bottom paint, repairing the transom, zincs, re-finishing the prop, and a variety of small fixes and improvements. Continue reading →

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Build Procedures for Linux Server with LAMP, CakePHP and Solr

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Eric

Most of my development and technical experience has been in the Microsoft world. Last year I decided to develop a web application using an open source stack. I wrote the app using CakePHP. As I added Solr/Lucene search and started work on deploying to a production environment, server configuration turned out to be as big a job as development.

These are my build and deploy procedures, which include instructions for:

  • Installing a Linux server OS and LAMP environment
  • Installing and configuring the necessary services
  • Installing Tomcat and Solr
  • Setting up a CakePHP website
  • Installing and configuring Solr/Lucene in Tomcat

Continue reading →

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Minty Boost Bad

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Eric

This is a follow-up to my previous post: Proprietary Batteries Bad, Standard Batteries Good. That post describes building a Minty Boost kit and the promise of using the Minty Boost with standard batteries to charge my cell phone rather than getting a second proprietary battery. I enjoyed building the kit and initially it seemed to work as hoped. However, the Minty Boost ended up failing miserably. Continue reading →

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Proprietary Batteries Bad, Standard Batteries Good!

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Eric

My assembled Minty BoostI wanted to have some extra battery power available for my new power-sucking Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket. But like all cell phones, this one requires its own special proprietary battery and I didn’t want to spend $25 on a specialized battery that will be obsolete in a couple years. Another issue: that expensive Lithium Ion battery cannot currently be recycled in a commercially feasible manner and is virtually certain to end up in a landfill. Solution: Minty Boost! Continue reading →

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Settling in to the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Eric

It’s been over three weeks since I made the jump from my aged Blackberry Pearl to the latest greatest Android phone. With a week or so remaining to change my mind, it’s very likely I’ll stick with the Skyrocket. It is far from perfect and I have spent more time in the last month reading mobile device forums and reviews than I care to admit. I also have made several trips and calls to various mobile phone stores. The advice and information I found is consistent; despite my remaining complaints, the Skyrocket appears to be among the best choices in a very imperfect field of contenders. Continue reading →

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