Monday, August 29, 2005

cbc strike

The CBC strike has left me in a state of mourning. I miss my CBC Radio One. Currently the only radio available to me is local AM and FM advertising-riddled, unbelievably repetitive crap. Please CBC get it together and get back on the air with regular programming. I fear that my IQ and my soul are starting to suffer irrepairable damage...

Friday, August 26, 2005

on ranting

Ever feel like ranting but can't think of a subject? A rant about ranting might be in order, but would probably end up being too self-reflexive (not to mention needlessly post-modern).

The best course of action at this point would be to start a list of possible topics.

  • Terrorists
  • SUV's
  • U.S Foreign Policy
  • Canadian Foreign Policy
  • The provinces of Alberta and Quebec (yes you are both acting like babies!)
  • Advertising
  • Advertising by Beer Companies
  • Advertising by Soft Drink Companies
  • Advertising by Fitness Machine Companies
  • Advertising by __fill__in__the__blank
  • Paris Hilton (and all those like her)
  • AM Radio
  • CBC Strike (see rant topic above)
  • AM Radio hosts who claim to 'take a stand' but are really loud-mouthed bullys
  • Executives who think it's funny that they don't know how to use a computer mouse
  • Executives who call teleconferences on statutory holidays, then don't have the decency to inform the technical facilitators that they called the same meeting off
  • Executives
  • 'Reality' TV (get your head out of your collective asses it's all staged!)
  • Rap (if you can't hum it, it ain't music!) Some Rap is good, but 99% is cRap
  • Open Source developers who think free software will somehow defeat the 'evil' Bill Gates
  • Bill Gates
  • ISP's who think they are doing us all a favour by just 'being'
  • Script Kiddies
  • Crackers (not Hackers, Crackers. They are different. And I don't mean 'Soda')
  • Stupid people
  • Barking Dogs
  • Harley riders who have straight-pipes on their bikes
  • People who feel a sense of entitlement
  • Oil companies
  • Racists (my favourite, 'cause they always show themselves for the ignoramuses they really are)

Oh there are lots more. You might even disagree with some (or all) of the topics listed. Got a topic? Send it here. Don't post them because I will just pull them down. It's my blog, I get to decide what goes up here.

what is this cat doing?

This is Sam. He is 13 years old, and, no, he is not dead.

Sam sleeps on "Dad's" shoes. Sometimes he sleeps with his feet in the shoes (one paw per shoe), sometimes he just lies on the shoes, and sometimes, he sleeps with his face buried in a shoe.

I am sure that even if I could ask Sam why he does this, he wouldn't tell me...

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

why static IP addresses are BAD

Static IP addresses are BAD because when network parameters change, the network device with the static IP address will not dynamically receive the new parameters and subsequently will stop working. Which leads to alot of finger pointing and yelling about who knows what and who knows how to do what right etc etc etc. A situation which can be exacerbated if the server trying to access the statically-assigned device is in, say, Canada, and the improperly configured device is in, say, Australia.

Learn how to use DHCP properly and you never have this problem.

MSCE's please take note. I've seen more MCSE's use static IP's to solve problems than any other type of technician. Probably that's because there are so many badly-trained MCSE's out there. Static IP's are good for routers; everything else, learn how to use DHCP and DNS properly!

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

what's the difference?

So what's the difference between Pat Robertson the Evangelist and your average terrorist?

Oh wait.. there isn't any!

Living with Coworkers Rule #8

If you are missing a stapler, it has been taken by a coworker. You have not lost or misplaced the stapler; how could you lose something that never leaves your desk? It has been taken without your permission.

Living with Cats Rule #112

Bestowing affection upon your cat(s), is wholly dependent on the mental state of the cat(s). Any indication of enjoyment portrayed by said cat(s) is merely for our amusement. For the cat(s), expectation of duty (ours) is merely being confirmed.

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cluster craziness

Well MS sure knows how to make things hard. Had a virtual name go wonky in our cluster configuration today --- caused alot of problems with MSI patching etc. Had to terminate and delete the virtual name, then recreate it, making sure Kerberos was selected to allow computer accounts to authenticate properly. Fixed the problem but wow what a screwy thing to go wrong.

All in all though we had about 1 minute of downtime on our enterprise cluster, which seems pretty good to me. Over 12 months we have 99% uptime (not including scheduled outages). Still our users whine...if they only knew how things 'could' be....

Monday, August 22, 2005

I don't get it...

I just finished reading 'Digital Fortress' by Dan Brown. I had already read 'The Da Vinci Code' and thought I would give Dan another try, not having been overly impressed with 'The Da Vinci Code'.

I've decided I am not a Dan Brown fan. In fact, I don't understand why anyone is a Dan Brown fan. 'Digital Fortress' was intriguing in content, as was 'The Da Vinci Code', but his writing style is just plain dull. I found myself skipping over bits just to get the end of the chapter, to the next 'mini cliff-hanger'. Come on, Dan. Every chapter has to have a 'cliff-hanger'? Do you think our attention spans are that short? Dan, you are not on TV, man, so stop writing like you are. Give your readers some credit...

So this whole Dan Brown mania... I just don't get it.

new blog

This is my first blog. Not an awful lot to say, really.