Monday, April 6, 2015

Windows Scheduler: Get Your Priorities Straight

At AGRC we have a variety of tasks (usually python scripts) that need to be run on a schedule. These are usually workflows that scrape and ETL data for web applications. Currently we use Windows Scheduler to run these scripts. Recently I've had problems with scripts taking way too long to complete. After a bit of digging I discovered that, by default, Windows Scheduler assigns a process priority of "Below Normal" to all tasks. The pain point is that they provide no UI to change this setting. After a bit of digging I found the following steps to work around this problem by hand editing the xml export of a task.
  1. Right-click on the task and export it as an xml file. 
  2. Open the file in a text editor and search for the "Priority" element. 
  3. Change the value of the this element to the desired priority level. See this page for a list of possible values. Usually 6 is what you want. 
  4. Save your changes and close the xml file. 
  5. Delete the original task and re-import the modified xml file as a new task. 
More details

Sunday, April 5, 2015

I'm Changing My Twitter Handle

For me Twitter has been almost exclusively a tool that I use in my profession to connect with others doing the same work as me and to keep up with the ever-changing landscape around geospatial software development and web development in general. I've never tweeted about what I was having for breakfast or what my crazy five kids are up to.

Twitter has been an invaluable resource for me and I work hard at doing my little part to keep the service useful and relevant. I quickly unfollow people who let their streams wander into meaningless or offensive paths that at best waste my time and at worst degrade my mind. My time is incredibly valuable to me and I try to treat others with the same attitude.

Occasionally, I feel compelled to share sometime that's not related to work but nevertheless valuable, uplifting or inspiring. It might be related to my favorite hobby, parenting or my faith. I've largely kept these to myself. In part because my twitter handle included the name of my employer and also in part because I didn't know if it would be appropriate.

However, over the past few years, I've felt that I should do more to counter the indecency of the internet conversation. In the midst of so much darkness I feel like the light that I have to share can make a real difference, that I can do a bit more to keep my tiny part of the internet out of the shadows.

For these reasons I've decided to change my twitter handle from ScottAGRC to SThomasDavis to allow me to feel more free in what I share. I don't foresee a huge change in my stream. But don't be surprised to see a bit more faith-based content. In sharing I don't mean to offend and would be happy to answer any honest questions that may arise.

Happy Easter!