Cloning a git-svn checkout
The scenario is that you have used git-svn to import an SVN repository, and you want to make use of the already-imported commits elsewhere. Unfortunately, git clone does not (currently) clone the git-svn information. It looks like we have to fully rebuild the git-svn repository, which would then mean pulling every commit from the Subversion server once again. What we'd really like to do is to make use of history we already have from git.
Restoring from LVM and VMWare disks
I recently had to restore a server that failed to boot after a power cut. This machine was a Linux VMWare host, and it had three Linux guest virtual machines that were running at the time. While we had full backups available, I decided to set myself the challenge of recovering the entire images, to save the pain of a complete rebuild.
The host server partitions were LVM-formatted volumes on top of hardware RAID-1, and each of the virtual hosts were partitioned with LVM too, internally. This means that the restore process will not be at all trivial. With just a complete image of the host system, I would need to restore (deep breath) files on a partition on an LVM logical volume (inside a volume group, on a physical volume) in a VMWare hard disk stored on LVM (logical volume inside volume group of physical volumes) inside a disk image that is itself a file on a disk. How very convoluted.
I used a Gentoo system to restore the data, although any Linux system with the appropriate packages should be able to do it. No searches turned up information on doing all of this, and I had to come up with some of it myself, so I thought I would document the process.
4 on Demand: Improved
For all that use 4 on Demand, the video-on-demand service for Channel 4 in the UK, I have a useful tip for you. Although it has a large number of programmes available for free, its interface is (to say the least) highly annoying. But there is a fix!
Disclaimer: This is non-standard usage of 4od, and while they may not be able to detect you doing this, there is a chance that this may violate their terms of service. I'm providing this method only for reference purposes, and for convenience in navigating their system, in a similar way to the BBC's iPlayer.
It's essentially simple: instead of bringing the 4od system up in its own little window, use a browser. I've only tested this with IE7 (as that's what runs within the dedicated 4od application window) but I see no reason it won't work with Firefox too, as the BBC site does.
"But wait," I hear you cry. "I don't know the URL!"
Well panic not, for a little network sniffing later gave me this: http://vodapp.grid.channel4.com/c4site-web
Now you can open program downloads in multiple tabs so that you can just click "confirm" on each of them and let the downloads begin. This makes queueing an entire series for download at once much easier!
Enjoy...