Active Directory / Python / Linux

My custom “mldap” module, which interfaces with Windows 2003 Active Directory via Python LDAP is growing again! I’ve started objectifying the code and integrating more with my Aims module.

I’m 90% on a piece that does userAccountControl bits. My next goal is to create a User object that I can use to create / modify / synchronize Active Directory / AIMS users. I don’t write anything AIMS yet, it’s a read only, but if that needs to change it can.

Cool beans.

Solaris 10

Got Solaris 10 running on the workstation after some reliability weirdness with FreeBSD. Don’t worry about my spdiff, Solaris 10 pipes to all sound interfaces by default.

FreeBSD sound

Whoa – the FreeBSD project finally got nVidia drivers for the AMD_64 platform (which I require). Back to old trusty after 1 1/2 years apart. My SP/DIF complaints? sysctl hw.snd.default_unit=2. Done.

Linux Sound

(Or the lack thereof)… Ugh, I use SP/DIF output for my workstation audio. Linux makes selecting this interface one of the most difficult and tedious tasks I’ve seen yet.

But it’s nice to have sloppy focus, two clipboards, rdesktop, ssh, and my xterm back.

Fuel Economy

Gas Mileage, MPG, is one of my pet peeves. It is a remarkably unhelpful figure since it tells nothing of a vehicles actual efficiency.

Example:

A 80,000 lb semi-truck can pull at 8 miles/gallon.

That’s 10,000lb per gallon per mile (pgpm)…

My 1999 GMC Sierra 1/2 ton truck? 16 mpg. It weighs 4,248 lbs.

That’s 265.5 lb per gallon per mile…

Why can my truck that weighs roughly 9/160th of a semi not get 160/9 of the gas mileage (142.222… miles per gallon)?

Even if my figures are horridly off that puts me in the lower range of 71MPG if I’m off by half, 35MPG if I’m off by four. I get neither.

Anyone?