Author: John

i am a god

How to hose a customer with your API


We had more fun with a vendor today. We license a vendor’s services for corporate information, like annual revenue and office locations. Their name shall be kept confidential. I've written about them before. About two weeks ago, we noticed a slowdown in our API calls into their system. We asked them about it, and they replied … Continue reading How to hose a customer with your API →

A reflection on tipping


Now and then, I regret the tip I've left at a restaurant. Virtually every time this happens it's because I thought I had been a little cheap. The server did a great job, the pre-tax total was $24.00, and I left $4.75. Or the server did an OK job, the pre-tax total was $36.00, and … Continue reading A reflection on tipping →

Rackspace’s Pyrax not ready for prime time


An update to an earlier post... We've had problems using the pyrax SDK, mostly in account authentication. First, it wasn't at all clear when, or under what conditions, we had to re-authenticate our pyrax token. As documented, after you initially authenticate your credentials, pyrax handles all subsequent re-authentication under the covers. I.e., it will automatically re-authenticate the token if it … Continue reading Rackspace’s Pyrax not ready for prime time →

Delusional? Visionary?


How do you differentiate delusional vs. visionary? A person has an idea, everyone says she's delusional and the idea sucks, it fails, they say I told you so. But if it succeeds, they trip over themselves saying how visionary she was and the idea was brilliant. The ends should never justify the means. But they … Continue reading Delusional? Visionary? →

Upgrading our CloudFiles API


We host IP Street's SAAS product at Rackspace. We're finally taking the plunge and upgrading from python-cloudfiles to pyrax. We didn't have any big issues with python-cloudfiles, but I was tiring of getting the brush-off from Rackspace when we asked for help with an API failure. The benefits of keeping a technology up-to-date far outweighs … Continue reading Upgrading our CloudFiles API →

Comparing two technologies on their configuration style


At IP Street, most of our technology stack is open-source. Something happened last week that threw our components' different design philosophies into stark relief. We use Solr (with Zookeeper) for many of our search and pivot tasks, and Redis as a Swiss Army Knife. They do different things and have different consistency requirements. You can easily critique any … Continue reading Comparing two technologies on their configuration style →

Fun with the Internet


I just found my ninth-grade science teacher online. I e-mailed him to say how great he was, and how much I appreciated his influence during my turbulent adolescence. So there's that.  

PyCon 2013 things I didn’t do


I didn't claim my "swag bag". I wasn't even tempted. I don't need another meh coffee mug or pen. I don't need a small stack of paper brochures I'll only discard. It's time for conferences to retire the swag bag! This anachronism should have perished years ago. Anything I want to discover, I can discover … Continue reading PyCon 2013 things I didn’t do →

PyCon better this year than last


I'm enjoying myself more this year than last. I think it's because my head's in a better place than it was last year. Things are better at work, a dim light may be visible at the end of the tunnel, etc. Odd.