Diary of a Network Geek

Tired of Latin?
At least, are you tired of using that classic "lorem ipsum" Latin text in your demos? Well, why not try Geek Machine next time! You can generate test text in styles including; Hillbilly, Marketing, Matrix, Metropolitan, Pseudo German, and Techno Babble. Some of them are really pretty good, too. Hey, at least it's a change from the tired, old Latin.
Now, if they'd only add in Lovecraftian or Tekumelani or, even, Nostrodamusian....

Okay, I dare you to use this on your next corporate development project. Just fill in some Techno Babble or Marketing speech and see who notices. Just make sure to do it on a Freaky Fun Friday!

One last update before bed.
If you've been reading my blog and not watching the news, there have been some important developments. First, the mayor has cancelled the forced evacuation of Houston and asked that anyone who has virtually any reason to not leave turn back. The grid-lock has gotten quite dangerous and folks are running out of gas and water out on the road. So far, I haven't seen any reports of violence in all that insanity, but I'm just waiting.
Second, and perhaps more important, the hurricane has taken a bit of a turn. Now, it looks like we'll be getting the Western side of the storm, which is the softer side. Unfortunately, it looks like Louisiana is already getting some of the dirty side, which means a lot more water for them. Still not sure where landfall will be, but it looks like it will be closer to Beaumont or the border than dead on in Houston. It's good news for us, but bad news for poor souls that have already been tested beyond belief.
At this point, I'm not even sure I'll loose power Saturday, but maybe I'm being overly optimistic. And, with that news, I'm headed for bed.

Okay, I've checked in with everyone I can reach.
I made contact with everyone in my family that I could reach today and let them know my plans. I also talked to a lot of friends here in Houston about who was going and staying and what not. Several have left the city, but quite a few are here, somewhere, riding out the storm. I have one friend, Steve, who works at the zoo and he's either headed for Huntsville, or he'll stay at the zoo with the brave folks who are staying behind there to deal with the animals in the hurricane.
One friend of mine who works out by me, Tom, stopped by on his way home. This was a couple of hours ago and 290 was a giant parking lot. I walked with him back to his car and, on the way, we got stopped twice by people trying to take side-streets to 45. I had to explain to them that they were miles from 45 and the best way to get there was Beltway 8. Not a great solution, to be sure, but it was still the best way. I also sent Tom home with a good-sized bag of semi-frozen soy beans. I had some things start to thaw on me in my back freezer because I overloaded it a bit, so I decided to start cooking some of those vegetables and eating them. I started with the soy beans because they're the tastiest and, after cooking them, can be kept cold for a snack.
I also tied down my grill and my wrought-iron-and-wood bench. I have a covered patio and several of the supports are sunk into concrete. I tied them both off to two of those supports and I think we'll be okay. The garbage cans went into the garage already, just in case we start getting high winds tonight. I wish I could do something with that fountain, but it's really just too heavy. I'll probably double check the fence in the morning, to make sure nothing's loose. I'm really worried about my roof, though. I'm sure I'll lose some shingles, at least. I hope I don't have more damage than that. I'm also concerned about losing sections of the roof on my car port and my covered patio. Nothing I can do about either one, but I still worry about it.

Honestly, at this point, there's not much else to do, but watch the news and wait. And, try not to worry too much. At this point, it's pretty well in God's hands. All I can do is pray. If you're the praying kind, I'd appreciate you praying for everyone here in the Houston area. I know I will be. I may not post more tonight, but I will definately post more tomorrow. Oh, and I do have a Friday Fun post queued for tomorrow morning. Hurricane or not, the fun goes on!

Well, I've cleaned most of the porch of potential projectiles.
I got the plants and little things and the cheap plastic chairs all cleaned off the back patio. I still have to get the garbage cans inside and tie down the grill and bench. Everything else is either light enough to forget about, like leaves and small twigs, or is too heavy to move, like the fountain. The working car is in the garage and there's no room for the other one. I found a whole bunch of old kitty liter containers that I'll fill with water for flushing the toilet, before I throw that last hose into the garage. After that, it's just time to hunker down and wait.
I've had several people call to check in with me today. My sister-in-law, who can't understand why I haven't left yet, up in Palatine. My former in-laws (ie. my wife's family), called to say that they were bugging out, then decided to stay because of the impassable traffic. I've checked in with a couple of friends from church. I had two guys who thought they might come stay with me, but they ended up heading somewhere else.

Well, I'm staying.
As long as I have an Internet connection and power, I'll keep posting. I'm out in Jersey Village, which is 80 miles from the coast, roughly. Now, if you're not familiar with Jersey Village, it has a reputation for flooding, but, not to worry, I'm on the highest point in JV. In fact, four years ago, after Tropical Storm Allison, we chose this house because it was one of the few that was high and dry. And, they've spent the past four years improving the way JV handles water runoff and such, so I'm pretty sure that I'll be okay. I imagine that it will be a little crazy around here, but, I hope, the worst case scenario is that we'll lose power for a couple of days. I hope.
Anyway, I'm staying. I'll be tying down anything I'm afraid might fly away and dragging stuff into the garage tomorrow. Tomorrow night, I'm going to go have dinner with someone who's also staying out in this area. My company shut down today, so that people could evacuate tomorrow, if need be, which means I'll be home most of the day doing nothing. I guess I'll read, watch the news, play with the dog and blog. After I get the other work done. Oh, and I'll probably be praying, too.
Don't worry about me, though. I have quite a bit of food and water. And, I have a natural gas stove and a wood-burner for backup. (All of which, I think I've already mentioned.) I've called my parents and my one sister who worries more than I do. I'm not sure what she thinks she can do for me up in Northern Illinois when the hurricane hits, but, well, I guess I'll have to be sure to call her when it passes through and I'm okay. Oh, I also have batteries and candles and lots of frozen water, too, to try and keep the freezer and refridgerator cool if the power goes out. As for the rest, well, I guess I'll just have to ride it out.
This is NOT why I wanted to live in Houston. Far too much excitement for this old man. Far too much!

Yeah, I'm sure this has been a lot of people's minds lately.
I know that I've been more worried about this than I have been in a long time. So many things to go wrong that could stop a business. Luckily, the folks over at InformIT have a couple of guides to help us deal with this. First, there's the general Disaster Recovery, Part I article. This implies that there will be a Part II, but, so far, Part I is all we have. It's a good overview of all the things you'll need to worry about when setting up a disaster recovery plan. And, it has lots of links to other sites that give more in depth information about particular flavors of disaster.
The other article over at InformIT that caught my attention on this topic was on developing a Business Continuity Emergency Communications Plan. Trust me, after all the finagling that I've been doing with the satellite phones and adding people to our antique phone switch in the Houston office, this is a really big deal. And, I haven't even mentioned all the issues with cell phones from New Orleans, either. For the better part of a week, all the cells over there were down, so no one could get through via a NOLA area code, even via cell phone. Luckily, we could just add a bunch of cell phones to our account with Houston phone numbers, but that would have gone smoother if we'd had a plan.
Really, I cannot emphasize enough the importance of having all this work done ahead of time. I should have made it a priority as soon as I started here, but, what with the divorce and all, it just didn't seem like the most important thing. Luckily we've adapted and done well. Next time, though, next time... And, trust me, there's always a "next time". So, take a little advice from your Uncle Jim and start working on your Disaster Recovery Plan NOW.

I don't like hurricanes.
Or tropical storms. Honestly, if I didn't know that every generation since the crucifixion has thought so, I'd say the end times were nigh! Look at it from a Yankee's perspective. You already have giant, flying bugs. Up North, we made a pact with God that such things were not to happen. We'd stop the human sacrifice, if He'd stop making bugs over six inches that fly. Then, there's the weather... Sure, up North we have to deal with the odd blizzard, but that's a walk in the park compared to this hurricane/tropical storm business.
I mean, my life was hard enough when Katrina hit one state over, so I can't hardly imagine what it's going to be like when this Rita bitch makes landfall. Have you ever noticed that they always name these things after women? As a recently divorced man, I felt the obligation to point that out.
Anyway, here I am, still exhausted from the last two weeks of horrendous work as a result of "adapting" to Katrina fallout and now, I have to worry about Rita. Oh, and someone told me today that our building tends to flood. I have five comuters on the floor of my cube alone. Oh, I think this is going to be messy. And, yesterday, when I went to the store, there was hardly any water left. People are already starting to panic. Not good. Very not good. Suddenly, sunny Houston seems dark, dismal and dangerous. Very, very not good.

And, what if I have to make a run for it? Where will I go? How will I cope with that and my precious, little dog, too? I know I should be doing "stuff" to prepare, but, honestly, in the face of something this big, what can I do? Hoard water, canned food and batteries. Pray. But, really, that's about it.
Wow, winter in Chicago sure seems nice right about now.

On a lighter note, I was invited to an opening today. Friday, a friend of mine, Mark Flood (Warning! This site may contain adult images!), is showing his art at the Glassell School on Montrose. This is, I believe, his first exhibit as a full-time artist, though he's been selling art for more than a decade. Gosh, I'll have to wear black and go buy some clove cigarettes!

Now, I'm not hacker.
Nor am I a cracker, at least in the computer security sense. And, really, I never claimed to be one, either. I just didn't correct anyone who hung that tag on me. Sometimes, the best thing for a reputation is just knowing when to quietly smile and say nothing. Well, if that's not good enough for you, there's a solution.
No, I don't mean years of study or a computer security certification or tool. Now, you can cut to the chase and get your hack "experience" in an easy-to-swallow daily dose from Hack-a-Day. They may not all be computer hacks, but, then, I'm told that hackers don't live by computers alone anymore.

Anyway, it's a fun, and very geeky, site for a Freaky Friday! So, do yourself a favor and click the link.

Well, no kidding!
When I read this article on the Register about Novell using the upcoming, and potentially bug-filled, launch of "Longhorn" Microsoft's newest Windows operating system as an opportunity to get their Linux desktop into corporate America, my thought was, "Well, DUH!" What else does this reporter think they've been doing?! I mean, c'mon, buddy, this isn't exactlly a secret, you know? Novell has been talking about this for years. Though, I have to admit, this time I think they have a better strategy, and opportunity, than that "genius" idea to buy WordPerfect. Hey, I love WordPerfect, don't get me wrong, but there's just no way that suite of software was going to really compete with MS Office.
Of course, I think they're being a little optimistic, but, hey, Jack's heart is in the right place. Hopefully, though, this will keep them alive in the market for a couple more years.
Now, iff they can just hold out until I retire...

Well, not quite, but close.
In the UK, they're going to be "chipping" their license plates. Among other things, that will mean that those plates can be tracked by the proper authorities via GPS. Yeah, the proper authorities. And, if that phrase didn't strike enough terror into your heart, how about this... The article goes on to say that U.S. authorities are looking into this. How long before we're greeted with "Hello citizen!" when the damn car door opens!?
Okay, this disturbs me on many levels. Setting aside the potential for governmental abuse and eroding the rights of the individual, what if hackers were to get into this system? Can you imagine the damage that could be done? It was bad enough when the old phone phreaks rerouted calls and made it look like calls originated in ficticious locations, but this, this has some really scary potential. Well, so far, it's just over there in the UK, but, if the U.S. government is looking into this... Watch the skies, citizens. Remember, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance!
(Bonus points for anyone who can tell me where that quote originates. At least, with me.)