Friday, August 24, 2012

fastcgi on godaddy gotcha

I'm a plain person and completely out of net epoch. But I'm a guy with curiosity. I want to know how fastcgi works. So I try it on godaddy.

First, I find this link
http://forums.hostingplayground.com/showthread.php?t=348
where a piece of test code is posted:

#!/usr/local/bin/ruby

require 'rubygems'
require 'fcgi'

counter = 0

FCGI.each_cgi('html3') do |cgi|
   counter += 1
   cgi.out {
     cgi.html {
       cgi.body {
         cgi.h1 { "Hello World!" } +
         cgi.p { "Counter: #{counter}" }
       }
     }
   }
end
And I put this piece in html/cgi directory. It works but works like regular cgi? What's wrong here? At least I trust godaddy's claim on supporting fastcgi.

Then, I come across a page that change the file name extension. It was a ruby file but with .cgi as the extension. I realized that I have to try some new extension. So I rename the file with .fcgi extension. And it works!

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Luxury cookware

Luxury cookware

One day I came across copper cookware. And I just cannot forget it. Despair of its high price, It do remind me my old physical course that copper conduct the heat most efficiently. So I want to do a research on it to see where I can buy and how is the market looks like.

There is great thread on this. Here is the link:
http://www.cheftalk.com/t/53919/mauviel-vs-williams-sonoma-mauviel
If you search sonoma and e.dehillerin, you will find it.

There are a lot of other topics about the copper cookware.

In general, there are following top cookware brand in stats. All-Clad, Williams-Sonoma and mauvielusa. However, people tend to directly order the copper cookware from E.Dehillerin in France.
http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/en/cuprinox-extra-thick.php
It’s said that it’s much cheaper to order them from France.

Regarding to the product, the thicker the better. The thick line from E.Dehillerin is 2.5mm thick copper. It’s either with stainless-steel or tin. And people like stainless-steel better it seems. And for the same capacity, ss is priced higher than tin. But personally, I prefer tin. Although tin looks odd, it’s used to cook for a long history and the copper with tin is looked more beautiful, more like hand made.

More on SS or tin is that for home use, SS is enough and convenient. And if I choose lined with tin. Then there is additional service. Once in awhile, you need to retinning, which is a process that apply tin to the cookware again.
http://www.eastcoasttinning.com/index.html

You can download their catalog as it contains more information than the web page shown. Then you have to fill in the form to order and then they will send you a performa. Then you fax back your credit card number, signature and expiration date.

Enjoy cooking!

Some extra links:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/?cm_type=gnav
http://www.mauvielusa.com/
http://www.e-dehillerin.fr/en/index.php
http://www.surlatable.com/
http://www.brand.all-clad.com/
http://cookware.lecreuset.com/cookware/TopCategoriesDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=20002&langId=-1

Sunday, August 12, 2012

How to buy a car.

When I realize with my broken sedan, I start to think about if I want to buy a new car, what can I do?

Real experience:
One night in August, 2012, I am driving down I93 with my wife. It's raining heavily outside and I barely can see the lane. Crazy or brave people are everywhere and they are also driving along me and then pass me. Without any sign, a van turn right a little bit and then turn left sharply. His tail swings out and his light is staring at me. It should happen so quick. But my mind was so clear that the time seems slowing down. I even had a time to look at the dashboard. The speed before I pushed the brake was around 50m/h.

I'm a positive person, even after this fatal accident. Of course I won't buy a van unless I have a den of mini people. Then I ask myself the question:

  • Should I buy a SUV/Cross-over?
  • Should I buy AWD car?
From my point of view, no, I won't  buy a SUV/Cross-over. There are couple of reasons I don't want to (maybe I change my mind soon or later):

  1. Center of gravity is higher. This is not only to say the car is more probably to fall over but also to say if you feel it's going to fall over it will do fall over. You don't have much alarm range compared to sedan.
  2. SUV? They are all over the streets. I don't want to add one by myself.
  3. Probably, probably SUV will cost more on gas.
  4. Most importantly, I don't have the budget for this kind of luxury! Ok. I don't have budget for a full size SUV. And for mid-size SUV? Grrr, passage space is like a mid-size sedan...then why choose them.
However, SUV do offer a safety advantage over sedan:
SUV is taller than a sedan.
 This comes to the point that the mount point of front light of a SUV is higher than a sedan. When driving a SUV through thousand needle, you should be less affected by the second wave of needle by the front car. This helps a lot in that situation.

TBD

Buying a car is only half the homework. The other half goes to maintenance. I find a link which saves my time. I copy the table here:

2012 Best New Car Warranty - Domestic
MAKEBUMPER-
TO-BUMPER
LIMITED 
WARRANTY
POWERTRAIN
LIMITED
WARRANTY
PWRTRN
WARRANTY
TRANSFER.
ROADSIDE
ASSIST.
COURTESY
TRANS.
PROGRAM
RUST /
CORROSION
WARRANTY
BUICK 4 YRS /
50K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
YES 5 YRS /
100K MI
5 YRS /
100K MI.
6 YRS /
100K MI
CADILLAC4 YRS /
50K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
  
YES   5 YRS /
100K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
6 YRS /
100K MI
.
CHEVROLET3 YRS /
36K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
  
YES   5 YRS /
100K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
6 YRS /
100K MI
CHRYSLER3 YRS /
36K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
 
 NO3 YRS /
36K MI.
NO 5 YRS /
100K MI.
DODGE3 YRS /
36K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
NO3 YRS /
36K MI.
NO5 YRS /
100K MI.
  
FORD3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
YES  5 YRS /
60K MI.
NO5 YRS /
  
UNLTD MI.
GMC3 YRS /
36K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
  
YES  5 YRS /
100K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
6 YRS /
100K MI
JEEP3 YRS /
36K MI.
5 YRS /
100K MI.
NO3 YRS /
36K MI.
NO 5 YRS /
100K MI.
LINCOLN4 YRS /
50K MI.
  6 YRS /
70K MI.
YES    6 YRS /
70K MI.
NO5 YRS /
  
UNLTD MI.
2012 Best New Car Warranty - Import
MAKEBUMPER-
TO-BUMPER
LIMITED 
WARRANTY
POWERTRAIN
LIMITED
WARRANTY
PWRTRN
WARRANTY
TRANSFER.
ROADSIDE
ASSIST.
COURTESY
TRANS.
PROGRAM
RUST /
CORROSION
WARRANTY
ACURA4 YRS /
50K MI.
 6 YRS /
70K MI.
YES  4 YRS /
50K MI.
 NO 5 YRS /
UNLTD MI.
AUDI 4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
NO 4 YRS / UNLTD MI.  NO12 YRS /
UNLTD MI.
 
BMW 4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
YES YRS UNLTD MI.
 ?12 YRS /
UNLTD MI.
 
HONDA 3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
YES YES  ? 5 YRS /
UNLTD MI.
HYUNDAI 5 YRS /
60K MI.
 10 YRS /
100K MI.
NO YRS UNLTD MI.  ? 7 YRS / UNLTD MI.
INFINITI4 YRS /
60K MI.
 6 YRS /
70K MI.
YES YRS UNLTD MI.  YES7 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
JAGUAR4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
 YES4 YRS /
50K MI.
 
 NO6 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
KIA5 YRS /
60K MI.
10 YRS /
100K MI. 
NO 5 YRS /
60K MI. 
 NO5 YRS /
  100K MI.
 
LEXUS4 YRS /
50K MI.
 6 YRS /
70K MI.
 YESYRS UNLTD MI.
 YES6 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
MAZDA3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
NO  3 YRS /
36K MI.
 YES 5 YRS / UNLTD MI.
MERCEDES4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
YES  YESNO  4 YRS /
50K MI.
MITSUBISHI5 YRS /
60K MI.
  
 10 YRS /
100K MI.
NO  5 YRS / UNLTD MI. NO 7 YRS /
100K MI.
NISSAN3 YRS /
36K MI.
  
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
YES  3 YRS /
36K MI.
 NO 5 YRS / UNLTD MI.
PORSCHE 4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
NO  4 YRS /
50K MI.
 YES 10 YRS / UNLTD MI.
SUBARU3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
YES  YES NO5 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
SUZUKI3 YRS /
36K MI.
 7 YRS /
100K MI.
YES  3 YRS /
36K MI.
 YES3 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
TOYOTA3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
 YESYES  YES 5 YRS / UNLTD MI.
TOYOTA HYBRID3 YRS /
36K MI.

HYBRID
COMPS.
8 YRS /
100K MI.
5 YRS /
60K MI. 
 YES YES YES 5 YRS / UNLTD MI.
VOLVO 4 YRS /
50K MI.
 4 YRS /
50K MI.
YES  4 YRS / UNLTD MI. NO12 YRS / UNLTD MI. 
VW (USA)3 YRS /
36K MI.
 5 YRS /
60K MI.
*10 YRS /
100K MI.
(*Certain /
Models)
 YES 3 YRS /
36K MI.
 NO 12 YRS / UNLTD MI.
From the table, it seems that the best option on warranty is from Hyundai and Mitsubishi. But I guess I need more info about adding price for the warranty.