Diary of a Network Geek

Makin' Bacon

Written by Ryumaou Published:

No, seriously, I'm talking about actual bacon not some silly double entendre.

Also?  If you don't like bacon enough to read this, why do you even read my blog?  I mean, seriously, do you even get me?
I actually had a talk with one of my doctors about bacon and how if I had to die of something, I was okay if it was bacon.  She suggested that it would be healthier for me to pass it up occasionally.  I responded...
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From the Holy Book of Documentation

Written by Ryumaou Published:

"1The DOCUMENTATION is my guide; I shall not wonder.
2It maketh me to understand the necessary concepts;
It leadeth me through the installation process.
3It reassureth me;
It leadeth me on the happy path for my desired objectives.
4Yea, though I work through the advanced configuration menus,
I will fear no failures, for thou art with me
Thy FAQ and thy troubleshooting they comfort me.
5Thou providest examples to me in the context of mine use cases.
Thou explainest my expected outcomes.
My results are perfect.
6Surely good performance and stability will persist throughout the system life
And it will run within the parameters of the DOCUMENTATION forever."

-Abi Sutherland
Making Light Blog Post

I wish I could claim credit for it, but the author is mentioned and the source is linked.
It does, however, clearly outline the importance of having good documentation in a fun, memorable way.  Honestly, how more IT professionals don't see the radical importance of documentation is beyond me.  Maybe it's just because I've started so many jobs without documentation that would have made my life so, so much easier, but I always try to document everything at work.  I used to do it with text files that I'd leave everywhere.  Or with copious comments in Perl scripts or batch files.  Lately, I've been using a personal wiki to create my personal "job continuity" documentation to pass along to any replacement.  So far, it's worked well.  And, I'll definitely be adding this to the subtle, hidden parts of the documentation from now on.  It's brilliant!

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5 Photo Exercises

Written by Ryumaou Published:

Did you get a new camera at Christmas?

If you did, maybe you're still learning just how that camera works.  I know, when I got my first digital camera it took weeks of fiddling around to get comfortable with it.  Not only that, but, since I hadn't really been a photographer in the first place, there was a lot I didn't know.
I've upgraded since then, and even then, I'm sure my camera has features that I haven't even tried.  And, I have...
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Make a Planet

Written by Ryumaou Published:

I've got nothing this week, so I'm offering a world.

My wife and I have been sick the past week or so, which has left me with not a lot of mental bandwidth for my regular posts and writing.  Also, my attention span is short, but at least I find that I'm more easily amused.  One thing that amused me probably a little too much this week was Oskar Stålberg's Polygonal Planet project.  It comes in two forms; downloadable, which you...
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"Hey Siri!"

Written by Ryumaou Published:

Who's afraid of artificial intelligence?

So, the week before Christmas, my wife and I finally upgraded our sad, old iPhone 4 and 4s to shiny, new iPhone 6s.  (That's an iPhone 6 for her and me, not a single iPhone 6s, just to be clear!)  Ever since, we've been walking around shouting "Hey Siri!" at our respective phones.  It's actually kind of funny.  And, I'm glad that I found Siri after I married my blushing bride, or I'm afraid I'd end...
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Starting Your New Year

Written by Ryumaou Published:

So, here we are, the first day of a brand, new year!

Honestly, it's a pretty arbitrary demarcation of time.  I mean, it doesn't even really sync up with any significant natural phenomena, like a solstice or anything.  So, really, the whole idea of a "new year's resolution" is pretty random.  What's so special about the "new year" and why make resolutions about it?  Still, you know most of us do it, to some degree or another, even me.  This year, I'm...
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Christmas Music for Free

Written by Ryumaou Published:

Yes, free Christmas music.

Normally, I share this sort of thing well in advance of Christmas, but, well, time got away from me.  Still, I love Christmas music of almost any kind and everyone loves things that are free.  So, combining the two is my way of spreading some holiday cheer!
For a number of years, Stereogum would gather free MP3s from various indie bands that had a Christmas theme.  They stopped doing that in 2011, but the music is still up,...
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Star Wars Fun and Games

Written by Ryumaou Published:

The new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, opens today, and, in honor of that, I thought I'd share some Star Wars related links.

The first, which I hope is fun for everyone with a website, and who remembers the original Star Wars, Episode IV, A New Hope, is the Star Wars Crawl Creator. Do you remember the giant, yellow text "crawling" through space at the start of that movie?  Well, it was the first time we'd seen anything quite like...
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It's My Birthday

Written by Ryumaou Published:

Yeah, it's my birthday again.

I've survived another lap around the Sun, mostly in spite of myself and due to the grace of God.  I almost didn't bother with a birthday post, because I mostly think of my birthday as just another day, but, it's sort of gotten to be a tradition with me to make this post every year, so, here I am.  Honestly, it seems kind of impossible to me that I've survived this long, but, according to the...
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FanFic

Written by Ryumaou Published:

No, I'm not writing it, but I'm not knocking it, either!

I know a lot of people do look down on fan fiction, mostly because it traditionally hasn't been the best quality.  In fact, back in the old days, when I first was trying my hand at writing, it was very much denigrated and no one really wanted to admit that they wrote "fan fic".  It was, after all, problematic in a number of ways.  For one thing, it was never...
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