ChinnoDog's blog

I decided that an OpenVZ VPS was not for me. Its memory accounting uses VSZ instead of RSS, which really distorts the amount of available memory you can use. Plus, any VPS has potential pitfalls on what kernel you can use and thus what version of Ubuntu you can install. So, so long Digital Linx, hello InstaVPS! I followed their offer on WHT and have my own blade server for only $20/mo! It is a pretty sweet deal, and I never thought I was going to get a dedicated server for that price. I tried cramming Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit onto a 64mb VPS first, but that didn’t work so well. I thought of some solutions to the memory problems but I was too lazy to go through the hoops. I may try it later though to see how many things I can cram into my new 1GB of memory.

So, dedicated server specs:

• Processor: Athlon 64 1500 (Venice core, see here.)
• Memory: 1GB
• Disk: 40GB
• Bandwidth: 500GB

Now, my blog desperately needs some attention….

I finally set up Gallery on my VPS so I can share photos.  I know, I could use any of a number of photo sharing sites, but I wanted to it myself, and, well, Gallery is cool!  I will permalink it on the front page later.  It still needs some work but it has a few photos from Australia on it.  That is for another post though.

http://gallery.chinnodog.com

Screen shot of gallery.chinnodog.com in Chrome

After some headache I got WordPress moved over from Dreamhost to my VPS.  The theme got broken somehow, and the encoding was messed up but it is fixed now.  To fix the theme I deleted it and downloaded a newer version.  To fix the encoding I reproduced the conventional database with Sweedish collation and imported my text as latin1, not UTF-8.  I will resume adding posts now.

I finally purchased a VPS plan.  Dreamhost has been pretty great, and there is no denying that having a web site at Dreamhost is low cost and low maintanence.  And, getting unlimited bandwidth and hosting space as compensation for the one time the server went down was more than I could ask for.  And those one click installs… I will miss you.  I will surely have more issues managing my own server, but the experience will be invaluable and I want the benefits that come with it.  At Digital Linx I get 2GB of RAM, 60GB of disk space, and 600GB of bandwidth for as low as $18.42 a month!  I think this is pretty good compared to some of the others out there.  I don’t think it gets much better than this.

	Reliable web hosting with great features and service for a low price.
	Digital Linx – Soon to be hosting this blog in Ubuntu 9.04 server with OpenVZ. See some great deals they posted on the WebHosting Talk Forums!

So I claim not to be able to cook, but there are a few kitchen appliances I am picky about.  Not having a microwave, I set out to buy a new one.  I didn’t walk into a store and buy one though.  I did the whole nine yards; I looked it up in consumer reports, called for the best price, and the ordered it.  Its now unboxed and on my kitchen counter.  It is simply gigantic.  It is a GE PEB2060.  I picked it up at E.A. Pyle in Palmyra, a cute little place.  $190 when it was all said and done.

This is the beginning of the life of my blog.  I will not pretend this is the first time I have tried to start a blog;  This one just seems to make the most sense so far.  I’m starting this blog in part for me but also so I can share things that I know and things that I do.  It doesn’t have a grand purpose or design.  Its just a place to put stuff.  The life of my blog starts with me moving to Lebanon, PA to a house I am renting.  It is just over 4 miles from where I work.  Being separated has been good for me.  Getting settled in my house is taking a lot of energy, but it is exciting.  More on all that later.