I think anyone who argues about the utility of controlling files that are silently placed/replaced in potentially sensitive dirs (i.e. source code) doesn’t have enough experience to provide an opinion, even windows gives you the option to disable thumbnail caching (thumbs.db). The argument of “This is the way apple did it, therefore, obviously it’s a good design, you’re the one doing it wrong” is lacking substance.

In searching for potential solutions to disable the creation of .DS_Store files in EVERY. SINGLE. DIR. I offer the following solutions.

Cleanup

This will recursively clean up the offending files within whatever directory you point it. In Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) – you may have to sudo depending on your target directory.

cd /Volumes/Dev [change to whatever dir you want to clean]
find . -name '*.DS_Store' -type f -delete

Solution #1: Brute Force

After having deleted the .DS_STORE files, I came across this solution and have been running it with success on Lion http://www.aorensoftware.com/blog/2011/12/24/death-to-ds_store/ it does a live patch on Finder to simply replace the function responsible for creating these files thus they simply Won’t be created. It includes a Launchd agent for setting this up at every reboot (Finder is not physically modified). This method completely disables Finder’s ability to remember view settings on folders that don’t already have them such as which view mode – Icon/Column/List, Window Size, Sorting, etc. are customized.

Solution #2: Redirection

Asepsis by BinaryAge (maker of TotalFinder and TotalTerminal – my fave) http://asepsis.binaryage.com/  is a cleaner solution in that it preserves the expected functionality which is ideal. Only drawback is it seems to break on every OS X version update.  The author is very diligent however so it usually stays current.

While the first solution simply disables .DS_Store creation altogether – which will have the effect of folders not remembering their setting – this solution, re-routes the process of .DS_Store creation to a unified cache directory for all folders (rather than storing it in each one) hence maintaining the correct functionality while keeping everything clean.

Other Solutions

Cleanup on External drives: http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest4/ (not free) provides an easy way to clean up external drives so they may be shared on other systems without showing evidence of their having been used on a mac (i.e. .Trashes, .FSEvent stores, Spotlight stores, etc.)

Prevention on Network Shares: (Apple KB)

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

Thanks to http://danilo.ariadoss.com/how-to-recursively-remove-ds_store-files-on-mac-os-x/  and many others for the cleanup step

For more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.ds_store

To permanently remove the notification center,
In terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal – or press CMD+SPACE and type “Terminal”, hit ENTER)

sudo launchctl remove com.apple.notificationcenterui.agent
launchctl remove com.apple.notificationcenterui.agent

It will ask you for your login password, presumably, your account is an administrator. One of those commands may output “launchctl remove error: No such process”, this is normal. The Notification center agent may or may not run as a system service, or a user service.

Contrary to changing the application’s  file permissions (which will revert if you ever need to repair the permissions for the disk), This will prevent it from launching in the first place – since setting the permission to make it unavailable pollutes the syslog as the launchd process attempts to load the notification center continuously.

To Restore the Notification Center,

sudo launchctl submit -l com.apple.notificationcenterui.agent -p /System/Library/CoreServices/NotificationCenter.app/Contents/MacOS/NotificationCenter

no fuss no muss, no permissions to set/reset.

What you see here are corrected instructions put together from various forums and web posts and the Fuppes wiki (links to follow)

FUPPES .661+ INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS FOR UBUNTU (Debian) 9.10 Karmic 64 bit

1. become root

su

2. remove build tools

apt-get remove autoconf automake gettext
apt-get update

3. install latest build tools

apt-get install autoconf automake gettext

4. install dependencies

apt-get install build-essential libpcre3-dev libpcre++-dev libpcre-ocaml libpcre-ocaml-dev libxml2-dev sqlite3 libuuid-perl libuuidm-ocaml-dev libuuidm-ocaml-dev libtaglib-ocaml-dev libiconv-hook-dev imagemagick libavutil-dev libavformat-dev libavcodec-dev libfaad-dev libgsm1-dev libogg-dev libschroedinger-dev libspeex-dev libtheora-dev libvorbis-dev libx11-dev libxext-dev libraw1394-dev libdc1394-22-dev libmpeg4ip-dev libmp3lame-dev libtwolame-dev libmpcdec-dev libflac-dev libmp4v2-dev libmad0-dev libmad-ocaml-dev ffmpeg libswscale-dev libffmpegthumbnailer-dev libsqlite3-dev uuid-dev libpanel-applet2-dev libpanelappletmm-2.6-dev libnotify-dev libmagick++-dev libsvn1 subversion libtool

5. get latest Fuppes source from subversion repository

svn co https://fuppes.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/fuppes/trunk fuppes

6. go to Fuppes directory

cd fuppes

7.a. create configuration

autoreconf -vfi

7.b. configure the fuppes install (this will enable transcoding and all plugins/codecs)

./configure --prefix=/usr --enable-transcoder-ffmpeg --enable-lame --enable-twolame --enable-vorbis --enable-ImageMagick --enable-mad --enable-faad

7.c. summary should show as below (Once you have ran the above command, the output should be similar to the summary below. If you are missing any codecs or plugins simply re run the autoreconf -vfi command, then re run ./configure command using the –enable-plugin/codec option. For instance ./configure –enable-twolame):

CONFIGURATION SUMMARY

audio transcoding plugins
encoder:
lame : yes
twolame : yes
pcm/wav : yes
decoder:
vorbis : yes (libvorbisfile)
mpc : yes
flac : yes
faad : yes (aac/mp4/m4a)
mad : yes (mpeg Layer I, II & III)

video transcoding plugins
ffmpeg : enabled

image conversion/rescaling plugins
ImageMagick : enabled (Wand C-API)

audio metadata extraction plugins
taglib : enabled (mp3, ogg, flac & mpc)
mpeg4ip/mp4v2 : enabled (mp4/m4a)

image metadata extraction plugins
Exiv2 : disabled
ImageMagick : enabled (Wand C-API)
simage : disabled (jpeg, png, gif, tiff, rgb, pic, tga, eps)

video metadata extraction plugins
libavformat : enabled
ffmpegthumbnailer : enabled

miscellaneous
iconv : enabled (charset conversion)
uuid : enabled
inotify : enabled

8. Make/Install into Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic server/desktop

make
make install
ldconfig
make distclean

9.a. start fuppes (currently as root) to initially generate the db and configuration files

fuppes

9.b. will show:

FUPPES – 0.646

the Free UPnP Entertainment Service

http://fuppes.ulrich-voelkel.de

== lib/ContentDirectory/VirtualContainerMgr.cpp (56) :: Mon Nov 2 14:35:40 2009 ==
no vfolder.cfg file available

webinterface: http://10.0.0.1:53938
r = rebuild database
u = update database
i = print system info
h = print help

press ctrl-c or q to quit

Press CTRL + C to stop Fuppes.

10. see: http://server-servers.com/ubuntu-9-10-karmic-configure-and-tweak-fuppes-media-server for customizing the config, edit the config files — this configuration will enable PS3 and XBOX usage, and present the web GUI on port 9137 at whatever IP Address is assigned to the eth0 interface

nano /root/.fuppes/fuppes.cfg

see sample contents (my config)

nano /root/.fuppes/vfolder.cfg

see sample contents (my config)
11.a. prepare the permanent configuration dir for the fuppes daemon and copy the configs to it

mkdir /etc/fuppes
mkdir /var/lib/fuppes
cp ~/.fuppes/fuppes.cfg /etc/fuppes
cp ~/.fuppes/vfolder.cfg /etc/fuppes
cp ~/.fuppes/fuppes.db /var/lib/fuppes

11.b. prepare security settings for the daemon (don’t run as root), create “fuppes” user and group and take ownership of the config dirs

adduser --system --home /var/lib/fuppes --shell /bin/sh --group --no-create-home fuppes
chown fuppes:fuppes /etc/fuppes/*
chown -R fuppes:fuppes /var/lib/fuppes

12.a. set up the daemon startup (http://server-servers.com/Source-Code/Fuppes-Ubuntu-Linux/fuppesd.txt from the Fuppes wiki http://fuppes.ulrich-voelkel.de/wiki/index.php?title=Startup_with_Init.d)

nano /etc/init.d/fuppesd

12.b. initialize the startup daemon

chmod +x /etc/init.d/fuppesd
update-rc.d fuppesd defaults 60
/etc/init.d/fuppesd stop
/etc/init.d/fuppesd start

TO UPGRADE FUPPES, simply run:

su
cd fuppes/
svn update
make
make install

(if adding more dependencies/codecs/plugins, need to autoreconfigure, and set the ./configure parameters again (from earlier PLUS any new ones)

LINKS:

Ubuntu Forums – HOWTO (accurate but not complete for my needs)

Server Servers blog – HOWTO (complete options but outdated and some corrections)

Fuppes Wiki (base compile instructions, not complete for my needs)

UPDATE: note sure if this works the same in Ubuntu Lucid…

Normally, most of my work has been with small low traffic websites for various small businesses where efficiency planning was mostly too time consuming for the cost. Recently have been working on higher traffic applications and after running into a “too many connections” issue during peak hours tried many initial steps at alleviating the problem, such as increasing efficiency in my database abstraction class (starting with lazy loading), and releasing result sets asap among a few others. Each step added a performance gain, but not until all matters were taken into account did it make a difference.

These changes quickly formed into my personal list of best practices and good habits to get into.

A few rules of thumb that have served me well:

• Choose your tools, learn them well
  • For managing MySQL databases, I have found no other tool as indispensible as the community edition MySQL Query Browser and MySQL Administrator bundle. I prefer this to phpMyAdmin. MySQL GUI tools, for OS X Sequel Pro
    • Building and testing queries
    • writing, editing, automatically output table create/alter scripts
    • manually editing/manipulating data in tables directly in the results view
    • visually editing tables and schemas
  • For creating complex schemas, reverse engineering existing schemas and much more, the MySQL Workbench
    
• Use the right database engine for the right task… Namely: InnoDB vs MyIsam
  • While the latest MySQL default of MyIsam truly is usually the best option, there are times when others have advantages.
    It took a lot of research to build a clear answer of which is appropriate when, since they both have their advantages.
    • InnoDB should be used when your application is going to be writing to a table more than reading – reading can sometimes be substantially slower than MyIsam
    • MyIsam should be used when your application will be reading from a table more than writing. Reading is extremely fast using this engine.
    • For situations of high concurrency, that is, a close ratio of reads to writes such as in an application that writes to a log and uses that log during normal operation it is necessary to think ahead. Depending on how the logs will later be used on the back end, it is wise to keep a table of live log data, and then periodically, say once a night, dump those logs into a concise snapshot for reading stats, then archive the logs to another table if they must be kept. This way, your live table never has to go through thousands if not millions more records as the days pass.
  • MyIsam is usually the winner in high concurrency situations (with proper table planning), because generally actively seeking records takes importance over writing/updating a record so it can be slightly lazier about writing – particularly if you need to do frequent COUNTS() and In such a situation, I usually end up with the following schema outline:
    • logs_live - MyIsam
      used actively by the application for normal operations and to read out live stats. Some identifying information be it an IP or userid — Always stored as long/unsigned int to be used for maintaining a longer record of users
    • logs_archive – InnoDB
      if necessary to maintain logs, this table gets all the log records for the day during the nightly dump, InnoDB allows it to be written to fast
    • logs_checks - MyIsam
      This is a table that is used for normal operation but stores abridged and longer-lived list of records derived from or written simultaneously as the live log – for verification checks for a user against the log, this table is used instead of the live log. Any necessary counts are stored and incremented in this table. This table serves as a stripped down memory for the log that lasts beyond nightly archival.
    • logs_snapshots – MyIsamthis table contains a prepared enumeration of daily stats with required counts and evaluations grouped by date and data set. used only by the statistics portion of the application, it leaves the logging tables free to do their job while reading out stats during program operation. If more stats are later needed, they can be compiled incrementally from the archives
• There is a time and a place for Normalization
  • Proper normalization is very important but doesn’t always have to add unnecessary complexity to a simple application. I have seen some instances of over-normalization where data was actually too abstracted which resulted in far slower (both to build and run) queries to pull the data together and actually proved detrimental while providing no additional flexibility to the application. This is where the KISS (keep it simple, stupid!) principle definitely applies — Your application flow will dictate what needs to be normalized. If you must, start with big tables containing the data as it will be needed, and break off columns to new tables as required; when you start dealing with duplicate records, evaluate if there should actually be many records to one (i.e. one user may have many entries in a program, but you wouldn’t store all of the user’s details in all of the entry tables – imagine updating the user details later!)
  • - it may prove useful later to see the original complete table layout when building your JOIN statements, so work on your efficiency/flexibility, but keep a record of your original plans to avoid over-complicating your work.
• Connections to your DB: Be lazy; Open late, open sparingly and close early
  • Generally, script execution is so fast that database connections are opened and closed (as PHP closes the connection at the end of script execution) almost instantly after working with your records but as your traffic starts to increase, queries start to get queued and table/row locking becomes a problem as it will start to keep connections open until the query completes.
  • Many people make the mistake either in a database abstraction layer or in their script of opening a connection to the db at the start of execution which will be reused throughout. In low traffic situations, this is fine, and makes development easier in general, but when traffic picks up, those few milliseconds that each connection is opened earlier than needed start to add up – exponentially as query processes start to queue up, eventually reaching the point where even a server configured to allow unlimited connections will result in an error of too many connections, and PHP will complain with a “Too many connections” error creating an intermittent failure point.
  • NOTE: In general, when allowing unlimited connections, the reality is that it is limited to the number of threads the server can support for that process – usually 500-1000 for linux (more likely 500 simultaneous connections)
  • Open the connection ONLY on your first query and reuse it thereafter, clearing the result set as soon as possible.
  • Always explicitly reference the connection resource in your script’s query function if potentially working with different schemas in one script to ensure that you are working with the right connection. Don’t rely on PHP to figure it out for you.
• Be picky. ONLY retrieve necessary columns
  • Make a practice out of this and if at all possible, try to use numeric indexes for those columns in your script – set them to variables if you must. but be selective regardless.
  • On a highly active table it makes no sense to issue a SELECT * FROM query on a table with say 10 columns, when you only need to retrieve 2 for your result set. while it may be faster while writing your code, you’ll pay for it in performance, especially when running COUNT(*) queries – choose one column to count such as a primary key column, and remember that NULL values don’t get counted.
  • It will save time and memory in MySQL having to return every field from the rows, and in your PHP script having to store (even if only for an instant) the extra unnecessary data in your results array.
• Sometimes fetching many records is just as fast as fetching just one
  • When your application must loop through a list of records from one or many tables, it often ends up being relatively faster to retrieve a resultset for expected records and manipulating the resulting array in PHP rather than retrieving one record at a time in the loop – at the cost of memory/processor usage, but as long as you’re unsetting your variables as you go, PHP should handle the memory well.

I have found that there is RARELY ever a reason under normal circumstances that there should be a “long running query” on a decent production grade server if you have planned your tables, sql queries, and application logic to work together efficiently for the flow of work and workload necessary – until the physical resource limitations on the server are reached.

The application should deal with manipulating and presenting data, MySQL should obviously deal with storing and retrieving that data but it sometimes helps to prepare data as it’s stored/retrieved (such as dates) when the actual data is not stored in the same format as it will be used and the more you can help either do their job the better your outcome.

While it always helps to have separate physical machines in a cluster for the database hosting and the web server, not taking into account any future need for database replication or other ways of dealing with higher traffic levels, most developers I have encountered start off constrained to a shared hosting environment or a dedicated server which hosts all services and only when there is a major issue is scalability addressed, so it’s essential to work smart before needing additional hardware to make the most of what’s already there and build a reputation of fast, responsive applications.

Eventually there should be balance of proper table/schema construction along with matching efficiency in the strengths of each db engine and query building.

After spending a good amount of time at Bush Intercontinental figuring out which rental place was best suited to our rental situation, we left with a Pontiac G6 with terrible alignment. Car was decent, steering on acceleration, however, was dangerous.

We drove into Baton Rouge from Houston around 4am without having researched much in the way of lodging. Ended up at the Ramada Inn on Airline Hwy. Not a very impressive stay but for the price and timing, it had to do.

We got the keycard to our room. Much to our shock on walking in sleepy heads popped up in alarm. NOT vacant. For this error, we got two rooms for the price of one. Didn’t really matter the rooms were pretty dingy – namely the bathrooms – Sleep is sleep [as long as no strangers walk in to startle you].

The reunion at Brandie’s baby shower was a nice reunion of friends spanning the past 13 years. The blend of all personalities now more mature and remembering years ago – crises and fun times. We spent latter part of the day enjoying familiar company and catching up. It’s been a while.

We stayed the night in Kenner at the Airport Motel 6. Affordable and decent accommodations. Sleep once again came easily. I ate a Sonic Burger and an ocean splash from Sonic which I believe gave me a stomach virus or some other related malady which lasted for several days. Devin and Chad had wendys and a chili frito something from sonic washed down with Coconut Vanilla Cokes spiked with Bacardi Malibu, pretty good combination for the drink might I add.

An ordinary Sunday in New Orleans, but the best day in the quarter I’ve had in a lifetime of going, and one of the best days I’ve had in a while in general.

Started with some walking around and a lot of picture taking. Of course, the only way I can start my day in the quarter is with a morning daiquiri – not that I really ever drink but, it’s refreshing. $9 daiquiris is a bit excessive as a start, totally worth it. I got Vampire Blood (strawberry, grape, everclear and vodka) delish. Devin got an awesome Absinthe daiquiri and Chad mango.

Next stop, Cafe Du Monde, of course for greasy breakfast beignet goodness.

The weather was perfect, sunny, cool breeze (though still a cause for sweating, it wasn’t sweltering as it can be most of the time).

Finding a table, daunting as always but a good one we did find. Apparently this spot with the nearby entertainment amounted to a time warp, where the passage of time slowed.

Talking, listening to the amazing sound of acoustic guitar and violin of� Tanya & Dorise.

There was something that had to be done to make them play some famous Nintendo song – Devin was DIEING to hear it. Eventually Chad stepped up to the plate, jumping over the seating area railing (splashing us with New Orleans muck from under a lose slate tile on the sidewalk) and asking them. He also purchased a CD. The Super Mario theme on violin played Perfectly and impromptu. I think Devin’s life up to that point was validated immediately.

They played so passionately, most who passed went on with a smile. It was moving, and captivating.

After that was hanging out with Brandie again before heading home. We wandered around downtown Baton Rouge for a little while before heading off to eat at brewbachers and then to visit Jason’s house as I’d not yet been. Had to stop and get another round of daiquiri first. This time it was Jungle Juice for me, Fudgesicle for Chad and Devin as usual being adventurous got a smoothie daiquiri comprised of� fudgesicle, banana and white russian mixture (kahlua / cream).

No trouble sleeping after the drive back to Houston. Crashed at Devin’s, pretty good sleep.

Woke up at 10am on Monday morning, got ready for the day and headed out to return the car and pick up my own.

Went out to eat with Andrea, Devin and Chad, and walked around Hong Kong city mall for a few hours. Then it was back to Austin for me.

What a great weekend.

“Fatal error: Cannot use object of type __PHP_Incomplete_Class as array in”

The offending line was the first instance of a session variable with a certain key name:

if (!isset($_SESSION['user'][0])) { $_SESSION['user'][0] = 0; }

On the development server there were no problems, but put on the demo shared server over which I have no control, the error appeared. I scoured the internet for the solution but it seems anyone who has this problem never really gets a straight answer – and it seems to come up a fair bit. Incidentally, it seems to be related usually to login/user/session management scripts since certain keywords are fairly common in those situations.

Frustrated, as a last ditch attempt I changed it to:

if (!isset($_SESSION['usrinf'][0])) { $_SESSION['usrinf'][0] = 0; }

The problem was solved instantly.

Turns out it was the key “user” which was the problem in the hosting environment.

So if anyone has this issue, do a find/replace of all instances of the session variable key located in the line indicated by the error to something more unique .

In regards to President Obama fulfilling a pre-election promise to take wife to broadway show in New York:

“Republicans characterised the trip as insensitive and wasteful against the backdrop of US car giant General Motors preparing for an expected bankruptcy.

White House aides and media accompanied the first couple on their private date.

The president and first lady travelled to New York in a smaller plane than the regular Air Force One 747.” - BBC News

—

“The White House declined to say how much the trip was costing taxpayers, and even before the smaller jet left Washington, the there-and-back trip drew criticism from the Republican National Committee. The RNC issued a news release that chastised Obama for saying he understands American’s troubles, but then hopping up to New York for “a night on the town.”

Noting that General Motors is expected to file for Chapter 11 protection on Monday, the news release said: ‘Putting on a show: Obamas wing into the city for an evening out while another iconic American company prepares for bankruptcy.’”- Washington Post

—

“While the Obamas� visit to New York was considered private, there was some very public criticism of the trip. In a press release that was issued on Saturday afternoon with the headline �Putting on a Show,� the Republican National Committee suggested that the outing was inappropriate and that Mr. Obama was out of touch, especially given the looming bankruptcy of General Motors.” - NY Times

Quite frankly, I’m appalled� yet not very impressed with the hypocrisy. Those republicans never really seem to have something worth talking about unless it’s profitable — It wasn’t even a private date! Nor did they take the big plane!

True the bankruptcy of any of the major car manufacturers is an acute systemic calamity and requires close attention. But let’s be fair! Need we recall the delay in response during a major natural catastrophe and humanitarian crisis in 2005 in the south east U.S., against the backdrop of former President W. Bush’s excessively frequent and lengthy month+ long vacations to their ranch in Crawford, TX – in wartime, during the greatest fiscal malfunctions in decades.

I would be so bold to say that while I was skeptical at first, I’ve been impressed with President Obama’s fervor and direct approach. I would almost be led to believe he’s so far done more useful work in his first 5 months than W. Bush did in his entire tenure, but then considering that out of 8 years in office he spent well over a year on vacation – we should all be so lucky to have so much vacation time! Now I’ll be fair and say it’s easy to focus the blame on one figurehead when really the whole party and then some are to blame but all in all that’s what it seemed to end on – just being a puppet with a misguided and poorly worded agenda.

I seem to remember so many instances of hearing “The president has returned from his vacation home in Crawford, TX to address the situation.” … I think one night on the town is OK.

What trite, divisive, opinionated, childish and primitive people the republican party. For being such avidly self professed and devout Christians by statement, they sure do have a penchant to criticize before minding their own follies. They truly do build their own case against themselves.

BBC News – Obamas enjoy a date on broadway

Washington Post

New York Times

452 days in Crawford Texas

Often severe spells of procrastination are spurred on by a feeling of being overwhelmed by a project, disorganized and generally making a mountain out of a molehill, even if it is a big project.

This isn’t even addressing any tendencies to simply be lazy which ultimately must be overcome at ones own expense. My trick to this is to brainstorm on something that will motivate me to complete the job – typically the reward at the end but more often than not it isn’t the reward that is more motivating but the ‘hunger’ in the meantime — rent/bills are due, something important needs to be taken care of, etc. This is not even taking into account any actual deadlines.

As far as I know, the greatest motivators in the world are hunger and ego. Hunger is a metaphor for any immediate need but can be taken literally in certain circumstances and ego expresses the need to prove ones worth and place in the world. These are, however, only a motivating factors when working out of a rut or starting from the bottom. Motivation becomes increasingly difficult as NEEDS become WANTS and WANTS are more easily attained at which time incessant boredom sets in and once frivolous or extraneous ordeals become the primary focus.

Too much stress, not enough being done about it

One of my greatest problems comes in feeling overwhelmed because of the project at hand PLUS a looming responsibility such as debt and other such things. This paralyzing combination have to be separated and dealt with in turn otherwise they will create a complete creative blockage wherein a feedback loop ensues – can’t work cause I’m stressed, stressed cause I’m not working and things are due.

There are 5 conditions under which I do not function well:

1. tired
2. hungry
3. sexually frustrated
4. temperature discomfort (too cold / too hot)
5. constipated/bloated – laugh if you must but it’s a real problem for many

the third item may seem a vulgar and exaggerated issue and for some people may not ever be an issue (i am a man after all, let’s be honest), but in reality these concerns are primal needs and when unsatisfied will forcefully and involuntarily take precedence over intellectual endeavors, — this is to say it’s entirely possible to get the job done, but coming back later under different circumstances to look over my work, I find I either did not work efficiently and could have worked faster having made poor structural choices when scripting or programming, or poor design/layout choices.

The worse part is that these issues compound and affect each other. That is, tired produces crankiness and a sense of discouragement. Sexually frustrated makes one tense disagreeable and easily distracted (which is actually the lesser of the 5 issues)� plus if you take care of that, you could then be tired. Uncomfortable temperature and being tired will cause internal temperature fluctuations and ultimately make me feel sick and worn out. Too cold makes me sleepy and lethargic – OR frisky and restless, too hot makes me irritable and tense. Add hunger to any of these and we have a situation where all basic needs are unfulfilled and the body can only focus on attending to them.

So, the solutions?

Caffeine.

A special note needs to be made about caffeine. While I LOVE coffee, when I have to work, I avoid it like the plague. Instead choosing a good black or green tea which rather than specifically containing caffeine, through the action of theophylline will gradually raise alertness. An energy drink with supplemental additives such as taurine, guarana, ginseng, vitamin B6, protein, vitamin c, and natural sugar or sucralose (my preference over acesulfame K or aspartame). The sugar is an important issue even with tea. I find that high fructose corn syrup in certain energy drinks eliminates the energy boost the caffeine induces by causing a sudden spike in blood glucose levels – making me feel even more drained than before – yet restless and unable to nap if I so choose.

So far I have found a preference for the new Jolt (as in Jolt Cola) formulations – personally I like them all except for grape, but that’s personal preference. A major issue beyond the sugar that I’ve had with energy drinks is the medicinal aftertaste. The Jolts taste great while containing a pretty well balanced set of ingredients. A 23.5oz can lasts me all night – if I’m more thirsty than usual I have water along side it because even to consume that large can quickly would definitely create some attention difficulties while trying to concentrate.

Food

While I work, I am constantly hungry – whether my body uses this as an excuse to create a distraction is to be examined but the bottom line is that if I don’t eat about once an hour and wait until my stomach growls when doing heavy thinking I start to bog down and things get ugly. This is an apparent consequence of having a very fast metabolism and being accustomed to large amounts of carbohydrates. I get restless, then I get tired, then I start to get cold regardless of the ambient temperature and at this point any efforts to do good work are going to be in vain.

The problem comes about in the choice of intake while working. My persistent inclination is always candy and other sweet things – OR a big meal to satisfy the craving for-good but in my experience, the empty calories of candy will destroy my ability to concentrate and a big or heavy meal will punctuate my attempt at doing anything for at least 4 hours.

My favorite thing to do is to have 2 half sandwiches, specifically tuna sandwiches any time I get a craving – around every hour to hour and a half.

Why two half sandwiches and not one whole? Because eating two halves fools me into thinking that I’m eating more than I actually am while not getting too full as result, thereby addressing my latent gluttony.

If for example, my issue is that I’m hungry but I feel full – a strange feeling but it happens (usually if I haven’t made a regular bowel movement),� I may choose to eat a bowl of frosted mini wheats or cheerios (i use soy milk to avoid feeling bloated- this is another issue altogether) or any other high fiber moderately sweet cereal or make a bowl of oatmeal depending on the climate or immediate preference. Wash it down with water and two problems will soon be solved.

Sleep

When I’m working and tired, my want for sleep will invariably win — I will rationalize and convince myself that after a certain amount of work, I DESERVE to sleep which usually amounts to committing a very small amount of work before getting frustrated and going to sleep.

Instead� what I usually find will work, given that I for my whole life have never had a set steady sleep schedule is that rather than fight the sleep and waste time trying to work, I’ll:

1. have a small but satisfying meal
2. drink a small cup of black or green tea
3. chase those with water
4. set an alarm clock for one and a half hours to 3 hours
5. doze off while organizing my thoughts on where to start and the step immediately following, with the mindset that when the alarm goes off, I will wake, and do nothing but that one first step and take it from there.

Usually this works. If for any reason it does not, there is something else amiss and really needs to be evaluated.

Once the ball gets rolling and I achieve the first immediate milestone, such as getting past the starting point and laying down an initial plan PLUS an initial structure the rest comes easily and naturally up to reaching a stopping point. Once the motivation finally hits, I just let it pull me as far as I can physically manage. Sometimes working for 72 hours straight with only 2 or 3 hour naps every 18 hours.

–Always stop all caffeine consumption at least 4 hours before attempting to go to sleep or else just like trying to work while tired, trying to sleep while wired is counterproductive.

After which I will probably feel ragged and may then sleep a whole day – well, maybe 12 hours straight and another few hours after waking up, potty break, and drinking a bunch of water/eating until I feel refreshed and bright eyed (in other words, sleep until my eyes just PING open) — this sleep diet usually addresses the issue of caffeine tolerance which happens quickly as it will all work its way out of my system.

Wake up, shower, shave, eat, take care of any pending real-world matters then the whole process can repeat.

In fact, even if you like the standard dual pane local | remote setup it’s there as well.

A Must Have for anyone who goes back and forth between Mac (and is used to the simplicity of Cyberduck)and PC. The security connectivity features which it is named for are excellent.

Best of all, it can easily be used as a portable ftp client.