Passed by this interesting article while trying to get my hands dirty installing a Linux system the hardcore way. This particular article is teaching how to deal with your technical problems especially when you need to seek help from the geeks(or the hackers as described in the article).

The whole thing was written in a rather geeky and cold tone that educate the idiots who always ask stupid questions on the web. It was rather a long read and I have not yet finish it. But the following do-before-you-ask list is rather accurate and pretty much spells that, probably you shouldn’t ask that question at all.

Before asking a technical question by e-mail, or in a newsgroup, or on a website chat board, do the following:

1. Try to find an answer by searching the archives of the forum or mailing list you plan to post to.

2. Try to find an answer by searching the Web.

3. Try to find an answer by reading the manual.

4. Try to find an answer by reading a FAQ.

5. Try to find an answer by inspection or experimentation.

6. Try to find an answer by asking a skilled friend.

7. If you're a programmer, try to find an answer by reading the source code.

I doubt there would be still a need to ask the question after performing all mentioned 7 steps. But that was a great guideline before asking any tech question online though.

今天看到了一篇煞有其事的文章，名曰“如何聪明的问个好问题”。主要是针对电脑技术性的问题。整篇篇幅挺长的，我也还没读完，不过以下在开头处的引导阅读倒是挺有趣。翻译了一下：

在线上任何地方问技术性问题之前，请执行以下：
1. 尝试在想要发表问题的论坛上，先搜索你想要问的课题是否已经被问过。
2. 尝试在网上搜寻答案。
3. 尝试在使用手册里搜寻答案。
4. 尝试在*常见问题*里搜寻答案。
5. 尝试在实验和探索中搜寻答案。
6. 尝试在高手朋友中搜寻答案。
7. 如果你是程序员，尝试在源代码中搜寻答案。

看完这七点之后，我寻思这似乎什么问题都可以自己解决了吧，还需要发帖求助吗？

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“To err is human; to really screw up requires the root password.”

Probably this is the only time I laughed that hard reading a technical book.

In the early days of my sysadmin career, I always failed to see why is the need for sudo since we can just su root to enter full root user mode and do whatever we want without typing the password every time. Now I see the point, after washed by some real site working experience. God bless that I never bring the site down yet.

Annoyance caused by sudo is exactly the purpose of this command. It prompt user that he is going to do something that might be destructive thus the decision might be considered again. Also, allowing a user working freely with the highest root permission is never a good idea in a working environment. I should stick with sudo more from now on.

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘The world is at mercy of the root password’

After a few weeks of learning web development, whenever I wanted to add some new features on the website, the first thing I do is to Google whether such features are already available as an extension or plugin. Most of the time, the result is positive so I can save up tons of time custom engineering one up myself.

This time, I wanted to add an information icon which will pop up a tooltip over a mouse hovering. Poppers.js and Tippy.js appears to be really famous projects to choose from. They have an amaizng introduction page and the overall programs are really easy to apply. Plus, they are actively maintained thus I expect least bugs and issues.

Development nowadays is all about not to reinventing the wheels.

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Bash or shell scripting has been one of the most frequent things that appears in my daily job while I try to avoid all the time. I understand how powerful and essential Bash is, especially for me move up in the ladder of my expertise. The lazy bug deep inside just get the best of me every time.

Not anymore. Picking up this book tomorrow and it’s time to rolling deep in the shit that I was once so afraid of.

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘Learning the Bash’

Linux system like Ubuntu, usually comes with Python installed which was usually referred as system Python. Anaconda gains huge reputation in simplying the package and environment management which was quite a pain in the ass for system Python. When I started using Anaconda as the main Python package manager, I was always confused that is the system Python still matter? Can I just uninstall it to reduce the seemingly redundant Python installation?

The answer is no.

The built in Python comes with the system is best not to be modified or even removed as it might break the system. Some other programs or applications might already depends on the system Python. Furthermore, the new Python installed beatifully on in the same system without conflict. It usually installed as a 3rd party software in the directory /home/username/anaconda, and modified the ~/.bashrc to add the new Python into the PATH.

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前一阵子回家，和老妈在客厅各自看自己的东西。偶尔看到她会挠大腿手臂，问她怎么了，答曰有蚊子啊。其实之前回家已经发现了，客厅总是会有些蚊子，自己也常被要的一脚包，跟她说了要买点灭蚊喷雾来处理一下，往往随着第二天我返回小新工作而不了了之。这次就再提起，怎知得来的反应相当大。“我最讨厌那种喷雾的化学气味，闻多了对身体不好。要那种天然的灭蚊方法才好。”

家里久驱不散的蚊虫的原因，原来就是这样。灭蚊喷雾的发明不就是为了保障人身健康而发明的，现在居然为了怕“化学气味”而宁愿被蚊子叮咬，反而觉得一身舒坦？我竟然一时语塞，心里不禁感叹这个精明一时的老妈子是不是老糊涂了。

今天看到了一则关于骨痛热症夺命的调查，默默地往家族群里转发了。或许比起我的多费口舌，这样的文章对老人家会更奏效。

化学蚊油闻多了对身体有害我不是很确定，但是得了蚊症肯定是见上帝最有效的方式之一。

Old folks tend to fall to the myth of “organic stuff is the best”. The other day I found out my mom rather bitten by mosquitos than to sweep them off with a chemial mosquitos repellent. As she claimed, “chemical repellent harms the human body by inhaling molecules that aren’t natural.”

Well, I’m pretty sure that dengue fever kills faster and more effective than mosquitos repellent.

This page is synchronized from the post: ‘有机主义之害人不浅’