Message from Obama and Congress: Spendthrift is the new frugal
Now that the Dow has lost another 3%, wiping out still more growth (some of it mine), and I’m on the hook for a massive redistribution of wealth to include bailouts for irresponsible fucktards who can’t pay their mortgages, I finally understand the message The Chosen One and Congressional Democrats have been trying to get across: People like me, who saved, rented instead of buying outside my price range, and invested in the economic future of this country, are fucking morons. We now live in a system where the more you fuck up, the more you deserve aid taken by force from those who didn’t fuck up.
How much more can the economy take? How long until I have to find another job? Will I find one, and if so what sort of pay cut will Ihave to take, and how much will the job suck? Why bother saving and investing when the fruits of my labor will be confiscated by a corrupt and feckless government? I hope this taxpayer revolt thing catches on, and those responsible feel the heat. And if Rome is going to burn, I don’t want to be the only sucker left without a violin.
Lucile Damico, RIP
Yesterday at roughly 6AM mountain time, my maternal grandmother, Lucile Damico, died. Her death comes just over a month after her husband and my grandfather died. While my grandfather was in decline for some time, grandma’s outlook seemed quite good until she was diagnosed with aggressive pancreatic cancer just a few weeks ago. Facing the prospect of certain death, she chose to die on her own terms under hospice care.
I’m sad to say I didn’t know my grandmother very well. Despite spending alot of time with both of my grandparents, my grandfather always dominated the scene. I suspect I missed out on a great deal in not ever getting to know her better.
The most I know about her ended up being her attitude towards death. When I learned of her decision to undergo hospice care and thus to die, I spoke with her on the phone one final time. While I was on the verge of tears, she seemed not the slightest bit concerned, and joked about not letting grandpa have all the attention. Clearly, there was more to her than I will ever know.
This leaves only my paternal grandmother left alive. I’m really not prepared to bury another grandparent, so she must remain healthy and active for years to come.
named on OpenBSD sometimes logs ‘error sending response: not enough free resources’ under load
I recently repaved my OpenBSD firewall/router to upgrade to OpenBSD 4.4 and more importantly to load the OS and config files onto a CompactFlash drive, after I started noticing the telltale ‘clunk’ sound coming from its hard drive. Not wanting to lose Internet access at an inopportune time, I switched to 4GB of cheap, solid-state storage.
However, during the reconfiguration I started to get alot of messages like this, particularly during heavy network loads:
Feb 21 23:54:33 boromir named[11546]: client 192.168.1.127#50805: error sending response: not enough free resources
I googled around, and noticed a number of people reporting this problem with named, on OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and some Linux flavors. For me, I can make it happen by downloading a well-seeded BitTorrent and thereby saturating my network pipe. Others also reported the issue being correlated with heavy network loads of one sort or another.
The usual suspects have already been eliminated. Here’s what top says:
load averages: 0.08, 0.08, 0.08
28 processes: 27 idle, 1 on processor
CPU states: 0.2% user, 0.0% nice, 0.2% system, 22.9% interrupt, 76.8% idle
Memory: Real: 26M/55M act/tot Free: 95M Swap: 0K/516M used/tot
As you can see, it’s not simply a problem of low memory. I’ve got plenty of physical free, and haven’t even touched swap.
So, maybe mbufs, right? No:
# netstat -m
105 mbufs in use:
97 mbufs allocated to data
2 mbufs allocated to packet headers
6 mbufs allocated to socket names and addresses
96/376/6144 mbuf clusters in use (current/peak/max)
852 Kbytes allocated to network (25% in use)
0 requests for memory denied
0 requests for memory delayed
0 calls to protocol drain routines
I also tried mucking about with some network-related sysctls. I found a list here that I tried (only the ‘net’ stuff), to no avail.
Then I pulled a copy of the source code for OpenBSD’s named implementation. If you’re interested, its on any OpenBSD AnonCVS mirror under src/usr.sbin/bind. The WebCVS interface is here. Under bin/named in client.c, is this:
static void
client_senddone(isc_task_t *task, isc_event_t *event) {
ns_client_t *client;
isc_socketevent_t *sevent = (isc_socketevent_t *) event;
REQUIRE(sevent != NULL);
REQUIRE(sevent->ev_type == ISC_SOCKEVENT_SENDDONE);
client = sevent->ev_arg;
REQUIRE(NS_CLIENT_VALID(client));
REQUIRE(task == client->task);
REQUIRE(sevent == client->sendevent);
UNUSED(task);
CTRACE("senddone");
if (sevent->result != ISC_R_SUCCESS)
ns_client_log(client, NS_LOGCATEGORY_CLIENT,
NS_LOGMODULE_CLIENT, ISC_LOG_WARNING,
"error sending response: %s",
isc_result_totext(sevent->result));
INSIST(client->nsends > 0);
client->nsends--;
if (client->tcpbuf != NULL) {
INSIST(TCP_CLIENT(client));
isc_mem_put(client->mctx, client->tcpbuf, TCP_BUFFER_SIZE);
client->tcpbuf = NULL;
}
if (exit_check(client))
return;
ns_client_next(client, ISC_R_SUCCESS);
}
Note the part in bold. So this is where the “error sending response” bit comes from. I’m no expert in BIND code, but I’ve done a good bit of socket programming, and this routine appears to handle the asynchronous (or, in socket terms, ‘non-blocking’) completion of a send call, writing a response back to the DNS client. The send has failed, so it’s writing out this message to the log. However, what of the other part? What of not enough free resources?
Well, notice what is provided for the %s placeholder: the results of isc_result_totext(sevent->result). So isc_result_totext is getting some sort of error code and converting it into the “not enough free resources” message. But what code?
I then greped the whole bind tree for the text “not enough free resources”. I found this line in lib/isc/include/isc/result.h:
#define ISC_R_NORESOURCES 13 /*%< not enough free resources */
There’s also a corresponding result.c that implements the isc_result_totext function. So, what causes the ISC_R_NORESOURCES error?
I did some more grep work for that error code, and found lots of instances, mostly in lib/isc/unix/socket.c. Upon reviewing all the instances, it appears that error is almost always a result of a ENOBUFS errno from a socket operation.
So off we go to the send manpage. According to that, a return value of ENOBUFS denotes one of two things:
- “The system was unable to allocate an internal buffer. The operation may succeed when buffers become available.”
- “The output queue for a network interface was full. This generally indicates that the interface has stopped sending, but may be caused by transient congestion.”
If ‘internal buffer’ means ‘mbuf’, then I doubt that’s the problem, as I’ve got plenty of room there. It was the output queue that struck me. This is happening during heavy load, when the internal network interface would be getting alot of traffic. But what determines the size of its output queue, and how do you grow it?
I rummaged around alot on this, and I could not find an answer. I looked for driver configuration options for the fxp driver, and found nothing. So then I started poking around the source code for the fxp driver, and found this:
IFQ_SET_MAXLEN(&ifp->if_snd, FXP_NTXCB - 1);
FXP_NTXCB is defined in the header file, and is hard-coded to 128:
/* * Number of transmit control blocks. This determines the number * of transmit buffers that can be chained in the CB list. * This must be a power of two. */ #define FXP_NTXCB 128
It appears from this reading that the interface’s send queue is hard-coded. In order to lift this limit I would either have to do a custom kernel build, or find a network adapter with a larger and/or configurable send queue. That just doesn’t make sense, as OpenBSD isn’t supposed to be that lame. It’s entirely possible I’m misunderstanding the cause of the problem, especially since users have reported this under FreeBSD and Linux as well, but damned if I know what to do about it.
Ultimately this isn’t a huge issue. Apart from the aversion I have to a bunch of errors in my syslog, UDP in general and DNS in particular are designed to handle dropped responses by retransmitting the requests, but it does result in a perceptible lag during DNS resolution which I’d really like to fix.
Silver Eagle Group (SEG) Range Review
Last Monday I was off for President’s Day, so I and some co-workers went to the NRA range to cook off a few rounds. As is usually the case at the NRA range, the wait list was a mile long, and we were looking at over an hour wait. This time, though, I remembered hearing about the newly-opened Silver Eagle Group range in Ashburn. We called them up and confirmed there was no wait (!!), so off we went.
The building itself is a non-descript large two-story building in a light industrial park off Waxpool Rd. Upon entry it had the feel of an upscale car dealership more than a gun range. We signed up for day passes and paid $25 per person for an hour of range time. What follows is my review of the range experience:
The good
- Close to my house. I can get to SEG in a few minutes, and avoid the damnable Fairfax County Parkway and its slow-driving left lane-hogging assholes.
- Clean. Like the NRA range, SEG is clean and well-maintained. Blue Ridge Arsenal, it is not. That’s a good thing.
- Big. I’ve not seen their 360 degree shoothouse or moving target range, but they have plenty of lanes for rifle and pistol.
- Well-staffed. ROs are plentiful on the ground and not afraid to call out people on their unsafe shit, but they’re not range Nazis. The ones I dealt with were friendly and kept asking for trigger time on various interesting guns, which has to be one of the major perks of the job.
- Unknown. This won’t last, but for now not many people seem to know about SEG. Last Monday they had their first-ever wait list, but that was after I got there. They’ve got plenty of capacity so wait lists should clear faster than NRA, if they happen at all.
- Great facilities. The rifle range is 50 yards, and both ranges have automatic target carriers that can be set to any distance (measured in feet). The carriers move faster than the ones at the NRA range, and have the same edging/facing features as NRA.
- Brass. They don’t mind if you collect your brass, and one of the ROs told me to take the brass out of the brass bucket too! That can’t last!
- They host monthly IPSC and IDPA. NRA hasn’t hosted a practical shooting event since June of ’08.
The bad
- Expensive. $25 for an hour of range time for one person. $15 for a second person. Holy shit that’s spendy! On the plus side, the RO let us stay past our hour since there was no wait for the rifle range, whereas at the NRA I’d have an RO up my ass once I hit 60 minutes, 30 seconds.
- Annual membership is $100/yr and $35/month, and gets the same range priority as day passes. NRA does the same shit and it pisses me off. I’d gladly buy an annual pass if it meant I could actually get a lane on a Saturday without waiting forever.
- Still working out the kinks. On Monday they were full up on the pistol range and near full on rifle, which had not happened before. They didn’t have the wait list scheme very well coordinated, so they didn’t know who was next on the list. If this happened at the NRA range with mobs of new shooters, there would be blood. Sadly, I’m sure they’ll develop plenty of experience with waiting lists pretty soon.
- Rifle range is minimum 25 yards. Usually when I go shooting I bring at least one pistol and at least one rifle, and I like to divide my shooting time up. At the NRA range that’s not a problem. At SEG, to shoot rifle I have to use the rifle range, but on the rifle range the minimum target distance for offhand shooting is 75 feet. I can shoot pistol at that range, but it’s not pretty. I’m told they can move you over to the pistol range upon request, but that means you’re done with rifle, and if there’s a wait as the pistol range it’s back of the line. This particularly sucks when I take new shooters, who I’ll take through a bunch of guns then go back and shoot the ones they liked most. UPDATE: See the clarification from Rob Whitfield with SEG in the comments below.
- No steel core ammo. This means I can’t shoot my cheap mil-surp 7.62x54R ammo in my Mosin, and no M855 5.56 ammo either. Weak.
- The shooting booths have small trays that fold down across the firing line much like the range at BRA. I much prefer the arrangement at NRA, which has an actual table on casters at each shooting position. There are also only a couple chairs for the rifle range, and both were in use. Given the sparse amount of space on the trays and lack of seating, it was awkward to do supported fire when I was trying to zero my AR. This is a minor complaint which I didn’t think of until after the initial post, but it does bear mentioning.
- They rent guns, including full auto stuff. While I’m sure this is a profitable activity, it attracts the wrong crowd IMHO. When I was on the rifle range a couple of guys were taking turns rocking an M60 (seriously!) they’d rented. They ended up getting kicked off the range for chewing up the wall, doing a full-auto mag-dump with an AK at 20 feet (remember, minimum target distance is 75 feet on the rifle range), and sweeping the firing line with a muzzle on more than one occassion. The ROs were on them like flies on shit, but still, you don’t need that kind of drama. UPDATE: Turns out these guys brought their own MGs; they were not rentals. See the clarification from Rob Whitfield with SEG in the comments below.
- According to FEC records, the founders of SEG donated money to the campaigns of rabidly anti-gun liberal politicians as far back as 2002 and as recently as 2008. From this and the very elite tone of their website, it doesn’t seem like a facility that’s targeting rank-and-file gun owners. I mean, seriously, how can you on the one hand support gun-hating anti-freedom politicians and on the other hand operate a public shooting range? For some people this anti-gun affiliation is enough to black list the range. That certainly holds for a number of arfcomers. I’m willing to put up with it if it means a more pleasant shooting experience, more trigger time, more practical shooting options, and a better environment for introducing new shooters.
I hope SEG does brisk business, and shows you can open a new private range in suburban NoVA and make money, if for no other reason than to induce more enterpreneurs to follow suit. If they addresss a few of the cons (in particular the priority of annual members vs day pass holders) they’ll become my new range of choice.
Lightbringer signs ‘stimulus’ bill; we’re all pretty much fucked
Now that The One has signed the largest single forced redistribution of wealth and power in the country’s history, the worst economy since the Great Depression will get better, right? The markets sure seem to think so, sinking below November lows on the news.
The American Rapacious Redistribution Act provides for a massive wealth transfer, rollbacks to welfare reform, and further expansion of an already expanded Federal power. The debt it inflicts upon generations of Americans can’t possibly be worth the meager economic impact it will spread over the next several years, but hey, when it comes to partisan special-interest power grabs, you can’t count the cost.
I still haven’t figured out where to invest when you think the economy will go into the shitter as the cold boot of socialism presses ever so lightly upon our necks. Maybe just tobacco and cheap booze. Oh, and ammo. Lots of ammo.
Attended Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly: High Prices and Shit Selection Far as the Eye Can See
I went to the Nation’s Gun Show in Chantilly with a few friends today. I expected impossible parking, pressing crowds, poor selection, and wild prices, and I got them all.
I went with an open mind and a long list of stuff I was willing to buy. Stuff like an RRA 9mm Upper (no, I’m not kidding; hey, it could happen!), an RRA Match lower parts kit (no but this DPMS kit is just as good, honest!), Daniel Defense Omega 9.0 rail (no but we have this lookalike made out of Korean pig iron that’ll look sweet on your airsoft M-16), and an STI Off-Duty 1911-pattern Commander-length 9mm (‘ST-what’? Let me show you our Taurus 1911′s. They’re used by *cough* special forces).
As expected, the EBR prices were obscene. The deal of the day was a 16″ HBAR RRA mid-length A2 for the low low price of $1200, but that was gone as soon as we looked away. My records for price absurdity were black no-window PMAGs, $30/ea (MSRP is $15 iirc), and a case of 1000 Wolf .223 55gr (and I do mean .223, not 5.56 NATO), a steal at $300.
What I should’ve done is brought my ammo and P-MAG stash, and walked around with a sign on my back offering P-MAGs for $25 and “military issue” Lake City M193 for $1/rd.
As is always the case at these things, I left a little disappointed that nothing followed me home, but at least I got to see and fondle a few guns I might like someday, even if the gun I want now was nowhere to be found.
Serious question: where to invest if you expect another Great Depression?
Now that the Redistribution of Wealth for the Politically Connected Act of 2009 has passed Congress on its way to certain passage by the Lightworker, I’m facing a serious question. I’m quite confident the so-called ‘stimulus’ will serve to stimulate only our national debt and rate of inflation, and the punishing tax and regulatory policies on deck next will lead to at least a full four quarters of GDP decline. Given my bearish outlook, where should I invest my remaining wealth?
Cash won’t work coz I’m worried about significant inflation as our debt load mounts. International stocks are out at I don’t think the Eurozone or China will fare much better, particularly after the Smoot-Hawley Act of 2009 goes through igniting an international trade war. Treasuries are no good as I don’t trust the Obama/Geithner Treasury to not fuck about with politically unconnected bond holders when the money runs out. I’ve heard investment-grade corporate bonds are looking good right now, but what happens when the ‘stimulus’ does fuck-all and consumer spending dries up even further? Can you say ‘cacophony of defaults’? I guess I could buy gold, but that’s something a Ron Paul supporter would do, plus it seems gold is pretty seriously overvalued right now with all the economic uncertainty.
I can’t be the only one wondering this. Just today I saw a WSJ piece looking at what investments did the best between 1930 and 1932. However, that doesn’t seem particularly constructive, given the significant structural and organizational differences in our economies, not to mention a securities landscape that bears no resemblance to the 20′s. I want to know what to invest in now.
Pet peeve of the day: people who don’t use the Subject field in email messages
I work with a few people who, despite high levels of overall intelligence, do not know how to properly use email. One of the ways in which this manifests is the tendency to send emails with a blank subject line, or a subject that poorly reflects the content of the email, such as ‘Question’ or ‘Problem’.
To my mind, the subject line allows your recipients to determine the general content of your message, determine whether (or if) to read it, and allows them to find it again when scrolling through a list of messages. Using a shitty subject is disrespectful as it requires your recipients to read the entire message just to determine what it’s about. It also reflects poorly on the sender’s attention to detail.
Unfortunately, none of these people are subordinate to me, so I don’t have the option of ignoring their messages until they can show a little respect. Instead I suffer silently, posting rants on my persona blog instead.
Letter to Senators RE: Stimulus
I emailed my senators, Warner and Webb, regarding the current “stimulus” scheme before the Senate. Supposedly a compromise has already been struck, but I want to make sure they are aware of my dissatisfaction with their support for last year’s bailout, and my strong opposition to the next phase of the massive transfer of wealth and power in this country.
The text of the letter follows:
Senator (Webb/Warner):
I am writing to you today in strong opposition to the proposed “stimulus” package now being debated in the Senate. Not only is the stimulus package a massive redistribution of wealth and power from taxpayers and the private sector to politicians and the federal government, as a practical matter there is no reason to believe it will actually provide a net stimulus to our economy.Fiscal stimulus packages have been tried before, with dismal results. FDR’s New Deal prolonged the Great Depression, Japan’s experiments with massive government spending were rewarded with a huge national debt and a decade of lost growth, and recent attempts to spend our way out of a fiscal crisis by presidents Ford, and more recently Bush, have failed.
Even if you accept the claim that massive government borrowing for short-term spending makes economic sense, the stimulus bill fails that test. $400 million for STD research? $200 million for electric vehicles for the military? $650 million for more DTV converter coupons? Hundreds of billions of dollars of spending over ten YEARS, when the economy is in trouble NOW? Even Keynes would find this stimulus package hard to swallow.
For additional reasons why the so-called “stimulus” package will fail to stimulate the economy while succeeding leaving generations of taxpayers on the hook for our large and expanding debt, I encourage you to review http://www.freedomworks.org/publications/top-10-reasons-to-oppose-the-stimulus
Much to my dismay, you voted in support of the President’s bailout scheme last Fall. I hope you see now how ineffective it has been, and that further giveaways to the politically connected at the expense of generations of taxpayers will only deepen our economic troubles.
Please let me know what you are going to do.
Sincerely,
Adam J Nelson
Herndon, VA