mehack

Synthesis’s network went down last Friday. Not down in the sense of our network connection. Not down in the sense of WiFi. I mean really down. Our main server decided that it was time to call it quit, and left the building. Really out. Like bye bye. Time to rebuild.

Some advice for people who find themselves in a similar predicament:

• Ditch Windows Server if you can. Synthesis used to rely on it for Exchange (to support the Outlook and Windows Mobile junkies in the office), but when the processor melts down on that computer, you can’t just take the hard drives and plug it into another machine;
• minimize the number of your machines in your closet and run Ubuntu JeOS — if you do need to run Windows, at least you get a lot more flexibility;
• Zimbra, zimbra, zimbra! We’re still testing it, but so far we absolutely love it. The web client rocks, it has Windows Mobile push support, and I’m now finally using iCal and Mail.app instead of Outlook under Parallels; and
• for backups, Jungledisk is the way to go. We mount S3 from inside our Linux instances and do daily rsyncs of critical data for backup. And, once week, we automatically suspend each instance, hot copy it, and rsync that for backup.

Better, stronger, faster.

If you get a chance, Wagamama is definitely worth a quick lunch or dinner visit — not necessarily for the food (although the Zagat ratings aren’t too shabby), but just to experience a shift in restaurant efficiency. Something that I usually wonder about while sitting in a restaurant is the restaurant’s scheduling technique.  How do they get the kitchen to get appetizers to come out first (and together), and have main entrees appear simultaneously (and warm!).  To further “mix it up”, all this has to happen while factoring in the time it takes for the waiter to get from a table to the kitchen with an order (while not getting sidetracked), from my table to the register, back with the credit card at the end of the meal, etc.  The whole dance makes my head hurt.

Wagamama, instead, throws that all out the window.  Their focus is on two things, and two things alone: food and time.  There is no need to worry about ambience (its all really simple), and there aren’t any tables that can fit certain sized parties to avoid the problem of having to have large groups wait.  All waiters, armed with 802.11 devices, take your order at the table, and beam those directly to the kitchen.  The notion of “appetizers” are gone and are replaced by “sides”, to remove the need to get those to the table first.  When the food is done, it is brought to your table immediately.  And finally, when your check is to be paid, you swipe your credit card right there at the table and you can keep your eyes on it at all times.

I guess what Wagamama exhibits is a focus on what’s actually important — food and time.  I love the notion that they’ve removed everything else from the equation and can make sure they really deliver on those.

21 proves to be an entertaining and forgettable two hours of my life that doesn’t manage live up to my expectations set by Bringing Down the House. Peter Steinfield and Allan Loeb ignore all the nuances and the realities of what the MIT team did; what the movie fails to emphasize, and what is the most brilliant part of the story, is that the Ben Mezrich’s tale is true — its not fiction. Instead, this movie adaptation attempts to be the Ocean’s 11 for young and smart kids — just one that isn’t well-acted nor even has a plausible story to back it up. Unless you’re illiterate, save that $10 and put it towards the bookstore or a trip to the library to pick up Bringing Down the House instead.

* Kids: the writers really manage to get the MIT undergraduate experience wrong. While getting those details right is not at the forefront of their minds, its the small details that irritate me. Probably one worth seeing at LSC instead.