Category Archives: Geek

Something Computer, Technology, or or otherwise geek related.

Dear Bebo Spammers…

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I keep getting friend requests on Bebo that I could probably block with a simple Regex. Names that don’t have any similarity to the users username, and a username that invariably is a name, a capital letter, and several digits.

It’s about all I get emails about from bebo anymore, and I see no real reason to log in except to decline all these requests.

There are at least 2 a week, usually more. I get similar spam followings on Twitter too, but it’s not quite so bad.

So maybe this should be addressed to Bebo, to clean up your site. And to the spammers, give it up. I’m not going to befriend your profiles, nor am I going to click any links therein.

It’s 9 O’clock On a..Friday

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Friday, May 15th, 2009.

Today I turn 23. Or 5 (for my secondary age). As usual, nothing feels any different. The allergy-lump in my throat is still making breathing feel weird, and it is still not great weather outside.

There are no special plans for today, though I’ll mow if weather permits and I’m continuing to work on a computer for someone. It’s finishing off Windows Updates and then I’ll be doing software installation and restoring her files to it.

Nothing particularly interesting in the comic frontier either. Today’s XKCD was unusual, and the Garfield-minus-garfield was just like several others.

I sent a facebook message to the people I know who own Wii consoles asking if one of them might bring theirs tonight, since the weather isn’t looking that great. I’m excited to see Kelly’s Dad play, I hear he’s not a fan of video games because he believes we aren’t really in control, we have the illusion that we are in control and we believe it. Wii makes it a little more difficult to continue that belief, and you have a great time killing bunnies in the process..

This window has now sat up for 20 minutes waiting for additions which have not come. So I shall post this as it is, and update it later if I so feel the need. It is, after all, my birthday 😉

Disappointment

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This is partly to test WordPress’s new Blog-by-email. We’ll see how it works.

Yesterday I received a phone call from Rackspace, with a variation of that dreaded message. “We’ve decided to move forward with other candidates.”

I felt kinda like some of the people on Millionaire must feel when they’ve been going for the million dollars, and got the answer wrong and going home with $25,000.

Let me explain. What I had were two options, I could work at Rackspace for ~$45k/yr doing something I would really enjoy or I could work at a camp doing something I would also enjoy for the summer making ~$150/wk. I had 2 really great interviews at Rackspace, even they said the second one went really well, but apparently not good enough.

I’m trying to keep positive, I’m still applying for 2-3 jobs including one at JMU, and working at camp will still pay all our bills (and let us catch up on the ones we’re having to skip this month) along with Kelly’s summer job. I’ll just have to start applying again as summer comes to a close.

I’m particularly looking for IT work within VA, and I don’t mind commuting up to 2 hours each way in order to take a job worth anywhere from $30k up (So from the DC Metro area down to Blacksburgish, and out to Richmond. I’m in the Harrisonburg/Rockingham County area right now). I intend to relocate if the job is at the outer reaches of that range along with my wife and puppy. I have reliable transport, and while I have no formal computing qualifications I have professional and personal experience with PHP/MySQL, computer hardware testing, computer software installation and general computer troubleshooting and problem solving. I’ve worked on a service desk (Level 1 and 2) for a 5000 user organization supporting Novell Netware and Active Directory (on the same network) as well as Alcatel based PBX systems. I’ve also been administrating Linux servers for several years. I’m happy to take an entry-level position (Helpdesk, Desktop support, etc), though I’d like a company with good promotion paths that will allow me to progress beyond, as I’d like to move into server administration, and possibly network administration also.

So while I continue to look for work, if you or someone/an organization you know is looking for an IT worker, let me know about them, or let them know about me!

Superstition

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I had my interview with Rackspace today, and it went really well. Not too many difficult questions so not too many difficult answers. The drive up was quick and painless, stopping only to pee near our exit (also allowing us to grab our map/directions printed earlier).

The datacenter is easy to get to, and easy to get out of. The people are really nice and friendly, and from what I could tell they really know what they’re doing. I was promised a very good salary (I was given a specific window that I’d likely be offered, but won’t repeat here), and they give bonuses quarterly on top of that. It’s based on an hourly rate, so if I work overtime then I get the reperation for that too. From what I understood, there is a 10% increase on that rate for those working second shift, and a 15% increase for third shift (which would be me, working 11pm-8am).

The drive home was just as uneventful, though we stopped in Front Royal (where we’re thinking about moving to) to get lunch, have a look around, and to get Crash some Puppy Chow. It seems a really cool place, and nice to live in. In other good news, I’d used less than 3/4 of a tank of gas (it’s an 11 gallon tank, I was expecting to be nearly empty), meaning it’d cost us $10-15 a day vs. $20. Doesn’t sound much, but saves us $25-50 a week..

I was gonna blog this part last night, but didn’t get a chance to. We went to the Chinese restaurant for lunch for Mothers day yesterday, and we had our traditional fortune cookies. Kelly’s said “Keep your goals away from the trolls,” and mine said “A cheerful letter or message is on its way to you.” I’m not superstitious, I believe God is telling us something, but perhaps in this case the message will be from God saying “the challenging times are over for now.” I really hope so, at least.

Hopeful

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Yesterday afternoon I had a phone interview with 3 members of Rackspace staff based in Herndon, VA. It went very well, I was pleased with how I answered the questions and they seemed to like me as well. I was invited to an onsite interview, and it has been scheduled for Monday morning at 10am.

Basically the job involves building servers from specified parts, testing and installing operating systems using automated processes, and some diagnostic work on running systems.

We’re planning on going to the DMV tomorrow so I can sit for a full drivers license, and I need to read up and make sure I know what to expect. We’ve been working on a small list of things that we can pay for or start saving for already, including paying off the smaller loans and the well over-limit credit card, as well as cell phones and looking for a second vehicle. As summer begins to come to a close we’ll begin looking at houses, and it would be really nice to look into some additional furniture in the not-too-distant future.

We’ll also be able to save a huge amount (expecting in the vicinity of $5-10,000) to start a savings account to use for moving costs and such. So I’m fairly hopeful that I will get the position, though I haven’t made any purchases or done anything silly as yet..

In other slightly worse news, I had to tell a client this morning that her computer was irreparable. I feel particularly bad for her because it is her primary source of income (she uses it to scan and print her artwork for selling in multiples) and has small income also. I agreed to waive all my fees (I’d quoted $30) and that if she could afford $45 for a new computer I’d install all the software as well as restoring the backup I’d taken of her PC. I found a P4 1.8 for $50 on eBay and have bought it, it’s much faster than her P3 800, and has an XP Pro license (vs. the Millennium license she had, with XP Home installed). Hopefully I can have it to her by the end of next week. I’ll also get to scalp her old PC for useful parts (not much. Hard disk goes to the new PC, as will at least the CD-RW. I’ll get memory, video card, 10/100 ethernet and a sound card, and a PSU..?)

Here’s hoping things get better for her in that respect, and that everything else works out for me!

3 Out Of 50 Ain’t…All That Great, Actually.

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Over the last 2 months or so I’ve been scouring ads online and in papers for jobs. I’m looking for something entry-level IT so that I can gain real and valuable experience. Mostly this means Level 1 Service/Help Desk positions. 2 huge negatives against me are a lack of college education (I might explain that in a later post) and lack of US Citizenship.

This means I’ve been able to apply for about 50 jobs, from DC to Richmond to Blacksburg in Virginia. [It just got more complicated, I’ll explain that in a paragraph or two]. Of the 50 jobs I sent applications to I received exactly 3 responses. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was kinda hoping I’d have had a few more rejection notices rather than just being ignored.

The first application I got a response from was James Madison University. They’d advertised a User Support position, and I applied within 30 minutes of seeing the ad in the paper. A few days later I received an automated email saying the position had been filled.

The second application I got a response from was Highland Retreat, a Christian Camp about 15-20 minutes drive away in Bergton, VA. I just got a call from the director there, who reminded me how complicated my future employment status is just with a phone call to update me on how well things are going with that application.

The third application I got a response from was RackSpace, an IT company with several ventures including MailTrust (Mail services) and SliceHost (a VPS company). I applied for a Datacenter Operations Technician position which would involve building servers, installing OS’s and diagnosing hardware and OS faults on servers in the datacenter. I have a phone interview with them tomorrow at 4pm, and I’m kinda nervous.

My biggest worry right now is that I’ll jeoperdize one position and the other will fall through, primarily the camp one. The camp job is looking very certain, they’re waiting contact from the camps in NZ that I worked with so they have a NZ camp reference. The RackSpace job is a much better option in the long term though, but isn’t guaranteed. The fact that they had 5 positions listed on their careers site makes my chances of getting one of them that much bigger, but I don’t want to commit or decline Highland’s offer until RackSpace offers or rejects me, because $160/wk is better than nothing at all.

So that is my complication – I want both jobs for different reasons, but the one I want more may not want me, and is moving slower so I may have to turn RackSpace down prematurely. I REALLY hope I don’t have to, a rejection I can handle, I’d much prefer that to having to say “well, you took too long and I’ve decided to work in a camp over the summer…” It’d be one of the most illogical things I’ve said in a long time..

That’s my dillemma, suggestions from people who have been in a similar situation would be helpful!

Small Business Opportunities

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So I sat in church this morning doing calculations in a notebook. Basically I was conducting a basic viability study towards becoming a VPS/VDS provider. Turns out it could actually work out on a 2/3rds full server. The problem is actually getting a server with the specs required, and I’ve found one from one provider. Would be nice to have expansion options outside of that one ISP.

In short, I need a 64-bit server (Dual or Quad core probably) with 8GB RAM and at least a 750GB hard disk, and 64 IP addresses.

This will host 30 VPS’s with 2 IP’s each, 256MB RAM and 20GB Hard disk space with room for some to upgrade.

I also need it to cost around $200-250/mo (the best deal I’ve found so far is $241/mo).

My other option is to build a server and colocate it. This would put my setup costs through the roof, but would possibly be a cheaper monthly cost. The other downside would be that if parts fail, it’s my responsibility unlike a rented dedicated server.

Meantime I will keep looking and continue working on a business plan, also working on various ways to fund the venture.

For more information, see here.

#News

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A couple of weeks ago I started 3 new channels on 3 different IRC networks. They’re all effectively the same, and are run by 3 versions of the same bot split out into the 3 networks.

But this is all technical crap. Basically if you use ZoeLife4U, aBlazeNet or UnitedChristianChat (GodsIRC/Christian-IRC/AwesomeChristians/LoveOfTheology), you can join #News and watch the news feeds from CNN, Fox, CrossWalk and others fill the channel. You can feel free to discuss current events as they are happening.

Additionally, if you are interested in having a similar channel (news feeds can be adjusted as desired) on another network, let me know and I’ll see what we can arrange.

Websites

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So I have been given the task of giving purpose to a couple of domain names. The rules? They must be Christian-focussed in some way. This isn’t going to be a long post, in fact it is just very short and a couple of things I probably don’t want to hear argued for.

Can you think of a Christian-themed website that EITHER:

You would like to exist, that doesn’t already.

OR

You are aware exists, but could be done much better.

Let me give some examples of things I don’t think will fly:

– Christian Singles site (Tried it, it’s already a washed out market, didn’t work)

– Christian Videos site (Think GodTube, many others like it, already a washed out market)

– Christian Social Networking site (Could work, but I imagine there are others already. Will consider viable arguments on this one)

So hit me with ideas. There probably won’t be a prize, but there’ll be some form of credit given on the finished product when it’s done.

Community-Based ISP’s – Could This Catch On?

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I was stumbling around the internet the other day when I came across this article about Wilson, NC. It reports that the small city of Wilson was sick of the phone/tv/internet services being provided by the options they had, so they started their own. My question is, could this take off throughout the country? Comcast, Time Warner, all the other cable and DSL companies have been screwing the country over for a long time. Maybe if more community-based providers come up, it will force the big boys to lower their prices and improve their services. By the way, if anyone in Broadway/Timberville/Harrisonburg/Rockingham Co is interested in starting something like this I’d be keen to join in wherever possible. Whether it would be in a server/services administrative role or something helpdesk, I’m interested!

Here’s the link to the article:

http://consumerist.com/5224578/time-warner-cable-cannot-possibly-compete-with-the-small-city-of-wilson-nc