I today got my re-acceptance letter into AI! This is amazing news. I now have to get my final paperwork together for the VA and it’ll be all good. I’ll start in October and it’ll be sweet. I’ve actually already started on my demo reel. While I’m putting that together it’ll actually be on my development (soon to be production ready) server, but I will post smaller updates here. Also, so everyone knows I still haven’t gotten my server issues resolved. I went over to virtualmin’s forums and got nothing accomplished there. Overall, their product looks solid, but sometimes dev’s or a community can become quite pompous. I’ll actually post what occurred, what was accomplished and where I went from there later.

Right now my biggest hurdle is to get everything back into school. Then after that I have to get Eel’s site up online. His site is actually already live, but we’ve gone through and redone some of the graphics, layout and I’ll be implementing a module based system into it (hopefully) so that its functionality can be extended (or shortened) as needed. Then after I’m done with that (which should be live with all the new changes within the next two weeks) I’ll be getting my server back to it’s original glory with some extra added tidbits that’ll be real nice. Anyhow. Have a good one everyone. Yay for me!

So, I tried. I did my best. I even asked for help. But what I received was nothing less than nothing. I got a few posts back about my issues, but all-in-all this endeavor has been a waste of time.

What am I talking about you ask? Well recently I trashed my server, started from scratch and put ubuntu back on from nothing. Then I attempted to load up virtualmin. Big mistake. At every twist, turn and corner I ran into problems. I felt like Indiana Jones running from the boulder, except I wasn’t getting away. So because I want to make sure that it’s not something I’ve done, I’m doing two things.

1. Re-installing Ubuntu from scratch
2. Not configuring anything until after webmin/virtualmin is installed

The thing that kind of irked me was that I had several people suggest that I use a different OS. Here’s my issue with that. I like what I run. I’ve been using Ubuntu server for a few years now and it works. I’m stubborn in my ways, what can I say. Here is what I AM going to do, though. I am going to try a different OS. CentOS was recommended, but I really like the way that Debian based OS’ work and I’ve tried Fedora and I just don’t like yum. It’s a personal preference. Instead, I’m actually going to steer entirely clear of Linux and Install FreeBSD. Why? Well, because I’ve always wanted to use it. I tried to when I first began exploring other OS’ such as Linux, but it was a bit over my head. Now that I’ve got MUCH more experience I can safely do what I want. I’m going to try to use Webmin/Virtualmin on a vanilla system there too. Then if that doesn’t work, I’m going to try CentOS (as much as I don’t want to).

See the thing with OS’ is it’s much like software. You get used to a certain way of things going and that’s how you like them to go. It’s just a thing. Anyhow.

I also got great news on Monday from the VA and American Legion. I’ll be returning to school to finish my degree in Animation (BFA) in October. I only have a few quarters left so it’s gonna be good. Plus, I’ve already begun work on my demo reel, which is going to break the standards, but is so going to rock. Have fun everyone.

Ok. You can call me a Linux fan-boy. You can call me an M$ hater (although, I’m not). You can say whatever you want about open source software, about how it’s hard to learn, or it’s buggy, or how do you know it’ll work. But at the end of the day you’ll still be wrong. You’ll still have to admit to yourself, that you’re a liar, because open source software is the best thing to happen to computers. Every program you use on a windows machine I can run an equivalent in Linux. And what can’t be run in Linux can be emulated. So why am I writing all of this? Because the same day I posted on here about having a hard time getting Virtualmin to work - see here - I was contacted by one of the project’s lead developers (there are two - Joe Cooper and Jamie Cameron) about the fact that I wrote about their software and that I should come by the forums to get some help directly from him. Where the hell in the world can you get support like that? When you call Microsoft for tech support, who do you talk to? Some outsourced guy who’s never worked with the code directly ever. You don’t talk to Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer. You’re left to the bottom of the food chain. Not with open source software. I have a problem and I talk straight with the leads. That’s the type of customer service that is lacking in the IT industry now. That’s what we all need to do when we put out a product or a project. That’s why I’m getting more involved in the development of open source software. That’s why you should use it.

I do have to put out there that I recently re-configured my parents computer. It’s a smoking machine that my sister and I got for him a few years ago and it runs Windows. Well… It won’t be for much longer. Actually, it will, but only because of gaming. Anyhow. After hearing me talk about Linux all the time and reading some of my writings on here he wants me to put Linux onto his machine. I’ll be putting Ubuntu on, mostly because it’s my distro of choice. SuSE is great and it’s what I started with, but their dealings with M$ are suspect. After SuSE I tried Debian, then Gentoo (best way to learn to compile a kernel) and then back to Debian via Ubuntu. Anywho. After I’m done getting him up and running I’ll post back any comments about the transition and whether it worked for him or not. Here’s to open source!

So if you attempt to peruse my sites right now, currently you wont be able to. Why? Well, recently I made the decision to redo my server from the ground up and install a web control panel to make it easier for others to have a bit of web-space if they wanted. Unfortunately it hasn’t gone as planned, as nothing normally does. I’ve run into issue after issue getting webmin and virtualmin to work nicely. My biggest issue right now seems to be the lack of documentation about how apache should be configured to work with it. I know how I have configured apache in the past and as such I made most of the security modifications and the such, but unfortunately it doesn’t give you a low-down on where to place your document root - which is my biggest issue right now. Currently, I’ve set my document root and a single domain up, yet when I attempt to gain access to the site it gives no output. I can gain access using the internal ip of the server, but no outside access. This is quite frustrating as I was able to do everything with ease when I did it all from the command line. Now in my attempt to make things simpler, I’ve made it harder. If anyone has had experience with this, then please email me.

Now onto Mr. T. Well, for those who don’t know WoW stands for World of Warcraft. It’s an MMORPG - which stands for Massively Multi-player Online Role-Playing Game - that people with a great deal of time and 13 to 15 bucks a month play until their wives leave them. I have never played it, but have heard mixed reviews about it. Nevertheless, it’s a game and Mr. T recently did a commercial for it and we learn that Mr. T has some awesomely amazing computer skills. To check it out go to gamespots site to watch it. It’s hil-arious. Enjoy!

Hey. So I know most of you don’t care about VA benefits or the fact that I’ve been getting screwed out of them for the past 5 years now, but there’s a class action lawsuit against the VA so I figured I’d throw it out there for people to see. So here’s the article and yeah. I’ll comment more about it tomorrow. The thing is that most of the things mentioned in the article have directly affected me so yeah. Enjoy!

Oh and for all of you idiotic Obama supporters, here’s an article from 2 years ago about how there’s something wrong with the VA here in Chicago. Let me be the first to tell you that he hasn’t CHANGED a damn thing in this state for Vet’s. He’s a liar and all of you who believe him are just as stupid as he is. I went to the meetings he held and all the things that he promised, he’s done nothing with. He’s a jag like everyone else in the Senate. Again, Enjoy!

This site will remain active while my personal sites will be going down periodically over the next few days due to server upgrades. Mainly, I’m rebuilding the OS, not the actual hardware. I have gotten to the point with it that I need to redo it. I have 10 different scripts that basically run the entire thing for me, and it’s actually quite efficient, but I need a bit more control, so I’m going to be going overboard and setting up all types of new stuff. I’ll be implementing loads of security fixes (although at current it’s quite secure and stable) as well as lots of new functionality, and possibly… well I won’t spill the beans yet about it, but there may be a nice surprise for those who wear the skull and crossbones proudly. Anywho. After that’s done I’ll have my writeup about linux for everyone to enjoy. Cheers!