The Advisory Boar

By Abhijit Menon-Sen <>

Differences between the IOC and Clements bird checklists

This page is a summary of the changes between the International Ornithological Congress's "Birds of the World: Recommended English Names" (Gill, F., and Wright, M., 2006), and the recently-published sixth edition of "The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World" (Clements, J. F., 2007).

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mod_leech: Per-user download limits for Apache 1.3.x

mod_leech is an Apache 1.3.x module which uses a MySQL database to enforce per-user download and concurrent-login quotas.

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Lyrics: Anna Domino: Mysteries of America

Anna Domino graciously permitted to publish the lyrics to her haunting and lyrical 1990 album, and was kind enough to verify my transcription.

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Hosting at Hetzner.DE

I have been using dedicated servers at Hetzner for more than fifteen years for myself and for work, and it's been a good experience overall.

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Sultanpur National Park

Sultanpur is a nice place to go bird watching.

The Park is open from 0630 to 1800 from April 1 to September 30 (it closes at 1630 during "winter", from October 1 to March 31). You might have some trouble getting in at 0630 (you can always sneak in through the Rosy Pelican (the next gate to the left), but I didn't tell you that).

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Okhla Bird Sanctuary

Directions

One way to get to the Sanctuary is to go straight down NH2 (Mathura road) from Ashram chowk, and turn left under the flyover just after passing Apollo Hospital to the left. Keep going straight on, turn right at the end of the road, then turn left onto the Okhla Barrage. The Sanctuary gates are to your left shortly afterwards.

The other route is to go through NOIDA, but due to ongoing construction, many of the exits off the main road may now be blocked. Thus the former route via the Barrage is to be preferred.

See this map for an overview of the area.

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PostgreSQL Installation Guide

My summary of things you need to understand when installing Postgres. Originally written for Postgres 7.4; the concepts still apply, but the details are long outdated.

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Managing DNS (from Red Hat Linux 7.2 Unleashed)

This chapter was commissioned by SAMS Publishing for "Red Hat Linux 7.2 Unleashed" in 2001. They graciously allowed me to reproduce the text here (with minor edits).

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An Identity Crisis

I think of myself in a mirror,
thinking about thinking of me.
I laugh at scary reflections,
not recognising the things I see.

On Mondays, I'm brightly coloured:
the week gives me time to fade.
By Friday, I'm a dirty gray,
and on Saturday, a paler shade.

Which leaves a single day to clean
a muddied palette left to dry.
to prepare for the week ahead,
to wonder who I am, and why.

Blue

I had a favourite shade of blue,
and suddenly, it's no longer there.
a vanishing hue,
leaving my canvas strangely bare.

It might not be a special blue,
or one that you've never seen.
it defies accurate description,
and it beats the hell out of green.

I have a favourite shade of blue:
a colour,
shadows,
memories of you.