by Tim Abbott CCNA, CCNP

I make no effort to hide my distaste for internet advertising (or advertising in general).  It’s been my experience that websites that utilize 3rd party advertising servers generally have slower page loads, especially the ones that utilize graphics or flash content.   For the longest time, I used a custom CSS file in safari to block unwanted advertisements across the websites I visit.  It was when that same CSS file caused issues with Wordpress that I finally had to get rid of the CSS file with much regret.  Fortunately, I came across a much better solution:  GlimmerBlocker.

GlimmerBlocker is an ad blocker for Mac OS X’s Safari web browser.  What I like most about GlimmerBlocker (aside that it is completely free) is it acts as an HTTP Proxy.  This means that you can use any web browser (or application that uses the HTTP protocol) and GlimmerBlocker will still block advertising.  You can also feel free to upgrade your web browser without fear of it breaking GlimmerBlocker.  It’s pretty cools stuff, so check it out if you are interested!

-Tim

P.S.  If you are a Firefox fan, tryout Adblock Plus.

Claude Debussy

In my last music related post, I shared with you my learning of Chopin’s Prelude in E minor No. 4, Op. 28.  Now, I get to write about one of (if not the most) famous pieces written by the French composer Claude Debussy.  I have been working on Debussy’s “Clair de lune” for just over 4 months now.  With much pride, I can finally say: “I have finally learned to play it!”  Am I any good at playing it?  Well, there is always room for improvement.  I can execute the long left hand runs with out problem, but I need to work on making the melody clearer.  I also, at times, have a tendency to play faster than needed, which from my understanding, is common with fledgling pianists.  I certainly learned a lot and am looking forward to tackling a new piece of music, but not before I polish “Clair de lune” a bit more.

I also need to give some serious credit, and thanks, to Hugh Sung for posting the extremely instructive video lessons: Clair de lune from Scratch.  I began learning this piece very shortly after learning Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14 movement 1.  I was able to play the first several measures of “Clair de lune” just by reading the sheet music, but quickly came to the realization that I was in over my head as a beginner.  In an effort to gauge how difficult the piece was by watching others on YouTube, I came across Hugh’s piano lessons.  Hugh breaks the music down into very digestible pieces for beginners.  He also covers basic music notation as well, which helped me sharpen my music notation reading ability.  What I liked most is that he gives alternate fingerings for complex sections of the piece.  Although I have found a more “traditional” fingering for “Clair de lune” easier in some sections,  Hugh gave me the ability to select what felt most comfortable while trying to learn to play “Clair de lune.”  So, if you are an interested beginner, visit the link above and check it out for yourself, but I have to tell you that as of this posting, only up through measure 42 is covered.  Even still, there is a lot of great information in those lessons.  You won’t be disappointed.

-Tim

Texas Snow 2010

So, the weather outlook for the past day or so has stated that south Texas is supposed to get some snow.  Now, usually those who predict the weather in are area are wrong…until today.  I got a text message from my wife around noon stating that she saw snow in the area where we lived.  I told my colleagues about the news and well, they didn’t believe her until she sent pictures.  What’s really cool is that when I got home at the end of the day there was snow still on the roof of the house. Granted, it’s not much but it is still snow.

-Tim

Routing

I was playing with EIGRP in one of our labs a while back and noticed a command that I figured would come in handy at some point.  The purpose of the command under router configuration mode is to control candidate default routes within EIGRP.  Now, there are many ways to do this and I’m more than happy to learn about a few more.  When I figured out exactly how this command works, I was a tad disappointed.  For those of you, who aren’t sure of what I’m talking about, have a look at the output:

Router(config-router)#default-information ?
 allowed  Allow default information
 in       Accept default routing information
 out      Output default routing information

When I first stumbled upon it, I immediately thought of how useful “no default-information out” might be.  Eventually, I got around to setting up a small lab with three routers to see just exactly how this command operated.   The command is not as straight forward as one might think.  After some tinkering, I was finally able to find a working configuration.  The router in the middle had this configuration:

R2#sh run | b router
router eigrp 10
 network 10.0.0.0
 network 192.168.0.0
 no default-information out
 no auto-summary
!
!
!
!
ip default-network 192.168.0.0
!

Here is router three’s configuration:

R3#sh run | b router
router eigrp 10
 network 10.0.0.0
 network 192.168.3.1 0.0.0.0
 no auto-summary
!

The only way I was able to get this command to filter default information from R3 was to identify a major classful network using “ip default-network.”  That is it.  If you are looking to have more granular control over default routes, you may be better off using a route-map or distribute-list.

-Tim

Fryderyk Chopin

I’ve been playing piano for about 5 months now and it has been a lot of fun as well as rewarding even though I’m not taking formal lessons.  I really enjoy classical music, especially works by Chopin.  My goal is to be able to play some or all of his nocturnes, but I still have a ways to go.  That being said, I still wanted to play at least something he wrote.  So, I decide to try Prelude in E minor No. 4, Op. 28.  The first time I heard it, I thought it was a piece I could learn relatively quickly and I was right.   However, I will say that it is much more difficult to play than it sounds.  While I can play the entire piece, which isn’t long, I still need to practice.  There are a couple complex cords in the left hand I’m still not able to form as quickly as I would like, but I’ve got all the right hand parts down pretty well.  Eventually, I want to record my playing, but until I get the equipment I want to record my piano with, I’ll keep practicing.

-Tim

Kawai GM-10K

Since I posted about the favorite of all my guitars a couple of months back, I figured now would be a good time to write something about the newest edition to my arsenal of instruments.  Pictured is my first piano: a baby grand K. Kawai GM-10K.  I bought this piano roughly 4 months ago.  Now, I didn’t decide one day that it was time for me to learn piano.  I took a few piano lessons when I was about 6 years old, but eventually chose the guitar as my instrument of choice.

The main justification for the purchase of a piano is that I wanted to start my children’s music education in the very near future and decided a piano would be a good start.  So, my wife and I began looking at pianos.  The first place we started was the Steinway Piano Gallery here in San Antonio.  The gallery was a nice place filled with many pianos from many different manufacturers.  While there I became somewhat frustrated about selecting a piano.  Aside from the unique timbre of each instrument, I couldn’t play anything to tell them apart.  Pianos have different “action” as well.  Sure I could press the keys on each but that would provide little help.

Baby Grand Kawai

Of all the pianos in our price range I listened to, the GM-10K had the best sound in my opinion.  So I did a little research about the manufacturer and gathered all the opinions I could regarding this piano line.  I found nothing negative, so decided to purchase the GM-10K.  We got the piano home the same day and it looks wonderful in our sitting room, but there was still one more problem.  No one in the house could play it!!  This problem was also frustrating to me, so I took it upon myself to learn how to play something.  Since I am a fan of classical music (Chopin is my favorite composer), I decided to learn Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27 popularly known as the “Moonlight Sonata.”  It took me about a month to learn and in doing so I realized how much I enjoyed play the piano.  So much so, I decided to learn other songs.  I’m currently working on Debussy’s “Clair de lune” from the Suite Bergamasque, Chopin’s Prelude in E minor No. 4, Op. 28 and Nocturne in E-flat major No. 2, Op. 9.

-Tim

For those of you who follow the site, you’ve notice I’ve decided to change the title. Technology is a big part of what I do most of the time but I’ve also left out another aspect of what I am: a musician. If you sift though the archives, you’ll find at least one post (I think) about music. I’ve decided to write more about music especially since I’ll be beginning a new project in the near future. That’s not to say that I’ll be abandoning my ever so insightful opinions about technology, so never fear. Until then…

-Tim

While browsing the Wordpress plugins at wordpress.org, I came across a pretty cool plugin for those of you who visit the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch.  Basically, the plugin detects the HTTP user-agent and displays a version of the site that is designed for Safari on iPhone and iPod Touch.  In addition, I’ve add a custom home screen icon if you decided you like the site so much you want to add it to your home screen.  To add the site to your home screen, visit the site with your iPhone or iPod Touch and touch the “+” icon at the bottom of the window.  The OS will ask you what you want to name the icon and download the home screen icon.  Once you’ve named the shortcut; save it.  You will then have a shortcut on your home screen for this site.  Pretty slick, eh?

-Tim

P.S.  The plugin also works on Blackberry and Android devices.

Nexus 7010

The first production Nexus 7000s in the city of San Antonio.  I should have posted about this earlier I suppose, but it’s better late than never!  We installed these datacenter switches last Septemeber during a 12 hour maintenance window.  These two Cisco 7010s were replacements for two Cisco 6509 distribution switches.  I’m not going to give a full run down on what these switches can do but I will say a couple things I like about them.  They run NX-OS which has a very Unix CLI feel to it so I immediately felt right at home with the CLI.  These switches also have the ability to virtual port channel (vPC).   What that basically means is that you can set up a single port channel between a pair of Nexus switches and a host or other switch which is great from a redundancy stand point.  For the past several months, I’ve learned a lot about what the Nexus can and can’t do.  They are great pieces of network gear, but NX-OS has some maturing to do still.  Overall, they are pretty sweet.

-Tim



Hope everyone has a happy new year!

-Tim