Computers ⁽¹²⁸⁾

Brian Bilbrey March 27, 2017

27 March 2017

Whelp. Another week gone. A good work-week with an informative, day-long VMUG event smack in the middle. Wood working on the weekend. I'm making progress on that closet system. All the parts are fabricated and first sanding is done. Next, sealer, resanding, stain, and poly. A couple of weeks should see it done. * * * Our condolences to the families and friends of these fallen warriors: Sgt. 1st Class Robert R. Boniface, 34, of San Luis Obispo, California, died March 19, in Logar Province, Afghanistan, from a non-combat related incident. Staff Sgt. Alexandria Mae Morrow, 25, of Dansville, NY,…

Brian Bilbrey March 12, 2017

12 March 2017

Wednesday, I attended an Ansible Automates event downtown. I've been making use of Ansible for configuration management for nearly three years now, but the rate of change and new capabilities since the project was purchased by Red Hat about 18 months ago is stunning. There's a lot I have to learn to find out what else I should be automating with this tool. A good weekend: got assorted things done, including roasting some delicious-smelling Tanzania Mbozi - Iwezya Station beans from Sweet Maria's. We (mostly Marcia) cooked a lovely salmon supper followed by a blueberry pie for dessert last night.

Brian Bilbrey March 7, 2017

7 Feb 2017

Wow. Am I a slacker, or what? I've been really busy. Work is keeping me on my toes, and (wonderfully), we're finally cooking with gas! We got a KitchenAid Dual Fuel range - a natural gas range (that could be converted to LP if needed) with two electric ovens. Yay! Getting the range was Marcia's birthday present, and she got the gasfitter to run the line for Valentine's Day. No massacres yet! * * * On the professional front, I'm working on the options for extending my Red Hat Certified Engineer status. I'm probably going down the automation path, with…

Brian Bilbrey February 12, 2017

12 Feb 2017

A quiet weekend around here. A haircut, some shopping, a few dog walks. Ooooh, yeah: I got my BSidesCharm 2017 tickets tonight. Yay. It's a superb, impactful, (mostly) defensive security conference. I've enjoyed the first two years of this con, and the third year's program looks like it will be a worthy continuation. The first round of badges has already sold out. The second half of the tix go on sale 26 February. Keep an eye on @BSidesCharm on twit that day. You may need to be quick... * * * This Republican Administration continues to disappoint, to no one's…

Brian Bilbrey February 3, 2017

3 Feb 2017

Another interesting week near the heart of power. Well, when I say "heart", I mean corroded hunk of radioactive tin encased in an orange waste of skin. Ah, well. One does what one can while watching the wreck of trains, above and below. In the meantime, I managed to get Kubuntu installed on my old Mac Air (2011). The install was fairly trivial, just a couple of trips to the search engines to get me over the occasional install hump. Everything but the thunderbolt port works flawlessly, and here it sits next to it's new big brother: The primary failing…