Be smart, back up!

Smart, mtbf, mttf, afr, argh*. These are just a few of the acronyms that pertain to hard disk failure. A systems manager might be forgiven for not knowing what these really mean, but ignoring the tell-tale signs is not smart and will lead to a shorter mean time between failures (mtbf) and mean time to failures (mttf).

Manufacturers made a smart acronym for self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology. Smart (the technology) enables the monitoring of important parameters, and, thus, early detection of a coming hard disk failure. The smart systems manager heeds the warnings.

The mtbf indicates the expected operating time between two consecutive failures in hours. The mtbf considers the life cycle of a device that fails repeatedly, is repaired and returned to service again.  The mttf indicates the expected operating time until the failure of a device expressed in hours. Mtbf and mttf are almost synonymous in usage. Sometimes mtbf refers to mean time before failure. Afr (annualized failure rate) on the other hand, is the percentage failure share of a certain amount of hard disks, which is extrapolated to one year based on expectation values.

Manufacturers advertise server-type hard disks to have an mtbf of more than 1.2 million hours. One year is 8,760 hours, so are server-type hard disks expected to last 138 years (just a little more than 137 actually, but I love the number 138)? Not really, statistics and experience do not support that. Specially in servers not housed in climate controlled environments, and much more so in servers that has warned you via smart, and much, much more so, if there was a recent crash in the same array.

So why do manufacturers claim mtbfs that big? Do they claim that their hard disks can operate for 138 years? No. Conversely, they may claim that 138 hard drives could be operated for a year and only one failure could be expected. Much more realistic, isn't it?

The most expensive hardware and the most redundant raid configuration won't mean a thing if you lose precious data. So be smart, back up, heed the signs, and own up if you lose data. The hard disks wouldn't say “I told you so!” even if they actually did.

*argh - (not an acronym) expression of frustration, annoyance, dismay, embarrassment and anger

SYAWTA - still yet another women's tennis album - French Open 2016

The truth hurts but it shall set you free

I don't know why there is much anguish from Duterte supporters over the political advertisement paid for by Sen. Trillanes. Their camp hates the ad so much that they got a TRO against its showing. They say kids were used in the ads, that kids have nothing to do with politics, that the use of children in the ad is unethical and immoral.

The Taguig RTC may TRO local TV but there is no TROing Youtube. Find it there before they ask Youtube to take it down too.

Wtf? Duterte might ask. There is also an ad by Pride ACS that uses kids and it continues to run to this day. And no one gives a hoot. It is kind of unethical and immoral too, using the criteria given by Duterturds.


Duterte appears in the Trillanes ad. So it is exposure for him. Trillanes is even paying for Duterte's exposure on TV. What ingrates?!@#$%.

The kids in the ad were not exploited. Hindi naman sila pinalangoy sa dagat ng basura. They were made to ask valid questions. After all, the elections are for their sake most of all.

Are the Duterte acts in the video surreptitiously taken? No! There is no violation of privacy here.

Are the Duterte deeds in the video spliced to take it out of context? Spliced for brevity, maybe. Taken out of context, no! If the full videos are shown, even more of the same context will be known.

Did Duterte apologize for the deeds/things he said in the video? No! He is even proud of them.

So why the fuss? Why stop the ad?

The truth is the truth hurts. The truth embarrasses them. Their idol is an embarrassment.  

First the Duterturds deny that their idol is not presidential. Then they got angry at non-Duterturds and the ad. Soon they will be bargaining and depressed before they accept it. 

We may have to speak slowly or spell it to them, but we have to try. We have to set them free.

 

Get the big picture stupid!

Bill Clinton beat me to "Its the economy stupid!". So I will just say "Get the big picture stupid!".

An expert is defined as a person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area. It is election time once again in the Philippines. This is the time when everyone suddenly becomes an expert in everything.

Supporters of one naughty, self-confessed murderer/philanderer candidate authoritatively concluded that one candidate's late husband was murdered because he has uncovered corruption in his office. His plane crash was not an accident, these experts say. These experts also authoritatively claim that the widow is not fit for the job she is running for.

Supporters of the same candidate are suddenly DNA and history experts,  too. They say another candidate is the daughter of a past president and that she is a sister of a vice presidential candidate. These supporters are now also experts in determining the sincerity and fitness for office of a candidate just by his clothing and appearance. All these despite his unpresidential demeanor.

I have to give it to them. These experts are really experts in fomenting hate towards a candidate whose biggest fault to them is his 'lack' of charisma, his marriage to a broadcaster, and his being left out in the planning/implementation of the country's biggest military/police debacle. He is not faulted for reneging his citizenship, his penchant for cursing, for his illness, nor for his plunder.

To these experts, there are no conspiracy theories anymore. They have all been proven true.

Why the rabid hate on anyone who supports other candidates. Are they that committed or are they that 'kumitid ang utak'?

These experts refuse to see the bigger picture by forming conclusions from a large array of seemingly unrelated sources.

But to them, borrowing from Bill Clinton, I say this. It's the bigger picture stupid!.

It's easy to be frustrated with an aspect or two of our everyday lives. Traffic, for instance. When we get stuck in traffic for 4-5 hours each day, we are naturally frustrated. This frustration, by transference, is redirected to the candidate of the present administration.

Why is there so much traffic? There are too many cars. 

Why? Many can afford a car now. Many can afford to ride Uber despite the surge pricing. 

Where do they go? They go to high-end malls, gorge up in buffets, splurge on sales. 

Why? Unemployement is low, disposable income is high, business is doing well.

Why? Investment confidence is high, plunderers are in jail.

When Yolanda struck in 2013, it was the strongest typhoon in the world then. It is easy to get frustrated with the recovery efforts, because you somehow believe more could be done. But even ADB believes that Yolanda recovery efforts are faster than the Aceh recovery from the 2004 tsunami which left over 120,000 dead.

It is easy to get frustrated when you know of drug problems within your neighborhood, when basic traffic discipline is but a dream. When you think of it, the things that the expert supporters want are characteristics of a good local government official. These are what their candidate has as evidenced in his audience with a large business club yesterday.

The bigger picture is that we're better off now than six years ago. We must continue and sustain that. Their candidate is good for the local government, but we must doubt his grasp of the bigger picture.

Acronyms ulit?

Have you noticed why there is often CHAOS in the office? It's because the (Chief Has Arrived On Scene). Everyone PANICs because they are (Pressured and Not In Control).

They deal with people from Infrastructure Development and Information Operations Technology Systems (IDIOTS). Working with them is no PICNIC because the (Problem's In Chair, Not in Computer).

Those people are Database Utility Management Builders (DUMB), Application Software Systems, Hardware and Online Links Encoders (ASSHOLES), and They Have Insufficient Cerebral Knowledge (THICK).

Is it because of the Mean Assholes Needlessly Attracting Generally Everyone's Resentment (MANAGERs) who give them STRESS (Shit To Remember Every Single Second)? Or because of the software which causes Lots Of Trouble, Usually Serious, Not Outstanding, This Expensive Software (LOTUS NOTES) and IT Blames Microsoft, While Expecting Breakdown, So Plead Help for Everyone to Reduce Errors (IBM WEBSPHERE).

But still people work as a TEAM because (Together Everyone Achieves More), and they have PRIDE (Personal Responsibility In Delivering Excellence) in themselves.

And people believe in YAHOO! (You Always Have Other Options) like GOOGLE (God’s Other Online Gateway Linking Electronically).