Bluehost is offering more module options (like Memcache) with this release too.

For those out there, PHP 5.3 offers “namespaces” – an elegant way to encapsulate different groups of related data (functions, constants, classes, etc.) I’m looking forward to writing much cleaner code in the future, but as with any new release of software, I’ll initially spend the first few days looking through error reports for glitches.

Earlier this afternoon while I was replying back to a comment, I noticed that RK.md’s main page was bumped to a PR of 4. I’m incredibly thankful for all those who helped me achieve this milestone by continuing to reference my posts, subscribe to my RSS feed, and follow me on Twitter. Hopefully, each one of you has gained insight from one of my tech walkthroughs, medical writeups, or blurbs about experiences from medical school.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Piwik is an open source analytics software which is self-hosted. This means that rather than storing data on remote servers, the information is stored in my own SQL database indefinitely. Piwik provides me with full control with both a web interface and mobile apps for Android and iOS. I can automatically e-mail myself weekly reports, embed widget objects on the site, have a live view of current visitors, and a lot more. The development community is highly active too!

My only concern is that as my database grows, I’ll run into performance issues when churning out reports. My preoccupation with efficiency and speed may ultimately get the better of me and bring back Woopra to this site, but for now, I’ll continue using Piwik.

First, since the file server will be running 24/7, energy efficiency was a priority. The box requires only 35 watts (less when the RAID1 array is idle) thanks to an Intel Atom-based motherboard and Western Digital Caviar Green hard drives. My DNS-323 requires less than half the power (~15 watts), but the pros definitely outweigh the cons in terms of functionality and performance.

Next, I wanted the build to be as minimal in cost as possible. FreeNAS provides me with a reliable, secure, and extensible operating system foundation which I can simply run off a USB thumb drive. Most of the hardware I purchased isn’t state-of-the-art because. There’s no keyboard, mouse, or monitor attached to the box. Hmmm, a barebone system with mediocre parts and a free operating system? That’s about as cheap as you’re gonna get.

Finally, I may not need more than 2 TB right now, but in the future, it may become necessary. With the motherboard’s PCI slot, I can add several more SATA ports for additional hard drives making the option to upgrade feasible and easy.

Side-mounted hard drive

PSU, Mobo, RAM, HDDs installed. Need some major wire management strategy here.

DNS-323 (my first NAS) sitting atop the new build

In other news, I’ve made some minor adjustments to this site’s template to incorporate Google’s Font repository on the spur of a moment. Also, the Poll has been moved into the collapsible/rearrangeable sidebar framework.

It seems like whenever I have a break from rotations, I instinctively go back to my “happy place” with technology.

During today’s Christmas NBA games, I decided to whip up a site with my professional profile… sort of like an online résumé which I can reference to others.

You can find it here: http://rishi-kumar.com

I still have to populate the content and reorder a few things, but I’ve finished building out the framework and optimizations.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! There’s something about this time of year which gives everyone an excuse to be happy. I just wish this feeling could last all year long.

In the two years since then, I’ve transitioned to a self-coded theme and written 381 posts, most of which directly concern medical school. The best part about keeping a journal/blog is having the luxury of going back in time to see how you overcame strife or found inspiration during hopelessness. I love being able to revisit these moments in my past to see how I’ve matured (and continue to mature) as an individual. Sometimes I reread things I wrote months ago and think: “Wow, what was I thinking? Medicine is nothing like that.” Other times, I find myself becoming more opinionated on fronts which I previously was ambivalent towards. Guess I’ll have many more of those moments once clinicals start in January.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to remind my readership that I sincerely appreciate the feedback you’ve submitted via site comments and/or e-mails. I genuinely enjoy answering the questions of aspiring pre-meds, revising snippets of code, or just talking about my experiences in general. Becoming a practicing physician is a long, arduous journey, but I hope chronicling my thoughts continues to help curious Internet-goers. Keep those questions coming!

The next time I renew this website (November 2012), I’ll be finished with the bulk of my clinical rotations, Step I will be a thing of the past, I’ll hopefully be interviewing at residency programs, and planet Earth will be one month away from total destruction on 12/21/2012.

As lax as that sounds (well, except for the whole Earth-going-kaput thing), the next two years are going to be extremely demanding in terms of long hours, preparing for shelf exams, and doing well on the USMLE Step I. Hopefully I’ll still find time to write about my experiences regularly.

There’s something about simple games which is so… appealing! Big name game designers are more preoccupied with implementing stunning environments, the latest in graphical technology, artificial intelligence, etc. Yet slicing fruit with one’s finger, something which is devoid of any impressive technologies, is equally addicting (to me at least). And if I were a family of birds who had my eggs stolen by some pigs, I’d be on a rampage for some revenge too!

On the Android platform, Fruit Ninja is $0.99 and Angry Birds is free (albeit with ads which rooted handsets can use AdFree to remove). If you haven’t tried them, it’s time to satisfy your “inner sensei.”

I am writing you this message in hopes that you would be able to take the time to give me some more information about your blog and/or yourself.  I feel it will not only enhance my blog but benefit me as a student with a goal of attending medical school. Some questions I am interested in include:

Why did you choose to start blogging?

I’ve always been fascinated with technology and sought to expand my knowledge regarding web development while still in high school. Over the period of a few years, I grew more familiar with PHP, HTML, and JavaScript purely from trial-and-error learning on a blogging platform called Movable Type. At this time, I was more interested in the process of coding rather than “blogging.”

Enter the Xanga phase. At that time, it seemed almost as popular as Facebook within my high school class. This was my first, real experience with blogging although at the time I only did it because everyone else was doing it.

In 2007, I transitioned to the WordPress platform and have never looked back. Through WordPress, I expanded my knowledge regarding CSS, developed a stance on web design, and grew more interested in sharing my thoughts with the outside world. Things really started picking up steam when some of my tech walkthroughs gained popularity, and now that I’m in medical school, I have inquisitive students sending me feedback.

Would you recommend blogging to others?

Of course. Everyone should have a way of cataloguing their experiences. Life is just too short to live day in, day out without pausing to realize how far you’ve come.

Has blogging been beneficial for you in any way?

Yes! Primarily for two reasons – first, having the opportunity to reflect back on certain milestones in my maturation and second, being able to provide my insight to complete strangers on the Internet. One of the most uplifting things I do is reply back to various comments/e-mails posed by visitors.

What advice would you give to young bloggers like myself and/or young pre-med students?

In conversation, you are fully responsible for the words of your tongue. Similarly, while on the Internet, whatever you write is fair game for anyone (future employers, admissions committees, etc.) to read and potentially hold against you. Be mindful of your thoughts, respectful of others, and humble in everything you do. Naturally, your writing will follow in suit. Also, don’t write to impress someone else. Be yourself and readers will find your “digital voice.”

How do you choose what topics you blog about?

If you read articles on “how to blog”, it seems that they all focus on how to build traffic and quickly establish a loyal readership to your site. A blog is essentially an online magazine, right? You’re supposed to write ‘x’ posts every ‘y’ days, otherwise you risk losing visitors. Boo-hoo!

My intention isn’t to build traffic or garner popularity in any way. If I come across a topic I find interesting (usually medical or tech-related), I write about it. If there’s something interesting going on in my life or the world at large which I want to remember years down the road, I write about it. If I have an experience or advice to share with aspiring pre-med students, I write about it. If I have a snippet of code or review of a tech device which may come in handy for other tech nerds, I write about it.

I really don’t plan topics ahead of time nor do I write on a regular basis. In fact, I start a lot of drafts and don’t actually publish them till weeks later. That’s the beauty of having your own online journal. You write when you feel like it. If others read it? Great. If not? It doesn’t matter. At least I know I’ve written something that I consider to be worthwhile and may reflect on in the future.

Here’s the command I use to run Rsync.

/mnt/HD_a2/ffp/bin/rsync -rpv --size-only --delete --exclude=.DS_Store --exclude='Temporary Items' --exclude='Network Trash Folder' /mnt/HD_a2/NAS/ /mnt/HD_b2/

Several things to note:

• Files in the destination partition which do not exist in the source partition are automatically deleted.
• Modified files are only written from the source to destination if the size has changed.
• Rsync recurses into directories.

Remember that RAID-1 configurations are NOT the same as backups. Why? If you delete data on one partition, depending on your configuration, it will automatically get deleted on the other. Eh, semantics if you ask me. In my network, the DNS-323 serves as a NAS and as a backup.

Also, to get Rsync set up on your DNS-323, spend some time following the walkthroughs at the DNS-323 Wiki.

On another note, because my NAS is used in an environment with different operating systems, I occasionally run the following command to clear out resource forks (file names preceded by “._” courtesy of OSX).

find . -name "._*" -exec rm '{}' \; -print