OSSIM

While I'm waiting for some papers to print for my wife, I came across this cool security solution. I don't have time to properly evaluate it, but it looks like a neat package of open source tools for monitoring your network activity and security. I'll try and add more later.

Earth Hour Followup

So Saturday night was fun. For some reason BeeBoo was still up when 8:30 came so she got to be a part of it too. We didn't go completely dark. We only turned on the light for where we were at and we tried to stay in the same room. BeeBoo told us not to turn off all the lights. Even though we didn't go completely dark, I think that we try to be conservative everyday to make up for it.

Father and Student

I was thinking about my impending graduation from academia and being thrust into the job market and I concluded that I've had a pretty nice life these past few years. I've been able to be home a lot of the time which allows me to play, discover, nap, and enjoy life with BeeBoo. Not very many dads get to do that. Mostly I'm just thankful that this has been my life.

Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked...

(For the record, BeeBoo and I went on a bike ride to the store before this picture and she didn't want to take off the helmet.) As I went inside to get my camera, BeeBoo tells her friend, "Daddy's gonna get the camera to take a picture of my cute face." Then her friend replies, "Yeah! It is cute!"

Awesome New Class

I just started my Network Management class here at IU. This is going to be a fun ride. Instead of the abstract, theoretical and best practices type of teaching that I've been used to, I'm going to set up a network from the ground up. We're using Cisco equipment, VMware, and Cacti (which I only glanced at while I was looking around for network-management-type software when I was working at Author House). I'm not going to learn about it...I'm going to use it and know it. It's sad that spring break is over, but this class was a great way to get back into school work. Another thing that is great about this class is that every aspect that we'll be covering, we're going to learn about the security part of it, too.

Earth Hour

I found this a while ago and now that I have a blog I can tell you about it. I think this is a great idea. Just turn your lights off for one hour on Saturday, March 28, 8:30-9:30pm. It's a little thing to do, but if a lot of people do it then it makes a huge impact. I think it's cool that there are global initiatives like this. Even though we don't have any contact with people from all around the world, we can participate in something important together.

Coming out of the closet

I'm a closet bird watcher. When I lived at my old house in Ohio, I used to take my grandfather's binoculars and look at the cardinals, chickadees, robins, and mourning doves. I still enjoy watching birds, but I don't have as much opportunity. Nowadays I watch birds at Gran's house. She has a couple feeders that attract quite a few birds. Recently on my drive from Indiana to Iowa, my wife and I spotted around 30 hawks (mostly Red-tailed), 3 Bald Eagles, and at least 10 American Kestrels. We also saw a hand full of deer and a coyote. I enjoy looking for our my furry/feathered neighbors.

Late to the game

For a technology major, you'd think that I'd have one of these long before now. I'm not sure what kinds of things I will post here. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of writing about my family (and our experiences), technology (security, free stuff, home projects, and anything else cool), being green (not Kermit green...the eco-friendly kind), and anything worth thinking about (life lessons, great quotes, and other things of value that I stumble upon).