Formatting USB flash drives for write speed

Flash drives enjoy a reputation for being fast and that certainly goes for high-end models with their elaborate memory controllers and multi-bank layouts. A fundamental "problem" with current flash memory technology is that writing even a single bit of information requires that an entire block of flash memory is reset first [1], which greatly reduces … Continue reading Formatting USB flash drives for write speed →

Running varnish as unprivileged user

Since I haven't found any documentation on the topic of running varnish as non-root, I proudly present: how to run varnish as non-root. A warning ahead: this will require fiddling with init scripts, so make sure to keep backups. Also, scripts will be overwritten with each package update. Changes to /etc/init.d/varnish Ulimit calls are not … Continue reading Running varnish as unprivileged user →

Running a website on ip6

I started quite a while ago moving a pet project to ip6. While it doesn't involve any programming per se, it turned out to be quite a complicated process involving multiple configuration steps. Thus, for your enjoyment I present: running a website on ip6 with Ubuntu 14.04 (older versions won't work because their kernel doesn't … Continue reading Running a website on ip6 →

Linux picking the best access point in a WLAN with repeaters

In many larger WLAN setups you'll find repeaters or extenders which spread the WLAN to farther places on the floor. Often they are set up in such a way that they use the same WLAN name (SSID) and password. In that case the WLAN hardware on your laptop will pick the best access point and … Continue reading Linux picking the best access point in a WLAN with repeaters →