10:00 AM Hmmm. Another week. Lots to discuss, so let's get to it.

Number One on the agenda: Anybody need a good Systems Administrator? As of Friday afternoon, I am no longer an employee of Zanova, Inc. That's been in process for quite some time; friends and family have noted for some time that I haven't really been happy there for a while. There are lots of reasons, and lots of issues, but it really wouldn't be good for me or for them to go into them right now. I'm no longer an employee, so that's that. I can still (to a point) recommend their service; particularly if you are a small business owner looking to start a web site for your business.

And yes, I was serious about the opening statement; I am looking for a new job. If you've got an opening for a really good administrator, send me an email. I'm interested primarily in the Phoenix area, still, but for the right opportunity (read: pay me well and pay all moving expenses) I could be convinced to move to the Seattle area. If you're curious or interested, grab my resume in Microsoft Word 2000 format. Warning for IE users - right-click that link and select to save the target. You'll find that clicking on it will cause IE to try and open it there in the browser, and I'm not running the Office extensions.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, on with the serious business.

First item, SlashDot. The geek site everyone loves to hate. I used to be a member, but about the time of the "Natalie Portman" and "Hot Grits" posts I quit bothering to read more than the headlines; now I do that much only rarely. For the first time in a while, I went through and read a story top to bottom, comments and all. And shortly thereafter, another, related story that appeared a short time later.

The stories are about a new book being published by Andover.Net; Voices from the Hellmouth. The book is essentially a compilation of stories submitted to Slashdot and Jon Katz after the Columbine shootings last April. The comments used are stories of students from around the country, and their experiences following the shootings. The stories range from students arrested/expelled for dressing "Goth" or in black trenchcoats or being forced into counseling for not being popular, to students saying they understood exactly how the killers felt. Students who were already outcasts from their peers found themselves punished by authority figures as well, from parents and teachers to law enforcement and the media. The comments are "anonymized," in that even the SlashDot usernames have been stripped off the comments.

First of all, I think this book needs to be printed and widely distributed. When the stories were written I was still an active member of the SlashDot community, and I even wrote a post or two; usually responses to other people, but my own story as well, for I was not a popular student. Some of the stories are gut-wrenching, some simply sad, others make you feel frustrated or concerned. Every teacher or administrator who's done things "for the good of the children" needs to read this book; the worst part is that the students most harmed by these post-Columbine events, the students who are the "other victims" of Columbine, are often the best and the brightest, the most interesting students we have. I am not belittling the primary victims of Columbine; the 13 innocent people who died and the two wasted lives of the killers. I simply believe the people in this book are victims as well, and they can still be saved.

The reason I read the stories, though, is simple; SlashDot never got permission to use those comments from the original posters. Granted, that would have been difficult in most cases; the posters were in the main anonymous, and even those that weren't either didn't use a real email address for their user profile (I certainly didn't) or they have since changed ISPs. But there was NO attempt made. Even something like a story on the front page, along the lines of "Hey, we're going to do this because we think it's the right thing to do. If you do NOT want your story used, please get in touch with us at this address..." type of thing would be better than nothing. I would show that they tried, in good faith, to get as much feedback as possible.

Legally, I suppose they had every right to do what they did. The stories and their comments are in the public domain; they can be viewed at any time. Heck, the original stories are still linked off the front page, a year after they were originally posted. But it's a matter of ethics and style.

SlashDot is known - some would say notorious - for championing the rights of the little guy over the rights of the corporation. SlashDot publicizes fights over domain names, such as last year's battle to free the owner of "Veronica.com" from lawsuits by the creators of the Archie comics. Same with the lawsuit from "etoys.com" when they sued the "art" site - which has been around a hell of a lot longer than etoys - "etoy.com." They scream about Echelon and every other real or imagined abuse of the rights of individuals, they complain about everything every non-OpenSource company does, and in general they annoy everyone who thinks that corporations do, in fact, have some rights.

Then they go and pull a stunt like this. Hmm.

Anyway. The book is, in and of itself, a good thing, and it will reportedly be published both in hard copy and as an electronic edition. It may even be posted to Slashdot. But if I had any urge to go back to SlashDot (not really) then this would probably have killed it.

And speaking of "geek" sites, over on Kuro5hin there's the next in a long series on Linux security. It's an excellent series, though rather long - today's posting is the twelfth part - covering most of what you need to know. Todays story is particularly interesting; the author performed a security audit on Kuro5hin's server, and discovered many unpleasant things. Worth a read.

Well, just in the time I've taken to write this - less than an hour - I've gotten four emails and three phone calls for jobs. Where is everybody? <SEG>

11:00 AM Greetings, all. The job search continues, although there're already several positions I'm interested in. The search has been expanded, however; after a very interesting potential offer in Bellingham, I've decided to consider the possibilities of moving again. Knew it had to happen; we just got legal on the license plates for the car. We moved to Chicago, and by the time we got plates on the car, we decided to leave. Now, here, we waited until the last minute to get Arizona plates... and now we're thinking of leaving. Sigh.

Seattle is the eventual goal for us, anyway; Keri's entire family lives in the Seattle area, and we both love it up there anyway. I grew up in the plains of Minnesota, so I'm used to considerably cooler weather than we've been getting here, and both Keri and I are far too fond of canoeing and sailing to really enjoy the desert. So we'll see what happens.

I extend the plea from yesterday; anybody need a good SysAdmin in Phoenix OR a good SysAdmin in Seattle?

Nothing really new in the world of computers around here. I miss my workstation from the office - I had a dual PII 400, 512 MB of RAM, 20 GB disk space, and a Dell 21" monitor, as well as a 48X CD-Rom and 6X CD-RW. The 32MB Diamond Viper video was nice, too. Ah, well, I guess that just means I have to spend money on a new computer here. Darn. <SEG>

I'm thinking about using my new-found spare time to rebuild my Linux router, but I'm not excited about the idea. I want to replace the OS with Slackware and add some toys, but I'd be offline while I did it. Hmmph. We'll see what happens.

I'm also building a new box for a coworker of Keri's. Just a Celeron 433, basic Windows 98 machine, but it should be fun. The box will have 128 MB of RAM, 10 GB hard drive, and a nice but inexpensive ATI video card. Should be quite a thrill for the new owner; the box is a replacement for their old Compaq 120 MHz machine. I tried to salvage parts from it, but the only things that AREN'T somehow Compaq'ed are the floppy drive and the modem - and the modem is a 14.4. Ah, well, the floppy drive saves $12.

I know what you're thinking - can I use the 120 to replace my gateway so I can play with Linux? No, because the only reason they're replacing it is because the system BIOS died. Now, if I could find a spare motherboard, I might be in business, but I doubt that'll happen.

Back to the job search. Later.

9:00 AM Thanks to everybody who's offered their support and, in some cases, jobs. I appreciate it.

Speaking of the great hunt, it's going pretty well. I have several interesting opportunities to consider, although nothing solid yet. I will say that at this point, it looks like I'd better learn to like Starbucks, which is NOT what I was expecting at all. For those joining us late, where've you been, huh? Oh, and go read Monday and catch up. Download my resume while you're there, will ya?

Building that machine for Keri's coworker; not a bad little machine. For the record, the hardware is:

• Tyan S1854 Trinity 400 Motherboard
• Intel PPGA Celeron 433
• 128 MB of PC-100 RAM on a single stick (generic RAM)
• Maxtor UDMA/66 10.2 GB Hard drive - 5400 RPM
• Diamond 56k WinModem
• ATI Xpert 98 8 MB Video card
• A Creative Labs kit including a SoundBlaster 16 card, 52x IDE CD-ROM, and speakers

The case is a cheap, $50 Cinch MiniTower ATX with a generic Pacific Rim power supply. I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole for my own use, particularly in a production machine, but this machine is a low-needs kind of box. It's to be used for email, a little word processing, and the occaisional home-made card, no more. For that, it's more than good enough; the MB I picked up also handles Slot 1 Pentium III processors to 800 MHz at 133 FSB, the RAM is only taking up one of three DIMM slots, and the board supports AGP video. I selected the components I did because the owner wanted a low-end machine that could be upgraded later, and stay relatively current. I think I managed that pretty well.

Bob, of course, will threaten to kick me out of the Gang for not using Crucial RAM and a good case, but those decisions were dictated by the owner's budget, not me. Besides, he'd be proud of the living room; the machine was assembled last night while watching Buffy and Angel, and there's boxes everywhere. I followed his tried and true method; open the box, take out what you need, the rest can find its way to the floor. Worked for me.

The machine will be running Windows 98 SE and "Works Suite 2000". The Works Suite includes Word 2000, Money 2000, Encarta 2000, Works 2000, Streets and Trips 2000, and Home Publishing 2000. Not bad for $100. That's the upgrade price, of course, but it still ain't bad. I've got Streets 98 around here somewhere; I found it pretty useful, and someone I know loved Trips 98. Now that they've combined the two, I'm curious to see what it looks like. Might have to sneak a peak before I turn the machine over to its owner.

Whoops. Interview time. Later all.