Diary of a Network Geek

This is a test of a command line message sent to the auto-poster! Frankly, it’s just a little cumbersome, but it does work. And, if they start monitoring web usage at work, it may be the only way I can post during the day without getting into trouble. Besides, it’s pretty cool.

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In my “other life”, I write poetry.

I do more than network PC’s together with Netware and Windows2000. I have a life. Sure, it’s a sad, geeky life, but still, I do have one. In my other life, I write poetry and fiction. Though, I have to admit, I spend a lot more time being a Network Engineer than I do being a poet.

In any case, I finally got a bit of fiction up on my other website and thought I’d throw a link to it here. Enjoy!

A “Hacker’s Diet“?

Well, why not? It’s actually an interesting e-book written by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. He approaches weight loss as an engineering problem, as opposed to a moral, physical, or other kind of problem. He really does take a scientific approach to input and output and how that applies to the human body and weight. Besides, the title alone might just get some over-weight hackers to do something about their weight! Sometimes, it takes a wakeup call.
My personal wakeup call was a picture of my gut hanging over my belt. It was a candid shot of me while we were looking at our new house, before we bought it. Thankfully, that was more than 40 pounds ago and now I feel much better. A little less intake, a bunch more output in the way of exercise and some conscious effort was all it took. Well, that and ignoring the grumbles of an empty stomach. Oh, being out of work for most of a year and short of cash helped some, too. It’s amazing what a little fear will do toward curtailing conspicuous consumption!!

Well, it’s new to Linux, anyway.

Opera Software announced on the 11th, that they have a a beta version of their browser for Linux! Now, that’s pretty cool because they once said that they wouldn’t do that. Or, at least that they didn’t plan to do that. I think the fact that yet another company is designing Internet software for the client side of Linux is a great sign. It really validates my choice of focusing on a Linux+ certification.

The world is changing and so is IT. I really think Linux is the next big thing for the desktop, still. It’s just taking longer than we’d anticipated.

Is Novell dying?

I’ve heard a lot of people say that Novell and Netware are on the way out. Of course, I’ve been hearing that since 1995 and they’re still around, so there’s no telling. But, I have to admit, this last time I was out of work it sure took a long time to find a job. Sure, the economy is hurting, especially in Houston, but I’m a CNE with ten years experience. I’ve been a supervisor for several years, though I’m not supervising anyone at the moment. And, still, even with that, and all the other varied experience on my resume, it still took a year to find a job.
So, how is Novell doing? Look at the charts. Not a great picture, is it? But, compare them to Sun, for instance. Now, it doesn’t seem quite as bad, does it? And, I’d say that Sun is an “up and comer” still, or again, depending on your point of view. In any case, Sun doesn’t seem like they’re going away any time soon, and I’d say Novell has kept pace with them, at least. So, how much danger is Novell really in?
They’re advertising everywhere at the moment, including Yahoo, TechTV, Slashdot and the SciFi Channel. And, I know that it’s registered with me, but I’m already a Novell Geek.
They continue to win awards. But, then, Microsoft’s popularity never had anything to do with awards. Windows is a pretty ubiquitous OS, but it’s fairly buggy and insecure, no matter what Microsoft says about their “security initiatives”. And, of course, history is littered with “better” products that never made it very far. Like the Tucker, for instance.

In any case, I’m not comfortable keeping all my eggs in one certification basket anymore. So, I’m studying for my Linux+ cert and next I’ll work on Security+, then my CCNA. Wish me luck!

Right now, I’m reading Zohar: The Book of Splendor: Basic Readings from the Kabbalah edited by Gershom Scholem.

It’s a relatively short book, actually, but fairly challenging. It looks at the Kabbalah in brief and tantalizing detail. As a non-Jew, it’s an interesting look at the more hidden meanings behind Jewish scripture. Though, to be honest, I think there are many Jews who don’t know much about the Kabbalah, much the same way many Christians don’t know much about the Book of Revelations.
The allegorical meanings of seemingly simple verses open whole new worlds of thought for me. The explanation of the creation story in mythic terms reveals whole new vistas of meaning and nuance. It has effected me in a profound and deep way. New spiritual possibilities have been opened to me. I don’t normally get into that kind of personal stuff on this site, but it’s really made me think about some things.

These are troublesome days, I think. The economy is in doubt. There is war and violence in the world which, no matter how justifiable, is always a little frightening. My life is in a constant state of flux and doubt. So, where do I turn for help in sorting things out? Toward a spiritual source of comfort. And, these days, I don’t limit myself to the Bible. So, I’m reading a book on the Kabbalah and, sometimes, I go to 365 Zen : Daily Readings to find inspiration. Sometimes, I just sit by our ponds and try to listen for whatever voice may come out of the vastness of the Universe to help me.

In any case, my point is that I’m trying to enrich my spiritual life so that the rest of my life doesn’t seem as frightening and doubtful. So far, it’s helped.

Read an interesting post on Slashdot today…

There was an entry about a “Software Survival Kit” on Slashdot that got me thinking. What should go into that kind of thing? Some of the more useful suggestions I saw, and thought of myself, were: a DOS boot disk with CD-ROM support, hard drive repair utilities, a CD-ROM of documentation, and a CD-ROM of drivers. But, of course, a lot of that is subjective and depends on what OS might be encountered. For Windows systems, not only would I have a boot disk, but I’d suggest having a copy of the OS CD-ROM and the latest patches on a second CD-ROM.
For networks, though, it gets a little more complicated. Since I’m a CNE, I’ll use Novell as an example. The latest patches, uncompressed, take up most of a CD-ROM, but are worth having. Also, making a copy of the install and documentation CDs is a good idea, too. (I remember lugging all 50+ floppies to remote sites before it was all on a CD! Yikes!) I also recommend Server Magic for Netware. Also, I recommend the Netware Server Tools, which is free and downloadable from Novell’s website. This one NLM (Netware Loadable Module) gives a server admin all the most necessary command-line tools to work with a Netware server. And, it makes your server feel almost like a UNIX server. Very, very cool. I can’t vouch for how well it works on Netware 6, but it’s great on everything else.

One of the more interesting suggestions was to use F.I.R.E. (Forensic and Incident Response Environment), which, I have to admit, is a new utility for me. The website describes it as a bootable and free recovery and investigation tool. Sounds interesting, so I’ll have to check it out.

The important thing, I think, is to figure this all out long before the recovery toolbox is needed. By the time there’s an emergency, it’s too late. Of course, I’ve been saying for a long time that no one in IT plans well enough. But, what do I know? I’m just a tech.

It all started as a joke…

See, I was at a party several years ago and a guy was laughing about me having my Palm IIIe with me where ever I went. He made some joke that reminded me of the old Western that my Dad used to like so much called “Have Gun, Will Travel.” And, it struck me that I was sort of like that fictional gun-for-hire, but I used technology instead of a revolver. So, a couple of months later, I registered HavePalmWillTravel.com just to have the e-mail domain. Then, I made up cards just like Paladin had on the show and, well, the rest is history.
The only thing is, I’ve never really done anything with that site. I spend a whole lot of time maintaining this site and Fantasist.net and so much time at work that I don’t have a lot of time left over. Besides, I thought I’d get all into PalmOS development, which I never did. So, now I have this site and e-mail address, but not much else there. Any suggestions? If so, drop me a line at Paladin at HavePalmWillTravel.com!

April Fool’s!

Can’t you guys read?