Teraknor

What is up with a sub-section of our species, incapable of engaging with with world wide interweb, they have to ask obvious questions that take little effort to employ google or another search engine. It's not difficult, I have probably blogged on this before. Type some clever words into a search engine, analyse the results. If that does not work try some other clever words, you never know the answer may magically appear. Yet, there are those who will waste their time asking the question and often are unhappy with the response they get. As if our checking the answer for them would present a better more palatable result.  So, Read The Frigging Internet, form your own view, come up with your own ideas and then GET a GRIP.

Boasting is seldom a flattering talent, so lets say that I am personally impressed at how the blog is developing. Rather than go for headline statistics, I prefer steady growth ... At the start of this year, discussing simulation, Teraknor leapt from a quiet chatter to an interesting peak. Whilst it has dropped to some lower periods (when I have posted less). The figures show that the trend whilst spiky is moving upwards. So, it has been nice that whilst it is quieting down over the christmas period, we have enjoyed an increase in numbers for this month. Some of the conversation has been around student discipline, which has obviously attracted interest from many.

I would consider myself to be a social media layman, someone who dabbles, more often observes and considers what is worth pursuit or not. This post could express an infinity of ideas, but as time is short and interest less so. Lets explore the notion of endorsement on LinkedIn. Unlike the 'recommendations' tool where you have to attempt to write something, pithy, punchy and coherent. Whereas with an endorsement, you simply have to agree that a word matches something that others could also agree is a personal and professional match. So lets take a look at my current endorsements ... Nothing unusual in the top ranking, to be fair, I am being endorsed for my work on bringing Linux into the modules at the OU, my technical skill is average at best. What makes me chuckle is that on the subjective view of one soul another has agreed that I have skills in the discipline of Windows. Um, nope I don't, I have probably a power user and given any inclination I could...

Under stone, beneath heath, deep in the sodden ground. Turning earth, giving worth, humblest serpent brown. Eyeless monster of the deep, when do you sleep? Every the pleasure of birds, toddlers and boys … what are you?

My how Christmas erodes those neurons and worse how a little time away from the tech addles minds even worse. Today has been a the first steps on a delayed path to the (re)creation of a simulated internet. Unlike early instances, this has to hold up to the aggregated assault of at least 1000 different connections. Fun eh ... having built one side of the bargain, I as yet have to build the other transatlantic (more Pacific) core and work on the clients and how they may connect. I think I have come up with an addressing methodology that would make sense and scale allowing for at least 255 core switches each hosting around 250 connections. There are more (many more) refinements and plenty of opportunities to drag forth forgotten networking skills and put more time into troubleshooting the networks I create.

There are many things that the internet was not designed for, yet as a sentient species we have taken a system designed at a time of paranoia and ensured that it hosts pictures of the food we eat. Nice isn't it ... Equip someone with mobile data connectivity  a phone more powerful than many computers of the generation that spawned the internet, add a reasonable camera and some on board software and hey presto we have an internet of food. Must go and take another picture of dinner ...

In my usual fit of humbug, I feel that it is worth sharing another cynics viewpoint. Email has been around for some considerable time, but with the real explosion of Internet from the early 90's onwards. There has been a paradigm shift, which has evolved over the last ten years (or thereabouts) Now the festive season is upon me, I endure two kinds of mass mailings. The festive greetings from corporate non entities who succumb to the idea that this must be the right thing to do. When you get one from a CyberSecurity specialist, you know that the season is not the time to be jolly. Then the sales, o lord the sale, will the sales sod off. Every retailler I have mistakenly exchanged virtual cash with in the last three to five years takes the time to pollute my inbox with their prospective wares. To either party .... please, do piss off and leave my respective inboxes alone. I will come and find you if I need you, you don't need to impose some seasonal sensibility on me...

Ok, you know what a fishmonger is, we are all aware of the ironmonger. There have been warmongers amongst many other mongers I am sure. Etymologically based in Greco/Latin and meaning a dealer of ... something or other. What could you be ... after all what is an educator. Are you a brainmonger or knowledgemonger, in this current culture you could be a qualificationmonger or certmonger. For my professional background of computing and related disciplines, I could be considered as a networkmonger but once a codemonger. Everyday jobs could take on new meanings, a quick trip to the hairmonger, popping out to the coffeemonger, having your legal matters resolved by a lawmonger. Ok, maybe the last one was a bit silly, but you get my point. I do like the notion that I may be a brainmonger in the field of internetworkmongery, it has a nice long winded ring about it. What monger are you?

Simon D, I know that you read my blog, now stop, think and consider this. You have a smart phone, you have a shiny iPad thingy. Why can't you start your own blog? You shared that you can't write one, really, why not, everyone has something in them if you think otherwise I may set Brocklebank Senior on you. Like anything, it comes with practice, the more you practice writing, the better you will become. I have many 1000's of words behind me as a text book author but still practice my discipline. Often through my blogs and some of the material I create for work. Imaginative and creative writing is not a given gift, it is one that is acquired. Sometimes you will write something that is really amusing, other times, who cares if it is not your best. Taking one of your posts .... Like a prison transport ferrying the dammed, crushed into inhumane seats unfit for an infant let alone an adult. We churned our way through the streets of Bletchley. Each pothole and speed h...

And I do not mean the Christmas shopping experience. If you have never noticed this, then you are either unemployed, not in need of employment or too lazy to read your emails. Over the last week, it is as if everyone is trying to discharge all their pending items (onto you), in that pre-Christmas seasonal desire to ensure that you endure the festive season with the foreboding that come January you too will have 'things to do'. My problem is, if it sits on my 'to do' list for too long, i tend to delete items based on the giving a damn theory. If nobody else is giving a damn and not asking me for something, then surely it was not important in the first place. The net result, with the cumulative effect of the Christmas break, stuff will rise to the ignore pile quicker due to the volume of disinterest imposed by 1.5 weeks off. I am sure there is a salutatory expereince in this somewhere.

Wow found this on YouTube, a Monkey Dust parody of Glengarry Glen Ross ... Eiree how this has become the reality in so many educational establishments.

The Smith family Christmas blog entry. Rather than sending a letter to all, which we feel is becoming somewhat cliché and means that we have to bother remembering who we are posting what to. We (well I actually) have resorted to writing a Christmas blog entry and sharing it with the world. As this blog links to my twitter and facebook feeds and can be shared by other family members then we are reaching the majority of those whom we care about. If you missed the last post from 2011, it can be found at http://teraknorblogs.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/well-now-its-time-for-christmas-message.html it gives all our reasons for not doing Christmas cards and preferring social media. Naturally if you believe that I (we) are humbugs, that’s nice, I am sure those of you who actually know us. Know that we care little about such views. In reality and in our modern connected and conversely disconnected world, if you have followed either Teraknor or Bloody Professionals, yo...

Do you know; I think that I may (not really) becoming a social media expert. Not through vanity or grace, nor expertise, just relative experience. Often I hear the same old drivel in some conversations on the topic. Souls desperate to get a social media presence, but want it now. Hint : it takes time. It does not come overnight, if you already have a following, namely you are a publicly known individual or entity. You stand a chance. Otherwise you need to work on it. Now wondering if I should start a small campaign and see what the results are.

After over 4.5 years at OU it is the first time that I have had to apply the following axiom …  "Don't argue with idiots, they will bring you down to their level and beat you with experience". Discretion prevents me from sharing too much, fortunately they do not work in my faculty. Yet seem oblivious to the impact that they may have on the final product being shipped out to students. Fortunately we have an outstanding curriculum manager who has the patience of the sanctified. Otherwise it would have been soooo tempting to pop along and tear the muppet in question a new one.

Not for the first time I get the impression that there are some colleges out there trying to squeeze the hours on some full time programmes. Naturally I mean less than the expected number of hours in the funding agreement. I cannot prove anything, so cannot make any accusations. Yet somehow, in their desperation I feel that some centres are delivering their qualifications to less than the funded number of hours. Is this fraud?

Stolen from another feed and tidied up for Christmas and public consumption. On the 12th day of Christmas Facebook gave to me: 12 loonies I’m blocking 11 friends just watching 10 silly topics trending 9 whiners whining (again) 8 friends a bitching 7 stalkers stalking 6 event invites awaiting 5 drama queens … 4 farmville requests 3 photo tags 2 annoying pokes And a creep that comments on everything

I have decided to leave this as a personal salutary lesson on email security ... If you don't get it, don't worry. From Andrew Smith Lecturer in Networking at Open University Luton, United Kingdom ...

Recently I had a brief glimpse in the future and the clock is being turned back. Not weeks, not months, nor years, but to a previous millennia. It would seem as if, the times are a changing; it is if 1997 did not happen? Now the competition is to guess … what is coming back as a core subject ( albeit in another name ) from a time now unknown, unless you were teaching this subject in the 90’s.