armb

Also, said laptop should be able to switch from a wired network connection inside a firewall, to wifi outside firewall with VPN, transparently, when undocked/unplugged.

Or failing that, manual switching should be easy.

Recommendations? (For Ubuntu 11.10 or 12.04)

I want a network filesystem that continues to work when the network goes away, and magically reconciles stuff when it comes back. (For use on a Linux laptop which mostly lives in a docking station, but not always.)

I've found http://www.coda.cs.cmu.edu/ and http://code.google.com/p/tsumufs/

Both of them look as if they are trying to solve exactly this problem, but both look like interesting research projects not really ready for production use. Am I wrong? Have I missed something?

If I fall back on "have a local copy, sync regularly with the server", any recommendations?
("Make it all a DVCS repository" (bazaar looks a front runner, git another strong possibility), and Unison are possibilities.)

(And, related, I want to be able to login while disconnected, but keep account information in step with the stuff currently using NIS.
Use "ypcat passwd" (while connected) and compare with local entries?
http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/oneiric/man8/sync-accounts.8.html ?
Something else?)

Shocked to learn of keristor's death in a road traffic accident on Thursday.

http://smallship1.livejournal.com/702005.html?thread=4880437#t4880437

(Without waiting for C++0x)

I actually made it to the pub meet yesterday for the first time in months, and the subject came up. I'm not sure if the relevent person still reads this, but http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_47_0/libs/phoenix/doc/html/index.html looks interesting.

(Note to self, look at JVM 7 dynamic language support, re-read The Art of the Metaobject Protocol.)

My home PC stopped booting Windows this weekend. There are backups of the important stuff that can't be reinstalled, but this could be tedious. Currently watching ddrescue (from a Linux (Debian Mint) USB stick) copying a disk image to NAS. About halfway through (having run all day), Only 1 error so far.
(It seems determined to drive my monitor at 700x400 - I can select other resolutions and the size of things changes accordingly, but not the lack of detail.)

Once I have as full and up-to-date a backup as possible, time to try Windows Restore Console. And buy some new disks possibly....

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/12/10/lego_computer/

The original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/armb/5250815697/
(Yes, there are much better photos on the web, but that's mine.)

What's the difference between a Cultivator ("for preparation of ground prior to sowing or planting"), a Power Digger ("For digging uncultivated ground"), and a Rotavator (different web site, no description)?

As I mentioned before, I've been expressly forbidden from buying a "project" tandem.
But....
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280563184834

[Edit: But Alice wouldn't actually fit on the back of that, so it was a silly idea.]

I have, incidentally, been absolutely forbidden to buy a "project" tandem like http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330460076823&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT or http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ladyback-tandem-frame-50-60s-spares-repair-/120610031787?pt=UK_Bikes_GL

I didn't mention http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~armb/cycling/tandem.html (or the (slightly incomplete) tandem chainset that has been in the shed since a previous Mildenhall Cycle Rally Jumble).

We tried out a tandem today (me and R, and me and Alice (and some of the time just me)).
A Dawes Galaxy Twin, hired from http://www.stationcycles.co.uk

It was quite scary getting used to starting off on it, but overall considered a success.

Lunch at http://www.themissingsock.co.uk which was good but took a long time to arrive - R's baked stuffed sweet potato might have been a mistake, as it was a very large sweet potato, which presumably took a long time to bake.