TFH 10/23: The Day Entertainment Changed Forever

On this day in 2001, Steve Jobs announced the original iPod. Apple's iTunes is now the #1 music reseller. Mr. Jobs had many great moments in his all too short life, but 10 years ago when he revolutionized both entertainment delivery and playback, ranks among the top.

And for full disclosure, this post was authored on the Blogger app for iOS on my iPhone 4; a direct descendant of the original iPod. Thank you, Mr. Jobs.

Marxist Irony, iTunes Edition

On my iPhone, I have five apps that I use quite regularly (two more than the other three). They were free, and are e-readers with the texts of:

Thomas Paine's Common Sense
The Declaration of Independence
The Federalist Papers
The Constitution of the United States
Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations


All free! Even the capitalist bible of The Wealth of Nations!!!!

So, it occurs to me that it might be nice to be able to have the opposition's text(s) too, so I just searched on the iTunes AppStore for The Communist Manifesto (Marx/Engels) and Das Kapital (Marx). Care to guess what I found?

Yep. There are no free apps with the texts of those two. Funny that someone wants to make money off of Marxism, considering that the works - all that I've listed - are in the public domain.

TFH 11/21: The Dawn of the Net

You're reading this blog because of the United States Department of Defense's Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA). On this day in 1969, the forerunner of today's Internet - ARPAnet - went live.

Whenever somebody says that defense spending is nothing but weapons, remember that DoD invented the Internet (sorry, Al Gore, it wasn't you) and then gave it away for all mankind.

TFH 3/10: Almon Brown Strowger

Almon Brown Strowger received his patent for designing the first electromechanical telephone switching device on this day in 1891. His invention is the forerunner of today's networking equipment and furthered the communications revolution, which lead ultimately to the cybernetic revolution and the Internet.

Inventing direct dial, operator-less, automatic telephone switching? Sounds like a finest hour to me!

Tech tip: HP StorageWorks MSA controller

Memo to server/storage admins:

Before going ahead and planning an update of controller cache, check real hard - physical view if possible - and find out if you've got a single 256-MB module installed (today's default) or dual 128s.

Yes, I just got personally bit by this. Anybody know of a soft way to find out? I know the ACU doesn't say...if you know of a way of determining the individual module config other than inspection, please leave it in the comments.

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VMworld 2006: Los Angeles

I've been at VMware, Inc's technical conference VMworld 2006 since mid-Monday in LA, and by and large it's been a great event. Server virtualization is something I push; it's the only way to fully utilize computer hardware in most application situations that the companies I deal with are in.

Had a great hands-on session yesterday on the Consolidated Backup feature of Virtual Infrastructure 3 - can't wait to start demonstrating that to folks!

My complaints with the event are mainly logistical:

1. The conference party last night at Universal Studios started off as a debacle. The lines for food were very long, and it didn't seem like enough eats had been laid on early enough in the event.
2. A better job of people traffic management could have been done within the convention center. There were a lot of big crowds in small spaces trying to get into session rooms.
3. The food at the center wasn't on par with what I've gotten at other events by other companies, but was passable.
4. The variety of session-break snacks wasn't great, and the coffee cups don't have lids!

All in all, glad I came. I also found out that I have to update my VMware Certified Professional credential to VI3 by December 31...guess I'll be busy with that.

HPTF2006: Close

At the closing bash listening to Hootie & the Blowfish - great to hear them live, as I've loved their music for years!

The conference was great, but I'm ready to head home. Brain full, brain full.

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HPTC2006: Day 1 Summary, begin Day 2

Day 1 ended after I had attended a bunch of sessions that could have been better. Highlight of the day was the smoked NY strip steak at the Technology Showcase reception. YUM!

Day 2 began with a great, 4-hour session on installing Windows on HP Integrity Servers. I think I know what I'm doing with that now.

HPTF2006: General Session

Thought Mark Hurd was great, and the combination of his presentation with Randy D. Mott, the EVP/CIO, goes to show how HP internally is "eating their own dog food". I just wish they'd do it with all of their integrated product solutions! (e.g. no ProCurve switch in blades, et al.)

HPTF2006: Great Mark Hurd quote

Said with toung planted in cheek: "We've found that when we spend more time with our customers, we get more business."

If there's one common complaint among all my customers it's that their HP reps tend to be invisible, except when there's a pending order.

I hope he means it. As an HP partner, the more we can get from them in influence, the better.

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HPTF2006: Rainy morning in Houston

Looks like it's going to be raining most of the day. Opening General Session just started...great to have Mark Hurd, HP President and CEO, as the keynote speaker, unlike the 2nd team that always kicked off under Carly.

5,200 attendees - going to be a big, and great, event!

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HP Tech Forum 2006: Off to Houston

I'm on my way to attend the 2006 HP Technology Forum in Houston, TX. I'll be blogging that event as well as my usual rants and raves. If you're going to the event, see y'all in Houston!

Dude! You're getting a laptop that'll catch fire!

Heeeee Heeee!

I hate NetWare!

Yes, I'm in my demo lab setting up EVA storage on NetWare - what a PITA! Even HP-UX is easier. If I didn't think so before, one of my professional goals in life is to eradicate Novell. What a load of junk.