Diary of a Network Geek

Yeesh!  Can you believe I was so busy this year, I almost didn’t notice?!

No, seriously, I was so busy running around at the office and trying to get my lovely fiance’s website squared away that I totally missed that today was Sysadmin Day!
So, here are a couple of things for you to read, especially if you’re NOT a system administrator.  First there’s a link to Ten Things NOT to Say to a Sysadmin.  Trust me, I’ve heard all of these things, many of them just in this week alone, and they all make me grind my teeth!

And, then an XKCD that captures just what it feels like to be an overworked, under-appreciated system administrator:

XKCD always knows what I’m thinking! http://xkcd.com/705/

So, if you haven’t yet, do something nice for your system admin. They really will appreciate it!

I would imagine by now the few regular readers of this blog have figured out that I love both photography and free software.

I, personally, use Lightroom.  And, yes, I paid for it.  I’ve gotten used to it and I understand the workflow and I can get the little bit of editing I do to photos done that way.  But, I am always on the look out for software that I can recommend to people unwilling to make that kind of…
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So, this month, the theme has been free graphic software, more or less.

Well, as much as I love taking as realistic photos as possible and capturing the actual moment, I have to admit, graphic artists who start with photos and make them into more always impress me.  I’m especially impressed by those who create whole realities from nothing.  That’s one reason I backed the Kickstarter project The Tube Open Movie.  When they’re done developing this, now late, movie, the things…
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Last week, I shared my favorite free image editor, but this week, I’ve got a bit of software that’s every bit as useful and important.

But, really, it’s more than just a viewer.  This little gem can do every thing from slideshows to file format conversions to cropping.  It can even do some simple editing like sharpening or blurring.  You can choose to view all the graphics in a directory in thumbnail format, or scroll through them one at a time…
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Long-time readers of my blogs will know that I’m a cheap bastard.

So, with that in mind, it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m an advocate of free software.  I’m especially in favor of free software that can replace, or mostly replace, expensive, high-end software.

As a photographer, I’ve always had a love/hate relationship with Adobe and their flagship product, Photoshop.  I love the tool and all the amazing things it can do, but I hate the price.  I’ll grant that they…
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