The first thing you may notice is that I refer to myself as Timespike on the blog page. This is my "online identity" and chances are good that if you encounter a Timespike someplace geeky online, it's probably me. (I hang out in RPG and computer game forums, occasionally post comments on tech republic, etc.) If you're someplace non-geeky, it's almost certainly not me, and someone has wandered off with my name!
One of the coolest things about the class so far (aside from this blog, which will have me writing something at least once a week - always a plus) is the MSDN Academic Alliance. I'll be getting Windows 7, the 64 bit, professional edition for free. I hadn't even considered this when I was signing up for the class, but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll take advantage of it. I'm also grabbing Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007 while I'm at it.
This weekend I'll be setting up a home install of Astaro Security Gateway (Home Edition). I've got an older PC that I'll be installing that on, so my home network will soon have a UTM. If you go with the idea that computer crime, like lightning, follows the path of least resistance, it's best to be insulated. Plus, it's also got some nice VPN capabilities, which will be good for when I'm using my laptop at wifi hotspots like the ones at work and at the college. I don't claim to be any sort of expert on computer security, but I am "gleefully paranoid" and like messing around with this stuff.
I maintain another blog called Timespike's Tirade that can be found here.
A final note: since I have a bit of browser and OS ADD, I'll put a note as to which OS and which browser I was using for any given post at the bottom of the post.
[This post written in Firefox 3.5 running under Windows XP]
