this cracked me up...

I saw this at the end of the month-long OpenBSD vs. RMS thread that ran on the misc list at OpenBSD. It was a befuddling and bizarre sort of flamefest. Basically, my take is that the OpenBSD folks suffer from some kind of stunted emotional development: Of course, RMS was incredibly zen and Ghandi-like. He was in fact in India when it took place. Now on to the wacky quote that kind of said it all for me:


Emacs/XEmacs is an excellent Microsoft Operating system shell to run.
Manage your files and browse the web.

It is released under the GPL (general public license).
Running a program on Windows is not encouraging the use of Windows.
Rather it is actually encouraging people to use Windows, you see. That's
not the same thing.

People publish screenshots of Emacs running on MS Windows and post them
on the internet, and this is the enemy of your freedom. It shows how
excellent XEmacs/Emacs run on Windows so that they don't even have to
run gNewSense.

When the dog wags his tail, the tail actually is wagging his dog. And
when the tail wags the dog, the dog is actually wagging the tail. Not
the other way around.

Oranges are free, grapefruits are not.
Oranges are free, grapefruits are not.
Oranges are free, grapefruits are not.

L505

a thought about guitar tone

Keef Riffards already knows this. Everybody else, read on:

If you have a lot of distortion on your guitar signal, and you hit the strings lightly, it goes "GLEEEEEEERRRRR". If you hit the strings hard, it goes "GLEEEEEEEEERRRRRRR".

If you have almost no distortion, but turn the amp up really effing loud, and hit the strings lightly, it goes "schliiinnngg". If you hit the strings hard, it goes "CLANGHONNNKKK!!!" If your guitar goes "CLANGHONNNNKKK", people will Respect Your Authoritay :)

How to be a network engineer in six years - Part 2

So when you last saw our hero, he had been told to RTFM, Read The Friendly Manual, and given a copy of Slackware Linux to try. I was serious about learning the UNIX-like Linux environment, and excited about my new project. I printed out the documents, took a week, and read the Installation How-To. Not an easy read, very technical, but it all made sense from my past experience. In theory anyway. So then I moved on and read the DOS/Win To Linux How-To. This was a comparison between DOS commands and UNIX commands, and a little propaganda too about how much better Linux and X-Window System are. I would definitely recommend both of these even today, years later, although save the DOS/Win document for when you hit a slump in the very long and terse Installation document, and need some perking up.

Anyway there have been a million write-ups about folks getting Linux working on this or that hardware, and it's not the point. I ended up getting Linux installed correctly on about the third try, but could not seem to get Windows to share my modem connection across the LAN with my Slackware box. The deal is, after a month of experimenting, and even installing a Slackware spin-off called Vector Linux, I ended up with a modem in my Linux box, and got it to dial up to my ISP. I learned a LOT in that month, getting around and troubleshooting the networking issues. I still remember the day I took it to work, put the modem in it, connected to the ISP, launched Netscape 4, and read Slashdot for the first time :) Very very cool.

From there I learned how to compile the kernel from source, and set up Network Address Translation (use my Slackware box as a "cable router", only using dial-up). I set up nfs, ftp, dns, and dial on demand, dhcp. By the following winter anybody could walk into my house with a PC or laptop, plug in to the ethernet, and launch their mail or browser software, and they would be on the net in a few seconds. Automagic. Think of it! In the same time it took me to get nowhere with the latest great Microsoft server system, I learned these concepts and skills:
-UNIX disk partitioning
-UNIX shell commands for working with files and running programs
-the EMACS editor
-the art of reading man (UNIX on-line manual) pages
-how to use the Slackware system configuration scripts
-how to make a serial connection with a modem using ppp
-how to use telnet to connect and use remote systems
-how to use a terminal server to hop to remote machines
-how to use CHAP to get routed to the Internet across a serial connection
-how to configure an ethernet interface on a UNIX machine
-how to configure and compile the Linux kernel from source
-how to use ftp to transfer files
-what NAT is, and how to make it work on a Linux 2.2 machine using iptables netfilter capabilities
-what DHCP is, and how to configure and use the ISC dhcpd server and dhclient UNIX tool
-what DNS is, and how to configure and use the BIND dns server, and the nslookup tool
-what NFS is, and how to configure the nfsd server and mount command
-how to use the TCP/IP tools, like ping and traceroute
-how to use the UNIX layer 3 route commands
-how to configure and use the UNIX pppd Point-to-Point Protocol Daemon to control a serial network connection
-how to find, download, configure, compile, and run UNIX C/C++ programs
-how to break the C compiler :/
-how to install Quake 2 and play it on your Slackware box :)
-that Opera was way better than Netscape 4
-netnews! rtin! PAN!
-what X-Window System is, what a window manager is, and that fvwm is a great lightweight one
-that the Linux framebuffer driver will work for X, but card-specific X-servers are much better
-how to hand-hack XFree86 using EMACS (and use tail -n to read /var/log/XFree.0.log)
-that you can burn up monitor using overly aggressive hand-tweaked X config files
-that you can listen to a cd on your laptop, while the cd is in your desktop in the other room, using NFS mount
-that you can track the positions of your buddy's team in the 24 Hours of Daytona using your laptop in the living room while watching the race
-that at the time a Pentium 100 laptop with 24MB of RAM and a 3.2GB hard disk was enough to run Slackware 7.1, and it was way faster than my Pentium II Windows machine


Okay, maybe I didn't learn all that in six months. But most of it, really! The terse style of man pages allows you to get into a technical mode where you only find the information that you need, it is all there, and you CAN find it. It is a DIY system; if you have a can-do attitude, you can do anything. You have total control over the machine, a great abstraction in UNIX, and you have the freaking source code and toolchain. Make what you want.

Looks like in part 3 we will cover moving from being a PC shop guy who discovers the wonders of UNIX to a Network Engineer. Will he escape from the Penguin's diabolical trap? Tune in next time...

How to be a Network Engineer in only Seven Years!

Well, I was working as a Branch Manager at a computer shop. It was my first IT job, 1998. I had had a restaurant career, guitar salesman career, cash register repairman career, semi-pro guitarist, and a vending machine repairman career. Sometime in 2000, I had ramped up on building and upgrading PCs, and learned what hoops Windows wanted you to jump through to trick it into working.

I started noticing that a lot of our clients were getting DSL, ISDN, and T1 connections, and building ethernet LANs. Wouldn't it be cool if I learned networking and could work on stuff like that? Some of the more senior folks at the computer company had gotten to go to a Microsoft convention of some sort, and brought me back a binder with several demo CDs from Microsoft, including a late beta release of their new network server operating system, Windows 2000 Server. So I decided to tear into it.

I bought a Win2K Server book, put together a second PC, got some ethernet cards, cable, crimpers, rj45 connectors, and a 4-port hub. I started meticulously using the book, installed the server, and going through the capabilities and configuration of all the features. The problem was, I could not get a lot of things to work "in the lab". It was supposed to be simple; you just launched this management application, clicked on this dropdown, put a check in this box, typed something in that text field. If it didn't work, ??? There were no useful logging or debugging messages, no way to see what was actually happening on my new network. Just... Nothing. The abstractions that Microsoft used were so far away from what was actually happening in TCP/IP land were frustrating me. It was like trying to do brain surgery with boxing gloves on. This experience lasted several months.

Our regional manager at the company was making some consulting money running around town setting up network servers for small businesses, by selling them inexpensive PCs, and installing and configuring their network services using a copy of Slackware Linux he had burned to CD. I had been offered copies of Red Hat and Slackware before, and they had been described as "a hacker operating system for your computer, written by hackers, that is really good at networking." I took my new IT career seriously though, and had no interest in "playing around" with a "hacker operating system". It sounded like a neat exercise, I had some experience with early personal computers by Commodore, where everything had to be done by writing some software. I had written a lot of small tools and games, and later done the same in DOS for about 10 years. A hacker system sounded fun, as opposed to Windows, where you had to buy an expensive development package and learn something called C++ to make tools and toys.

Since I was a manager, I was starting to feel like I was part of the Dot Com Boom, an IT Big Shot, hehehe. I started watching TechTV's stock market coverage, and reading things like CNet tech news. I knew that Sun sold serious network servers, big expensive machines, and I learned that they ran UNIX. I had heard of UNIX on and off since becoming a computer hobbyist in 1981 or so, I knew it was Serious System. I did some research and found out that Sun had released their UNIX on CD for PCs! I was very excited. I found out that it was almost 2GB of software to download, which was more than I would be able to get away with on our office network at the time, which was a slow DSL link. I also found out that, while it had been free to download for a time, it was now only available for purchase. The full CD set with a manual was around $100. It wasn't a lot of money, but I didn't think I could convince my wife at the time to let me buy it. I knew that it was a way to grow my skills and advance my career, but I didn't think I could sell it to my ex-wife. Sad, I know. Then one day I saw a story about how companies were maximizing their profits by using PC hardware running Red Hat Linux instead of Sun computers, and that Linux was "UNIX for personal computers". Eureka! So I could learn how to run a real UNIX network server, by using my laboratory PC at home! I started researching Slackware Linux, the flavor my buddy at work was so successful with. I found that there was something called ZipSlack, which was a copy of Slackware that was shrunk down to fit on a Zip disk (like a 100MB floppy for you young'uns). I made a ZipSlack Zip disk and it's companion boot floppy, rubber-banded them together, and took them home with me.

I told my coworker my intention, and he told me about a web site called tldp.org, The Linux Documentation Project. He lent me his copy of Slackware and told me to read the Installation How-To and the DOS-To-Linux How-To at tldp.org. They would explain what was happening when I attempted to install Linux on my machine, and how to do DOS-type things in the new UNIX environment.

I guess this is part one, it is time for me to go leave the office and do stuff. Happy New Year to folks out there, 2008 is coming, hold on to your hats.

Hola amigos

Not sure what is happening here. Feeling run down. I have gotten through a couple of weeks of big change and lots of activity. Some turnover at work, changing conditions. Successfully somehow paid for some gifts and surprises for my sweetie's birthday. Studied hard for my network certification test, coming this week. Then last night, Boom! I hit the wall. Had to lay in bed and just kind of daydream, escape.

This year I quit drinking, and while in counseling, started learning tools to help me live my life. I'm much healthier now in many ways. Recovering from codependency is very difficult when it is your nature. The problem is, taking things on myself that are other people's problems leaves me with no energy, time, or resources to take care of myself.

I feel like lately, I have been doing better about not seeking out other people's problems to solve. I used to actively look for something to help somebody with, rather than do something productive or good for myself. What a disease!

Now my issue is that I am always anxious. I'm anxious about things that I'm responsible for, and trying to take responsibility for. I'm anxious about whether or not other people understand that I'm not as available as I used to be for them because I'm trying to save myself now. I think of them, but I'm busy dealing with my own problems.

I'm anxious about performing at work, although I seem to have made that a lot harder than it is. I've worn myself out worrying about how other people feel, wanting them to feel like we are friends, even stopping in the middle of work to go pacify them. But it is my job to do my work, and not to worry about the emotional climate of the whole operation. Whatever state it's in, it was like that before I got there. And as long as I don't make it worse, the rest is not up to me.

There is a big codependent issue with my sweetie. I still have trouble letting her ask for what she wants or needs, instead of trying to think for her. I think she has the same problems. We are both recovering codependents, but neither of us has ever been with someone who wasn't a "user" before. We take two nights off a week from each other. I think it is still necessary for my sanity because I am trying too hard. I am not just living my life, with her companionship. I am trying to control "us", and all I should be trying to control is me. That's all that life requires. Whew!

Lots of stuff going on. Just need to keep untangling the anxieties, and make sure I do the right thing. Like going down to the washer and dryer, and studying for my certification this evening.

Maybe I'm fighting off a bug :) Often a feeling of total emotional and psychological failure precludes some kind of influenza D-Day. Pray for Mojo!

hold on to your hats!

I refuse to comment on how long it's been since I posted, how lame the original posts were, &c. We start NOW.

So, in the past year I have:
Seen Eric Clapton live
bought a 9mm semiauto handgun that I take to the range
bought a paintball gun and played paintball a handful of times
built a badass 64-bit computer
graduated from 10 months of counseling
read 1.1 self-help books
started internet dating
met some nice girls
met a wonderful woman who I love, and see almost every day
have learned about boundaries
have learned about taking care of myself
have learned not to take on issues that don't belong to me
have learned to say "I'm paralyzed with anxiety" instead of just sitting there being paralyzed with anxiety :)
have gone to an Audi track event and ran laps in a 1988 Porsche 924S
have been to Puerto Rico with my new sweetie
saw the Observatorio De Arecibo there - you know, the 1000-ft satellite dish built into the mountains from the James Bond flick
hiked the rain forest
drove a new jeep clear across Puerto Rico and back
my folks moved to Tuscon
my mom has fibro-myalgia, and the weather is helping her
I went to Tuscon to visit them, fell in love with the desert and the mountains, and was visited late at night by a giant Great Horned Owl
More to come :)

ahh, entertainment

Well, a friend got tired of waiting for me to buy a tv, so he lent me a little one with a vcr in it. For you young 'uns, a vcr plays things like dvds that are called "tapes".

I have a few boxes of videotapes, so tonight the first thing I did when I got home was to turn it on and put in an old Formula One race. Now I have David Hobbes and V12 engines doing 17,000 rpm in the background. Excellent.

I also found that someone hooked up a wireless access point nearby with a very strong signal, and no encryption. It's working much better than the one I was using, I think I may be able to sit on the couch and use the computer. Again, excellent.

Without a tv around, I've been playing guitar and singing again. It feels good. To my friend's dismay, I don't think I'll buy a new tube for a while.

finding peers on blogger

When putting a new photo in my Blogger profile, I noticed that the word "Telecommunications" was blue, like a hyperlink. I clicked on it, and got a list of bloggers that have their "Industry" set to "Telecommunications". Oh, cool! So, being single, I started looking through the list for women who work in telecom and are bloggers. Probably we might have something in common? Of course, there aren't many. So I thought it would be cool to search other industries for single women to talk to. Hey, I'm single, okay?

Where do you search for profiles with the "Industry" set to a certain field? You don't. Sounds like a little project for me, maybe I'll try to whip something up.

In the meanwhile, I did some playing around with web url's, and found that you can search different industries if you change the last number in the url. I.E.:

http://www.blogger.com/profile-find.g?t=j&ind=36

36 is Telecommunications, and the number seems to correspond with the alphabetical list of industry choices in the "Edit Profile" area of your blogger account. It's a drop-down list.

So if you want to get acquainted with fellow bloggers, try some other numbers there and see what you find.

Maybe I'll make a little search dropdown to make it easier, or maybe somebody already has...

And it's not stalking, I'm just trying to make friends!

maybe i am cool

I was thinking that I was pretty un-cool. I don't have a tv at the moment, I don't have cable, I don't have a motorcycle, I don't have a girl to ride behind me on the motorcycle...

But then again:
I have an iPod
I have a Mac
I can write code
I have a bicycle
I have a cool old Audi
I have a tan
I have a goatee
I have a pretty blue acoustic guitar
I play and sing
I plink around on the piano
I have a job
I listen to great music
I pay my bills (most of the time - all the time would be un-cool)
I can hold my drink
I love coffee

And the last reason I'm cool: I smoke cigarettes. Everybody knows smoking makes you look really cool.