Nailed two tasks!

I've been busy for most of the week, having two emergency tasks hounding me for the last two days. Both are network down issues which rendered one classroom (yeah, some classrooms require networked PCs) and one notebook (NB) support center useless.

The classroom issue, after checking the Cat6500 switch module, was determined to be a hardware issue. It's actually easy, since I can't do much of anything here unless the replacement arrived - bad thing is, my team lead kept the pressure on, which is understandable, since all classes in that room for that day -- there were about 8 in all -- had to be rescheduled or lined up on the other working classrooms.

The NB support center issue was more troublesome for several reasons; perhaps the most significant being that these devices can only be accessed via console. No remote access, so I had to go down one floor, move around the tables to open the backside (lol!) of the wiring cabinet, attach the console cable. Someone apparently has messed up the configs since none of the supposed username/passwords worked.

By the afternoon, things started to swing in my favor again; I managed to recover the password and fix the config (by copying over the config of the twin device, which I had to recover the password manually as well). Shortly after that, the replacement module for the classroom issue arrived as well. After about 30 minutes waiting for the vendor technician to remove and replace the module and all the attached ports, problem solved!

Although I still have two outstanding tasks, it's a good feeling, having accomplished something after a stessful week. It's been a while since I last had this great sense of achievement since my last job. I just hope I fare much much better once I'm the duty Network Engineer this Monday. Ach!

Nostalgic about Manila

Just combing through net (and the links from my wife's blog) when I came across this blog about the way Manila used to be in the 80s and 70s.

Nice posts! Makes me miss the good ol' days in Manila! :) Can't wait to get back home hopefully this February... (Still a long way to go, but, well, not much choice in the matter...)

Ready for the EXPO!

Citibank has approved my very first credit card! Well, actually, my first credit cardSSSS. :) Citibank -- at least here in Singapore -- offers a bundle of any three Citibank credit cards. You need to stick to just one or two, you have to manually cancel the others that you don't want to retain.

I just applied for it yesterday around 6:00 PM. Today at around 4:15PM, I got a call that my application has been approved. I'm really new to this so I'm not sure if this quick approval is the norm or they are just really that fast. I'm not really keen on having credit cards as I may be tempted to swipe and shop away! :) Aside from the obvious convenience, I'm looking forward to..... (drum roll please...)

SITEX 2007!!!
29 Nov - 2 Dec 2007
11AM to 9PM
FREE ADMISSION

I'm looking forward to get the best deals on laptops, gadgets, cameras, or whatever else I can find there! :)

Check out their official site here.

In case you're here in Singapore during that time, see you there! :)

Changing UNIX host IP address

Recently, our DHCP server had an issue which prevented several computers on 3 computer laboratories from getting any ip address. The lab head, deeming that it is more important to have the hosts access the network now (it was for an exam) instead of troubleshooting further, decided to configure static IP addresses to each of the 40+ PCs across 3 computer labs.

Bad thing is that these are Linux boxes, which I'm not familiar with (hey, I'm used to ipconfig not ifconfig lol). Just for better retention on my part, here are the commands for manipulating network configuration of Linux boxes:

ifconfig eth0 10.10.10.75
route add default gw 10.10.10.1 dev eth0
route del -net 10.10.0.0 gw 0.0.0.0 netmask 255.255.0.0 dev eth0

I just hope I remember these commands by heart by now :))

About SecureCRT...

I've been working as tech support engineer for almost five years and I've used many Telnet/SSH client applications. So far, the best that I've used is the SecureCRT by VanDyke Software.


You can get more information on this software from the VanDyke Software page.

One of its features that I really like, in particular, is the option to log your session to a text file (similar to the Capture Text option in Hyperterminal, bundled in most Microsoft Windows applications). As tech support/network engineer, it is imperative that you log all sessions for future reference and proper documentation. This seems to be a basic requirement but unfortunately not all client applications are able to do this. Or at least not with the same ease that SecureCRT provides.

Plus, with all the rage about tabbed browsing ("rage", yeah right! lol), SecureCRT provides tabbed sessions. For network engineers in particular, if the issue is involves two devices (such asconfiguring a Site-to-Site VPN tunnel), it is almost always necessary to access both devices.

Just a note: the above features are not necessary; you don't need them to do your work, but it just makes your job a lot easier and simpler. No further need to click and drag to capture the text. No more need to Alt-TAB between multiple applications already running on your desktop.

Those are the good sides. Now the bad side: it's not free. :( You have to pay for it. In my previous company, we have this installed. In my new company, however, we're stuck with the basic Putty. It's not an easy job and not having SecureCRT just made it worse. I just hope my new company gets this software soon.

Che's got work!

Before I forget, congratulations to my wife, Che, for landing a great job! Great pay, near our place (one station away + one bus ride), travel opportunities! Here's to hoping for more opportunities and good fortune!

Cheers!

Anniversary Dinner at Marché

Yesterday, November 19th, is our First Wedding Anniversary! We still couldn't believe that it was already a year since then. Oh well, time flies. Anyway, since I could not take my leave yet since I'm barely a month in my work, we had to settle for "after-office-hours" activities. So that, of course, includes dinner!

We went to VivoCity (via the HarbourFront MRT station) and had dinner at Marché. (Just go to the link for more details.) Their 200lb sirloin steak was great! I haven't tasted one for... hmm.. come to think of it, it has been years since I tasted one. Hehe!.. Anyway, moving on...

In Marché, they use the so-called "front cooking" concept - your given a "market-credit card", you go around the "marketplace", look around the different "stalls" (i.e., Salad, Bakery, Pasta, Grill, Steak, Vegetables, etc.), then get whatever food you like. Every time you do so, you will be charged on your "market-credit card" -- this card records all your purchases in the "marketplace", which you will pay up at the counter in the exit.

Like I said, the steak was great! And so was the price! :) 200lbs of pure sirloin meat.. yum! One of the best sellers also are the (pork or chicken) franks, since almost every other table has one. We didn't order one, though, so we don't know exactly how it tastes. We also like the calamari! One of the best calamari I've tasted, you can even eat it without the mayo (or at least I thought it was mayo). The paella looks tasty too, but we already had our fill, so we haven't actually tasted it yet. We also tried the herbed chicken pasta with cream sauce - a little bit sweet and spicy. Yum!

The cream of mushroom was a bit different from the cream of mushrooms that we're used to. Not sure if it's the mushroom itself or whatever. It's not really that bad, it just tasted different.

Unfortunately, there were downsides as well... Be careful with the garlic breads there... they're a bit tough to bite through - we hurt our jaws trying to eat one. The banana crêpe was also a downer -- perhaps the pan had too much heat or maybe just a lousy rotten luck, the crêpe itself was too thick, almost like a pancake, and had that "chewable" quality of a bubble gum. We ended up eating just the banana and the almonds and choco bits on the side.

Well, aside from those, it is a great dining experience. We probably won't try their garlic bread or crêpes anytime soon but the dishes we tried are great and the others look promising as well. Maybe next time, we'll try the seafood paella. :)

In case you're interested:

Marché VivoCity
#03-14 VivoCity
1 HarbourFront Walk
Singapore 098585
Tel: (+65) 6376 8226

More of our mis-adventures during our first anniversary here.

Astonishing X-Men 23: Bravo!

Before we continue, SPOILER WARNING! (I won't actually tell you how it went down, but just as well, since I've included the last scene of the issue, if you don't wanna see it yet, stop reading now.)

Just read the latest Astonishing X-Men issue, #23! And it's a "wow" issue, although I was left hanging and I can't wait for the next issue!

Finally, Cyclops is given the spotlight that he deserves. Move over Logan, it's Cyke's time to shine! Hehehe... Having apparentlylost his mutant power, this issue highlights the tactics and foresight of Cyclops -- which, in the words of Wolverine himself, reminds us why he's "been leader of the X-Men for so long" (Astonishing X-Men vol 3 #8).

Basically, he plays the "gambit" (no pun intended), setting the stage to sacrifice himself and to be captured by his enemies. Then just as he appears to be helpless, he blasts the living daylights out of them. Looks like Cyclops no longer needs those visors to control his optic blasts.

Here's the last scene from this issue:

Nuff said!

Sandigan Bayan: Bombs Away... Again

This time, we know that this is not caused by a lame-ass gas leak!

Barely a month after the Glorietta 2 incident, this second blast kills at least four people, including the Basilan rep, Wahab Akbar, who as it turns out, was a former Abu Sayyaf member and was getting lots of death threats -- looks like they finally got him this time.

Here's PNP sketch of the scene. This was sent to me earlier:

So far, there are speculations that this is either a terrorist attack (intended to maximize the fatalities) or an assassination (with Akbar as a likely target). Whatever the case, it just shows how lax the security was in Sandigan Bayan.

Geez, I wish all the explosions would stop. I don't think anybody's in the mood for any Christmas shopping in light of the recent incidents the last two months. Oh well...

Careful guys...

This Week's tidbits...

It's been a while since my last post.. It's 5:46 AM Saturday in Singapore and I haven't slept yet. I know I'm tired but somehow I can't sleep.

Since I'm still awake, I might as blog away about the past week...

Monday: First day of the second week of my job. Still haven't accomplished anything yet, nor was I trying! I'm still immersing myself in the environment and the people. I still get amazed with the technology here. [Example: Coke vending machines have site-to-site VPN!]

Tuesday: Borrowed some cash from Weng to open a new account for my salary. Thanks Weng! :) Since she's night shift and gets off at 7:00 AM, I had to drag myself up very early in the morning then go straight to the office. I opened the account early evening; thank goodness for the banks which are open until 7:00 PM! :) Opening the bank account took a while; the queue was long and the clerk had to fill up tons of forms to activate my account. It was worth the wait, though, since I immediately got my passbook and ATM card, which I can use right away. After that, Che and I had dinner at MOS Burger! Try the Terriyaki Chicken Burger!!! :)

Wednesday: Pretty much the same stuff. Get up, go to office, login before 8:00 AM, work (finally finished 1/6 of my first of 2 tasks), logoff at 5:31 PM; (yep, well I have, and always been, a 5:31r, 5:01r, or 4:31r, whatever is applicable). Oh yeah, I had to cover for the second half of our colleague as the Duty Network Engineer. He's Indian and he had taken a halfday leave for the Deepavali festival the following day. I also got to read the transcripts of House fom here.

Thursday: Deepavali is a legal/public holiday in Singapore, so no office!!! I have very little idea how the festivities look like; I woke up 1:00 PM! Hehehe :)) We also watched House Season 4 Episode 6 [Whatever it Takes] from sidereel.

Friday: Back to work. The only thing that sucks here is that this work day is sandwiched between two non-working days. Other than that, pretty much ok. I also got my first salary! It's just for three days but that should be enough to get us by for the next week at least. :) The soft token device for my bank account arrived today and I've just activated it. Niiiice... :) And I'm still awake. Just read about Spider-Man and New Avengers: Illuminati spoilers, verified that demonoid is down (perhaps for good), and I had found out that I have no entry for this blog for over a week. So here we are.

It's now 6:17 AM. Let me just upload the pictures...

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Done.

Finished with the pictures. And it's now 6:43 AM. I better publish this now. :)