HN user
Well, aside from being able to build networks, I'm mostly interested in securing them in the best possible way. I know there's no such thing as perfect security, but I like the challenge of always trying to be one step ahead. This probably stems from an interest in crypto, too.
(found a cheap copy of TCP/Illustrated 2nd ed. on Abe Books. I do so love that site.)
Some context that I couldn't fit into the < 2000 char limit (but probably should have).
This is the embarrassing part. I'm actually two months into my first junior level position at a colo, and I administer a group of my own servers behind a CARP'd redundant firewall that I set up. I even have access to an old Catalyst that's just sitting around. I know how to set up servers no problem, but what I don't know how to do is make a complicated cluster of machines work together. I sometimes write down hypothetical networking requests to figure out, but I haven't started building out any of those with the spare machines we have around.
I don't feel inept at my job. I don't even feel like I'm useless. But what I do feel is a vast chasm of knowledge and experience between me and my superiors. Knowledge so vast that it seems unobtainable to me. My own skills and knowledge have increased dramatically, and my appetite for learning daily is, honestly, voracious. I just can't shake the feeling that I'll never be as good, with them all coming from academic backgrounds that focused on computing.
Very cool! Going to check this out.
My method for doing this involves writing gibberish into or deleting content from a jpeg opened in HexFiend
http://ridiculousfish.com/hexfiend/
It's very trial and error, but the results can be fun when you screenshot each progressive glitch and then gif them together to get stuff like this:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/4d77ff1ee75c119a03cac1eb90952505/...
Neat that someone automated the process, though.
Can't you load custom assembly into the 6502 screensaver on XScreensaver? Going to try that.
Does having empathy mean having to deal with tacky Windows admins who make quasi-racist jokes and look over your shoulder at work because since you're 20 years younger than them, there's no way you could possibly know how to use a Unix-like operating system.
Tatooine
+1 for this project. It helped me get my first tech job.