Diary of a Network Geek

Welcome to the long, dark night of my soul.

Okay, maybe that’s an exageration, but I can honestly say that I’m less than pleased with my life. And, invariably, when that happens it’s due to a lack of spirituality in my life. Honestly, I try to give myself credit for “improvement” whatever that means, but I’m just so results oriented that I have a hard time convinceing myself that anything less than perfection is “okay”. Sometimes, it feels like all the years of pronouncing tech Band-Aids “good enough” builds up, like a massive, obessive-compulsive static charge until I just implode. I know the solution is to “let go and let God”, or, as my Grandmother used to say, “Thy will be done, Lord. Not my will, but Thy will be done”. But, it’s so hard for me to do that.

Well, as someone said once, progress, not perfection…
I’ve been working at the spiritual program outlined in The One Year Manual, but it hasn’t been going well. Most days, I manage to pray three of the four times Regardie suggests, but I almost never get enough peace and quiet to work on the relaxation and “body awareness” exercises. Or, if I do get the quiet, I fall asleep! I haven’t even read this month’s exercise yet. I’m almost afraid to, since I’m sure it builds on the exercises that I haven’t been doing. I don’t know, maybe I tried to do too much too quickly. Maybe I should just be happy with the fact that I pray more often in a day than I used to pray in a week. Maybe.
I just can’t help thinking that God is trying to tell me something. And, not something I want to hear. But, then, when I think about that, I shock myself at my own arrogance. The hubris to think that God has a special message for me! On the other hand, so many people seem to think that he has a special message for everyone… Hell, I don’t know. All I know is that I’m not happy, but I don’t know how to let go of that. I don’t even have anything in particular to be unhappy about!

Anyway, I’m sure I’ll get over it eventually, so, just to keep things happy, here’s a prayer a friend of mine suggested to me…

The Peace Prayer of Saint Francis

“O Lord, make me an instrument of Thy Peace!
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is discord, harmony.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sorrow, joy.

Oh Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.”

No, not Linux bashing, actual penguins.

Okay, so here’s a mindless, little bit of fun that my wife found. It’s a penguin bashing game. The object is simple: as the penguins come down the tree, make the “yeti” bash them for distance. Left clicking both releases the penguin and makes the yeti swing its club. Distance is displayed when your penguin smashes to Earth in the snow. If you’re good, you can get distance and a “face-plant”. In any case, it’s mindless fun. (You do need the Flash plugin installed to run the game and there’s obnoxious sounds, so, if you’re at work, turn down the volume.)

Happy Friday!

New “issue” in the job market.

Never heard of insourcing? Me, either, until this past week. And, apparently, it’s made enough of a stir that two different on-line news sites have articles on it. My standard news source, Wired News, has one article and MSN has another. So, what is it? Well, apparently prison inmates work even cheaper than outsourcers in other countries. Yep, that’s right, prison. Those crafty entreprenuers have put inmates to work in call centers and the like at prices that are, well, almost criminal. These guys make about $130 per month, or about $1500 per year, which beats those high-priced Indian outsourcers that make a whopping $6,000 to $8,000 per year.
Now, I have to admit, I’m a little conflicted over this. First, I think it’s great that the jobs are staying here in the US. And, the prisoners seem happy because it beats mopping floors or working in the laundry. But, can private industry possibly compete with that? And, is it really moral to make that much profit off the prisoners? Hmm, maybe. I mean, isn’t it fair that the criminals help pay for their own rent, food and upkeep? On the other hand, it is almost like slave labor. Of course, a group of small business owners feel that they’re being put out of business due to this cheap, American labor force and are trying to say that it’s illegal. Or, that it should be. That’s still up in the air, but it is an interesting and, possibly, disturbing trend.

In theory, I’m in favor of inmates pulling their own weight, so to speak, in the US economy. And, of course, I’m in favor of almost anything that keeps jobs in the US instead of sending them overseas. But, what effect is this having on local economies? Is it helping or hurting? Or is it not effecting it at all?
More importantly, is it legal? Is it moral? Or, is it just good business? I mean, that was the argument for sending the work offshore in the first place. Honestly, it seems like a good idea, but there’s just something about it that kind of bothers me. I guess it’s too much like a freaky, sience-fiction scenario where the cheap labor force is increased by enacting harsher laws and jailing more “criminals”. How long would it take for a two-class system to develop? I don’t know, but I’m not sure I like where this might go.

Computer virus hunters, that is.

Ever wondered how anti-virus companies go about making those “updates” that so many of us download? Well, this article on Wired News gives us a little insight. Basically, they sound like any other IT department, to me, except for the somewhat added time-pressure I imagine most of them feel. I mean, at the rate new viruses (virii ?) appear “in the wild”, these folks must be busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest!
The interesting thing about the article, though, was that it’s getting harder to find people who want to do this kind of work and are qualified for it. Of course, the qualifications are somewhat “esoteric”. For one thing, you need to know assembly. How many people know assembly these days? Besides my brother, I mean. (See, I *am* the non-nerd in the family!) Then, of course, you have to have a very creative mind, because computer virus hunters basically have to reverse engineer these little suckers. I would imagine it’s very tedious work that only someone really focused and detail oriented is able to do well.

In any case, it was an interesting article.

Possibly.

According to this article on Australian IT, Micro$oft’s Japanese headquarters were raided last week on the suspicion of violating Japanese anti-trust laws. The Japanese Fair Trade Commission apparently sent a warning to Micro$oft’s HQ in Tokyo regarding certain statements in their license agreement that were deemed a violation of Japanese law. Namely, they have a clause prohibiting Japanese companies from suing Micro$oft for any real or percieved copyright infringements. Yow! That’s a nasty one! Remember, those Japanese companies that are prohibited from sueing include giants like NEC, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Hitachi and Sony, all of whom make computer hardware and drivers for it. According to the article, “A spokesman for the Japanese unit, Microsoft Co, confirmed the raid but declined to comment further.”

Not sure how this one will turn out, but it’s a good one to watch, eh?

This book ROCKS!

Ahem. I know this is only the “pocket” version of this book, but Essential System Administration Pocket Reference is the best system admin book I’ve seen in a long time. Now, I’m relatively new to Unix system admin, but I’ve knocked around the industry for over ten years now, so I know a thing or two about sysadmin work. Usually, what I look for in a reference guide is either something quick and simple or with miles and miles of depth. If I’m new to a system, or I only administer it as a backup or “once in a blue moon”, the quick guides suit me well. In this case, that was precisely what I was looking for in a Unix system administration guide. Essential System Administration Pocket Reference provides this to a “T”.
Without getting bogged down in lengthy descriptions or philosphical discussions of which tool to use when, this pocket reference lists the basic administration commands, beyond GREP (though it lists that, too!), with a short description of what it does. It’s easier to read than the MAN file, usually gives me few examples, and I don’t have to open a second terminal window to use it! Seriously, I really reccomend this guide to anyone new to Unix, including Linux, system administration. Or, like me, is getting back into it for the first time since, well, since the Dark Ages. It’s a great guide or refresher and it literally does fit in your pocket!