I first started using Unix in 1994 when I purchased Yggdrasil Plug-and-play Linux Summer 1994 Release. From the first time I booted up the CD (yes a live CD in 1994) I was hooked.
I have used a lot of different Unix variants over the years including Linux, AIX, Solaris, HP UX, Xenix, SCO, A/UX (Apple Unix), and Mac OS X. At this time my main machine is a Powerbook running Max OS X. At home I have several other Macs, Linux, and FreeBSD machines. At work I have machines running Linux, Solaris, and AIX.
I have been kayaking and canoeing for most of my life. The area of north Florida I live in is wonderful for this with some really beautiful rivers and interesting coastline. I currently own a generic fiberglass canoe, a Hobie Mirage, and a Hobie Outback with the sail kit.
Last year I started sailing again. I had done a little sailing as a teenager but that was quite a while ago. I ended up buying a Seapearl 21 a small cat ketch rigged boat. It's a wonderful boat. It's small enough to tow easily, but big enough to carry a lot of camping supplies.
Websites:
Writing:
Security Alerts @ Oreillynet.com
Random News:
| Sat Oct 15, 2005: Hidden Bookshelf Door | Way cool bookshelf that can be unlocked by tilting a book and then opens into a top secret broom closet.
"You may notice that the new unit now covers the three louvered doors seen to the right of the "Before" picture. I have always wanted to build a concealed room or have secret trapdoors or similar in a house, well this is my first (very amateur) attempt. This explains the title - my cousin Kate decided that it was the bat cave."
Permalink | | Thu Sep 8, 2005: Jeremy Casella Katrina Fund Raiser | | My cousin Jeremy Casella is a talented folk singer and songwriter.
For two weeks from September 2 through September 16 he is donating 100% of the merchandise sales from his online store to The Red Cross to assist their efforts to aid those ravaged by Katrina. So download some free MP3s of his music and if you like them buy his albums and know that your helping out a good cause.
crmusicweb.com has this review of Jeremy's album FAITH & HEARTACHE.
"You won't find many other albums that explore the hurt and pain that fill our lives with such honesty and thought. There is a fine line between the sterile scientific approach and the overly sentimental approach, yet Jeremy has hit that line straight on. Faith & Heartache is a comfort for those who are weary and long for rest. It provides encouragement for us when our eyes are downcast. "Weeping may endure through the night, but joy comes in the morning," the Psalmist wrote, and this album is a testimony to that. So go, look across the river, and bid your anxious fears subside. Your Father has promised to guide you, and His promises are sure."
Permalink | | Fri Sep 2, 2005: Katrina | | As someone who lives a few hundred miles away from the landfall of Katrina it is very easy to watch the coverage and think that could have been us. This disaster should show all of us that no one is completely safe from disaster.
Varifrank says among other comments:
"Stop thinking of this as a Hurricane and start thinking of this as an atomic bombing and you can start to see what happened here was just beyond anyone local to have the ability to deal with it. The hurricane didn’t just destroy the buildings; it destroyed the authority and the infrastructure of local government as well."
He makes some excellent comments about how we (and I include myself) have been blaming the people in charge in the area for failing to plan and execute the recovery.
I am involved in disaster planning for my community and disaster planning for a state agency and the following comment hit me hard:
"The lesson here is that in true large scale disasters, you can’t count on the locals to even be there to take the lead. The assumption has to be that the locals are gone and cannot take part in their own rescue."
Our disaster planning is based around the locals taking the lead. This disaster was of such magnitude that I doubt we would be in any shape to lend a hand.
I have no doubt that we will be reviewing all of our disaster plans. Including my own plan for my family, the community, and at the state. For one thing I am actually going to stop procrastinating and put together 72 hour kits for my family.
For now all I am going to shut up about the management of the disaster and pray for the victims and the rescuers.
Permalink | | Tue Aug 16, 2005: Sailing Trip | I am playing some catch up but I put an article up about a sailing trip my oldest son and took during spring break this year.
Permalink | | Sat Aug 13, 2005: Security Alerts 11 Aug 2005 | My latest Security Alerts article is up over at Oreillynet.
Permalink | | Wed Aug 10, 2005: Things I have written lately | I have not been keeping up with this like I should. So instead of nice descriptions here is a list of some of the writing I have done lately.
Permalink | | Sat Jul 23, 2005: White Bear Lake couple's wheels help Armstrong | | The kid on the phone was somewhere around 15 years old. He said his name was Lance. And he was sort of, well, boastful. "He said, 'I'm really good. I'm going to win the next race. I don't have any wheels. Would you send me a wheel, because I'm really going to win everything?' " recalled Annie with a laugh.
The Heds didn't know it then, but the deal they struck with the kid (yes, you can have wheels, Mr. Armstrong) would help carry their company to the forefront of the cycling industry.
Read it all
Permalink | | Thu Jul 21, 2005: Review: Spring Into Technical Writing | Wrote this review a few days ago. Very well done book if you need to learn about writing.
Permalink | | Thu Jul 14, 2005: Hurricane Damage | The coast near where I live was hit pretty hard by the storm surge from Hurricane Dennis. I have images I took from the Spring creek marina and the Marina in Panacea at Rock Landing.
Permalink | | Wed Jul 6, 2005: Trip to Cedar Key | I have some images I took during a recent trip to Cedar Key Florida.
Permalink | | Wed Jun 29, 2005: Security Alerts | The latest Security Alerts has been published by Oreillynet. This one covers problems in OpenSSH, Sudo, Sun Java, Blackdown Java, tcpdump, cpio, JBOSS, Adobe Reader and Acrobat, gedit, Gaim, and Trac.
Permalink | | Mon Nov 1, 2004: Why is it so hard to run an honest election? | "Verifiability: Computerized voting machines might have a simple user interface, but complexity hides behind the screen and keyboard. To avoid even more problems, these machines should have a voter-verifiable paper ballot. This isn't a receipt; it's not something you take home with you. It's a paper "ballot" with your votes -- one that you verify for accuracy and then put in a ballot box. The machine provides quick tallies, but the paper is the basis for any recounts.
Story
Permalink | | Tue Oct 12, 2004: I Only Hang With Sheepdogs | "I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin's egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators."
Story
Permalink | | Mon Oct 11, 2004: Touchscreen Hack Effort Called Monkey Business | "In the minute-long video produced by Black Box Voting (search), Baxter the chimp is shown deleting the audit log that is supposed to keep track of changes in the Diebold central tabulator, the computer and program that keeps track of county vote totals.
story
Permalink | | Tue Sep 21, 2004: Nation’s voting machines tested in secret | "Although up to 50 million Americans are expected to vote on touchscreen machines on Nov. 2, federal regulators have virtually no oversight over testing of the technology. The certification process, in part because the voting machine companies pay for it, is described as obsolete by those charged with overseeing it.
The testing firms — CIBER and Wyle Laboratories in Huntsville and SysTest Labs in Denver — are also inadequately equipped, some critics contend."
Story
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