Teen Tech

Well, School’s finally out.  I passed all of my classes (thankfully), and now I start preparation for the summer when I’m at camp.  In scouts, I recently gained the rank of Life, which is one step beneath Eagle, so in about six months, I should be an Eagle scout.

For now, let’s discuss Windows Vs. Linux Server operating systems.  First off, the goal of a server operating system is to share resources.  It could be files, printers, even websites.  All of that runs off of some server that runs some operating system on it.   First off, Windows Server 2003 has a few distinct advantages over Linux.  (For those of you who don’t know what Linux is, I’ll explain in a lot of detail over the next couple of days.)  For the first advantage that

• Windows has mostly a graphical user interface.  All that means is that you get the pretty icons that can be clicked on.  Linux, has mostly a command line (remember DOS???), and that does most of the tasks, though there are some Graphical options out there.
• Windows has WINS.  WINS is basically for those old NetBIOS computers (pre windows 98) that are still on the network being used.  WINS allows those old computers to “talk” to the other, more modern systems on your network.
• Windows also has Active Directory.  Active Directory is a nice tool that is used to keep track of all of the computers and users on the network.  It can manage those users and computers from a central location, so that you don’t have to go to each individual machine.  Linux has an alternative, but it is very clunky, and not good for scalability

Linux has some advantages over Windows Servers:

• It has all the server software pre-installed, just waiting to be started including Apache Web Server, MySQL databases, PHP for dynamic web pages, CUPS (print server), DHCP (assigns each computer on the network an IP automatically), DNS (allows you to find a computer by it’s hostname), and a few more
• Remote administration.  I can log into a linux server with much more ease remotely than I can with a windows server, and with it being command line, it is great for dial-up
• Firewall.  Sure, windows has a firewall, but it’s not nearly as good as it could be.  The linux firewall, by default allows outgoing traffic, but not incoming, unlike windows which blocks all except for the internet browsing, DNS, and a few other things.
• Stability.  Linux is a much more stable environment than a windows server.  I can have a linux server have twice as much more uptime than windows, and it doesn’t get bogged down, so you don’t have to reinstall the OS as often.
• Price.  Linux is free.  Instead of paying 300$ (I don’t know the exact cost) for windows, you can DOWNLOAD linux for free.  I us SuSE which is done by Novell, and it basically holds your hand during the install.  Very easy to use and great for a first timer.

So, I might seem a little Biased towards linux, but with the cost, ease of setup and administration, the only thing that I would ever use a Windows based server for is Active Directory and WINS.

Here I sit, at the computer at a friend’s house after an all night game of Counter-Strike.  What did we do?  We had a LAN Party.  Not a big one, but with a few close friends, we held it in the basement of a Sand Creek Graduate after his open house.  There are four computers down here, and after all is said and done, I am the only one awake.  That is why I am tired.  I resisted the dark side :).

Yesterday was the senior’s last day of school here. It’s kind of sad, because what do you say. Goodbye, I may never see you again? Well, that’s where technology comes into play. There are webcams, e-mail and skype to make communication a lot easier. You can go out and purchase a webcam for less than thirty dollars, and use them with MSN. Simple. With this technology, there is almost no reason why people can’t stay in touch in this day and age. OK, so along with the seniors at this school leaving, there is always some sort of prank that is traditionally done during the next week of school. In Adrian schools, the seniors released 2,000 bouncy rubber balls in the hallways.  Back here in Tecumseh, the seniors put 1/4 inch zip-strips in the locker’s padlock hole, so that any student who was hit had to go get some scissors to open their locker.  Back to what I was saying, with cell phones and VoIP (Voice over IP), there should be no reason to have anything to talk about at the ten year highschool reunion :).

OK,
so I didn’t break the whole bowling alley. Only lanes one and two. Here’s what happened. A ball or two before, I threw my ball like normal, got a gutter, but it bounced out of the gutter (more like it flew out of the gutter), then it hit five pins. Two of those bounced into the gutter about 3 feet out of the reach of the arm that collects the pins, so there they sat until someone hit them. I hit one of them no problem, and that put it back into play. On my next turn I threw my ball, and I hit to top of the pin that was facing towards me in the gutter. The pin acted like a ramp for my lighter-than-usual ball, and that hit the plastic at the top at the end of the lane that had the lane numbers and ball count on it. It shattered it for my lane and the lane next to me. Plastic and the little LEDs were hanging down. Luckily, the guy behind the counter was understanding, even though he still took my phone number. He could have thrown us out then and there, but he actually offered to move us to different lanes. Luckily the damage was with a house ball, and not my own, and hopefully they have insurance. I’ve decided now that I’m going to quit bowling for a while and concentrate on my Counter-Strike playing and getting my team off the ground.

OK,

I always get depressed this time of year. People graduate. At vo-tech the students aren’t all from the same school, they are from all of the Lenawee County schools. Well, some of my friend’s last day at vo-tech was today, and I don’t think I’ll be able to go to his graduation open house, so today may have been the last day that I ever see him. One of these kids knows a ton more about computers and technology than anyone I know including myself. I’m depressed about him leaving (He’s going to college out of state).

On the other hand, I have filled my Counter-Strike team roster. We will probably play in the CAL (CyberAthlete Amateur League www.caleague.com) season 20 starting in January to give us time to practice. I’m working on the website for the team now (www.tech-works.info/CS).

Also, I’m going to be working on my post frequency here, so keep checking back for more!!!

OK,

So, I wrote a post a while back about professional video gaming.  Well, I’ve decided to start my own Counter-Strike (www.counter-strike.net) team.  A team consists of six players, all with their own copy of the game, and a league to play in.  We would play in the semi-pro leage, the CAL (CyberAthlete Amateur League, which is a subsidiary of the CyberAthlete Professional League).  I’ve hit a couple of roadblocks, right now, which will be remedied in time. 

1. I need a complete team roster, which consists of six people.  I have two definite people, and one possible. 
2. Everyone needs a copy of the game.  Pirating a game and attempting to play in the league is cause for a 35 year ban.  Yeah, they’re that strict. 
3. We need a place to practice, then play the games, preferably under one roof.  The games are played online against the other players, but I have dialup internet :(, so that would hinder my brother and me. 

Other than that, we would be good.  Unfortunately, for this, I will be gone during the summer, so we would have to wait one or two seasons (the gaming season is about three months, and the next season begins immediately after one concludes).  That will give us enough time to get the roster together, and get the game for everyone, and find a place to practice/play.  It will happen and when the fall or winter season comes around, we should be ready.

I’ve been really busy this past weekend.  It was the wedding of my church youth director and the church’s secretary’s son.  About two weeks ago, I was asked by the bride to film the wedding.  I agreed.  Friday (May 4), I went to the site of the wedding (which was going to be outdoors at a baseball field barring any complications) for the rehearsal at about noon.  It was going to be a great baseball themed wedding with an arch of bats with the bridesmaids on one side and the groomsmen on the other side with the new bride and groom passing through them.  After the rehearsal, the bridal party and I went to dinner at the pastor’s house.  I didn’t get home until about nine o’clock PM.

The next day was the actual ceremony.  They decided to move the ceremony indoors because of the wind and the chance of rain.  Well everything that I had planned for all three cameras was out the window.  I was lucky that the people were coming in from stage left and not the center otherwise, I could not have had my center camera.  We got through the ceremony with very few issues, and even those may be able to be remedied.

After the ceremony is always the reception.  I had to be there for the whole thing getting it on tape.  I didn’t have the agenda, which turned out to be somewhat of an issue, but it worked out.  I was in that reception hall from noon until six o’clock PM.  I thought that my job was done, but no.  The bridal party invited me to go bowling with them, so I just had to go.  I didn’t bowl higher than a 125 which is rather bad for me.  Then I went home after two games.  It was about nine o’clock again.

Then, the next day, I had to go to church to return one of the cameras that I had to borrow and to go to service and youth group.  It was then that I learned that the bride and groom were having an open house where they would be opening gifts, so I had to go to that.  That was another hour and a half of standing to get good footage.

Now I sit at home, tired, and glad that all of the filming is done.  I just have about five hours of raw footage that needs to be edited including the rehearsal, the three cameras from the ceremony, the reception and now the open house, all which needs to be spliced together with the audio seamlessly (the ceremony will be hardest with the three angles), and not enough hard drive space to store all of it.  Fun.  It’ll be done in about a week, but until then, I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me.

SO, let’s face it. Not everyone has a ton of money. That in itself can make keeping up to date with the latest technology a real issue. So how can you stay with the new stuff? It is so expensive. First and foremost, don’t get the new thing right when it comes out. Patience is a virtue. Waiting a while will often reward you with a lower cost sometimes a lot lower. Another great thing is to know people. Some people just get rid of old computers and what not when they get new stuff. I recently just got a laptop for free when some people where getting a new one which is in quite good condition. I have gotten a total of three computers for free from people who are replacing their hardware. For my last tip, look for rebates. Most stores online have mail in rebates which can be somewhat of a pain to remember to mail in, but if you do, you will be happy to receive a portion of what you paid. With these tips, you won’t be disappointed in what you can find.