Slashdot Slashdotted Itself

Well it seems the almighty Slashdot is itself vulnerable to Slashdotting.

We noticed it was returning a 500 Internal Service Error around lunchtime today and the noise on twitter confirmed others were seeing the same thing.

According to the chief network engineer Slashdot went down due to an massive amounts of traffic on their internal network, about 40 Gbit/sec across their core switches.

Service was restored after the problem switch was isolated, however the origin of the cause is yet to be identified.

Slashdot is a popular tech news website from which the term 'Slashdot Effect' was coined - where their thousands of readers all follow the same link in at once, bringing that site to it's knees.

Storing Web App Configuration: Disk or DB?

I've struggled for a while trying to decided where I store the configuration of the web-based applications I'm developing. Do I store them on disk as files or in the database? And how can I do it quickly, cleanly, and in a way that won't lead to mistakes or catastrophic disaster?

Finally I have a technique I'm satisfied with. One that is safe, neat and low risk.

"SQL is Dead"

According to Monty Taylor, of the MySQL based Drizzle project, 'SQL is Dead'.

In a short presentation yesterday at LCA, Monty demonstrated why he thought SQL should take a back seat to more efficient forms of talking to relational databases.

Netbooks: So Hot Right Now

I was surprised today at linux.conf.au at how many people were carrying around netbooks.

At breakfast someone at my table was demonstrating an application on one. And as I looked around the lecture hall during the Systems Administration Miniconf I spotted numerous ASUS Eee PCs, and Acer Aspire Ones.

I asked someone what the appeal was and they told me it's the incredible portability of the devices that makes them so attractive.

I find it interesting that a category of computers that barely existed at the start of 2008 is now emerging as a preferred choice amongst many technology professionals over the larger laptop, and I expect this year we'll see this strong grow continue.

But it gets me wondering: How many of those who regularly use a netbook also regularly use a laptop? And is there anything besides their portability that makes them desirable?

Starting the year at LCA09

It's 2009 and what better way to start the year than with a conference.

This week I'm hanging at linux.conf.au. It's the first time in its ten year history that it's been held in Hobart. LCA is the leading conference for the Linux and Free and Open Source Software community down-under.

So for the rest of the week I'll be blogging from the conference and sharing my thoughts, observations and insights.

If you're wondering what else is going on you can follow the action on flickr, twitter, or around the blogosphere.

Gutsy move from reddit

Reddit made a bold move yesterday and released their source code under the CPAL open source license. I'm a fan of reddit's programming section and will be interested to see how this effects the long term success of reddit.

Impression of Sydney's new Apple Store

The Apple Store opens to the public tomorrow in Sydney and I had a chance to check it out today. The glass front is eye-catching and the layout inside is sparse and inviting. It has free Internet too, which is sure to be a hit with travelers looking to update their Facebook profiles.

Apple does very well at gearing everything in the store to making the customer feel comfortable about buying and using their products - something other computer retailers would do well to imitate. The retail trimming was definitely the standout thing from this morning's preview.

Locking considered harmful.

Seriously. Locking is counterproductive to writing fast websites. Any process that meets a lock that is already locked, waits. It waits until it is free. And waiting means that the page being generated goes nowhere until the lock is free again. Locking is not good. Really. So stop using them.

Commenting out code is evil

If you are a software developer you probably use some kind of version control system like subversion, git, or maybe Bazaar, everyday at work. And if you aren't you should be.

When using version control there are some bad habits that need to be broken to get the most from it. One bad habit that really needs to be broken is the habit of commenting out dead code instead of deleting it.

I heart Instant Messaging

Pasc's last post reminded me about a couple of recent conversations I had with some friends regarding office communication, in which I stated my preference for using Instant Messaging for the majority of communication. As it turns out, this opinion isn't particularly popular (probably because many companies block access).