Diary of a Network Geek

What is the matrix?

Well, it doesn’t have anything to do with the movie, that’s for sure. In this case, the matrix is a multi-state database of supposed anti-terrorist information. In fact, MATRIX is an abbreviation for Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange. Well, it sounds great, but it tends to erode privacy in the name of security. So, it’s not a huge surprise that, according to this article on Wired News, the states of Wisconsin and New York have actually dropped participation. In fact, they cited privacy concerns as one of the primary reasons for doing so.
As regular readers know, I am in favor of personal privacy. I think the government should stick to what they do best; social programs, law enforcement and military issues. Oh, and, of course, taxation. But, frankly, I think they should leave my privacy alone. I hope this move by Wisconsin and New York is a growing trend towards more privacy, not less.

Somehow I missed this story two weeks ago…

But, according to this story on Australian IT, someone was trying to sell three Vietnamese girls for a starting bid of $7,400. In response, eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said Friday,”There couldn’t be a clearer case of what’s not allowed on eBay.” San Jose-based eBay strictly forbids the sale or purchase of humans, alive or dead, you’ll be pleased to know. So, no, you cannot “buy” a “wife” on eBay.
You know, when I first read this I was appalled that such a thing could happen, but then, when I thought about it, it surprised me that it hadn’t happened sooner! Considering the sick, depraved things that go on just out of sight of our nice, safe street lights in this country, I’m surprised that it was a foreign issue, not a domestic one. Remember when the Internet was a relatively safe place to socialize? Before the sick whack-jobs figured out that you could masquerade as anything on the ‘net? Ah, well, things change. I just wish the changed for the better more often. Oh, what a sad place the Internet has become….

Founder of Greenpeace a sellout?

Well, according to this article on Wired News, not only is Patrick Moore a eco-sellout, but he’s proud of it. Personally, I find his views fascinating and, oddly enough, in line with mine! He claims that Greenpeace has been hijacked by people that aren’t in favor of better environment and sustainable living, but rather people that are anti-“big business” and anti-industialism. His contention is that that has nothing to do with protecting the environment.
Mr. Moore is now in favor of things like nuclear energy, since it’s cleaner than coal and more productive, and gene-altered food, since it’s often healthier than non-genemodified food (according to him). It sure is an interesting about face for the freaking founder of Greenpeace. And, of course, a fascinating article.

Baking bread as a medition on life.

Okay, stay with me here. This may seem like a stretch to some of you, but I found myself learning about life from baking sour dough bread yesterday. I’ve been working at learning about sour dough bread for several months now. I started out being interested in it for writing purposes. I wanted to understand the simplest, most basic and “primative” method for baking bread. I figured that was sour dough, because it doesn’t take any special yeast.
Well, I’m also a game geek and a really good game site also had information on sour dough, both making the starter and baking the bread. So, back before the holidays, I started baking bread. The first couple loaves were so heavy they were almost a brick. But, with each attempt, I got a little better. Still, I had problems getting a good loaf that wasn’t so heavy that it was hard to chew.
So, I stopped working at it for a bit. I kept my starter in the fridge and fed it, as it seemed to require it. Then, I noticed that it didn’t seem very active any more. Well, I had finally killed it.
I cleaned out the jar and let it be for a bit. Then, about a week ago, I decided to work on a new starter. This starter was so active that it overflowed the jar at least three times! Apparently, Springtime is the perfect time for starting sour dough in Texas!! Anyway, I fed it and let it get going real well. Then, Friday night, I did what’s called “proofing the sponge”, which is just getting ready to make dough.
Saturday, I took the sponge and, as I had before, followed the recipe from the site I listed above. Only this time, I waited longer for everything I did. And, I didn’t try to force a full three cups of flower into the batch. Instead, I only mixed in flour until it felt “right”, whatver that really means. I let it rise longer. I kneeded it down and let it rise some more. Then, I made it into a loaf and let it rise yet again. Finally, I let it start to bake, though I didn’t have high hopes. It seemed just as heavy as it had every other time. Still, I just let go and baked it per the recipe.
I can’t describe my surprise when I pulled it out. It was a wonderful loaf of dark, but “fluffy” bread! I had done it! It was a totally yummy batch of bread. And the secret was patience and letting go of the result.

So, as I feel myself tense up at work, getting caught up in all the fear of a tenuous position as rumors fly, I’ll remember the bread. And, hopefully, I’ll remember patience and letting go of the result. If I can just go with what’s happening and trust in the process, I may just survive with my sanity intact.

It’s Friday! Time for a little fun!

Okay, so this blog has been kind of depressing lately and the “fun” things haven’t been quite as fun. Hey, I’ve been busy! No, really!! Anyway, it’s Friday, the traditional day to let off some steam at work. But, I don’t reccomend going “postal” on your coworkers. Instead, try some games brought to you by the fine folks at Cartoon Network.
They’re all fun. Mindlessly fun, actually. Which is just what you need on a Friday afternoon.

Enjoy!

I got an interesting phone call yesterday…

It seems that I’m so popular a hit on Google for “CNE Resume” that now people are asking me to help them find CNEs in other cities. A poor, frustrated small-business owner called me yesterday, out of the blue at my day-job, looking for help finding a CNE in Dallas. First of all, I was suprised to get that kind of call at my work. I guess she traced me down by way of my resume and the helpfull operator at my job. Anyway, she had apparently been looking for someone to come in and help her get something done on her network, but couldn’t find anyone. What’s more, she seemed to be having trouble getting through to the Novell sales office in Dallas. In any case, I wasn’t able to help her much, since everyone I know who’s a CNE is in Houston these days, and maybe back in Chicago. I’ve lost touch with everyone in Dallas that I used to know from Harbor Financial.
So, I finally got her connected to the Novell website Partner Locator. That seemed to pull up a number of options that might work for her. I felt really bad for her because there really aren’t too many good resources for people in her position. Maybe that’s why so many small business seem to favor Micro$oft these days? Maybe this is an opportunity Novell to get some market pentration… You know, if they started to market to the smaller businesses and encouraged the smaller IT consulting firms to have CNEs on staff to support them, maybe Novell would get into some markets that they hadn’t thought of before. Maybe…

So, you CNEs out there, if you want to be seen, join the CNE Resume Webring! It really could get you noticed!

Well, I hope she got her help. Good luck!

Novell is getting right on it!

Just a few months ago, Novell bought SuSE, the leading LINUX company in Europe. Well, now they’ve announced that they’re going to be letting loose some new versions of their distro. At least, according to this article on Wired News, they are. Frankly, all I can say is “Horay!!” I really hope Novell follows through on what they’ve started here. I know they have a whole section of their website dedicated to the Novell\Linux intersection.
I really, really like the idea of running Novell products on a Linux kernel. For instance, I can’t think of a better sounding e-mail solution for corporate envrionments than GroupWise on Linux. (Okay, I’m a little biased, but still….) I mean, this just sounds like a bulletproof setup to me. None of the hassles of Exchange/Outlook bugs, exploits, viruses or worms and the reliability of Linux. C’mon, let’s face it, Unix-based servers so very rarely crash that it’s almost a non-issue.
Now, if someone would just offer me a Novell job where they’re starting to use Linux…. Ah, well, a guy can dream, right?

Open Source Government!

I wish it were the US government, but at least Australia believes in the Open Source movement. According to this article on AustralianIT, areas of the Australian government are “encouraging” Open Source pilots where possible. Apparently, in an effort to save money and reduce future hidden costs, officials have gotten behind the idea that Open Source may, in fact be better. Well, at least they’re comparing closed-source options to Open Source options on a fairly regular basis. It’s a start, at least, in the right direciton.
I sure hope they’re finding solutions out there!

I’m not sure I’d trust this name in China, but…

Okay, this isn’t the most “accurate” of tools, but it is interesting. Basically, it’s a little web gadget that takes some information from you and pops out your, roughly approximated, Chinese “equivalent” name. The disclaimer says that you should get an expert to help you choose a Chinese name before using it in a real-world situation, since the Chinese feel that names are quite important to the character of a person. All of which is very interesting to me in terms of a created culture or created language.
For instance, I can picture a culture that has a separate language for naming. Or who hide their names for magical protection. Or who change their names for the same reason! Really, the possibilities are endless.

Oh, yeah, you can find the “Get a Chinese Name” tool here…

What if I did a report and no one noticed?

Well, two days ago, that’s just what happened. I do the regular check of all the backups for our company. I mean everything. I check all our local servers as well as all 35+ remote servers. Then, of course, I do up a report in Excel and e-mail it to everyone. Seems fairly important, right? Hmm, maybe not. On Tuesday, I was up to my ass in alligators and was all the way home before I realized that I hadn’t sent the report out. I created it and dealt with most, if not all, of the problems on it, but I never sent the e-mail.

But no one noticed!

So, why do I send out the stupid report? Why did I get chewed out a couple of months ago for not doing it “right”, even if I was doing it the way I was “trained” to do it? If a network admin falls in the forest and upper management isn’t there to hear him, does his resume make any sound?
Well, at least it’s a job.