Hello all. I'm currently preparing to move my blog over to Wordpress, as such, everything's going to change, from my RSS feed address to the style the blog is in. I have tried to keep as much content as possible, but I have not been able to keep comments (sorry!). Also, some of the dates are probably wrong, so things may have moved about a bit.

My new RSS feed will be (when the move takes place in the next few days):

http://kirrus.co.uk/feed/

Please change to this feed now, as unless I get lots of requests, I WILL NOT be redirecting people from the old RSS feed URLs so you'll get 404 (page not found) errors when your RSS client attempts to consume my new feed.

The following is a random update, covering everything from my explorations of Linux to life stuff. Feel free to skip if you don't care :)

Hardy Release Party

Was really nice, once I'd got past my initial reluctance to go and the butterflies in my stomach as I traveled to it. I said on IRC before I left, that the first person to recognise me, would get a drink on me. Daviey failed, he was outside having a cigarette when I finally arrived. To be fair, he wasn't on the IRC channel when I said about the free drink... I managed to get lost, walking from the tube (Embankment) on the way to the pub - asked directions three times. Had the obligatory chat with Daviey about asterisk (I like asterisk!) and some of the pros and cons of the FreePBX interface add-on. (As suggested by Popey on the mailing list. Thanks!)

I went in with Daviey, and saw Alan Pope. He was in the middle of a conversation, but was about to say "hello Kirrus" to get his free drink, when Josh (Jerichokb) popped up, and nabbed it first :). Funnily enough, we had this conversation on IRC before I left:

<jerichokb>    Kirrus: thank you in advance for the beer :)
<Kirrus>       jerichokb, don't count your chickens...

Heh... I guess he can count them after all :)

I had a really nice time, which is *really* unusual for me in a room with that many people in it. (I don't do lots of people... I normally can't cope, and leave asap, or sit in a corner hiding...). Sad to leave at 9, but I got lost 4 times(!) on my way back to the tube station, (asking for directions each time... one guy gave me dogy ones...).  Next time I find a good map. Missed the train I was aiming for, and ended up taking the last train, got home midnight. (Yes, three hours travel. Missing the train will do that for you.)

Distro Experimentation / Hard Drive Failure

Well, my CentOS install died with my harddrive, about 2 days after my posting about it. CentOS is useable, and is quite nice, though I didn't reinstall it when my new drive arrived. Unfortionatly, it turns out that my new drive has some bad blocks on it. Repaired the filesystem using "e2fsck -c" on the live cd, and reinstalled gutsy. Upgraded to Hardy RC. A lot of work. I'm going to have to boot back into the LiveCD sometime and check the filesystem again, to see if there's any more corruption. If so, I'm going to have to get another Harddrive, and RMA this one. Just what I didn't need with my dwindling savings and no job. Update:(Thanks, as always, to the Ubuntu-UK irc guys for the help and advise as I tried to repair my partitions)

Jobs

I've had 2 interviews so far, one at Codian, one at Canonical. I'd  really like to get the Canonical one (working in a datacentre, looking after servers), as it sounds like an enjoyable thing to do, that and giving me plenty to learn. But, I don't think I will. (Heh - my natural state after any interview. Then getting the job is a pleasent surprise rather than a disappointment.) Millbank tower is NICE, and the commute into Vauxhall fairly simple.. I just take a slow train from a town about 3 and a half miles away... an hours walk, or 15/30 minutes cycle depending on the traffic, and which way you're going. (To is easier. One big hill up, then mostly downhill to the station.) I'm still awaiting a reply from Canonical HR about blogging guidelines as applied to interviewees, so I won't go into too much detail about that interview here. Suffice to say, it was interesting.

The Codian interview was by far the most difficult, I was asked a tonn of questions by three different people, over 2 hours. Decimal to binary (on a whiteboard).. I'm a bit rusty at, not having done it much before, but got there in the eventual end. Decimal to Hexadecimal, mathmatics is not my strong point, but again, got there in the end. (6E == 110).Very friendly receptionist :)

I've one interview/meeting left, at Positive Internet. Sounds interesting...

If you know of any Junior/Trainee Linux/Ubuntu-Based jobs in London going around, let me know.

To Do:

• Process, upload and blog photos. Recharge camera's battery (rarely need to do!)
• Continue Job Hunting.
• Look at the feasibility of moving onto a new blogging platform, but staying with my current email and domain host.
• Hunt for jobs.
• Bug Triage.
• Think about applying for temp work to tide me over.
  

Well, its a couple of days into my trial and I've settled into Centos. (I went with Centos instead of Fedora, as its closer to RedHat according to the #ubuntu-uk guys andylockran & popey [Thanks!], which is the OS I really was aiming to play with.)

I've had a couple of niggles, like the old version of Firefox (1.5x series instead of 2x) on Centos, the ease of installing java etc... Its only when you step away from Ubuntu that you realize just how advanced it actually is!

So far, I've installed 4 rpm packages manually, and compiled one successfully. (I tried to compile the last.fm client, but it wasn't playing ball. I'll get it working eventually...)

The package I compiled was pamusb, a really cool utility to allow you to use a USB key for authentication on your system, literally, you can use it to login with, use sudo commands without passwords, etc. I'll probably post a guide at some point. From looking around on the web, it works better with Ubuntu than Centos as the packages you need are in Ubuntu's repos. I'm not sure whether that includes the pam configuration you have to do, but I'd expect so.

You can get pamusb here: http://www.pamusb.org/ (or as mentioned, in the Ubuntu Repositories)

Centos's graphical package manager isn't anything as nice as Ubuntu's, but the command line "yum" is certainly better, giving more information in "yum search <package or purpose>" than a "apt-cache search <package>" would.

With this reinstall I put /home/ on a separate partition, so that should make jumping easier. I'll probably try Fedora at some point... and Debian....

</blog-entry>

I'm camping (in a centre, not in tents) this weekend, starting in about 15 minutes, so I'll not have internet access till Sunday evening. If you want to get hold of me, phone my mobile number. (Which is in my cv.)

Sorry to the Ubuntu-UK folks, this isn't something that you need to hit the planet... sorry!

I was made redundant effective immediately on Monday... since then I've been searching for a new job working with Linux... its amazing how little training / junior jobs there are using Linux in Cardiff. I'll be heading back to London soon...

Someone on the #ubuntu-uk chatroom pointed me at the song "London Calling"... so just for fun I put it into youtube. And yes, there are many videos on youtube pointing at it.

I'm currently sitting in front of my laptop in the sitting room of the house in which I rent a room and I've been working here more than my desk in my bedroom (more light, closer to the kitchen. That and my desktop is about to get reinstalled with Fedora). My work? Applying for jobs, working on my CV, talking to people online. The Ubuntu-UK community has been really helpful in my search, on both the mailing list and IRC chatroom. I'll probably look at triaging lots of bugs when I get bored playing with fedora and my hardy-beta running laptop. (Yes, I know you're not supposed to run beta on something you're working on, but I put Hardy on my laptop before I was made redundant. Its seems rock-solid anyway...)

If you know any linux based jobs, around the London or Cardiff area, suitable for a trainee / junior guy like me, give me a shout. An older version of my CV is on this blog somewhere, if you go hunting (not linked to directly anywhere here, you'll have to guess the file name. Its in PDF format.)

A question for those who are running Hardy.. I'd like to get the stats on my laptop's battery, like how much charge its holding and how much through its useful life it is. (I ordered a new battery, on the saturday before I was made redundant, as this one is getting a little short lived... down to 30mins now...). Can someone who knows email me with details on how please? I'll add your email as comments to this blog (unless you tell me not to). My address is kirrus@kirrus.co.uk ..

I have a lot of photos to upload from my various walks around the area, but I've not got round to putting them up yet.

For anyone who wants to get hold of me over the weekend, call me on my mobile (in my CV). I'm going camping tomorrow (in a centre), a place without internet access, so I'm not going to be checking my emails! Hopefully we'll have good mobile signal...

I'll be back on Sunday afternoon/evening :)

I'm rambling again, so I'm going to leave this here...

I have not posted an in almost a month. This past month has been hard, though I'm not sure why. I've been drained throughout, permanently tired and lackluster, struggling to concentrate at work and with anything important at home. For that I apologise, I just literally have not had the energy or willpower to write a post here, I consider my work a more important target for what energy I have had.

I've spoken to some who will be reading this about my past before, and some I've no doubt some will be groaning about me mentioning it here. When I was 8 my parents started divorcing and it tore my life apart. If it was not for my faith, accepted when I was 12 and those who kept trying to help, I don't know where I would be. Possibly dead, I seriously considered suicide at one point of the not-a-cry-for-help kind. Running away from home, considered that as well.

During that time, I found it harder and harder to make friends, to trust people, to let people in. My liking of books, a simple pleasure before, became a escape route, a path into a safe world, where people were honest and true, where things always turned out right and the good guys (almost) always won. My addiction to them has remained past my early youth, at 21 I am still a voracious bookworm, they still offer me safe harbour. I (literally) have just finished Elizabeth Moon's "Against the Odds", last book of the Serrano Legacy.

People during my childhood had no idea of the effect their actions and words had on me. In school, a harsh comment could cause me to break down in tears hours later once I was hidden, safe and a kind action would fill my heart with joy, though often I did not notice them, did not acknowledge them. If you were kind back then, and I ignored you, I'm sorry.

I received a chain mail today, and unlike most, it struck a chord in my heart. For once, I won't reply to it with a sarcastic "don't chainmail me", I'm republishing it here. Read it at the bottom of the post and think, you know not how your actions or words will change a person, you know not what state they are in. Be kind always, be generous always. You could well save a life, though you do not know it, bring joy and happiness though its hidden. To those that helped me back then, even though the chances of you ever reading this are slim, thankyou.

If you ever see someone, sitting in a corner, reading a book, or hiding away in your workplace or school, try to bring them out of their shell. For me, I still struggle, I literally had to be yanked into my current church community by someone not taking no for an answer. I am grateful to him to this day.

If you wish to comment, and don't have an account, as always mail me (kirrus@kirrus.co.uk) and I'll add your comment to the blog.

There is lots about my past I've not said here and I won't unless you ever meet me in person.

Before you get too frustrated with my rambling...

Chainmail:

_{What would you do? You make the choice. Don’t look for a punch line, there isn’t one. Read this anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?}

_{At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: “When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?” The audience was stilled by the query.}

_{The father continued. “I believe that when a child like Shay, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.”}

_{Then he told the following story:}

_{Shay and his father had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?’  Shay’s father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps. Shay’s father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning”.Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father’s joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.}

_{In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.}

_{At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.}

_{However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.}

_{The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.}

_{Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all teammates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’ Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.}

_{Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball … the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.}

_{All were screaming, “Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay”.}

_{Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third! Shay, run to third!”}

_{As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, “Shay, run home! Run home!”}

_{Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team. “That day”, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world”.Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making his father so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!}

_{AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.}

_{If you’re thinking about forwarding this story, chances are that you’re probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren’t the ‘appropriate’ ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who published this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the ‘natural order of things’.  So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?}

_{A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.}

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