All posts by rbowen

Doing stuff that matters

I’m sure I’ve made this remark before. It is hard, after a week doing something that seems to really matter, to get back into doing the daily job.

As though to underscore this, I spent this morning running dead hardware to customer sites. First, I took a DOA tape drive to a customer about 30 miles away, installed, tested, and found it wanting. Then I went to another customer to install a video card. When I got there, the wrong card was waiting for me. It’s one of those wretched half-form-factor desktop machines, and they sent a full-size PCI card that won’t fit into the case without strategic application of a hacksaw.

*sigh*

I guess we’ll always have the memories.

$2

I just spent over $2 for a gallon of gas for the first time ever. $2.019 to be exact. Yes, I’m sure some of you other folks have spent a lot more than that. Just recording what seems to be an historic event. I suppose it will be $3 this time next year.

Highlights

Still haven’t had a chance to catch up on the week’s events at Big Nerd, but here are a few of the highlights.

* Saw an Apache on the way up from Apache training. Kinda cool.
* The first 30 miles driving north from Whitesburg took more than 3 hours. Geez. How does anybody get anywhere in the Atlanta area? It seems that I didn’t get out of Atlanta until after Chattanooga!
* A friend who does concert lighting has offered me a ticket to the June 2 Rush show in Columbus. I’ve been wanting to see these guys for more than 10 years, and was prepared to pay rediculous sums for a concert this year, since I figure the chances of seeing them drop significantly each year as they get older. Apparently it’s still a rockin’ show, and well worth the drive up to Columbus. Dean++
* Waiting in the mail when I got home was an empty padded envelope from O’Reilly. Huh? Seems they paid $5.75 to send me an empty envelope. What’s up with that? Must inquire around.
* Found a typo (“Vistual Hosts”) in the index for Apache Cookbook. Oy.
* The class was pretty amazing. Great students. Awesome post-class feedback. And the food. How am I going to manage on my regular fare after that? The Big Nerd folks are great to work with. I recommend it to anyone, either as a student or an instructor.
* Clifford (The Big Red Dog) and Franklin (the turtle) were at the book fair this morning, signing books. Be still my racing heart.

OK, now I need to go finish unpacking the Jeep, and try to arrange things in some semblance of order.

Big Nerd Ranch

Just a quick note to let people know that I’m still alive. I’m at Big Nerd Ranch, in the wilds of Georgia. We’re out of cell phone range, with sporadic Internet access, beautiful scenery, wonderful food, and really good students. I’ll have to write more about it later. The facilities are fantastic. I was a little nervous about teaching Apache in the middle of nowhere, but it’s awesome.

More later.

Another geocaching trip

I’m going to take another geocaching trip … um … I mean training trip, to Atlanta. I’ll be teaching for a week at the Big Nerd Ranch south of Atlanta. There’s still time to sign up, if you hurry. Along the way there (I’m driving again) and while there, I hope to find a geocache or two.

Please sign up for the training class. It will be LOTS of fun, and it’s like a week-long vacation on a ranch. Sort of. And I really need the money.

Thanks. 🙂

Feeling movable

Alas, I’m feeling movable. I like movable type, mostly. I’ve been considering moving to WordPress for a while, but have blamed a lack of Tuits. Well, joy unbounded, MT has released a new version, along with a new pricing plan.

I am very much in favor of capitalism, so don’t think that this reaction is a feeling that they have “sold out” or “betrayed” me. I just can’t spend $$$ for something that I can get for free – particularly when it’s something that I can happily live without.

I’ve always been somewhat puzzled by their licensing. I like free software licenses to be free – in that I can freely modify the code and distribute modified versions of it. Semi-free licenses confuse me. But, the software worked, and that was sufficient. These days I’m much more interested in stuff that Just Works than I am in philosophy.

So, while I can’t work up the energy to feel outraged or offended or betrayed, I will be moving to WordPress as soon as I can find the time to do so, so that I won’t be in violation of MT’s new licensing, or even in violation of the spirit of the new licensing. I wish them luck and financial success, but suspect that they have just killed the proverbial goose that lays the golden eggs. I really do feel sorry for them, having taken one of my free products commercial at one point, thus losing all of my loyal users, development momentum, and name recognition. I hope that they have the good sense to back down enough to retain an income flow. I don’t wish poverty on anyone — it’s no fun.

Media frenzy, overreaction, and the art of war

Since I’m sure to get flamed for this, I’ll just dive right in and say what’s on my mind, rather than pussy-footing around.

I just don’t get the reaction to the killing of Mr. Berg. Yes, it was barbaric. Yes, it was unpleasant, horrible, and nasty. But an outrage? A violation of the rules of war? Well, I suppose so, but why would anyone expect anything different? These folks are 1) radical militant extremists, 2) in a state of war with us and 3) not the kind of guys you’d ask over to watch NASCAR.

Perhaps I have too much of a historical bent, but the idea that people should be nice to one another when they are at war is very odd to me. And when only one side agrees on what the rules of war are, it makes it a little hard to impose your world view on the other guys. No number of hearings or media frenzy is going to persuade these fruitcakes that they need to put a mint on the pillow of their prisoners.

And, while on the topic of treating prisoners nicely, there’s the stuff that “the good guys” did to their prisoners. I find the reactions to that to be odd too. Our soldiers have rules that they are to obey. They are, presumably, steeped in a code of honor from their first day on the job. These gutless cowardly savages broke those rules, and treated enemy combatants like animals. A hearing is not what is called for here. Congress can determine nothing in a hearing that is worthwhile, or advances us one whit towards what needs to be done. The US military has its own justice system, and it is there specifically for these kinds of events. These people broke the rules. They should be court martialed and punished according to the age-old traditions of the military, and they should be punished swiftly. Dragging this into Congress for hearings is inappropriate, wasteful, and gives the Iraqi people the message that there is a question as to whether what they did was wrong. There is, of course, no such question. These soldiers should be treated like the animals they are, and this should be done swiftly. The military is all about discipline, right?

Is this a double standard? You *BET* it’s a double standard. I expect the military of the United States of America to be people of honor. I do not expect that of radical militant islamic terrorists. That seems very clear-cut to me.

So, what should our reaction be to the killing of a non-combatant? Well, it was an act of war, and really not any different from any other act of war. Yes, we should hunt them down, but it’s a military operation, and however much of a frenzy the press tries to work itself up into, that doesn’t help, and only serves to provide political advantage to a group of old white guys in DC that don’t really understand the situation. Can we please leave the war to the warriors?

Ok, you can send me hate mail now. I’m done ranting.