Diary of a Network Geek

Good old science-fiction.

Hey, want to hear something cool?  Head over to Escape Pod and listen to Charlie Stross’ latest story, Rogue Farm.  But, first, stop by Biology in Science Fiction for the link, so they know we care and appreciate them bringing these kinds of stories to us.

I may post again later today, since I was at a wedding last night and very good friends of mine may be having their baby today, but for now, this is all I’ve got.

Oh, if only I could have one of these in real life and remove tourists from the airport!

Well, I may have to make due with the Tourist Remover webapp that does just what it says, scrubs tourists right out of your pictures.  It’s pretty ingenious, really, since a popular attraction is almost impossible to get shots of without getting someone else in the picture.  There’s a free registration required, but I think a little personal information is totally worth it in this case.
Oh, and just so no one gets on my case about it, this was found via Boing Boing.

I just can’t bring myself to trust something from a car care company for my servers.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, when there’s work being done on buildings that creates a lot of dust, and there are servers nearby, I know it’s a problem.  That fine grit that gets into everything when they do wallboard, or, as we say in the South, “sheetrock”, will sure mess up a computer.  And, yes, I have worked on PCs and servers that have had that dust in it.  So, in theory, anything that helps keep dust out of a server is a good idea, and that’s what Servershield is; a vented, filtered cover for your servers to keep them cool and dust-free.  But, I just have a hard time getting my little, pointy head around the idea that the same people who created the Carcoon could make something to keep my servers safe.    I mean, it just sounds wrong, doesn’t it?

Well, anyway, this is something you have to see to believe, so go check it out; Servershield, by Carcoon.

Because, this is totally why I got into computers.

Yeah, right, sure it is.
Look, these new ads by Intel highlighting the “rockstars” of the geek world are great.  They’re cute.  They’re funny.  But they work because this is so NOT how our society works.  Geniuses who invent things that change the way many of us live are mostly not appreciated in their time.  They don’t have trading cards.  They aren’t the subject of comic books.  They don’t get their faces on boxes of breakfast cereal.
But, isn’t that wrong?  I mean, shouldn’t that be what we reward?  Not the super-jocks who can throw a ball or run the bases or whatever, but the geniuses who actually change the world?

Maybe I live in a dream land, but, well, that’s how I wish it was.