The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey May 25, 2014

Memorial Weekend

First, a correction (fixed already) - I had the umlaut in the wrong place in Zoë Keating's name last week. Sigh. I wouldn't have these problems if I'd listened to more metal when I was growing up. * * * The house in Kensington, California, where I spent my first four years, was sold last year. Zillow has pictures ... and at least one of the stirs some memories. Note the cabinets flanking the demarcation between living room and dining room. Note the glass front doors on the right cabinet. Note the LACK of glass front doors on the left…

Brian Bilbrey May 18, 2014

Mostly Boring

Productively, my weekend was full of remote work for $OFFICE, and yardwork. I did a fair bit of lawn work, and installed the pepper seedlings that Rich sent down from Michigan with Marcia. They were pretty droopy, the plants nearly drowned (I think) in the deluge of Friday, with no drainage in their holding tray. Good thing I transplanted today, eh? Sadly, the news that Zoë Keating's guy has cancer landed in my twitter feed this evening. Sending Jeff, Zoë, and the CelloKid all the good vibes I can lay hands on. I'm a huge fan of Zoë's work, and…

Brian Bilbrey May 11, 2014

Happy Mother's Day

Yes, yes, I called my mom. Thanks for checking, Internet. Also for Mother's Day, Lexi had me wash Marcia's car. Marcia was effusive in her thankage. All you other Mothers out there, you be happy, too, mmm-kay? Me, I'm headed back to work tomorrow after a few days off. Nice and relaxing. (Work, I mean. Time off is exhausting!) * * * Our condolences to the family and friends of Pfc. Daniela Rojas, 19, of Los Angeles, California, who died May 3, in Homburg, Germany, due to a non-combat related illness.

Brian Bilbrey May 10, 2014

Trip Report: LOPSA East 2014

As promised, if a few days later than expected, here is my trip report for LOPSA East 2014. For those who don't know, LOPSA is the acronym for the League of Professional System Administrators. LOPSA is the entity that emerged from an attempt by SAGE to gain independence from USENIX back in 2005. You can get more of the back story on the LOPSA history page (https://lopsa.org/about_history). Four years ago, PICC (the Professional IT Community Conference) was first held in New Jersey; it was organized by William Bilancio and Tom Limoncelli. I missed that one, but have attended ever since.

Brian Bilbrey May 4, 2014

LOPSA East 2014

The League of Professional Systems Administrators (LOPSA) puts on an east coast conference each Spring. We just finished up LOPSA East 2014 last night. An excellent two days of technical training, invited talks, and superb keynote speakers. I'd say that in terms of technical conferences, it's the best value for money around. You'll be hearing a lot more about that from me for the next couple of years. Why? It appears that I have volunteered to shadow the Program Chair next year, and be the Program Chair for LOPSA East 2016. Woo hoo! I'll have a better write-up on this…