Disabling ntpupdate

This has been quite overdue, as I have been wanting to disable ntpupdate since the Hoary release. What is ntpupdate anyway? It's the program that synchronizes your system time to an ntp server. NTP is a protocol for synchronising the clocks of computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks. Since Ubuntu defaults to an ntp server somewhere in the www, and that it will attempt to sync on boot, it causes your machine to go through a much much longer startup process if an internet connection is not available at boot time.

As I am lugging my lappy around a lot and I have not much of a need for the program, I knew I had to take it out and save me minutes of boot time. Ealden taught me how to remove ntpupdate, and I suppose we can change the arguments to remove other programs as well.

$ sudo update-rc.d -f ntpdate remove

update-rc.d will remove any system startup links for /etc/init.d/ntpdate, or any instances of such in the different run levels. Usage is as follows:

usage: update-rc.d [-n] [-f] <basename> remove
       update-rc.d [-n] <basename> defaults [NN | sNN kNN]
       update-rc.d [-n] <basename> start|stop NN runlvl [runlvl] [...] .
                -n: not really
                -f: force

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Valentine Surprise

Each year, on Valentine's day, I usually surprise my darling wife with a letter/card, or a bouquet of roses. As it was a yearly thing, I knew she sort of expected these surprises; she'd look surprised, but I knew she wasn't really. Occasionally, she does get surprised. Like that time back in Cebu when I bought her a rather intricate bouquet of flowers. Her head spun when she found out how much I paid for it. Surprise! This year, however, is different. I was not able to prepare anything for her. I didn't get her anything, thinking that I'd just make up for it with dinner, or something. Yes, I didn't plan for this and I feel lousy actually. Last night, after my daughter gave me and my wife her home-made Valentine greeting cards, my wife started chiding me about what I was going to give her the next day. I gave her my usual "I'm not telling" smile and silently kicked myself. I wished I already had something ready, and I found myself already longing fo...

Breakfast after early morning church service

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Uncle Bong in SG

It's been over two decades since I last saw Uncle Bong. He would usually drop by Diamond Village in Novaliches, Quezon City to visit Lola Magding and my mother's side of the family there. Back then, I was still in college, and I think he had also just started working, in the automotive industry. He has since worked in cruise ships and it was a good stroke of fortune when he told me that they would be dry-docking in Singapore. Mama's side has always been close-knit and could see the fondness in his eyes as he recalled his dealings with Lola Magding and her children, Mama included. He would then share stories of how many of our relatives emigrated off the "isla" to find better opportunities in Manila. Given the brief opportunity, I'm still blessed to have seen him again after all these years. I am also happy that he was able to meet Mae and his "apos". Until we next see each other, Uncle Bong!

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