Saturday, November 29, 2008

Interesting...

I found certs today, that said I've taken Juniper Training on Advanced VPN Concepts and Firewalls.

I don't even remember those classes.

Monday, November 24, 2008

follow up to crypto

It's really really going over well. At least with the test group. The two help desk people that were here today, have already started to use it for personal conversations too. The ones with their friends. One of them im'd me from home, to see if it was working. Of course since it wasn't the same key as the one he had here, I was getting conflicting key errors.

Just really neat to see it spreading like it is. They're using it, they're getting their friends to use it. Yeah it's not as good or strong as GnuPG or PGP, but it works.

I also know that one of the developers is on board for it. I think the other one might be too.

It shouldn't be THAT easy

I've sold my manager, and director on Encrypted IM... We're running a small test right now, in the IT group (the IT people, we'll fold the rest of the IS people in later (the developers, dbas and etc).

We're using Pidgin, with Pidgin-encryption. Really easy to set up. Install Pidgin. Install Pidgin-encryption. Works with all major IM servers, and Operating Systems.

After installing, set your user accounts (don't have to, but that is the way I like to do it), then go and turn on the plugin for pidgin-encryption under options>plugins.

When you turn it on, by selecting the check box, it creates rsa keys for all accounts in the client. Click on configure plugin button, and go to the second tab. Highlight the account, press regenerate key. Change the key size to 2048. The bigger the key the harder it is to break. I have mine set at 4096 (the largest size supported by the client at this time).

Then when you IM a someone, you'll notice somewhere in the text window (here at work it's on the top of the window) a little lock. Click it, and it turns on the encryption. If the person on the other side has the plugin installed, you'll get their key. You should have 2 locks at that point. with arrows pointing to each other. You're encrypted and good to roll. If you're sending an im to someone without encryption, just turn off the crypto, by hitting that little green lock.

So what does encryption do again? It makes it so no one else can read your messages, unless they are supposed to. Encrypted IM rocks. This is really fast, easy to set up, and simple to use. You don't have to worry about someone, like Google (if using Google talk), storing your IMs and giving them to the cops. Because It's encrypted. However, the cops can make you give up your key, at least in the United States. But, if you're transferring Intellectual Property (YOUR OWN, or YOUR EMPLOYER'S) you don't have to worry about the competitor getting your data.

So what shouldn't be that easy? Getting upper management to buy in on this. I've been trying for 2 years. They both said yes today. The director said to bring it up at the next team meeting, and we'll work it out.

ouch and fail

So I tired to do snatches tonight at 32kg. Couldn't do it. My toes hurt (dropped my scale on it today), and my knee still hurts from Thursday. It's still bruised in color.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

hmm... time for the weekend review

Like most weeks, I don't remember most of them, but this is my first weekend off in a month. So I burnt it so far, at my computer. Muhahaha.

Here is what I remember that's worth it (most of the week is a blur).

Tuesday, I cooked. 2 tofurkies, with the oil and soy sauce baste. I cooked them on a bed of red potatoes, onions, and carrots. I also made cranberry sauce. yummm...

Wednesday I over ate at the pot luck.

Thursday, I went to Martial Arts. It was good. I liked it. My endurance level appears to be one of the highest ones there. Which is a little sad. I'm basing this off of people moving away from me in free fighting, while sucking wind. I'll be breathing heavy, but they are sucking wind.

Fell pretty bad too. Landed on my elbow pretty hard, buy my knee much harder. It's still bruised. I had a hard time walking Friday. Of course, I had to walk all around the building, which did help it some, even if I did limp most of the time.

Thursday it snowed. I fell on the ice outside, before going to class. Wasn't that bad in that case, just had one leg go out from under me, and was able to turn it into a kneel, before crashing. I tend to do that a lot when I fall on the ice. End up in a one knee kneel. The drive home sucked, once I got near the airport, went to a complete stand still.

Earlier Thursday, the director emailed me about a wireless access point showing near his office. They're pretty paranoid there about that stuff. I really don't care too much myself. To a point. Once a month I walk around with a laptop, looking for wireless access points. I'd much rather have a better tool, that finds the non-broadcast SSIDs too, but it makes them feel good. Anyway, it looks like someone set up a new access point across the freeway and we're getting bleed over. One troublesome thing though. Thursday during the quick initial scan. I found one that really did bother me. It was an ad-hoc peering point called "Free Public Internet". Ad-hoc networks are computers without a router, that can access each other no problem. Lets just put it this way, it is a bad thing to find. Turns out it was on the CFO's laptop. A VERY BAD THING. Basically anyone could sit out in the parking lot, or even across the freeway (with a directional antenna, which can be made with a pringles can), connect to the computer and get files from it.

I get to do a computer security class in a few months. It's for the Executives and the Sales people. Should be fun. I'm going to write the manual from scratch.

Friday, wandered around, then spent the majority of the afternoon at my desk being bored. Could have done some other stuff, but didn't feel like it at the time.

Today, I had fun. I set up some neato computer stuff, GnuPG, and the ability to encrypt my google email. (Encryption is good, it prevents people from reading what they are not meant to be). The way it works, you make a key pair. One is public, one is private. The public one you share. The private one you hide. When they want to send you an email, only you can read, they encrypt it with your public key, and usually sign it with their private key (because you're public key is public, anyone can get it and say they are so and so, but signing it with their own private key means it's from them). As long as you have their public key, you can read the message, after decrypting it with your private key, and can confirm it's from them, by checking they're signature against their public key. It sounds harder than it really is. Which is probably why so few use it. It took me all of 30 minutes to get set up.

I also looked up the details on creating a spice mister. Going to make some capsaicin oil to try with it in a few weeks.

I also got caught up on some tv. Watched about 4 hours of it today. About all I could stand. Read a lot of neat stuff on the web. Instructables and Life Hacker rock.

Only other thing of note, was I got the Ultimate bond, 42 discs. 21 movies (Doctor No through Casino Royal, minus Never Say Never Again). I finally saw Casino. It was decent. I look forward to seeing Quantum now.

Oh and I think I'm going to push and try to sell the idea of encrypted IM clients at work this week to the upper management.

Friday, November 21, 2008

The world if full of nutters

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/olgakurylenko_blog.html

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I need to rant

It is kind of training related.

So there is a program called Enter the Kettlebell. It's known as ETK. It is broken up into 2 parts. The Program Minimum, which is designed to condition the body. Then there is the Right of Passage, where the real work begins.

TPM get's you ready for RoP.

On the AOS forum, someone asked if she was ready to move on to week 4, or if she should repeat week 3. I gave her my opinion, based on what she said her work out was. While she was getting work done, she wasn't getting it done as it was written.

Another comment made, by another user, said they weren't doing the program as written and doing something else altogether. This user has claimed to for the last four weeks, that they were doing the ETK: Program Minimum. However came out and said that what they had been doing was CHEATING. The person thinks they're way is as good as the real thing. The user doesn't feel toasted after the work out. Which is kind of the point of The Program Minimum. Because if you're feeling toasted after that, you're not ready to move on to the next week, or for the Right of Passage. You're not in shape to move on to the real work. You haven't paid in sweat, blood and tears.

It would be like someone trying out for the first chair in a band, when the person can only play 1 song on the instrument. It would be like trying to swim a mile, when the most you have ever done is 25 yards. You're just not ready.

I really want to call the person on it. I really do. But the forum doesn't need arguments, it has had a share of rough patches lately and doesn't need more people bickering. It used to be great, but more people of the "I don't want to work hard variety have been showing up on it lately". And they're playing an ego game. Posting just to post, with out really having any value to the posts.

The point is, you either do the program as it is written (there are 2 versions of it, in Paval's ETK Book, where you swing and jog, and the version in Anthony's Workbook, where he's mixed the jogging up with other things) or you're CHEATING. The work is 12 minutes, not 10 minutes.

Start doing the real workout, and stop lying to the rest of us, that really are doing the program, and not looking for an ego boost. One of the things Paval says in ETK, if you're asking if you can make substitutions, the answer is No. See page 161 and 162 of ETK if you want the exact quote. It's in the frequently asked questions section.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

cocked, but not loaded

So I decided to grab a 25lbs kettlebell tonight. See how far down I could go without the door to help me.

Umm... All the way down it would appear. On both legs. Can't get back up though. And tend to fall back on my but, after about a second, when using the left leg. With less weight I get down to about knee level, and completely lose it, landing on my butt. With something of a soft thud, was expecting a harder one, since I'm about 250lbs still.

Looking like more door pistols in my future. Maybe I'll set up one my bands on a rafter in the garage.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

135 lbs

Did dead lifts tonight. Actually built up the bar.

40lbs olympic bar
2 45lbs plates
2 2.5lbs plates
the joke plastic locking mechs, that weigh nothing, and don't work (need to be replaced).

2 sets of 5.

One clean and press from the ground to over head.

The bar I have, is designed for screw on locks. The guy I got it from lost those, and said these plastic things work. On my dead lifts, the plates slid off. I'm thinking of taking the bar with me to play it again sports and trying to get something better. That or maybe trade the bar for something better. I think these locks would work on a CAP bar, but not on what I have.

pistol trainning

Using the door jambs, like Jen said.

Using mostly arms to get up and down right now. Have to use 2 different doors to do it.Just the way the house is set up right now. Can do 5 per leg, but like I said, mostly arm. I'm hoping by week end, that I'll be able to start doing pyramids. Hoping to have them down by Thanksgiving.

First Edit:
2 sets of 5 done. Legs burn.

I'm going for a 5 to 1 pyramid now.

Edit 2:
Boooyah
5 right, 5 left
4 right, 4 left
3 right, 3 left
2 right, 2 left
1 right, 1 left.

My right side is way more stronger than my left. More arm needed for left. but that could be because I have to use a higher grip on the left for that door jamb. I feel good, but need more work. A better area to do it in would be nice too.

My legs burn, in a good way. My fingers hurt from the grip from the door for the left, but not in as good a way.

Edit 3:
I found another way to do pistols, with the door. way more legs... and now they're starting to shake.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

tonight

I forget how far the walk was to the car, about 175 yards or so. Maybe more. Not important enough to look up again. I'd just forget it.


Anyway 16kg (35lbs)
Right side 1 hand clean walk, we'll say 80 yards, 1 hand over head walk 80 yards. 1 hand Farmer walk 100 feet (give or take)

50 swings
long walk, about 300ft
50 swings
walk
50 swings

left side 1 hand Farmer walk 100 feet (give or take). 1 hand clean walk, we'll say 80 yards, 1 hand over head walk 80 yards.

The time between taking it in and out of the car was a lot longer of break than before and after the work out.

I had problems stabilizing the walk back to the car, so I know my left sie

"So that's what that is"

Topic is a reference to the episode called talent night of reboot. If you've done computer rendering, you know what the cone, the box and the sphere is. In it, they had a group called the primitives, which was a band made of the box, the sphere and the cone. It was a very very nerdy in joke. At the end, they took the shape of the Reboot logo.

I bring this up, because while I can do a normal clean, I never thought of why you couldn't curl a clean, other than cheating. I went out to my car tonight to get my 16kg bell. I really need a 20. Anyway instead of doing a proper clean, I curled it into the clean position. Something didn't feel right in my shoulder when I did that. That didn't stop me from carrying it down in a clean (about half way) to an over head walk. I did a one hand farmer's walk in the building. my shoulder feels a little stiff now. I can't wait to take it back up the hill in the other hand.

cisco load balancer

So I have a content switch module in one of my switches. It's used for Load Balancing of services across multiple servers. Think multiple servers for 1 web page, all the servers are mirrored so you get the same content, it just spreads the pain around to 4 servers instead of having 1 server to do all the work.

So I'm renumbering 4 of the servers. We're actually upgrading some of the content to virtual servers, but leaving some stuff behind on the old server. It was a case of a new product not having a home and sharing the load on the servers, with out creating a virtual server.

Anyway like I said, renumbering servers. Set up the firewall to point the traffic to the load balancer. Set the server up to pass traffic. I already have one up and running this is the second one. I spent roughly 2 to 3 hours trying to figure out why this thing couldn't get a network connection. It could talk to the other servers on the same vlan / network, but moving across to the other vlans and networks (where the firewall comes into play) it wouldn't.

Change ip addresses, same problem. Change gateways to the DMZ instead of the LB, and it would get a net connection. Double check the firewall routing. It still didn't work.

Then I thought, ok, the only thing I haven't done is put it into a server farm yet, on the CSM. As soon as I did that, it started working. Why the LB, needs to know what server farm something belongs to before it starts passing traffic I have no idea. I think it's a bad design though. I can see why they'd do it that way. That way you don't have things pointing to the load balancer that aren't being balanced. But when you're just setting up a box, you don't want it to be balanced, you want it to work.

Meh

Monday, November 10, 2008

Single leg squat

I've made no progress on these, and I'm so thick sometimes.

IN my basement I have one of those oversized ball things. It used to sit upstairs, but the bird hates it like you wouldn't believe. Emergency Squawk on full when ever he is around it.

Anyway, I was thinking today, about trying to get my friend Ruth more motivated in working out. She's not doing much, but she's improved. I was thinking of offering to work out with her on the side, at her place. Yes I'm not a certified instructor, but I have been teaching Martial Arts off an don for the last 10 years or getting pretty close to it. Part of the training, is physical exercise. All body weight. well 99.99% body weight. In fact I'm at the rank now, where there are no new forms to learn. The point of this and the rank above it is to get better at teaching. Improve your skills by teaching others. And work on your endurance and strength.

Anyway I was thinking the ball in the basement to get her to start doing squats. While I was doing laundry today, it finally dawned on me to use it for SINGLE LEGGED SQUATS!

I was really sad when I tried. I get about half-way to the ball, about 1/4 of the way down in a single legged squat, and then my leg gives out and I just fall back the rest of the way. I can get back up if I rock forward and use the momentum to get up. The ball kept trying to move around on me too.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

They tell me it's a new world

I don't believe them.

1: until he takes control of the pen, and starts signing legislation that is acted upon, it's all a dream right now.

2: PZ Myers, aka Pharyngula said it much better than I could.

Prop 8 passed. It joins 2 other states with the same anti-rights laws. Florida and Arizona.


Things that did make me proud yesterday:
Michigan passed both Prop 1 (medical use marijuana) and Prop 2 (human embryo and human embryonic stem cell research).

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Fun things today

So today was Election day. I got up at 6am, got to the polls at 6:30, and I was about 13th or so in line (I got ballot 0013). It was a minor cluster, and there were lots of people there. By the time the polls opened the line had already doubled back on itself. We had the silly fill the bubble in kind, with black or blue ink. Oh even though I had ballot 13, I was the 12th person to cast their ballot.

The person in front of me used to be my Rep to the State Senate. I recognized him. He doesn't know me, but knows my uncle. It was fun, actually kind of argued with him over politics. The problem is he's been in the belly of the beast, and can't see the forest through the trees anymore.

After voting, I had to go outside and wait for my Uncle who went up there with me. In the process, I got to call a pro-lifer (she claimed she was a "right to life" person) exactly what they are. PRO-Slavery advocates. They want the government to micro-manage their lives, because they're scared of their own sexual organs. It actually chased her, and the former Rep away. I also got to say that Religious Beliefs have no place in politics.

Pro-choice is more than the right to abortion. It's about having a choice period. It means being able to chose what you do and how you use your reproductive organs. The Pro-Slavers won't stop when they get abortion abolished. They'll go after any kind of family planing. They've already gutted sex education. Which you can see as there has been a rise in teen pregnancy. Hell look at the Republican's VP choice's daughter. Being Pro-choice is about not having the government telling us how to have sex.

The best thing today... THE VERY BEST THING TODAY... I'm wearing new pants.
Why is that the best thing? The people who make the slacks I wear to work stopped making the flat front kind in my size, 40x32. Since I tore my last pair last week, I went out and bought new pants. 38x32. AND THEY FIT!!! Its a small victory, but I take what I can get where I can get it.