Ronan’s Blog

Linked here ...  build.xml example

I’ve come across these startup parameters which really seem to speed up the performance of our servers. They only work in the latest versions (1.4.2_15 & 1.5.0_12). But they really make a noticeable difference.
-XX:MaxTenuringThreshold=8 -XX:+UseConcMarkSweepGC -XX:+UseParNewGC -XX:-CMSParallelRemarkEnabled -XX:CMSInitiatingOccupancyFraction=40 -XX:+UseCMSInitiatingOccupancyOnly

As I previously blogged, the Google Reader’s lack of a proper Search Feeds option was a real drag. In the new version out today, that feature has now been added. Excellent News !
Google Reader

A few weeks after donating blood on April 6th (The day before going on a Stag!) I got a letter from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service asking me to give them a call. Something had “flagged” in my blood and they wanted me to go in. Sounded a little dodgy, but I wasn’t too worried.

When I went in I was casually told that it looked like my blood had tested Positive for HIV, they believed this to be a “False Positive” and so they needed to do more tests. I was given some numbers, like a value of 1.04 and 1.08, something was said about truly infected people having a score of over 100, but no real context to how bad this could possible be. I gave another sample and was told I’d be called again in a month.

I left the building quite shaken. I spent a good bit of time researching HIV testing procedures and found that there are two types of test, an Elisa test and a Western Blot test. The first test is more of a screening test, while the second is more rigorous. I believe that my blood failed the Elisa test but passed the Western Blot test, but I was never told this. Frantically searching on the Internet for some way of reading the test results came up with no answers. I had to wait to hear back again.

About 5 weeks later, I went in again to be told that my sample had again given the False Positive reading and another sample was taken. This time I met a doctor who said “No,no - We don’t think you are infected”. Another long wait for the results of this test ensued.

Fast forward another 5/6 weeks and I receive another letter asking me to come in. RESULT!!! The tests are negative this time. Its explained to me that it was probably an excess of certain anti-bodies in my blood which caused the initial results. I had to give one final sample to complete the testing procedure.

Today (5th September) I received my final letter, confirming that the tests are again negative. This been a bit of a hairy time, one day short of five months after initially giving blood, it looks like its now all over.

PHEW