All posts by Mark Jacobsen

Recline! Why “leaning in” is killing us

I thought there were some good points in this article: Recline!.

Two of my favorites:

  • The general American tendency to think that “more time at work” equals “better work” is exacerbated by the All Crisis All the Time culture
  • When a workplace is full of employees who always lean in and never lean back, it’s full of employees who are exhausted, brittle, and incapable of showing much creativity or making good decisions.
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Five Reasons to Lower Your Thermostat

Here are Five Reasons to Lower Your Thermostat. Who can argue with…

  • Losing weight
  • Extending the life of your fridge (have you seen the prices of fridges?)
  • Better sleep

Find out the details and the other reasons in the article.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Analyzing a Memory Leak in a Java Application

In trying to diagnose an Out of Memory error in a large Java application, a co-worker of mine (Chad Handrich) came across the article Analyzing a Memory Leak in Java Applications using VisualVM and used the tips in it to find a memory leak that had been causing OOM errors for quite some time.

He also found that another helpful tool is the “Performance Monitor” app that comes with Windows. To use it, create a new “User Defined Data Collector Set”. Choose the option “Create Manually”, then “Performance Counter”, then you can select “Process”, and choose all the byte-count style counters if analyzing memory usage. And choose the “java.exe” instance from the list. Once it’s created, right click the collector you made and select “Start”. It will begin polling and saving the metrics you specified.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Weekly Round-Up: 2/2/14 to 2/8/14

The Weekly Round-Up is a once weekly collection of my #1Aday daily shares. Hope you find something of interest!

Mon 2/3
Melanie Pinola helps answer: How Should I Teach My Kids About Money? – http://bit.ly/1imvpoX

Tue 2/4
Melanie Pinola tells us: What Happens When You Tip: It Doesn’t Always Go to Your Server – http://bit.ly/1emPaxx

Wed 2/5
Thorin Klosowski gives us: Lessons from the Top: What We Can All Learn from CEOs – http://bit.ly/N1CyjX

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Missed a call? ‘One-ring’ cell phone scam could cost you money

Take a quick look at this article from NBCNews.com, and then remind yourself that return calls should be handled just like email… If you don’t know who or what it is, just ignore it and delete it. Do NOT click on it or call back!

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

DB2 Stored Proc Performance Analysis

Have you ever wondered what tables and indexes a DB2 stored proc are using? How about if the proc has been rebound since the stats were last updated? Are there even stats for the table you’re querying? Luckily I work with a very talented application DBA (Fred Johnson) who put together the following query to tell you all these sorts of things. It’s quite long, but all you need to do is set your proc in the “FILTER_PARMS” “VALUES” section at the top of the query.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- DB2 for AIX QUERY
--PROCS WITH DEPENDENT TABLES INDEXES CALLED_PROCS AND OTHER OBJECTS 
--FLAG column shows possible stats issues.  See FOOTNOTES
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- Directions: Change FILTER_PARMS,Cut and paste, run, examine output
--             More than 1 proc can be reviewed by adding addition lines
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
WITH FILTER_PARMS   (ROUTINESCHEMA,ROUTINENAME) AS 
            (VALUES 
                                ('XX','PROC1_P') 
                               ,('XX','PROC2_P')
                       )    
,ROUTINEDEP (STOREDPROC,TEXTX,OBJECTNAME,CARD,BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME,FLAG,SORTCOL) AS
(SELECT RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||'.'||X.ROUTINENAME AS STOREDPROC , 
        'PACKAGE' AS TEXTX ,RTRIM(P1.PKGSCHEMA)||'.'||P1.PKGNAME AS 
        OBJECTNAME ,' ' AS CARD
               , 'BIND:   '||CHAR(DATE(P1.LAST_BIND_TIME))||'*'||CHAR(TIME(P1.LAST_BIND_TIME)) 
               AS BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME 
               ,CASE
               WHEN  P1.LAST_BIND_TIME < CURRENT_TIMESTAMP - 9 DAYS
               THEN '*STALE REBIND ' ELSE ' ' 
                END
                 ||
        CASE
          WHEN P1.VALID = 'N' THEN '*PACKAGE INVALID '
          WHEN P1.VALID = 'X' THEN '*PACKAGE INOPERATIVE '
          ELSE '' END  
                
                 AS FLAG 
               ,RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||X.ROUTINENAME||'1' AS SORTCOL
      FROM SYSCAT.PACKAGES P1
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINEDEP R
        ON (P1.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
           AND P1.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN  SYSCAT.ROUTINES X
        ON (R.ROUTINENAME = X.SPECIFICNAME
          AND R.ROUTINESCHEMA = X.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN FILTER_PARMS FP
         ON (FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  = X.ROUTINESCHEMA 
             AND FP.ROUTINENAME =  X.ROUTINENAME)
         UNION
    --TABLES
    SELECT ' ' AS STOREDPROC , CASE
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'A' THEN 'ALIAS'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'B' THEN 'TRIGGER'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'D' THEN 'SERVER DEF'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'F' THEN 'PROC/FUNC'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'I' THEN 'INDEX'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'M' THEN 'FUNCTION MAP'
          WHEN TAB.TYPE = 'N' THEN 'NICKNAME'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'O' THEN 'PRIVILEGE DEP'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'P' THEN 'PAGE SIZE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'R' THEN 'STRUCT TYPE '
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'S' THEN 'MQTABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'T' THEN 'TABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'U' THEN 'TYPED TABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'V' THEN 'VIEW'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'W' THEN 'TYPED VIEW'
          ELSE ' ?' END AS TEXTX  ,RTRIM(P.BSCHEMA)||'.'||
        P.BNAME AS OBJECTNAME ,RTRIM(CHAR(TAB.CARD)) AS CARD 
                ,'STATS:'||COALESCE(CHAR(DATE(TAB.STATS_TIME))||'*'||CHAR(TIME(TAB.STATS_TIME)) ,'NO STATS')
                 AS BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME
        ,CASE
          WHEN TAB.CARD = -1
          THEN '*NO TABLESTATS'
          WHEN TAB.STATS_TIME > P1.LAST_BIND_TIME
            THEN '*PROC BIND < STATS'
          ELSE ' '
        END 
        ||
        CASE
          WHEN  TAB.STATUS <> 'N'
            THEN '*STATUS '||RTRIM(TAB.STATUS)
          ELSE '' 
        END 
        AS FLAG
        
         ,RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||X.ROUTINENAME||'2'||RTRIM(
        P.BSCHEMA)||'.'||P.BNAME||'2' AS SORTCOL
      FROM SYSCAT.PACKAGES P1
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINEDEP R
        ON (P1.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
           AND P1.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN  SYSCAT.ROUTINES X
        ON (R.ROUTINENAME = X.SPECIFICNAME
          AND R.ROUTINESCHEMA = X.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN FILTER_PARMS FP
         ON (FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  = X.ROUTINESCHEMA 
             AND FP.ROUTINENAME =  X.ROUTINENAME)
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.PACKAGEDEP P
        ON (P1.UNIQUE_ID = P.UNIQUE_ID
        AND P.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
        AND P.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
       
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.TABLES TAB
        ON (P.BSCHEMA = TAB.TABSCHEMA
            AND P.BNAME = TAB.TABNAME
             AND P.BTYPE IN ( 'T','N','S','U','W'))
    UNION
      --INDEXES
    SELECT ' ' AS STOREDPROC , '            INDEX' AS TEXTX ,RTRIM(P.BSCHEMA)
        ||'.'||P.BNAME AS OBJECTNAME ,RTRIM(CHAR(IND.FULLKEYCARD)) AS CARD
               ,'STATS:'||COALESCE(CHAR(DATE(IND.STATS_TIME))||'*'||CHAR(TIME(IND.STATS_TIME)),'NO STATS')
               AS BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME 
        ,CASE
          WHEN IND.FULLKEYCARD = -1
          THEN '*NO INDEXSTATS'
          WHEN IND.STATS_TIME > P1.LAST_BIND_TIME THEN '*PROC BIND < STATS '
                  ELSE ''
          END 
               ||CASE
          WHEN IND.STATS_TIME < TAB.STATS_TIME - 10 SECONDS
            THEN '** IND.STATS_TIME < TAB.STATS_TIME'
          ELSE '' END AS FLAG 
                ,RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||X.ROUTINENAME||'2'||RTRIM(IND.TABSCHEMA)||'.'||IND.TABNAME||'3'
               AS SORTCOL
      FROM      SYSCAT.PACKAGES P1
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINEDEP R
        ON (P1.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
           AND P1.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN  SYSCAT.ROUTINES X
        ON (R.ROUTINENAME = X.SPECIFICNAME
          AND R.ROUTINESCHEMA = X.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN FILTER_PARMS FP
         ON (FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  = X.ROUTINESCHEMA 
             AND FP.ROUTINENAME =  X.ROUTINENAME)
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.PACKAGEDEP P
        ON (P1.UNIQUE_ID = P.UNIQUE_ID
        AND P.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
        AND P.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.INDEXES IND 
         ON (P.BSCHEMA = IND.INDSCHEMA
         AND P.BNAME = IND.INDNAME
        AND  P.BTYPE = 'I')
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.TABLES TAB
        ON (IND.TABSCHEMA = TAB.TABSCHEMA
        AND IND.TABNAME = TAB.TABNAME)
    UNION
    SELECT ' ' AS STOREDPROC , '        OTHER '||
        CASE
          WHEN XDEP.ROUTINETYPE = 'F' THEN 'FUNCTION '
          WHEN XDEP.ROUTINETYPE = 'M' THEN 'METHOD'
          WHEN XDEP.ROUTINETYPE = 'P' THEN 'STORED PROC'
          ELSE ' ?'  END AS TEXTX
               ,RTRIM(XDEP.ROUTINESCHEMA)||'.'||XDEP.ROUTINENAME AS OBJECTNAME 
               ,' ' AS CARD 
               ,'CREATED:'||CHAR(DATE(XDEP.CREATE_TIME))
                 AS BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME
               ,CASE 
                 WHEN XDEP.ROUTINETYPE = 'P' 
                 THEN CASE
                      WHEN NOT EXISTS
                      (SELECT 1
                        FROM FILTER_PARMS FP
                WHERE  FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  =  XDEP.ROUTINESCHEMA
                   AND FP.ROUTINENAME    =  XDEP.ROUTINENAME)
               THEN  ','||'('||''''||RTRIM(XDEP.ROUTINESCHEMA)
                        ||''''||','||''''||RTRIM(XDEP.ROUTINENAME)
                        ||''''||')' 
               ELSE ' ' END
                 ELSE ' ' END AS FLAG  --('CH','GET_NEXTID_P') 
        ,RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||X.ROUTINENAME||'3' AS SORTCOL
      FROM SYSCAT.PACKAGES P1
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINEDEP R
        ON (P1.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
           AND P1.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN  SYSCAT.ROUTINES X
        ON (R.ROUTINENAME = X.SPECIFICNAME
          AND R.ROUTINESCHEMA = X.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN FILTER_PARMS FP
         ON (FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  = X.ROUTINESCHEMA 
             AND FP.ROUTINENAME =  X.ROUTINENAME)
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.PACKAGEDEP P
        ON (P1.UNIQUE_ID = P.UNIQUE_ID
        AND P.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
        AND P.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
       INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINES XDEP
       ON (P.BNAME = XDEP.SPECIFICNAME
        AND P.BSCHEMA = XDEP.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        UNION
      --OTHER
     SELECT ' ' AS STOREDPROC , '        OTHER '||
        CASE
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'A' THEN 'ALIAS'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'B' THEN 'TRIGGER'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'D' THEN 'SERVER DEF'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'F' THEN 'PROC/FUNC'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'I' THEN 'INDEX'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'M' THEN 'FUNCTION MAP'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'N' THEN 'NICKNAME'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'O' THEN 'PRIVILEGE DEP'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'P' THEN 'PAGE SIZE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'R' THEN 'STRUCT TYPE '
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'S' THEN 'MQTABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'T' THEN 'TABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'U' THEN 'TYPED TABLE'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'V' THEN 'VIEW'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'W' THEN 'TYPED VIEW'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'Q' THEN 'Sequence object'
          WHEN P.BTYPE = 'G' THEN 'Global temporary table'
          ELSE ' ?'||RTRIM(P.BTYPE) END AS TEXTX 
                 ,RTRIM(P.BSCHEMA)||'.'||P.BNAME AS OBJECTNAME 
                 ,' ' AS CARD
                 , '' AS BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME ,' '
        AS FLAG ,RTRIM(X.ROUTINESCHEMA)||X.ROUTINENAME||'4' AS SORTCOL
      FROM SYSCAT.PACKAGES P1
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.ROUTINEDEP R
        ON (P1.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
           AND P1.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN  SYSCAT.ROUTINES X
        ON (R.ROUTINENAME = X.SPECIFICNAME
          AND R.ROUTINESCHEMA = X.ROUTINESCHEMA)
        INNER JOIN FILTER_PARMS FP
         ON (FP.ROUTINESCHEMA  = X.ROUTINESCHEMA 
             AND FP.ROUTINENAME =  X.ROUTINENAME)
        INNER JOIN SYSCAT.PACKAGEDEP P
        ON (P1.UNIQUE_ID = P.UNIQUE_ID
        AND P.PKGNAME = R.BNAME
        AND P.PKGSCHEMA = R.ROUTINESCHEMA)
      WHERE P.BTYPE NOT IN ( 'I','F','T','S','N','U','W')
       ) 
SELECT STOREDPROC,TEXTX,OBJECTNAME,CARD,BIND_STATS_CREATE_TIME,FLAG
  FROM ROUTINEDEP
  ORDER BY SORTCOL
  WITH UR;
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-- FLAG column show possible stats mismatch where a
-- procs bind time < stats time for Tables/Indexes
--
-- Also review CARD, which shows row counts for tables based on stats
-- is that what you expect?
--
-- Flag column also generates values clause that you can cut and paste
-- into the values clause to review called procs using this query
------------------------------------------------------------------------

And a few things Fred suggested to be mindful of... "It should work with DB2luw and has been tested in AIX v9.5-10.2. There is one major caveat. The query assumes one proc has only one specific name i.e., it only works for non-overloaded procs. It also uses at least one deprecated column, ROUTINENAME in ROUTINEDEP. Changing the proc to use specific names wouldn’t be a big deal."

Have fun, and if you use this or have any suggested enhancements, please leave a comment below.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Weekly Round-Up: 1/26/14 to 2/1/14

The Weekly Round-Up is a once weekly collection of my #1Aday daily shares. Hope you find something of interest!

Mon 1/27
Hilary Stout says More Retailers See Haggling as a Price of Doing Business – http://bit.ly/Mk8hg6

Tue 1/28
Sarah Koppelkam @skoppelkam on How to Talk to Your Daughter About Her Body – http://bit.ly/1aFaQ7b

Wed 1/29
Tessa Miller answers the question: Do I Really Need to Log Out of Webapps? <- See the longer answer. - http://bit.ly/1nj5LEu

Thu 1/30
MMM @mrmoneymustache on The Low Information Diet – http://bit.ly/1npmxBX

Fri 1/31
Courtney Carver @bemorewithless says to Encourage Simplicity by Redefining Your Purchase Process – http://bit.ly/1kjq6am

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

What files are taking up the most space on my LINUX box?

Use du piped to sort for a nice list with the files using the most space at the bottom…

cd /dir/you/care/about
du -a|sort -n
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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Clutterfree with Kids


A few weeks ago I was honored to receive an advanced copy of “Clutterfree with Kids” by Joshua Becker for review. One of the things I appreciate most about Joshua’s writing and articles is that he’s what I consider a “normal” minimalist in that he owns a house, has kids, and has a job. In other words, he’s just like you and me – only he and his family have chosen to live a life of less so that they may appreciate it more. Even better, he rightfully acknowledges that everyone’s brand of minimalism is different.

Regarding the book, I’ll say that if you’ve read one book on minimalism you’ve read them all and this is not a huge exception to the rule, but if you have not this is a great place to start if you consider yourself to be a “normal” person and are interested in how living a life of less can give you more.

I think the key if you’re married is that you have to get your spouse on-board. Otherwise, don’t expect to have a truly “clutterfree” life (not that it’s really even possible with kids). I think the most you can really hope for is a more organized chaos. Making intentional choices like limiting TV or Internet time. Choosing to eat together as a family. Choosing your activities more deliberately. Choosing to travel with less so that you experience more.

To hit on some of the high points, these were a few of my main take-aways…

  • Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it <- Read that again
  • Start with small victories. Don’t tackle the hard things first.
  • Owning less allows us to own higher quality items.
  • Consider the true cost of your purchases – time, maintenance, cleaning
  • Less is different than none.
  • There is more joy to be found in owning less then can ever be found in organizing more.
  • Organizing more never addresses the underlying problem.
  • It is far better to de-own than to declutter.
  • Intentionally or unintentionally we are all minimizing something.
  • Gift giving: take time to let the fads show themselves then purge without concern. Conversely don’t force your ideas on others.
  • Compare downward – many people with less “stuff” are actually happier.

Bottom line, for a couple bucks and a few hours of your time, there are much worse things you could be doing, and on the bright side, it just may change your life. Can’t go wrong with that.

Get the book today

What do you think?

PS: Thanks again Joshua for allowing me to preview the book. I read every word, and it was a good refresher.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...

Weekly Round-Up: 1/19/14 to 1/25/14

The Weekly Round-Up is a once weekly collection of my #1Aday daily shares. Hope you find something of interest!

Mon 1/20
Rebeca Plantier on: 10 Eating Rules French Children Know (But Most Americans Don’t) – http://bit.ly/1mk7CFK

Tue 1/21
Rachel @handsfreemama on: The Bully Too Close to Home – http://bit.ly/1fVqJsj

Wed 1/22
Eric Ravenscraft on Practical Math Shortcuts For Everyday Life – http://bit.ly/1jnaAwi

Thu 1/23
Ragnar Terjeson Miljeteig @TangibleFree says This Is How Credit Cards Are Manipulating You Into More Debt – http://bit.ly/KMgGYy

Fri 1/24
Meredith Fineman @meredithfineman asks you to Please Stop Complaining About How Busy You Are – http://bit.ly/1aRtEuu

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You or someone you know looking to buy or sell?
Disclaimer: Thoughts and opinions are my own, and do not reflect the views of any employer, family member, friend, or anyone else. Some links may be affiliate links, but I don't link to anything I don't use myself. You would think this should be self evident these days, but apparently not...