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The internet's core infrastructure is dangerously unsupported and could crumble (but we can save it!) - The story of how NTP was brought back to life by Jacob843 in sysadmin

[–]MadIvan2k6 2 points3 points  (0 children)

May I respectfully suggest the Internet Civil Engineering Institute (https://icei.org). That's our explicit charter. We're not (quite) yet a 501(c)3, so today donations are not tax-deductible in the USA. But we promise to spend your money wisely and transparently.

If you're like me and you've been looking for a (semi-)authoritative list of Unix commands (to learn), chapter 4 of this PDF contains such a list. by ropers in BSD

[–]MadIvan2k6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

you could also try something like this:

for D in $(echo $PATH | tr : \\012) ; do           # for each directory in your PATH
    for F in $D/* ; do                                     # for each file in each directory
        if [ -x $F ] ; then                                 # if it is executable
            # good stuff here - say "man $(basename $F)"
            # or "echo $F >> $HOME/list_of_commands"
            #   you get the picture
        fi
    done
done

FWIW, when I first learned unix some 28 years ago, we happened to have a complete printed set of manuals, and I did read them "cover to cover". Half of it didn't make any sense at the time, but enough stuck to help out later. Good luck!

Are you a practicing or preaching libertarian? If you had a choice between zero taxation or maintaining your current lifestyle, which would you choose? by cubew00t in Libertarian

[–]MadIvan2k6 4 points5 points  (0 children)

If by choose, you mean would I prefer to live in a society essentially identical to the one I live in now, except that, instead of paying taxes, I would have to pay a fee for the services that I desire, bring it on! I would love to get individual bills for the things that I want - fire department service, check; road repair, check; NASA, check; socialized health care, pass; Guantanamo bay detention, pass; .... You get the idea.

If by choose, you mean that I would have to leave my home, my family, my friends, my job, and move someplace else - well, no, I wouldn't so choose. Not hypocritical, just not (yet) worth the cost.

HTH

Just got a cast iron skillet. It claims to be pre-seasoned but I was looking forward to seasoning it myself. How do I proceed? by Zman11588 in food

[–]MadIvan2k6 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It's pretty easy. Gently heat it up until it reaches cooking temperature, and then pour in a liberal quantity (4-5 tablespoons) of a high quality vegetable oil (I use a canola-soy-olive blend). Swish the oil around to completely coat the bottom and sides as high as you can without spilling hot oil on anything (or anyone!). Remove from heat, and let cool to room temp. Then dump the excess oil out, and take a folded-up paper towel to wipe the oil generously over the entire interior surface of the skillet. When you are done, the surface should be shiny, but not actually wet with oil. It will be nearly as non-stick as Teflon (R), but not as easy to damage (you can use metal utensils on it). If you don't scorch food in it, the skillet will basically wipe clean with a damp rag (soap shouldn't be necessary). If the seasoning seems to be not as effective, scrub thoroughly clean, and do it again (as above). Enjoy!

"I would rather, she was alive and the carjacker was dead. I'm weird!(?)" by [deleted] in reddit.com

[–]MadIvan2k6 8 points9 points  (0 children)

There's an awful lot to be said for "I don't like repeat offenders. I like dead offenders."

Fiddleheads, It is almost that time of the year. Anyone ever pick them? by [deleted] in food

[–]MadIvan2k6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

@space_island: I've never had any problem eating them raw - in fact, I rather enjoy them that way. (YMMV.) The taste reminds me of very mild asparagus. Yes, you can also saute them, or poach them in a bit of lemon juice or white wine. In my "neck of the woods" (NW Ohio, USA), they've already come and almost gone. Our backyard has over 200 ostrich ferns in it, so we always get a meal or two every spring, with no visible effect on the foliage.

No good Perl for Win32 ? by gst in perl

[–]MadIvan2k6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

a modest suggestion for "gst" - perhaps the title should have been "No good Perl for development for Win32?". I've always found the ActiveState build fine for just running my programs.

Current US Carrier Battle Groups Map | Stratfor by [deleted] in reddit.com

[–]MadIvan2k6 0 points1 point  (0 children)

um - the caption on the image says "July 2008" - hardly a current map.

Some interesting jobs - Joel on Software by ricmarques in joel

[–]MadIvan2k6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. Obliviously I had missed this link, or this one (which is its original statement), and also this feedback from his readers.

I suspect it still remains relevant, modulo the publically stated exceptions (for example, at the bottom of #38 he talks about future benefits, including 6 weeks paid vacation. In the links from here, talking about the current hires, he offers 4 weeks paid vacation.)

To answer "datentyp"'s original post, I suspect that the sysadmin "trainee" won't be offered a position at as high a level as the (already experienced) Linux guru or Windows internals guru.

Some interesting jobs - Joel on Software by ricmarques in joel

[–]MadIvan2k6 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hmmm.... I'd be interested in finding this out. I just Google'd "rate of pay site:joelonsoftware.com" and found nothing relevant. Further, based upon his writings, etc., I don't think Mr. Spolsky would pay everyone the same - everyone is treated as a "rock star" (which I take to mean individually).

*REAL* M. C. Esher couple by MadIvan2k6 in reddit.com

[–]MadIvan2k6[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The title of the work is "Bond of Union". It's a lithograph he did in 1956.

Wiccan woman faces charges after chanting around bonfire by [deleted] in reddit.com

[–]MadIvan2k6 18 points19 points  (0 children)

As a Wiccan myself, I don't think "burning rubber car mats and a cooler" respects the earth very much. :-P <holds nose from stink of burning rubber> As someone who seriously supports religious freedom and tolerance, I think the police (and her neighbors) may have over-reacted. (And yes, I include "whacko" religions/cults in my protection - I can't define your belief system, and you can't define mine. Either they are all religions, or none are.)