Inert Ramblings

Blog

  • useradd: invalid user name ‘first.last’

    Starting somewhere around the migration from Red Hat Linux 9 to Fedora Core, useradd (adduser) stopped allowing dots in usernames. This was all well and good to fix some of the problems that dots can cause under certain circumstances, but it left some systems administrators high and dry when it came to creating new users where company policy dictated a firstname.lastname username scheme.

    For the past few months I’ve been using a quick and dirty hack with no ill effects. Create the user as firstname_lastname, rename their home directory to firstname.lastname, and then run vipw and vigr to modify the password and group files to change all instances of firstname_lastname to firstname.lastname.

    It sucks, but it works…

  • Tin ceilings and Wi-Fi

    Much to the amusement of our friends Chip and Val, tin ceilings completely block all Wi-Fi signals from passing from their upstairs 54g access point to their downstairs kitchen, dining room, and family room. No big deal; I’ll just install a second access point or drop an external antenna down through the wall to cover their first floor.

  • Attention deficit disorder is the proliferation of purple monkeys in shiny corridors of corn.

    I had an incredibly witty thought that I wanted to share with the rest of the world, so I launched ecto, my blog client. An update was available, so I downloaded and installed it. That reminded me that I hadn’t run versiontracker pro for a while, so I proceeded to launch that. Of course, an update to the software I use to check for updates with was available, so I downloaded and installed the update. Then Acrobat, BitTorrent, LimeWire, Poisoned, etc. While everything was downloading, I checked on the make install status of glibc on my Pepper Pad. Halfway done.

    Why the heck was ecto open again?

  • Bronx Reptiles shuts down; hundreds of animals left to die

    The boa constrictor that was discovered and bifurcated at Ludlow train station in Yonkers, NY on Tuesday, October 12th was actually abandoned by Bronx Reptiles, a well-known breeding and rescue operation that recently shut down. I don’t know the full details of or history behind Bronx Reptiles, but a tenant in the building contacted one of our associates after the owners vacated the operation, fled their legal troubles, and disappeared, leaving hundreds of dead or dying animals in their dirty enclosures.
    (more…)

  • Labor Day!

    Since I spent Labor Day laboring, I hereby declare Columbus Day my surrogate Labor Day and will be hanging around the house in my underwear.

  • Internetishop.com out of business?

    It appears that Internetishop.com (aka Hugebee) has disappeared off the face of the planet even though their Web site is still taking orders and charging credit cards. Brian and I originally used them a year and a half ago to purchase Athlon 2400+ workstations at an amazing price so they immediately came to mind when it came time to purchase a Dual Xeon server for our compile farm. Unfortunately, they charged my corporate Amex almost two weeks ago, my server hasn’t shown up yet, their phones are all RNA or disconnected, and their BBB Report tells an interesting story.

    “On September 24, 2004, we verified that most listed telephone numbers for this company are disconnected, or are no longer in service. The company’s website is no longer functional. We believe this company is out of business.”

    So be it. I contested the charges, filed a BBB report on them, and ordered a 1U Dual Xeon instead.

  • Squirracle

    squirracle (skwûr-kl) n. Divine intervention that allows an ordinary gray squirrel to survive eight lanes of rush hour bumper to bumper traffic on I-95 in Woburn, MA.

  • Pepper Pad 2 Linux Web Pad

    Pepper Computer debuted their $800 Pepper Pad 2 at DEMOmobile 2004 this week. Specs include a 624 MHz XScale processor, 8.4″ 800×600 TFT touchscreen, 802.11b+g, and 20 GB HDD running MontaVista Linux CEE. Out of the box the Pepper Pad 2 loads the Pepper Keeper as its GUI, but a full-blown Linux distribution with Java 2 JRE and X-Window System is sitting under the covers just waiting be customized. I personally can’t wait to get a hold of one of these to turn into an OBD-II and telemetry workstation for the rally car.

  • Pepper Pad 2 Debuts

    Pepper Pad 2

    Isn’t she a beauty? She’s what I’ve been slaving over for the past two weeks. She’s the reason I put in a full work week’s worth of hours over Labor Day weekend. She’s why I didn’t sleep last night. We launched this morning at 7:00 AM and are officially announcing the Pepper Pad 2 at DEMOmobile 2004 today. I could go on, but I’m rather tired and think I’ll curl up under my desk and die now.

  • 5:09 AM

    I just thought I’d let you all know that it’s 5:09 AM. I won’t be sleeping. And I can’t tell you why. Again with the non-disclosure it was! I can tell you that Diet Rock Star Energy Drink rules.