Diary of a Network Geek

So, in keeping with the theme this month of NaNoWriMo, I bring you creative time-wasters!

Okay, so maybe I call them "helpful utilities" when I use them, but, still...
Back in the day, I was much more of a Renaissance man that I am now.  I dabbled in all kinds of things not least of which was either writing or programming.  And, I tend to live by the dictum that one cannot really learn anything worthwhile without a project or goal.  When you combine those things, well, you get some interesting projects.
The first programming language of any real weight I taught myself was Perl.  Perl has sometimes been called the duct tape of the internet, because so many system administrators use it to keep old, clanky systems running.  That was also the reason I learned it, because I often found myself maintaining old, clanky systems!  But, mostly, I used it for my various webpages.  Then, of course, came WordPress which ran on a fancy new language called PHP.  Naturally, I set about teaching myself PHP.

Well, the projects I used were random generators, primarily to help people who were writing and needed a little help.  One of my earliest was a little tool, originally inspired by shareware, that let you randomly come up with what might be in fantasy character's pockets.  If memory serves, the shareware program was developed as a utility for Dungeon Masters in AD&D campaigns that had a lot of thieves who were always wanting to pick the pockets of townsfolk!  But, it was fun and useful as an exercise.  You can find that one here: Fantasy Pocket "Litter" Generator.
Recently, after adapting that to the new PHP language I was mentioning, I got the idea to extend that idea to a more modern setting and came up with the Random Daily Carry Generator.  So, instead of having magic frying pans and enchanted daggers, a character may have an encrypted USB drive and a loaded Glock 21.  Just the thing to fill the pockets of random story characters, as needed!  Also, this one is still under development a bit, so as I think of things, I'm adding them in.  Visit often for new stuff!

And, of course, all those things and more can be found at my old World-Building page at my almost defunct writing site; Fantasist.net.
So, if you've hit that first week stumbling block on your NaNoWriMo project, go check these pages out and see if anything helps.  But, most of all, have fun!

In honor of the first Friday of NaNoWriMo, I'm bringing you a free writing tool and not from my usual main site.

This week, I'm originating my regular Friday Fun Post from JKHoffman.com, where I hope to move most of my more creative work, instead of my regular Diary of a Network Geek.
If you've given serious thought to writing, you have probably heard of both National Novel Writing Month, AKA NaNoWriMo, and a writer's program called Scrivener.  Personally, I've done most...
Read More

So, here it is, almost time for Halloween Party weekend and you don't have a costume?

What to do, what to do, eh?  Well, if  you have a t-shirt that you're willing to sacrifice and a modicum of creative ability, and an iPhone or iPad or Android device, then you may be in luck.  Gizmodo covered a buy last year who used a pair of iPads to make a costume which seemed like he had a hole in his chest.  That was pretty awesome.  Well, after spending some time working on some Mars Rover project you may have heard about, that guy, Mark Rober, is back with a slightly less expensive alternative.  Rober and his team at DigitalDudz have come up with a pretty amazing app that lets you make a creative costume pretty cheap.  In fact, the app itself is free and, basically, consists of some pretty cool and creepy animations that you can combine with an old t-shirt, or one of the custom ones that they sell relatively cheap, to make a pretty cool costume.
The basic app is pretty amazing, but it does have "upgrades" which will cost a couple bucks more and, I have to admit, the t-shirts that they sell at DigitalDudz are better than anything I can whip up, even if I wasn't in a hurry, but, hey, beggars can't be choosers at this late date.

Anyway, it is a cool app and a cool idea.  Maybe for next year for me, though.
But, hey, it's Friday, so why not check it out!  (And, no, I don't get any money for those links.  I just liked it, so I linked it.)

What do  you wear under your Halloween costumes?

So, yeah, Halloween is just around the corner and that has me thinking about costumes.  Well, to be honest, costumes for adults, because, let's face it, in all our repressed, Puritanical, American, adult bodies, live crazy hedonists that just want to dress up in silly, or sexy, costumes and parade around like the goofballs we all pretend we are NOT.  And, maybe because I have a girlfriend for the first time in ages, I've been thinking about what one wears underneath that superhero costume.

As it turns out, DC Comics has just the thing for that; sexy, adult superhero underwear and swimwear.  (And, if the number of times "adult" has appeared so far in this post isn't a clue, some links here may not be completely safe for work, if you work in a repressive enough environment.)  And, yes, there are options for the guys as well as the ladies there.
For you Marvel fans, they have something more along the lines of sleepwear.  (And, apparently, only for the ladies to wear.  Sorry!)

So, now you have something to think about this weekend.  And, hopefully share with your significant other without getting into trouble!

Do you hear music when you read?

No, I don't mean, "Do play music while you read?", but, rather, do you hear music, like a movie soundtrack while you read a book?  I know for awhile, I was so immersed in movies and the movie experience that I couldn't help hearing certain kinds of background noise and sound effects when I read certain kinds of books.  But, what if that happened on purpose?  What if you had a way to synchronize an actual soundtrack, complete with mood music and sound effects, with the book you were reading?

Well, if you read books on your Mac, PC, iPad, iPhone or Android-based e-reader, you actually can, thanks to Booktrack.  They've developed an app that will run on all those platforms which will adapt a soundtrack for your book, complete with sound effects, to how fast you read.  The download is free and I'm not sure if there's a "training period" where the app learns your regular reading speed, but I sure do like the idea!  I'm sure the selection of books is a little limited right now, but, with any luck, more people will show interest and more books will get added to their list.

So, what the heck, it's Friday!  Turn your volume down and go check it out!

Have you ever wanted a "do over"?

Remember when we were kids and we'd be out playing and something crazy would happen that totally messed up someone's game?  We'd more often than not give them a "do over".  We'd let them reset and try again.  Wouldn't that be nice to have in every aspect of life?
Well, speaking as a professional network geek, sometimes there is, at least on some network equipment.  We call it a "factory refresh" or, as the title of this post implies, a "factory reset".  Basically, for  you non-techs, the idea is that sometimes a configuration gets so wrong, so borked, so bad that it's easier to just reset a device back to how it shipped from the factory and start the configuration process over again from scratch.  I cannot tell you how often I've been happy to have this feature and be able to use it.

Of course, sometimes, we inherit these borked devices.  Or we foolishly throw out the two-page manual that tells us how to reset the thing.  Then, we have to go searching for the information on how to reset whatever it is we're trying desperately to get configured before the weekend, so we don't have to stay late, again, on a Friday.
Well, wouldn't it be nice if that was all in one place?  Well, now it is, mostly.  There's a handy site/wiki called Factory Reset that has most, if not all, of the reset instructions for the most popular and common computer appliances out there.  They've got everything from routers to switches to network-attached storage.

So, if you're wrestling with some device that has gotten out of control, again, why not pop over there and find out how to reset it so you can get out of the office and enjoy your weekend?

No, that's not spelled incorrectly.

So, back in July, I had the amazing opportunity to go to DEFCON 20 in Las Vegas.  It was quite a historic event; the twentieth anniversary of the biggest, baddest, most talked about computer security convention ever.  Though, of course, I'm using that term somewhat euphemistically.  I heard about DEFCON shortly after getting started in the IT industry and have wanted to go ever since.  Like I mentioned last week, I'm a pretty big fan of sub-cultures and security and, well, DEFCON is the event of the year for an intersection of those two things.  Yes, I'm talking about hackers.

Now, before you assume that I'm off breaking the law, hackers aren't all bad.  Hackers are just people who think very far outside the box when it comes to things like computers and technology and security.  In fact, most hackers will tell you that they're interested in improving security by trying to break it.  And, that's definitely a philosophy I share.  Until you know your security can withstand an assault, frankly, you don't know how good it really is.
And, as anyone worth their salt at security will tell you, physical access is the first step.  If you can lock people out of your system and keep them from gaining any kind of access, well, that's a secure system.  If you think I'm exaggerating, well, you'll just have to trust me when I tell you that the most important data isn't available from just any networked computer.  To get to it means getting past a locked door.  So, what, then, is the first step in testing security?  Testing locks.

And, yes, while at DEFCON I learned the basics of lockpicking.  It's not actually illegal, unless I'm trying to bypass a lock to which I do not have permission to test, and carrying the tools for it isn't illegal, unless I'm trespassing with them, in which case they become burglar's tools and a different class of felony altogether.  But, I'm only interested in the skill for informational and entertainment purposes.  Trust me.
If you're interested in exploring the world of "locksport", there are people who can help and you don't even have to go to DEFCON to get it.  Just head over to The Open Organization Of Lockpickers' website and take a look.  (Yes, that's TOOOL, for short.)  They have slideshows that explain the basics as well as links to books and sites where you can buy the tools you need to try your hand at lockpicking.  It's loads of fun!  Honest!

So, go check them out and enjoy your weekend!
(But, don't call me for bail money if you get in trouble!)

Pretty much anything can be turned into a weapon.

Regular readers here will know that I'm not only security and safety conscious, but into, well, some of the stranger aspects of culture.  If there's an obscure method of self-defense, or a strange sub-culture, I probably know about it.  I tend to be that way with obscure and rare books, too.  But, when all three of these things overlap?  It's like nerdvana for me!
And such a confluence of material and subjects exist: Cards as Weapons by Ricky Jay.

You probably have seen Ricky Jay in the movies, believe it or not, even if you may not have recognized him.  He's been in a number of movies by David Mamet, but as a character actor, you may not associate his name with his face.  Either way, Ricky Jay is quite well known in the stage magic world and is one of the best card technicians who's ever practiced the art.  His book, which retails for an amazing sum on [amazon_link id="0446387568" target="_blank" container="" container_class="" ]Amazon[/amazon_link], on the deadly art of card throwing is well known in some of the circles I've brushed up against in my varied and misspent youth.  But, it's been so hard to find and expensive that few of us have ever actually read it.  Now, thanks to a, possibly pirated, copy that's up on Scribd, you can download the entire PDF for free.  Free!  So, if  you like magic, or cards, or Ricky Jay, or obscure books, or strange self-defense weapons, or even just knowing cool, strange things, then download this book!  While you still can!

Besides, it's Friday and you're reading my blog.  What else have you got to do?

What if a book slowly faded away as you read it?

I like to read.  No, really, I do.  Sure the last couple years I've been pretty busy and I haven't read nearly as much as I used to read in the "old days", but I do still love to read.  Most of the time, I grind right through a book at a pretty steady pace, never really stopping until I finish it.  Every once in awhile, though, I do get stuck.  For whatever reason, a book may not grab me and hold my attention or get to a slow part and I'll lose interest.  So, what if there was a way to add a sense of urgency to reading?

Well, that's just what El Libro que No Puede Esperar, which translates as ‘The Book that Cannot Wait’, does, it makes you hurry, because, truly, the book cannot wait.  It's a collection of stories by Latin American authors that's printed in disappearing ink.  The book slowly starts to fade as soon as the sealed, plastic package is opened and will vanish completely in about two months, leaving an exceptionally well crafted blank book.  In fact, people who buy the book are encouraged to use it as a journal after the original ink disappears completely.

So, what about it?  Would "The Book That Cannot Wait" keep you motivated to read faster?  Or just seem like a waste of paper?
Well, either way, you can hit that link and see photos of the book, both sealed and with ink disappearing.  Go ahead and take a look.  It is, after all, Friday and you weren't doing anything anyway!

I've always wanted a post-modern, surrealist pet.

Hermit crabs have always kind of fascinated me.  I've had one or two over the years, mostly as a kid.  They're pretty fascinating at first.  Think about it for a minute.  A terrestrial crab that uses the discarded shells of other creatures for a home.  Pretty weird, right?  Well, ever since I first saw these crazy, little creatures, I've thought it would be cool to put them into clear shells so you could see just what was going on inside.  Apparently, I'm not the only one.

Artist/designer Robert DuGrenier has been making glass Hermit crab shells for Hermit Crabs to live in for more than 15 years.  And, now, he's offering them for sale, too.  So, yes, now we can actually have the crazy hermit crab of the future with a see-through shell.

For real, go look at these and, if you are interested at all, buy some!  (No, I don't get a cut!  I just think they're cool!)  Besides, it's Friday, why not have a little fun wasting time?