modemgirl

NEWS FLASH:

My phone has this crazy app that allows me to talk to my friends IN REAL TIME. All I do is find them in my contacts > click their name > click call > and then it magically connects directly to their phone and notifies them that I’m waiting to talk with them. It’s great for catching up and making plans, or letting someone know if I’m a bit behind schedule or lost. This way I don’t have to text back and forth a million times, which is especially handy when I’m hanging out with someone else IRL and don’t want to sit there like a JERK ON MY CELLPHONE ALL DAY.

I’m tired of hanging out with people and their phones. I realize this is somewhat hypocritical because I am one of the most digitally connected people I know, but I also would like to point out that if you and I are spending quality time together, you’re very rarely going to see me pick up my phone and text someone else without specifically apologizing for “being on my phone.” I understand that sometimes you’re in the process of making plans for the future, and that’s fine. We all do it.  But if you NEED TO MAKE PLANS RIGHT NOW, how about you pick up the phone , excuse yourself, and call the other person? If it’s not urgent can you please stop wasting my time? It’s pretty rude.

The other day the lovely cayley jane cooked a delicious meal for group of new and old friends. She cleaned the house and even pulled out THE DINNER TABLE, all of which is exciting for someone who generally eats alone sitting in the middle of the floor or in front of a computer. We opened our wine while my one friend furtively texted under the table.  We said our thanks and began to enjoy curry extravaganza, but his plate remained untouched as he was preoccupied with his phone. The conversation was enjoyable, but carried entirely by the three of us who were present, until something inside of me snapped.

“Hey Dude, how’s your phone? “  I asked cautiously, not really WANTING to be a bitch.

“Yeah, how rude are YOU!?”

Another guest thankfully backed me up, and he sheepishly put his phone away, explaining that he was just making plans with so and so.  I really don’t like to be a jerk like that – especially putting a friend on the spot in front of a group – but I’ve just had enough. I’m tired of spending time with people who are only half there.

I got my first blackberry about four years ago. It was given to me for work purposes, as being “the  I.T. girl” for the an office of engineers required me to be reachable at all times, in case someone needed me to push a button for them. As a result, I developed a fairly compulsive blackberry habit, because I was essentially on call – always. But it was nothing compared to earlier digital addictions I’ve dealt with.

Prior to the blackberry, I was a self proclaimed MSN addict. Whenever I was at home I was always logged in and usually in the middle of a handful of rarely useful, mostly pointless conversations with friends who were also online all the time. A fun and easy addiction to slip into – especially when you’re living somewhere that it’s freezing cold and you have no money to go out with – but it can really  damage your social skills. You develop a need for constant reinforcement and take for granted that you’ll always have someone there to respond to every little comment you make. Suddenly when you don’t have that reinforcement there feel panic, depression, and anxiety. Also, you can lose the ability to actually make plans, go out in public, have real conversations, and look people in the eye when you talk to them.

I realized that IMing had become a real problem for me sometime in 2005, so for January 2006  I detoxed and went cold turkey for a couple months. It was extremely challenging, especially considering I was in technical school at the time and was on a computer for most of my days. Thankfully I was too busy working to really notice, and eventually the hook in my brain lessoned it’s grip, and I no longer felt the compulsion to be logged in all the time. I didn’t need an electronic version of my friends to validate my existence anymore, and that was a very liberating feeling. I got the blackberry a few months later, around the time when texting was really just starting to become a thing that people did, but I didn’t REALLY get into it. I used my phone to check the 29381290 emails from work a day, to blog during my commutes, and an INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE, but that’s really it.

I guess I shouldn’t be so judgemental of my friends who are stuck to their phones now as I was once stuck to MSN messenger. It’s still new and exciting for many people to now have this amazing connectivity to their peer group, and just because I couldn’t control myself doesn’t mean everyone else will get stuck as badly as I once was. In a way, I feel I am lucky to have already gone through my digital adolescence, because I think the risk for addiction is a lot greater now than it used to be. With the advent of things like facebook, adsense, SEO, every 0 and 1 is tuned specifically to your interests and directed with the intent of sucking you in. Also straight up usability has improved exponentially – I can take a high resolution photo on my phone and have it distributed to almost every person I’ve ever met within about 14 seconds. That’s just…. both awesome and terrifying.

I think the key difference is that my addiction wasn’t mobile. When I left the house, I left MSN behind, and even when I first got a blackberry I refused to install any instant messaging clients on it. The thought of having a facebook chat client on my phone terrifies me – if you want to talk to me in real time, you must first prove yourself worthy of  being given my phone number. Then we can use the “call” app, makes plans, meet IRL and discuss over a nice pitcher of sangria. or on our bikes. or really anywhere other than through a screen.

I’m sure your parents would agree.

it’s summer! i’ve been AFK IRL and hope you too have been out enjoying this beautiful summer we’re having. i don’t think we saw a drop of rain for the entire month of july, and my apartment has been filled with visiting friends, hula hoop entrails and sand.

the sunlight streams into my room in the late afternoon and the yellow wall saturates into a cocoon of colour for a few hours every day. apparently there are forest fires going on in the interior of BC right now, which have resulted in toxic pink sunsets for the past week. i biked out to the spanish banks one night last week, in hopes of witnessing the solar flare induced aurora borealis, but there was too much smoke and dust in the air to see anything.

i enjoyed the ride regardless!

I wanted to update the diagram of my internal network topology. What do you think?

ALSO:

I PASSED MY CCNA last week! :)

this is very exciting news! mainly, because i don’t have to stress about it anymore. my goal was to write it before my first anniversary with PEER 1, which came and went in the beginning of March, so it’s been looming on my conscience since then.  halfway though the exam i was positive there was no way in hell i’d pass – i messed up big time on a couple of the bigger “simulator” questions, and then drew a total blank on something very simple early on in the exam.

the test is quite structured and you’re only allowed 90 minutes to answer about 50 questions. once you click ‘done’ on a question there’s no going back, so you have to budget your time accordingly, without any idea of what you have left to do. thankfully i was able to jumpstart my brain, cut my losses and get on with it, but i lost valuable time and had to rush through the remainder of the exam,  running out of time halfway through the last question.

the exam questions take a variety of formats. the majority are multiple choice, with a few matching, which are fairly straightforward as long as you’ve done your studying. the hard questions are the simulations, which provide a situation and corresponding network diagram which functions as a simulated environment and allows you to log in to the necessary network devices, make configuration changes and solve the given problem. these questions can be quite long and complicated, and you are only given the bare minimum IOS to complete the given tasks. this can often throw the test taker for a loop, as you may not have access to certain commands that you might normally use in a given situation. like… SHOW RUN for example. no show run for you!

the test is written at a certified testing center and graded automatically. so after a small brain meltdown at the beginning, i rushed through the remainder of the exam, convinced the difficulty i had with my EIGRP configuration would be my downfall. despite all intention to stay optimistic, at that moment i was sure my career as a network analyst would soon be over. UR DOIN IT WRONG, SERRA! my brain screamed at me until suddenly the timer expired. my heart stopped, the screen went black and when i saw the word Congratulations! i was sure it was mocking me. considering that the passing grade is around 82% and i messed up bigtime on a couple of the big simulator questions…..wait… CONGRATULATIONS?!!!  i made some sort of squawking noise and then ran squealing with joy out of the test center. somehow i managed to pull off an 87% and i could start breathing again!

people keep asking me – so what is this certification, and what does it qualify you to do? well, the cert is cisco certified network associate, and it pretty much qualifies me to do the job i already have. it’s considered an ‘entry level’ networking certification, but for an entry level cert, it’s hella hard. the amount of material you need to know is huge, and very theoretical. also DRY AS HELL to study. i find networking interesting, but it’s not a very exciting thing to study unless you have a good teacher. i spent a lot of time watching chris bryant’s videos on youtube – he is a great teacher and explains things in a way that’s easy to follow and then reinforces the concepts with real world examples, which really helps with retention. sitting at home reading through one of the two 600+ page text books…. not so much.

so why write a cert when you already have the job? well, i don’t have a degree. i have a diploma from a technical college that no one has ever heard of,  so it’s nice to have something that officially recognizes that i might be a semi reputable human being who could warrant employment in the future. i’d equate this cert to having a BA or Bsc – it’s not really useful on it’s own, but in combination with experience and generalized awesomeness, it’s going to make me more employable and hopefully help me land jobs over my non-certified peers. not that i plan on leaving my current job any time soon, because i love PEER 1, but you never know.

another thing that rules is i actually learned a LOT while preparing for this exam. it really filled in a lot of the cracks and i feel a lot more confident in myself at work. the position i work in can sometimes be quite high pressure, and you will get a lot of clients on the phone who will throw terminology at you without always knowing what they are talking about. being able to understand what they want and explain to them the reality of the situation is key, and confidence is essential.

so now, what’s next? CCNP perhaps, but first i think it’s time to relax and enjoy the summer while it lasts :)

the bike rave was a great success! just taking a quick study break to post my mix from last night, as promised. i think it went over really well overall. 2 live crew was a big hit, and a good friend was incredulous that i mixed vengaboys with the horrorist, so i was happy :)

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you’ve likely heard me mention seaballing before, but for those of you who haven’t, it’s actually the best thing ever. a combination bike ride and mobile dance party with awesome people and beautiful scenery, it’s pretty much my religion. and then there’s Velopalooza – a 10 days of bike themed fun that takes place annually in vancouver in early june. over 70 events in under two weeks, it’s a celebration of bikes, bike culture, and everything else that goes along with the awesomeness that is being a cyclist! with events such as 80s bike ride,  super hero ride and this friday’s Bike Rave – what’s not to love? so when a good friend / avid seaballer / organizer of velopalooza (pictured below, at the superhero ride with his frankenbike bike aptly named ‘your face’) asked if i’d record a mix for the friday night BIKE RAVE, obviously i said yes!

it’s always challenging for me to organize a mix for a unknown audience – i’m pretty self conscious when it comes to my taste in music in relation to “normal” people. (obviously i use the term normal loosely here) - i know that most people didn’t grow up on a diet of tidy trax, neophyte and scott brown, so i’m well aware that my taste is pretty niche and definitely leans toward oldschool techno rave rave rather than the current wonky mashup bass housey dubstep stuff that’s usually found on the dancefloor these days. this is why i love late night college radio and don’t have much interest in playing clubs.

anyhoo! the point is, i worked pretty hard to make this mix awesome, and hopefully it will be enjoyable for consumption by bike nerds of all types, so you should come out tomorrow night and listen. vengaboys, squarepusher, flosstradamus, the horrorist, prozzak and madonna….. next to the ocean with a bunch of weirdos with glowsticks stuck to their bikes!? maybe i should bring some candy bracelets to hand out? anyone know where can i get UV bike shaped beads?

i’ll post the mix here on saturday for those of you who live out of vancouver and can’t make it!

if you want to troubleshoot your life you have to do it in the same way we troubleshoot anything else – from the ground up.

in networking, we use the 7 layer OSI model to divide an entire system into smaller sub-systems. various functions of network communication are isolated to specific layers, with each layer dependent on the ones it below it to function properly. layer seven is the ‘application layer’ which, as i’m sure you can deduce, is where your applications run. at the other end of the model is layer 1, which focuses on the physical – does your computer have power? are all the cables plugged in? layers 2-6 cover everything in between. the layered model gives us a logical and consistent way to approach problems, because there’s no point worrying about the upper layers until we are satisfied the lower layers are functioning properly. there’s no sense in adjusting web browser settings when the cable to your router is unplugged, right?

when i first was introduced to the OSI layer, it struck as having some remarkable parallels to maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a concept i first encountered during my time as a psychology undergrad. a similar layered approach, but in relation to human needs and motivation.

if your body isn’t happy then there’s no real point worrying about “upper layer” concepts such as relationships, career, spiritual enlightenment, etc – because any changes you make are going to be running on top of a suboptimal physical platform. this doesn’t mean that you’re doomed unless you’re going to the gym 15 times a week, only eating super healthy and going to bed early every day. it DOES mean that if you want to progress as a human YOU need to learn to listen to and learn to take care of your body, mind and soul.

fresh air. vegetables. exercise. WATER. endorphins will literally save your life. i don’t want to preach, but seriously – the difference in the quality of my life from when i was sendentary +  eating crap + inside all the time + no exercise compared to now where i make an effort to get outside + exercise at least once a day + drink a zillion glasses of water + no more smoking + healthier eating is extraordinary. plus i no longer feel guilty for NOT doing all those things – which in turn improves my overall sense of self esteem. the spiral works in both ways you know – up and down.

once you start getting layer 1 on track, you’ll start to find other things fall into place. when your body is functioning optimally you’ll find that your mind feels clearer and you’ll be able to approach relationships, work, every day life more rationally and efficiently. when your blood sugar isn’t constantly going up and down you will begin to have a sense of control over your life, and you’ll sleep better. when you’re well rested, you’ll make better decisions, and begin to deal with stress efficiently instead of relying on vices to distract you from aspects of your life you’re not happy with.

i think the society we exist within often inflicts a sense of lost control over our lives. as small cogs in a giant machine, we feel as though we are victims/products of society, and that nothing we do makes a difference. responsibility for our condition becomes externally focussed, and we don’t take ownership of our own lives. taking charge of ‘layer one’ is a huge step towards realizing that ultimately we ARE responsible – we don’t always have control over everything, but we ARE in charge of maintaining the hardware that we have to work with.

the more i learn about being a human, the more i realize that we are just extremely complicated machines. we all have our routines and behavioural patterns, and sometimes life could be so much more efficient with just a bit of fine tuning. sometimes unexplainable things happen, but it’s usually because there are forces at work that we just don’t understand. successful performance requires proper maintenance, service packs, QA and regular audits. call me a cyborg, but i like to think of it as being a sysadmin for my own life.

simon is home! minus a collar but safe and sound, and i am overwhelmed by relief and joy.

after freaking out for a few hours after i got home from work yesterday morning, i had a stroke of genius. i needed to invite some friends over to come hang out in my backyard during afternoon / evening, because if anything would lure a scared simon out of hiding it would be familiar, happy voices. i paged the troops just as i lay down for a couple hours of sleep, and later that afternoon they arrived with smiles, music, and hula hoops. just as i was getting ready to leave for work we spotted a timid little face peeking around the corner!! i squeal and scare him back into the neighbours yard, but some with some patience and cookies i soon had him back in my arms.

and…….. i have to say thank you so much, to EVERYONE. you are all so amazing and i am so, so touched at the amount of support i received over the past couple days. old friends, new friends, far away friends, work friends, neighbours, strangers on the internet, and people i’ve only met a handful of times reaching out to offer their support, volunteering to help me look for him, or just offering a kind word and sympathy. as someone who has always moved around a lot and never really “fit in” to any of the communities i found myself in growing up, it absolutely astounds me to have such an overwhelming response from such a huge network of AMAZING people. words are not enough for me to express the gratitude i feel toward all of you.

i know i was likely overreacting, but the thought of no simon in my life absolutely destroys me. we have been through so much together – he is my best friend. to know that there are people all over the planet who recognized that and took even a moment out of their busy day to offer a few kind words of reassurance means the world to me. the socially awkward little girl from rural manitoba is extremely humbled and grateful for the opportunity to call so many fantastic beings my friends, and i hope that one day i will be able to return the favour.

simon has decided to go on an adventure tonight, and i am a bit upset.  i’m really hoping he is in one of my neighbours apartments (he loves to sneak in when he thinks no one is looking) because he is not an outdoor cat and hasn’t been outside since we moved to mount pleasant. otherwise he’s wandering around the dark, rainy night going MUM. MUM. MUM. I AM OUTSIDE. IT IS DARK. WHERE IS MY TUNNEL? MUM!!

i wandered around outside for an hour or so calling him, but gave up and decided to come to the coffee shop to try and get some work done.

fast forward to sitting in the window facing main street, drinking coffee and typing away on my macbook. totally not productive. worrying about my little boy. then a couple hip looking dudes walked by and gave me great smiles, which i quickly returned before going back to watching enthralling frame relay videos (fyi that video it will change your life, srsly.)

20 minutes later i notice the two dudes have returned. one walks up to the window with a notepad and presses it against the glass, with the words ‘you look wonderful when you smile’ written on it in big letters. HUGE GRIN. then they both smile and wander off into the night.

i’m trying to remember a theory i read once, something about not taking the gifts we have forgranted. there are certain things we could never imagine happening, the worst possible things that we assume will never happen to us, and these things will someday be the greatest challenges we will face. for example, i can’t imagine being blind, so every day i try to be conscious and grateful for the gift of working eyes. the same goes for being able bodied, free from disease, relatively sane, from a family who loves me, living in a country where i am free to do/be/say whatever i want (more or less) without persecution. or even things such as every day when i get home and my house is not a cloud of ash and smoke, i am thankful, because i know that could change in a second.

i just think it’s important to keep these types of things in mind and to be thankful for them, because our lives can change exponentially in the blink of an eye. one truck driver having a bad day could miss one stop sign and kill you, your best friend, your nemesis. a mugger could stab you in the eye, someone could fall asleep with a lit cigarette, or leave a ball of fat full of fish hooks out for your dog to find. or you could meet the love of your life, only to have him die of brain cancer two months later. or someone could carelessly let your cat-son out one rainy night… you just never know.

a life without simon is something i just can’t imagine, but reality is fleeting and we must be ready to face whatever randomness the chaos deals us. fingers crossed he’ll be waiting on the couch on the porch when i get home, and tonight is merely a reminder for me to not take his little face for granted. perhaps it’s also a reminder for him – to appreciate his cushy indoor life!

What should be part of a comprehensive network security plan?

A. Minimize network overhead by deactivating automatic antivirus client updates.
B. Encourage users to use personal information in their passwords to minimize the likelihood of passwords being forgotten.
C. Delay deployment of software patches and updates until their effect on end-user equipment is well known and widely reported.
D. Physically secure network equipment from potential access by unauthorized individuals.
E. Allow users to develop their own approach to network security.
F. Go for burgers

this study break was brought to you by the letters *headdesk* and *epic fail*. now back to work!

exciting news! modemgirl radio is getting ready to launch into the airwaves in real life! my good friend gene eric from sleizure has gone travelling and asked if i wanted to take over his radio slot on CJSF (simon fraser campus radio) and i said yes! right now i’m in the studio up on top of burnaby mountain, waiting to start my first on air training session. it’s funny because i’ve already spent so much time in this studio – i look around and see the the collage of meat products and women’s legs that i made for sleizure, the floor upon which i carved a pumpkin that said ‘worship meat’, the rotunda where we threw not one but TWO all night dance parties, the studio that’s been the epicentre of all sorts of madness and a couch that i’ve curled up on to be lulled to sleep at 4am by the soothing sounds of my partner mixing intergalactic space gabber… sooooo many memories. and now, it’s my turn to step up and take the reins. i’ve got quite the legacy to live up to, but i think i’m up for it!

i’m SUPER excited about the show. initially i was worried because it’s quite a significant commitment, but ever since i agreed to take over the slot i’ve been mixing a ton and realizing that i have soooo much music that needs to be shared, and i can ramble on about why it’s awesome for hours on end. the show is going to give me an amazing outlet because radio is totally my favourite venue, for multiple reasons!

low pressure
without a bunch of people standing on a dancefloor expecting you to “rock the house”, i find there’s a lot more room for creativity. the mixes i “release” (for lack of a better word) are usually somewhat planned ahead of time, with a specific emotion or audience in mind, which is the same way i approach dj-ing a party. the reason i do this, and don’t just go buck wild and play whatever i want, is because if i did that i might end up playing anabolic frolic pitched down to 125 bpm and mixed into funky baseline breaks. or i might just do a search and only play songs with the word ’satan’ in the title for an hour. who knows, stranger things have happened. not so good if you end up clearing a dancefloor and making people cry. but, if you’re hosting a late night college radio show focussing on hard / weird / experimental / random electronic music, these mixes are not only acceptable, but encouraged and awesome!

potential exposure to a wider audience
i am in LOVE with the concept of random people driving around late at night and stumbling across a gabber remix of brooklyn bounce on the radio. i just think about how happy that would make me to find, and to know that i will be giving that experience to random weirdos who happen to be scanning the radio at 4am – awesome! thats about as trolsk as you can get.

creative outlet
i used to get a lot of enjoyment out of throwing and promoting parties, but i find i just don’t have the time / energy / drive / interest to do event planning right now. it takes a lot of money, time and dedication, as well as a solid team that you can rely on to help you out. all of that just requires more energy than i have to give right now. the radio show, i think, is going to give me an outlet to do a lot of the things i love about promoting, but without a lot of the stressful parts. theme shows, promoting, collaborating with other artists, bringing on guests, organizing, planning, and best of all – getting to play dance music REALLY LOUD – without having to worry about impressing because i don’t have to worry about the zillions of dollars i’ve invested in renting a venue / sound / security / lighting / staff etc. ALSO, i kinda like to be in charge! so with the show i will have total creative control, as long as i don’t piss off the CRTC… which is even easier when your show starts at midnight!

not sure when i will be going live, but i’m hoping within the next few weeks, so stay tuned!