Networking... the people kind

Met with Manny today to discuss what roles his company might have.  They have a subsidiary in London that I would LOVE to work for, so hopefully that will come to fruition.  They also have a role that might be based out of Dallas.  I would be willing to head to Dallas, as it means I'd get to see Tommy a bit more.  Manny also suggested that I consider consulting and getting a business card together, as he felt that was a strong suit for me.  Seeing how I have toyed with the idea on and off for over 7 years now, I am inclined to agree.  I need to put together a business card, web page, and perhaps a brochure that I can start utilizing, so that is on the agenda list now.  A domain name might be a good idea too.

No, Really!

Get Don a Job!!!  A week and a half ago, I was laid off from By Referral Only.  In fact, my entire department was let go.  I guess the good news is that after not taking a vacation since January of 2007 when my daughter was born, I had accrued about 3 weeks of vacation time, so have enough money to stay afloat for a bit.

My initial thoughts were that I needed to get work right away and to jump at everything that showed any interest.  Having worked in a call center in the real estate industry, obviously, I got two quick bites from people who were looking for people for their real estate industry call centers...  

The problem I have is that I don't necessarily want to work in real estate any more.  I have done quite a bit of thinking over the course of the last seven years on the real estate industry. Four years ago told anyone who would listen that in five years time, we'd see a 40% decrease in home values in San Diego and a nationwide recession because everything I could see that was going on in the industry said a big bubble was going to burst.  I know, it's easy to say that now.  But seriously, if you know me, you've heard it from me for years now.  Even my parents got sick of hearing my rants and told me they thought I was wrong.  So why in the hell did I take my job to begin with?

Because of the challenge.  I talked to the interviewers at the company and got very intrigued by what the company wanted to do and the challenges it presented.  I learned a lot at By Referral Only in my time there, and definitely had a challenge on my hands.  In my time at BRO, I learned a fair amount about SQL, especially the Informix version of it and how to work around some of its idiosyncracies with a bit of thinking.  I learned a lot about leadership and how to effectively manage people through a complete change in their roles.  And I learned a lot about marketing effectively and how the glitzy ad looks fabulous, but doesn't necessarily get you more/better customers.

So where does that leave me now?  Looking for that next challenge.  Something that will keep me engaged and interested beyond the initial learning curve.  Something on the cutting edge, that wants to remain there.  Something that makes use of my desire to solve problems, face new challenges, and makes use of both technology and people.  In fact, something very similar to what I had at the Carphone Warehouse, just, preferrably, with more pay.

Current Network

I have been doing a lot of networking of late... I had four different routers in four weeks trying to get the functionality I was looking for. I finally settled on the wrt600n router to meet all my needs. I wanted something that would give me Ndraft wireless, dual channel real time, and a gigabit switch. (I got burned by the box of a Netgear that stated dual channel, but it meant one or the other, not both) and rock solid reliability. (Don't get started on whose routers are better, I happen to like Linksys). My previous router was a WRT54G which is an industry standard router pretty much. That little tank was ALWAYS up, so much so that I forgot all the settings, etc. So my current configuration is:

WRT600N
Wired:
Windows Home Server direct wired
Xbox 360 direct wired
XP Desktop

5Ghz N Draft
WGN600N
Belkin USB Hub direct wired
Hooked up to the Belkin is an Epson R1800

2.4Ghz G
XP Laptop
Vista Premium Laptop

One of my recent lessons was in security. I can say that I saw a 100% increase in G network speed by switching to WPA2 and AES over WPA with TKIP. When transferring 32GB of music from a laptop over to the Home Server, that is a HUGE difference. So if you have AES capability on your machines I highly recommend making the switch!

Haxorz II

I still haven't finished this project. As it got darker in the room, the camera appeared to get grainier, so I did a bit more research and it turns out that I need to filter out normal light so that I am only getting infra-red light coming on to the CMOS sensor. The easiest way to do this is to place a piece of black negative from color film over the lens. When was the last time you saw film from a camera? Can't remember? Me either. I guess I could go take pictures of a dark room and get the developed so I can get the negatives... but that is starting to turn in to a more expensive project than I would like. And I still haven't worked out a cheap way to get the camera wireless. So for now, I have put the project on hold. While I could kludge together frankencam to prove the point, the idea was cheap, easy to use webcam functionality that gave me the ability to monitor my daughter while she sleeps. Since that isn't working out to be so cheap, I may as well look at commercial solutions.

Haxorz

OK, not really, but as close as I am likely to get to hacking. I found a post online that suggested all CMOS sensors detect infrared light, but that they typically have a glass cover that filters this light out. AND... webcams use CMOS sensors. This piqued my curiosity on two levels. How well does the camera work in the dark and what does my daughter get up to when I put her down for bed.
Tonight I got one of the two answers... The camera works quite well in the dark. My daughter decided to behave completely and lie down and go to sleep. This is the first time in the last seven days.

The camera I hacked was a 1.3mp Creative VF0350. Here's some tips if you decide to take yours apart...

Don't mess with the cord, it isn't required to get the back off. I unscrewed the two small screws on the back of the webcam and when the cover didn't come off so easy, tried to get the cord out of the back figuring that was the issue. It just looks like it is a plug, but it actually has tabs that lock it into place. So if you decide to remove the cord plug from the back, be sure to twist it 90 degrees first. I did not and broke the tabs.

Use a flathead screwdriver to pry the small glass ir filter off.

Throw the filter away immediately. I have no idea where mine is now, but it isn't at my desk and it isn't easily visible on my carpet... Time to bust out the vacuum cleaner before someone gets cut. My big toe'd survive, my sanity if my daughter got it and swallowed would not.

I have the camera working at the moment and I can see my daughter while she sleeps, so I am very happy, but I don't have the project completed. I need to figure out a way to get the camera wireless so I don't have to have 25 feet of USB cable draped through my daugher's room and the living room. And I need to get it to connect to my Windows Home Server so I can serve up sleeping grandchild to the grandparents over the web. But as a proof of concept, I am so Haxorz now!