How to move a drop of fluid.

One constant difficulty in microfluidics is devising similarly small systems to move the volume of fluid. It seems the University of Michigan has come up with one very elegant solution:

Tuned cavities are resonated, causing air to move through connected channels and push fluids along.
Video

While still very much a concept the simplicity of the solution is admirable.

Ricky Gervais interviewing Larry David

This is part 1 of 6 where Ricky Gervais talks Curb, The Office and comedy in general with Larry David. It's superb.

How to Install Xwiki on Ubuntu

(This 3 year old post probably isn't relevant any more and sorry to those that have asked for help but I don't even have a ubuntu installation to check things with anymore. Good luck solving your problems)

Lately I've battled with installing Xwiki on Ubuntu. It is written in Java and while the stand-alone installer worked fine on windows, no one wants a windows server.


This is the process I used to install XWiki on Ubuntu Desktop 9.04:

1. Instal everything for a webserver using Synaptic: (I installed php as well as I knew I would use it later)

apache2, tomcat6, tomcat6-examples, tomcat6-user, mysql-server, mysql-client

2. Check tomcat is working: localhost:8080 you should see some welcome information for tomcat.

3. Download the current xwiki.war.

4. Copy it to the webapps directory of tomcat:

sudo cp xwiki-enterprise-2.0.war /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/xwiki.war

5. Download the latest version of the mysql connector

6. Copy it to the lib directory of xwiki:

sudo cp mysql-connector-java-5.1.6.jar /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/lib

7. Create a mysql database and set the permissions for a new user 'xwiki':

mysql -u root -p -e "create database xwiki"

mysql -u root -p -e "grant all privileges on xwiki.* to xwiki@127.0.0.1 identified by 'xwiki'"

8. Edit the xwiki/WEB-INF/hibernate.cfg.xml file,

 sudo vim /var/lib/tomcat6/webapps/xwiki/WEB-INF/hibernate.cfg.xml

replace the similar section with this:

 <property name="connection.url">jdbc:mysql://localhost/xwiki</property>
<property name="connection.username">xwiki</property>
<property name="connection.password">xwiki</property>
<property name="connection.driver_class">com.mysql.jdbc.Driver</property>
<property name="dialect">org.hibernate.dialect.MySQLDialect</property>

 9. Change the security settings in Tomcat:

sudo vim /etc/init.d/tomcat

find and set the following to 'no':

 TOMCAT6_SECURITY=NO

10. Restart tomcat

sudo service tomcat6 restart

11. Head to localhost:8080.and you should come across a page which suggests you import the default .xar templates.

default administrator: username=Admin, password=admin
Log in: localhost:8080/xwiki/login/XWiki

Have fun importing the template and making your new spaces, pages and blogs.

References:
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/AdminGuide/Installation
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/AdminGuide/InstallationMySQL
http://platform.xwiki.org/xwiki/bin/view/AdminGuide/ImportExport

The 3 deployment environments

A bit of software engineering theory for those interested.

If the environment is defined as the hardware and software present on a system then the following three environments are required to properly deploy software:

Development - on which the application is developed. Will generally contain IDEs and a range of libraries.
Testing - on which testing (except for performance) is completed. Outside of specific testing software this environment may contain utilities such as terminal emulation, or packet sniffing software.
Staging - an exact replica of the live environment. All performance testing must take place here.
Live - the actual final deployment destination.

How many of these environments have you combined and thus ultimately ignored? I know I'm now suffering as the Staging and Live environments of a recently deployed application were anything but exact replicas.

Have you read the Big Beat Manifesto lately?

These guys have:

This could be painful

Today I started crossfit.

Instead of the workout of the day, which was:

• 6 x (400m with 25 burpees)

I did:

• 3 x (~300m with 10 burpees)

And almost died.

I am excited about one day being able to complete a workout as it is written. Although, I know that there could be a bit of vomiting to get to that point.

To assist in my efforts I've been reading about Pose running; I'm hopeful that the technique limits the knee pain I experience and also helps improve my running speed, which has always been terrible in the past.
Of course like anyone undertaking a new fitness regime I've made a purchase. Introducing the Nike Zoom Waffle Racer VI

They are very light, stiff, recommended by the Pose crew and at only $80, much cheaper than the Asics runners everyone else wears. They are listed as cross country / dirt running shoes which seems to fit the local soccer pitch surfaces perfectly.

For the record at the moment my lift PBs are:
Dead: 325lbs
Squat: 245lbs
Bench: 190lbs
I have no running times, but will endeavour to get some over the next fortnight.

I'll decide on some goals when I get back to the gym and see how much strength I've lost.

Here's hoping I don't die from too many pullups.

What a year to be an Essendon supporter

What would most Essendon supporters remember of the seasons between 2002 and 2009?
I know I've been to my 11 games per season but I'm really struggling:

• I remember (missing) Jim's 2004 game where he hugged a fan.
  
• I remember Jim and Sheed's last game - both at the G and then at Subiaco.

Now, 2009 is a completely different story! There was the Anzac day game, after which my voice was ruined for a couple of days; both Carlton games, which just warmed the heart; I think the first Hawthorn game left supporters  feeling that maybe Essendon were finals worthy and not just lucky.

Then there were the last 3 weeks. The St Kilda game is one I will always remember. The feeling that Essendon were just unstoppable in the third quarter took me right back to 2000. Finally, there was Saturday's game against Hawthorn. Hawthorn were undermanned, probably younger (I've thrown out my Prospectus) but they were the reigning Premiers! Essondon were fitter, smarter and much more mature and composed when they needed to be (oh, and after the game).

Who knows what this week will bring with regard to suspensions, appeals, elimination and qualifying finals. All I know is that in 50 years time when I'm looking back on my life as an Essendon supporter I will remember with great pleasure the thrill of being a bomber in 2009.