Diary of a Network Geek

The trials and tribulations of a Certified Novell Engineer who's been stranded in Houston, Texas.

9/11/2013

IT Dreams

Filed under: Criticism, Marginalia, and Notes,Geek Work,Life Goals,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:48 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

You know what I’d like to do?

I’d like to run a large-ish IT shop with a clear and well-defined budget.  I’d like to plan for rolling upgrades so that no one had a workstation or laptop that was older than five years old.  If the budget allowed for it, so that no one had equipment that was older than three years old.  And, I’d like to take that old, retired equipment and donate it to worth causes, like the Boys and Girls Clubs of America or the Red Cross or Goodwill or something like that.  Local charities, too, but all causes that would use that equipment to better someone’s actual life.

I’d like to have servers that were under-utilized for a change, instead of always headed toward being out of resources.  Servers with so much room to grow that they still were running smoothly even after a five or six year period, but that were upgraded before they were ten years old anyway, just because that’s the right way to do it.

I’d like to have staff that I could develop and grow and train to be the best IT personnel that techs could imagine being.  And, I mean that both through having a training budget to send them out for classes, but also on a personal level.  The one thing I really, really miss about being more than a department of one is that chance to teach someone how to do it the right way.  (And, yes, there are many ways to get IT stuff done, but, honestly, there are some ways that are more right than others.)

I long for a neat wiring closet again.  And an orderly server rack.  I miss having a dedicated server room with it’s own A/C and raised floors.  Can’t there be a way for even small companies to do that?  Shouldn’t we find a way for that to be a thing?

Okay, Universe, there it is.  I’ve said it.  Now, go make it happen!

9/6/2013

Camera Porn

Filed under: Art,Fun,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is in the early morning or 7:19 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

By now, dear readers, you both should know that I’m “into” photography.

Now, I’m not really into collecting cameras, though, I will admit that I have several.  And, I only shoot digital, because, frankly, film is kind of a hassle these days and I just never really had the time, patience or money all at once to learn enough about film to develop my own.  And, let’s face it, if I’m not developing my own photos, it seems like a waste…
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8/30/2013

The Art of Portrait Photography

Filed under: Art,Fun,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Tiger which is terribly early in the morning or 5:47 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

I’m obsessed with photography lately, mainly because I feel so stymied by it.

It used to flow so much easier for me.  I had even gotten to the point that I could go a shoot anonymous portraits on the street or at a fair or carnival and be comfortable doing that.  But, lately, it’s been problematic for me.  Of course, I have no one to blame by myself.
Still, as a result, I find myself quietly obsessed with photography as a medium…
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8/23/2013

Build-It-Yourself Camera

Filed under: Art,Fun,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:25 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

Sometimes, I think the only way to really understand a technology is to build it from scratch.

I’m not sure if that’s really true, or what the folks who created the Bigshot camera had in mind either, but, I have to admit, their product looks like they agree with me.
I usually try to avoid advertising things here, especially if I’m not getting anything cash out of it myself, but I couldn’t resist talking about this fascinating project.  If you read any…
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8/16/2013

Reboot Your Photographic Creativity

Filed under: Art,Fun,Red Herrings,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:30 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

Do you feel stale?

I know I complain about this all the time these days, but my photography, such as it is, feels really, super stale.  I’m completely uninspired and just feel, well, “stuck” when it comes to my creativity in general and my photography in particular.  I have the photographic equivalent of “writer’s block”.
I have photographer’s block!

So, what to do?
Regular readers, and you know who you are, will know that I mostly try to share something interesting, fun and free…
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8/2/2013

Keep Track of Your Photography Gear

Filed under: Fun,Personal,Red Herrings — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:46 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

If you’re a hardcore photography enthusiast, you’ve probably already seen what I’m about to share.

But, in case you haven’t seen it yet, I’m going to go ahead and share it again.
Theft of camera gear is on the rise.  And, not just from tourists, either!  There have been several articles in the past couple months about photojournalists getting hit, too.  In Russia, they’ll apparently steal the camera right off of you while you’re wearing it!  But, don’t think it’s just a…
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6/28/2013

More Free eBooks

Filed under: Fun,Red Herrings,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is in the early morning or 7:03 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

So, I’ve kind of been on a big ebook, Nook, freebie kick this month and I figured I might as well just go ahead and continue with that.

There are actually a lot of places to search up free ebooks, but I found a great list of places to get free books specifically for the Nook at EBookFriendly.com.  They have quite a long list there that’s worth checking out, but I want to point out two particularly good sources from that…
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6/21/2013

425 Free eBooks

Filed under: Fiction,Fun,Red Herrings,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is in the early morning or 7:19 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

Wow, what a busy week!

I’m sorry that my weekly post of something fun and free isn’t more than this or more in keeping with a theme for the month, but, well, it’s the best I can do this week.  I’m not absolutely sure that I haven’t used this link before, in fact, but, if I did, I’m sure they’ve since added more material to their site.

This week, I’ve got a link to 425 free ebooks!

They’ve got everything from classics of…
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6/14/2013

Short Fiction for the Nook

Filed under: Fun,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Red Herrings,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:42 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

Can you tell I’m really enjoying my new Nook HD+?

I hadn’t really intended for this to be my focus this month, my personal choice of ereader, but, well, sometimes these things just happen.
I love my Nook and I enjoyed my last one, too, which, honestly, is a surprise to me.  I used to be one of those hipster snobs who “preferred actual books” to these new-fangled, science-fictional tablety reader things.  And, now, here I am.
Another reason I love it is…
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6/7/2013

Picking New Fiction

Filed under: Fun,Life, the Universe, and Everything,Red Herrings,Review,Things to Read — Posted by the Network Geek during the Hour of the Hare which is terribly early in the morning or 6:43 am for you boring, normal people.
The moon is a Third Quarter Moon

I like to read.

In fact, I like to read a lot, as anyone who’s spent time with me can tell you.  I have to admit, I read a lot of trash, but, still, at least I’m reading.  And, since getting my newest Nook HD+ back around Mother’s Day, I’ve been reading more than ever.  I cannot tell you how much I love this thing.  I suppose the Kindles are the same way, but since Barnes and Noble has upgraded their…
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