That’s a Lot of Blogs
Date: 2007-04-20
“Since 2004, the number of blogs on the Internet has grown by a factor of 50…”
Technical Support Today
Date: 2007-04-13
I called technical support twice today. The first experience:
Me: “Hi, we’re having some problems with HSRP. It’s not letting us use more than 16 standby groups. Do you know of any way to get around this?”
Him: “Uhh. Could you email that to us?”
That was hours ago. Haven’t received even a confirmation.
The second experience:
I called a support number at 4:15pm Pacific. I get an automated message saying it is after hours because they are open M-F 8am – 8pm Eastern. 4:15pm Pacific = 7:15pm Eastern. Am I missing something? So I send an email, which they say will be responded to “within one business day.”
What is wrong with technical support? Having worked in technical support, I know that crap like this just isn’t acceptable.
Getting Left in the Dust
Date: 2007-03-25
I am usually on top of things technology wise. But certain trends just don’t do it for me.
Take Twitter, a newish site that “that allows members to inform each other about what they are doing and what they think. It allows users to send messages via phone, instant messaging or the Twitter website.” (Wikipedia)
Is it just me, or is it (1) a big pain to always be putting in things like “on my way to work” and (2) really annoying to be constantly updated with what all of your acquaintances are doing throughout the day? To me, that would be very disinteresting and a little too much information about myself being put out there. I just don’t see the appeal. But the hipster Web 2.0 crowd evidently sees the appeal. Twitter won the 2007 South By Southwest Web Award.
And then there is MySpace. It seems like most everyone my age is on MySpace. I refuse, though. What is wrong with phone calls, IMs, blogs, and forums? Most of the MySpace pages are butt-ugly. Ze Frank even had a “I Knows Me Some Ugly MySpace Showdown.
And in 5 years…everyone will be on MySpace. Everyone will be on Twitter. Here’s to hoping I don’t cave.
The LeftList
Date: 2007-03-20
Well, I have a bit of a starter page for The LeftList: Check ‘er out here.
The biggest bit of work will probably be populating it with events. I think I have a good idea of which websites to check for events in order to combine them all on my site. As you can see, I’ve got a series of “phases,” each of which I don’t think will take too too long to implement.
Another Failed Attempt at Linux on the Desktop
Date: 2007-02-07
I recently set out to replace Windows XP with Kubuntu GNU/Linux. I figured it might take a couple of months before I would be comfortable with completely removing Windows from my system. It turns out that I won’t be able to remove it at all. In fact, I am giving up on Linux on my main desktop completely.
The reason? My Sound Blaster X-Fi sound card is not supported. Creative doesn’t have a driver and they won’t give any information to ALSA so that they can make a driver. It is really, really annoying.
And right now I need a Linux desktop to do development of the client side of Project Stockton. So it looks like what I am going to do is purchase a cheap, small, and quiet desktop devoted to Linux. I’ll need to get a KVM switch, too.
Configure Error
Date: 2007-02-02
I was trying to install snort on a Debian machine, and during the configure I got the following error:
“C compiler cannot create executables”
After searching The Google, I found someone saying to just install g++ (I had already installed gcc). That fixed it.
Just want to bump this solution up on the Google rankings.
Project Stockton
Date: 2007-01-24
I have had a bunch of ideas floating around my head quite regularly for the past couple of years. These are ideas that have stuck with me, and not just floated off into nothing like some grand ideas often do.
The ideas are for a revolutionary massively multiplayer online game. The main concepts are:
– Everything in the world is player generated, except nature. There will be no NPCs (non-player characters). Any missions that exist will be player created. Any buildings and items will be player created.
– You won’t be able to “see” your stats. If you want to know how good you are at bow hunting, you should shoot an arrow and see how accurate it is. You won’t see everyone’s name floating above their heads. If you want to know their name, you ask them.
– The code will be released under the GPL (GNU Public License). I don’t like the concept of “owning” something that isn’t even tangible. The GPL allows anyone to see and use my source code. If they add on to the code, they also have to release their additions under the same license.
I have a ton more ideas, and I will be adding them to my website shortly. I have set up my servers for this game, and you can find the links to the websites below.
The name of the game is Project Stockton.
Game websites:
– Main Project Stockton website. Here you will find official announcements, downloads, et cetera.
– Project Stockton developer blog. Here you will be able to track the progress of the developers (currently only me 🙂 ).
– Project Stockton wiki. This will be a place where anyone can contribute to any information about Project Stockton. This would be a good place for a game manual and in-game info.
– Project Stockton forums. Mainly meant for technical support, but also a meeting place for anyone that wants to talk about Project Stockton.
– Project Stockton bugtracking. Once there is actually some code, there will actually be some bugs. They will go here.
I will start posting my progress on the PS blog, but I will put any big updates on this site as well. Stay tuned!
ISO vs. IETF
Date: 2006-08-30
When networks became large enough to outgrow distance vector routing protocols such as RIPv2, and the networking community wanted something non-proprietary to fill the role, Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) was created by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) had historically put forth such Internet/networking standards. Later, Open Shortest Path First, an internal link-state routing protocol very similar to IS-IS, was created by the IETF. As explained in OSPF and IS-IS: Choosing an IGP for Large-Scale Networks by Jeff Doyle, one main reason for OSPF’s creation seemed to be resentment at having their responsibilities taken over by the ISO:
One camp looked at IS-IS and decided that it made little sense to develop a new link state protocol when one was already at hand. Why not just extend IS-IS to support TCP/IP? The other camp did not want a protocol that was controlled by an outside body, particularly one as rigidly bureaucratic as the ISO. The IETF approach was proven and familiar, so why not develop an open, nonproprietary version of the ARPANET’s SPF—OSPF—to better coexist with the open TCP/IP? A visceral resentment of the ISO’s arrogance in dismissing TCP/IP also fed the second camp; IS-IS was unacceptable simply because it was an ISO protocol.
Because of their egos, I now have considerably more work to do in my studying for the BSCI exam.
Sweet.
ARPANET Outage in 1980
Date: 2006-08-28
I just finished reading about an ARPANET-wide outage on October 27, 1980: RFC 789
It is a nice story for us computer nerds.
meebome Released
Date: 2006-08-02
From the brilliant creators of meebo, a web-based, multi-protocol IM client, comes meebome, a little flash app that you can add to your website to allow real-time chat with the people visiting your site. Think integrated google chat within GMail.
I’ll be adding this feature to my website tonight.