rebelpeon.com

Illinois-Indiana Loop

It all started Friday after work (I actually left work late, which I didn’t want to do). I got home, packed a bag with two days worth of clothes, filled up the water bottle, swung by the Speedway, and hit the road. First stop was Chicago.

I needed to go there because my suit, which I had previously picked out, finally had arrived and I needed to get it fitted. So, I had given Ann a call a few days back and said that I was going to be up in the area, and if she was up to anything and if I could crash on her couch Friday night. Amazingly, it took me exactly two hours to get to her place, just north of downtown. We then hung out a bit, and then hit a dive bar with her roommate and her boyfriend. The next morning Ann and I headed out to Schaumburg so I could try on my suit. While we were out there, we were going to stop by Ikea so she could look for a bed (currently she uses an inflatable twin size mattress). The suit fitting was good, but the pants were way too huge, so they’re going to have to remove material. This means another trip to get the pant length altered. Oh well, not a problem. However, I was overcharged $100 on the suit. I still need to call back up there and get that resolved. We then hit Ikea. Oh, Ikea. Talk about the worst place to be on a Saturday in Schaumburg. Anyways, they didn’t have the bed frame she wanted in stock. We couldn’t have fit it in her car anyways, and shipping was $100, ouch.

Overall, the trip to Schaumburg, total bust. We went back to her place, I got all my stuff together, and then it was off to Fort Wayne, IN.

According to Michael, I got there “too early.” The whole reason I was going to Fort Wayne was because of his engagement party, but that didn’t start until 8pm, and I had arrived at 5:30. Well, this got me an invite to the dinner where Michael’s and his fianc

Virtualization

Alright, for those of you that don’t appreciate being a nerd, please feel free to stop reading this post. For the rest of you…

At the last DS meeting, we had a presentation by VMWare. Now, I use VMWare Workstation to do a lot of my MSI development and testing. Granted, I could use the University site licensed version of Virtual PC, but VMWare is just better. So anyways, I was very intrigued by what they were going to talk to us about, especially with the recent release of Virtual Server from Microsoft.

Personally, I had never used either companies server solution, but because of my previously reported problems with Virtual PC, Virtual Server already left a bad taste in my mouth (turns out that virtual server is leaps and bounds better than PC, but still, old habits are hard to break). The meeting was, as I expected, mostly centered around their server products: GSX and ESX. Now, you can go read about each one from the links listed, but in general, what it comes down to is that GSX is an application that runs on a host operating system while ESX is the host operating system. Talk about awesome.

Lets take a step back for those of you that are new to virtual machines a second and tell you what this means. What all of these applications do is run a virtual computer on another computer. So, for instance with my MSI testing, I have my normal Windows XP installation, and then on top of that I have VMWare Workstation that runs a virtual computer inside of it. It has it’s own hard drive (which is actually just a file), sound card, video card, network card, bios, etc. For testing, this is a must have. The server class products add a bit more: ability to easily have multiple workstations running at the same time, a nice management window, web management, etc. For those that are familiar to Solaris back when NT4 was a big seller, may remember add-on cards you could purchase that would run NT4 in a Solaris window. This is the same kind of thing, only it’s done completely in software instead of hardware. Similar to the workstation products, both Virtual Server and GSX Server run on top of an operating system as an application (Linux, Windows). Now, ESX Server removes the host operating system all together and interfaces right with the hardware. This is where VMWare really shines because this reduces the overhead of GSX server by around half since there isn’t a middle OS messing with things. This means that Virtual Machines can share memory, and not be bogged down with whatever is happening with the host OS.

Well, I know you’re all wondering how this all applies to me. After seeing that presentation, I was very excited about trying to play with ESX. Needless to say, that was a bust, you can’t even download a trial version from their website. However, you can grab GSX server to give it a whirl. So, rebelpeon.com is now running totally on virtual servers. I’ve been needing to do some stuff to my server anyways because of all the problems I’ve been having with it, so I figured this would be a great way to do it while learning a bunch.

It was a snap to setup, I actually did it all on my tablet. I got GSX server installed on it, and then built the 2 machines from there. I then migrated all the stuff from what was currently running on the main server to the virtual servers. Once everything was migrated, I wiped the physical server and installed a fresh OS on it, then put GSX on there. I then powered down the 2 virtual servers on my tablet, and moved the hard drive files over to the real server, then powered it up. It was so easy. Plus, since my real server is a dual P3, it’s actually using both processors now (one for each virtual server). The only problem I’m having right now is getting access to a physical disk in on of the virtual servers, but that’s because it was a Windows Dynamic Disk, and VMWare doesn’t support those. All in all, a fairly painless process, plus yet another thing to add under my belt.

Links Alive!

I finally got my links page working like I want. Instead of being a flat file, all the links listed are actually entries in ExpressionEngine. This way it is easy for me to update them. Also, I’ve created a working blogroll for rebelpeon.com sites (see the side bar), since this was also done by hand before. Yay!

Also, you may have noticed (if you actually view my site) that I’ve taken down the google ads on the main page, and have replaced them with an ad for Child’s Play. This is a great charity started by the guys over at Penny Arcade to help children’s hospitals. Now, I’m not making anything from the link (ha, like I make anything from the google ads), but I’d appreciate it if you guys could help them out, or at least spread the word. Thanks

Roasting

Here I am, sitting in my office sweating with the windows open and the window mounted A/C units running. And people wonder why the University doesn’t have any money. Maybe it’s because they don’t spend a little money initially, only to blow wads of cash later. All I’m asking for is a simple thermostat, but I suppose that’s what I get for being forced to work in an old dormitory. Oh well, it won’t last much longer…

Holy Downtime Batman

Wow, so some of you may have noticed that the website (and affiliated sites) have been up, down, and all around this week. I wish I could say that it wasn’t entirely my fault, but, well, actually lets say that. Monday and Tuesday it was down in the mornings because the backups that were running at night were hanging the server. Why, I couldn’t tell you, but it was. I thought I had it all fixed last night, then this morning I go into work and it was down again. This time I knew it wasn’t the backups because I didn’t have them run last night. So, I waste my lunch running home and seeing what’s going on. Turns out the power flicked off and screwed up the router so it was hanging on limbo. I thought I had gotten everything taken care of and then went back to work. Of course, I get to work, and sure enough, still doesn’t work. Arg. Turns out my IP address changed and my program that checks my IP and auto-updates Zone Edit had the old password instead of the new one. So, of course it couldn’t update my name servers.

Talk about a comedy of errors. It actually got so bad that my dad emailed me and asked why my site had been down. I’m actually working on fixing a few things this weekend that will, hopefully, keep a lot of these problems from happening. We’ll see how that goes though. Playing with virtual machines makes things so much more fun and interesting, being that I only have one machine here to play with.

Biodiesel

It’s been awhile since I’ve talked about Biodiesel, so I think now is a good time. Anyways, the pursuit of making biodiesel has taken a back seat lately because of the lack of space in my apartment. Plus, there’s the fact that the neighbors may think I’m making a meth lab or something.

However, this weekend Maria “Mark” Alovert came through town, and I couldn’t say no. So yesterday, I headed over to a fellow biodiesel enthusiasts house and had the class. A lot of it was basically a review of what I already new. Yet, we actually made some biodiesel, and she went through a bunch of tests that we should run on our own batches.

Damn, it was almost too easy. I can’t believe I was actually waiting to make it. Now, since it’s gotten colder, I’m probably going to start making smaller batches until I get it down to a sience, then start blending it in with regular diesel. I figure any little bit will help, and this way I’ll be all set for when I setup my own large processor.

It’ll be nice, someday, to not have to pay $2+ a gallon, and superior fuel.

Fall Days

What wonderful weather we’ve been having. Rainy, windy, cold. Talk about a typical fall day where you just want to curl up next to the fire with a bowl of chili. It’s quite funny walking around campus because you still see the people wearing shorts and tshirts. It’s as though their mommies had to remind them to take a coat with them when it started to get chilly, and now that they’re here, they simply don’t. Walking up and down the Quad watching them shiver always makes me chuckle on the inside.

The nice thing about these kinds of days, though, is that I can use my heated seats. It’s great, because my car takes forever to heat up. Since it’s a diesel, I simply can’t let it idle for a bit to warm up. Now, since I’ve been parking aways from where my office is, I’ve been putting my coat on the passenger seat and turning on the seat warmer. Then it feels like my coat just came out of the drier when I put it on. Makes the walk much more enjoyable. Now, if only they’d add a heating coil to the steering wheel.

Fire Sale

Much like Aaron Binford did with his CDs, I’m selling mine on amazon.com. Since I’ve been using my Thank You Rewards to buy CDs, I’ve essentially been getting them free.

Now, selling CDs in and of itself isn’t normally a big deal, and there’s no way I’d be posting about it. However, I have one cd that is apparantly quite collectable. It appears as if my Tool – Salival box set isn’t being sold anymore, and people are marking them up slightly. Hopefully it’ll sell!

Oh yeah, for things like this, I highly recommend using amazon.com. They do take a little more out for them, but you get reimbursed for shipping and you get a ton of views. I mean, not 10 minutes after I posted an item, it was sold. There’s $90 in my pocket. Plus, I undercut everyone else selling, so that may help too 🙂

**UPDATE**
Alright, someone actually bought the Salival CD for $90. Talk about a sucker. Man, there sure are moron’s out there.

Strummable Music Maker

Well, after playing the piano and a few other instruments, I’ve decided to finally learn how to play guitar. This was actually spurred on by my boss. The other day we were out eating lunch, and he asked me if I played. I told him that I didn’t, but it has always been on my “to do” list. Well, I need a good release lately, so I’ve decided a good time is now. However, that still requires me to actually aquire a guitar. I was talking to Aaron about guitars the other day, and he pointed out the Takamine GS330S. To me, it’s all foreign, but through the reviews, it appears to be a good guitar.

So, Colleen and I went out to lunch the other day, and I mentioned that I was looking at getting a guitar. Well, she has a guitar and it’s just sitting at her Mom or Dad’s place, so she offered to sell it. It’s quite tempting, but like I said earlier, it depends on how much since I have no idea the difference between guitar A and guitar B. Granted, this isn’t like me to not know the differences between something I’m going to buy. I just really don’t have the time to actually find out the main differences, plus I’m just learning, so the best doesn’t really matter. Just get me something I can play and I’ll be a happy camper.

Hopefully I get one or the other soon, since this phase my move out quickly.

Friday Night

Well, just got home from the Matt Nathanson concert at the Canopy Club. For those of you who don’t know who Matt Nathanson is, go buy his CD.

When I first got there, I was disappointed that Matt Fish wouldn’t be accompanying him, but instead a full band. After going to see Howie Day with a band, I wasn’t enthused. However, I was more than amazed at this concert. Matt is just an excellent entertainer. Even if you aren’t a huge fan of his music, I’d still recommend going to see him live. He’s hilarious and he knows how to entertain a crowd. Be it jokes, pointing out people in the audience, playing covers, or just having a good time on stage, the man knows what he’s doing.

Plus, I got to meet him after the show! I happened to park on the street behind the Canopy Club on Oregon, and since Matt and crew were in a rush to get to Chicago for tomorrow nights show, he didn’t do his normal meet and greet in the lobby. Instead, he just happened to be behind the Canopy Club next to my car. Needless I needed to say hi. There were a few other people back there (maybe 3 or 4), and they were all getting his autograph and having pictures taken. Well, I didn’t have a camera, and I could care less about autographs. However, I know that Colleen likes autographs (she has one from John Mayer), plus she wanted to come to the concert but couldn’t because of work. Now, being the good guy that I am :coolsmile:, asked Matt for his autograph and to make it out to Colleen because she had to work and couldn’t make it to the show. Matt wrote her a little note, and then signed it. Now I just need to get it laminated for her.

Oh well, it’s late, I need to go to bed…