Written on Tuesday, April 29, 2008 at 9:53 AM by jkeyes0
So, I heard back from Education on Friday afternoon (after 4pm). They told me I needed to go to Personnel ASAP and get a reinstatement certificate. I was told by several other state employees that this usually means I should be getting the money I asked for, and that it's just a matter of time now.
Well... I went to Personnel first thing Monday morning (yesterday), and wouldn't you know it? "Applicants are not allowed to request reinstatement certificates, only the employing agency can." So I was late for work (only 1/2 hour, but still..) and had to call Education up and have them request it for me.
Last thing I heard from them was yesterday morning at about 10am, when the supervisor there called asking me for my social security number to put on the certificate. I really hope to hear back from them today or tomorrow... if they can get me the salary I need, I can put in my notice and have my last work day be my last payday as well. I'll have to find out how they handle paying out vacation time, though (I've accrued 5 days of vacation, and I fully intend to get paid for those).
In other news, work has been somewhat stimulating in the last few days. I've been doing a bit more networking / server work, though that will only last through this week, then it's back to crappy old Vantage work.
I've also been working diligently on packaging programs for Foresight. So far I've packaged
- bcm43xx-fwcutter
- conky (it had already been done, but I needed one that I could test)
- foobillard
- libupnp (someone else had packaged it for x86, but I needed x86_64)
- mt-daapd
- nautilus-sendto
I've tried several other programs including wicd (sort of a NetworkManager replacement) and glest (video game) but haven't had much luck so far. I'm going to keep plugging away at it though.
I really hope Education calls me soon...
Written on Friday, April 25, 2008 at 8:10 AM by jkeyes0
Tomorrow, Saturday April 26th 2008, the Ubuntu Kentucky LoCo Team in association with the BlueGrass Linux Users Group will be hosting the Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) release party. Here are the specifics:
Date: Saturday, 4/26
Time: 3:00pm - 7:00pm EST
Location: Woodland Christian Church
Address: 530 East High Street, Lexington, KY 40502
We're planning on having a couple of people speak about the benefits of linux, the newest changes in this release of Ubuntu and we'll even offer support to new users (bring your laptop along if you want some help!). I'm not sure how the power situation is at Woodland, but I'm sure we can accommodate at least a couple of people at a time.
We're also planning on having some sort of food (probably ordering pizza, and a few other things), so please, everyone come on out!
Written on Wednesday, April 23, 2008 at 8:23 AM by jkeyes0
I went in for my "final interview" yesterday afternoon. The meeting went somewhat as I expected, with one minor twist:
Them: So, how much are you going to cost us?
Me: I'd hate to sound pretentious and ask for midpoint, but that certainly would be nice.
Them: Well, you won't be getting midpoint. What will you take?
Me: X dollars per year (no one needs to know, really)
Them: Hm. I don't know if we can get you that much, but we'll send that over to Personnel and see what they say, and call you back in 1-2 days.
Definitely a better result than I expected. If I DO get what I asked for, it'll be a $10,000 a year pay decrease, but the benefits at the state are so much better than the ones here, they actually estimate the yearly value at around that amount, so it wouldn't be much of a loss for me.
One of the best things about my meeting with them was when we were discussing salary the IT manager actually said "Well, I'll have to send this over to Personnel and make sure it's OK with Daniel (the supervisor under the manager, who I'd be working for)". Right after that, Daniel jumped in and said "That's fine by me. He's the one I want."
It just felt really good to have someone say that about me, that I'm the person they're looking for.
Anyway... back at work today. Whoopie. Hopefully Education will call soon with an acceptable number so I can go give my notice.
In other news I've started trying to build packages for Foresight Linux (learned how at the conference and I've been wanting to try it out). However, every time I try it fails miserably, and it seems it's a bug in Foresight. Great. I guess I'll try a 64-bit install and see if it works that way. If I want to really develop for Foresight I'm going to have to have 64-bit anyway.
Written on Monday, April 21, 2008 at 6:02 PM by jkeyes0
Well, I'm back from Foresight 20/20. I had never been to a "linux conference" before, but I have to say I had a great time. The drive was really long and making it twice in a weekend sucked, but I had great company and good conversation all the way there and back.
What I really wanted to get out of this conference was to meet the developers, ask a few questions about problems I have with the distro (Foresight Linux) and learn how to create packages for that distro. I met most of the developers, albeit briefly, I got some of my questions answered and got a brief tutorial on package creation. I still haven't gotten a package to actually build, but I'm sure I'm close. It's just a matter of time and trials.
Back at work today I had my first real taste of "IT" work in the last month... and it was pretty decent. I went out to Graybar and picked up some Panduit cable raceways, ethernet boxes, faceplates and Cat-5e jacks. I managed to install a couple of jacks on outlets that were just hanging wires before and put faceplates on them, though I ended up staying a half hour after work.
In other news I have my "final interview" for the job I've been wanting at the Department of Education tomorrow. I have a feeling that it will end up going something like this:
Them: We're very impressed with your credentials and you had an excellent first interview.
Me: Thank you!
Them: How much are you going to cost us?
Me: X dollars per year.
Them: Ouch. Thank you for coming.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for a different outcome...
Written on Friday, April 18, 2008 at 8:24 AM by jkeyes0
Well, today's the big day. After I get off work early, I'm heading over to Eric's house and he, fish and I will be leaving for Raleigh, NC for Foresight 20/20. It will probably be about an 8 hour drive, but it'll be worth it to experience a Linux conference for the first time.
In other news, I shaved my beard off. It wasn't growing in quite as nicely as I would have liked. I may try to grow one again in the fall/winter (like waiting 6 months will make a difference...). Here's a new pic of myself (oh yeah, I also got a haircut last night, so the goatee kinda matches the hairstyle for the moment):
In still other news, things have gotten interesting at work. Aside from the terrible situation with Vantage that's still there, our secretary came to me late yesterday afternoon (after 4:15 or so). She said that I have a new "top priority" for the next 2 weeks, passed down from the President of the company.
We have a long-standing contract with a customer and that customer did a walk-through of the plant about 2 days ago now. They visited our Quality Assurance department and... well, let's just say the QA department is in shambles. It looks like something out of the 70's that a tornado has bowled over. The customer in question saw this (apparently they hadn't seen it before...) and said something to the effect of "What kind of quality can we expect out of your products if your quality department looks like this?" Heh.
Because of this, the entire department has been slated for remodeling within the next 2 weeks (meaning, finished within 2 weeks...). A part of that remodeling is that I have to put Panduit (cable management on the walls) up in all the offices and run some new phone / data lines, since people are changing offices. Somehow they've used an entire 24-port switch for 4 people and a total of 5 computers... not sure how that works exactly.
Should be a fun 2 weeks...
Written on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 8:54 AM by jkeyes0
Yeah, so... lucky me, I managed to get sick just a few short days before the road trip to North Carolina. It's only allergy / sinus problems, so hopefully I'll be over it before the trip, but I'm miserable at the moment.
I managed to take off work yesterday, but people didn't seem to understand that I was actually feeling bad and needed to rest. At some point during the day my boss emailed me demanding that I somehow remote in and fix a printer that's not a shared printer (meaning, reboot the printer remotely and clear everyone's queues). Not possible. I just didn't respond. I came in this morning and what do you know? The printer's fine. Someone must have turned it off and back on.
I'm still feeling crappy, so I'm going to sit back and rest for a while. I've had my once-a-morning Bob visit (the time of the day when our Quality director comes by to complain at me about not having fixed the problems with Vantage yet...), so I should be good for a few hours of peace and quiet in this jet engine room.
I've really got to find a new job.
Written on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 12:35 PM by jkeyes0
I mentioned way back in my MySpace Blog that we installed a new door a bit ago. Well, about a week ago, Christina decided to go ahead and paint the door. I was mostly useless that weekend, so I didn't help out, and as such I didn't notice until after she was done that the door was pink. Yes, pink.
I kept saying I was going to take pictures of it and put it up online, just to make sure I'm not seeing things, so here it is:
What do you guys think? Pink door?
Written on Sunday, April 13, 2008 at 10:48 PM by jkeyes0
Well, I've got to say... I've had one of the best weekends I've had in a LONG time.
Friday, as I mentioned before, Christina and I went to a Lexington Legends game. Loads of fun, lots of good pictures.
Saturday I went to the Ubuntu installfest at UK and I was able to help quite a few people with their questions and installation issues. I have to say, that environment, it really felt "right". I think I'd really like working with Linux full-time, but the opportunities for that (aside from development work) are few and far between. Perhaps I could work out some sort of trainer position. I'll have to look into that further.
Saturday evening I played Dungeons and Dragons with a wonderful group of friends I've known for several years now but had lost touch with for a little while there. I'm very glad that I'm still welcome in their group, and I look forward to playing with them more often.
Today, Christina and I went to the movies and watched "Run Fat Boy Run", the new Simon Pegg movie (you might remember him from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz). Not the best movie I've ever seen, but it had a good message and it has inspired me to push myself harder on my diet/exercise plan.
Hopefully this good feeling will continue forward into the week ahead. I really need something like this to make work bearable...
Written on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 11:44 PM by jkeyes0
Went to the Legends game tonight. They played a good game, but they made some silly mistakes and the GreenJackets had some decent hitters, so the Legends lost, 4-9. I got some fun pictures, though.
Click here to take a look at my Flickr set.
In other news, I tried to install Adobe AIR on my Foresight system at home. It failed miserably. Turns out the program's still in an alpha state for Linux, so it's hard to expect it to work perfectly. I tried installing Spaz (the version that doesn't require AIR) and that failed as well. Looks like I'll just have to use Twitter.com or my iPhone to do the updates when I'm not in Windows for now.
In yet other news... tomorrow should be a long but very fun day. It should go as follows:
- Sometime: Wake up
- Just after that: Get ready and go
- 12pm - 4pm: Ubuntu installfest at UK (mentioned in an earlier blog post)
- 5:30pm: D&D at Don's house, with manicotti for dinner. Mmm...
- Whenever: Go home
Written on
at 1:36 PM by jkeyes0
I'll admit, I'm not very savvy when it comes to newer web technologies but I've got to say, Adobe AIR looks to be a pretty sweet product. I've been playing around more with Twitter lately (mostly today, yeah...) and I've found several AIR-based applications that act like instant messengers communicating with Twitter. Currently, I'm running Spaz. Not the most appropriate name, I'll grant you that, but definitely a neat concept and since it's supposed to be multi-platform I should be able to have the same experience with it on Windows and Linux. I'll be giving that a try when I get home this evening.
On that note, I won't be going home to stay after work. The wife and I decided we're going to a Lexington Legends baseball game this evening. I got online and ordered 2 tickets for $23 total, right on the first base line. I'm not usually a baseball fan, but I do prefer seeing it in person if I'm going to watch. I'll try to take some pics (if the game doesn't get rained out) and post them up here.
Written on Tuesday, April 8, 2008 at 1:06 PM by jkeyes0
Foresight Linux (one of the Linux distros I've been working with lately) is having a User and Developer Conference from April 18th - 20th in Raleigh, NC. Click here for more information.
I'm going to be attending this event. Anyone else interested?
Posted in
foresight,
linux
|
Written on
at 10:59 AM by jkeyes0
From Ken Rietz:
"Sat, April 12, noon to 4 pm, at Wesley Center at UK, 508 Columbia
(1) We will be offering Ubuntu (gutsy, even though hardy will be
released around this time) and maybe others. We also are liable to
advertise that we will help with Windows "Problems", which will
certainly attract a lot of attention.
(2) Free munchies and beverages will be available, but donations, of
course, will be cheerfully consumed.
(3) Entertainment (other than interacting with other geeks) will be
provided: The Muppet Show, Season 2.
If you are still reading this, and figuring that you can't get to both,
I encourage you to go to the UK (4/12) installfest. That one will
certainly attract the larger crowd. If you can, come to both.
-Ken Rietz"
Here's a map: http://tinyurl.com/4bt3d4
From Ken Reitz:
"Sat, April 19, noon to 4 pm, at Hamann-Ray Science building, room 308
(1) We will be offering Ubuntu (gutsy, even though hardy will be
released around this time) and maybe others. We also are liable to
advertise that we will help with Windows (C) Problems (C), which will
certainly attract a lot of attention.
(2) Free munchies and beverages will be available, but donations, of
course, will be cheerfully consumed.
(3) Entertainment (other than interacting with other geeks) will be
provided: The Muppet Show, Season 2.
If you are still reading this, and figuring that you can't get to both,
I encourage you to go to the UK (4/12) installfest. That one will
certainly attract the larger crowd. If you can, come to both.
-Ken Rietz"
Here's a map: http://tinyurl.com/4s98ql
Posted in
installfest,
linux
|
Written on
at 9:16 AM by jkeyes0
I bought a new laptop a few weeks ago (early-mid March). It's a very nice laptop, with the following specs:
- Dell XPS M1530
- Intel Core2Duo T5450 Processor
- 2Gb DDR2 RAM
- 160Gb SATA HDD
- Nvidia 8400GS 128Mb Video Card
- Dell 1505 draft-n wireless card
This laptop came with Windows Vista Home Premium preinstalled from BestBuy. If you know me at all, you know that I'm not a big fan of Vista, or Microsoft in general. It pays the bills to know how to use and support the software, but that's as far as I like to take my relationship with them.
In spite of that, I decided to give Vista on this laptop a fair shake. Right off the bat, I clashed with UAC (user access control). I hate it. Any time I wanted to do anything (I do a lot of system admin work) I had to "Approve/Deny" it. It took me just a few moments to find the setting to disable UAC, then I was back to working.
I managed to hook the laptop up to my TV through HDMI (yeah, the XPS has an HDMI port... how awesome is that?) and watch some
Hulu.com on the 56" TV. All was going well, then I noticed that the wireless-n wasn't connecting at the appropriate speed to my D-Link router. My wife's Windows XP machine (don't get me started...) has a Belkin wireless card that consistently connects at 270Mbps, whereas my Vista machine was only getting 130Mbps.
After doing some research, I found out that it was due to the bandVista was using to connect (20Mhz vs 40Mhz for the higher speeds). However, if I changed it over to 40Mhz, even if I was sitting next to the router I'd lose connection after so many seconds.
Because of all this, I decided to give Linux a whirl on it. I first installed Ubuntu 8.04 Beta. Realizing that my wireless card had a Broadcom chipset, I knew I was in for an interesting time, but I didn't know the half of it... Apparently there's a bug in the linux kernel (between 2.6.23 and 2.6.24-14) that stops Ndiswrapper from working correctly, which means it stopped me from using my wireless card. I tested this on both Ubuntu and
Foresight Linux 2.0. There were workarounds before the Ubuntu update was released, and I could manage to connect that way, but it was shaky at best.
Once I heard about the Ubuntu update (I think it was a kernel update, to 2.6.24-15-generic), I formatted and reinstalled Ubuntu 8.04 Beta. I installed Ndiswrapper, the Windows wireless driver, and I was off and running. I set up my Nvidia card, all the "restricted" things (flash, java, codecs, dvd playback, etc.) and I was ready to roll. However, I soon noticed that even though Ndiswrapper was working and I could connect to the network just fine, I would randomly drop the connection. I'd be watching a video on
Hulu.com and it would just stop playing. The only way I could get it to go again would be either to restart the system or "sudo rmmod ndiswrapper && sudo modprobe ndiswrapper" then wait for the connection to reestablish.
With that said, I've got my laptop at work with me today and it connected to our wireless-g network flawlessly (it even has WPA turned on, which I've never been able to configure on linux before without some major work). I set it up to ping google non-stop, and it hasn't dropped a single packet.
I think the final configuration (at least for the time being) for my laptop is going to be Windows XP Pro SP2 and Foresight Linux 2.0 (they don't have the kernel fix yet, but I can workaround and I'd really like to give it a fair shake). I'll update with more information as it becomes available.
Posted in
dell,
foresight,
laptop,
linux,
ubuntu,
xps
|
Written on
at 9:10 AM by jkeyes0
I've decided to move my blog posts over to Blogspot.com. I think in the long run it will allow my blog to grow and prosper much more than it would on MySpace or Facebook alone.
