Bob Plankers

Bob Plankers is a man who wears many hats. In his professional career he has spent three decades leading teams that design, build, operate, and talk about reliable, secure, and compliant IT infrastructures, both in the public sector and in the high tech industry. He currently focuses on applied security, compliance, and operational resilience for virtualization and cloud platforms.

Google, Pots, and Kettles.

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Inevitably you’ve seen Google’s commentary on the Microsoft bid for Yahoo!. Beyond Google trying to preserve the status quo (where they are #1), I am amused by the sniping going on. A monopoly on the desktop? What about a monopoly on search and online advertising? Hello kettle? This is pot. Nobody should construe this post from Google as being helpful to Yahoo!. I don’t have an opinion about a Microsoft/Yahoo! merger, but if anything it seems like Google might actually think this whole deal might threaten some of their business. Should be interesting.

Declaration of Independence

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Just as an aside, I think the Declaration of Independence reading in the Super Bowl pre-game show was a nice touch. While I’m sure lots of people out there were using it as an excuse to get another beer I hope that a few watched and were reminded of where we came from, and what sort of government we were declaring independence from.

links for 2008-02-03

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I Drink Your Milkshake! I Drink It Up! – All Discussions I think the people around me are tired of hearing this now… Maybe I can get a couple more plays in before they kill me… All my base are belong to Daniel Day-Lewis… SOA Facts “One person successfully described SOA completely, and immediately died.” LOL.

A Brief Conversation With My Neighbor

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“Hey there,” I say, as I’m walking over. We were both outside shoveling. “Hi.” He looks away, avoiding eye contact at all times. “Are you the guy that’s been snowblowing my sidewalk?” “Um… uhhh… no, that’s the people one door over.” He points, since I obviously can’t figure out where the next house is. Insert that noise Carlos Mencia makes, duh-duh-duuuh. “Louis and Karen, yeah. They said it was you.” “You know them? When did you talk to them?” What? I’ve lived here for four years, I met a couple of people. “Sometime in the past.” I should have said “tomorrow” and stood back so pieces of brain wouldn’t hit me when his head exploded. “Nope, it’s them. Why?” “I …

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links for 2008-02-02

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Think Illegal Downloading is Free? Nice commentary on stupid dorm posters. rc3.org — How not to handle trolls “What I don’t like about this system is that it shuts people out of the system but doesn’t let them know they’ve been shut out.” So add code to display a note telling them they’ve been shut out. End of story.

Check Your Work

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No matter what line of work you’re in, no matter how big or small, or how much of an expert you are, it often pays to step back and check your work. It’s even better if you can get someone else to check your work, or do a sanity check on a plan you have. As the saying goes, “given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow.” A bad plan or a mistake is just a bug of a different sort, one that wastes lots of time and energy in the long run if it isn’t caught up front.

Serial Consoles, Awesome Readers

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Thanks to Scott and Greg for pointing out revisions I could make to my last how-to post on serial consoles. When I write a post like that it is usually as much for myself as for others[0]. I do some of these things so infrequently that I consult notes from projects 10 years ago, and I want to consolidate my notes into a procedure. Problem is, my notes usually don’t have why I used mgetty over agetty[1], reflect a way of thinking that is obsolete now, or just show ignorance for an easier way to do something (like using screen to connect to a serial port). So thanks, guys, for speaking up and pointing out better ways to do stuff. …

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links for 2008-02-01

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EDGE down – The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) I dunno, the EDGE network seems damn spry to me right now. Maybe it’s because nobody can use it. 🙂 lilmissnever: One day, when it is safe, I will write a Great rant. Bloggasm: Was it good for you? » International Delete Your Myspace Account Day is here! Heck yeah, deleted my account. Lamby’s Blog » Blog Archive » “Can you get cp to give a progress bar like wget?” Props on the hack, but I might just have used “rsync –progress” Schneier on Security: Gun Slips Through TSA Airport Checkpoint “What is this supposed to teach?” — Listen, people, you live in a police state and the punishments don’t fit the …

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New Orleans Wrap-Up

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My first Mardi Gras experience was a blast. I owe a huge debt to Maitri and Derick for hosting me, and prodding me to head down and be a part of everything (parades, hanging with their friends, parties with their coworkers, etc.). I also owe the Krewe of King Arthur thanks. It’s an amazing group, and diverse, which not all Krewes can claim. If there’s a spot available next year I could probably be convinced to ride again with almost no effort. Back in November Derick told me that I’d spend a bunch of money to buy a ton of cheap plastic stuff to throw to people I don’t even know, and I’d love it. He was right. Turning the …

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How To Configure Linux Serial Consoles

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Need a serial console on your Linux box, just in case something happens to the network? Yeah, me too. It’s fairly simple to get it running (at least on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4), if you have the right steps. This is not an in-depth tutorial on serial consoles, it’s just designed to get you moving faster. I assume you know how to install packages, edit files, etc., or are at least resourceful enough to figure it out. I also assume you’re s-m-r-t enough to try this on a machine you can get to easily, if you mess it up the first time. On newer machines there are often BIOS serial redirection options, too, which might be useful. Conveniently, check …

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