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Update on yesterday’s challenges

Yesterday I hit the ground running at 2:30am and was taking names! Somewhere around 7am I had a problem with my server and productivity ground to a halt. I spent the entire day working the issue and still don’t have it working. My server is a development server accessible only to me and sports ColdFusion 4.5 and ColdFusion MX 6.1. It now also has ColdFusion 7 installed. CF 4.5 works fine. CFMX 6.1 and 7 both refuse to start as a service. The timing on this issue couldn’t be worse.

From the cf7 runtime/logs/coldfusion-event.log:

06/15 06:24:56 warning No sessionSecret has been specified in jrun.xml. Installing a self generated sessionSecret.
06/15 06:25:01 info No JDBC data sources have been configured for this server (see jrun-resources.xml)
06/15 06:25:02 info JRun Web Server listening on *:8501
06/15 06:25:02 info Deploying enterprise application “Macromedia ColdFusion MX” from: file:/C:/CFusionMX7/
06/15 06:25:07 info Deploying web application “Macromedia Coldfusion MX” from: file:/C:/CFusionMX7/
06/15 06:25:47 user JSPServlet: init
06/15 06:25:55 user CFMxmlServlet: init
06/15 06:25:55 user CFMxmlServlet: Macromedia Flex Build: 87315.134646
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: init
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: ColdFusion MX: Starting application services
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: ColdFusion MX: VM version = 1.4.2_05-b04

and from coldfusion-out.txt:

Starting Macromedia JRun 4.0 (Build 92909), coldfusion server
06/15 06:24:39 warning Unable to open C:\CFusionMX7\runtime/lib/license.properties
06/15 06:24:54 info JRun Naming Service listening on *:2920
06/15 06:24:56 warning No sessionSecret has been specified in jrun.xml. Installing a self generated sessionSecret.
06/15 06:25:01 info No JDBC data sources have been configured for this server (see jrun-resources.xml)
06/15 06:25:02 info JRun Web Server listening on *:8501
06/15 06:25:02 info Deploying enterprise application “Macromedia ColdFusion MX” from: file:/C:/CFusionMX7/
06/15 06:25:07 info Deploying web application “Macromedia Coldfusion MX” from: file:/C:/CFusionMX7/
06/15 06:25:47 INFO License Service: Flex 1.5 CF Edition enabled
06/15 06:25:47 INFO Starting Flex 1.5 CF Edition
06/15 06:25:47 user JSPServlet: init
06/15 06:25:55 user CFMxmlServlet: init
06/15 06:25:55 user CFMxmlServlet: Macromedia Flex Build: 87315.134646
06/15 06:25:55 INFO Macromedia Flex Build: 87315.134646
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: init
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: ColdFusion MX: Starting application services
06/15 06:26:11 user ColdFusionStartUpServlet: ColdFusion MX: VM version = 1.4.2_05-b04
06/15 06:26:15 Information [main] – Starting logging…
06/15 06:26:15 Information [main] – Starting crypto…
06/15 06:26:26 Information [main] – Starting license…
06/15 06:26:26 Information [main] – Starting License server …
06/15 06:27:08 Information [main] – Starting scheduler…
06/15 06:27:08 Information [main] – Starting WatchService…
06/15 06:27:09 Information [main] – Starting debugging…
06/15 06:27:09 Information [main] – Starting sql…
06/15 06:27:10 Information [main] – Starting mail…
06/15 06:27:13 Information [main] – CORBA Configuration not enabled
06/15 06:27:13 Information [main] – Starting cron…
06/15 06:27:13 Information [main] – Starting registry…
06/15 06:27:15 Information [main] – Starting client…
06/15 06:27:17 Information [main] – Starting xmlrpc…
06/15 06:27:21 Information [main] – Starting graphing…
06/15 06:27:36 Information [main] – Starting verity…
06/15 06:27:36 Information [main] – Starting archive…
06/15 06:27:36 Information [main] – Starting document…

Update: I did receive an error message:

Could not start the ColdFusion MX 7 Application Server service on local computer.
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.

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Today’s Challenges

  1. CFMX6.1 from c:\CFusionMX\runtime\logs\default-out.log on Win2k server:

    JRun server “default” does not exist, the server root null was not found. Please verify that the C:\CFusionMX\runtime\lib\servers.xml file contains valid data for this server.

    Additional info from c:\CFusionMX\runtime\logs\default-err.log:

    jrunx.xml.XMLMetaData$CouldNotCreateDocumentException: Could not create document from location ‘file:/C:/CFusionMX/runtime/lib/servers.xml’
    at jrunx.xml.XMLMetaData.createDocument(XMLMetaData.java:1028)
    at jrunx.xml.XMLMetaData.importXML(XMLMetaData.java:200)
    at jrunx.xml.XMLMetaData.(XMLMetaData.java:122)
    at jrunx.server.metadata.ServersMetaData.(ServersMetaData.java:32)
    at jrunx.server.ServerManagement.refreshServersMetaData(ServerManagement.java:82)
    at jrunx.server.ServerManagement.getServerRootDirectory(ServerManagement.java:154)
    at jrunx.server.ServerManagement.getServerRootDirectoryFile(ServerManagement.java:171)
    at jrunx.kernel.JRun.startByNTService(JRun.java:410)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:39)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:25)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:324)
    at jrunx.kernel.JRun.invoke(JRun.java:180)
    at jrunx.kernel.JRun.main(JRun.java:168)

  2. My ftp client refuses to update a client site.
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Freeagent frustrations

What’s it like working for yourself? I’m running in on the homestretch of a very important project. I’m not as far along as I had hoped and suddenly the server needs an update that is critical to the completion of the project. But alas! The update caused the server to quit working. So breaking my incredible run is server troubleshooting. Of course, I can overcome this challenge but at times like this it sure would be nice to have a support staff to fall back on. The sales rep could be explaining the delay to the customer. The IT team could be fixing the server. The development team could be brainstorming in a think tank to work around the issue. HR could be cutting me a paycheck regardless of the delay. Ah, greener grass!

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Coastal Calamities

Since it is hurricane season, an animated reminder of what to expect from the different categories of storms. We hear a lot of talk about global warming causing increased storm intensity. I grew up being told that storm seasons come in 20 year patterns. We just recently came out of a calm 20 years and are now seeing the types of storms to expect for the next twenty years. This chart shows quantity not intesity so it doesn’t really support or dispute that claim.

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Hanso Foundation Updated

The Hanso Foundation has been updated. "Mental Health Appeal || a drive for a better future"

The Hanso Foundation’s Mental Health Appeal is a world-spanning system of clinics seeking revolutionary new treatments. It is nothing short of a crusade to rid us all of the spectre of debilitating illnesses that truly hold hostage the human race’s drive to a better future.

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Cars worth the watch!

Saw Cars (offical site) over the weekend and was very impressed! The storyline has been done before and some of the actors are comically (at least to me) typecast playing the same characters from their other movies but it is great story, unbelievable animation, and a good time. The brothers from Car Talk make a cameo which I found very entertaining since I periodically catch Car Talk on NPR (my favorite NPR show remains Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me).

I found the opening sequence so unbelieveably realistic, for a moment, I questioned whether or not they filmed a real car to start. This movie used 2300 CPU years which means your home computer would have had to be running since 300 b.c. to make this movie; granted, your home computer would have taken much longwe since it probably doesn’t have enough processing power to begin with. Pixar overstressed NFS and had to replace it with SAN.

…the NFS, Brandeau confirmed that it was woefully inadequate for the demands of the new movie. "A gigabyte of memory on our file server heads was nowhere near good enough," he said, adding that Pixar needed something in the region of 32 Gbytes.

… Brandeau and his team found salvation in a SAN. … Pixar eventually opted to replace the NFS with a SAN based on an EMC CX700 box, linked to Dell Linux servers running parallel file system software from startup Ibrix.
[Source]

For those that haven’t followed, eons ago The Muppet Movie ran jokes during their credits. In X-Men:The Last Stand, the credits started running and the bulk of the theatre left. Those in the know remained seated for a bonus scene after the credits. (I am not issuing spoilers at this time but will advise staying to the very end). Cars (IMBD) did something similar running some footage during credits then it went to just credits and most people left. Cars also has a bonus scene at the very end.

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Bizarre Dream

So apparently I was chosen to be a guest speaker somewhere for some unknown topic. The dream starts in my hotel meeting some strange people that want to shoot (project through the air) to the hotel on the other side of the street which is where my speaking will be. I give them the slip, run across the street and start looking for the Holiday Inn. I bump into this friendly lady and together we start trying to decide where the Holiday Inn is located. She says, "it’s near a parking structure but I always forget if it is up or down the street." Looking down the street I see the UT student center parking structure and through the big round circle I can make out the green of some of the Holiday Inn sign. The lady and I go into the parking structure and after some deliberation end up on the top level where another lady meets us and promptly plops a pointy cloth hat on my head that has a big, round pedaled flower on the front. I notice the new lady is wearing a similar hat. The lady I met on the sidewalk exclaims, "you’re using my hats!" As she pulls down a flap on her hat to reveal a flower, I come to release she was wearing a similar cloth hat but hers had a duck bill on the front. Turns out she is some kind of productivity counsellor that does motivational speaking but I still get the feeling I’m in a coven of witches.

I explain my strange encounter to them and they just look confused and give their opinion about the stupidity of shooting someone from one side of the street to another.

Next I am in our house but it’s not our house. It is much nicer than our house. My brother-in-law and his wife and children are visiting. My bedroom shares an ajoining bathroom with the guest room. Both are situated in the basement. I forget they are here and I am in the bathroom talking to myself trying to work through the strange people that wanted to shoot me to the other building. I disturb our guests and move to another room where I am attacked my a beetle. I stab it it a spike and it wiggles off and attacks me again. I recognize it as The Guyver and catch it in my hand to show to my other brother-in-law who regards it with slight disinterested. I crush it.

Now I’m travelling on an interstate and a car is obviously following me. I try to evade. In my dream we pan to the chasing car weaving between cars to catch up to me. The car is an old convertible and in it are the guys that wanted to shoot me to the other building (one looks distinctly like Cheech Marin). They are made out of lead and so is the car. We pan up for a view of the crowded interstate to see them closing in on me. The next bend in the road goes to the left but a black and red charcoaled flaming road connects to the interstate bending to the right. I understand in an instant that I’m driving to Hell.

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Today’s Deer in the Headlights (yes, there’s a pun there)

This is mesmerizing yet somehow very disturbing. I can’t tell if she’s singing non-sense or if that’s something European or Asian. This deserves a look simply from a technical appreciation for the quality of the animation. Playing Zork and Leisure Suit Larry so many years ago one could have never imagined such imagery would ever exist. The animation is, um, so smooth! This girl needs a bra (nws first referenced here). With all that said here is a link to something that is best with sound and is possibly work questionable. Oh, and I promise you are going to have two reactions: 1) You are going to stare mouth agape wondering why you continue to stare and not click away, and 2) you are going to say, "those things really bounce!" I was most impressed with the realism of the thighs and hips.

Update: I keep returning to this thing because the scallion is bugging me! (yes, it’s the scallion!) What does it mean?! Why take such a good animation and ruin it with such a horrid sprite? Something needs to be done about the clothing error on the lower left left too. At one point in the animation of the cloth goes into her leg.

On a side note, can anyone identify the music? I want a copy!