BTTF: I hate manure

This is a compilation of manure moments on the hit Back To The Future movies. A lot of key moments in BTTF feature actors familiar from previous installments; characters like Biff, the clocktower guy, the `What are you, chicken?` guy (Needles), and the manure cart has a recurring role.

The manure company is run by the family Jones. First there was D. Jones `Manure Hauling´ in BTTF1:

Then there was D. Jones again, in the second installment.

And finaly in BTTF3 you see A. Jones in the wild west:

In the beginning of this movie, even Marty looks surprised to find them everywhere. Actually .. it would not surprise me to even find the same actor alongside the cart each movie.

Thats a nice touch. I really like BTTF and would love to see more. If they would make any more movies tho, they would sure ruin that.

Lets just hope more movies of this niche are in the pipeline in the 20th century. A good comedy is a smart movie.

There´s also a big list of goofs on this movie at IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088763/goofs
Ever noticed this creepy kid at the end of BTTF3? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zq5-6PkVGCg

PS - i realize most fans of this people already noticed this detail. This page is those who appreciate it, and those who did not realize. Yet. (shame on you)

DNS forgery by UPC

I made a typo when connecting a fresly installed Filezilla client to my domain at staesit.nl

This is what the Filezilla log said:

Status: Resolving domain staesit.nll
Status: Connecting with 67.63.50.51:21...

The TLD nll doesn't even exist! Oh crap whats this?

How then does filezilla end up with to this IP? Hostname of said IP resolves as:

upcnlassist-c.infospace.com

Aha! My (one week lived) provider UPC.nl is in on it.

My provider is doing something i don't want it to. Seems like it assumes identity of staesit.nll. Stuff like this just makes me mad and sad at the same time. :( DNS forgery should be banned.

I won´t even start on the searchpage that now pops up on misspelled domains.. wait. Actually i will exactly that as it seems like this is actually causing said behavior.

> ping zoek.upc.nl
Pinging assist.infospace.com [67.63.50.57] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 67.63.50.57: bytes=32 time=98ms TTL=243

Archive backup periodicly

I'm not into typing much about such simple subjects, but i just had to share this old batch code. Turns out there is no quick and neat solution available for moving your daily backups to separate folders. So in short and without further adieu;

Backups are important. All Staes IT web servers submit backups on a regular basis to secure offsite locations. These should run automated and reliable, without much human intervention.

Problem
These backup server receives backups via FTP each day. I don't want the next day's backup to overwrite the current ones, so have to archive them in a daily manner. It also looks nice when browsing the backups folder. Keeps everything nice and organized.

I should run a script every morning to archive those nightly backups to do the job for me.

Solution
This scripts puts all files a folder named "bu_YYYYMMDD_auto". Run this daily when the ftp backups are finished.

Since i've realized this script over 7 years ago people keep asking me how to do such a thing with batch files. So i figured i should just put it on the internet for all to see. Sorry for the delay, i only recently started this blog thing.

Back then i created two batch files to suit my needs at the time. One named "bu_shift.bat" checks if files exist with the correct extention, then creates a folder using the date, and moves all files in here. It outputs the results to the console. The other file named "bu_shift_keeplog.bat" just calls the above and puts the results in a daily logfile. Files are listed below.

It assumes the incomming files are at ./bu_ftp_up/*.gz and you could easily change that yourself.

Also keep in mind better solutions exist. This one will work out of the box and simply does its job - thats the only reason i present it here.

bu_shift.bat

@echo off

REM Run this file as a cronjob, some time after the FTP has delivered a backup.

REM All folders are appended with _auto to easily distinguish them from manual backups.

echo.
echo ****************************************************
echo * Start backup shift:
echo.
if not exist ".\bu_ftp_up\*.gz" GOTO NoFiles


for /F "tokens=2-4 delims=/- " %%A in ('date/T') do set var=%%C%%B%%A

echo * Creating folder bu_%var%_auto:
md "bu_%var%_auto"
echo.
echo * Moving files to folder:
move ".\bu_ftp_up\*.*" ".\bu_%var%_auto\"
echo.
GOTO End


:NoFiles
echo * Stopped: found no files in "bu_ftp_up".
echo.


:End
echo * End of batch
echo ****************************************************
echo.

Above neatly outputs results in the console.
When running this as a cronjob use below file to log this to aptly named files.

bu_shift_keeplog.bat

@echo off
for /F "tokens=2-4 delims=/- " %%A in ('date/T') do set logd=%%C%%B

set logfile=bu_shift_log_%logd%.txt

echo. >> %logfile%
echo bu_shift_keeplog.bat op %date%, om %time% >> %logfile%
.\bu_shift.bat >> %logfile%
echo. >> %logfile%

In Windows you can add this file as a cronjob via "Task Scheduler". This code has been in use for over five years on various Windows Server 2003 and 2008 environments, and continues to serve a purpose. Happy sharing!

PS - boy this Blogger editor is worth shit. Awfull code markup.

Human origin; robots!

I love science fiction, and one thing has stumbled me. Actually the lack of something. Not on one occasion have i seen what i´m about to elaborate on. And i´ll explain why i believe it is likely.

The closest i've ever seen this being used, is in Battlestar Galactica:

[SPOILER ALERT]
If you plan to watch Battlestar Galactica (BSG) stop reading now. What i aim at here is the vicous circle. The aliens are made by humans. These aliens retaliate and eradicate civilization, realize humans have something they don´t, emulate this, and in effect become the `new´ humans. Vicious circle ensues, the end. Oh and the story was interplanitary. This too relates to my point.

Now combine this with the Borg from Star Trek or the Replicators from Stargate:

• The borg wants to gain perfection, and one way they do this is by assimilating everything there is to know. This often means destroying civilizations and using slaves for their greater good.
• The replicators intended to defend their creator and in extent themselves, mostly by means of violence.

Both fictional species show similar behavior, but the Borg looks human, and the Replicators look like LEGO bricks.

My point

If you take all this, you get an entity (say some civilization, like humanity) that generates an entity (say some robots) in the quest for perfection. If this evolves enough, it wil most likely end up in a loop. Artifical humans basicly. Knowledge and evidence about this eventually gets lost (it might be still out there, don't get me wrong). 

How we humans fit in

Be warned: i talk in generics, as there are a lot of variables here. Most of them don´t even matter in this context. We could stand on either side of the subject on this case. Actually, i beleive both.

In more detail
Now for some reason, assume some civilization gets to the point they figure out how to automate something. O wait, we've done that. The end result is a robot. In line of how we got so far, we (as humans) want to perfect this even more.

Assume we end up with or as (for all intents and purposes the same here) a artificial entity (or call it civilization). They will continue this trend, and seed out to the universe in the meanwhile. Some won't survive a catastrophe and crash on some meteor or planet. Dead.

Don´t get me wrong, i am fond of Darwin.
But one of the things we've seen so far is that nature has rather advanced designs. If you aren't inspired try to understand how every cell in your body has a copymachine and protein assembly line. Enough youtube video's on that subject. Also don´t forget that some cellular automation appears irreducible complex, meaning it we don´t have a model yet for how it may have evolved. There exist a ton of papers on this broad subject, but the video do a better job on explaining this.

I believe that a artificial entity ends up with what we call now bacteria, viruses and evolution all tied up with attaining the goals of said entity. Forget empathy, if it has to kill 90% of a population it will. It is a machine, it just does its job. Empathy is just some layer we humans made up in our brain chemistry to aid even better survival. All in line with the goals the machine is based on, and the rules of life itself ofcourse.

Full Circle
Imagine bacteria from the artificial entity got stranded on earth. Resume their goal. Eventually you end up with a smart entity, they make artificial perfection, this artificial perfection ends up much like we know nature today, and it is full circle.

There's much more to speculate with on this subject, but i'd rather leave you with the thought at hand. That and there´s the stuff that might put people off, its weird enough in this short form.

This train of thought should have a name. I suggest we call it Circolution, Loopolution, or something i've yet to come up with. Don't beleive evolution fits the subject at all, so suggestions are welcome.

What if? nothing... Consensus would be nice though.
If this was obvious concept long before you read this article, let me know. This will not lend itself for philosophy without diverging from the issue, nor bar talk. I feel rather alone on this subject.

Nature stems from robots?
It all seems so logical. Pun intended.

Last.FM app for Android

It really bugs me that the Last.FM app for Android is not available in the Netherlands. They should know better. There is a fix however:

So just download the apk file (fm.last.android.1.3.0.apk) at:
http://www.csmarshal.com/android/

Via:
http://www.last.fm/group/Last.fm+Android/shoutbox

Out.