Category Archives: Geek

Something Computer, Technology, or or otherwise geek related.

It Has Been a While!

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Wow, I keep realizing how long it has been since I wrote an entry here. Most things remain the same. I still don’t have a full time job, although I interviewed with a county school system earlier this week and also applied to a year-round resort, both IT positions. I also have another 3 jobs to apply for this afternoon (hopefully) that are also IT and not terribly far away.

I’ve done some work on my monitoring systems for my servers. Over the last few months I’ve developed several methods for providing close to real-time outage-notifications and misc. monitoring for the three servers I administrate. The system I currently have primarily does two things: Service unavailable notifications via Twitter, Email and Txt message (via email), and corresponding “It’s available again” messages, and system monitoring using an Eggdrop IRC bot for each server with basic commands.

I’d like to expand this system at some point in the future, by migrating the system monitoring system from Eggdrop to a Perl bot. This would allow it to be more portable, and hopefully have a smaller footprint on the server it runs on. It would be nice to have IRC-based announcements for server-up/server-down as well as more minor alerts, like high CPU usage, high RAM usage, high hard disk partition usage, etc. We’ll see how that goes at some point in the future.

In more interesting news, I believe we have pretty much finished our Christmas shopping. All of our box to New Zealand items have been bought, and we are waiting for 3 of them to ship or arrive by mail. All but one (I believe) of the remaining items have been wrapped, and they’re all sitting in a corner of our room waiting for everything else to be ready to go. We’re just waiting for 2 items to arrive (apparently they were mailed recently), and another to be mailed. I checked yesterday and it was still pending.

I recently provided a redesign for a fan-site, I’ll try and post screenshots later. I’m also working on upgrading/updating the Infinitley-aLive website, and moving away from WordPress. I’m undecided yet as to whether I’ll use SilverStripe (as on http://chris.i-al.net/) or if I’ll build my own fully customized CMS for it. Having been looking at CodeIgniter, it may be a fun first-project for a CodeIgniter site.

Lastly, if you find yourself in need of some web-design or web-programming, or a shell account for almost anything, or just basic webhosting, leave me a comment or something. I am happy to work with your budget so long as it fits mine, I’m happy to work for the testimonial and for a reference for my resume if I feel a need to use it, and you’re happy to provide the details I need. I accept paypal, and cash or check if you wish to meet locally. Also, if I can’t do something I’ll let you know quickly, and if I can I’ll point in the direction of people who are able to fulfill your requirements.

Be Careful With Mechanical Devices

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ATC DeviceThis is an ATC, or an Air Traffic Controller. It is a belay device, used to add large amounts of friction to a rope when working on high-ropes courses. A couple of months ago I was working on such a high-ropes course (I won’t name it, nor will I name the individuals involved). We were working with a middle-school group, and operating a team-belay system. In this system, there are anywhere from 4-5 people working on belaying another person who is taking on the element we are focusing on. The way team belay works is that the first person in the line is the anchor. Their responsibility involves wearing a harness to which a carabiner attaches with the rope and the ATC. Their job is to pull down on the rope coming to them, to make a tight connection between them and the person participating in the element. That is all they do, if the person falls, or it is time for them to come down, they should let go and stand firm. The next 2-3 people stand in a line beside the anchor, and their job is to pull the rope through the ATC so that there is no slack between the ATC and the participant. The last person in the line is responsible for coiling the rope, so that it is not left on the ground to be trampled on should the belay line need to move (IE, following the participant along an element such as a catwalk or mohawk-walk). Depending on the situation, and generally a good idea anyway, an additional person will hold the back of the anchor’s harness so that in the event the participant outweighs them, they aren’t lifted off the ground at any point.

Anyway, this is relevant because I was working a high element using team belay, and the anchor was a young girl with long hair. It got caught in the ATC when the participant was coming down from the element. Some quick thinking and movement from the team of facilitators meant that safety was never a risk for the participant, and after about 10 very intense minutes, we were able to free the hair and lower the participant to the ground.

I was wearing my harness, unusual in the circumstances, as I was facilitating and not participating in any of the technical work beyond instructing the young people on what they needed to do. I was also the one who anchored the anchor, as it were. She was a small girl, and the participant larger than she, so I put my hand in her harness to hold her down. As I was doing so, she tipped her head and said “it’s caught, my hair is caught” – in my stupor I checked I wasn’t pulling it with my hand slipping behind her harness, and removed it again. But still, she had her head to the side. It was at this moment I looked at what was happening and realized Bad Things(tm) were going on. I called over the other two facilitators on the ground (a third was up a tree, working on fixing an earlier problem whereby he had lost the pull-rope through a pulley for an element). They pulled down on the rope to relieve tension from the ATC, but it wasn’t enough, the hair had got itself well and truly stuck. I ran for the equipment shed, and about 30 seconds later was attaching a new ATC to the rope just up from where the stuck one was, before attaching to my harness (God works in mysterious ways!).

This allowed us to work freely on the problem ATC device. As I said, it took about 5-6 minutes from this point (from point of realization to getting the new ATC in place was about 2-3 minutes) to get the hair removed. Someone had the genius idea to pull half the rope through, and that then it may be removable with an extra 1/2″ of space to work with in the hole. Unfortunately, this end of the rope was the one with tape around it marking what it’s purpose was, and wouldn’t pull through. And so, off to the kitchen one of the facilitators went, intending to take the vehicle they’d brought. He returned a few seconds later with a pair of scissors, and we cut off about 3 inches of the rope end. It was a matter of seconds at this point before the rope was removed, the hair untangled. It has since been reinforced that all hair must be tied back and away from all places where such things may happen to entangle and trap individuals.

Chromium

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I did some reading up on Google’s Chromium, or ChromeOS over the weekend, and I have to admit I am intrigued. There are a number of things I’d like to see before I actually used it, and I have my suspicions that it may be the beginning of other things while still being “the one that didn’t make it,” but still, I’m interested in where this will go.

I’d like to use something like ChromeOS (though not necessarily ChromeOS) to run an internet cafe, for example. It could be ideal in the right corporate environment as a compromise between thin clients and fat clients, using web-apps either in-house or remote services such as Google Docs or Microsoft’s equivalent. If this were the case it would need to be able to authenticate using LDAP/Active Directory or other authentication protocols.

Also, the right users would have no problem using a basic PC using only Chrome (or something like it) to access web-applications if it were well-configured and well-presented. A flamer on Youtube suggested it wouldn’t last long if Apple produced iPhone OS-based tablets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if an upcoming Microsoft release followed a similar idea. And as is almost usual, it wouldn’t surprise me if a Linux OS or two use this as an opportunity to do similar things.

Anyway, for those who haven’t caught up with ChromeOS, or Chromium as it is now called, here are some links and videos, thanks to Google.

ChromeOS Concept:

ChromeOS Demo:

Looking for People?

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With the advent of www.awesomechristians.net, I have been going through old quotes to add to kick-start the site and have been coming across old names that I think of occasionally and wouldn’t mind talking to again.

Here is a list, and if you are one of these, leave me a comment or drop by www.unitedchristianchat.net and let me know who you are 😉

Generically (because I know I’ll miss some on the specifics list):

If you used PHMinistries.net, Christian-IRC.com, Christian-IRC.net, C-Chat.com, Teens4Jesus.org PowerZone-IRC, 24-7Christians or any affiliated site or network between 2000 and 2006, I’d like to know who you were (and if we knew each other), and what you’re up to now.

Specifically (in no particular order):

  • tqo
  • GenesisX/Ken
  • Outsiders/Chris
  • OutCast/Megathunder/Jesse
  • Sentinal/David
  • LordzAngel/Katie
  • Cassie
  • Buddy
  • Nodren
  • rdolph/Rachel
  • kac4him
  • Matt (The Windows-loving-linux-hating guy ;-))
  • Underdog
  • Dan
  • Angel4Dios
  • hawkeyeaz1
  • Jared
  • fac3less
  • gimp80995
  • SalvadorChicka
  • Brad
  • Dani
  • counselor/Albert

Possibly to be added to/ammended 😉

Silence is Golden

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At least, that’s what they tell me. I haven’t posted for a while, and I don’t really have a whole lot to say.

I’ve been whining recently about trying to find work, I’m still looking for a full-time IT job while I continue to apply for anything I see in a two-hour radius from where I live.

I applied recently for an IT position via fax, because the organization’s mail server wasn’t accepting emails. This amused me. I also forwarded messages I’d printed with the error messages so they could look into fixing it.

Yesterday and today I worked high ropes, yesterday with a church retreat from in/near DC, and today with a bunch of kids from DC’s Public Schools. A few funny things were said, but the one that stood out was a girl yesterday who said the 3 places she wanted to visit before she died were Argentina, Australia and Alabama. On querying her wish to visit Alabama, she explained her desire to visit “The South” and drink “Real” sweet tea. I tried (in vain) to suggest she could get real sweet tea just by visiting this far south in Virginia, but she wouldn’t have any of it. The only place, in her mind, where she could get such a delicacy was if she went to a “Real” southern state like Alabama.

I had a great time, today I got to try out the new gloves I got for doing ropes work with (and they were amazing!), and had a good laugh or two with some really cool people.

The other day I set up a new website on a domain that has been empty for a few weeks, www.awesomechristians.net is now a quote board for amusing or moving quotes from Christian chat rooms all over. Not necessarily UCCN, or even IRC. They can be from Yahoo! or anywhere else for all it matters!

Tonight is a thanksgiving dinner at church, and tomorrow morning Kelly and I leave to house-sit for two weeks! I’m sure many photos will abound.

What a day!

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Yeah, it was a fairly boring day today. I sat around and looked at Craigslist and eBay both for jobs and computer stuff. I’m partly pricing rackmount servers and/or equipment with hopes of starting towards the wish-list, partly getting ideas and otherwise just looking to see what is out there.

After “Lunch” Kelly and I went to the two local thrift stores to just look. Kelly bought a tree thing that had photos hanging from it (I think she’ll be using it for earrings and such) and some pants, and I bought a balancing-Kiwis puzzle.

Tomorrow I need to watch a training video for work that I’ve had for a while and haven’t gotten around to watching, and we’re also supposed to go and watch “Where the Wild Things Are.”

I’d like to visit Target and the Halloween store tomorrow if we can, and see if we can’t get Crash either a Bee or a Dinosaur costume. It would be hilarious if we can..

Speaking of Crash, we need to walk him shortly as it’s getting rainy and we’re going out this evening..

Would Someone Hire Me Already?

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I’m really not liking living here. It sounds wrong, it mostly is, I love this area and the people that I’m close to, but I hate a series of specific circumstances. I can’t seem to get a job I want to (or can) have long term. Harrisonburg is fairly void of IT opportunities. That is, all the IT jobs are taken, and there didn’t seem to be all that many to begin with. No-one is expanding, so the chances of any opening any time soon are fairly flat. In DC there are hundreds of openings, but of the 10% that I might be qualified for, almost all of them require either a security clearance, a US Citizenship, or both. I have neither.

I’m keeping an open mind about it, so far I’m finding on average 1 job a day to apply for somewhere, and while I’m yet to be contacted by any possible employers, I’m continuing to look – mostly because I can’t stay working part time forever.

I have a small list of places I regularly check (usually every day, or every other day), starting locally and working my way out.

  • Eastern Mennonite Univerity
  • James Madison University
  • Rockingham Memorial Hospital
  • Rockingham County Public Schools
  • Harrisonburg City Schools
  • Rackspace (Locations in Blacksburg and in NoVa)
  • Craigslist (Harrisonburg, Charlottesville, Winchester, DC, Roanoke, Lynchburg, Blacksburg)
  • University of Virginia
  • Virginia Tech

I also check several school districts around the area every week or so, checking county and city school systems around as far as Charlottesville, Roanoke, Winchester/DC, etc, and I just added Carillion, the hospital in Roanoke to my list of places to regularly check (thanks Lauren).

If you’re a hiring manager, I can send a resume as required, but I have two years professional IT experience between basic and advanced experience working with PC’s, Servers, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Mac OS X, Windows Server 2000 and 2003, Linux as a desktop and server, web technologies and networking, computer hardware, Active Directory, Novell Netware, have worked on a service desk, and can usually learn things quickly. I also have around 10 years experience in a non-professional environment just playing with stuff and learning things at home or while working on friends/family computers. I’d like to study, but I need to get my family to a point where we are self-sufficient with enough spare cash-flow to fund such an educational venture.

Time Management

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I’m trying to make the best use of my morning time before I go to work rather than sleeping all day, in theory it will help me when it is time to leave my 2:30-5:30 job for full time work.

This morning I took Crash with me and went to Food Lion and bought breakfast stuff, lunch stuff, and some drinks. Breakfast will last most of the week, lunch stuff all week (with some to spare) and the drinks should last until next pay day. I filled up the truck, which should last two weeks unless I have to go somewhere much other than work, and after breakfast and lunch I took Crash on a walk.

Tonight I applied for another job, this time in Christiansburg, as an entry level help desk analyst. The pay is crap (for an IT job), but it’s better than what Kelly makes full time, and we always said that another job with similar pay would be enough to get ourselves off the ground.

We’re working on getting Crash to behave without needing a leash on, and today he hung out with me for about half an hour without a tether while I was grilling, and tonight stayed within hearing distance on the walk inside. He is still tethered and crated while we’re not around to watch him, naturally ;-).

Hopefully tomorrow I will get up and have breakfast, followed by an hour or two of programming on my current web-project, I also need to make a bunch of sandwiches to go in the fridge for the rest of the week. I’ll also continue to keep my eyes open on the various Craigslist pages and maybe checking out CareerBuilder and the other job site rounds, JMU, EMU, RMH, JenzaBar, DNR, etc.

But that is tomorrow, and tonight it is getting late, thus I shall sleep. Goodnight, world.

I Want…

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…to change the image of cheap internet hosting. I can’t see it happening. What I would love to do would be to run a small business supplying cheap webhosting for websites and IRC and Shoutcast and Teamspeak and VPSs and Dedicated servers and so on and so forth, meanwhile providing quality 24 hour phone and email support for a low monthly fee. I’d like to do that. I think that is what the internet would like. But it isn’t going to happen any time soon. Why? Because I don’t have the upfront money to pay for the first server, which itself would probably only be able to supply websites for example. And even if I did, I would probably not be able to afford long-term payments if only one or two people bought accounts – not much motivation to have people calling me at 3 in the morning because their website is running slow.

The sad truth is that small internet businesses are not very profitable. In order to make any money, you need a minimum amount of resources and get a large number of customers using them in order to pay for a) the resources being used already, and b) more resources.

I was crunching numbers a few months ago with the prospect of starting a VPS company, but in order to get going, I was needing around $240 a month for the server just to get it up and running, and then I needed 24 people paying $10 a month before it would break even. With that kind of package, I’d only have another 6 packages available on that server before I’d need a second one, and then I’m back to finding $180 a month until that one reaches a break-even point. Once I had 6 servers running, there would be enough profit from 6 full servers to fund a 7th without anything coming out of my own pocket, by which point I would be serving around 180 customers. The seventh server is what would be the turning point in the business. And somewhere in all of this I’d need to have found 180 people that want VPSs with the crappy support that I’d be able to provide on my own, meaning I’d probably need to pay for advertising of some description, and possibly provide some web-designing services of some kind. Keeping in mind also, that none of those numbers were taking taxes or any other mandatory expenses into consideration, so it would probably be the 8th server that was making money. Around the 10th server (Read: 300 customers) I’d be able to afford to visit a mobile communications store and lease unto myself a cell phone and a wireless data-card to provide support anywhere. I’d also be able to lease a VoIP account for the business and accept incoming phone calls for support. I would have undoubtedly branched out by this point, and be providing other services using similar hardware such as website hosting, but hosting more people per-server at a lower cost per-customer. I’d be reselling dedicated servers, probably looking at the viability of buying my own hardware and co-locating it.

And that is where it gets depressing. Maybe I need to just do it? Maybe I need to save the money and put a real plan together, put the time into it and make it work. Maybe I need to find a business partner who I can trust. Maybe I need to give it up already. I know I need to study the business side of it to find out how much that would cost before going further with the viability of the pure technical numbers. I know I need to study further, and make decisions regarding placing multiple service types on the same servers, such as ShoutCast hosting alongside TeamSpeak hosting – probably not a good plan. The same idea applies to mixing VPS plans on the same hardware, as it isn’t entirely fair to cram whatever will fit on a server on whatever is available at the time, at the same time I can’t afford to run 3 servers with 3 plans until they’re paying for themselves.

So I shall return to my silent pondering of greatness that will likely not come. I will continue to come up with ideas that may never see fruition. And I will proceed to consider possibilities to make money as well as a name for myself in the internet community.