Diary of a Network Geek

Apparently, you can add telecom specialist to the list.
I’ve been avoiding talking about Hurricane Katrina because: a) everyone else is talking about it, b) there’s neither anything I can add or do, and c) I didn’t have any real news anyway. Well, after yesterday, I do. We have offices over there. Notice, I wrote “have” not “had”. The facility is still standing, as far as we can tell. So, when the rest of the city settles down, we’ll be able to resume business there. In the meantime, we’re more concerned with people. Not everyone from that facility has checked in yet. I’m not sure how many are missing, but, some are. Of those who have checked in, their families all seem to be okay, but many of them have lost everything they didn’t take with them. It’s like the recent tsunami in Asia, but with a lower, thankfully much lower, death toll. But, the damage to property and business is very similar.
So, how does that make me a telecom specialist all of a sudden? Simple, actually. Our regular phone guy in house is out on vacation, so when one of the boards on our phone switch died over the weekend, they came to the computer guy to get it straightened out. Phones, computers, same thing, right? Not hardly! Thankfully, I already have some experience with telecom and high-stress troubleshooting. About the time I settle down from that fracas Monday, I start getting questions about cell phones. How to get them fast, but still on our account. So, all day Tuesday, I ran around getting that straight and getting a local cell phone for the “senior partner”. But, wait, there’s more! Yesterday, I had to get more cell phones lined up and get two Iridium satellite phones ASAP. Oh, yes, they had to be Iridium phones, not just any sat phone. Why, you ask? Because the “senior partner” is getting a new plane and wants to be able to use one of these on the plane which, you guessed it, can take only certain models. If everything goes right, which I highly doubt, we should be getting the two Iridium phones Friday morning. So, any guesses who gets to figure them out and teach everyone how to use them?
Yeah, time to update the resume with all this high-end telecom stuff I’m doing. A little more chaos thrown my direction and I’ll be all ready to be the Director of IT somewhere bigger. Anyone looking for a guy like me to head your IT department? I’m willing to consider anywhere that’s not California, New York City, or prone to hurricanes. Blizzards and tornados I can handle just fine, but I’m really not liking this hurricane business.

for future generations.
Did I mention in yesterday’s post that I’ve been drinking again? It’s been months since I had any alcohol at all and this past weekend, I bought beer and wine. Actually, the cheap, California red I bought is pretty good. (That would probably horrify an old friend of mine who really knew wine. 🙂 I’m sorry, Larry, I probably have forgotten everything you taught me! ) It’s called Red Truck and I bought it because I liked the label. Yeah, really, that was how I picked it. I’m still working on that bottle. Poor, old Uncle Jim is a light-weight these days. Youth is wasted on the young.
I bought Kingfisher beer, because I hope to experiment with some curry this month. Er, next month. I have fond memories of the “salad days” when I learned to enjoy hot, spicy Indian food which could only be doused by liberal application of Kingfisher.
I’ve also been smoking again. Haven’t done that in years. Well, at least not cigarettes. And, what’s worse, is that it’s been clove cigarettes. I haven’t smoked clove cigarettes in almost nine years. At least I’ve been limiting myself to one a day. That’s one cigarette a day, gentle readers, not one pack. The last time, I was chain-smoking the darn things. And I mean chain-smoking the most hard-core sense, too. Not the namby-pamby, “finish-one-then-pause-before-lighting-another” kind of chain-smoking. I mean I was lighting one cigarette from the butt of the last. It was not pretty at all. Very bad. And, I was doing it in a small apartment. Oh, that was very ugly. All that smoke in a small, confined space. No, it’s better this time. Just one a day, smoked outside in the fresh air. *cough*cough* Yep, that fresh air sure is tasty. Ah, heck, when I’m done with the pack, I’ll stop.
So, I weep for the sad example I’m setting for future generations of network geeks. Don’t be like your Uncle Jim, kids, be better than that.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
"Our dignity is not in what we do but in who we are."

Hey, here’s another reason to be proud of my adopted state!
The State of Texas is sueing one of the world’s top four spammers. Apparently, the company, or companies, is based out of California and is already being sued by MicroSoft, but the State of Texas is joining in. The suit itself is based on the CAN-SPAM Act, which was such a big deal when it was passed. I have to admit, at the time, I never thought we’d actually see any of these bottom-feeders prosecuted in any way, but it looks like the CAN-SPAM Act may be actually doing some good! According to the article, the two spammers who run this company could face “penalties of $250 per violation, up to a maximum of $2 million.” Wow. That’d hurt!
Apparently, the Texas Attorney General is bringing suit against these guys under Texas law that “cover electronic mail and solicitation as well as deceptive practices. Those laws carry fines of up to $25,000 per day and $20,000 per violation…” Dang! You go get ’em!
Let’s hope it does some good!

I’m 36 today.

I share a birthday with Frank “Chairman of the Board” Sinatra, Bob Barker, Gustave Flaubert, author of Madame Bovary, Edvard Munch, painter of The Scream, and Wells Fargo founder, Henry Wells. Not to mention, Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues, Tim Hauser of Manhattan Transfer, Dickey Betts of the Allman Bros, jazz musician Grover Washington Jr, Karl Edward Wagner who is the author of Bloodstone and Night Winds, and former mayor of New York City, Ed Koch.
Also, it was on this day in 1897 that “The Katzenjammer Kids” made its debut in the New York Journal. The comic strip was created by Rudolph Dirks and featured such novelties as the dialogue balloon, the multi-panel story, and a regular cast of characters. It was on this day, in 1901, that Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. This is also the day, in 1915, that the first all-metal aircraft (a Junkers J.1) was test flown at Dessau, Germany.
But, that’s not all! My birthday is also when, in 1925, Arthur Heinman coins term “motel”, and opened Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo, California. On this day, in 1964, shooting started for the “Star Trek” pilot, The Cage (which was later reused in Menagerie). In 1965, no doubt in anticipation of my birthday, Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears scored 6 touchdowns, which ties the NFL record.
A year before I was born, in 1967, the US launched Pioneer 8 into solar orbit. And, on the actual day of my birth, in 1968, the US performed its first nuclear test at the Nevada Test Site. So, obviously, my birthday was, indeed, earth-shattering.

It’s been a hell of a year. I can’t wait to see what I’m doing next year at this time! I hope you all are right there with me.

At least until all the lawsuits can get worked out.

The other day, I wrote a brief note about the troubles the National No-Call Database has been having. But, according to this article on Reuters, it has been ruled as still enforceable by the U.S. Court of Appeals. At least, it’s enforceable until the lawsuit the telemarketers have started is settled. Hopefully, it will all come down in favor of the consumer who, as far as I can tell, universally despise telemarketers.

And, now, a word about the few, misguided souls who seem to think it’s so terrible that these telemarketers, who aren’t skilled enough to do anything else, are going to be out of work. First, these folks can, in fact, learn other phone-related jobs. For instance, telephone catalog sales. Second, telemarketers are a blight on the universe. Third, telemarketing firms waste my time, and yours, with unsolicited sales. If these bloodsuckers showed up at your door, would you still fee sorry for them? Or, would you be annoyed with the door-to-door salesperson wasteing your time? Fourth, telemarketers are a blight on the universe. No, really, they are. There’s a scientific study somewhere that says so. Honest, I wouldn’t lie to you about something that important.

(And, no, I’m not going to make any gratuitous comments about the California recall race, or the new governor Arnold “The Tax Terminator” Schwarzenegger. Wasn’t that high-minded of me?)

I’m not sure if this is good, or not…

I tend to think it’s not good, but, then again, as someone who would like to make their living at producing copyrighted works, I like the protection it would give me. According to this article on Wired News, a pair of Democrats, Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Howard Berman (D-Calif.), have introduced a bill that would land a person in prison for up to five years and impose a fine of up to $250,000 for uploading a single file to a peer-to-peer network.
At first look, this seems a little harsh, but that’s been the penalty for illegally copying software for a really long time. And, while it seems like a nasty penalty for something that so many people seem to be doing, violating copyright is illegal. I guess my problem with it is that there seems to be some issues involved here that haven’t been completely addressed. Things like, when I buy a CD, what do I really own? Is it the right to listen to the music? Or have I bought a license to the music, or the CD? Anyway, it’s a little bothersome, to me, that they don’t seem to have worked out all the details of what is really legal, but they’re already stumping for really big penalties.
This is one to watch, folks.