N. Lippincott

I manage several web servers, and a solid backup strategy is absolutely essential. I have been using Amazon S3 (Amazon Web Services, Simple Storage Service) for quite some time, for the purposes of storing backup files for the long-term, and keeping those backup files away from my production systems (essentially "off-site"). One item which I have needed to address since I have been using S3 is the subject of backup retention, or more specifically, automated purging of backup files no longer needed. Well, just sometimes, good things come to those who wait.

Having recently acquired a new Internet-enabled Blu-ray player, I signed up for an account with Vudu, the Walmart-owned online streaming service. I have been a long-time Netflix user. This Blu-ray player included bundled apps for both Netflix and Vudu, and included a $5.99 credit for Vudu, enough to get one free HD movie. These are my first impressions for this service, and my basis for comparison is Netflix, as I have a good deal of experience using their streaming service.

I hate snow. For me, it represents a lot of manual labor for the sole benefit of being able to get out of my driveway. I found myself into about three hours of shoveling the day after an unusual October nor'easter, looking out at my back yard, and reveling in the fact that the predicted warm temperatures for the week ahead will make this 14 inches of snow all go away. Then it hit me. This would make a great time-lapse video; watch it melt over the next eight hours.

I am fairly new to Drupal, having installed my first test site about five months ago (as of this writing). Some three and a half months later I launched my first live Drupal site, the very site you are reading right now. I have found Drupal to be an excellent content management system in its basic form, but going beyond the basics takes a lot of patience and a lot of time. It provides a very powerful and very extensible framework, for which many modules exist to provide all kinds of functionality.

I have been a user of the Linux-based Ubuntu operating system for about five years, and until very recently its default graphical user interface has been GNOME. I have been a GNOME user even longer, having been a Fedora user previous to Ubuntu. The latest version of Ubuntu (11.04) introduced Unity, a new graphical user interface which is now the default UI (GNOME is still available as an alternative). I haven't seen Unity very well received, based on the reviews I've read. I use it on my laptop, and I think it has a lot of promise.

I established this web site about ten years ago while I was in my early years as a faculty member at Cedar Crest College. At the time, faculty web sites, at least at Cedar Crest College, were very uncommon. Furthermore, online information regarding courses taught at the college was scarce. Sure, there were a few faculty members with very basic web sites, including information about themselves, their courses, and various student resources, but nothing consistent by any means.