The Geekly Guy

This blog contains information regarding all things Linux, although any computer technology subject matter fits within the realm of this blog.

Saturday, February 08, 2003

Wow! It's been awhile. I'm at work. Yeah, I got a job as a network security analyst. Read about it at my Xanga site...the link should be on the left of this page.

I've done next to nothing but work....LOTS of work. I get paid well though.

What's new in my tech world besides my job? Not much.

I bought a DVD burner: Sony DRU500A. It supports DVD reading at 8x (I think), burning of DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW. It also burns CD-Rs and CD-RWs. It has burnproof technology (supports CD-R/CD-RW only) and has an 8MB buffer. This drive does it all and does it well. I haven't run into any problems yet and burned my first archival DVD last night. The drive burns DVDs at 4X so it was a bit slow. This drive also can use almost all brands of media for DVD burning but Verbatim (cheap quality media anyways). I dunno if I'll do any movies yet.

I had to break my network before I left TX, just so I could bring my AMD box with me as a playtoy. I've got it and my notebook tapping into my brother-in-law's network. If and when I want to experiment with things relating to work, I'm going to probably get my own cable access, as I will have to ask my bro-in-law to open the firewall for http, ftp and anything else I want to play with.

One thing that's developed regarding my AMD box: only in XP, the mouse doesn't seem to like rapid movement. When it was networked in TX, I had that one mouse on a KVM using it on two boxes. It's a USB optical mouse (Belkin) and I'd used a USB-to-PS/2 adapter to plug it into the KVM. Well, I don't need the KVM anymore and plugged the USB mouse into the box's USB port...it works but goes crazy when I move the mouse rapidly, which means no fast and furious gaming like Q3, UT2003, or MOH for now. I just found out that I actually brought my USB-PS/2 adapter with me...I'll try using the adapter to see if that solves anything. I'm thinking I shouldn't have to do that and it probably won't work anyways. It may well be a registry entry conflict. The drivers are current. The mouse works fine and fast in Linux, so it's not a hardware issue, most likely.

Other than that, that's it for tech since I've been in VA. Well, I've started playing Medal of Honor. That's a NICE game. I'm playing Medal of Honor: Spearhead also. I play it on my bro-in-law's box. Speaking of which...

He bought a 17" flatscreen monitor last night. I saw how it looked an fell in love. I'd been meaning to get a monitor anyways and didn't want something bulky. Maybe next month as a self-birthday present. :o) One thing I noticed about flatscreens is that when they mean 17", THEY MEAN 17"!! Those screens look huge, even next to a 17" CRT monitor. The glass frames cover less glass than CRT monitors...provides more viewable glass to utilize for your entertainment or work. I know one thing...I'm gonna get one and SOON! After that, I'll need a desk...

My rig is sitting on the floor...it's kinda hard to game lying on your belly on the floor.

That's about it. I can't think of anything else I may want for my system. I've already got a DVD burner and will be getting that monitor soon. Maybe one of those new clamshell Zauruses, or a digital video camera. I'm thinking a cheap small box so I can set it up as a firewall (need to develop some ipchains/iptables skills). We'll see.

Well, I have to go...second shift person should arrive soon, then I can go eat.

Oh yeah, I can't believe I spent $140 in books at Barnes and Noble yesterday!! I bought a book on Linksys networking, Apache, and network intrusion detection...and my monthly LinuxFormat magazine (a $14 mag!). Each one is good reading, although I may take the Linksys book back...it contained mainly equipment configuration, although it did explain a good bit about adhoc/infrastructure modes and WEP for wireless and also a good sized security section. It also talked about XP network tools that I didn't even know existed! I think I'll keep that book, on second thought! :o)

I'm out!