Personal on Aaron West's technology blog

Recap of 2011 posts

Sun, 07 Mar 2021 14:55:00 -0600

I spent time this weekend migrating my 2011 blog posts from the old site design to the new static design. Despite it being monotonous work it was a fun stroll down memory lane. I wrote about a bunch of different topics that year and after the break, I discuss a few of the posts that were particularly interesting and impactful.

Most popular blog posts

Two of my most read blog posts ever come from 2011. I wrote two “super guides” which discussed how to install and configure the ColdFusion application server on Ubuntu and CentOS Linux. As I often do, I wrote those blog posts explaining everything you needed to do to get up and running with ColdFusion on Linux. From the basic installation process to tweaking JVM memory settings, to securing things server-side. I’ve been fairly successful with this approach and those two posts are shining examples. All told, they amassed just over 400,000 views.

Modernizing This Website

Sun, 28 Feb 2021 11:34:00 -0500

Welcome to the new, modernized, mobile-friendly aaronwest.net. I’ve been writing on the Internet for nearly 20 years in one form or another. My journey started in the early 2000s when I set up a virtual Linux server and blogged at trajiklyhip.com. After a few years, I acquired aaronwest.net and switched everything to the new domain and new blogging software. I still ran my own Linux server where I managed an Apache webserver, ColdFusion application server, and MySQL database backend. It was quite a bit of work managing the full stack of software but I loved it. Writing software was not only my day job but something I cared so deeply about I spoke at developer conferences, led hands-on software engineering workshops, and eventually moved into technical leadership roles.

Things We Believe In

Tue, 31 Dec 2013 16:27:03 -0500

During the last two months I’ve been reflecting on characteristics and beliefs of our engineering team at Dataium. I wanted to come up with a few key things which, when communicated to others, would describe some of what makes us “tick.” Sort of an elevator pitch to a potential new hire or a way to describe some of our philosophy toward technology and business. The resulting list below isn’t exhaustive but is a few of the things I picked out to share. These are things most engineering teams should aspire to in my opinion.

Constructive Versus Destructive Language

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 08:47:00 -0600

Throughout my career working in technology I’ve become accustomed to hearing certain phrases from programming and engineering folks. These phrases may seem rather harmless on the surface but I’ve seen how they can tear others down and create a divide between technology staff and others in the workplace. I’ve heard these phrases hundreds if not thousands of times, so much so that I cringe each time I hear them. After the break are some of these phrases and ideas on what you can say instead.

Best Hello World Ever!

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:28:00 -0600

Even the best Hello World programs have nothing on this version. Everyone, meet Sam West. Right now he’s in China but we hope to bring him home before Christmas.

Happy Pi Day 2012!

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:12:00 -0500

Five Ten Sam Hill Mountain Bike Shoes

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:23:00 -0600

Sam Hill MTB Shoes

I’m a platform pedal kind of guy except for a short stint riding my brothers Cannondale racing bike during my high school days. Clip-in pedals have always scared me for some reason and wearing clip-in shoes isn’t my style nor are they very versatile. Given I’ve been riding hard core MTB for a year now I decided to invest in a set of platform pedals and new mountain bike specific shoes.

Riding the Latest Bikes from Trek

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:32:00 -0600

Trek Superfly 100 Elite AL

I drove to Columbia (south of Nashville) yesterday to participate in a Trek demo day. This is where biking enthusiasts can test ride the latest Trek bikes in the woods and on the street. I rode four bikes yesterday, three 29ers and one traditional 26 inch. First up was the Trek Superfly 100 Elite AL (aluminum frame) full suspension (white/red bike pictured). This was my first time on a full suspension mountain bike and it was an awesome experience. The ride was plush and bouncy and the 29er picked up momentum quickly and rode over obstacles easily.

New Business Card!

Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:27:00 -0600

We redesigned our business cards at Dataium and the new ones came in today. It’s embarrassing how long it took us to decide on a design and I bet people wonder why when they see the result. We wanted to go the super simple and clean route and the final result is quite nice even if anticlimatic.

Aaron West's business card

Products That Make This Site Possible

Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:02:00 -0600

For the past few months I’ve been planning on writing a post about the services that make this site possible. I’ve read these sorts of posts on other sites and they seem very marketing heavy. They’re often titled “sponsor post” or something equivalent. This post is different. I’m genuinely a fan (and customer) of all of these services and in most cases I pay for them monthly. After the break I discuss each service/app I rely on to power this site. I put each service within category blocks such as: the server, the app, backups, uptime, etc.

My Blog is Now Hosted at Linode

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 -0500

Last week I accomplished something I had been thinking about for at least a year, moving this blog to my own server. I had been hosting this site with a popular shared hosting provider for nearly four years and had not been happy for a long time. Picking a shared hosting provider in 2005 had been a pretty easy thing to do. I wasn’t too comfortable with managing an entire Linux server so having others take care of it while I simply managed and wrote content was a good choice.