Diary of a Network Geek

My wife sent me this on Sunday.

It took several days to read it and not be overcome with emotion. The blog is called The Mesopotamian and it’s written by an Iraqi. Of course, I suppose it could be faked, but it just has so much intimate knowlege of what’s happening there that I don’t think it is. It’s a very, very personal blog that has so many concrete, personal details of daily life that I don’t see how it could be faked.
The post that moved me, and, I think, my wife, was called “Listen America”. It talks about how gratefull so many Iraqis really are that America saved them from Saddam. Much of what we’re told by the media doesn’t seem to be quite true, but the story that all Iraqis want us gone, right now, is the worst. Sure, they want to govern their own country, but they seem immensely grateful that we’ve helped them. Weapons of mass destruction don’t seem to be a big issue for them. Certainly, not as big an issue as it is for us. Something to think about.
I’m glad that we were able to do some good there, no matter what our other motives might have been. Go, read The Mesopotamian. I think it might really make a difference in how you see politics today.

A follow up to yesterday’s entry.

Okay, so, if you follow Slashdot, you’ve seen this, but I thought it was worth reposting. Of course, part of that is because I’m just a little bit of a Novell zealot. To put it mildly.
I thought the article was interesting. I especially liked the way that Mr. Schlaeger emphasized the idea that Novell was really supporting Linux, KDE and OpenSource. It’s really the way of the future with IT and computers in general. I have a friend that used to work for Microsoft and is now totally hooked on Netware, Linux, and Mozilla. All it took was a little push from your friendly, neighborhood technology pusher (i.e. ME!) and the rest was as easy as blue-screening a Windows server.
In any case, the interview over at KDE.org is worth reading if you have anything invested in Linux of any flavor, Novell, or KDE. I hope it’s a continuing trend for both Linux and Novell.

I saw this on Slashdot.

And, I think that means that Novell is finally getting their marketing right! First of all, there was this story on Slashdot, which, of course, generated all sorts of anti-Microsoft chatter. Then, I followed the link over to Novell’s site, which redirected me to this SuSE news release. So, not only is Novell developing for Linux and supporting OpenSource projects, but they’re getting plenty of exposure in the IT community.

About damn time.

Hey, I always like free!

I’ve had a PalmIIIc for years and years. Originally, I got it with the idea that I could use it to play games and read books, too. The problem was that there just weren’t a lot of books available in a Palm readable format. Problem solved: ManyBooks.net. Not only do they have literally thousands of books in multiple formats, including several for the Palm, but they’re all free!
Well, they do ask for donations, but it’s not absolutely required. I’ve just started to explore their titles, but they seem to have quite a few classics, so it’s worth checking out. Besides, it’s Friday, what else are you going to do?

Ever gotten into an argument on the ‘Net?

Well, Charles Miller over at The Fishbowl has a rules just for you, er, us. I have to admit, Charles’ Rules of Argument, are not only very accurate, but things I learned the very, very hard way over the years. The first rule is the most important: “You will never change anyone’s mind on a matter of opinion.”
Oh, the agony I could have saved myself over the years if I’d only learned to apply that little mantra. It is so very true. Painfully true. Embarassingly true. I cannot think of a single instance in which I either changed my own mind during an argument or changed someone else’s. Frightening, isn’t it? Consider for a moment, how much of our communication on the Internet relates to argument. Or, at least, the attempt to change someone’s mind about something. Has it ever worked? The closest I’ve come is visiting the Libertarian Party‘s website, but I’d already been changing my mind by the time I went there, so it doesn’t really count. Heck, I can hardly change my wife’s mind and she’s on my side!

Anyway, I thought it was a usefull thing to reference. Enjoy it, or not, as you please.

Two disturbing stories…

One of these two stories about our eroding personal rights and freedoms is bad enough, but taken together they’re downright frightening. Both come from WiredNews and are as stale as last week. First, there’s an article about the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. Sounds harmless enough, right? Well, does it sound harmless when they’re using spy satellites to monitor our own country? Okay, they have justification for it under the umbrella of Homeland Security, but doesn’t it make your skin crawl just a little bit? I’ve joked about the satellites watching us for years, but, well, it’s not a joke anymore. The government really is watching us!
Now, combine that with this article about the Pentagon seeking U.S. spy powers. Are you starting to squirm yet? I know it made me a little antsy when I read this one. Can anyone say McCarthyism?

I wonder how long it will be before this post gets registered in my file at the Pentagon?

A new age has dawned for spaceflight!

According to numerous sources, my favorite being National Geographic in this case, SpaceShipOne has won the X-Prize. What does that mean? It means that a privately built single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft has been built and successfully launched into space twice within a week. And, if you don’t understand the implecations of that, well… Well, I can’t imagine anyone who could find this blog on the web and not have some idea what that accomplishment means. Maybe I will see a mission to mars succeed in my lifetime. I might even see extraterrestrial mining. The possibilities are limitless.

Wow.

Okay, this probably isn’t big news anymore.

But, it was Friday when I read it. See, I usually queue up posts a day or two in advance, so I’m just a little behind. Still, I saw this article on Ping, which is AustralianIT’s newsletter, so I may have the jump on folks here in the States. It’s interesting to me because the things they talked about in the article were the Netscape Directory Server and Netscape Certificate management system. In other words, LDAP. Hmm, that sounds familiar. Oh, yeah, it’s what Novell has been using for, oh, about five years or so. Looks like there might be some competition in the OpenSource-based network architecture product space over the next couple of years. I hope Novell pays attentiont to this and gets their shit together before Red Hat has a product to market. Novell really needs to maintain their slice of the networking pie. No, scratch that, they need to get working on a bigger slice.
In any case, the deal is expected to go in the third quarter of the 2004 financial year, so they’ve got a bit of time. Not much, though. I can’t imagine RedHat waiting too long before getting something out there.
I wonder what MicroSoft thinks about all this?