MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) is monitoring utility, which runs on many platforms and is capable of collecting and graphing statistical information such as network traffic, CPU/Memory/Disk space usage, etc. MRTG can gather information using both SNMP protocol and external scripts. Below are few pieces of my MRTG config file together with scripts, which I felt like sharing.
Month: April 2004
Happy Brithday, Grandpa!
My father’s father is 75 today. I hope that his doctor will make him a present and will release him from the hospital. :) He had an urgent operation after they’ve found stones in his gall bladder. They removed everything it and he feels much better now. My father says that grandpa looks healthier and is even hungry (something that never happened for the last couple of years).
Anyway, I wish all the best to my grandpa, and I hope he’ll live long enough to see me getting that old. :) Now I wonder if I will live that long. :)
The Gods Must Be Crazy
Just watched “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (Part 1 and Part 2) on DVD. Both are very good films. Actually, it’s not often that I watch the movie and the sequel in one go, but this I couldn’t stay away. Both films are very light and easy. You can watch them for hours. There is plenty of nice humor and although the films are rather old (1980 and 1989 respectively), humor is very refreshing.
Both stories happen in Africa with bushmen being the main characters. Producer of the film went far and actually used real bushmen to play bushmen. Most of the humor arises from the difference in cultures of different people. There are few interesting thoughts on the subjects of technology, modern world, social relationships, wars, and the like.
IMDB does not provide any age ratings for these movies, so I’ll mention it. In my opinion, both films are suitable for children. There is some nudity, but not sexual. The African bushmen way. There is no swearing at all in the first part (except for one guy while fixing a car, but that was didn’t have any known English words). There is minor offense in the second part that has to do with soldiers, but it slips throuth very well and is not even noticable until you pay attention to these things, like I do. :)
I’d say that these movies are somewhat similar to “Cool Runnings“, but they are more educational and funny. Recommended.
Cyprus referendum
Today cypriots were asked on the referendum if they support Kofi Annan’s plan of Cyprus reunification. It was has been obvious for few days now that most of Greek cypriots will say “no”, and most of Turkish cypriots will say “yes”. “No” (“Oxi” in Greek) compain has been rather active recently, but on the day of the referendum any promotional political activities are illegal. I’ve made few pictures of how Limassol city looks in places.
Cyprus will become a member of European Union on the 1st of May 2004 (in one week) no matter the result of the referendum. The only difference will be weather the Nothern part of the island, currently occupied by Turkey, will join also or not.
I personally think that it is better for Cyprus to get united now than wait for a better plan. It has been separated for 30 years, and it was never closer to reunification than it is now. If it will not happen now, it will not happen for the next 5-10 years. Maybe more.
Something’s Gotta Give
I ‘ve just watched “Something’s Gotta Give” in the movies. Was it good? I can not say that. Was it bad? Well, not entirely. There were some really good moments, but overall it lacked a lot. There was no point in the movie at all. And it was going in such waves that you could actually stop it anywhere after the first 30 minutes without loosing anything. With the same success you could chop of the real ending and put it anywhere in the movie after the same first 30 minutes and it would look natural. Yuck!
There was some great acting done to save the film. If I would to break 4 pounds that I paid for the ticket, I would give all 4 just to actors. 2 pounds would go Jack Nicholson, 1 pound to Amanda Peet, and 1 pound to Frances McDormand. Both Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves were terrible. Keanu was an emotionless brick wall as always. Diane was simply horrible. Especially her crying after breaking up. Production was also below average. There were virtually no scenery in the movie. It seemed like all the actors are straight in front of the camera and that nothing else exists. There were so many opportunities though – the house on the sea beach, Hawaii, hospitals. None of it is important to the filmmaker. Not even for 3 seconds. But all that crap that goes on for two hours without going anywhere is. That’s sad. There is a very strong feeling that there is a woman in charge behind all these. And in fact it is so – Nancy Meyers (writer of the screenplay for “What Women Want“). She is both the director and the writer of the screenplay for this movie. I don’t think that I will see any more of her movies anytime soon. In fact, I’ll try to avoid them as much as possible.
After I’ve almost finished this post, I thought that I am getting too negative about the movie. So I went around and tried to find opinions of some other people. Just to compare, you know. And what was my surprise when I came across the revision by Alex Exler, who wrote almost exactly what I did, but in Russian, longer, and better. If you can read Russian, read his revision here.