Tag Archives: tools

Pay For Your News

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Are you paying for your news?  No?  You just read the web.  After all, its all there, just click and go.

The beautiful thing about the Internet is the quantity of information available.  You can even have your own news site.  However, the flip side to that is quality information.  There’s a lot of it out there, but how can you tell what level of quality it is?  Looking for good code, and you happen to be a programmer?  Then things get a bit easier.  However, I’m not a journalist and I’m not on quite all the beats.

Enter this “news” concept.  I used to turn on the TV when I got home in the evenings to catch up with current events.  The problem here is once again quality of information.  Broadcast news, and quite a bit of what’s on line is more focused on sensationalism.  As CNN’s quest for ratings eroded the quality of the evening news coverage they lost me as a viewer.  I switched channels and found more of the same: low quality news and information.  Either sensationalism or just plan lack of good coverage.  I do watch the Daily Show, but its not going to be my soul source of news.

For years I’ve subscribed to LWN for many of the same reasons.  Its a high quality source of news and information about Linux, Open Source issues, and IT current events.  I use LWN daily at work.  Its a lot more convenient to send out a link to a software update from LWN rather than the vendors own site for many cases.  LWN is a tool that helps keep me a step or two ahead in my career.

Yes, all the news is, indeed, on the Internet.  For the same reasons I read and support LWN I discovered I needed to do the same with a quality news source for current events.  Find a good journalism outlet and support them.  Or two.  Read them online, read them on your Kindle, or find some time to read that thing somebody throws at your house in the morning.  Quality and professional journalism and news is not a luxury in the Information Age.

More Tools

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One post about tools and it seems I can’t help but look at screwdriver sets.  Good ones are really hard to find it seems.  The Black and Decker set I mentioned in the last post seems hard to come by now.  Looks like they have replaced it with this. Which less less bits and includes a 3-position screw driver which I, personally, have never cared for. I don’t care for the pistol style screwdrivers either as they tend to change position on you while you are applying pressure in the middle of a rack. What cord was that you just accidentally caught and yanked out? I did see a Husky ratcheting screwdriver set in Home Depot a few days ago that might be a good set. It had lots of bits and a Husky driver. However, I haven’t found it online.

What did I find online? I’ve never personally used these but I sure wouldn’t mind the chance:

GearWrench seems to have several sets.  This being the one I liked the most at a reasonable price tag of $35.  Although, I’d much rather trade out the T driver for a stubby.

Everybody seems to be selling this SK stubby set. About $21. The SK stuff is usually really great, I’d like to try these. (Although the Sears price is a little high.)

Finally, of course, if your overly serious about your ratcheting set and work pays you way too much (or they buy them for you) might as well go with this Snap-On set. This is really the set I like the best and the Snap-On brand means that it should be some of the best tools you can get your hands on. Now, I’ll just go out back and pick $317 off the money tree…

Systems Administration

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A friend of mine mentioned a book that’s been making the rounds a LISA and other groups of skilled sysadmins.  The Practice of System and Network Administration.  So I looked it up on Amazon and ended up ordering myself a copy.  I must admit, I’m very impressed with what I’ve found so far.  The book is full of those rare gems of wisdom that sysadmins collect over the years.  In what I’ve read it really seems to do justice to passing on knowledge of the soft side of being a systems administrator.

The first chapter has several lists of things every sysadmin should have or know, or points to follow to assess and survive specific situations.  One of the points that I found quite useful was in dealing with getting your tools back after you’ve loaned them out.  The most common thing, of course, is loaning out a screw driver.  The suggestion of this book was to keep several screw driver sets handy and just give that person their own set rather than loan out your own tools to be lost.  Don’t accept the set back either.

This really struck home because I spent all of what I think of as my junior sysadmin years with a $10 Black and Decker screw driver kit.  Its a great kit with 80% of what you need to have for cheap.  I normally see them on display in Home Depot quite a bit.  I’ve never seen a ratcheting screw driver kit that would do better for the cash.

So, that begs the question: What do I use for a screw driver today?  My choice is the Husky Pro ratcheting screw driver.  It comes with very few (although good quality) bits, but I’ve collected my own set of bits.  (By some extra philup #2 bits while your at Home Depot.)  The screw driver itself feels really comfortable and easy to use.  The ratchet controls wont accidentally flip to another setting.  It has a long shaft not often found on a ratcheting driver that makes it easy to work with screws inside a dense rack of equipment and wires.  It is magnetic which is handy, and contrary to common belief will not harm computer componets unless you are working with a floppy disk or tape cartridge.  When I just need a normal phillups #2 I also have a few drivers from Klein Tools.