2023-10-28 | Reading, Sci-Fi
I had high hopes for this novel when I started reading it, after having read The Martian and Project Hail Mary. But this isn’t a man-is-stuck-in-space-alone-and-needs-to-go-into-details-about-niche-science-knowledge themed book, so it feels outside of Weir’s really strong toolkit.
I enjoyed the mystery side of things, and the inevitable Weir-esque delves into the science of various processes. It’s like reading Neal Stephenson without the huge slowdown as the novel descends into treacly textbook-style explanations of the physics behind things.
All in all a decent novel that kept me mostly entertained.
3 stars, probably.
2023-10-28 | Reading, Sci-Fi
My lovely friend Nick recommended this Andy Weir novel to me. I’d read The Martian previously, so jumped PHM immediately. I was in the depths of being frustrated with Shantaram at the time, so jumping onto something fun and interesting was an easy decision to make.
I loved the premise of the book, and the unlikely-hero trope. I found Grace frustrating as a character, but I get the feeling that I was meant to.
I enjoyed the thought that Weir put into the alien non-humanoid design and language, and their scientific limitations.
Largely an enjoyable book, and I look forward to the film.
2023-10-28 | Reading
I couldn’t do it. I don’t give up on many books. But with Shantaram I just couldn’t make it all the way through. I’ve never read a more unbelievable self-aggrandising autobiography. I got to when he’s in Afghanistan, and I completely lost interest.
I think there are things that you can learn about the world from reading Shantaram, but you need to filter out so much trash. The signal to noise ratio is not high enough.
One star. Maybe 2.
2023-06-21 | Tech
I recently spun up a Rocket.Chat server using Linode/Akamai’s pre-rolled scripts, and it mostly worked well. The main issue being that the URI included in all the emails was stuck as the host name of the server rather than the site-url as set in the settings.
The fix is as follows
First of all connect to the server console (be it via LISH or SSH or however). Install the Mongo database client
sudo apt install mongodb-clients
Connect to the database by running
mongo
Select the parties database
use parties
Run a query to find the Site_Url setting and confirm that the correct URI is set in “value” and the incorrect URI is set in “packageValue”
db.rocketchat_settings.find({"_id" : "Site_Url"}).pretty()
Run a query to update “packageValue” to the correct URI (replace <correct URI> with your URI)
db.rocketchat_settings.update({"_id" : "SiteUrl"},{$set:{packageValue:"<correct URI>"}})
Repeat the find query to make sure the change was made. Reboot the server and the problem should be solved.
2023-05-17 | Reading
I’m about a third of the way through Shantaram. Lots of people have told me that I need to read it, and that it’ll change my life. I’m always sceptical about bold claims. Especially life-changing ones. But now that I’m a third of the way through, I think that it will have a profound impact on my life. We’ll see. Stand by.
The thing I feel most confident about at the moment about Shantaram is that it’s an exercise in embellishment.
