Diary of a Network Geek

I work in a closet off the server room.

No, really, I do. I’m actually liking the new job, except for the fact that we don’t have offices yet. So, in reality, I’m sharing a storage closet off the server room with someone else. Okay, it’s not as bad as it sounds, but it’s starting to get a little tedious. I don’t even have my own office phone yet!
In all fairness, though, my new boss is working to get us both our own offices, but there aren’t any available near the rest of our group. So, soon, I hope, I’ll be better off than Melvin from Office Space. In the mean time, though, I actually am having a good time. So far, in the past two weeks, I’ve learned about Zenworks for Dekstops and Servers, both 6.5, and about shell scripting.
We’re working on getting an image down for the new sites that we’re going to be in charge of rolling out, but it’s going to take more than one image. Also, we need to have it set up so that local IT staff can reimage machines with a minimum of fuss or muss. So, we hit on the idea of making a text menu in a shell script that gives them choices on what image to apply. Between the two of us, we worked out a nifty little menu system. Now, we just have to figure out how to modify the standard Zenworks for Desktops imaging parition so that it TFTPs the most current menu from a server and runs it. Shouldn’t be too much trouble, now that I’m getting the hang of shell scripting. Not much different than batch files, really. And, a lot more fun that just being a backup monkey!

So, in short, even though I may work out of a storage closet at the moment, I really, really like my new job.

I’m telling you, I can’t make this stuff up!

Seriously, according to this article on AustralianIT, CIOs in Australia are less than happy with the results of outsourcing. And, though it’s no surprise to me, CIOs in the US are even less happy! According to the article, roughtly one-third of the Australian CIOs were unhappy, but fully 50% of the US CIOs were unhappy with their decision to outsource! (I hope my former employers are reading this!)

So, I hope that executives start to think more before the send jobs off-shore. Cheaper isn’t always better!

Isn’t this idea dead yet?

Apparently not. At least, not if

No, I’m not talking about a biased film documentary…

I’m talking about a different kind of hoax alltogether! Have you ever gotten that stupid spam about the e-mail tracking program that’s sponsored by Micro$oft, or Intel? Ever wondered where that got started? Well, Wired has an article on it! Yep, it’s the whole story from the very earliest days to the present. It’s a story of Darwinian proportions! And, it really has taken on a life of it’s own.

Hey, it’s Friday, so soft news is the best kind. Enjoy!

Quick! Get it while it’s hot!

I saw an post on Slashdot about an article on ZDNet about a guy who’s giving away a Cisco manual. Now, I haven’t actually seen the book, but it’s been getting good reviews. Apparently, it’s a free alternative to spending huge money on a Cisco Education book that’s not even as good. Or, so the article says. I did download it yesterday from LuLu.com, and it was free, but I haven’t had the time to read any of it yet. I’m sure I will eventually, though, because I’ve always wanted a Cisco certification. Anyway, it’s free, so what do you have to loose?

A quicker way to read updates…

Or not, in my case. Okay, so the new job has kept me fairly busy and I haven’t been able to do as many updates as I used to do. The good news is that means that I’m working at work, not looking for ways to not seem bored! Yea!
But, I do feel the need to share little “tid bits” with loyal readers (or reader, as the case may be). So, as everyone knows I’m a total, die-hard, Novell geek. I love using everything Novell, including GroupWise. In fact, if I could, I’d use the GroupWise client at home! (Hey, at least I’d be safe from all the worms out there!!) Anyway, I saw on Novell’s Cool Solutions website that someone has created an RSS reader for GroupWise. How cool!

Kind of goofy, but fun.

Well, those crazy Swedes have finally done it. They went and invented the self-parking car. At least, according to this website they have. Apparently, a mechanical engineering school in Sweden has a senior project and this year someone created a car that uses Linux to park itself. They worked with Volvo on the project, so there’s no telling if it works with an American pickup-truck, but it’s a cool idea! Lord knows, I’ve seen plenty of people that could use a little extra help getting into a tight parking spot. Myself included!! (Oh, and I’m kidding about not working on a pickup. I’m sure it can be adapted to any size passenger vehicle.)

Anyway, it’s a fun site for a Friday! Go have fun!