So I had a blog post all done up and good to go, when my computer blue screened. It is my own fault, I just plugged a hard drive into it so that I could work from it today instead of killing laptop batteries. I just cant remember what I had typed out.

So for that you get nothing other then my first real perl script

#!/usr/bin/perl

use strict;
use warnings;

my $word = "Times";
my $number = 12;

print "$number $word $number is ", $number * $number "\n";

yup that's it.Simple, to the point, and does something. It is a begining and that is the important part. I am not trying to be a perl expert or anything, I am just trying to get the basics of it, after all these years.

I think I am also going to work on some powershell scripting as well sooner or later.

So I have a Zune now, and I am really loving it. I have discovered podcasts for the first time ever. They are really neat and simple and fun. The nice part about having a dedicated media player is that there is a centrel location to get podcasts. Some of the ones that I really like and have found lately are Coffee Break Spanish, Hak5 and some of the G4TV stuff. Yeah G4 doesnt get a link, they can find themselves.

This post is a bit different as I am not using Microsoft's Live Writer, but actually logged into the web site to do an update. Not like Live writer was doing anything other then telling me when I had mispelled words. It didnt really help with grammer (thanks for pointing that one out Kolbold) So back to the randomness that is me being bored at work.

Actually my question is, do blogs actually help people? I am using google analytics and I am seeing I am getting google results for things like
headless windows 2008 install
nothing special about me
adding bluetooth to yukon denali
Based on those things, my blog is useless. So far I am just a talker and not really showing much in the way of technology, I can do a lot and would offer answers if someone emails me directly, but in general I just babble about useless information, just like every other blog. So I think it will be time to get starting and actually do some things and show how to do things.

Ok so I need to work out an actual blogging schedule, just to keep things lively. I also need to check my email more regularly, seems I have a few unread email messages.

I did a computer upgrade this weekend, it has been about two years since I got new hardware so I went slightly over the top with an Intel e8400 and Gigabyte EP-35DS3L motherboard, It is just fast. It is a 64bit CPU and as my first personal one, it is nice. It is just smooth and fast and quite. I had a Shuttle PC prior to this, and yes it was cute and small, but it was OMG loud, It also generated a lot of heat, the CPU temp was an average of 59 Celsius, while this one is 40 at idle. I have a co-worker who put OSX on his but I havent tried that yet, I am just getting to Vista x64, it is smooth and fast, and has some fun issues, such as Flash doesn't work with the 64bit web browser. I haven't gotten any father then that yet but I am still dinking with it.

On an amusing note I just found out about Leeroy Jenkins!

So with the new job I get time to actually do things. I figured out the certificate services thing I was working on, and kind of depressed about it because it was not the resolution that we, as a company, were looking for. I think I might revisit it in a few weeks. Since then I have moved on to Exchange Server 2007, more specifically Unified Messaging, where you can get email, voicemail, and calendar events all in one location. I know, you can get that with a smart phone as well, but what if your phone is not a smart phone? And what if your out of cellular range? you an use a pay phone/calling card and dial up your extension to check everything at once. The technical back end of this is odd as well The requirements for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 are monstrous, but then again exchange server has always had high requirements. There are some other neat feature of the new exchange server as well, what MicroSoft is calling an Edge server. It is a server that sits in the DMZ that has a list of allowed email addresses and domains, users can set their own blacklists and whitelists. Again that is PER USER not per domain, and one users rules won't effect anothers. The edge server also does not need to be connected to the domain directly, it can not user the ADAM transport services to get just the information that it needs, this is for those ultra paranoid people out there. When setting up the edge transport it will configure ADAM for you so there is no need to get overly technical on that subject. In the new exchange server you are also able to easily set up rules, such as one department not being allowed to email another, for reason I wont go into, but this is done with a few mouse clicks.

I know I am missing a lot of the normal screen shots I like to take, I will try to get some later, right now I am still in my test mode so it is just a general overview of how things work. Another part of how exchange works it can integrate with your phone system, there is a recommended and supported list, but we are already using Asterisk for ours so we had to be creative. There is a blog entry that goes over the details, and I have been able to get this to mostly work on my test lab, I have one last part to connect and that is the asterisk system to sipX, it should be pretty simple though. I say simple like I am an expert with VOIP and Exchange, I actually not that knowledgeable with either, I have actually just learned most of my knowledge with this one project.

Next in News of the world, my shuttle looks like it is dying, every time I tried to sync my Zune with it, it shuts down, this is not a happy thing. It has had problems with the USB ports for a while, I think this is just setting it off completely. It is an older machine, it was about a year old when I bought it two years ago. So I started looking around NewEgg for bits and pieces, I do not want to get another shuttle though. It is just LOUD, it is actually louder then the two 1U servers. It has been a good computer, I have been able to run EVERY operating system on it, including Linux (ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, Slackware, and E-Live) Windows XP and Vista, and OSX. So it has been a good computer, and has been running Vista since about November without issue, well with Minor issues, such as video drivers (damn nvidia) not working correctly, and random smaller issues that have since been resolved one way or another.

I am now a proud owner of a Red 8GB Microsoft Zune, I am such a Microsoft Whore. It is nice, it does not have the video out feature that I really wanted, need to learn to read all the details, but it does work by hooking the A/V cables to the AUX input in my factor DVD player in my SUV, and the cables are long enough to give me easy control while driving. It will also hook up to the DVD player in my Sonoma. The Zune Marketplace also has PodCasts, no apple doesn't own that term, and I have found some neat things with it. There is Coffee Break Spanish, the G4 stuff, Slashdot Review (yes i am this big a geek), and Microsoft TechNet Radio are the first ones I have found. Fun stuff to listen to while on the way to work. Also I signed up for their Unlimited Access pass, and that is amusing. Most stuff is covered under that, like songs and albums, if they have them, but videos, and Disney songs are not. I just cant figure out why the Disney stuff is extra.

Things that I missed in this post, Got the SUV back, I need to take some pictures of what is now different on it. It went to Vegas on a road trip and I won a long distance trophy from the New Ground show.

So not a whole lot going on, I finally updated Californi Cruizers web site, check the location, no longer at Ricky and Ronnie's, now we are at the Super K-Mart on Figueroa and Torrance in Carson. The location is a lot roomier then where we were at, but it isn't as cool as Ricky and Ronnie's was. To be honest though, we outgrew that spot about 2 years ago, it does not hold more then 75 cars and we would get more then 120 in there.

I have been trying to study for the next certification but work has been getting in the way. So far I have found out how to setup a Microsoft Certificate Server and a Private Key Infrastructure. It is actually a neat idea, to have resources controlled by certificates and either expire or issue them to the computer based on the user, computer, or a combination of the two.

That is about the only is I am planing a road trip to Vegas this weekend for a New Ground 702 car show. It is my brother's club. It should be fun and interesting.

Wow I really do not have a lot to talk about. I think it might be partly cause I am trying to quit smoking and my brain isnt functioning fully at the moment, it hasnt been all weekend. But my scene of smell has gone way up. I can smell things that I couldn't smell last week. It is driving me crazy actually.

Ok that is it for me.

Well I like the new job, it is a bit of  a commute, but I think it will be alright for a few. I get to play with cool new things, like virtual machines. I am getting my hands dirty with VMWare in a live production data center. VMWare and myself go back a little ways. I first heard of it/saw it in 1998 when I was working for a dot.com and someone said "Hey why don't we try this?" We did, and it wasnt very good. It was actually painful to see and to use, it could only support up to three OSes on a box at a time, that wasn't to bad back then, but with the hardware being really cheap it was just better to just buy the actual servers and use those instead. But I did watch it, and kept an eye on it. Then suddenly within the last two years, it snuck back up on me with a vengeance. Seems like Green Data Centers and standard Data Centers are using it now for any OS that can be installed on a server. There is even the older now OSX Hack that was first sent out via VMWare.

Also some other interesting things that I am working with, Certificate services, clustering services, system monitoring , and IIS. I like this, the whole world is suddenly Microsoft. One question is "Am I going to forget Linux?" The answer is I don't think so, I will have to do some deep dark voodoo magic for email and be able to get that running. Always seems to come back to the one thing that I hate, email. Ok Hate is a strong word, but I really do not like email. I do not like it to the point where it could become hate, and it could take me over to the dark side, just letting my emotions rule me and ... that was a tangent.

But after week two on the job, I am really liking it, although I do not have access to anything that isnt on my workstation yet, I am ok with this. I took the time to learn the certificate services in detail and can not go on about a PKI and how it can best be utilized in almost any company, large or small, I don't think I will call on it to much. I guess I just wait and see what the next step is at the moment.

On a personal note, it was good to see everyone who came out tonight, we should do it again more often. Or at least simi-regularly. And who knows, maybe I will get a little better at pool.

Well it has been a while since my last post, and I will try not to let that go this long again. But in the mean time I have switched jobs, so I am no longer an IT Manger but I am now a Lead Systems Administrator. This feels good, I was under a lot of stress before and it was maddening at times. My woman likes my job better now and I have time for family, and at the moment my weekends back.

Site Issues:
At the moment the moment my comments do not work
Photo Gallery requires silverlight and does not work on all computers.
Searching for New Gallery software (again)

if you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me directly.

Next point of interest, I am still waiting to get my trucks back from Hall Ass, but they are really doing the SUV up nicely. I will have to post pictures of this beauty when I get it back, the down side to the new job is the new SUV, it takes a lot of gas and the job is 30 miles away. So I might be looking for another vehicle, I am looking for a mid 90's BMW 318/325. I have wanted a BMW for a while and this would be a nice daily driver.

I did have to pick up my Sonoma from Hall Ass to to be used as a daily driver. It is nice being able to drive it, but I have noticed how much my commute sucks while on the 118 freeway, it is not a happy freeway for a stiffer suspension or 20" low profile tires. it is just bumpy.

I know I said I would do another video update, but I am going to pass on this one and just worry about the post.

Again Comments are temporarily broken - till i can look at them

So I published the Silverlight + Flickr photo gallery. It has replaced my old gallery until I completely remove the old one OR find another different way. My Reasons for going with this solution were simple. I wanted to be able to publish photos from my laptop or my desktop without issue, to a central location, without editing massive amounts of files for each one.

So now when you click on the Photos it will take you to the SilverLight Gallery.

In other news, I started studying for the next test to be an MCSA, The 70-291, Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Infrastructure. As I am going through this at the moment, I am looking around at some of the job postings that are available, and they all seem to list the MCP as a desktop only certification. This is amusing because I intentionally started on the server exams just to show I am serious about them. I will need to do either 70-260 for Windows Vista or 70-270 for Windows XP. I have no fear about taking the XP test, I have been using it since it was called Whistler, then again I have been using vista since it was Longhorn Beta 1, but not as fully. I have had a lot of issue with XP so that made me stronger in it and more self reliant, I have not reached that stage with Vista yet, mainly because I have not had any problems with it. Oh well I will shoot for the best.

Wow that was a longer post, and I should start doing the video posts again shortly, I just need it to settle down a bit at home.

So I published the Silverlight + Flickr photo gallery. It has replaced my old gallery until I completely remove the old one OR find another different way. My Reasons for going with this solution were simple. I wanted to be able to publish photos from my laptop or my desktop without issue, to a central location, without editing massive amounts of files for each one.

So now when you click on the Photos it will take you to the SilverLight Gallery.

In other news, I started studying for the next test to be an MCSA, The 70-291, Implementing, Managing, and Maintaining a Windows Server 2003 Infrastructure. As I am going through this at the moment, I am looking around at some of the job postings that are available, and they all seem to list the MCP as a desktop only certification. This is amusing because I intentionally started on the server exams just to show I am serious about them. I will need to do either 70-260 for Windows Vista or 70-270 for Windows XP. I have no fear about taking the XP test, I have been using it since it was called Whistler, then again I have been using vista since it was Longhorn Beta 1, but not as fully. I have had a lot of issue with XP so that made me stronger in it and more self reliant, I have not reached that stage with Vista yet, mainly because I have not had any problems with it. Oh well I will shoot for the best.

Wow that was a longer post, and I should start doing the video posts again shortly, I just need it to settle down a bit at home.

So at 4:39PM on March 26th 2008 my second child, zeeklet, was born. She is a beautiful little girl, 8lbs 10oz and 21 inches long. What a freaking day it was.

Not only did my daughter almost get born in the nice new SUV, but the nice new SUV was in an accident on the way to the hospital.

I will post the pics as soon as I see the Denali, but there was little damage to the BMW that was also involved, I didnt even break the tail light.

I will make a better post once I get calmed down a bit more.