Diary of a Network Geek

I have to say that this is poetic justice.

Of course, the majority of H1B1 technology workers are from India, and based on my opinions previously expressed regarding that situation, it should be no suprise that this story on Wired News made me smile. It seems that the folks over in India who have been the source of outsourced jobs are falling prey to even cheaper markets. I wonder how they feel about that now? Can they taste the delicious irony of having jobs they stole from Americans being stolen from them? Will the cheapest market end up being trailer parks back here in the U.S.?

I hate the fact that I start to sound like a union rep when I get going, but I think it’s time for American jobs to go to Americans. I think we need to stop outsourcing tech jobs off the continent. Hey, let’s at least keep it inside the NAFTA borders, okay? Isn’t that what NAFTA was supposed to be about? If you’re a computer person, or related to one, remember these hard times and what caused them for those of us in the IT field when it comes time to vote. Vote for people that limited H1B1 visas and tried to give jobs to American workers. Divided we fall, but united we stand.

Hmm, this looks cool.

Of course, the big expense is getting that TV tuner card. And, I have no idea how that works with cable, or digital cable, but it must be doable. In any case, this article on Wired News seems to indicate that someone, somewhere has done it. I’m not sure that I could do it without a lot of effort, but, I have to admit that I’ve always wanted a TiVo. I’m just too, too cheap to shill out that kind of regular fee, though. I mean, really, digital cable is expensive enough! Still, being able to string together all the episodes of, say, the Justice League without any commercials. Or, better yet, X-Men:Evolution… Hmm, that’d be nice. Well, maybe I’ll do that one day. Should I solict donations to pay for it? Hmm, maybe that’s going a bit too far!

Okay, not quite, but it’s still fun!

Here’s a guy who’s used magnets from old hard drives to build a generator. Cool.
And, yeah, it’s got to be more expensive to run that any savings one might get from the generated electricity. Still, might be a good science project. And, besides, it was FUN! It made me laugh anyway!

No, really, I’m not being racist or anything!

According to this story on Wired News, the North Korean government has set up a school for hackers. Suddenly that whole “Axis of Evil” isn’t quite so funny. I mean, these people are aggresively anti-American and they’re training to hack the Internet. Since the US is the birth-place of the Internet, and the largest user of the Internet, we are their most likely target. So, how long before we see the signs of Neo pointing at us like Uncle Sam, with the slogan, “I want YOU to hack for your country!”, eh?
The really funny thing is, I can actually picture this happening. And, I’m just patriotic enough to think it’s a good idea!

Of course, they may not have enough IP addresses to do any real damage, base on that story the other day. Though, after what I’ve said about the H1B1 visa situation, maybe I need to watch out!!

Okay, so I know that it’s actually duct tape not duck tape, but it was funnier.

Regardless, there’s something better now…. Gecko Tape! Apparently, some scientists with a lot of curiosity and an eye on the tape market have figured out how geckos manage to climb walls. Now, they’ve also managed to make a tape based on this technology. The article is here.
Actually, the next application they have for this (sticky gloves, tires, etc.) are what I find interesting. Imagine a gecko suit that lets spys walk up buildings. Or cling to ceilings. Or, better yet, imagine robotic listening devices that can climb walls. Now that is what I call a bug!

Okay, I have to admit, this sounds cool.

You might have tonnes of MP3s that you ripped from your own, personal CDs, but what about all that old vinyl you’ve got? I mean, you spent a fortune on it and now it sits, lovingly cared for, on a shelf, unused. Well, what if you could make all that vinyl into digital? Now, you can, thanks to a program called Gramofile.

Now, if I can just get something that will update my tapes and 8Tracks….

Oh, boy, this looks like it’s going to get ugly.

At least, I sure hope so! Let’s get Novell’s name in the media as much as possible, eh? Let them talk about their product and how they plan to use Linux as much as they can stand. Let’s keep the love alive.
Really, the latest volley is that SCO is going to sue Novell. And, so far, that seems okay with Novell. Oh, and SCO has finally agreed to specify what code is in question so experts can look at it.
Linus Torvalds, the creator of Linux, has suggested Chris DiBona of Slashdot.org and The Screen Savers fame, as a third-party expert to evaluate the code. You can see what he has to say about it on his blog.

Oh, this is so cool.

And, I’m glad I haven’t gotten a new Palm yet! According to this article on Wired News, Palm is buying Handspring. Now, to me, that’s cool because I hope to see some of the better features in the Handspring products integrated into the Palm. I like the look and feel of the Palm better than Handspring, but I think they had the right idea when it came to add-ons. This is a killer move by Palm, as far as I’m concerned. I really look forward to seeing what this means to the future of Palm.