Orb Grafitti is sometimes a conversation, sometimes a soapbox. I use Linux most often, and I write about that and related software frequently. I also have a day job working as a dogsbody for a small manufacturing firm here in the SF Bay Area. Tom Syroid and I have co-authored a Linux Book. We're posting it online, here and here. Have a looksee! I'm glad you've come to visit, and always happy to hear from you.

EMAIL - I publish email sometimes. If you send me an email and you want privacy or anonymity, please say so, I'll pay attention to your wishes.

Good day. Well, it's light outside already, again. I hate clock changes. My body schedule is weird enough as it is, I don't need any help from Daylight Savings to be messed up in the morning. Sigh. So, how was your weekend? We had fun. The house is clean, I got to see Mark and Bonnie, whom I haven't since 5 years past now, when I was Mark's best man at their wedding. But they live out in Pueblo, Colorado. That's just not a weekend trip. But we do need to make it out there one of these years, when there's no snow on the ground.

Next subject: Exercise. I really need to knuckle down on this item. Time was, I used to love running for it's own sake. I could probably get there again, but I am pre-dreading the pain involved in properly getting back in shape. The payoff, of course, is better cholesterol and heart/lung health. If not running, then maybe Marcia will share her exercycle with me. I'll try the former, first... Lots of stretching, and short, light jogs to bring the body back is the correct recipe.

Hey, did anyone else catch Jerry's mention of the return of Byte in print??? I'd make that a link, but not until he rolls over last week's page to it's permanent archive pagename - if I remember. That's why I went to the redirector scheme, and naming the page as it will be in perpetuity - Makes it much easier for other people to deep link to my site. Deep linking is good. Oh, sidetracked - for the final few years of the old print Byte, I really only bought it for Jerry's column, and the occasional other article. Maybe they'll lead a renaissance in DIY computing (I can only hope).

Time's up for now. We'll see where the day takes me, as to whether I'll be back tonight or not. Your custom is appreciated. Take care!

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Good morning. First, double BAH - The power was out last night. We caught that at about 3am, but still managed to hose the alarm somehow, and I still have several clocks to set. Sigh. Next, as you can see at left, the lawn that Brian built is doing very well. This wasn't taken yesterday, which was a lovely gray cloudy mess that threatened rain all day long, with hardly a drop beyond a light misting on the windshield. But the lawn, the lawn is becoming glorious.

I like lawns, I always have. Maybe because we never had one when I was growing up. Flower beds, and hillsides and such, yeah, lots of those. But growing up in Orinda, there are three or four lots flat enough for lawns, in all of that village. We didn't live on one of those. So I fought the weeds, and the poison oak, and the ivy which strove to kill our pine trees. And I dreamed of a lawn that I could water, and mow. Mowing is easy, even with a manual mower. mowing is indiscriminate. It chops the grass down to a height that grass doesn't mind being, and demolishes the weeds left behind by a cursory weeding.

Weeding lawns is so easy. A lawn is a nice, reasonably uniform thing. A plant that stands out in a lawn is a weed. No problems, no questions. However, try weeding a flowerbed. Something looks like a weed to me, and the prize-winning Zenia (temporarily dormant, how was I to know) ends up on the compost heap with the rest of the day's chores. Oh, yeah, that includes my free hours for the next couple of weeks - you know I was grounded, or something like that. But now I have a front yard where everything green looks like a weed to me, and a small patch of lawn in back. I wish I could have lawn in front, as well. Then I could just pull the three things that don't match the others, and mow the sucker. Ah, well.

Doc Searls, freshly back from a Geek Cruise in the Caribbean, points me to this article, called Disunited We Stand - America's Diversity Is Its Strength, by Richard Rodriguez. I absolutely love the range of ideas and vision that's presented in that article, like many that I've been pointed to recently. Returning to the link source, Doc's stance is based on peace, rather than vengeance. I neither disregard, nor mock those who think that our reactions are wrong. Their right to disagree is why this country of ours is worth living and dying for. On the other hand, to those misguided jerks who, in the cause of peace, would aid and abet our enemies, I say join your friends, and suffer their fate.

Doc Searls has brought me an excellent balance of links over last few weeks, several of which point out a number of failures in communications and understanding. [Note - IMHO, Doc thinks well, and commuicates his thoughts with a great combination of lucidity and brevity. Whether it's peace and war, or Linux vs. Microsoft, I read Doc every day, because I always learn something new.] Many writers and thinkers have noted that we don't comprehend this extreme brand of Islam. I've read into many of these reports that it must be somehow unfair that we kill these people without first understanding them. Then there's the peaceniks who claim that this is just another Vietnam, and we're committing another generation of young men to die in a futile cause. Too, I think we've made some fundamental mistakes in our response to the current wave of terrorism. But it's not that we're going too far - we're not. We're just going about it the wrong way. Afghans win on their home turf. The Russians learned that over several painful years.

We needn't make the same mistake. These are terrorists. They will keep coming until they're dead, or we're dead. I vote for us, for America, still and always. If the Afghans can't find the will nor the way to put these assholes in our hands for disposition (or is that disposal), then sorry, folks. Lights out. Nuke'm. We'll lose a lot of soldiers, and never get all of the al Qaeda. And they'll just keep recruiting, and keep coming. Pull the soldiers out, close the borders, and smoke the place. It'll certainly give pause to the next asshole who decides it's a good idea to mess with us, and modify the behaviour of the country where the nether sphincter is currently living.

Hey, did you catch the Slashdot Q&A with Wil Wheaton (once STNG's Ensign Wesley Crusher)? Kind of a cool guy, reminds me of me at that age, except for the famous actor bit, and the Usenix newgroup called alt.wesley.crusher.die.die.die. Gosh, it can't have been much fun to be stuck in a role where you were despised by a large chunk of the fanbase... But he answers a lot of questions at great length, has fun doing it. One of the few features on /. that I've read through in a long time.

Woops! Past time I left for work, and I haven't even pointed you to Moshe's latest Byte article, devoted to the Virtual Memory subsystem of the Linux Kernel, nor to Moshe's updated home site, where there's a LOT of new life and energy - go, and keep going there - lotta stuff in the works, and you'll read about it there first (and here second, hehehhe) Gotta run, TTFN!

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Howdy. How's Life? Good, good. And if not, remember we're really all here to look out for each other, lend a hand (or a caustic comment) when necessary, pay forward as we can, and try not to leave too much of a mess when we leave the building. I've been slacking on a number of fronts. Among them, I'd like to introduce you to Dave Markowitz. He's been (b)logging for a few months now at http://www.building-tux.com/index.html, and I've finally made it over to survey his domain (as it were). Nice work, Dave!

Hey, did all of you see Moshe's article up on Byte? It even earned a Slashdotting - Byte really ought to bump his pay a little bit as he's bringing them a LOT of traffic. And this one's gotten Alan's pants in a bunch, too. Heh. Eventually these technical issues and the personalities backing them will come to a meeting of the minds. What's so different here is that this evolution takes place in public, rather than in the whiteboarded conference rooms in Redmond...

I think it's time to completely do away with Windows at work... At least at my workstation. Right now I am running Win98 under VMware (and I am evaluating the 3.0 Beta of VMware Workstation, for a variety of uses - still a stellar product, folks, for many uses.) But I want to break free. Really, I do. And there's only one way out, and it starts this way: Stop using Windows. Find out what can't be done any more. Learn how to do it using new tools, and keep moving forward.

Finally, a fellow Bay Area resident, Orb Grafitti reader, and correspondent Mike Garvey is job hunting, having recently joined the serried ranks of downsized people. Well, the people aren't downsized, but .... well, you know what I mean. Anyway, here's Mike's CV for your consideration - If you're in the bay area and hiring, you could do yourself a favor and give Mike a shout:

MICHAEL JOSEPH GARVEY
Martinez, California 94553
Updated October 2001
Email [email protected]

OBJECTIVE

I am looking for a position that provides personal and professional growth 
in an environment that promotes learning. The ideal job would allow me to 
focus and sharpen my skills, to be challenged every day, and have the 
opportunity to provide quality service to co-workers, peers, and clients. 
From end-user support to building solutions to meet specific goals, I have a 
wide range of experience and skills from which to draw. I look forward to 
being challenged by new problems, and providing timely responses that exceed 
the initial requirements.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Operating Systems:
Microsoft Windows 9x, Window NT 4.0 Server, Terminal Services Edition, and 
Workstation, Windows 2000 Server, Advanced Server, and Professional, 
Microsoft Office (97, 2000). Linux (various distributions): Server & 
Workstation. Novell NetWare (3.x, 4.x, 5.x)

Network Services:
Microsoft BackOffice applications: Exchange Server (4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 2000), 
SQL Server, IIS; DNS (Unix (Cobalt), Linux, NT, 2000, Novell BorderManager), 
WINS (NT, 2000), DHCP (Routers, NT, 2000)

Email:
Exchange, SMTP (Post.Office, Pegasus (Mercury), CommuniGate, Sendmail)

Network Hardware:
Cisco Routers (2500 and below, 2600, 3600), Switches (Catalyst 2900 and 
below, 3000 series, 4000 series), Pix Firewall.

Other:
Technical, Sales and Marketing Communications, writing Documentation Digital 
and Line Art, Creation, Editing and Layout, MIS, Networking, Systems 
Administration, End-User Support
Some scripting: VBscript, Kix, Perl, Shell

EXPERIENCE

Novani (PCMAC), San Francisco, CA 08/1991 to 08/2001.
Positions: Consulting Computer/Network Engineer, Sr. Consulting 
Computer/Network Engineer
Researched, designed, implemented and supported many small, medium and large 
heterogeneous networks including NT4.0, Windows 2000, NetWare 3.x and 4.x 
servers. Workstations were Win9x, NT and Macintosh with standardized 
software-setups (MS Office, Outlook, several vertical business applications 
unique to particular industries). These networks used applications servers 
(Exchange, SQL, IIS), network services (DNS, SMTP mail, WINS, DHCP) 
multiple, redundant backups (tape and disk), connectivity (cabling, 
hubs/switches, routers), web servers and server-farms, security (PIX 
firewalls, Ravlin VPN devices, anti-virus software on multiple platforms) 
and remote monitoring/maintenance. Support duties also included system 
maintenance/upgrades (HW & SW, license compliance). Workstation remote 
access used MS Terminal Services, Citrix WinFrame and MetaFrame. Additional 
duties included evaluation of new software and hardware, documentation, and 
acting as client/vendor liaison.

Recent projects included but were not limited to:
* Built and installed network service servers (Linux-based, DNS, SMTP) at 
customer sites and data centers. Installed multi-tier virus protection 
(Symantec, TrendMicro) on gateways, servers (file/print and mail), and 
workstations
* Deployed satellite offices incorporating VPN over DSL service (including 
remote management), servers, workstations, and printers.
* Supervised the rollout of business imaging services (server, storage, 
database, clients) at corporate data center and satellite offices. 
Interfaced with vendor on immediate bug fixes.
* Supervised the merging of data from old servers to new servers, and the 
migration of associated network services.
* Consolidated NT domain information and associated services as a 
prerequisite for Windows 2000 migration. Consolidated Exchange server stores 
and connectors.
* Managed a development web-server farm of a major dot-com company, 
developing deployment documentation and guidelines, providing 
version-control and QA sanity-checking, and facilitating communications 
between client QA and Engineering personnel.

Daily work and ongoing projects included but were not limited to:
* Identifying and resolving complex networking and application issues. 
Successful resolution required intimate knowledge of entire networks, their 
applications, and business operations over a wide-range of industries.
* Interfacing with users, management, and executives. Timely communication 
is vital - those involved need to know that a problem has been identified, 
is being worked on, and is finally resolved. Targeted communications 
describing the incidents and their resolution and ramifications were 
provided on a frequent and regular basis.
* Supervising regular network administration of client networks. Working 
with company IT staff, handled user and user mailbox maintenance, 
application support and upgrades, security incidents and education/training.
* Supervising and mentoring junior consultants' work providing input on 
policies, procedures, knowledge and methodology.
* Evaluating, recommending, and implementing new technology including 
switched Ethernet (Fast, Giga, etc.), VPN, storage and backup, remote 
management, messaging and vertical business applications, and hardware and 
software, targeted to specific industries.
* Working with other staff to manage workload and scheduling, assuring the 
timely completion of projects and availability of support personnel for 
follow-up.
* Resolving critical incidents that impact service availability, obtaining 
temporary and/or permanent replacement hardware, reinstalling/reconfiguring 
software, restoring from multi-tier backups, interfacing with vendors and 
providing status updates to key individuals and management.
* Interfacing with other trades (design, mechanical, facilities) to ensure 
physical and safety requirements for current and future computer 
datacenters, offices, and temporary facilities.
-----
Artworks, San Francisco, CA, 09/1988 to 06/1991.
Positions: Computer Support, Graphics Design
Worked with production personnel, providing computer training and support. 
Performed production duties including copywriting, editing, graphics design, 
and typesetting. Supported and maintained network of Macintosh computers, 
PCs, printers and photo-typesetting equipment.

LaserAdvantage Computer Services, San Francisco, CA 10/1987 to 06/1991.
Position: Principal
Oversaw production and customer-service, generated new sales, supported the 
computer, network and printing equipment, and did graphic design and 
typesetting. Setup network consisting of Macintosh computers, PCs, and 
printers. Software used included PageMaker and Ilustrator.

EDUCATION

Microsoft CNE (and MCP) (1998 - Present)
Novell CNE (and CNA) (1996 - Present)
San Francisco State University (1984 - 1987) Music Performance Major.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

1998-Present  Principal Bassoonist, Diablo Valley Chamber Orchestra at DVC.
2000-Present  Dance Connection Performing Arts Center, parent volunteer.

Yes, but this isn't going to turn into a job board. I do the occasional favor for a friend. Now to finish working through my mail... Mmmmm. Another set of messages thrown back at the gates - some Chinese site trying to use me as a spam relay. Bah, I won't even bother to send an abuse reply to a .cn address. However, every other day or so, someone trys to connect to my server via ftp. I've got it locked down. But these maroons are trying to connect from nailed up links, DSL and Cable. That makes for an EASY abuse report. Today's violator comes to my front step courtesy of Genuity. Duh.

OK, time to hit the road. See you on the flip side.

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There's a new hole in my heart today. My last grandmother died yesterday. It was quick, relatively painless (she was still on some meds for her cracked ribs), and she had the dignity of dying at home as she wished, rather than slowly, in hospital with tubes and such, as Papa Phil did. She's wanted to be with him for these 10 years past now - she's got that wish too, now. I love her, I honor her memory, I am going to miss her terribly.

Goodbye, Grammy.

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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT ... The order granting a preliminary injunction is reversed. Defendant Andrew Bunner shall recover his appellate costs.

The Court takes a stand for rights and freedom. The preliminary injunction against the posting of DeCSS code is lifted. There's the code, and here's a mirror of the PDF formatted ruling. Woo Hoo! Of course, this is a fairly narrow ruling, but it raises issues that must be dealt with at trial. Overall, excellent news, offsetting a little bit of the rest of Hollywood's plans for world dominion.

Thanks for all the kind thoughts and condolences we've received from y'all. It means a lot to me and Marcia, and by extension, to the rest of the family. The services for my grandmother will be on Monday.

On the migration away from Windows, I had a major success yesterday - I've gotten my data out of the clutches of Outlook 2000. It's tricky, but doable. First, use Netscape for Windows (version 4.5 or better - mine was 4.77) to import the folders and mailing lists from the preexisting outlook.pst file. Did you know that Netscape could do that? I didn't until last week sometime, when I started considering this process.

Then transfer the resulting files (both Mail folder, and Outlook Addresses.na2 file to your Linux system. I was migrating into KMail, which uses the same mbox format as Netscape and many other programs. So I simply copied all of the mail folders and sub-folders into the top level ~/Mail directory. I had to create my folder hierarchy all over again, and move messages around wholesale, but 15 minutes work put all that to rest. The tricky bit was the addresses - mine is fairly small - only about 400 or so Contacts. I imported the na2 file into my Linux Netscape client, then exported the resultant addresses to an LDIF file. From there, I was able to import all of the addresses into KAB (the KDE Address Book). Most excellent.

What's next? Well, I have OpenOffice, StarOffice and KOffice all on my machine. I have The Gimp for artwork. What's missing: the CAD tools for mechanical and circuit design, and a client for our Visual Manufacturing system. I've gotten the latter running under Wine before, I can do it again. Anything else that I need? Mmmmmm. I have Adobe Acrobat. Do I need to use this to create PDF files? Not really - I can create documents in many different tools, print to a PostScript file, then use the Ghostscript tools to convert to PDF. I'm going to hang on to my Windows partition that I boot using VMware for a while yet, in case I've missed something. We'll see how it goes - more reports as time goes on.

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Good morning. The details of the service for Monday are still a tad vague - We're not sure whether there's to be a Rosary on Sunday evening or not... I've been asked to be one of the pall bearers, though, and will do so. Mmmm. I am not always terribly comfortable with these events, but needs remember that ceremonies are for the living...

However, it's the season for a little time away from the computer. I'll be back at the keyboard perhaps Sunday night or Monday morning. Right now, I am sheer tired, through and through. So here's one from the mailbag:

Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 17:45:11 -0600
From: Harlan Bloom
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.2.18 i586)
Subject: Away from Windows

Hi Brian,
  First of all, let me add my condolences on your loss.

  One of the abilities I need to maintain before I can get rid of
Windows completely, is to be able to read, and write, MS-Word files that
that do forms.  Some of the fields in the forms also have drop-down
selection boxes.  I have looked at StarOffice (6.0 I believe),
OpenOffice 6.0 and Abiword; none of these work in their current
incantations.  I haven't been able to get KWord running yet.  I don't
run KDE very often because I have a slower
computer.

  I haven't been able to get Wine to install MS-Word under Linux; the
installation keeps failing, and Yes, the problem is in the Wine problem
tickets - other people have been seeing this too.
  I haven't tried running VMware.  My system specs is below their
minimum recommendations; also, I don't have the available funds just yet
for a faster system.

  Do you or any of your readers have any other suggestions or work
arounds.

  My system specifications, for your amusement:  :-)
    IBM Thinkpad 380D
    150MMX CPU
    20GB harddrive:  Partitions:  17GB Linux, 370MB swap, 1GB NT 4.0
    80MB RAM
    Suse Linux 7.1

  BTW, jpilot works fairly well for me with my Palm Pilot.  I'm only
using the basics of jpilot and not doing anything fancy just yet.

  Thanks for your help and ideas.

Harlan...

> First of all, let me add my condolences on your loss. Thanks, Harlan. Your kind thoughts are appreciated. > One of the abilities I need to maintain before I can get rid of > Windows completely, is to be able to read, and write, MS-Word files that > that do forms. Some of the fields in the forms also have drop-down > selection boxes... I dunno. I've never tried to build a word document into a forms driven application. When I do stuff like that, I've created Access applications that generated output documents. Greg thinks that they might work in StarOffice 6, depending on the type of form... ? > I haven't been able to get Wine to install MS-Word under Linux; the > installation keeps failing, and Yes, the problem is in the Wine problem > tickets - other people have been seeing this too. I've run MS Office apps using Wine in the past, and may again one day soon... But I don't know current status. > I haven't tried running VMware. My system specs is below their > minimum recommendations; also, I don't have the available funds just yet > for a faster system. Mmmmm. Have you looked at Win4Lin? regards, .b

Anyone else with ideas for Harlan or me? Feedback's always appreciated. Be good this weekend, or at least, have fun. Take care and see you tomorrow evening (unless I post earlier - I've been known to break vows like this in less than 6 hours if I see something interesting).

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Home from a lightning road trip to the Sierras - Sierra Shangri-La to be exact. More details some other time. We had fun. Pictures here and on Marcia's site soon (her's, tonight, maybe..?). Take care, see you next week.

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Visit the rest of the DAYNOTES GANG, a collection of bright minds and sharp wits. Really, I don't know why they tolerate me <grin>. My personal inspiration for these pages is Dr. Jerry Pournelle. I am also indebted to Bob Thompson and Tom Syroid for their patience, guidance and feedback. Of course, I am sustained by and beholden to my lovely wife, Marcia. You can find her online too, at http://www.dutchgirl.net/. Thanks for dropping by.

All Content Copyright © 1999-2001 Brian P. Bilbrey.