Diary of a Network Geek

My parents are getting a dog.
We've always been a doggy family. (And, no, I don't mean that I used to pee on the rug!) When I was a toddler, the family dog, a Collie named "Lady", taught me how to walk. Literally! I used to grab onto her and she would walk forward very slowly, dragging me to my feet. Then she would slowly walk forward while I held on for balance. She was a great old dog. Patient as the day was long.
Then, when I was a kid, I had my own little mutt, "Happy". I named her "Happy" because she seemed so happy to get out of that cage and come home with us. She slept curled up on my lap all the way home. We adopted her from a place called Lamb's Farm. It was, and I presume, still is, a place that severly developmentally disabled people who are still functional can live and work. The pet adoption was one of the things they did to raise money to support the Farm. It was a good place and I have fond memories of going there as a kid.
Of course, I've already posted about my latest doggy happenings. But, before I committed to mutts, my parents were all into pure-bred dogs. Well, now, they've gone and gotten themselves a Cardigan Welsh Corgi. They're like the Pembrooke Welsh Corgis, only the Cardigans keep their tail. And, they're the breed that the Queen raises, or so my mother tells me. They've named their dog, Duchess, and they pick her up in another week, or so, from the breeder. In the meantime, though, you can click on the thumbnail and see a nice big picture of her. Isn't she a little heartbreaker? I think I need to volunteer for H.O.P.E. this weekend!

Hey, I almost missed this!
It was on this day in 1910 that the Boy Scouts of America was incorporated as a youth organization in the United States. The idea for the Boy Scouts came from a British Army Officer named Robert Baden-Powell who returned from a war in South Africa to find that the young people in his country had grown soft and undisciplined in his absence. He created the Boy Scouts as an organization and wrote a book called Scouting for Boys that became the Boy Scout manual.
I was a Boyscout. In fact, I was an Eagle Scout. (That's the top rank a boy can earn, in case you were wondering.) Oh, my, that was years and years ago, it seems. But, you know, I still use things I learned in Scouts every day. Things like the motto: Be prepared. That has led me to have an umbrella in every car I've owned and to always travel long distances with at least one roll of toilet paper in the glove box. Also, that motto has motivated me to carry a pocket knife most of my life, not to mention a lighter. And you should see the things I have in my carry-on bag when I fly!
I was a "boy leader" when I was in Scouts, too. Not only a Patrol Leader, but the Senior Patrol Leader, in fact. That experience, along with the skills I learned while managing my Eagle Service Project, has served me well in business. (Alas, none of it helped my spelling!) I'm told that Eagle Scouts get an automatic chevron when they enlist in the Army. Now, if it only gave me an edge meeting attractive, interesting, young women.... Ah, well, maybe that's a little too much to ask!
Anyway, Happy Birthday Boyscouts! Many happy returns!

There's been a couple of security "issues" lately.
As many of my regular readers know, security is near and dear to my heart. In the past couple of weeks, there have been several computer security notes that have come up in the news. First, there was the Big Browser Bug. Basically, if you haven't read about this yet, it's based on a "feature" called IDN (International Domain Name) which allows people to use special characters in non-English languages to resolve domain names. Well, phishers can use this to disguise their domain name even more to lure unsuspecting suckers into giving up their information. Bad news. Worse news is that this is mainly a problem for non-Internet Explorer browsers, like Firefox and Mozilla. So, what to do? Well, in Mozilla, type "about:config" into the URL bar and set "network.enableIDN" to false. Simple. Of course, it disables an interesting feature, but better safe than sorry.
Second, there is the "evil twin" wireless router problem. In a nutshell, a cracker finds an office or apartment near an unsecured wi-fi router. (Which isn't that hard. I've been squawking about how insecure wireless is for years. I think it even contributed to my job change at that-damn-boat-place.) Then, the naughty person sets up a router that mimics the unsecured one and forwards all the traffic on to the "real" router. Of course, before it does that, the "evil twin" router logs all the info. In a way, it's just a more aggressive and sneaky way of phishing. The end result is the same. All your personal data ends up in the hands of a crook. That's one of the reasons I ran Cat 5 in my house instead of going wireless.

Now, for a more positive story, the Register is running a bit about how computer forensics have cleared teachers and students of illicit porn collecting accusations. Apparently, a folder of pornographic images was found on a school computer and was seemingly updated during regular class time. The school brought in an independant consultant who was able to show that it was, in fact, a piece of spyware that was doing the downloading and updating. So, sometimes, we geeks can come in handy, eh?

You know, in today's world of crackers, hackers, phishers, virus-writers and disgruntled employees, we just can't be too concerned about security. It's a very, very big deal. Every single person in IT is responsible, to a greater or lesser degree, for some aspect of computer security in their business. Even the Receptionist has to be thinking about security these days. After all, if I can get physical access to a machine, I've just beaten a majority of the normal security measures most companies put into place. It's something every one of us need to think about every day, both at home and at work.

Not mine, thank God.
This morning I found myself walking down the street to watch the Jersey Village Fire Department put out a fire just down the street. Five houses, or so, down the street, actually. Apparently, the people in the house were out of town and something caught fire in their attic. By the time I heard the sirens and went to investigate, the entire second floor was engulfed in flame. In fact, there were flames coming out of the center of the roof. When the firemen finally got to the fire, it had started to come out one end of the house. Right out the attic vents under the eaves. The entire house will no doubt have to be gutted. What wasn't ruined by fire and smoke was destroyed by the chemicals and water that put the fire out. Thankfully, no one seemed to be home, so no one was hurt.
Quite a crowd gathered and I met some new neighbors. Hell of a way to meet your neighbors! We were all saying how terrible it was for this family to have to come home to a fire-gutted house, but we were all thinking "Thank God it wasn't my house." I do feel sorry for these folks, though. They just moved in six months ago and have four small children. It has to be devestating for them. If they even know yet.
Seeing something like this really brings home what's important. I'm whole and healthy. I have friends and family that love me. I'm safe and have a roof over my head. I'm a very, very lucky man. Sometimes, I think I have problems, but, really, I have very few problems. And the problems I have will be resolved, sooner or later.

Yeah, I'm glad to be alive today. And, yeah, I'm pretty damn lucky.

A follow-up to last week's Friday Fun link.
I never did get my sushi last weekend, so maybe that's why I'm still thinking about it this week. In any case, this Friday Fun link follows the same theme as last week: sushi. But, this time, we've gone a bit more "low-tech" with Windup Sushi. Thanks to Gizmodo, I now have new wind-up desk toys to lust after. Of course, first I have to get a desk, but still....

Anyway, it's Friday and you know you want to slack off for a bit, so just click the link.

I got a lot of reading done while I was out of town.
In fact, I read two books last week while I was on the road. I reviewed them over at my other blog, the Fantasist's Scroll. You can go there to read my reviews of Coyote Blue and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove. Both fiction by Christopher Moore.
Currently, I'm reading a self-help book of sorts, but it's sort of strange, so I'm keeping that one to myself.

Well, I'm trying to keep busy, anyway.
I went to a Lodge meeting tonight with a friend of mine. In fact, I sat in the South for his Third Degree, until I had to excuse myself because I was passing a kidney stone. That's always a good excuse, by the way. I got there in time for dinner, which meant some good, heavy Texas BBQ. Masons sure know how to eat! Of course, now, I need to cut way back and try to lose the five pounds I gained while eating greasy food on the road last week. Curse you and your delicious food Applebee's! And Olive Garden!
Okay, I probably could have eaten healthier than that, but the Messiah is a bit of a picky eater. I'm a bit more adventurous than straight "meat and potatoes", but I made due. So, now it's back to rice and chicken and tuna and other lighter fare. Hmm, maybe it's time I started trying out those sushi and bento cookbooks....
Oh, I've also been in touch with H.O.P.E.. Apparently, they have to review your volunteer application before you can actually volunteer. It surprised me a bit, but I was glad they did. Of course, they were quite thorough when we adopted Hilda, too. I'm a bit of a shoe-in, though, because I'm a "big, strong man", who are short supply amongst volunteers. Who knew? So, that'll get me out of the house more often, too.
And, there's always church. It's nice to get out again and do these things I never felt I could do before. It's really nice not being responsible to anyone for a change. I can't remember the last time I didn't feel like I had to "check in" with someone to let them know what I was up to, or where I was going. If I feel like it, these days, I just go. Like I said, it's nice. And, I hope keeping active will help me keep the weight off, too!

Okay, this should be a warning sign.
So, I'm looking at my e-mail on the web the other day and I saw an ad for a dating service called True.com. What caught my eye was not that it was a on-line dating service, there are plenty of those, but it was the statement that they screen for felons and married people. Huh? You mean that's an actual problem? Obviously I'm fairly niave when it comes to the "modern" dating scene, because I hadn't thought about being concern that someone placing an ad was a felon. (Yes, the married thing had, in fact, occured to me, but, considering my current situation, that shouldn't be too much of a surprise, eh?) Well, it's enough of an issue that MSNBC actually had an article about it.

I don't think I want to date anyone via the internet any time soon, after all, you never know who you're going to meet online. It could turn out to be someone like, well, ME! It's scary out there!

If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.

Mark Twain was never more right. It's one of the reasons I love my dog so much. And, of course, one of the reasons I miss her so. At least she was loyal. Whatever you say about dogs, at least they're more loyal and trustworthy than the average person. I'll get another dog eventually, just because I can't stand being without one anymore. I went for years without having one, but now that I've had one for a bit, I miss her terribly. I was watching a movie where a little kid's dog got killed earlier and it made me all weepy. I never thought I'd get all sniffly about a dog again. God, I miss Hildegard.
Well, there's nothing I can do about that now. She's gone. I try to think of her as dead. It's easier than imagining her lonely and ignored most of the time. A flesh-and-blood toy. So, I've started volunteering at H.O.P.E. That's where Hilda was rescued from originally. I'm still up in the air regarding my living situation. In fact, I probably won't know for months how that's going to work out. So, taking that into consideration, I'm not willing to adopt another dog. (And, yes, I secretly hope that Hilda will find her way back to me. Though, that would take a miracle beyond my comprehension at this point.) It let's me see dogs and visit with them. And, cats, too. I never thought I'd miss cats, but I so miss that little hellion, Hyacinth, and her brothers, Gladstone and Belvedere. Volunteering will tide me over until I can take on my own pet responsibility and, H.O.P.E. is a cause I believe in. They're a no-kill shelter, which I really appreciate. After all, it's not the poor dog's fault that her owner is too careless to poerly fulfill her needs. Why should that be a death sentence? Right, it shouldn't. It's not the animal's fault that her owner didn't treat her right or let her run free. So, I believe in H.O.P.E. and rescuing dogs from dire straights.
In a way, I'm lucky. I get to rescue another dog. I look forward to it!

Well, I'm home again.
I got in last night around 10:00pm, which, after a stop at the store for milk, got me home around 11:15pm. I was supposed to get in three hours earlier, but, well, getting back to Houston from Panama City was rather like Orpheus returning from Hades. In fact, the entire trip became Hell when we ended up staying up until 3:30am Wednesday night to get the server changed over. That was about 6-8 hours later than planned due to a wierd problem with DNS on the Netware 6.5 server and a couple of gigabytes of new data that had to be copied to the new server. Apparently, someone felt the need to backup a bunch of MPEGs, many of a dubious nature. I believe that many of the movies in question got deleted, but it still messed up our plans.
The rest of the trip was okay, but colored by the lack of sleep that Wednesday night. I feel like my soul is only now catching up to the rest of my body. Someone once described jet lag as the time it takes for your soul to catch up to your body. That, of course, is based on the idea that air-travel moves your body faster than your soul can keep up and the gap while the two resync is why you feel all wonky after air travel. I'll buy it.
Anyway, much to my relief, nothing was wrong with the house when I returned. Everything was in its little place and all was well with my little world. Though, I would have been happier if my dog had been there to greet me. Ah, well, perhaps there'll be another dog one day.
Oh, speaking of "one day" I have pictures, but I'll post them next week sometime. Right now, I'm still readjusting to my soul having arrived sometime after my bags.