Jay's Blog

S.Carolina

Hello,

Interesting wins from the Democratic primaries in South Carolina.  Congrats to Senator Obama and his constituents.  One thing I did notice was the coverage around Senator Obama's landslide victory over Hilary Clinton and John Edwards.  The media was very focused on the racial statistics around Barack Obama's win and little else.  Why is the media intent to display race as the focus of their reporting?  I thought they were past that scope of coverage.  Senator Obama has not made a big campaign out of his race, why should the media?  I guess in the small analysis, the coverage brings in ratings and circulation. 

I don't care if the next president is a woman, African American, or Democrat, but it has to be the right person...

XServe and H5N1

Hello,

Today was interesting.  I was able to set up my first Apple XServe, ever.  Although the setup is far from complete, she is alive and kicking.  One thing afar from the massive price tag, is the lack of a built-in security device.  Every Mac desktop and laptop has a kensington lock or a security loop, but not the XServe.  I even called AppleCare to see if I was missing anything and I wasn't thankfully we have rack-doors.  I think the Apple designers behind iMac, Mac Pro and MacBooks are not the same folks whom designed the XServe.  Behind the price and the packaging, it is just another Intel rack-mounted server. Kind of a bummer, really...

I just finished another audiobook from Audible.com, titled 'The Flu: The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic and the Virus that Caused it' by Gina Kolata.  A great story about a forgotten time in world history.  Millions of folks from around the world died in a global flu outbreak after the first world war.  The books follows the efforts of numerous doctors and scientists across eight decades in their pursuit to identify and reconstruct the virulent virus.  Great read/listen. 

A Question of History

Hi,

An interesting question was posed earlier today from a podcast that I listen, 'Dan Carlin's Hardcore History'.  If you could have five people from history to dinner, who would you invite?  From history, we mean figures from times past which are no longer alive.  There are plenty of modern day folks that will go down in history, but let's broaden the scope.

First would be a classical composer, for example W.A.Mozart.  I would like to give him an iPod, show him how to use it and just see the reaction. See the reaction when I placed my 1977 Les Paul in his hands and witness what he could do with it.  I think he would be astounded and shocked, too bad we'll never know...

Next would be Charles Lindbergh.  I am an avvid aviation fan has always held Colonel Lindbergh's accomplishments in very high regard.  I would like to show him the Airbus A380 and the Space Shuttle, and listen to his stories...

Wacky as my next guest may seem, I would like to meet Napoleon Bonaparte.  I just want to see how this person is in real life.  I know little about him, but he was brave, determined and lucky...

I would like to take George Washington around Philly today and show him where his country has gone.  I can imagine his disbelief, disappointment and amazement...

I'll leave the last one for you, the reader.  Whom would you invite?

More Funny Stuff...

Hello,

MLK Day and I am off from job1, job2 I have to go to and teach tonight, but it is still a day off. 

I wanted to write about Apple and the connection they seem to have with consumers.  I have long been a fan of Apple products.  A fan of their design, durability and operability, something other manufacturers cannot seem to touch.  I think this hold on industrial design and consumer awareness has been shaken lately.  The iPhone, which I own, thrust Apple into a market with consumers they were not used to reaching.  Working with US cell carriers forced Apple to make business decisions that comprimised their previous ethos.  As soon as the iPhone was unveiled, I knew I had to have it.  Any phone at that time was better than my current cellphone, which did not have web, email, or anything.  Also, the idea of a Mac-Compatible smartphone was right up my alley.  I use a MacBook Pro for my daily computing needs.  My Mac Mini and G4 tower are now expensive stereo components.  The lack of 3G and other common capabilities did not bother me too much at first, but they do know.  The first sour taste came from the price drop just a few weeks after release.  Bad move Apple... Despite the refunds Apple gave, it made me feel, as a consumer, like a complete idiot.  Not to mention the razzing I received from colleagues and non-tech folks alike.  From that experience, I learned to wait before I buy a new Apple product.  Although, there is something about them that makes me want these things I hardly need!  That is Apple's draw.  Me, a sensible person, who tries to be as fiscally responsible as I can, just wants many of these products.  Example, iPod Touch, I want one.  Why the hell would I need one?  I have an iPhone and an iPod Nano 3G, still I want that slick little device.  I will probably get one too...

The new MacBook Air (MBA) is a sweet little laptop, and little is the operative word.  For those who have not heard, the MacBook Air is the smallest ultra-portable laptop ever released to consumers. The strides to make it a skinny as an anorexic supermodel are the same that will mark it a 'dud'. 

I can understand the lack of an optical drive.  I rarely use the optical drive in my MacBook Pro, but for $1,800.00 the MBA better come with a USB model (sans $99.00).  The wireless shared drive I see not working as desired, and becoming a pin-cushion for hackers.  If Apple was smart, they engineered a recovery option into flash memory to allow a user to restore OS X without the need of ANY optical drive.  My Dell Axim PDA has that capability as does the iPhone and iPod.

No Ethernet port = Non-Starter (for me).  Wireless networking is slower and much less reliable than an old-fashioned 100Base-T connection.  I wired my house because wireless is so unreliable.  The idea of a USB, Ethernet port taking up the only USB port on the device sucks.  I do not see how the inclusion of an Ethernet port or FireWire port would have made the MBA any thicker.  Not too many people have used an MBA yet and even fewer people have seen the device inside, so I am not in the best position to state how easy it would be to add/remove the extra and very necessary ports.  Some nut will take one apart and post the autopsy online, just wait...

The non-replaceable battery is a bit of a concern, but not as much as others may think.  I buy AppleCare with every laptop and iPod I own, and every time I have needed it, the cost was justified.  Most folks would do the same with the MBA, and if it came to swapping out a dead battery AppleCare would help tremendously.  A new battery would cost a user $99.00 to $129.99 anyway, the downer is the user has to bring it back to Apple.  Flights on aircraft would require a user to buy the Mag-Safe airline adapter.  Good luck taking the battery out for the TSA folks to inspect...

My biggest gripe is with the 4200rpm iPod hard drive.  Yes, it is the same HDD that is placed in the iPod Classic.  4200rpm, c'mon Apple!  My laptop from three laptops ago had a 4200rpm HDD.  Unless, Apple tweaked how Leopard will run, users may be in for a slow time...  The price point for the 64GB SSD will keep it out of most purchases, and then the OS can only load so fast.  I don't think the SSD will make the overall experience faster by much.

In close, the MacBook Air is novelty item for a consumer with a healthy taste for Apple products and money to burn.   I would recommend the MBA for users who want to get things done.  For that get a MacBook Pro for the extra $500.00.

Later

Funny

Hello,

I apologize for not blogging recently, as it has been a busy time for me right now with numerous irons in the fire.

Here is something funny.  Enjoy!

<a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com/2008/01/18/funny-pictures-u-wont-take-meh-alive-coppahs/"><img src="http://icanhascheezburger.wordpress.com/files/2008/01/funny-pictures-ostrich-police-chase.jpg" alt="funny pictures" /></a><br />moar <a href="http://icanhascheezburger.com">funny pictures</a>

Happy New Year! / WS2008 Cont'd

Hello,

Happy New Year everyone!

I would like to thank the a-holes that woke the baby and us up at midnight with screaming, yelling, and fireworks.  Staying up until midnight is not something one does with a newborn.  Or perhaps I am just getting old & crabby...

Windows Server 2008 (continued)

Now that we have a functional server up and running we can start to add roles which will customize it's operation.  The example I am going to choose here is adding the 'DNS Server' role.  WS2008 takes a role-based approach to administration much more seriously than it's predecessor did.  Any functionality for WS2008 must be added after installation.  Microsoft extends this idea to the features of the Windows Server operating system itself.  Two of the features we will need is the backup tool and the new Windows PowerShell.  Adding features can be done from the 'Add Features' link on the 'Initial Configuration Tasks' page.

Once the features are selected, choose 'Next >'.

DNS servers need to have a static IP address which will enable them to always be found by there clients on the network.  Additionally, the DNS server should be it's own client.  The server's own IP address or '127.0.0.1' should be listed as the primary DNS server on the server's IP configuration window.  Select the 'Add Roles' link on the Initial Configuration Tasks page.  A 'Before You Begin' page starts the 'Add Roles Wizard', notifying you of any considerations that have to be made. Read the notice and proceed.

Listed are all of the roles that are available to install on the server.  If a particular role is greyed-out, then it is already installed and no longer available.  Choose the 'DNS Server' role and click 'Next >'.

The next page givens more information on the WS2008 DNS server along with some helpful links built into the page, a step up from Windows Server 2003.  Click 'Next >'.

A summary page follows, the WS2008 install DVD may be needed during the process.  If everything is as desired, click 'Install'.

All done!  Further tasks need to be done from the DNS Console.  Further tasks would include; configuring forward/reverse lookup zones, forwarders, and resource record creation.

The DNS Console should now be available from the administrative tools section.

Windows Server 2008 Technical Reference: DNS

DNS is primarily used in support of Active Directory, but can function very well in a standalone capacity.  WS2008 and DNS can provide name resolution services for small to large networks without Active Directory.

 

Later...