Firefox 3 uses SQLite for history, places and various other things. These databases occasionally need VACUUMing. Quoting SQLite manual:
When an object (table, index, or trigger) is dropped from the database, it leaves behind empty space. This makes the database file larger than it needs to be, but can speed up inserts. In time inserts and deletes can leave the database file structure fragmented, which slows down disk access to the database contents.
NOTE: You need to shut down Firefox to run VACUUM.
The following commands can be used to VACUUM all FF3 sqlite databases:
$ cd ~/.mozilla/firefox/$profile/
$ tar -cf backup.tar *.sqlite # take a backup if paranoid
$ for i in *.sqlite; do sqlite3 $i vacuum; done
The difference can be quite large. For example, urlclassifier3.sqlite before and after for me:
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 55226368 2008-11-16 13:31 urlclassifier3.sqlite
-rw-r--r-- 1 user user 29134848 2008-11-16 13:35 urlclassifier3.sqlite
So that file shrunk to about 52%. Happy vacuuming! 
tips tips
Some days ago I ran into some free software project website which used an Arcsin template. The themes on the site seem to be pretty neat, and best of all, free to use for any purpose (the author merely states that the attribution part must be done by linking back to the website).
Anyway, I suggest to check these out – there is a nifty preview feature as well, so no time wasted trying out something that you wouldn’t like. 
I’ve changed this blog to use the Colorvoid theme for now…
Update 2008-11-16: Okay, there is one serious flaw (in my opinion) in these themes. And that is the fact that they are fixed-width (including images, so it’s not a trivial task to fix them). The smileys also appear in boxes that disrupt the text flow, which is quite annoying.
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I knew of the GNU/Linux Distro Timeline (1992-), but there is also a UNIX timeline graph, starting from 1969. Both are pretty interesting graphs
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Some people have expressed interest in my irssi configuration, more specifically, the list of URLs that pour into my status window. Read on to learn how, but be warned that this is a serious time sink…
Read more…
tips irssi, tips
This is a somewhat Debian-specific howto for backing up Gmail on Debian using isync, adapted from rectalogic.com’s Automated gmail backup via IMAP article that was directed at Mac OS X users.
Read more…
tips gmail, howto, tips
It’s always a good idea to keep external system logs in case something happens to your server, for example, if it gets rooted. Privacy issues are a good reason to keep the logs encrypted. This is a quick look at how to send system logs hourly to Gmail (or some other external mail) from a Debian server. It also assumes quite a bit of knowledge from the reader, sorry for that 
Read more…
tips debian, gmail, tips
After seeing that even a simple plugin for another project can draw some hits when linked from a single page, I grew curious and decided to enable Google Analytics for two externally hosted projects: GitStats and ViewSVN.
According to BerliOS statistics, the latter seems to have drawn in 800-1800 hits each month for the last month, so the results should prove interesting. One good thing about Analytics is that it does not track spiders and other non-humans as those usually don’t run javascripts.
I’d really prefer to have this data in my own hands, rather than Google’s, though. Aren’t there any open source replacements for Google Analytics, yet?
projects, tips gitstats, projects, viewsvn
[ Apparently I'm such a lazy bum that I'll never get around to providing some real content. So I figured I should maybe start posting some of the tips I usually mention on IRC channels. Just in case this site gets indexed at some point and someone finds it useful. ]
So here’s the Debian package tip of the day:
streamripper – download online streams into audio files
This handy tool allows you to save internet radio streams as MP3s while listening for them at the same time (you don’t have to!). This is what I do in one screen window:
$ streamripper http://someserver:9000 -t -M 1024 -r # rip up to one GiB, don’t overwrite incomplete tracks, and create a relay server
And as usual, now I can listen to the stream using my favourite music player:
$ mplayer http://localhost:8000/ # default port
And yeah, streamripper can name the files properly as long as the stream provides the correct names.
tips debian, tips
