A few weeks ago I was aware that once again I had not updated this blog in a while. I started thinking it was time to write a blog entry, but I got distracted again.
I realized then that whenever I’m spending lots of time administering the WiFi at work that I don’t get around to updating my blog. It’s a combination of both not having the time and just not feeling like working on the computer more than I already was.
(Warning: geeky computer stuff follows!)
Last fall I wrote about the initial work I did on that WiFi project. Recently I’ve been working on some other changes to the system, including writing some PHP programs to run with an online MySQL database.
It was a little over two months ago that I received an email about a Terms of Service violation from the cable internet company because allegedly someone was using BitTorrent to download a movie while on our WiFi at work. (Apparently the movie studios hire contractors to watch the torrents and log IP addresses and ours came up.)
First I had to figure out how to log activity on our network so if abuses from within occurred in the future we could track down the culprit and deal with it accordingly.
In addition I did some online research about how small businesses deal with this and ended up suggesting a couple of changes, including a use agreement so that users would understand what was acceptable use of the WiFi, plus changing the users’ passwords. (The use agreement was intended to address the potential for illegal activity from authorized users, and the password changes were meant to secure the system from access by unauthorized users.)
All my suggestions were adopted which meant more work for me.
In order to administer the use agreement I had to create a method to easily disable user access for those who didn’t sign by a deadline. One thing I’ve learned is that I can post as many notices on the wall and send as many emails as I want, but many people simply won’t pay attention without being smacked in head, and that smack in the head for the WiFi users would come in the form of loss of Internet access.
Additionally I needed a system to let users manage their own passwords via a web based form.
Up to that time I had been storing user information in a Google spreadsheet which I exported and processed with a program I wrote that extracted the data and created files I could use upload to the Radius server.
But that system wouldn’t allow users to manage their passwords directly and I didn’t want to have to manage around 200 user passwords myself. The obvious solution was to use a MySQL database and PHP web pages so users could manage their own passwords. Once I chose that method it made sense to manage the other user data in the same MySQL database and stop using the Google spreadsheet altogether.
So I worked on that system off and on for a few weeks before putting it into use. Then the implementation of the various changes occurred with the inevitable result that many users who hadn’t been paying attention didn’t do what they needed to and lost Internet access.
Since only half of the users signed the use agreement on time, the remainder lost access with the result that I’ve spent the last few weeks re-enabling access for those who lost access and turned in a use agreement later.
Now that most of the users have signed use agreements and the password changes are underway I could move onto spending the time to sit and write this blog entry.
This month was the yearly Dakota County Fair. As usual we sent some of our miniature horses and pygmy goats to the Children’s Barnyard for the week.
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We always put signs on the pens warning the city folk that the animals might bite (they’re looking for food but they’re not carnivores). Between last year and this year, the animals added their own emphasis to one of them.
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Kim spent a couple of days working at the food stand her parent’s church runs every year.
She got tickets for us to go to the rodeo on Wednesday, but I opted to not attend. While she was there a bull escaped and injured a few people, making the news. She texted me updates during the time the rodeo was stopped while they chased the bull.
I spent very little time at the County Fair again this year, only attending for a few hours on a couple of days, including the last day when I helped Kim recover our animals to bring back home.
I had two weeks off from work intending to work on projects at home.
Usually it’s pretty hot and humid this time of year, but the weather was beautiful for much of my time off, with temperatures around 80 and low humidity.
I spent the first week off generally screwing around (it was my “vacation” so I didn’t plan on working throughout my time off) and only really started getting some work done the second week, telling Kim I obviously work better under pressure (time constraints).
I’m finding it very difficult to push too hard to finish projects because I also know that this time next year I will be retired from my job and have much more time.
One of the things I had to do was get an inspection on some of my electrical wiring in the new building since my permit was expiring. I had submitted the permit last August and they expire after a year so I had to finish up some of the wiring in my shop and call the inspector for a visit.
In order to finish the exterior electric outlets I had to fabricate some trim plates for the galvanized steel siding there. I prototyped the trim plates back in May, wrapping a square mud ring with galvanized sheet steel.
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Image may be NSFW.
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Image may be NSFW.
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I finished the last of the siding work on the new building when I completed the last doorway roof gable end.
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I also finally got around to felling the tree north of the house. I had trimmed the branches overlying the house back in June but had been distracted by other projects since then.
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I left a substantial stump in part because our dog, Basil, likes peeing on the base of that particular tree. Kim and I thought maybe I should try some chainsaw tree carving on what’s left, but that’s a project for post-retirement as well.
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Speaking of retirement, as we near the end of August I’m only a little over a month away from eligibility, but we’ve got some things to take care of before I actually retire that will very likely take more than a month to finish, including our mortgage refinance (yes, still!).
All our screwing around on the refinance has unfortunately allowed the interest rates to continue to climb too.
Summer is racing by and we’ll be back into colder weather soon. I worked on the automatic livestock waterers in preparation for winter and had to order some heater parts for one of them. If I’m smart I’ll get the parts in before it starts getting too cold.
But for now it’s still very much summer, and the last week we’ve had high humidity with temperatures over 90 degrees!
On a final note I had to write about shady business practices. We’ve seen a lot of bogus caller ID listings from telemarketers of late to a business number we have on distinctive ring on the house phone line, and I assert that no legitimate business would intentionally mask its identity. We don’t answer and block calls from companies that don’t have real caller ID information.
In a similar vein earlier this summer I got a letter that appears to be certified/registered mail but is actually just “junk” mail. This company believes that suckering a potential customer into opening its solicitation is actually a good way to initiate a relationship.
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Maybe that’s considered a sound sales tactic – say anything to get your foot in the door. Maybe they think it’s clever.
Most likely there are enough dopes out there that fall for it and open the letter and then forget they’ve been had, and maybe read what’s in there. It’s like email spam – if it didn’t net a few people then they wouldn’t do it, so unfortunately it must work.
But I don’t see this as anything other than “snake oil” sales tactics, and I would certainly never do business with a company that advertises this way, any more than I would do business with a company that sends spam, or one that masks its caller ID.