Diary of a Network Geek

I like choices.

Also?  I'm cheap.

How do these things go together?  Simple, I am forever searching for cheaper, or, cheapest of all, free, alternatives to expensive commercial software packages.  Like alternatives to Microsoft products, so I don't have to pirate them.  Or, free software that can replace Photoshop or something similar.  But, I don't spend hours Googling for answers like that.  Instead, I go to a site called Alternative To and search there.  (And, yes, if you look for those two...
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Okay, it's been awhile since I've shared something that's just fun to look at. Time to fix that.

So, I titled this "Modern Art", but I really mean "Art made with contemporary tools and media".  Not necessarily what people typically think of as "modern art".  Not, as I recently heard someone describe it "Murals made by nailing up trash out of someone's dumpster".  (Not that there's anything wrong with that at all, even though I probably wouldn't hang something like that...
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Hurricane season started on Monday, June First. Are you ready?

Here in Texas, hurricane season is kind of a big deal.  Or, at least, it is to this kid from the Heartland.  Of course, most of the time, we have plenty of time to prepare because you see these things coming from a long, long way off.  Still, it's better to be prepared early rather than competing with everyone for bottled water, bread and canned food.

So far, since I've been in...
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It's been a while since I shared any photography resources here, so I'm going to do that now.

So, in just a couple of weeks a good friend of mine is headed out to a Pacific island for an expedition for work.  Yes, I do have cool friends who do cool things.  In any case, he's going to be taking a lot of photos, mainly of birds and other local flora and fauna, for blogs and reports he has to do...
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Three words that strike fear into the heart of many a wise system administrator.

And not a few other sorts of smart people, too!
In this case, though, I'm talking about rolling your own WordPress theme.  This is one of those many, many projects that I've wanted to get to on that ever-elusive "one day" when I have spare time.  It's also something I want to ultimately do for FindMyPhotographer.com, which I quietly rolled live a week ago.  I won't make it...
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Yes, resources to actually layout and publish your own magazine, mostly for free.

My blushing bride pointed out recently that I mostly haven't posted anything original in years.  Just links to other resources and some brief copy around it to explain what I'm posting and why.
This week isn't going to be any different.

I love magazines.
They are, perhaps, my most annoying secret vice.  They're hard to store and, since I have so little time to really read these days, I tend to...
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I love starting things! Beginning something new is such an adventure!

Seriously!  Of course, sometimes, I have a bit of a hard time actually launching some of these ideas I have, even when I've mostly built the website.  That's why, for instance, I've given myself a deadline of the end of this month to actually launch FindMyPhotographer.com  If I don't launch it soon, I may never!

That doesn't mean I can't have a sense of humor about start-ups, though.  Especially internet startups. ...
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I'm a little suspicious of lists put out by booksellers of books I ought to read.

I'm especially suspicious when it's a list of 100 "books to read in a lifetime" being suggested by Amazon.  But, when Matt Mullenweg, founder of Automattic and one of two founding developers of WordPress, I have to admit, I pay a little closer attention.  For one thing, I've heard spectacular things about him from at least one of his old high school buddies and for...
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Don't we all dream of being wealthy and independent?

By the end of the week, haven't we all gotten a little fed up with our jobs?  Don't we dream of being our own boss, an independent contractor or consultant who charges big money for sounding off with our opinion about how things are done?  No?  Just me?
Well, if you've ever contemplated it and have thought about how much you need to charge an hour to make your same salary, or more,...
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I don't normally post inflammatory things, but I think this is really important.

Long-time readers and friends will know that I have strong, and negative, feelings about Scientology.  Whatever Scientology started out as when L. Ron Hubbard first envisioned his "plan for living", it has become, in my opinion, a dangerous cult-like organization that hides behind it's religious status while actually being focused almost entirely on making money.  Based on documentaries and books and news stories of various kinds, I believe...
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