Author Archives: Andrew

MongoDB “Too Many Open Files”? Raise the limit

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Andrew

This blog post is intended to supplement the “Too Many Open Files” page in the mongoDB docs. Raising the file limit for MongoDB If you installed from the Ubuntu/Debian package, then there is a simple way to increase the open file limit. … Continue reading →

Posted in Databases | Tagged | 3 Comments

Netbeans 6.9 and Scala 2.8 Final

Posted on August 17, 2010 by Andrew

The Scala 2.8 plugin for Netbeans 6.9 is out as of about a month ago, but the NetBeans wiki entry for Scala hasn’t been updated. To get 6.9 up and running with Scala, download the plugin from the ErlyBird project … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Building Ruby Gem Native Extensions on Windows

Posted on July 20, 2010 by Andrew

If you’re using Ruby on Windows, but always encountering gems that require native extensions, then the new(ish) RubyInstaller project is for you. When browsing the Ruby download page, you may have noticed the newfangled Windows installer for download. They’ve swapped … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruby, Windows | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

MongoDB Sharding

Posted on February 21, 2010 by Andrew

Messed around today with MongoDB sharding on version 1.2.2. It was pretty easy to setup. All I had to do was: Download MongoDB Do this setup Here’s the question that prompted me to try it: does MongoDB only fetch the … Continue reading →

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TechStars Application Tips

Posted on December 29, 2009 by Andrew

With the deadline looming for TechStars Boston 2010, I’ve been asked for tips from a few people. It’s time to share them in a blog post. Hopefully this helps. Disclaimer: this is just my perspective from Localytics, a TechStars Boston 2009 company. … Continue reading →

Posted in Startups | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Ruby MD5 and SHA1 Digest Benchmark

Posted on November 17, 2009 by Andrew

I did a benchmark of MD5 and SHA1 digests in Ruby. The benchmark was done in Ruby 1.8.6 on Windows. The code used to benchmark: The output: As expected, digest methods are faster than hexdigest and MD5 is faster than … Continue reading →

Posted in Ruby | 3 Comments

Database Normalization: First, Second, and Third Normal Forms

Posted on August 11, 2009 by Andrew

I read a great explanation of first, second, and third normal form a few weeks ago. For those that know what database normalization is but haven’t seen the “forms”, the different forms are essentially rules for having a well normalized … Continue reading →

Posted in Databases | Tagged | 2 Comments

MySQL Join Performance

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Andrew

Earlier this week I was curious about the performance of JOINs in MySQL. How severe is the performance hit of joins? How much slower is a string join over an integer join? I decided to do some tests, and I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Databases | Tagged , | 3 Comments

The Past Few Months

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Andrew

It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog, so I thought I’d provide a rundown of what I’ve been doing. Startup We really found our focus over the past couple months. We are committed to making tools for mobile … Continue reading →

Posted in Startups, Video, Video Games, Xbox | Tagged | Leave a comment

What an insane fall lineup

Posted on October 21, 2008 by Andrew

The games coming out this fall season are an assault on the senses. This is a way better lineup than last year. Games I care about include: Dead Space – released Oct 13 to great reviews Fable 2 – Oct … Continue reading →

Posted in Video Games | 5 Comments