Techie Things and Dowels Under Construction

Never in a million years would I have believed that y'all would want me to talk about agnostic software. Oh, my goodness. I could talk Tech until the proverbial cows finally come home. I didn't really think there would be an audience for that, here on Life as a Parent, but it would seem I have sorely underestimated my readership. Oi.

Mea Culpa!

Agnostic Software

At work I am in what is known as a Working Group (alas, I am in several working groups) which is researching what logging software would it be advantageous for my employer to buy and use, and support, in an institutional environment. "Institutional" could also be thought of as and enterprise environment.

What is "logging software," you ask? Well, think of software that logs whenever you, or Joe, or Jane logs in, and from where (if remote), and for how long. Consider logging all software errors, all hardware errors, or the starting and restarting certain processes. Consider security - How many times has a remote source tried to access a port, or log in to a host, from what IP address did it originate? When and for how long?

So, we're looking at many kinds of application software. Ideally we'd like the application to be platform agnostic. Here is one definition:

A software program that will run on any computer operating system, such as Acrobat Reader.

So, being an agnostic program means that the program doesn't care what kind of host it is getting its input from: Windoze, Linux, SunOS, IRIX or MacOS, or a Sinclair or Osborne computer (Does anyone, besides me, know what a Sinclair or Osborne is? And - no cheating! Don't you dare Google it and tell me you knew!). An agnostic application doesn't owe an allegiance to any operating system whatsoever. Well, that's never really quite the case, but some applications come closer to that ideal than others. And, in a heterogenous environment, this granularity can be very important to what is commonly referred to as the bottom line.

So... the bottom line is that we're looking at an application called, Splunk. It is actually quite impressive, if you're in-to that sort of thing (yes, I am, geek nerd that I am). It seems to be somewhat agnostic - no god complex whatsoever. Who woulda thunk it?
Here's the Sinclair
(circa 1981)

Here's the Osborne
(also circa 1981)

Dowels Under Construction

My most fave tool of choice is the Compound Miter Saw that Kandy gave me for Christmas three years ago. It was the best construction present I have ever received. God I love it. Here it is, all cleaned up and put away, after the cutting of the dowels.



The fruit of my labors became the Megan's project to build the Little House on the Prairie:

Kandy & Megan at work. Team-work - that's what I'm talkin' about!


Creating a rocky border:

Putting moss on the roof:

And there you have it. It now resides in the school library, where I'm sure it is garning ooh's and ahhh's (as well it should).

Windoze and Sunday Afternoon TV Sucks

This afternoon I have been converting an old HP Pavillion (circa 1999) to the girls' PC. This is my second go-round. The first time I upgraded their grandfather's old E-Machine PC with as much memory as it could hold (a measley 512MB) and a new disk drive. Unfortunately, the PC was still flakey. Now I know why my dad had been so frustrated with it. It would lock up at the drop of a kleenex, and it sometimes was hard to get it to boot. Pretty frustrating.

So, my old HP was just gathering dust - it was a good computer in its day. It's faster than the newer E-machine model, and could do a whole lot more. The reason I didn't give it to them to begin with is that it was showing some flakiness as well - but I tend to put PC under a great amount of stress. I'm hoping that it will hold up for another year or two - then we'll get them something better. So, off we go!
The task of getting any PC updated takes forever. First of all, Windoze wants to download about a ba-zillion updates to the computer. Oh, and before that, I had to install wireless networking. Of course, the first hardware that I installed, wouldn't work. Grrrrr! Then I got an old Linksys wireless card - it installed okay, but I'm not sure how good it will be down the road...

Uhm, can you say, "Upgrade?"

Okay, so Windoze wants me to install a piece that authenticates itself. Big Brother is Watching Us! Doesn't it just gall you that they do this?

So, anywho, while quasi-attending this process, I turn on the TV - hoping for something interesting to listen to/watch while doing these mundane tasks. Let's see, what's on? Here's a small sampling:

Amazing Log Homes
Bull Riding
WWE Backlash (this is wrestling, right?)
Contra Cost Civil Grand Jury
Drag Racing

Okay, so maybe I just don't get into these kinds of show. Cable has something for everyone, right? Hmmmm... Here are some Spanish language channels. Um, no. My highschool Spanish is long gone. "Contra Cost Civil Grand Jury" - Hey now, there's a catchy title (pun intended). "Drag Racing" - only if I'm there breathing the fumes.

Oh, wait. There's Matlock - Andy Griffith. Euweww -- Linda Purl? Ack. Gagh me with a spoon.

I give up. Maybe the news...

What a Day

It's been "one of those days."

Warning! Technical Nerd-talk Ahead...

I spent wa-a-aay too much time today poking and prodding one of my linux servers into becoming a Wiki database web maniac. Instead, it poked and prodded right back at me. I am so weary. It wasn't a linux problem. It is just that Wiki doesn't work unless you have two other applications built into it. It doesn't come built with them (no, that would make too much sense). Instead you have to build the server with PHP, and you have to build PHP with MySQL.

It's a pain in the rear.

I spent the better part of the day trying to get the pieces to like one another, to have some sort of affinity. You know to Work with one another. Be good citizens. Wiki was okay, but PHP didn't like MySQL's libraries. ::sigh:: I finally got everything compiled and built and installed, but then Wiki started acting a bit drain bamaged (if you get my drift).

By this time, it was late afternoon. My stomach was growling, there were several un-heard voicemails on my phone, and I was in no mood for anything. Grrrrrrr...

So, I'm now home with a headache and no one to bitch to. Except you. Thanks for being there.

I'm glad someone is there.

Hey, you are there, aren't you?