Diary of a Network Geek

in Australia.

Well, according to this article on AustraliaIT, you go to the National Public Toilet Map. No, really. Stop laughing.
Okay, the only thing that's sad about this is: A) that government funds are being used and B) it's happening in Australia not the US. People we need a national map of public toilets in these United States. Ah, well, I guess I can't hold it against the Aussies for getting it done before we do. After all, they've got those huge highways!

Oh, and as this is posting, we're on the way to the airport to catch a plane to Chicago. It's Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary and all the kids are coming in, so that means we're flying up. We'll be back on Monday, and I'll be off work all next week, so postings will be strange indeed.
Enjoy your weekend!

It's on the rise! Hey, aren't you listening?!

According to AustralianIT, the US computer industry is improving. They claim that there are more jobs and more money being spent on IT. Well, a little bit of money on a very few jobs. But, things are definately looking up! And, eventually, we'll actually notice.

Okay, somewhere in the US this might be true, but here in Houston, the tech job market is still pretty slow. And, there are still job postings for positions requiring MCSE and CCNA at $20/hour and less. That's not looking real hopeful to me, but I guess stock analysts are desperate for any good news about the tech sector. God, things must be pretty bad for them to be clutching at that kind of straw. Well, maybe if they say it enough times, and loudly enough, people will start to believe it and actually start spending here in Houston.
Yeah, and maybe I'll win the lottery.

I've been thinking about it...

I had a really busy weekend and, of course, missed a couple of shows that I tend to like to watch. So, that got me thinking about TiVo.... But, I don't like the idea of having to pay for a subscription. (Because I'm perpetually under-paid and, as a result, a tight-wad.) In any case, that made me think about a way to get around the fee. Naturally, I turned to the Internet for a solution. And, I may just have one: Knoppmyth.

In a nutshell, Knoppmyth is a Linux install that also installs something called MythTV, which is, you guessed it, a TiVo replacement. So, now, all I need is a machine to run it on and the hardware to decode the signal and ..... Hmmm, maybe it's cheaper to just pay the fee for TiVo. I'll get back to you on that one....

No, really, that's what it's called!

Cartoon Network has put together the "Ultimate Wishlist" of stuff from their network. And, man, is it ever the ultimate!! Ever wish you could have Space Ghost's desk? It's in there. How about Dexter's Lab? There, too. Bascially, every cool, wild, or crazy thing from Cartoon Network's in-house shows is on sale here. Of course, they're all expensive, but, if you have the cash, it's worth it!!
All this and just in time for Christmas, too!!

(This post is too good to pass up, so it's also appearing on my other blog at the same time. I know, it's kind of weak, but this is just too much fun! 'Sides, it's my birthday, so I get to do what I want!!)

More creative blogging.

So, do you ever wonder what a guy who manages servers does for "fun"? PERL programming, among other things. And, obviously, blogging. So, like peanut butter and chocolate, I decided to combine two "great tastes".
The blog system I use here, and on my other site, is called MovableType and is programmed in PERL. Well, for some time now I've been hankering for custom dates and calendars, but no one has worked on it. So, I decided to try and do it myself. I've been messing around with PERL for a little bit now and I know it well enough to steal code, so I figured I had a shot at it. I started with an Islamic date module because it was the easiest to use and, a couple of days later, I had a working test blog. But, that just wasn't good enough for me, so I started working on using Tolkien's Shire Reckoning. (Which was made easier by the fact that Tom Braun had done up a CPAN module to do most of the actual work!)

I'm not quite done with it, but when I am, I'll have a download link and instructions here for you.
Keep checking back!

No, really, an actual gift.

Back in October, you may recall, I wrote about updating my Novell certification. Well, Monday night I got a package from Novell. At first, I thought it was going to be some kind of "Welcome Aboard" kit like they've sent in the past. Basically, just a bunch of product literature and ID cards and such. But, this was different. They sent me an actual thank you gift for updating my CNE to version 6. In fact, there was a letter in the box telling me precisely that.
Now, the "gift" itself isn't that great. It was one of those single-strap, "Metrosexual"-style backpacks, with Novell logos strategically placed all over it. But, it was the idea that they sent me something as a reward for sticking with them during hard times in the tech world. That's a pretty big shift in thinking from Novell, and every one else who has a certification program. It used to be that they pretty well expected the certification candidate to kiss their butt, even after we put in the work to get the cert. But, now, there seems to be a different attitude, which I welcome.

So, I may not actually use their "gift", but I appreciate the sentiment behind it.
Thanks, Novell!

No, really, there's a scientific study!

Right here on MSN Health they say that dark beer is good for you. Or, at least, better for you than the lighter beers. Something about the "flavonoids" that make it dark help prevent blood clots, which help prevent blood-vessel related problems. (This is also how that whole red wine thing works, too, by the way.) So, what the heck, it's Friday, go have a nice, dark beer. For your health!

If you're a tech head, like me...

That's what this new bomb they've developed would be. According to this article in the IEEE Spectrum, they're real and ready for the real world. Or, pretty darn close. Of course, the threat of an EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) weapon has been around for quite some time, but this is a little different. First, they've changed the name. Now they're called high-power microwave (HPM) weapons. And, they're portable and, it seems, reusable. So, if you're not familiar with this, what happens is it blasts out a huge amount of magnetic radiation, or in this case microwave radiation, that cripples electronics. The idea being that you could, say, take out an enemy's infrastructure while leaving the physical structures intact. Picture this at, oh, I dunno', a great big airport somewhere. Imagine the chaos as, suddenly, no on can talk to each other via radio. Okay, now, imagine terrorists with this bad-boy out on the streets. Scary, huh?

Orrin's at it again....

Look, I mainly see myself as a Republican. Okay, maybe a "Reform" Republican. A Republican with a social conscience? Anyway, in spiet of my Republican leanings, Orrin Hatch and his cronies piss me off. Didn't we learn enough about theivery at Watergate? According to this story on WiredNews, no, we didn't.
One of Orrin's staffers has been caught with their hand in the Democratic cookie-jar. Obviously, this kind of thing goes on more than we'd like to think in Washington, but most of the time the crooks are better at not being caught. Of course, we have lots of evidence that Orrin's not exactly tech savy, so maybe he didn't understand what his staffers were doing. Hmm, maybe not. I'd like to believe that he's just that ignorant, but I can't quite make myself go there. So, now, he's distanced himself from that staffer while the Senate "sergeant at arms" launches an investigation. Of course, that poor sap will be crucified for Orrin's career, but the question is, how much did Orrin know?

Damn, it's really looking like it's time to vote Libertarian. And, after my birthday, I'll be old enough to run for President. Hmm, maybe in a couple of years....

It's here!

Good or bad, biometrics has hit the retail markets. I'm not talking about those keyboards that have a thumbprint reader to unlock your PC either. I mean that there are retail establishments that are testing pay-by-thumbprint, right now! There's an entry on Slashdot that has links to both the good, and the bad, side to this technology. Frankly, it's the dark side that I find the most interesting.
Ever seen Minority Report? If not, you need to see it for just this. Picture being tracked through a shopping mall via biometrics, with advertising targeted to you and calling you by name. To borrow an overused marketing phrase, it'll take spamming to a "whole new level". Ubiquitous computing? Forget that. Ubiquitous advertsing. That's a more likely scenario by far. I shudder at what this will do to our world. And, I can already see a steep rise in amputation related crimes. You thought identity theft was bad in our time? Wait until people are stealling thumbs!