Notices by Michael Lucas :flan_set_fire: (mwl@io.mwl.io)

'What does the word “firewall” mean today? Like the words “computer” and “security,” the word “firewall” means nothing.'

Working on the new Networking for Systems Administrators" today. You could help end the feuds between the sysadmins and netadmins by sponsoring it.

I would appreciate your support.

https://www.tiltedwindmillpress.com/product/n4sa2e-sponsor/

One of my favorite webcomic artists is now on the fedi!

Do give @existentialcomics a follow.

@encthenet

I wish I could express shocked surprise, but the best I got is a groan. Sorry.

How to not design your book covers. #selfpub

Big organizations have all sorts of problems that we employees can't help.

One problem I *can* help? The feud between the sysadmins and the network team.

I wrote the first edition of "Networking for System Administrators" in the hope that we tech flunkies would come together, freeing us to plot against the C-levels.

I'd appreciate your support for the new edition.

https://www.tiltedwindmillpress.com/product/n4sa2e-sponsor/

@mkj proper serial numbers look like 95010201

zone serial number 2025010301?

That just looks wrong. #sysadmin

A tale of rejection, in two photos.

Rats know quality when they smell it. #rats #petrats

Promo time? Ugh. I don't want to do promo. I wanna watch Time Team and work on my bloating.

I gotta? Really? REALLY????

Okay. Fine. Here we go.

<deep breath>

:flan_shout: BUY BOOKS YOU COWARDS :flan_sign:

There. I hope you're happy, cause that's all the promo you're getting.

@tek you have the BEST buddy! :flan_awe:

Need a last minute gift for the #sysadmin in your life?

The second edition of "Networking for System Administrators" is open for sponsorship! Get their name in the book, and if you back at the 'print' level, make me send them a physical gift!

https://www.tiltedwindmillpress.com/product/n4sa2e-sponsor/

Joyous Yule is OUT, folks!

@tek @mhoye

Pain avoidance is endemic, when the solution is pain reduction.

My approach to audits is always "we are prepared for an audit at any time." Yeah, each auditor has their own form, but mgmt could ask for documents at any time and they were up-to-date.

Useful thread on the costs of leaving Substack, from @molly0xfff

https://hachyderm.io/@molly0xfff/113669432027800217

Leave Substack.

This is genius.

Posts across many sites that Meta is cracking down on "controversial" topics, including everything you might suspect. Many small shops & creators are freaking out.

So glad I decided to not give them any money or time years ago.

The fedi ain't perfect, but whatever we build here we can keep.

[ETA: I am sincerely sympathetic to those who chose badly. 'Use Meta' was the conventional wisdom for many, for years. It worked, shabbily, for years.]

@rysiek

I'd say not using the word "hacker" in such a document is absolutely necessary.

Sadly, it is insufficiently precise. The meaning varies depending on if the reader is a hacker or not...

@yuki2501 I do encourage Unix, so... little column A, little column B?

Here we go. I'm gonna spill the tea, as the kids say, and hand out:

My Secret To Success(tm).

The world is full of people who are better than I am, at anything you care to name. Better writers. Better husbands. Better martial artists and business people and rat owners. I will never be able to compete with them. I am painfully aware of my deficits and how far behind I am.

What can I do?

I can suck less.

I can find one small, achievable thing, and do it.

I can figure out what I'm gonna say the next time Uncle Racist spouts off and practice saying it in a mirror a few times, so that I have it on tap and ready. I can think about what my wife says, and pick out one thing that I cn change to make her life better. I can go wild and read a new book about tax deductions.

I will always have suck. Nothing for it.

But Suck Less is always achievable.

I could really use help.

If I could hire someone to handle fulfillment of sponsorships, Kickstarters, etc, and to deal with the minutia of this stupid biz, I could spend much more time writing.

I firmly believe that if you can't afford to pay a living wage, you can't afford to employ anyone.

Virtual assistants are available. I could get a skilled virtual flunky for about $12k/year. I don't mind that they would live in Bangalore or New Guinea or wherever. But that always feels exploitative as hell.

Employing a person in the US? Sure. Love to. Ideally, right here in Detroit.

But I have a weird definition of "living wage." A living wage is one where, if you know how to handle money, the problems that can be solved with money are solved. If I count on these people, I want them to have reliable transport and health care and not worry about where their next meal is coming from.

Today, that's about $100k. That's big money in Detroit, especially in the publishing biz. People take low pay just for the "privilege" of working in this stupid biz.

But: if I treat them well, and pay them well, I don't have to retrain their replacement.

So: I get to hire someone when I routinely run $500,000 kickstarters.