David Welton: Cache it all
I recently redid my personal web site, at welton.it. Wanting to be quick about it, and make the look and feel a bit more uniform than it has been in the past, I hacked together some pages in Rails. Despite this being sort of a "killing a fly with a bazooka" situation, I've been doing lots with Rails, so it was quick to use. Here's the thing, though: Rails is definitely overkill, as the site is basically static. I don't need to calculate anything or fetch stuff from a database - I just wanted a reasonably good template system, and I am quite comfortable with Rails these days.
But the idea of leaving Rails running for a static site was of course no good: I basically need to cache the entire thing, so that Rails is simply not involved. How to do this as quick as possible (in between diaper changing and other baby duties!) ? Ideally, it would be possible to introspect Rails in order to know exactly which pages are present, then cache those, and avoid Rails on the server entirely (just generate them locally and put them in subversion), but that proved to be fairly hacky, so I settled for this code, which simply caches all pages which comes across, when
caches_pages is placed in application.rb:
class CacheFileName
include ActionController::Caching::Pages
include ActionController::Caching::Pages::ClassMethods
def cachedname(path)
page_cache_file(path)
end
end
def caches_pages()
return unless perform_caching
after_filter do c
res = c.cache_page
cfn = CacheFileName.new
cf = Cachedfile.new :filename => cfn.cachedname(c.request.path)
cf.save!
end
end
create_table "cachedfiles", :force => true do t
t.string "filename"
t.datetime "created_at"
t.datetime "updated_at"
end
class Cachedfile < ActiveRecord::Base
def Cachedfile.clean_cache
Cachedfile.find(:all).each do cf
begin
fn = ActionController::Base.page_cache_directory + cf.filename
File.delete fn
rescue => e
logger.error "Error deleting # fn : # e.inspect "
ensure
cf.destroy
end
end
end
end
./script/clean_cache:
#!/usr/bin/env ruby
ENV['RAILS_ENV'] = ARGV.first ENV['RAILS_ENV'] 'development'
require File.dirname(__FILE__) + '/../config/boot'
require "# RAILS_ROOT /config/environment"
require 'console_app'
Cachedfile.clean_cache
Quick shout to announce an event here in 
The (still alpha) 4.0.0 release of Samba is now in experimental. Both
Samba 3 and Samba 4 packages are likely to coexist in the archive as Samba 3 is still for a while the production code for File and Print services while Samba 4 is the development branch of the Samba team to implement Active Directory domain control (among other things).
Samba4 packages also bring a big bunch of libraries, most of which being used to related development such as Openchange.
Expect some neat new packages in experimental, then unstable, pretty soon now.
Please do NOT replace production servers running samba 3.0.* or samba 3.2.* by samba4....not yet..:-)
The samba4 packages are maintained by Jelmer Vernooij, one of the two
main developers for Samba 4 in the Samba Team (the other being Andrew
Bartlett). Jelmer is someone we should stuck out from the NM queue as soon as possible..:-)
Anyway, this is again another success of that small team we built around Samba and samba-related packaging. Thanks to all involved people (Steve Langasek, No l K the, Jelmer Vernooij, Peter Eisentraut, etc.).
Things in your computer that you do not have the source code for:
Using org mode to write ikiwiki posts
I have been much taken by 
We actually got home last Sunday, but I've been too jetlagged, and then too
busy with work to really have a chance to write anything...
We got back in at around 2pm, but our bags fell victim to Heathrow's
Terminal 5, and didn't arrive until around 11pm. I think I lasted until
about 8pm, when I had to crash. Poor Sarah had to stay up until 11pm when
they finally got around to delivering our suitcases.
The week in Zurich was wonderful. The Zurich office is everything the photos
make it out to be, and then some. One weird thing: apparently there's some
Swiss regulation about how much you're allowed to cool a building in
relation to the outdoor ambient temperature, so there's no air conditioning
in the office. Instead, you can open the windows. Unfortunately, there's a
fairly busy set of train tracks right beside the office, so it can get a tad
noisy... It was a pretty warm week, I think around 30°C. I certainly
prefer being colder rather than hotter when indoors, so found the lack of
decent cooling to be a shame, given the rest of the building's features.
That said, it was pretty amazing sweltering away in Zurich, and then looking
up and seeing snow on the mountains. It was surprising how much of a
temperature difference there was.
On the last evening in Zurich, we went on a reconnoitre to try and find the
river that we could hear (and see on the map) behind our apartment. We
eventually found some street access to it, and it was another world back
there. It was fairly thickly wooded, and the sunlight was heavily filtered
through the trees, so it was cool and shady.
The river was fairly fast flowing over some rocks in parts, which is what
was making it so audible. The whole setting was absolutely beautiful. There
were a couple of paths, and the whole thing felt like something out of a
fairy tail. We think we stumbled onto a fox, but we're not sure. It's a
shame we only discovered the place on the last day, as I'd have liked to
have explored it further.
I really liked Zurich. It was nice and flat, and had an excellent tram
service. 
I recently noticed that a very good way to safely read webcomics in
the bath tub is an old laptop with a big screen (e.g. a IBM ThinkPad
A-series like my 15” A31 which has a nice 1400×1050 resolution),
a water proof keyboard, the screen-alike, keyboard only driven (hence
the name) window manager 
The most dynamic segment of the software industry that I'm aware of is web programming. Flamewars rage about frameworks and browsers and standards and whatnot, and the openness of the whole thing feels like some of the things that made me fall in love with computing as a whole and Free Software in particular. The problem with all that openness is that it's rather difficult to navigate. Aside from the obvious issues with browser incompatibilities, there's an enormous amount of software solutions on the server side, spanning languages, libraries, and frameworks. Each one is an ecosystem to itself, often being large and complicated.
Probably due to some mistake or just an
excess of randomness in the world,
(Playing Kraftwerk - The Telephone Call.)
Warning: This is a long-wound complaint post. The only reason this is going to the Planet is because I have no method yet of disabling individual posts for syndication. Please skip, with my apologees for the noise, if you don’t want to listen to complaining. May contain nuts. May drive you nuts. Drove me nuts. Mmm, pistachio.
When I was around 11, I got my first cellphone. I was very proud. This was back when being 11 and having a cellphone was a real novelty; pagers were still being sold, and the NMT network was still running. Like many things I appreciate, I found it in a dumpster. It was ancient, even then: a Motorola MicroTAC brick, missing its antenna. I borrowed one of my grandmother’s hairpins, and voila, working phone - as long as you didn’t leave Oslo. It had a certain cyberpunk look to it, even then: I loved it.
I remember that I first bought a NetCom pay-as-you-go card; I don’t quite remember the number, but it had “283″ in it at the end, if you want to wardial. For some reason, Dad needed a SIM card so I gave him mine. So I bought myself a new one, a Telenor card, pay-as-you-go, number 91 85 95 08. I must have been around 12 at the time. And that number served me very well.
Fast-forward 6 years, to late March, 2006. I had just turned 18, and one of the first things I wanted to do was get a massively cheaper, proper subscription. I’d been procrastinating it for a bit - as I am wont to - but when a nice gentleman at the subway station told me about a nice new company called SEA Norway and their wonderful prices, I accepted. Big mistake. Here begins the saga of woe…
For a good while, I was very happy with their service - even though GPRS data never worked, I never used it anyway. Their name changed to Vitel somewhere along the way. I received a phone call from an enthusiastic salesman who told me how much cheaper Vitel’s power subscription is. It seemed very reasonable, so I went for it.
One of the arguments he gave me was that I could collect all those utilities into one bill. I told him that I couldn’t have this: Since I’m a live-alone student, my power bill is covered entirely by the city council, so I need a proper bill to hand over every month. “Sure, that’s no problem”. I check and double-check that, and I stress it. Sure, no problem. OK, deal.
Big, big mistake. They draw 2700 Kroner from my account, using the automated pay system (AvtaleGiro) that I had set up for the phone bill. 2700 Kroner (530 US Dollars) is a lot of money, especially when your monthly income, 5000 Kroner (1000 US Dollars) barely covers the necessities. So I cancel the autopay system. (I still have not received that money!)
23rd of January, my subscription is cut, since I hadn’t paid the bill. They hadn’t mailed it to me, and I’d told them I’d cut the AvtaleGiro, but I simply did not receive the bill. So I call them up in February some time and try to figure out a solution. “You didn’t pay the bill, so the subscription is closed.” -”So if I pay the bill, will you reopen it?” -”No, sorry. It is closed now.” -”So then I’ll have to transfer the number to another provider?” -”No, you can’t do that; it’s closed now.” -”You can’t refuse to transfer the number, that’s simply not legal.” -”Sure it is, the subscription’s been closed.” Urgh.
So some time in the middle of March, before The Gathering, I call NetCom up: I want to transfer my number to them, please. Sure, no problem. No, this number is registered as active in our system. All is well. We’ll make the switchover on March 28th, and you will get your SIM card in the mail: It should be in your box by then. Fantastic!
The 28th of March came and went with no great ceremony, not even a SIM card. No switchover occurred. I give them the benefit of the doubt for more than a fortnight. Some time in April, then, I get sufficiently annoyed to call them up and ask what had happened. “Oh, no, it seems Vitel is using the old transferral system”. -”OK?” -”Yes, you will have to send us a form with your signature by fax to carry this transfer out.” -”Sigh, alright. Where can I get this form?” -”I’ll email it to you.” Great. So I get the form.
May was very busy, so I didn’t get an opportunity to fill the form out, and by now I was getting fairly tired of the whole thing anyway! The thing that finally got me, however, was a bill from Vitel - on the “closed” subscription - for not only the monthly fee, but also several kroner of SMS “content services” (Read: ring tones) and GPRS data (Which never even worked even when the subscription did!)
So last Tuesday, June 3rd, I send them the damned fax. Wednesday, June 4th, I call NetCom up and ask what the status is of my subscription. “Oh, yes, this is now active with us.” -”Really?!” (I was happy in the way that only someone who’s gone 5 months without a working phone could be.) -”Sure, we’ve sent the SIM card to Bekkeveien (something).” -”…Bekkeveien? But I’ve never lived at any Bekkeveien. My last name is Bekkedal, but..” -”Alright, then that’s probably a mistake. What you can do, though, is go to a NetCom dealer and pick up a new SIM card.” -”Perfect! I’ll do that, then.” (I stress “pick up” for a reason which will later become apparent.)
Goodie. I’ll get a working phone! I was very happy as I took the tram down to Aker Brygge and looked everywhere for the damned NetCom dealer. Having finally found it, I happily stride inside and ask for a SIM card for my subscription. “Sure. That’ll be 200 Kroner.” Argh! I hadn’t brought enough money! She did say pick up. Oh well. Aker Brygge is a center of business, I’m sure there are other shops. So I ask to use one of their phones to call NetCom. Sorry, no phones you can use. Sigh. Fine. Do you know of any phone booths around?
They didn’t, but I found one anyway, finally. I deposit the necessary $1 for a local call (See, this is the problem with having a cellphone company run the phone booths!) and dial NetCom customer service. They take my number and - Sorry, that number isn’t yet active, it’s still registered to Vitel. ARGH! Fine. So what’s standing in the way? Well, Vitel can’t refuse it - (thanks, I know that already) - but the form that I was sent wasn’t the right form. The form I need to send is from Vitel to Vitel, authorizing the transfer.While I’m trying to hold a conversation with the customer support guy, some drunk guy is accusing me of stealing phones, and begins reading out loud the sponsor company names on the back of my DebConf T-shirt.
But Vitel has already told me that I cannot transfer this number, under any circumstance! They consider it closed! “Yes, but you have to talk to Vitel.” -”I have!” -”Well, we can’t really do anything…” Alright. So I hang up and I try to call Vitel. But that doesn’t work: They closed at 3 PM!. So finally tired of Netcom failing to port my number for a while, I call Telenor.
I talk to a very cheerful and helpful lady who admits to not knowing about the particulars of that situation. Fantastic! At least she isn’t going to fib it! She says that she has a vacation Thursday, but she can call me back on Friday after discussing the matter with the number transfers department. Wow! She’s actually going to confer with the relevant expertise! This is too good to be true! So she said she’d call me back Friday at 1PM with a status update. As I am writing, it is Friday at 11:01, I am anxiously awaiting the telephone call.
But now I get a funny SMS message:
