Diary of a Network Geek

Just about breaks your heart, doesn’t it?
That’s the look I get every morning when I leave for work. Makes it really hard to leave, but it does give me an incentive to come back again. Funny, though, that I get more of that from a dog than I did from anyone else. She’s smarter than a lot of people I know, too.
For instance, she’s taught herself pig latin. No, really! The other day, I told her that we weren’t going to go for our “alkway” and she sat down, looking at me expectantly, just like when we’re getting ready to go for our walk. So, instead, I told her we were going for a ride in the car. After I got the leash on her and walked through the gate, she went right to the car. She still wanted me to lift her in, but she knew just what I meant.
She knows what “raisin” means, too. I eat raisin bran, of one kind or another, quite a bit. And, when I do, I always feed Hilda a raisin. So, now, in the morning, if she’s got her nose pressed against the glass watching for tree-rodent interlopers in our yard, I ask her if she wants her raisin. She always comes over and sits down like I make her do for her treats. Then, she gently takes it out of my fingers with her little, soft, black, puppy lips and happily chews it up.
She’s a good dog, and, somedays, that’s the best a guy can hope for.

Linux Distro, that is.
What else would I have meant, you children of the “Summer of Love”? Yeah, like anyone besides me reading this has any idea what the “Summer of Love” was.
Anyway, for those of you who are geeks and not flower-children, or, at least, those who are both, if you’ve ever dreamed of having your very own Linux distribution floating around out there, now you have help. From Big Blue, ironically. No, really! IBM has a page called How to Build Your Own Linux Distribution.
This is a little better than the infamous Linux From Scratch, and, in fact, includes links to that very site. But, it also has some thoughts about what to put into a distro and why. It’s a starting point at most, but I think the article presents a fairly good first look at what you need to consider before trying to “roll your own”.

Now, put the “doobie” down and spark up your mind instead of melting it. Go forth and spread the the word: Linux!
Hey, if you’re a network geek like me, this is your idea of Friday Fun! (Man, I need to get out more…)

The secret word for today is “firewall”.
Not only is it an essential part of any connection to the Internet, it’s also what I installed today at work. Yes, that’s right, what I thought I was looking at in the config of the weird, little Covad router was NOT a firewall or even an active filter set. Unfortunately, I found that out the hard way when I rebooted the router last week and the filters activated, killing everyone’s Internet access. I’m not sure who was more surprised, the support tech or me, when they discovered the active filters. I know I was more shocked than the tech when he told me that they don’t support firewalls built into their routers. In short, we were flapping in the proverbial breeze. And, apparently, we had been since, well, since they’ve had an Internet connection. Doh!
Anyway, after a bit of scrambling and some gulping at spending real money for a real firewall, I got a D-Link DFL-1100. It’s a nice, little firewall appliance that has a built-in DMZ, for later use with a mail server, and IDS detection with e-mail notifications. It was pretty easy to configure, once I got the details on the funky Covad router. I really don’t like them. Hooked directly to the console port on the router, I still had refresh issues and timing strangeness that got really frustrating when I had everyone in a hurry to get their e-mail. Damn irritating. the DFL-1100, however, was pretty simple to install and configure. It even had predefined filters and exceptions that seemed to be working just fine. I’ll probably fine tune that over the next couple of weeks, but, for now, it works okay.

It’s really frightening to me, though, that they could have gone for so long without any protection at all. How could an Internet company sell service to someone and not check with them about having a firewall in place? How could anyone who knows anything about the Internet leave a connection open for literally years? I wonder how many spam problems will go away here, now that I’ve gotten a firewall in place?
Of course, I’m pretty dissapointed in myself for not understanding what I was seeing in that Covad router, too. I should have caught that sooner. Sure, I don’t mess with routers on a regular basis, but I’ve done it enough that I should have seen this. Well, at least it’s taken care of now. Lord, help me, what will I find next?

This month is my seventh “carpet-bagging” anniversary.
Seven years ago this month, I moved down here from the North Suburbs of Chicago. Love was in the air and so were the crop-dusters. And, to make things worse, my car’s air-conditioning was broken. What a hellish ride that was! I shipped most of my stuff, but I loaded my precious computer into the back of my Tracker, piled clothes on it, and got my future ex-wife settled in next to me, then headed off at break-neck speed.
Until we hit traffic going through Chicago, that is. It was dark by the time we stopped somewhere outside of Nashville. We stayed at a little “NoTell Motel” that the AAA guide had given three stars. All I can say was, I was glad I brought my own toilet-paper, just in case. (A little advice from your Uncle Jim, kids, always bring an emergency roll of toilet paper for long trips. Always!) We got an early start the next day, but both of us were having trouble with the heat and the cropdusters by then. I did most of the driving, because I felt, at the time, that I was in marginally better shape to drive. Of course, that was sorely tested when I almost rear-ended a car that faded into the background when I got mesmerized by the road.
That was all before I got my precious Hilda, thankfully, because I cannot imagine making that drive with animals. It was pretty horrific. Hmm, maybe that was a warning of things to come… Ah, well, hindsight is 20/20, they say. Back in those days, I used to describe myself as a “damn Yankee carpet-bagger, come to steal your money and your women”. At the time, it was accurate! But, somewhere in there, I changed. I became a Texan. I became a Houstonian. Now, I can never leave. Where else could I live this well for this little money? Well, and still live in America.
Obviously, things have changed in those seven years. A lot of things have changed. Some for the better, like finding my dog, and some for the worse… But, no matter the changes, I just keep on going. I wonder what will change in the next seven years? I’m not sure, but I look forward to finding out!

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Failure doesn't mean you are a failure... it just means you haven't succeeded yet."
   --Robert Schuller

Today is the birthday of UNIVAC.
According to Writer’s Almanac, it was on this day in 1951 the world’s first commercially produced computer was unveiled. UNIVAC, as it was known, weighed eight tons, used 5,000 vacuum tubes, and cost a quarter million dollars. But it could perform a thousand calculations per second, the fastest rate in the world at the time. The first one was bought by the U.S. Census Bureau. Not a big surprise, I guess, considering that no one else at the time had any idea what to use a computer for, besides quickly tabulating large numbers.
I remember a Troop Leader in Boy Scouts who worked on computers like this. He talked about the first “portable” calulators which were the size of laptops today, were filled with vacuum tubes, and could only add, subtract, multipy and divide. We’ve come a long way, baby! Now, we’ve got pretty graphics, free operating systems, and giant multi-national corporations all focused on selling us the next machine and suite of applications to go with it. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry and has almost generated a whole new economy. Heck, it’s what makes it possible for you to even read this.
I wonder what the next fifty years will bring in the computer world?

But, good spelling is a little trickier!
Well, I finished that intellectual challenge, Airtight Willie & Me this weekend. It was actually a fairly good book. Though, as I got further into it, I was a little surprised to see that it was actually a series of not really related stories. The book takes its title from the first story, which is about a scam artist getting out of jail and being scammed himself by his partner. The O. Henry-like irony is actually quite sophisticated. Well, considering the source. Seriously, it’s a little strange considering my normal reading, but that’s why I chose that book. It’s a look at life from a perspective that I will, hopefully, never see or truly understand. It’s different. It’s a change. And, obviously, based on the length of time it took me to read it, not a very long book, either.
Currently, I’m reading Plot for about the third or fourth time. I go back to this book, and others in this series, when I have trouble writing. So, I read it every few years when I try to start writing again after a long hiatus. That’s where I’m at right now, ergo, I’m re-reading selected writing books to try and get jump-started back into a writer’s mind. We’ll see how we do in the coming months.
After that, though, I’ll be reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. (Literary enough for you, Mark? ) The description interests me because a fictional language is at the heart of the story and I’ve long had a fascination for invented languages. So, I’m looking forward to it.

I’m not an alchoholic, but I know a few.
Normally, I only do fun stuff on Fridays, but this is important. Today is the birthday of Alcoholics Anonymous, at least, according to the e-mail I get from the Writer’s Almanac. Started by a stock broker and a surgeon, who had both lost everything, they started a program that would save countless lives. I doubt that they knew how far their program would go seventy years ago. Just two guys with problems trying to make it through another day.

When I was a teen-ager, I knew a guy who used to work for the CIA. He was a friend of my Dad’s, though, I don’t know how they met. I do know that he managed agents in the field once and saw some of them get killed right in the street, in front of his eyes. It was done, I was told, as a message that the government on whom they were spying knew about him, and them. A pretty strong message. Well, as you might imagine, this had a fairly strong effect on this guy. So strong that he couldn’t cope with it and, instead, he started drinking. A lot. He lost everything. His job, his family, most everything he owned. Then, he found Alcoholics Anonymous and the Twelve Steps saved his life. I know because I saw him after he got sober. He was a nice guy, but he was a little quiet and, well, a little “spooky”. Working for the CIA just has to do things to you, I guess. But, he was sober and he had a new career and he was doing pretty well. So, when folks try to tell me that A.A. and the Twelve Steps are just a crutch or a cult or even just an excuse, I shake my head in wonder. I’ve seen them save lives. Me, personally. Not third-hand accounts or anecdotal stories passed down from cousins. I’ve seen first hand recovery. So, why would someone else care? If it works for those folks, does it matter if you don’t believe? Isn’t there enough room for all of us to find our own way, as long as we aren’t hurting anyone else? Even if we did once, but learned better?
I always wonder what it is that those folks who are so against the Twelve Step programs are fighting against. Is it so bad that other people find hope and joy and renewal this way? Maybe it is. Maybe those poor unfortunates just can’t let go of their own familiar maladapted coping skills long enough to try and find a better way. More’s the pity.
In any case, there’s a good article that sums up my response to those “nay sayers” of the Twelve Step programs on Beliefnet: A.A.: Not Religious, Not A Cult.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"The whole purpose of religion is to facilitate love and compassion, patience, tolerance, humility, forgiveness."
   --Dalai Lama

Has the blog craze gone too far?
Or not far enough! Now, there’s a site that lists the “A”-list bloggers called Blogebrity. No, I’m not kidding. They also have the “B” list and “C” list, etc. Somehow, I don’t think I’m even on their “Z” list, but, still… Well, after all, Margaret Cho was on their “C” list, so, obviously they have high standards. And, with Wil Wheaton on their “A” list, well, I have no hope of reaching that height.

Still, it’s Friday, and it’s a fun link, if you like lists like I do, so, go ahead, click on it!