Ryan Spaulding's NAS Home page

 

 

So what is it you say you do here?
Well, I do a lot of web development with PHP/Perl and Javascript. Currently I have been doing a lot of AJAX applications using the MyBic framework. I also help support over 150 Macs and about 100 Linux desktops and servers.

 

"Look Ma No Hands"
I recently earned a promotion from a System Administrator to a Systems Analyst. I pretty much have the same job as I did before but now I get to solve bigger problems which is always more fun :)

 

Geeky Fun

  • Project Euler (http://www.projecteuler.net/index.php?section=about) - I found this cool website from a friend on the train. I wanted to learn C so I decided to start solving these problems while learning a new language. It has been a ton of fun.
  • Tableless web design. I recently have been bitten by the CSS bug. I am finding that designing without tables is more fun and has gotten me more excited about HTML again. Now if you look at this page you might say "Hey this page is using tables". Well it is and when I get time I will switch it over.

 

Wow, you use screen that's old school...
I have been criticized a number of times for using screen. I have a screen session running on a host that I can connect to with one ssh connection from anywhere. This allows me to connect from home, work and other computers. So it maybe old school but I can get a ton of work done quickly without a bazzillion terminal windows all over the place :) or need some tab-enabled terminal client.

 

Why do work that cron can do for you :)
Recently I have had to create a number of "Glue" scripts to get xyz data from one database to another. To do this nightly I have been setting up cron scripts to run them while I am not there. After a little trial and error I have come up with two simple rules:

  1. If you are redirecting your output to mail have the script spit out some start and end text so you do not send a null message.
  2. Set up a .forward file in your home directory so errors will get sent to you.

 

Outside interests? (Wait don't you work all the time?!)
I love all forms of cycling. I love riding my Mountain bike with my wife and friends. I will be riding in the Single Speed Championships in Napa CA. If you want to know more about me check out my blog (www.spauldinghill.org).



Last Update : July 17, 2008
Curator: Ryan Spaulding