Diary of a Network Geek

For me, living aboard a space station is about the most fantastical thing imaginable.

I truly admire the brave people who risk their lives by exploring space. I really and truly believe that humankind’s future is in space and off planet Earth. It’s not that I’m a pessimist, because I’m not. I just believe, as does Stephan Hawking, that humanity shouldn’t keep all our eggs in one basket. I think we need to reach far and wide, starting with space stations and moving to permanent settlements on other planets in our solar system. To me, it just makes sense.

That being said, I also recognize that I will never leave the planet of my birth, at least while I’m alive. In fact, in my lifetime, only a relatively few humans will ever leave our little cosmic garden for wider vistas. And, the majority of those who do will never leave orbit. They’ll mostly stay in spacecraft or live for relatively brief periods of time on the International Space Station, doing research on how more of us might work and live in space.
Over the years, I’ve seen plenty of pictures of the ISS, but today I’m sharing something even cooler than that, a “fly-through” of the inside of the International Space Station in ultra high-def. If you can, play this on a big-screen 4K television. It’s gorgeous and, for most of us, the closest we will ever get to space.

Also, it’s been a busy couple of weeks and this was all I had time to scare up and share, so enjoy.
See you next week!

This post originally appeared on Use Your Words.

I’ve got nothing this week, so I’m offering a world.

My wife and I have been sick the past week or so, which has left me with not a lot of mental bandwidth for my regular posts and writing.  Also, my attention span is short, but at least I find that I’m more easily amused.  One thing that amused me probably a little too much this week was Oskar Stålberg’s Polygonal Planet project.  It comes in two forms; downloadable, which you…
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Who’s afraid of artificial intelligence?

So, the week before Christmas, my wife and I finally upgraded our sad, old iPhone 4 and 4s to shiny, new iPhone 6s.  (That’s an iPhone 6 for her and me, not a single iPhone 6s, just to be clear!)  Ever since, we’ve been walking around shouting “Hey Siri!” at our respective phones.  It’s actually kind of funny.  And, I’m glad that I found Siri after I married my blushing bride, or I’m afraid I’d end…
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I don’t know about you, but I sure could use a little escape this week!

Seriously, with IT staff and consultants visiting from another country for the launch of a super important project at work this week, I’m pretty wiped out.  I could use a little escapism.  So, nothing to learn this week, or even make you think too hard, really.  Just a bit of science-fiction fantasy to feast your eyes on.
As a kid, I grew up literally under a flight…
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Free training, of course, for my favorite content management system; WordPress.

Not familiar with WordPress?  Well, you should be since it runs or manages a significant percentage of the web.  As of this writing, “significant” means about 25% of all websites.  Yeah.  That’s a lot.  And, there are a lot of reasons for that.  For one thing, it’s well supported and lots of developers work with it, so getting help and customization work done is relatively easy.  For another, it’s easily…
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Digital photographers almost never print their work, but they should.

Why?
Well, for one thing, while digital formats change, printed work stays the same pretty much forever.  Also, a nice print hangs on the wall a lot better than a digital image stored on a drive.
On a personal note, I know I don’t print enough of my own work.  When we were dating, my wife printed a shot I took of that year’s “super moon” and gave it to me in a…
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Three words that strike fear into the heart of many a wise system administrator.

And not a few other sorts of smart people, too!
In this case, though, I’m talking about rolling your own WordPress theme.  This is one of those many, many projects that I’ve wanted to get to on that ever-elusive “one day” when I have spare time.  It’s also something I want to ultimately do for FindMyPhotographer.com, which I quietly rolled live a week ago.  I won’t make it…
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Yes, resources to actually layout and publish your own magazine, mostly for free.

My blushing bride pointed out recently that I mostly haven’t posted anything original in years.  Just links to other resources and some brief copy around it to explain what I’m posting and why.
This week isn’t going to be any different.

I love magazines.
They are, perhaps, my most annoying secret vice.  They’re hard to store and, since I have so little time to really read these days, I tend to…
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I love starting things! Beginning something new is such an adventure!

Seriously!  Of course, sometimes, I have a bit of a hard time actually launching some of these ideas I have, even when I’ve mostly built the website.  That’s why, for instance, I’ve given myself a deadline of the end of this month to actually launch FindMyPhotographer.com  If I don’t launch it soon, I may never!

That doesn’t mean I can’t have a sense of humor about start-ups, though.  Especially internet startups. …
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No, I’m not talking about ordering take-out.

Have you ever wanted to get to the hidden parts of your phone?  You know, those secret commands that technicians use to get your phone to give up its deepest, darkest secrets?  Well, if you’re an iPhone user, you’re in luck!  Yahoo recently shared all those with the world, and, now, I’m sharing that same information with you, dear readers:  How to Access the Hidden Menus on your iPhone, at Yahoo Tech.

If you’re an…
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