Digital (dis)content

Criteo jobs

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 11:44:00 +0000

Need:

Product Owners: Agile/Scrum, high-volume web apps, strong tech background, no bullshit, no fear.
Release Manager: GIT übermeister, build/test tools, Windows/Linux/SQL, nerves of steel.

Looks like you? GET IN TOUCH!

Thank you Steve.

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 07:54:00 +0000

You set the bar for the rest of us. Rest in peace.

Error message of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 08:20:00 +0000

Windows: the only OS displaying cryptic error messages in Chinese BEFORE you even logged in... What a piece of sh#t.

Code review @ Criteo

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:30:00 +0000

Weekly code review in one of my teams. Notice the high-tech cardboard project stand :)

Of course, these reviews are strictly compliant with the proven WTF methodology.

Life @ Criteo

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:34:00 +0000

Knuth... What else?

Crash course on problem management

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:22:00 +0000

Step 1: keep cool, focus & examine the facts.

Step 2: no matter how bad it looks, tell it like it is & show the team the way out.

Step 3: get things going & don't stand in the team's way. In fact, don't let anything stand in their way.

Anything else is a waste of time and energy.

Hadoop EC2 scripts broken on Windows / cygwin

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:31:00 +0000

Grrr... As of 0.21.0, the list-hadoop-clusters and delete-hadoop-cluster scripts need the rev utility, which is neither installed by default nor available as an add-on (unless I'm braindead, which is a definite possibility).

Quickfix : use tac instead



$ ln -s /bin/tac /bin/rev

Fugly, but now the scripts work...

Installing Hadoop on Windows / cygwin

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:30:00 +0000

Highly unnecessary... unless you're stuck with a Windows machine :-/

1) Install Cygwin

This is as straightforward as it gets, but don't forget to add your favorite editor : vim is not included in the default install (!).

The default directory is c:\cygwin, no reason to change it.

2) Install the Java Development Kit

You should avoid unnecessary spaces in the installation directory : c:\jdk1.6 will do nicely.

3) Install Hadoop

Download the latest release (0.21.0 at the time of writing) and extract it to d:\work (or something similar).

4) Fix your environment variables

Start cygwin and append the following lines at the end of your .bashrc file:



$ export JAVA_HOME=/cygdrive/c/jdk1.6

$ export HADOOP_INSTALL=/cygdrive/d/work/hadoop-0.21.0

$ export PATH=$PATH:$HADOOP_INSTALL/bin

5) Fix the hadoop-config script

$ vi $HADOOP_INSTALL/bin/hadoop-config.sh

Locate this section starting with "# cygwin path translation" and add the following line :

CLASSPATH=`cygpath -wp "$CLASSPATH"`

Save and exit.

6) Test your installation



$ hadoop version

Hadoop 0.21.0

etc etc.

That's it. Happy hadoop'ing :)

Scrum @ Criteo

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 10:27:00 +0000

Well, well, well. So long Pixmania, hello Criteo !

New company, new job, new friends... but some things shouldn't change, should they ?

Post-its ? check.
Whiteboard ? check.
Markers ? check.

Hundreds of millions of banners to deliver daily ? Bring it on, baby :)

New Pixmania Pro websites

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:47:00 +0000

This morning, the Pixmania IT team launched the new generation of Pixmania Pro websites. 21 countries, no less.

Job done. Let's move on!

"They said it couldn't happen"

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 21:36:00 +0000

One of our data centers has suffered repeated incidents over the last months. Much more than is expected and much more than our other data centers. To sort things out, we spent the better part of the day running a full audit: infrastructure, procedures, etc.

Here are a few random thoughts about what we learned. Nothing extraordinary, but does it ever hurt to go back to basics ? I think not.

A data center is a complex beast. Make sure you understand at least the basic concepts of power management, HVAC management, etc... or you will be fooled. There is plenty of good resources on the web: read and learn!
Trust nothing, especially redundancy claims (i.e. "n+1", "n+n"). Check EVERYTHING in person.
Beware of fake redundancy. Can 2 power lines coming into the building at the exact same spot be called redundant ? Nope. The same goes for fiber/network connections. Once again, check everything.
Ask for technical diagrams. Look for them in all rooms. Check that they tell the truth.
Check if all equipment is really online. An extra transformer / generator won't be very useful if it's shut down, will it?
Ask for maintenance logs. Look for maintenance tags / stickers on all equipment: they usually have handwritten information about the last / next maintenance date.
If a water pipe reads "cold water" and feels warm to the touch, what does it tell you ?
Are technical rooms clean ? dusty ? greasy ?
Does your hosting contract mention support / quality procedures ? Did you ever receive them? And if so, did you read them ? No? BIG mistake.
Talk to the security guard. Ask some basic questions about access control. Ask for the access log to your suite in the last week.
As a matter of fact, talk to every staff member you come across. You will be surprised.
Check the Meet Me Room / Operator Room. If it's mess of fiber cables, what does it tell you?
Try to wander in the data center. Try to open all doors that you shouldn't be able to open.
Try to get in without any ID. Try with drinks and food. Does anyone stop you?

The list goes on. This may sound harsh or paranoid... and maybe it is.

However, can you NOT consider the worst scenarios and see how well the data center will survive them ?

What will your tell your CEO and your customers when power fails at the busiest time of the year? Or when planned maintenance goes wrong ? Or when public construction cuts your "redundant" fibers ?

"They said it couldn't happen" ? That just doesn't work.

Remember: the more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat. Make sure you and your team sweat a lot.

PS: kudos to the audit team today (you know who you are). You made me proud :)

Certified Scrum Product Owner :)

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:34:00 +0000

Zzzzzzzz

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Thu, 20 May 2010 12:08:00 +0000

Pics taken yesterday after a 30-hour day... Well deserved, too !

The Evil Mister B.

Sleeping on the job, Perrin ?

Me, under my desk :))

New Pixmania & Pixmania Pro websites

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Wed, 19 May 2010 08:55:00 +0000

After a looooong night, your IT friends @ Pixmania are happy to introduce the new generation of Pixmania & Pixmania-Pro websites for Greece, Hungary and Cyprus! More countries to come once the rough edges have been taken care of.

E-merchant powered, of course ;)

RIP Dio, the greatest voice in Heavy Metal

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Tue, 18 May 2010 10:30:00 +0000

"In the misty morning, on the edge of time
We've lost the rising sun, a final sign
As the misty morning rolls away to die
Reaching for the stars, we blind the sky"

New Dixons website live

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:20:00 +0000

And another one :)

New PC World website live

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 07:14:00 +0000

Another retailer joins the e-merchant platform :)

New Currys website live

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:06:00 +0000

Launched at 5AM Paris time ! The largest electrical retailer in the UK is now running its online business on the e-merchant platform :)

Kindle DRM broken

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:01:00 +0000

Amazon claim that they sold more e-books than real books on Christmas day. Well, thanks to a joint effort by US and Israeli hackers, now you can enjoy them on any e-book reader. Here's the Python code :)

PS : fuck DRM

La vie à l'IT :)

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Les meilleures excuses des équipes IT pour ne pas bosser :

OK, mais c'est au détriment d'autre chose.

La direction m'a interdit de le faire.

On a toujours fait comme ça.

C'est pas mon périmètre.

C'est un problème de driver.

Je découvre !

C'est en UAT ou en prod ?

C'est pas factuel.

On est en sous-effectif.

Retourne à ton poste et envoie moi un mail.

La machine est pas en 64 bits.

J'ai pas accès au SVN.

Ca revient au même.

C'est sous SVN. C:\SVN

Et côté client...

J'ai un sentiment d'exaspération.
Je suis vexé.
La situation est intenable.
C'est un appel au secours.
C'est un projet à six zéros.
Je suis très inquiet.
C'est génial, ça coûte zéro.
Mais je l'aime, ce Backoffice !
Qui a touché ?
C'est un peu bizarre.
C'est assez catastrophique.
Tous les problèmes cumulés font que c'est de la merde.
(NEW) Celle qui marche pas, elle est cassée ?

La liste sera mise à jour, c'est une certitude :)

Et oui, tout est véridique.

Oracle webcast on Digiplug

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:07:00 +0000

About 6 months old and a good summary on how we used Oracle in my previous company (in French only, sorry).

And what a great performance... Me actually praising Oracle :-P

Scrum @ Pixmania

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:41:00 +0000

Didn't think I'd quit, did you ? Agile all the way !

Pixmania recrute

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:36:00 +0000

http://blog.pixmania.com/cat/recrutement/informatique

Rejoignez-nous !

VLC 1.0 released

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:01:00 +0000

After years and years of development, everyone's favorite open-source, cross-platform media player has finally reached the 1.0 milestone. Get it now !

Lipdup @ Pixmania

noreply@blogger.com (Julien Simon) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:58:00 +0000

Lipdup by Pixmania's IT team... and no, I'm not in it ;)