It’s been a little while. I am here and I am coding and thinking and stuff. Finn is the cutest person on Earth — objectively speaking. All is well in the world (for me). My problems are first world problems. I am.
The more I learn and understand about the Unix/Linux culture, the more I want to participate in it and to (one day) contribute to it.
Posted September 16, 2011 | ∞ | File under: personal, programming, web nerd
Finally PASSED the second course in my Unix/Linux program. I had the zone files right and I was running the named service ok without errors in my log files, but I was not including localhost when I ran nslookup so I was getting “host not found”. Needed to run “nslookup fakezone.net localhost”. But I’m done with that now.
Now I get to move on to Unix services which includes Apache. Stoked.
Posted September 7, 2011 | ∞ | File under: computers are fun, personal, web nerd
I am making progress.
Still working on my little javascript “macro” to summarize keyword performance reports. It will be very useful to me day today and is a fun little exercise in javascript. I was going to use Backbone.js but the “app” is not going to be that complicated. I will just use jQuery, _.template (or ICanHaz.js) and flot. I am going to get it done (or at least most of it) this week.
I am well into my Networking and DNS class, the second course in the O’Reilly School Linux/Unix System Administration program. Lots of interesting discoveries in this one. How to determine the number of subnets given the IP address and the subnet mask? Also, how to write a number in binary (00100001 = 33, my age) because IPv4 uses four 8 bit numbers and the bits help determine the number of usable numbers in a network. Is definitely getting more difficult now.
I am also exploring Ruby and Ruby on Rails. Kinda feel like I’m jumping on the bandwagon. But really that’s what I should be doing. So far it really appeals to me. The language is expressive and fun to use, Rails is better known than Django, and “why’s poignant guide to Ruby” is fascinating and inspiring. Too bad @_why disappeared. I’m still trying to think up a useful command line script I can write and use as practice.
I’ve also initialized my presence on GitHub with a first dummy repository. Check me out at github.com/bionicbrian. I will push my JavaScript report tool to my page when it’s done.
I’m making progress with what I know. Now I want to start cranking stuff out — tangible code — even if it’s terrible. I want to keep in mind what Ira Glass called the gap between a beginner’s work and a beginner’s taste. “It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions.” One day I’d like to look back on the code I write now and laugh a wise patronizing laugh.
Posted June 6, 2011 | ∞ | File under: personal, programming
I’ve been really enjoying the first course in Unix/Linux SysAdmin through the O’Reilly School.
For example, I finally learned what chmod codes do for file permissions. What does 755 stand for in “chmod 755 file.txt”? The first digit is the user, the second is the group, and the third is everyone else. And the value is arrived at by adding 4 for read, 2 for write, and 1 for execute. So the user gets read (4), write (2), and execute (1) permissions (4 + 2 + 1 = 7); while the group and everyone else get read (4) and execute (1) permissions (4 + 1 = 5). This blew my mind. While you can also use “chmod a+rx, u+w file.txt”, I think it’s necessary to know the numerical method as well.
The tidbits you pick up from the instructors are cool. In my quiz on grep regular expressions, mine let me know that if I’m using curly braces a la “[A-Z]{2}”, I’ll need to use egrep or the -P flag. Good to know!
Stoked.
Posted May 20, 2011 | ∞ | File under: personal, programming
Yes! Freaking finally! I have my local web server running with Python on my Mac. I had no idea what I was doing and learned so much just to get a freaking “.py” file running in a browser.
First off, I had to learn I didn’t already have mod_python installed. I had to go get that. Then I had to go get the patch for mod_python only after searching all over and realizing many other people had the same error. Signed up with Apple as a developer and installed Xcode. This article saved me from killing myself. And this Python CGI tutorial helped me get the last step after I kept getting a 500 error, checking my error logs and seeing a “malformed header.” You have to have a “print ” blank line after print “Content-type: html/text” for some reason! Argh!
But I am set up now! I got my Apache, I got my mod_python, configured my httpd.config with proper settings to run CGI scripts. So stoked. Now the real fun can begin. Next up is maybe to set up SQLite or MySQL locally but I will take a break before I get into that.
Posted October 31, 2010 | ∞ | File under: personal, programming, python, web nerd
Love the new apartment. Is a mess but can envision it with couch and kitchen table, Finn’s room painted and setup, Blik on the walls, books on the shelves. Roof deck has been used plenty already.
Near the end of the main storyline in Red Dead Redemption. Beautiful brilliant game. Still immersed after many hours of play.
Working on my comic. Have basic character sketches solid. Have first ideas ready. Now working on layout and conventions.
Idea for Sci-fi novel solid enough to start writing it. Finishing reading Cloud Atlas now and aspire to write as well as that — aim for the stars.
Kung Fu going well. Getting better at lat sau and just beginning dan sau. Need to work out a little to make sure muscles don’t give out toward the end of class as they do now.
Need to compile video of Finn in iMovie and post something to Vimeo soon. He’s so big now the first shots won’t even look like the same kid.
Project Management book coming in the mail. Will crack it open and start to absorb key concepts and figure out how to go about studying for possible PMP.
Finn is the cutest baby in the universe. Fact. Looking forward to going on a walk with him this weekend. Maybe to the park and hanging out on the grass. B wants to do ArtWalk on Atlantic. Will be fun.
I am thankful for Rebecca, George, and little Teo on the way. I am thankful that somehow I have managed to set myself up in a cool little family.
Posted November 19, 2009 | ∞ | File under: personal, thanksgiving
