Spotify is great and it is nearly the only choice if you want a music streaming service with a native Linux client. But the client is still in a "preview" stage. So if Spotify releases a new version of the Linux client, it sometimes botches your spotify installation. So if you do your "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade" dance, it might leave you without music (eeeeeeek!). But fear not! There is an easy way to backup your working Spotify installation on an Ubuntu/Debian system. Continue reading "Spotify and Linux: Backing it up with dpkg-repack"

Imagine the following scenario: You have an web application that delivers data, you have a huge number of requests per second, the data is identical for all users, but you want to limit access to authenticated users. Your back end application is slow and does not cache the created data. You also want to lighten the load on the authentication service. Fixing your back end application or your authentication service unfortunately is not an option. I wanted to solve this problem with Varnish and a VCL only solution, so no inline C or Varnish modules are required for my approach. Continue reading "Caching authenticated downloads with Varnish and VCL"

I just stumbled over the ability to set vsync in compiz settings manager. I had an increased screen tearing with my new Eizo 24" monitor for a while now and switching vsync on in compiz removes it! Yay! Open compiz settings manager, then click "General Options", go to the tab "Display Settings" and check "Sync with VBlank". Move around a window and cheer .

Terroristen habens auch nicht leicht. Das sieht man sehr schön im Video "Extra 3 macht den Terror-Test". Und Stumpfi lässt sich erklären, woran man einen Terrorist erkennt. Das haben sich die Polizisten in Berlin dann wohl auch zu Herzen genommen.

Since Yahoo did put delicious into "sunset mode" (marketing speech for: "we will close it down"), I was searching for an alternative. Many people did switch to pinboard.in, so I gave this service a shot. And I am really liking this "antisocial bookmarking service". If you are in search for an alternative to delicious, give pinboard.in a try. It is worth the one time signup fee! The only thing I was missing is a little firefox integration for quick bookmarking within firefox. So I wrote my own little firefox add on. Its called simplepinboardbutton and its hosted on the simplepinboardbutton site.