Diary of a Network Geek

I admit, a lot of us probably need one, but...

Okay, first off, I hate those stupid tests that some employers make you do during the interview process. My value lies not in being able to pass a standardized test, but my ability to solve real world problems. That being said, I have seen people in IT who couldn't think their way out of a paper bag, so maybe a general IT literacy test isn't such a bad thing.
In any case, there is one. A company called ETS is offering an Information and Communication Technology literacy test. And, based on this note to employers, they're selling it right to the kinds of people that would hire guys like me.

Not sure how I feel about this, really, but it seems like a growing trend. I guess it's a good thing I take tests well!

-1 Thessalonians, 5:2

Last night, in the dark, small hours as I tried to fall asleep, it occured to me why it is that people have made glow-in-the-dark crosses and rosaries and saint night-lights. When things are darkest, that's when I need to find God the most. I don't usually post much about my personal life, and I'm not going to go into much detail now, but I'm going through a rough patch. I'm in emotional pain because of choices that I've made and continue to make. In fact, it's become a daily choice, and challenge, to stay in the current situation and ride it out, no matter how painful it might be or what the outcome will be. I won't get all angry and bitter here, but the situation is not entirely of my own making. Someone else is in the driver's seat and that's very, very frightening and frustrating for me.
So, what to do? When I'm all alone in the small hours of the night, what can I do? I can't impose on friends any more than I already have. Though, to be honest, several of them have told me that it would be okay. I still can't make myself do it. It seems to rude. So, what do I do? Well, I fall back on my oldest "crutch" and cry out to Heaven. And that's where I found myself last night, alone and lost in the dark, searching for answers that will never come, silently crying out to God, or anyone who would listen, to save me. To save me from the pain and anger and frustration and deliver me to peace and the outcome I so badly desire. Of course, that's my problem. I desire a particular resolution that most likely will not come. What I want in this regard no longer matters. It would be a miracle if that were to happen now. I love God, but I think I've already used my quota of miracles for this life. So, now I pray to let go and let God's outcome happen. I pray for the strength to deal with whatever that result is.
If you're the praying kind, and you feel up to it, I'd appreciate any prayers for acceptance you could throw my way.

(BTW, the full verse is " For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night." -1 Thessalonians, 5:2)

Hey, speaking of Christmas shopping...

You NEED a Room Defender. No, really. C'mon, admit it, you've always wanted an automated sentry robot of your very own, if for no other reason than to torture your cat. Oh, if these had existed as a kid, I would have been begging for one every year until I got one.

Aw, geez, it's been a long week, but it's Friday, go look at it!

Yeah, this pretty well sums up my experience with them.

Okay, so you all may remember my horrible experience with Best Buy a little while back? Well, according to this article on Ars Technica, I may have just been one of the lucky few that they wanted to get rid of. Now, I know that I'm not all that great about doing things like filling out rebates and such, but I sure do shop around to check prices. I mean, hey, money is pretty tight these days, so I can't afford to be fat, dumb and happy when I'm shilling out my hard-earned cash for tech stuff. Besides, I practically live on the web, so I'd have to be some kind of idiot if I didn't at least look at prices before I bought something.
Anyway, if you've ever been jerked around by Best Buy, the article is pretty interesting and informative. I highly reccomend it before doing your Christmas shopping at Best Buy.

Wow, there've been a lot of stories about Novell in the past two days!

Let's see, where to start.... First off, Novell whupped Micro$oft to the tune of $536 Million, according to this press release from the networking giant. Apparently, Novell and Micro$oft agreed to "settle potential antitrust litigation related to Novell's NetWare operating system in exchange for $536 million in cash." Hmm, not a bad deal. I wonder what that will do to their stock? What's even more interesting to me, is that Novell also announced it will file "an antitrust suit against Microsoft in the United States District Court in Utah seeking unspecified damages in connection with alleged harm to Novell’s WordPerfect application software business in the mid-1990s." More cash? One can only hope.

In other Novell news, my favorite Open Source company has released a "new" Linux desktop. Yes, that's right, they've got a Linux desktop, with the option to purchase support. I guess there really are advantages to living way out in Orem and not having anything else to do during the winter months but think! If you follow that link, by the way, you can download a free trial. I know I will be!

Yea, Novell! You go!

Okay, even God and religion can be taken too far.

Just when I was about to get all smug and self-righteous, I see the story about the man trying to preach to the lions in Taipei. I trust in God, but that's going a little too far. I mean, I really think God counts on me to make smarter decisions than that.

So, anyway, I picked up a couple of nice journals last night. (Yeah, I don't tell you everything!) And a book or two that I've been wanting. Well, one I've been lusting after for some time. The other just looked interesting. Oh, and I bought a new dishwasher over the weekend, too. I didn't really want to do that, but the old one made this hideous grinding sound and stopped. Gulp! Well, I'm waiting to see how much installation is, but I'm sure it will be worth it. After all, it was on sale and it comes with QuietGuard! (Whatever the hell that is.) Besides, my wife and I are worth the cheapest Sears dishwasher there is.
Hmm, that sounded better when I was spending the money I don't have to get it.

I've got a lot on my mind.

So, I've been thinking lately. That's never a good sign.
I've been thinking about crutches. Not the kind you use when you break a leg, but the other, less desirable kind. I've used lots of crutches in my day. Everything from smoking to over-eating to religion and even sex. I've used almost every crutch you can think of to not deal with psychological pain, except, ironically, drugs or alchohol. I'm thankfull that I've never turned to those, but the one's I have used are bad enough.
I'm working on my weight, but, at 186 pounds, I'm doing okay there. I did just enjoy a pipe before coming in to write this. (No, not a "bowl" a pipe with regular, legal, tobacco.) I'm not going to go into details on what's causing my pain, but I will say that I'm dealing with it in much more healthy ways than I have in the past. I haven't gone and eaten a whole half-gallon of ice cream by myself, for instance. I haven't sought out sex to numb the pain. I really should pray more, but, that'll come in time.

A number of years ago, I would have done physical harm to myself to avoid the psychological pain. I'd have cut myself or burned myself, but I haven't done that in years and I'm not going to start again.
In fact, of all my crutches, the only one I can reccomend is God. God's always there, waiting for me to come back. Always patient with me. God always believes in me, even when I don't believe in myself. I wish I could trust in Him more and let His plan for me, whatever that may be, unfold without my trying to control it. It's hard for me to let go. But, I keep trying.

I don't know how things are going to turn out and that scares me. I don't like living in fear. But, what are my other choices? I just have to keep going and hope for the best. I trust that God will find the best way for me, even if I don't know what that way is myself.

Um, yeah...

Okay, if you know me, you know that I constantly make fun of my brother, the Mac user. He's got a PhD. in Physical Chemistry, works in R&D at Motorola, and is basically a genius. But, for some reason that I cannot explain, he's totally devoted to his Mac. I don't know, maybe he's got that super-secret funny-little-picture-to-what-it-really-does decoder ring, or something, but I can never find just where I want to go to get stuff done on a Mac. Of course, I'm almost only on a Mac when something has gone horribly wrong, but still... Well, when I saw this movie about the "joys" of Macs, I knew I had to post it. Please be aware that the link will load a video in another window. Or, at least, it will attempt to do so.

Enjoy! And, happy Friday!

I'm finally getting it!

Okay, so it only took three months and a visit from a Novell Service Engineer for me to finally get it, but I have. Here's the big secret to making ZENWorks imaging Linux boot CDs: key information is not anywhere to be found on the web. But, of course, the Network Geek will share with his loyal readers.
Now, I'll do this in more detail later, but here it is in a nutshell. To update the bootable CD, first, get a good image and, using the instructions for adding a driver to the ZEN Boot image, get into the initrd.gz file on a machine that has the kernel version you want to update the CD to use. Now, copy all the drivers you want to use from the patched/updated server to the mounted initrd filesystem. Unmount that and re GZIP it. Now, copy your bzImage, or whatever, to a temp directory and rename it to "kernel". Now, copy both of these files into the ISO, or make a new one with everything else on the CD. Burn it and go.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I went too fast, I'll do it again with more detail later. I just was excited about it and had to throw that out there. Way cool!

Oh, man, I really should sell that chewed pencil!

Okay, in a follow-up to last week's Fun Friday link, here's Disturbing Auctions. It is, you guessed it, strange and disturbing things people have bid for and "won" online. Some of this stuff is just freakish beyond belief! Hatching monkeys? Dead frogs playing golf? A pregnant keychain? Coins in a toilet seat?

I cannot make this stuff up, folks. You've got to see it to believe it. Let the clicker beware! (Oh, go ahead, it's Friday!)