Back On Linux – Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition

It’s been a few days on my new Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition. I have to say, it’s a very nice computer. Linux runs great on it and it has plenty of system resources to run my applications.

The computer is a few inches smaller than the size of my MacBook Air, but the the screen size in pixels is much bigger. It has an HD screen that’s 1080px tall. Very nice. The screen is sharp and clear. The XPS is also very fast with Linux on it. I can scroll web pages without maxing out the CPU like on my MBA. There is also no delay in loading web sites in Chrome. I haven’t had any issues with compiling apps or running CPU intensive programs.

With the pre-installed 8GB RAM I was finally able to run my Linux server VM without memory warnings. Not only that but it runs really great. It opens fast and boots my Linux server image quickly. Very nice for testing my Chef scripts before committing my changes.

One of the first things I did after setting up the pre-installed Ubuntu was to go to Gnome.org and install the Gnome-Shell desktop. I like it much better than the Ubuntu Desktop. It’s more clean and easier to use with the default settings. I haven’t used Linux in 10 years and my last desktop was Enlightenment. I tried out E17 recently and I guess I’ve just outgrown it. These days I’m more into getting things done.

Linux. It’s nice to be back on Linux. Things are so fast and it’s easy to find apps that I need to do my work with. It’s also what my apps run on when I deploy them to my servers so it makes sense to run the same OS. I was also getting tired of the Apple decisions going into Mac OS X. The OS was getting slow and even more locked down than ever. I recommend all programmers to make the switch (or anyone else for that matter).

One thing I’m looking forward to after I finish my current side job is to start building some Linux apps. I see there is a few things that I would like to have that don’t exist yet. I miss my Divvy app from the Mac and there is also a need for something like Little Snitch. Those are only a few ideas but I have a ton. I want to bring a lot of the apps that I used on the Mac over to Linux. Can’t wait for spare time.

I’ll chime in with another report next month on how things are going. I’m sure things will be fine.

Narrowed It Down To These Three

I’ve narrowed my choices down to these three computers:

Computer CPU Memory Screen Drive Price
Dell XPS 13 DevEd 2.0 – 3.2GHz Dual-core i7 8GB 1920 x 1080 256 SSD $1550
Thinkpad X1 Carbon 2.0 – 3.2GHz Dual-core i7 8GB 1600 x  900 256 SSD $1860
MacBook Pro 13 Ret 3.0 – 3.7GHz Dual-core i7 8GB 2560 x 1600 256 SSD $1900

I’m leaning towards the Dell because it has a really nice screen, it’s cheap, and it comes with Linux pre-installed. The Mac does have better specs and probably a lot of nice features. Mostly things I will probably never use like Thunderbolt. I’m going to run Linux on it also, so I need something that will work well. Linux on the Mac isn’t the best experience. The XPS is almost the same thing as the Thinkpad but a much better screen and price.

So hard to pick a new computer. But I have the cash in hand and I’m ready to buy this week.

Great To Be Back On Linux

It’s been a few weeks on Linux and I’m finally getting used to things again. 10 years on Mac was a really long time. It doesn’t seem like much has changed on Linux, but I’m sure there is a lot I haven’t seen yet.

It’s much faster than OS X. Uses much less CPU for the things that used to max out my system. On the Mac just scrolling a web page would tweak it. Not anymore. Chrome runs much better (using the official Google package). Ruby is much easier to use too. I’ve switched to rbenv and I really like how simple it is.

I do miss some of the cool Mac tools I’ve been using for the last few years. But I think I’ll find replacements soon enough. I’m pretty sure that I’m not going back. Not sure what my next computer will be though. I’m still thinking about a MacBook Pro. I can’t find a better computer out there. And I’m sure Linux will run just fine on it. ;-)

Still Can’t Decide

I’ve been looking at the Thinkpad X1 Carbon for weeks now. I’ve also been looking at other laptops trying to decide what will be my next computer. It’s so hard to decide. Nothing can really compete with an Apple MacBook Pro. Processor speed, total memory, profile, the glass trackpad feel, the aluminum chassis…

I might just have to get a MacBook Pro again. It has the best of the best stuff in it. I know it’s another $1000 on top of the X1, but after driving a super car for 10 years it’s hard to go back to a sports car.

I’ve been looking at reviews and YouTubes but I still haven’t gone to the store to check out the X1 in person. Maybe I’ll have a different opinion about it after seeing it in person. I think that next time I’m in Reno I’ll have to swing by the store and see if there are any around. I’ll probably have to drive into the bay area to see one. LOL

Still on the fence. Maybe I’ll just install Linux on my Air and use it for a few months to see how it works out. Maybe it will be faster and less troublesome.

Moving Back To Linux

I’ve been on the Mac platform for about 10 years now after switching from Linux. Everything has been awesome. But it seems that the new updates are as good as they used to be. Things are running  a bit slower and features are being removed.

So, before it goes all to hell I’m switching back to Linux. I’m not even sure why I really switched anyway. I think it was because OS X was built on Unix. Because the Mac just looked awesome. And the Mac had more software that I could use. But when it comes right down to it, I don’t use that much software.

I only use my computer for work anymore. I have my iPad for play. When I’m not working I’m outside working on my new hobbies.

So last week I tried to install Debian Linux on my MBA. After hours and hours I finally got it on, but I could not boot it. So I finally gave up and restored my Mac from TimeMachine. (Had to work you know)

I’m going to give it another try soon. I’ll be more prepared this time. More research into booting Linux on the Mac and stuff. If all else fails, I’ll sell the MBA and get something that I can boot Linux on. ;-)

Things I’ve Learned About XS650′s

Vibration

When I first got my bike anything over 45MPH would vibrate my teeth out, make my vision blurry, and parts were breaking off the bike. Everyone kept telling me that if I didn’t like the vibration then I picked the wrong bike. That the vibrations were part of the character of the XS.

Now after fixing the wheel alignment, new chain and sprockets, tensioners, guides, synced carbs and tune, and new pipes I can ride 80MPH with a vibration that is more tolerable. Things are not breaking off the bike and I can ride a hundred miles a day.

I think when people complain about the vibration, maybe it’s because there is something wrong with the bike. The bigest thing on mine was the chain alignment. After fixing that my bike smoothed out and it became a real nice ride. Still vibrates but it’s totally different than when I got it.

Electrical

I’m pretty good at electrical. I figured things out pretty well. But the stock XS650 electrical system is a rats nest. It doesn’t have to be this complicated. People kept saying that the stock electrical system is fine. You just need a battery tender, make sure the brushes are good, keep connections clean, and re-solder the TCU, get a stronger larger battery and it’s all good. Easy as that.

Just save yourself some pain and go with the PMA and Pamco. There is a reason why they are so popular. It’s because they are so much easier. I don’t even need a battery let alone keeping it charged so the bike will run. Best money I’ve spent on my bike. I was fighting my electrical system for a month. After installing the PMA/Pamco I was running in 10 minutes. I haven’t had a single problem since.

Carbs

Carbs were the easiest thing I’ve done so far. It’s best to clean them up, replace anything that’s bad, and set them to stock. I have pods and baffled pipes with stock jets. It runs pretty good. Be sure to sync them to improve vibration. I went with the BS38′s on my 81 because it came with them and the BS34′s were not in good shape. The carb guide helped a lot. Also make sure your electrical is good before blaming the carbs. I had fouled out plugs and low battery when I was working on my carbs. After fixing the electrical my bike ran great. Use good gas. I’m getting 57MPG right now.

Clutch

The clutch on these bikes can be maddening. Finding neutral is impossible unless you are rolling or the engine is off in a lot of cases. There is a cold and hot adjustment and you have to keep dialing it in as you ride.

I have replaced the clutch lever, cable, worm gear, clutch rod, clutch pack, thrust bearing, springs, HBB’s hydro clutch, and 20/50 motorcycle oil. Nothing has improved the clutch. It either slips or it grabs. I have shaved the clutch lever to get more pull but I still can’t get neutral when idling in gear.

Getting neutral isn’t really my problem. It’s if I don’t get it into neutral or first before slowing below 15MPH, then I can’t get it into first at all. I have to take off in second until I can get it to coast enough that I can get it into first. 15MPH seems to be the magic shift before you go slower number.

I have also found that it’s much easier to shift without the clutch. I’m sure it’s not the best for the bike though. Especially downshifting. I can downshift easy but if I do it too soon it will skid the rear just a bit. I guess getting the timing right will help with this.

1770 On The Odometer

When I got the bike it had about 300 miles on it. I’m up to 1770 now. I really like riding. Building, eh, no so much.

I’m still fighting with things vibrating off or cracking/breaking from vibration. Still trying to fix problems from the previous owner. But it’s getting a lot nicer.

The current problem is fixing the chain alignment. It flaps side to side hitting the tire and frame. It’s eating the tire up. Yesterday I spent the entire day re-aligning the rear wheel to see if I could fix it. It’s better now, but still bad at 65-70MPH under load.

Today, on my way home from super burritos, I lost my tail light cover. I paid 40 bucks for that light and first the internals broke and now it just falls apart. Good thing I have another. But I’m thinking that I need to replace it with something more sturdy. Also today the rubber mount for my gas tank failed and now my take is all loose.

My next steps are to rework the hardtail. It’s too long and I think it’s not straight. Then this winter I want to re-phase the engine. 277° from HHB. That should help a lot with vibration. I’m also going to go up to 700 or 750 cc. That should give me some more power to also keep the vibrations down. And while I have the engine cracked open I’ll put in the MikesXS 5th gear to lower the RPMs while going down the highway. That should really improve the bike.

After all that, I should have a nice bike to ride while I build my next project bike. ;-)

200 Miles Down!

I did a lot of riding this weekend. Rode to Fernley on Saturday to the bank and filled up. I’m getting 54MPH right now. That’s pretty good. Better than I thought.

Then Sunday we rode through Virginia City and into Carson for an 80 mile round trip. The curves were cool. I think I’m going to like this biking thing. Can’t wait to start riding to work.

I’m going to try and get my clutch sorted out tonight/tomorrow night. Then I’m going to ride into Reno on Wednesday for work.

100 Miles Down, Thousands To Go

IMG_0717
IMG_0719

Made it to my first 100 miles on my chopper yesterday. Everything is running great.

I’m going to wire in the blinkers this weekend and ride into town. I think I have everything I need to wire up the blinkers now. I need to take the rear fender off and weld in some steel brake line that I bought then run the wires in it to protect them from the wheel. It should work out good. 

Mah Choppa – Almost There

My chopper is so close to being done. I just can’t wait to start riding it. Well, I have been riding it actually.

I still have a few small things like blinkers and tail pipe mount to finish, but its pretty much done. I have the paint for it and when it’s nice out I’m going to clean it up and paint it. I want to relocate the filler and petcock on the tank before I paint though.

I’m going to finish it up this weekend.  Here it is as it looks right now.

IMG_0699
IMG_0700

Another Look At Sublime Text 2

cpo

I decided that I needed to take another look at Sublime Text 2. There has been several version updates since the last one I used. A few new configuration settings help make this editor great. Not to mention the new look is really cool.

I still can’t get used to having to double click on files to open them. You can single click to “preview” them, but when you toggle to another tab the preview goes away. This is very annoying.

But editing is really great. I love some of the things that they include like the token matching. If I’ve typed something var name above, then I just start typing it and hit tab to complete it. This is super nice. (I set mine to tab completion in my config)

I’m actually thinking about buying a license for it.

Ma Choppa – The Clutch

I have had problems shifting into neutral since just after getting the bike. I chocked it up to needed adjustment. One day I started playing with the adjustment and I just could not dial it in.

Hugh’s Handbuilt announced a new hydraulic clutch that fixes the problem with finding neutral. So I jumped on it. Got it last week and installed it over the weekend. I still could not get the clutch adjusted to find neutral. Randy said there could be something wrong with the clutch pack or clutch basket.

We cracked open the right side case to check it out. Yep, the clutch pack was screwed. Two out of the six were the wrong size and binding in the basket. Well, there’s the problem. I was able to put my single piece clutch rod on at the same time. Now I’m waiting for my new clutch pack and screws to hold the basket in. The screws were all stripped out and bent.

I hope to be on the road this weekend now…

Card Member Services

For the past few years I’ve been getting calls from Card Member Services every other day. It’s a scam that steels your credit card and identity. There is no way to stop it. The Feds can’t do anything, the banks can’t do anything, and the phone company won’t do anything to stop it.

Lately I’ve been wasting their time by talking to them and giving them fake info. I talk about the weather and Florida (where they are based). I don’t know what else to do. I’m already on the do-no-call list. I’ve also reported them to the FTC many times.

Aaron from Card Member Services was pretty cool guy. I was on the treadmill when he called.  I sounded like a total idiot. Finally I told him to call me back, but he never did.

The latest guy caught on pretty quick after dropping the line and putting them on hold a lot.  Finally Ethan hung up on me after I told him my credit card — that had 123456789 in it.

Update:

I changed my ATT phone number and relinked my Google Voice number to it. I got them to do it for free too. What’s nice about my Google Voice number is that it’s free and I can block numbers for free too.

Pamco Installed

I solved the carb problem on my bike (by carb problem I mean spark plugs) and the next thing to solve was the way advanced timing. I finally broke out the timing light was started checking things out and found my timing was running at idle where it should have been full advance at full throttle. I dinked around with trying to time it and it just wasn’t going to happen.

So I purchased the Pamco electronic ignition system from MikesXS. Got the high power coil, advancing rod, ATU, and all the parts to swap my bike over. Install was simple. I think it only took me an hour but it should have only taken 15 minutes. It’s pretty simple.

After getting it all installed I could not get the bike started. So back to the computer for more research. From what I could gather, I had a ground problem. Then today I finally found a tasty tid bid. The coil mounting surface is a ground for the coil and how I mounted it to the bike it was not grounded. I took the coil off and filed the paint off where I mounted it then put it all back on.

Now my bike makes vroom vroom noises again!  I quickly checked the timing and it’s right on the mark.

I should be riding this weekend!  I just need to clean up the wiring a bit and then I’m off to the streets. 

The State of Silver Springs Internet

When I first moved to Silver Springs, NV there was no high speed internet access. At first I was on Dialup and that wasn’t going to hack it. Later I switched to dual ISDN for way too much money per month. Fed up with the sorry state of access I started my own ISP. Got myself a T1 to my house and use wireless networking to my customers. This actually worked out pretty good. 1.5mb both ways and life was happy for a while. I sold the ISP about 7 years ago.

Things went downhill pretty fast with it. After fighting it for years I finally signed up with the other internet provider that moved in shortly after I build my ISP. It’s been pretty solid. I still had my account with the first ISP so I build myself a pfSense router and hooked up both ISPs to it. Now I have a multi-wan configuration.

Here is the current speeds for each network I have access to:

HDISS Internet

$120/mo

Download Speed: 2844 kbps
Upload Speed: 1248 kbps

AT&T 3G

$45/mo

Download Speed: 2540 kbps
Upload Speed: 450 kbps

HSN Internet

$40/mo

Download Speed: 1201 kbps
Upload Speed: 579 kbps

The HSN network is the most unreliable right now. Sometimes it’s ok speed at 1.5Mbps down, but usually it’s under a Mb. AT&T recently moved 3G into our area and it has really good speed. I’m thinking about hooking that up to my router as a backup to my two networks.

The only thing that still irks me is that I still can’t watch a YouTube video without pauses. But things are looking up business wise and soon I’ll be moved into the city where I can get 30Mbps down for less than I pay now. It will be nice.

Carbs…no.

Well, all this time I thought my carbs were messed up. It was bad spark plugs. I swapped them out for new ones yesterday and the bike fired right up. It runs great…almost. There is an issue with the timing being advanced too far. Thought the cam chain was off a tooth, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Figured out how to check for that today. I’ll check the cam chain tension and put the light on it again this weekend.

Ping Ping Ping

I was sitting here working away on my multi-gateway network and all of a sudden I could not access anything. “This isn’t right” I said to myself. It should just drop off the bad gateway.

Well, I was pinging the other side of my ISP’s network connection. The Tel-Co side. I thought that if anything would go down it would be the connection between my ISP and theirs. Nope. Pings were just fine.

Now I’m pinging the DNS servers. Now when my ISP goes down, it just drops that gateway and uses my other ISP.

I haven’t had to use my third option. Connecting to any random open WiFi. ;-)

WP Vehicle Post Type

Another new plugin using my Rental Post Type code for Vehicles. I have it up and running for 123lex.us. You can get the code on my GitHub account Here.

I’m working on KBB and DealerTrend data file imports right now. This should be done in the next few weeks. I only work on this code on the weekends.

One of the reasons I’m doing a DT import is to speed up the inventory listings for my DT customers. Right now it downloads the inventory from their servers on every request. That really slows things down. It used to cache, but it doesn’t seem to be doing that anymore. I’m getting a lot of complaints about the slowness.

To fix the slow problem I will download the inventory from DT and import it into WP. Then it’s served straight from WP. The import can be run nightly also.

I’m also replacing the widgets that come with the WP DealerTrend plugin. The thumbs display is really, really slow and has no way to target pages anymore. So I’m fixing that up along with making it better.

My auto dealer customers are going to be pretty happy soon.

Custom Post Type and Post Meta Queries

I spent most of the day today trying to figure out how to sort and search WordPress post meta data. I did a lot of Google searches trying to figure this out. I found just enough to piece it together. Here it is.

if ( !is_admin() ) add_filter( 'posts_clauses', 'ors_rental_query' );
function ors_rental_query($clauses) {
if ( !strstr($clauses['where'], 'rental') ) return $clauses;
global $wpdb, $ors_rental_cookies;
$clauses['fields'] .= ", CAST((select {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_value from {$wpdb->postmeta} where {$wpdb->postmeta}.post_id = {$wpdb->posts}.ID and {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_key = 'price') as decimal) as price";
$clauses['fields'] .= ", CAST((select {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_value from {$wpdb->postmeta} where {$wpdb->postmeta}.post_id = {$wpdb->posts}.ID and {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_key = 'home_size') as decimal) as home_size";
$clauses['fields'] .= ", CAST((select {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_value from {$wpdb->postmeta} where {$wpdb->postmeta}.post_id = {$wpdb->posts}.ID and {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_key = 'bedrooms') as decimal) as bedrooms";
$clauses['fields'] .= ", CAST((select {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_value from {$wpdb->postmeta} where {$wpdb->postmeta}.post_id = {$wpdb->posts}.ID and {$wpdb->postmeta}.meta_key = 'bathrooms') as decimal) as bathrooms";
$clauses['having'] = array();
$clauses['orderby'] = '';
if ( isset($ors_rental_cookies['text_search']) and $ors_rental_cookies['text_search'] != '' ) {
$clauses['where'] .= " and ({$wpdb->posts}.post_title like '%{$ors_rental_cookies['text_search']}%'";
$clauses['where'] .= " or {$wpdb->posts}.post_content like '%{$ors_rental_cookies['text_search']}%')";
}
$search_params = array('bedrooms', 'bathrooms');
foreach ($search_params as $param) {
if ( isset($ors_rental_cookies[$param]) and $ors_rental_cookies[$param] != '' ) {
$clauses['having'][] = "$param = '$ors_rental_cookies[$param]'";
}
}
if ( !empty($clauses['having']) ) {
$clauses['where'] .= ' HAVING ' . implode(' and ', $clauses['having']);
}
$order_params = array('price' => 'price_near', 'home_size' => 'size_near');
foreach ($order_params as $field => $param) {
if ( isset($ors_rental_cookies[$param]) and $ors_rental_cookies[$param] != '' ) {
$clauses['orderby'] .= ", ABS({$ors_rental_cookies[$param]} - $field)";
}
}
if ( $clauses['orderby'] == '' ) $clauses['orderby'] = 'price ASC';
else $clauses['orderby'] = substr($clauses['orderby'], 2);
return $clauses;
}

New in WordPress 3.1 is the posts_clauses filter. There is no documentation page on it, so I had to Google for the usage. But it works awesome for what I needed.

I use the $clauses['fields'] to subquery in the meta data. Then I’m able to do sort orders on it. I can order by price or whatever from the aliased subqueries. In my case I use special “near” method to find the prices that are near the search param.

To find an exact match like in my bathrooms and bedrooms, I use a HAVING clause to get access to my aliases. I just tack it to the end of the $clauses['where'] and it works like a charm.

I make sure to use CAST to cast my strings to integers for sorting by price and size. No buggy string number sorts here.

The above code does a lot and it might be more than you need but it should point you in the right direction. For more check out the source code Rental Post Type Line 293

Business Update 2012

Things are going pretty good with ORS.  Jane is onboard building sites, the 01click project is moving pretty good, and I have two more projects on the back burner waiting for time.  I also have two internal projects that I would really like to get going this year.

Jane is doing awesome at launching sites.  TheJane, We Race Against Hunger, and a few others.  She is also converting all my old sites from HTML to WordPress.  I’ll soon be able to turn off that old Slicehost server.

I might have to hire someone to do my back burner Rails projects.  I have two that could be pretty good.  I don’t have the money to hire anyone though, so that will be hard.  Can’t find anyone to work for free. ;-)  If they weren’t automotive related I could probably get my friend Dave to help me, but he is looking for something outside of that realm as a side project.

Anyway, gotta get back to work.  I’ll be in SF tomorrow at the Heroku Waza.