testing and testing and ... testing ...

It's 12 AM and it feels like I'm alone on the whole floor (and for those of you who didn't know this, the floor means a few hundred rooms).

What happened?

I stil have the same task from today, yesterday, two three and four weeks ago, but this time, it needs to be ready by tomorrow.

In short (I'm not sure I wrote about this) we have a delivery, with the client expecting to thest their new and shiny data receiving event-processing, world saving, validating, probably-french-fries-baking module, and the module is not validating properly when running under pressure ... err ... something like that.


It's not that I'm getting nowhere ... its that it's taking awfully long to get there ...

In short, the new and shiny data receiving event-processing, world saving, validating, probably-french-fries-baking module is sort of crashing (and by "sort of" I mean only in some conditions difficult to replicate, on a server in a different timezone, and while running a test that is impossible to start from here).


So, I'm going by trial and error:
first, making a change in code on client1 (my local machine);
second, compiling module on server1;
third, moving the module on server2, accross the world;
fourth, connecting on client2 - across the world also, right near server2 (actually, they are probably best buddies or whatever close servers and clients are).
fifth, starting the server daemon with my client module on server2;
sixth, starting the client program on client2, connecting it to server daemon and waiting for them to have a chat;
seventh, waiting for my module to crash; if it does, I have something to worh with; If it doesn't I move the change back and make a smaller one;
eight, go dirrectly to first step; do not pass go; do not collect 200$.

Yup!

Damn slow!

Wish me luck!

some more pictures

I have nothing special to say at this point; I just uploaded some pictures and wanted them on my blog.


So, here we go:

another weekend

so ... another weekend almost passed and I've settled into a new routine; It's a new hotel (until monday, when we move back to Cinema again), another weekend, work, taxis, the occasional trip to the shop and so on.

I kind-of miss cyprus though; It's not the place; it's ... skating; and the linch breaks; and going diving with my own gear;

... among other things;

I miss people I think ...

Yesterday I got to the bazaar and got to buy a used 28mm Nikkor lens; it's working great, and I took some photos at night yesterday without needing a flash (it's a fast lens - the main reason I bought it).

Here are some first shots:








utnapistim in the lobby

bathroom

We're probably mooving from the hotel tomorrow; our reservation expires tomorrow and the hotel is all booked.

I should probably finish packing; instead, I spend time in the bathroom with a camera.

Your Camera Does Not Matter

here is an excellent essay on why the camera does not matter.

From TFA:

I met Phil Collins at a screening in December 2003. It came out that people always recognize his sound when they hear it. Some folks decided to play his drums when he walked away during a session, and guess what? It didn't sound like him. Likewise, on a hired kit (or "rented drum set" as we say in the USA) Phil still sounds like Phil. So do you still think it's his drums that give him his sound?

best layed plans

you know what they say about the best layed plans?

apparently our plan to leave tomorrow for cyprus took a fatal blow: we've been asked to stay for another month.

we'll see how it goes i guess ...

some more pictures from eilat

I passed through the pictures from Eilat this evening and decided on some more to upload;

Here's a selection (there are some that will not appear on the blog and can be found here):

glass pyramids

glass pyramids, originally uploaded by utnapistim.

in eilat

so ... i'm in eilat;

i'm in the lobby at the hotel, waiting for L and B to check out (I allready did) so we can go catch a bus.

it's been two hectic days ... for me at least; I had two dives yesterday (big fish, coral, warm water, everything I was hoping to find) and today we visited the dolphins ... reef (i think it's named).

I have mixed feelings about that:
I did a dive with a guide named Tzavi (again, if I spelled that correctly) and it was great.

I saw dolphins that were enjoying themselves ... or at least they looked like they did ...

... and they are stil captive; If I'd have known about it I wouldn't have gone; I'm not sory I did but ... I stil wouldn't have.

T was telling me what to do and not do ("don't touch the dolphins" stuff) because they've worked hard to achieve something there ... and they have ...

... but it's stil captive dolphins.


yup ...
mixed feelings.


Here are some pictures:























Cheerios!
utnapistim in the lobby

some update

I've been running left and right today; We have an upcoming release for an asian client and something is not exactly working as we'd like (to be euphemistic about it).

What this meant for us in the past few days was quality time in office (and leaving for home somewhere between 8 and 10 pm), all day spent on the phone, being asked to solve three or four to-be-ready-by-yesterday problems at the same time (and having to choose between them), asking coleagues over half the world to

please run the test again and let me know when it's finished

when they should have been gone home (as we should have been) and generic mayhem and fun.

It also meant that I didn't have the time to upload any more pictures from around here.


On the plus side, we're (finally) going to Eilat this weekend; we checked out from the hotel, cancelled our reservations for the weekend and moved them to the hotel in Eilat;

The only fact we know is that the last decent-hour-leaving-buss is around eight o'clock this afternoon, leaving from ... I-have-no-idea-where, and we'd better be there at least some twently minutes early.

It's called romanian-style organization if you're wondering;



Wish us luck
utnapistim (abusing the net again)

business lounge

there's something cliche about staying on a chaise longue (hope I spelled that right) under the sky or an umbrella and typing at a laptop.

It's the stuff mobility and G3 commercials are made of. Maybe that's it.


Anyway, I stayed here for about an hour, then the sun set;

Now ... I'm all alone on the business lounge of the hotel, listening music and abusing my laptop.

It's funny: you stay on the lounge, laptop, cofee, cell phone and the whole nine yards and the most profound thing oassing through your head is "hey, I got to tell my friends about this" ...


This is what too much TV will do to you I guess ...

net-junky

Since moving to Cinema hotel I've had no internet connection. It's been so frustrating!

I mean ... we're in a WiFi hotspot, but I've had no signal, or close to no signal; I can sometimes connect, but just for the link to drop in 10 seconds or so.

For uploading pictures it's been so frustrating!


Now, I'm on the fourth floor, in the hotel's Business Lounge, with the laptop in my lap literally) and uploading pictures; I had to dial a code to get in.


So, here are some hilights from the past two days:
B & L are one their way to Haifa; I declined since after the Jerusalem trip I felt it would be either boring, or more of the same, or a combination of these two.

I also dragged B and L through Alenby street yesterday morning through all the photography shops in existence, asking about the 50mm f1.8 Nikkor lens;

I ended up not getting it (I couldn't find it), but I got a polarized filter for the 18-55mm lens, which was pretty cool (but I don't know how to use it properly yet - I just toyed a bit with it).

Anyway, here are some pictures from the last two days (now that I can finally upload):