Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-04

  • Watches rowan playing hockey with a stick and conker http://twitpic.com/k3513 #
  • Note to employee – don't leave xdebu auto profiling all requests. 18gb and a full disk result #
  • At least I made some good progress with my training material prep today. #
  • Pizza express-hut for tea then. #
  • Py #
  • HMRC has a sense of humour http://bit.ly/7NCXD via @drbexl #
  • Redditch and Bromsgrove LUG Curry+Beer – B97 5QB @ 19:00
    #redditch #bromsgrove #geek #linux #lug See http://rnblug.org.uk #
  • from bash.org: "why do churches spend millions on abstinence lessons when a WoW account is $15/mnth + better record of ensuring virginity." #
  • Cake Thursday arrives… There are only 3 of us… Thx @aypok http://twitpic.com/jtk5k #
  • Created @phpwm for #phpwm related stuff yesterday. #php #birmingham #programming #
  • Surprised there are still new strawberries growing in the garden. The toddler enjoyed them for breakfast. #
  • Is being fed shreddies and stuff by The Toddler. Fat Daddy! Always eating. #
  • Wonders why Twitter never remembers him. #
  • Fscking fsck hurry up!! #
  • Gets the feeling he shouldn't be allowed to code as he crashes $computer #
  • Typical. I can't leave bed as the toddler is lying on me, and my headphones are downstairs….(desire to listen to classic guns and roses). #

Using Growl for host notifications on the iphone

We’ve used SMS notifications for some time to notify me when something breaks on one of the servers we manage/look after. SMS is good, but here’s something better.

While I was wondering how many credits I have left with Kapow, Peter suggested we use Growl and iPhone push notifications instead. A quick investigation showed we can…. (Growl notifications are push and free… which appeals to me).

A quick read, found a command line Python library (http://github.com/jacobb/prowlpy/blob/master/example.py) and obviously the Prowl application on the iphone. A one off charge of £1.79, and free notifications for life.

As a further bonus, Growl notifications can have a classification (and associated sound/vibrate on the phone) so I can have e.g. ones from super-important-customer waking me up in the middle of the night with a siren noise, and others silent. Finally, the Prowl client supports the notion of ‘quiet hours’ when it can suppress noises.

Prowl Growl FTW!