Update on my home systems and stuff..

Well I'm on the beta program for Solaris 10 Update 1. I'm very excited about testing out this update. I have tons of RFE's to submit. I have to jumpstart my Netra and then the upgrade will be complete. So far, all of my software works without any problems. So now I can focus on testing out the features that are of interest to me and for work of course;)

I bought two books this past week:

• LDAP in the Solaris Operating Environment: Deploying Secure Directory Services
• Building N1 Grid Solutions: Preparing, Architecting, and Implementing Service-Centric Data Centers

I have not started on the N1GE book yet. But I have started the LDAP book and I must say that it has tons of useful information about LDAP, PAM, Kerberos, etc. So once I get a little further, I'm going to try setting up LDAP again and hopefully I'll succeed this time!

For those who are interested in Sun Ray's , I highly recommend upgrading to version 3.1 of the software. I've set it up enough times that it takes me about 30 minutes to setup the software. At work, the only issue we've run into is getting Windows DHCP to supply the correct MTU. I'll have to post some info on getting that to work correctly when we figure it out.

I recently added a usb 2.0 front panel to my Ultra 60 in one of the 3.5" drive slots. It's nice to be able to connect my usb stuff in the front. I also obtained an Iogear usb kvm that from BestBuy, that amazingly said "Sun Compatible" on the packaging. It works great, now I can switch between my Ultra 60 and my Sun Ray without any issues! No longer do I have to switch between keyboards!

Music news..

This month has been an incredible month for me on the music front.

I saw DEVO live here in the Bay Area a few weeks back. It was amazing! I know, you are probably thinking.. "Is he crazy?", but take my word they are worth seeing live in concert. It's one of the few concerts I've been to where everyone was standing and enjoying the show even though there were plenty of seats! The show started out with some clips from the Devolution video and then it jumped right into some classic DEVO. The entire show was absolutely charged with excitement and energy. I wish I could have brought a camera, but you know how it is these days! They played all the great songs like "Jocko Homo", "Girl U Want", "Secret Agent Man", etc.

Then to top it off.. this week I saw Bauhaus here in San Francisco at the Warfield! It was an incredible performance. Seeing Peter Murphy and David J performing was awesome! As a band, they are capable of such intense and dark music. The show was extremely energetic and you could feel the room shake. They played all of my favorite songs like "God in an Alcove", "Dark Entries", "She's in Parties", "Telegram Sam", etc. I think it's interesting how bands like Bauhaus sound better today than they did originally. Then again, this is only my second time seeing them live so I really only have CD's and LP's to compare with:) The last time I saw them was in 1998 when I was living in Denver. The Warfield is a pretty kewl place, I had a balcony seat, so I could see the entire stage clearly. What was really amazing is that they were able to record the concert and burn it to professional cd's for the end of the show. So I have the concert on CD! Pretty kewl!

Also, I'd like to comment on the new Duran Duran and Depeche Mode albums. Both are worth buying. The Duran Duran album is pretty modern and yet still Duran Duran! The Depeche Mode album reminds me of the "Violator" album and a little Kraftwerk/Fear Factory. I highly recommend getting both albums!

Another good thing is that Gary Numan is close to releasing his new album and there may be a US tour next year! I hope he comes to the US for a tour, that would be soo incredible to finally see him live.

I'm back..

So it has been a long time since my last post and I applogize to everyone for that. So it's time to catch up on all the news..

My son is home finally and is in school. He's adjusting well to the change and it's wonderful to have him home. I'm now a morning person on weekdays which is truely a shock to anyone who knows me well. My wife has started a new job and so far it's going really well.

For those who didn't know.. I'm originally from the New Orleans area. So it has been stressfull dealing with the aftermath of Katrina and being incapable of doing much other than talking to relatives over the phone. The first couple of weeks were the hardest to get through because of the difficulty with phone calls. The good news is that pretty much everyone is doing well, only a few had damage to their homes. I do have some relatives that lost their home due to the flooding, but the rest of the family is helping them out. All things considered, the family as a whole is very fortunate.

As for me.. well things have been extremely busy and crazy at work. I've pretty much completed the Sun Grid project and now my co-workers have gone to the N1GE training to get their feet wet. I'm finishing up the deployment of the Solaris 10 JET servers to get Solaris 10 rolling out across the company. And I started a project evaluating Sun Rays. So it's been pretty busy!

A lot more to follow..