Diary of a Network Geek

Okay, this is kind of self-referential, but...

According to this article on AustralianIT, the fine people who make the Opera web browser, are making a blog browser. Sort of an interesting idea, I thought, considering how popular blogs are getting these days.
But, when I read the details it turns out that what they're doing is incorporating Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, into their web browser so that users can have new items from blog RSS feeds that they subscribe to come in as individual messages in Opera's mail client, which is packaged with the browser. Which is still not a bad idea. Interesting article, anyway.

Notice that I filed this under "Personal"?

Because, yeah, I take it quite personally. Damn bottom-feeder. Anyway, I've written up a little article about the whole thing and why it made me so mad. I actually have several copies of the article, as examples of what kind of thing he did to me. You can find them all at:
The "Original" Article
The First Copy
An Example of how he hacked my page
And, another one.

(Those last two are the same filename he used on his site.)

Yes, it really does exist!

And, some of it is pretty good. What, you don't believe me? Well, there's a website dedicated to that very subject, Adherents.com. They list pretty much all the big hitters, both in science-fiction and religion. You can search here based on author, religious affiliation, and title. It's really fascinating to see what some of my favorite authors think about religion and how it fits into their work. Or, doesn't, as the case may be.

I did find it interesting that two notables were apparently left out. First, there was Single Combat by Dean Ing, which has numerous references to the Mormons/Latter-Day Saints. Second, there was The Man of Gold, Flamesong, and the rest by M.A.R. Barker. These don't reference any particular existing religion, but religion is a central theme in all his books and his created religions are influenced by the Mayan, Incan, and East Indian religions. In fact, Professor Barker has written at least one article about the role religion plays in fantastic fiction and role-playing games. Fascinating stuff!

In any case, it struck me as an interesting website. Well worth a look. (And, worth mentioning twice, because this also appeared on my other website, Fantasist.net!)

This is going to be a fight!

But, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get my rank back. Well, short of spending money! Okay, so far, I've gotten the Googlespammer to remove images and text that relate to my website. He still has the #1 spot, though, and he named the page after my own domain name. That page still exists and will still be getting hits. The only thing I've found so far about this is a spam reporting page at Google: Report a Spam Result

So, if you've had a similar experience, you can report it. Also, at some point in the very near future, I'll put up an article about Googlespamming. You know, how it's done and what you can do to fight it.
In the mean time, watch the skies! (Sorry, obscure science-fiction references just seem to spout out of me when I get Googlespammed!)

"He's go the whole blog, in his hands!"

My darling wife sent me a link to the World as a Blog, which is as fun a site as I've seen. It shows you a map of the world and, as registered blogs update, it pops up those updates in little windows! How cool!
So, if you sit and watch, you can see what bloggers all around the world are posting about. In real time! I haven't signed up for this, yet, but you can bet I will!

Now, it's Friday, go have fun!

On Google, at least.

For the longest time, I was the #1 hit on Google, when you searched for "CNE Resume". But, now, I'm not. If you do a search, you can see that some bottom-feeding scum-sucker has illegally pirated my page to manipulate himself into the top postion. When I looked at the source of the page, I see my entire HTML code that I so carefully crafted to optimize my page for the engines. If you notice, there is now a copyright at the bottom of my resume. So, now it's explicitly clear that this low-life scum-bag has violated Federal copyright law by illegally reposting my copyrighted material. So, should I send a "cease and desist"? Should I hire a lawyer to do it? (I know a few and could probably get one to draft a letter cheap.) I've even thought about being less than morally upright and hitting the nasty, little bugger with some DNS Spoofing. But, of course, that might have legal ramifications, so, I won't. Still it was nice to contemplate...

Anyway, if you want to help me out, loyal readers (reader?), link to me. Check Google once in awhile and click on my valid link. In the meantime, I'll be updating my page and working on my keywords!!

Frankly, it doesn't look good.

First of all, if you're not familiar with MovableType, it's the system I currently use to blog. Well, over the past month, they've gone through some changes and had some "issues".
First, there was the brouhaha about pricing. Then, there was the whole issue of licenseing. Now, frankly, it's a matter of simple existance.
People kept posting on their blogs to go look at this interview with Ben and Mena Trott, because it would explain so much about what's happening with MovableType. Well, it did, at least to me:

Mena Trott: IT’s not going to scale. Movable Type will have to cease to exist in terms of development because it doesn't pay its operational costs. And it will be interesting.

Hmm, that pretty well says it all, doesn't it? Yes, that was actually Mena Trott in the aforementioned interview. Time to find a new blog system!

for awhile, I hope.

Well, if you're a big geek like me and have been following my adventures lately finding a new job, you know that I have, in fact, found one. Here's the update... I never did go to that last interview at the second place. I was ready, but the headhunter agreed that it was pretty much a waste of time, since I was 99.999% sure nothing could change my mind about the Oceaneering International job. Also, the client, who was a large law firm, said the same thing. Basically, a waste of time all the way around. So, I didn't go.
Now, I still haven't signed the papers. Why? Well, first I have to pass a criminal background check and a drug screen. Neither are a problem, of course, since my background was good enough to work for a relatively high-security business. I mean, an armored car company has to be careful, you know? So, that should take a couple of days to get done and processed. I would imagine that Friday, I'll be doing the last of the "yes-I-want-the-job" paperwork. Which is also when I'll give my "official" two-weeks notice. Of course, I've alreayd told them that I'll be going, so I'll actually end up interviewing my replacement. Interesting....

Oh, I also got a package from the headhunters that placed me. They sent a copy of Who Moved My Cheese? with a couple of notes. It was actually pretty nice, though a little out of place considering my particular situation. I mean, I was the driving force throughout all this personal change. Still, I've been meaning to read the book, and now I have. And, it was nice.

Soon, I'll have updates about the actuall new job!

Say what?!?

Okay, for those of you not familiar with Japanese culture, bento boxes are fancy lunches that co-dependant mothers make for their kids. They can get quite elaborate and are often quite tasty! Oh, well, yeah, you can get them at train stations, too. In fact, every little town along the railways in Japan allegedly have their own "specialty" bento.
So, this BentoMoBlog is the Japanese equivallent of an American school lunch blog. Nutty. But, oddly fun, too....

I've got the new job!

I got the call from the headhunter about 3:30pm yesterday telling me that Oceaneering International had met my minumum salary. So, in some respects it's a bit of a lateral move, but the benefits are way, way better than anything I've had since I left Hyatt. And, of course, it'll be a very interesting job and place to work.

The only small hitch is that, at the time of this entry, I couldn't get the headhunter who lined up the interview I have this afternoon with the law firm on the phone. So, I may end up going to the interview, just to make sure no one looks bad. Crazy. But, whatever makes things look okay for both me and that headhunter is okay with me. After all, I may need them some other time!

Well, I'm sure there will be more details later, but this is the meat of it.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled Friday Fun Link.....