Black Friday was last week, and Sears did some amazing online sales for it, so I was able to get my hands on the 14pc SAE/Metric Gear Wrench Flex-Head set I've been wanting for some time.
They arrived today, and they're just so damned fun to play with!
I need more repair/build stuff to do, so that I can use these things!
...at least, it seems that way.
My long weekend is over, and I must return to work tomorrow.
Ugh.
Don't get me wrong, I love the new position and everything, but, damn, it was nice to not really have to do anything for the past week. I was just beginning to relax, and now I've got to put it all away.
Oh well.
At least I got some stuff accomplished this week:
Rearranged the living room, shifting the entertainment center about 90 degrees, and altering the entire layout.
Organized my far-too-huge DVD collection in the process.
Organized the bookshelves a bit, and moved all of my gaming stuff to a better location.
Moved the "main" printer from the office to the living room, where it's better situated for everyone (including me).
Things seem a lot nicer, now, and the place feels a lot bigger (less constrained). I dig it.
I turned 30 today.
No longer can I blame my immaturity on being a child.
Dammit.
Now what am I going to do?
Woohoo!
Thanks to badass sellers on Amazon, and a "clearance" at Borderlands to make room for 4.0 stuff that won't be out for another 7 months, I've got quite a load of crap coming in:
I picked up the following at Borderlands today:
Draconomicon
Dragon Magic
Races of the Dragon
Monster Manual V
At some used bookstores, I snagged:
Faiths and Pantheons (Forgotten Realms)
Sandstorm
And, either tomorrow, or Monday, the boxes from Amazon will show up, and they contain:
Psioncs Handbook
Manual of the Planes
Arms and Equipment Guide
Book of Vile Darkness
Ghostwalk
Book of Exalted Deeds
Eberron Campaign Setting
Monster Manual III
Monster Manual IV
Complete Arcane
Weapons of Legacy
Tome of Magic: Pact, Shadow and TrueName Magic
Complete Psionic
Complete Mage
Yay!
My bookshelf is going to freaking ROCK.
And yes. I'm a nerd. Deal with it.
WOOHOO!
Accrued vacation time rules.
We're already out for Thanksgiving, but I'm taking Friday, and the following Monday and Tuesday off, as well.
Thirty years (nearly) seems to have gone by pretty damned quickly, and I'm not too thrilled about it. I'm hoping the next thirty take a little longer, and have some bigger events...
So, we've been under a rock here at House v0.9 Beta, and nobody really knew about the D&D 4.0 announcement that happened back in August.
Regardless of the timing of things, we're underwhelmed.
D&D 4.0 looks to be more of WotC's fuckery of the hobby, and they seem determined to kill the pen-and-paper nature of RPGs.
Don't take that the wrong way - we don't hate WotC. In fact, we adore them for keeping D&D alive after the Williams-era TSR nearly ran it into the ground.
We're just a bit jaded about the third new version of the ruleset in about 8 years.
Despite the marketing hype that WotC hopes you'll believe, they're playing a semantics game with the facts.
Sure, this is the first "full-version" new release in eight years. Wow, eight years?! That's some massive amount of time right there, fuckers!
Let's face it, people. We all bought into D&D 3rd Edition. We went out, we bought the core books, we bought a bunch of other WotC-published material, and then four years into it, you shafted us with D&D 3.5.
Instead of simply publishing a Rules Compendium-style book that details all of the new changes, you decided that you were going to release a completely new version, and attempt to bullshit us all that it wasn't officially a new version.
Let's see - different/changed rules, making the all of the old material incompatible (unless you spend time converting it), and forcing us to go shell out for new core books, and this isn't a new version? Fuck you guys.
Now, in a repeat of history, four years later, they're bending us over again.
D&D 4.0 is going to require all new core rulebooks, and they're going to re-release all of the same shit under the new ruleset.
By WotC's own admission, this new version will allow for easy conversion of existing 3.5 stuff, much like it was to go from 3.0 to 3.5.
So, then, isn't 4.0 really 3.75? Nope! They've added a shitty little gamechat and map application to it, and they're going to require a monthly subscription fee for the service, as well!
Oh, there's also a character generator in there, as well - nevermind that a metric fuck-ton of your customer base already went out and plunked down a ton of money for e-Tools and the datasets that were being produced for it. Nevermind that you've shafted us there, as well, by yanking Code Monkey Publishing's license to produce/update/expand e-Tools, leaving us all out in the cold, with our substantial investment now ruined, because it's incomplete.
Now you expect us to pay out for new books, new software, a monthly subscription fee, for what? Your shitty attempt at knocking MMORPG's off their throne?
I know you shouldn't judge a product on it's pre-release demos, but your little character creator/map system looks like crap. The graphics suck, which, in this case, since you're trying to win back market-share from World of Warcraft, kind of matters.
Jay Garmon says it far more eloquently than I can.
Suffice it to say, I'm not going to purchase anything from D&D 4.0.
There's still a plethora of D&D 3.0 and 3.5 books out there that I don't have, and want. I've got zero interest in a "new" or changed D20 game system, and I've got no interest in the online components. I'm a role-player, not a hack-and-slasher. That's why I don't play MMO's, and that's why I do play D&D. Why would I want a simulation of tabletop hack-and-slash, when games like WoW exist?
Why would anyone?
Want a free Kobalt 6-in-1 screwdriver?
You're going to have to travel to your local Lowe's store to pick it up, which means if you're out here in Beirut (or in the vicinity) like me, you're going to have to travel to Salem for it.
Visit http://www.kobalt.com/ right now, and punch in your information. You'll be emailed a link to a printable coupon with a unique barcode (don't give yours out, make your friends enter themselves, because the barcode deactivates once you get your screwdriver) that you can take to the store.
When you redeem the coupon, you're also entered in the sweepstakes for a $4800 Lowe's gift card, which would be pretty sweet, too.
Now, I'm sure it's probably a $5 screwdriver, but, hey, it's free. If I can get one the next time I'm going to Salem for other business, then it's all good.
Anyhow - check it out, enter, get a free driver. DO IT!
Radigast: If you're reading this, use your parent's address or something - I already used ours. :)
Alright, this is quite possible one of the niftiest (and most useful) pieces of software that a Network Administrator could possible ask for!
I was looking for a software port-blinker (which I have yet to find) - something that could be used on a laptop plugged into an unknown port, and cause it to start flashing.
We've got tons of switches, and getting an ID on a port can be a royal pain sometimes.
If I'm not physically at the switch, I can attemp to track the port from the router down to the end switch by use of the arp and mac tables, but that's annoying and time consuming.
Conversely, if I'm at the switch, I can trace the physical cable, but, again, annoying and time consuming.
There's hardware devices out there that will blink a port, so I'd assume there's got to be software that will do the same, but I just can't find it.
Well, the next best thing is Cisco CDP Monitor by Tallsoft - that is, of course, that you're in a Cisco environment. If you're not, you should be.
Anyhow, CDP Monitor mimics the Cisco-proprietary CDP traffic, and you're detected as a CDP neighbor on the switch you're plugged into.
A quick "show cdp neighbors" will give up all the information you need.
It's not as fast as a port blinker, but it's certainly quicker than reversing the arp and mac stuff back down the line.
If you haven't used it, download it and give it a try - it's freaking AWESOME.
Not too shabby. If you're bored, go see it.
I could have done with more Vince Vaughn and less feel-good family crap, though.
Title says it.
Thanks to all, past and present.
So, the local fun shop has an Australian Lithgow SMLE MkIII for sale.
This Enfield is SEXY.
I love the snub nose look of the thing, and it just FEELS right.
Unfortunately, I just can't justify spending $300 on something like this, when there's tons of other projects that need completed.
I need to win the lottery, dammit.
On a side note, I think my kitty is lonely. He's been waking me up in the middle of the night, meowing outside my door - however, if I let him in, he just meows to get out.
Jackass.
Been learning quite a bit about our network over the last few days.
We've got this awesome piece of software called Orion that monitors all kinds of crap on our switches and routers, and I've been cleaning it up/organizing things in it, as well as doing a LOT of renaming of hardware and setting of SNMP stuffs for them.
This job is seriously rocking, and it's kinda funny - we're not really busy, but I'm interested and challenged with this stuff, so I haven't even thought about recreational websurfing at work for quite some time.
Funny how that works, huh?
So, I got to go to a Cisco meet-and-greet deal today, where they put on a presentation about their "new" security offerings, and this one was largely centered around their NAC product (NAC = Network Admission Control).
NAC is this nifty little device that can be used to limit access to the network based on a bunch of different variables, but one of the most prominent uses of it is to verify that machines connecting to your network are up-to-date with all the latest security patches, virus protection, etc.
It can check for that, and give access to the network depending on where you're at.
Another related product is the NAC Profiler (from a Cisco partner/OEM) that keeps tabs on what is plugged in where, and prohibits access if it doesn't follow it's profile - for example, if the NAC Profiler knows that a printer is plugged into a particular port, and then someone unplugs it and plugs their laptop in, the NAC Profiler is able to detect it based on the abnormal behavior - printers don't surf YouTube, and that kind of thing - and cut off it's access.
Pretty nifty stuff, and it looks like we're going to be buying one.
Rock on!
Anyone know a way I can make $50,000 really fast? I'd even sell a kidney (or a testicle)...
HO HO HO!
‘Dog’ Chapman’s son sold taped call to tabloidTV bounty hunter uses N-word repeatedly in in phone conversation
updated 6:45 p.m. PT, Thurs., Nov. 1, 2007
HONOLULU - Television bounty hunter Duane "Dog" Chapman's private phone conversation, in which he used the N-word repeatedly, was taped and sold to The National Enquirer by his son, Chapman's lawyer said Thursday.
Attorney Brook Hart told The Associated Press that Chapman's son, Tucker, sent the recording to the tabloid for "a lot of money."
"I guess because of whatever level of anger he had of his father, he felt the need to express it in that manner," Hart said.
Tucker Chapman could not immediately be reached for comment. No one answered the telephone at a Honolulu number listed under his name.
Chapman, star of A&E's hit reality series "Dog the Bounty Hunter," apologized Wednesday, shortly after the Enquirer posted on its Web site a 5-minute clip of the conversation in which he uses the N-word in reference to Tucker's girlfriend.
Chapman used the slur six times in the first 45 seconds of the clip, which has damaged his reputation and jeopardized his career as a TV bounty hunter.
A&E has suspended production of the series, saying the network takes the matter very seriously.
"When the inquiry is concluded, we will take appropriate action," A&E spokesman Michael Feeney said in a statement Thursday.
The show, in its fifth season and one of A&E's top-rated programs, has not been canceled.
A telephone message left after hours for David Perel, the Enquirer's editor-in-chief, was not immediately returned. But earlier in the day, Perel declined to say how the tape was obtained, adding that it didn't matter because all that matters is what's on the tape.
In the conversation, Chapman urges Tucker to break up with his girlfriend. He also expresses concern about the girlfriend trying to tape and go public about the TV star's use of the N-word.
In a statement, the 54-year-old Chapman said he has "utmost respect and aloha for black people who have suffered so much due to racial discrimination and acts of hatred.
"I did not mean to add yet another slap in the face to an entire race of people who have brought so many gifts to this world," he said. "I am ashamed of myself and I pledge to do whatever I can to repair this damage I have caused."
Hart said his client is not a racist and vowed never to use the word again.
"I have never seen anything that suggests he judges people by the color of their skin or racial background or anything but on their character," he said. "Duane lost his composure and made very, very inapprorpiate remarks, for which he truly regrets."
Chapman said he was "disappointed in his choice of a friend, not due to her race, but her character. However, I should have never used that term."
Chapman said he is meeting with his spiritual adviser, Rev. Tim Storey, and hopes to meet with other black leaders.
"I know that all of my fans are deeply disappointed in me, as well, as I have tried to be a model for doing the right thing," he said. "I did not do the right thing this time, and hope you will forgive me."
Civil-rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton is among the leaders Chapman contacted. In a letter Thursday to the bounty hunter, Sharpton wrote that as a minister, he would be inclined to meet "despite the racist and grotesque things I heard you say."
Sharpton said he would be willing to meet while traveling to promote a Nov. 16 march in Washington against hate crimes and racial attacks, but would not rearrange his road trip to do so.
"Be assured that I will not sanitize the kind of hate language that leads to the hate action that has left so many people vulnerable in America today," Sharpton wrote.
Sharpton noted he hadn't called for action by A&E, but will not call against it, either.
The TV series follows Chapman and his tattooed crew as they track down bail jumpers in Hawaii and other states.
The Honolulu-based bounty hunter first grabbed headlines for apprehending serial rapist and Max Factor heir Andrew Luster in Mexico in 2003.
This is so damned awesome.
I've always known Chapman to be a piece of shit, but his fans and defenders (read "apologists") are always quick to point out what a good person he is, and how he helps people.
He's a convicted murderer, fuckers! And he's a racist fucktard to boot.