2012 SCISA Champion

Posted on May 6, 2012 by ceaustin

Congratulations to St Francis Xavier High School Junior Kenneth Dozier, this year’s Class A/AA 200 Meter champion.  Kenneth ran a personal best time of 23.42 seconds to bring home the gold for the Padres.

Kenneth also set personal bests in the 100 Meter and the 400 Meter races.  He placed second in the 100, and third in the 400.

St Francis re-started its Track and Field program in 2012 after several years of inactivity.  The team returns two rising Sophomores and one Middle Schooler for next year’s squad.  Kenneth has already set a goal of a clean sweep of all three sprints at the 2013 State Meet.  Just call him “The Broom!”

Thanks to all the athletes for an exciting season.  Next year will be even better!

Coach Austin

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Setting up NFS and Mac

Posted on August 6, 2011 by ceaustin

I want to use some spare space on my web server to back up my Mac, so I setting up an NFS share on the Ubuntu server and try pointing Time Machine to that disk for back ups.

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Customizing IP Lookups on a Mac (editing the hosts file)

Posted on July 31, 2011 by ceaustin

I do this so infrequently, I usually have to look it up.  This time I am writing it down.

If you have devices on your home network that you access from time to time, it is easy to assign them a name on your Mac, and use the name instead of an IP address.  These instructions are for the Lion OS (version 10.7).  You should be logged in as an administrator of the Mac, or know the administrator username and password.

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Securing AWStats

Posted on June 6, 2011 by ceaustin

Good security strategy utilizes layers of protection.  The more tactics you employ to secure an asset, the more difficult it becomes for someone to crack your safeguards.  AWStats provides a wealth of data about the traffic to your site, but this is not the kind of stuff you just want “laying around” on your website.  Here are some suggestions for keeping that data private:

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From Mainframe to Virtual Desktop – Good to Better

Posted on May 5, 2011 by ceaustin

As with most technology advances, the newest, hottest “thing” grew out of an earlier model.  The latest buzcept, Cloud Computing, leverages the incredible advances in computer processor, disk storage, and Ethernet networks to extend a model that has existed nearly from the dawn of the computer age.  So as IT leaders present ROI and justifications for moving to the latest technology, Continue reading →

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The Root of All Evil

Posted on April 16, 2011 by ceaustin

Certain management principles cycle in and out of popularity over time.  Take the acronym K.I.S.S. – Keep it Simple, Stupid.  In some very real sense, the reminder that we tend to out-think ourselves when faced with everyday problems comes from a fourteenth century philosopher, William of Occam.  Whether we prefer a loose translation of Occam’s Razor (The simplest explanation is invariably the best), or our modern day acronym, we do well to review the basics when complex systems break down. Continue reading →

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Steering the canoe

Posted on March 21, 2011 by ceaustin

My sons and I successfully completed another overnight canoe trip last weekend.  ”Successful” is our code for several benchmarks: we did not flip the boat, everyone stayed mostly dry, the campfire lit easily, tall tales flowed, and everyone had a great time.  This most recent trip down the Saluda River from Greenwood to Newberry provided much different scenery and more challenges than we have seen previously.  In contrast to our first ever canoe trip a few years ago, we have learned Continue reading →

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Peering into the 2011 Crystal Ball

Posted on January 3, 2011 by ceaustin

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I am sharing the things that I expect will happen in 2011.  Of course, my crystal ball has been compared unfavorably to a lump of coal, so bet on these predictions at your own risk. Continue reading →

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My favorite iPhone and iPad apps

Posted on December 15, 2010 by ceaustin

In keeping with the tradition of ranking the past year’s developments, I made a list of my ten favorite iApps.  There are many more on my devices, but these are the ones I enjoy the most.

  1. River Guide for Kayakers.  I own a canoe instead of a kayak, so that I have enough room for camping gear on our overnight canoe trips.  This little app pulls water level and flow data from the USGS gauges across the country.  Having a tough day at work?  Check the water levels on the closest river and start Continue reading →
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3D TV for IPTV – conclusion

Posted on November 30, 2010 by ceaustin

In the previous post, I gave a quick summary of some of the technical pieces required to make 3D TV work.  As it looks now, IPTV providers will have to wait just a bit longer for software updates to some existing equipment.  Once some key pieces are upgraded, systems will be capable of sending 3D signals to customers.  But will customers want to purchase a 3D tier of channels?

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