Diary of a Network Geek

You ever wonder how hackers in the movies type code so fast?

Okay, maybe it’s just me, but when I see programmers cranking out code on a TV series or a movie, I always wonder how they’re typing so much so fast.  And, I’ll be honest, I wonder how accurate their code really is.  So, I’m sure most people don’t really care about all that, but just assume all computer people bang away on the keyboard to churn out code.  Hey, they probably don’t even notice what keys we hit at all!
Well, I’ve finally found out how Hollywood simulates what they think coding is like!  It’s a site called Hacker Typer!

You go, open up the application, which looks like an old-school terminal, and just start banging on the keyboard.  It literally does not matter what keys you hit!  And, the app does all the work, producing line after line of what looks like decent, usable code.  I actually have no idea if that code will do anything or not, but it looks good, and, in Hollywood, that’s all that matters.
So, what the heck, it’s Friday.  Go hit that site and pretend to be a hacker!

I love science-fiction.

I love sci-fi in pretty much all its forms, but I have to admit, I especially like science-fiction television and movies.  And, these days, as Hollywood produces more and more of the same stuff over and over, unwilling to take risks, I find myself loving sci-fi television more.
Now, with cameras and equipment as reasonably priced as they are, it’s possible for small, independent film-makers to roll their own media, in both film and television.  Combine that kind of low-budget, but high-level of passion for production, with all the different ways people are funding their favorite projects and, well, what you’ve got is Pioneer One.

Now, I have to admit, I haven’t shelled out the money for it just yet, but go check out the trailer and tell me if you aren’t at least a little intrigued by what you see.  I know I was.  Kind of looks like the X-Files, but crossed with Operation Blue Book.  Seems like it might lead somewhere.
Oh, and they must be doing okay, because they’ve got six episodes now, so someone is coughing up the money to keep this worth pursuing for them.

In any case, it’s Friday, so why not at least check out the trailer?  You won’t be sorry!

And the word is techno.

My musical tastes are varied and variable.  There is no telling what trend or style will suddenly catch my fancy and become my obsession.  Really.  Of course, my musical tastes are also tragically unhip, I’ve been told, by more than one of my music loving friends.  And, I’m rarely in step with anything current or any hot trend.  So, believe me when I tell you that I haven’t seriously listened to any techno in years.  Honest.
But, recently, thanks to Boing Boing, I found an interesting techno project: Techno is the Word.

It’s pretty straight forward, really, go to the site, then enter a word and let it generate the techno.
The site prefers Chrome or a recent build of Webkit installed, but as a way to kill time and annoy your music snob co-workers on a Friday, it can’t be beat.  I recommend just installing Chrome.  It’s worth it!  Besides, you may find you enjoy the browser even after you get tired of the techno.
Enjoy the generated music and your weekend!

Let’s start the year slow.

So, I’m sure a lot of you got new PCs or laptops, or upgraded your old ones, this holiday season.  Maybe it was a Christmas gift.  Maybe a Christmas gift to yourself.  Maybe you just took advantage of the post-holiday sales.  Whatever it was or how ever you got it, you probably are feeling the pain of reinstalling all those “essential” programs that you use on a regular basis.  Things like Firefox and Mozilla or Chrome and Skype or Winamp or Flash or .Net or iTunes or LibreOffice or any number of similar little things.  You’ll be feeling the pain of having to go to all those individual websites to collect the various install files to run.

Well, I have the solution to the problem you didn’t realize you had.  It’s a little site called “Ninite” and they call themselves “…the fastest way to install, reinstall or upgrade free software”.
You go to the site, check the different bits of software and click the “Get Installer” button and the site will serve up a downloadable installer file that will install the free software you checked on the form.  You run the file and your software gets installed.  That simple.  Oh, and the basic service itself is free.
Now, if you want to maintain that free software and keep it updated, they have a very reasonable service for that, too.  For the personal edition for a single computer, it’s just $9.99 a year, at the moment, but, of course, that may change.

Both the free and pay services are available for Windows or Linux, which I think is pretty damn extra cool.

Anyway, there’s your first fun/cool/useful link for the new year.  I think it bridges the fun, the free and the very geeky stuff that this blog is, I hope, known and appreciated for sharing.
Happy New Year everyone!

Have New Year’s Resolutions ever worked?  Really?

Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one has ever stuck to a New Year’s Resolution, ever in the history of New Year’s Resolutions.  Seriously.  I’m sure there are a thousand reasons for that, but, well, doe they matter?  Not really.
So, rather than be serious, why not try something more fun this year and generate your resolution randomly with the Diary of a Network Geek’s New Year’s Resolution Generator!
It’s fun! It’s FREE! And, I have to admit, it tends to lean toward resolutions that involve hard liquor and inappropriate behavior, especially with strangers.
Trust me, you’ll love it. Be sure to share it with all your drunk friends this weekend at your parties!
See you next year!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Get busy livin', or get busy dyin'.
   --from "The Shawshank Redemption

Well, it’s that time of year again….

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve had a special Christmas post the Friday before the big event, but, well, it IS that time again, isn’t it?  Personally, I love Christmas.  I love it because, for me, it represents the rebirth of hope and light in a world often filled with darkness.  We Christians co-opted this holiday from the early Pagans, in a deft marketing move, in an attempt to pull their followers over to our new, improved holiday.  The Pagans were celebrating the Winter Solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.  After that day, until the Summer Solstice, every day has a little more light in it than the day before.  That, of course, was a perfect holiday for Christians to steal to celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Light of the World.  And, that is what I think about every year at this time, how light has been rediscovered in the darkness of my life, year after year, hope reborn.
Truly, this year, as every other, I have been blessed with that realization, again and again, in more ways than I care to recount here.  I hope the same has happened, or will happen, for you.

And, if you’re having trouble, why not try remembering what it was like when you were a kid?
Remember waiting for Santa Claus to show up with the hope embodied by unopened presents?  Remember the anticipation of waiting for Santa to arrive from wherever he was in the world, to your very doorstep or chimney, with gifts for you?  Well, the Santa Tracker at NORAD may be just the thing to restore your childlike anticipation of the season.  And if not for you, then maybe it will help a child you know discover that joy for the first time.
That can be a miracle, too.

Either way, y’all have a Very Merry Christmas!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes."
   --Abigail Van Buren

I won’t call it a coin bank.

I mean, theoretically, you can just put coins in it, but if you’re saving for camera gear, those coins had better be silver dollars!
I’m a sucker for kitsch as much as the next guy, but, when I saw this bank in the shape of a camera from Photojojo, I was hooked.  Not only does it look incredibly realistic, but the lens comes off!  That’s how you open it to get the change you’ve been saving back out.  How clever is that?!  And, if you ever wanted to have a less expensive camera prop for some reason, this would certainly fit the bill, even if you’re zoomed in pretty close.
They suggest that you use it to save for camera gear, but, let’s be honest, unless you’re putting some pretty big bills in this thing, all you’ll pay for is your coffee while you’re out shooting.  Still, it does look super cool and would make some photography obsessed person on your Christmas list very happy indeed!

Hey, it’s Friday, so why not at least go look at the pictures.  It really is pretty neat.

So, today marks another lap around the Sun for me.

Honestly, it was more or less just another day today, except that it happened to be the anniversary of the day of my birth.
I had nothing special planned and, as far as I know, angels did not weep audibly with joy to know that I had navigated another year.  Of course, the fact that I’ve made it this far is actually sort of an accomplishment, I think.  There are many who haven’t, and, God knows, I’ve had my share of near misses.  But, it’s not altogether unusual, either.  In fact, according to the actuarial tables, I should expect about another 35 years. *sigh*  Which means I’m officially “middle aged”.  (If any of my younger, female readers are interested in a cheap, empty, meaningless fling, by the way, I’m pretty sure I’m entitled to my mid-life crisis now.  In case you were wondering.)

For the most part, this has been a pretty unremarkable year, which is, actually, good.
No major emotional upheavals, no catastrophic medical drama.  Financially, I could have done better, but, then, I could have done far, far worse, too.  Several sections of my car are new, though the rest is pretty old, but feel that’s balanced by my new camera.  Actually, come to think of it, I may have more invested in camera gear than I do in my car!
Still not dating and still a little heavier than I’d like, but I don’t feel particularly lonely or unhealthy, as the case may be.
So, nothing particularly interesting to cheer about or complain about this year, which suits me just fine.
Of course, I do have a few bits of mischief planned or in the works for the coming year.  So, who knows?  Maybe next year will be more exciting than I can imagine to make up for how relatively smoothly this year has been!

And, of course, my birthday wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t mention all the other famous people who had the good luck to be born on this particular day. Famous people like Frank “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra, Jennifer Connelly, Bob Barker, Gustave Flaubert, who is the author of Madame Bovary, the painter Edvard Munch, and Wells Fargo founder, Henry Wells. Not to mention, Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Tim Hauser of Manhattan Transfer, Dickey Betts of the Allman Bros, jazz musician Grover Washington Jr, and former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
All heady company to be sure, but for whatever reason, it tickles me the most that I share a birthday with Frank Sinatra. I guess it’s because he was such a unique and original character who really fought against and beat some long odds to become an amazingly famous, generally well thought of character. I can only hope to do the same, one day.
Also, I think it’s interesting to note that on this day in 1896 Marconi first demoed radio and, again on this day, in 1901 made his first Trans-Atlantic transmission.  (Though, of course, all right-thinking people know that Tesla was really responsible for those first advances in radio.)

So, I don’t know for sure what the coming year will bring, but I hope I’ll be in a different place than I am today.
Which is, of course, more or less what I said last year! But, this year, truly, I have no idea where I’ll end up going or doing.  I have few attachments or real responsibilities to hold me back or down, outside of those in my own head, so the field is pretty much wide open.  I’ve all but given up setting goals out load, on paper or via this blog, but I do have a few things I’d like to accomplish in the coming year, though I’ll be keeping those to myself, for now.  I really don’t know where the coming year will take me, but I’m sure it will be to places, inside and out, that I never would have suspected possible a year ago.
And, for that, I’m very thankful!
(And, yes, I am aware that the world is supposed to end next year, quite possibly on my birthday.  And, wouldn’t it be interesting if it did?!)