Diary of a Network Geek

Or, the lack thereof.

Okay, so, those of you who know me and my professional career know that security is near and dear to my heart.  Now, I'm no hacker or even a full time security professional, but I'm very, very aware of security and how important it is.  In my last post, I mentioned how much I love having so much wifi connectivity and how nice it was when I was in the hospital to have that easy access.  Well, that's still true, but I also know how open and insecure that wireless connection is.
This year at DefCon, there was a very popular demo that showed just how easy it was to get information off a wireless connection and exploit it.  In fact, some poor attendee, who should have known better, got his Gmail account hacked, in public, because he didn't secure his connection properly.  And, earlier this year, some German security experts went on at length about how insecure the WEP protocol is and why that shouldn't be your only line of defense on wireless networks.

Now, as much as I enjoy my wifi, I've also been very vocal about how insecure wifi networks are, by their very nature, for years.  In fact, I got into a rather heated "discussion" with a co-worker and our mutual manager about that at a former job.  Somehow, neither of these gentlemen quite understood how throwing packets out all over, where anyone could snoop them, was an inherently insecure system, even if you used advanced encryption.  Encryption, as the hackers say, is meant to be broken, and sooner or later, it always is.  Again, this is all just logic and reason, but, in a world where anyone who manages a website and a handfull of PCs can call himself a Director of IT, the practical application of logic and reason is a rare thing indeed.
So, enjoy those free wifi connections at your favorite coffee house, but, keep in mind how easy it is for a hacker, or even a script kiddie, to pull vital information off that wide open connection.

(And, if you're going to DefCon, check out their "Be Prepared" guide, or the DefCon survival guide at the Register.)

Probably not what you think...

I love wifi. Since spending so much time in the hospital with a laptop and relying on the free wifi that MD Anderson has for their patients, I've come to truly love that ubiquitous, wireless connection. Only it's not really all that ubiquitous, unless you want to pay. Often, quite a bit. Some folks are working to change that.
According to this article on ScientificAmerican.com, there's a little company called Meraki Networks that's trying to change the way people get access to wireless networks. At least, they're trying to change part of it. They offer dirt cheap wireless routers that network together to share whatever Internet resources they have, collectively, with whoever connects. It's not quite free and it's not quite ubiquitous, but, it is a start.

Anyway, it's worth clicking the link and reading the article.

On the way home from the clinic.

So, I've been "away" for a bit.
Almost two weeks ago, I went into the clinic for what I thought would be a relatively routine check up. And, really, it was. Unfortunately, my blood work showed me having very low counts in every category, so they sent me for an immediate transfusion. I got a unit of platelettes and two units of whole blood. Now, that might sound like there was big trouble, but, honestly, based on my last set of blood work, I was kind of expecting to have that happen. Sadly, what I was not planning on was getting a fever high enough to get checked into the hospital, which is what happened.

So, I spent about a week in the hospital, even though my tempurature was normal after three days, because my white blood cell count was low. That's bad because those white blood cells are what fight off infection. What's worse is that I felt fine, even though I missed my best friend's wedding, in which I was supposed to be the best man.
I came close to going against doctor's orders and checking myself out of the hospital long enough for the wedding, then checking back in. It was only when the doctor hinted that might cause problems with my insurance company that I decided against it.
The bride and groom, however, brought the wedding to me. They came over, with the Matron of Honor, and another groomsman that the groom and I have known for years, forced me at cake-point to dress up in my tux and took pictures. One of the nurses took pictures of all of us together, as well. I'm told that these will be included in the wedding pictures by the photographers. To say that I was touched by this gesture is the understatement of the century. Words cannot begin to express the depth of feeling I have for those folks who would go so far out of their way to share that special day with me. But, for the record, the chemotherapy took my eyelashes and I get things in my eye all the time now and I was not so moved I was crying. In case anyone was wondering.

I finally got out Monday and was back getting scanned Friday. I'll get the results this coming Thursday when I see the doctor. I'm hoping that the news I get is that I'm done with chemotherapy and on the mend, but we'll see.
And, of course, I'll keep you posted.

Looking for cover art?

Do you use iTunes or have an iPod? Do you wish you could have the cover art for all the CDs or songs you've added to your gigantic list of favorite music? Well, CoverSlide might just be what you're looking for!
I stumbled across this apparently free service via a sig file on Slashdot and it looks pretty damn cool. It lets you search Amazon.com's database of music without having to go to Amazon and has simple instructions for adding the found cover art to your iTunes and iPod. Oh, and it can find cover art for movies, books and games, too, not just music.

Anyway, it sort of tickled my fancy, so I thought I'd share it with you all.

I should tell you where I've been the past week, but I'm tired and I want to go to bed.

I swear, I am not going to turn this into a music blog.

But, I've been doing a lot of music related searching lately and found this cool new music search engine called SeeqPod. It searches for music that's available on the web and lets you play it, live. So, if you've ever wanted to hear that cool new band your friend has been telling you about, but don't want to shell out for a CD, try this. It's very cool.

Truth in fiction.

Some time back there was a movie that didn't do very well in theatres called the Lord of War. It starred Nicholas Cage as an international arms dealer and all his strange, dangerous, disturbing adventures. The movie was fictional, but based on real accounts from real arms deals. It was a great movie.

Well, the Village Voice has done a piece on the real Lord of War, whom they refer to as the Merchant of War, Monzer al-Kassar, a/k/a the "Prince of Marbella". Go read the story. These are the guys we need to go after. Here is the front-line in the war on terror.

Well, I survived the treatment.

At least, so far.  I'll go back for a full day of scanning on August 17th to see just how well I've done, but my oncologist kept referring to this as my last chemo treatment.  I hope so, because this one was kind of bad in some ways.  I got sick, as in blew chunks, three times over two days.  And, let me tell you, that last time it was all miracle puke, because there couldn't have been anything left in my stomaches to get out, so where it all came from is beyond me.  Well, they've given me an extra medication to deal with the delayed nausea and vomiting, so we'll see how that does.  And, hopefully, this will be the last time I have to go in for chemotherapy.

But, in many ways, it's not over and never will be.  Lymphoma, the kind of cancer I had(have?), never quite goes away.  Rather, like leukemia, it simply goes into remission.  So, there will need to be some lifestyle changes.  Thankfully, changes that I'd already started to make and now just need to follow through on.  Things like eating healthier and exercising more.  Regular checkups.  That kind of thing.
But, also, I need to work on my spiritual life more. This last week, I've been thinking about the long chain of "coincidences" that brought me to this place. Back in '98 when I moved down here, I didn't do it because Houston was the best place to have cancer! No, I moved for my ex-wife. And, when that marriage was breaking apart, my first thought wasn't, "Well, at least when I get cancer, I won't have to worry about her falling apart under pressure", since that is her pattern. My only thought was trying to survive the pain of her betrayal, which, sadly, is also her pattern. When I was forced to change jobs and I landed where I am, I certainly was not thinking that these folks would be so supportive of me and my health issues. Again, I was just trying to keep my head above water. But, in the end, it all worked out. It sure didn't feel like everything was going according to some grand plan at the time, but, looking back, it sure seems like it was someone's plan all along.

Now, the thing that gets under my skin, is why? What am I supposed to be doing? What is my life's purpose? Why I was pulled back, almost literally from the brink of death to keep on? What is His plan for my life? How is that I am to be useful to Him? Well, I don't know yet, but, along with other things I need to work out in this next phase of my life, answering that question is fairly paramount in importance.
But, that will come in time. As will, I hope, my hair, my eyebrows, and the freedom to drink coffee again. Honestly, I'm not sure which I miss more, coffee or my eyebrows.

Perhaps "reasonably priced" is more accurate.

Naturally, if you read Slashdot, you know this already, but many people don't, so I thought I'd talk it up a bit. Fans of this blog will know that I am a big fan of Linux and, in fact, took an old laptop and loaded OpenSuSE Linux on it myself. Well, the folks at Medison have simplified this process by offering a decent enough laptop with Fedora RedHat Linux installed on it for $150. Yeah, that's right, $150, plus shipping. When you think about it, that's pretty incredible. For an independant writer, for instance, who doesn't have a lot of cash to spare, or even a starving college student, that $150 laptop could make the difference between surviving and not.

Besides, it beats the "One Laptop Per Child" machine, which the manufacturers apparently plan to sell on the open market for $200. Of course, you can still use either one to browse pornography, so nothing's perfect.

Today is System Administrators Appreciation Day.

Today is a day set aside to give thanks that either: a) someone else manages your servers, or b) you have servers to manage. It's not an official holiday, yet, but, much like "Administrative Professionals" Day (aka Secretaries Day), it's a day to think about the "little people" that make your job possible. This is the seventh annual System Administrators Appreciation Day and, to date, no one has done a damn thing for me. I'm so unloved.
Actually, that pretty well sums up my life in IT. I'm the glue that holds the network together and virtually no one knows, notices, or understands what I do. Well, at least I have this small and hollow comfort that someone, somewhere cares enough to setup a webpage dedicated to guys like me.
Thanks.

Anyhow, it's Friday and your sysadmin has kept the network running long enough for you to read this, so you might as well click on this link and get him something nice for next year! (If your wallet is feeling up to it and you want to show me how much you appreciate my work, you can get me something from my ThinkGeek Wishlist. Hey, a guy can dream!  But, in case you're wondering, I already have an infamous red Swingline.)