Diary of a Network Geek

It took a year, but I did it!

Did what, you might be wondering? I finally figured out a CGI script for Fantasist.net that I’ve been working on for almost a year.
See, I love words and languages, especially foreign words and languages. In fact, I love them so much that I’ve tried to create them on several occasions, just like J.R.R. Tolkien did. But, since I’m not a trained linguist like Tolkien, I’ve always cast about for help creating the words. I want them to sound authentic, but not be actual words from an actual language. I’d hate to put together words that I thought were quite alien and unique only to find out that I’d insulted a publisher in Istanbul or Delhi! So, I searched for help with that on the web. Boy, did I find help! One of the best places, though, was Chris Pound’s Name Generation page. Chris is a linguist and has made several PERL scripts that generate new words based on input from an existing language. Finally, I could get words that were phonetically similar to an existing language that were new and unique!
But, of course, I wasn’t satisfied with that. I had to go further. What about people who couldn’t figure out PERL? I mean, it’s taken me forever to tweak things and get a good handle on the basics. What about all those potential conlangers who just aren’t up to PERL? My 11-year-old daughter, for instance, has recently gotten into conlanging. How could I make this available for her, without trying to teach her PERL? The answer, of course, is the web. So, I modified Chris’ scripts and played with data until I understood it fairly well. Then, I tried to get it up on the web. I was a miserable failure.
Until last night, that is. I started with a very basic CGI tutorial and started building upward from there until I had a simple form that would give me simple, html-friendly output. From there, it was a simple matter of tweaking the original PERL script, and an html form, until I had a good combination. And, though, I have to work out formatting and style-sheets, here it is at Fantasist.net: WordGenerator.
Enjoy!

Let the games begin!

Well, things have been going so well at work that I thought I’d start working on some certifications. I need to update my CNE to version 6, but there are some other certifications I want, too.
For instance, I’ve been lusting after my Linux+ for some time. In fact, I bought the
Linux+ Exam Cram book some time ago and just haven’t gotten around to reading it. But, I also ordered the
Novell Netware 5.x to 6 Upgrade Exam Cram book, the
Security+ Exam Cram 2 book, and the
CCNA Routing and Switching Exam Cram book. I’ve also bought the Self Test Software practice tests for these certifications.
I’ve actually been working on the CCNA on and off, but I decided that it’s time to really step up the whole professional qualification side of my resume. I’ve worked with most of these technologies for some time now, but to get past human resources, I need some kind of cert to prove it. IT is kind of weird that way. Not that I think I’m going to be looking for another job any time soon, mind, but the last time I thought that, I found myself out looking. Better to be prepared. (You’d think I’d have learned that back in the Boy Scouts!) Besides, as good as it looks over at Loomis, Fargo & Co., they still haven’t made me an offer yet, so anything can happen. If the worst happens, I’d like to be better prepared this time. And, of course, it’s fun to have an alphabet soup of certifications trailing after my name. Maybe it’s time to become a certified locksmith, too…..

What a way to spend the weekend!

My wife and I shopped all weekend long. Saturday, we were at Target, which we pronounce Tahr-jay, like the French. We both had gift certificates from our respective birthdays and the whole family needed clothes. I was quite pleasantly suprised at their selection. Not only did I get the socks I needed, but I found two pair of really nice, affordable dress pants. I was shocked!
My wife got a bunch of clothes there and at Academy Sports, too. But, we never were able to find any school uniforms for our daughter. Too late in the season, I guess. We’ll just have to tell her to stop growing!

Sunday, we dropped off our daughter at her biological father’s and slipped off to Niko Niko’s, our favorite Greek sandwich shop, for lunch. After that, it was an expensive little stop at Half-Price Books. We hit the mother lode there. We got two huge tattoo books, several art books, a couple of books on type and typography, and even some fiction by William S. Burroughs. And all at half-price, or better!
Then, it was off to Texas Art Supply. We did even better there. Not only did I find more books on type, but my wife found a great acrylics set that was at half-price! Though, we didn’t know that until we’d checked out. What a great suprise!
Finally, we were off to British Isles to get my frou-frou aftershave. Well, they were out, but, not only did they promise to call me when it came in, but they gave me the tester for FREE! Of course, we then felt guilty and had to buy some stuff, but I think that might have factored into their decision a little. In any case, I can’t say enough about the wonderful folks who own and run this store.

Whew! I’m so tired I need to get to work and rest!

Seven heros, lost.

I turned on the TV to watch cartoons this morning and was presented with tragedy. Just like the Challenger 17 years ago, they played the footage over and over again until the horror of it was so burned into my head that I’ll never forget it. The last generation had the JFK shooting, mine has Challenger and now Discovery. I grieve, along with the rest of the country, for the seven heroic lives lost.
But, I grieve for the space program and the setbacks they will now encounter due to this horrible accident. How many missions will be scrubbed? How many new technologies will not see the light of day? How many delays will there be in the already lean experiemental NASA portfolio? Seven lives are gone, but much more will be lost as a result. I mourn for it all.
But, life must go on. I hope that they find out what went wrong quickly and minimize the delays for the rest of the space program. I hope that budgets don’t get cut more than they have been. I hope that we still reach towards the stars.

Ad astra, per aspera.