• Alternative to CRON in Linux

    There are times when CRON doesn’t simply fill in the necessary requirements needed for a recurring task. Here’s the problem, let’s say I have a script that should run immediately after it has completed. In other words, a routine. For instance, I’d like to keep the script running without it overlapping with itself. My issue with CRON is that it runs the script again even if the previous execution is still in progress and this is not a good thing as there may be implications to the data due to integrity failure.

    I decided to use a bash script to instead run the script. Here’s how I did it:

    Though this approach works, I am still unaware of the implications that may occur. As of now, this solves my problem.

    More info: http://linuxconfig.org/Bash_scripting_Tutorial

  • The Meaning of a Song

    We’re all into music and there’s no denying it. Most of the time we get bored and look for ways to be entertained and eject ourselves from boredom. The closest one we could think about is Music. Music has been there even before we were born and it still is trending up til now.

    Anyways, what I want to talk about right now is the meaning of music. As far as I remember, I really enjoy music. But for the sake of recall, I could re-visit myself sitting down on a couch or the sofa listening to good music. That was way back a decade ago. I’ve been fond of music since as there have been some bands and some artists that titillate the follicles in my ear. However, the only thing I’ve been attracted to was the sound and the melody. It didn’t matter what lyrics it contained as long as it could give me a good reason to sit back and relax, feeling serene.

    A few months ago, close to a year, somehow, things changed. I kinda spent more time analyzing lyrics instead of the notes used to produce the vibrant sound. Come to think of it, touche. That was the same time I began feeling melancholic. I never appreciated rap music, if it wasn’t Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park until now. I could say to myself, some rap music have really deep meaning. Take Eminem’s pieces for example, they all make sense and they all talk about life.

    I could now classify myself more than an audiophile now. Its no longer the sound that counts, it needs meaning for it to reach your soul. Or, maybe perhaps, I’m just getting old. /sigh

  • Work or Hobby

    So many times, it has occured to me that “if you love what you do, you don’t have to work a single day”. I’ve been living under that clause until I came to realize a difference between what we call “hobby” and “work”. Of course, you should really like what you do and be happy with it so that you don’t regret it in the long term. The huge difference between regret and happiness is very evident, if not noticeable by you it would be the people around you who will point it out.

    Lately, I’ve been looking into some topics at some IT communities like slashdot and gigaOM and I have bumped some insightful posts about career and work and thus arrived to a conclusion that the IT industry is almost taken for granted. To cite an example for this, some kids the age of 12 or younger are being taught by schools on the basics of computer science or what most of us know, programming. Note that the basics is a must when it comes to the field and not to mention, the fundamentals. Going back to what I have noticed, if you know a bit of coding, can you possibly call yourself a programmer? I mean, without a degree?

    An article I’ve read entitled “Is an IT course worth taking at this time of age?”. The gist of this post states that there are already a lot of freelance people doing programming work for several off-shoring industries. Some of these people just code for fun or don’t even have a degree to begin with, they just find joy in coding. The intriguing part is that they’re friggin good at it! In fact, they even best some of the good people I know whom I have worked with.

    I have this question upon myself; “work or hobby? which is it?”. I have to accept it, when I code, I have this feeling of satisfaction especially when I solve a very sophisticated problem. Although the problem I experience is just a revisit most of the time, it still pays that I coined the solution without any help from other sources but my own capabilities. There are times however that I don’t feel like coding. It’s like a void inside me that just begins to tick – the urge to do something else. If it was just a hobby then I could have just put it on hold and pursue that something else in mind. But, here it comes! the difference between hobby and work – as for the hobby, yes you may halt it at your own discretion, for work however, you cannot – you absolutely have to do it or somebody else will be upset say, your boss.

    Career is more often than not misunderstood. Career is something you’d want to do until you’re less capable than you really are and you still have to continue working on improving regardless. My core definition of career is “you should never get bored while you’re in it”. You’ll always find ways on making it interesting if you really want to pursue it. Working daily at a factory as a rank-and-file or staff would be more interesting if you can be more innovative. Being at the top of the food chain would also be boring, if the time comes. That’s no longer a career, its already a basis for cash – the real question now is, are you still happy?