Author Archives: Chris

About Chris

Chris is an IT/IS management professional with over a decade of experience in IT, IS, Network Engineering, and Telecommunications integration. Chris specializes in web server deployment and information management. This includes CMS, CRM, and dynamic content deployment. Chris also manages a full service Video Head End with over 200 digital TV channels. Chris also has five years of project management, knowledge management, and engineering design experience. He specializes in both the Agile and Scrum project management methodology. He also has a background in computer forensics and information security including federal or state compliance audits (such as SOX).

Classic DF – 6/1/03

Posted on by

June 01, 2003: [•] First off, you may have noticed that DF.com was down on May 30th. Around Midnight a severe thunderstorm killed power for most of the Town of Warwick, NY and though electricity came back on around 3 AM for most of the Town the server itself wasn’t so lucky. Rock revived it around 5 PM later that day though and it’s been back up since then (obviously). Friday was my last day on the Help Desk and my last day as Lead Technician. It was thoroughly uneventfully yet not without an odd feeling in the air. Hanging right above my head was the next two weeks schedule. This week I was marked for vacation, but the week after I was no longer there. It just felt odd to see a schedule for the first time in four years where my name didn’t reside on it. My new job as a Network Specialist will be tough at first. There is a lot for me to learn and a lot that I want to learn though maybe not necessarily required. I’ve been told I’m going to be focusing on web page design, hosting, server administration, and television production. That’s a mish mosh of tasks and a venerable plethora of job skills will be required. I’m up for the challenge though and look forward to finally putting my multimedia art skills to their limits. I will miss the Help Desk nevertheless. I spent over four years on that job working my butt off and though I believe I did contribute a good amount of skill to it I know that there are many things that feel like they are going to be left unfinished. No doubt some of that can be addressed though as I’ll probably end up helping out over there time to time. So all in the end the change is for the better. Speaking of change, I picked up my new 2003 Ford Focus ZX3 yesterday. Two disappoints: First, no rear disc brakes. Second, no sub-woofer. Still it’s a good deal and at least I got most of what I wanted. I’m very happy with my payments and the car itself. Though I’ve driven it a total of 5 miles I feel like I’ve had it for years. It fits like a glove and I think it better suits my personality than the sedan version. Gette likes it too. The rear seats are noticeably higher in the hatchback than in the sedan. The result is she can now see out the rear window. For the first time ever she demanded to go into the car instead of walking to my mom’s (around the corner), which she NEVER had requested before. She hated being put in the other car, but this one she simply says “Me go Daddy’s car”. Sounds like a plan to me 😉 As far as Daddy/Baby time goes vacation has been great. On that note, it’s time for Sponge Bob Square Pants so I’m off to spend time with Gette.

Share

Classic DF – 4/9/03

Posted on by

April 09, 2003: [•] Check out BrokenReality’s site for a really cool piece of artwork by some chick named Cat. Good stuff. [•] I woke up this morning to pictures on my TV courtesy of CNN of the Iraqi civilian population amassing in the streets of their respective cities rioting. The crowd was not the expected riot of civilians repelling the “invaders” though, but instead cheering as thanks for US intervention. It was strange to watch all this unfold live. To watch these people place such great hope in my Nation just made me feel happy for them, but concerned. I hope that the US does help the Iraqis like we have helped the Afghanis recently. I hope these people find peace too. The war is far from over, but there is that glimmer of what could be and it’s one that I hope the world doesn’t ignore. These people want to be free and we must stand by them in their quest. [•] No longer do they want to be tortured unjustly and without reason. [•] Even France is backing UN action now. I don’t think it’s fair though that the detractors who didn’t see fit to place stock in these people in the first place should have guidance in their restructuring. No offense to France, Russia, or Germany; but I don’t think that a country who didn’t help to free the Iraqis should take credit for something they didn’t help to achieve. [•] A US F-15 fighter jet was shot down. [•] 120 people are now dead from an Ebola outbreak in the Republic of Congo. [•] An Israeli air strike has left 6 people dead in the Gaza Strip. [•] Rebels in the Ivory Coast killed 15 people. [•] 11 Afghan civilian are dead after a malfunctioning laser guided bomb missed its intended target, a rebel fighting force, and instead hit a house. [•] Comedian Rodney Dangerfield was admitted to a hospital for brain surgery in preparation for a heart operation. [•] The US House has passed a bill that will allow US Postal Stamps to stay at their current rates until 2006. [•] Obese children rate their quality of life the same as young cancer patients. I don’t know why though. I was fat as a teen and I had a hilarious time. Then again, I don’t think obesity ever stopped me from having a good time despite my various size over the years. LOL [•] An ex-police officer has been found guilty of making women he pulled over during his career strip down to their underwear. [•] California is considering adopting strict bottled water content disclosure labeling. [•] Just to validate the point that American Greetings makes a greeting card for every occasion they are now producing a line of war in Iraq cards for troops and their families. [•] Biotech is big bucks right now and several cities are fighting to become the leader in it as a result of it being so. [•] Another town for sale on eBay fails to meet the reserve. [•] Dolly the Cloned Sheep has been stuffed and put on display in a Scotland museum. [•] Speaking of clones, a clone of a near extinct wild cattle species brings hope that animals can be brought back from the verge of disappearing thanks to science. [•] Eddie Griffin takes his dysfunctional family to the big screen. [•] Beethoven’s 9th Symphony handwritten manuscript could fetch $4.6 million in an upcoming auction. I doubt I could sell the scrawled piece of paper I wrote Anything But Me on for more than a penny and a punch in the face. LOL [•] Howard Schmidt is more l337 than you’ll EVER be. He ownZ ur m0mm@… and stuff. [•] The funny part about experimental media is you don’t ever know how things will turn out, but you know that no matter the outcome you’re screwed. Living la vida Net-o. [•] The RIAA and MPAA have both cornered the lobbying market for copyright control, but now software makers are feeling left out. Well… except for Microsoft because they ownz ur m0mm@’s m0mm@. 😉 [•] The FCC is continuing its overhaul of obsolete rules that were created during TV’s infancy. [•] An anonymous backer is giving an open source advocate money to fight the system. Must be nice. [•] Here’s the age old journalism issue: When is a press release more of PR than actual news? [•] America’s most gifted athletes are about to get a major set back to their sport of choice: Smoke free bowling alleys. [•] The Village of Warwick has no grocer. Big deal! We have a clock tower and that just plain rules. 🙂 [•] The expected median gas price per gallon this summer in NY State should be about $1.56 and that’s a downright sexy price if you ask little old me. [•] I’m not a big fan of Evanescence. They are too annoyingly Glam Goth Rock for my taste, but from what I understand those crazy kids of today dig their groovy tunes. Whatever. [•] Okay, forget stadium concerts and selling CDs. Instead, you make fans pay a flat fee for one year of unlimited music downloads, chat time with the band, and a real live personal in house concert. Somehow that sounds like a lot of work and very Renaissance-era patron artist to me. Double whatever. [•] Godsmack gets on my “Nice” list by refusing to join the Summer Sanitarium tour. Not only because I loathe Metallica, but also because they are against the insane ticket price the venue is charging. [•] FYI: Who be the Kurds. [•] The Michigan Technological University is pretty peeved that the RIAA is suing one of its students. Especially since the University agreed to comply with the RIAA to avoid lawsuits against the faculty or students in prior discussions. [•] A man has been sentenced to prison for selling so-called mod chips that allow Xbox video game consoles to play pirated games. [•] Accusations are flying that China is covering up the cause of the SARS outbreak. [•] Ibuprofen and aspirin seem to moderately reduce the risk of breast cancer. [•] US bureaucrats are arriving in Iraq to start the setup of a new Iraqi government and more importantly return every day necessities such as running water to the people. Just a small observation here: Is it me or is Iraq quickly becoming slated as a very large Puerto Rico? LOL [•] Rollingstone plays 20 Questions with Rob Zombie. Fun, indeed. [•] The upcoming single from Peter Gabriel called Growing Up will be released on April 14th. The interesting factor here is that one of the songs on it will be remixed by Trent Reznor (NIN). Well, I guess it’s interesting if you like NIN. Otherwise, just move along. 😉 [•] Even Saab is making an SUV. Saab? [•] Sure minivans have been marked as 1990’s soccer mom passé, but Toyota’s new Sienna makes a commendable effort to give clout back to original economical family taxi. [•] Win an AMC Pacer! Yes, I said a Pacer. Don’t laugh. Okay, I did too. Let’s laugh together– ROFL. [•] A look at the Subaru WRX one year later. Hey, it still looks good. SCORE! Okay, that’s enough for today. 😉

Share

Classic DF – 4/8/03

Posted on by

April 08, 2003: [•] US forces continue to pound the living daylights out of the now defunct Iraqi military. [•] Work has begun by US officials on getting an Iraqi government together that represents its citizens. [•] Meanwhile Iraqi “Information Minister” Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf continues to say that his forces are winning despite no one believing a word he says at this point. [•] Yahoo! has tweaked its search engine yet again in an attempt to become the choice search engine. [•] Infants breast fed require a Vitamin D supplement to prevent health issues. [•] A rose is a rose by any other name except when it shares the name of a terrorist. Then it is a suspect held at gun point and subjected to scrutiny. [•] A new antibiotic that fights pnuemonia and bronchitis is now showing strength in fighting anthrax. [•] IBM has literally run out of stock shares. So now what? [•] The product key for Windows Server 2003 has leaked onto the Internet. [•] Sun previews its new CPU code-named Jalapeno. Spicy! [•] Intel and Via have settled all outstanding lawsuits against each other. The result is Via can continue making chipsets and Intel gets a cut of the profits from them. [•] There is a security hole in the *NIX application called Samba. [•] The whole total home network thing doesn’t appeal to me. I mean I’ve had my web site hacked before and that was bad enough. I can only imagine having to re-mirror my entire house because someone hacked into my refrigerator through a buffer exploit, set my ice maker on high, and covered my floor in ice cubes. Then dropped the temperature in my apartment to 20° and froze my cats to the kitchen floor. Doh! [•] The Warwick School District budget is up 8% from last year and it looks like even an austerity budget won’t save residents an impending tax hike. [•] It’s time for some new music and here’s what came out today that’s worth buying: Autechre, Atari Teenage Riot, Johnny Cash, Fear Factory, Godsmack, Jay Z, and the X-ecutioners. [•] SARS is spread by cockroaches. [•] McDonald’s is going to start selling healthy food. Believe it or not that isn’t a joke. [•] A US air strike targeted Saddam Hussein may have killed the dictator though no one knows for sure right now. [•] US Forces found what appears to be the chemicals used to make Sarin gas. Further testing is being done, but if it comes back positive from a lab Iraq is in deep poop. [•] The Deftones have launched a club tour. [•] Staind is going to do three free shows to celebrate the release of their new album 14 Shades of Gray. Also, Meatloaf is launching his final world tour. [•] DJ Shadow says he’s only produced three tracks for Zach De La Rocha’s new album and the rest were produced by Trent Reznor. Very cool. [•] BMW has premiered its new 5-Series sedan at its latest German world headquarters press conference. I’m not quite sure if I like it or not. I’ll give this– it’s different. [•] Supposedly it’s Spring here in Southern New York State. All I have to say to that is; HAH!

Share

Classic DF – 4/7/03

Posted on by

April 07, 2003: [•] Despite what Iraq has to say US forces are in Baghdad as we speak conducting military operations against what’s left of Hussein’s failing regime. Also UK forces say that Chemical Ali is dead and if that’s true it would be a big blow to Hussein’s control base. [•] Eighteen Kurdish officials were killed in a friendly fire incident. [•] Gas prices have dropped a few cents for the sixth week in a row and are about 10¢ from where I remember them a year ago. [•] The UN has confirmed a report that Christians were slaughtered in a genocide attack in the Republic of Congo even though days before the attack both side signed a peace treaty. [•] Tornados hit Mississippi over the weekend. [•] Now North Korea says that any UN resolutions against their country will be regarded as a call to war. [•] A fire in a Siberian village’s school has left 22 people dead. [•] An Indian MIG fighter jet crashed into a milk factory injuring several factory workers. [•] Over 100 inmates are dead in Honduras after a prison riot. [•] A teen who fell into a coma shortly after delivering her child has come out of it a year later. [•] Over 2 million inmates are currently incarcerated in the US today. [•] Concern is growing over organ transplants being the cause of cancer spreading to individuals who would have not otherwise developed the disease. [•] Despite being shut down eight billion times al Qaeda’s web site is managing to survive. [•] Researchers are continuing to work on minimizing the total equipment weight carried by a soldier. [•] Lawyers are warning that if employers do not more aggressively filter work mail for pornography they may risk lawsuits. [•] Apple is going to offer an upgrade to its multimedia A/V production line of software. [•] Red Hat has started selling add-on applications for its server software. [•] Adobe continues to strive to become the document format of choice by updating its PDF format once again. [•] The upcoming new video for Marilyn Manson’s new single, moBSCENE, will be 40’s carnival themed. [•] Gorillas and chimpanzees are on the verge of extinction. [•] Mmmmm… Mazda RX-8. [•] I had an enjoyable, but somewhat busy weekend. The highlight of the weekend had to be when Gette learned to sing Rockin’ Robin. She’s so darn cute. We were watching an old VHS tape of the Muppet Show and that song came on. Out of nowhere she stands up, starts dancing, and singing along. It was completely adorable. I love that daughter of mine 😉

Share