Grennan.com

Sunset at Half Moon bay

Posted on November 15, 2011 by mark

Linda and I took over two thousand pictures on vacation. This is just one. I’m eager to see what Linda posts at www.lilokie.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Posting from my iPhone

Posted on November 15, 2011 by mark

Wow. I found this great app at iPod.wordpress.com.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Why we HATE! insurance companies and financial institutions

Posted on November 14, 2011 by mark

Every year you are ask to renew your insurance. Every year there is an insane level of frustrating hoops to jump through. These companies know you will go through most any length to get this work done so why should they put out any efferent to make their stuff work right.

This companie’s website not only doesn’t work with most browsers, they put up stuff like this:

Do you see a “Getting Started” BLUE BUTTON on the right?

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Thank you Steve

Posted on October 5, 2011 by mark

To throw my thoughts about Steve Jobs into the ether.

Thank you Steve. I’m just months younger then you where. When I was just out of high school and trying to find my way, you where seeing a vision of the future in Wozniak hands.

I too, saw the vision of a world filled with electronic things assisting learning and communications. It was an APPLE ][ (serial number 00001094) that showed me the way. I wrote many programs with this, some marketed my Apple. With your omputer I found a love of systems development reading the book Inside DOS 3.3.

I took another path to an open world after you chose not share your code any longer. But still you shaped my world and made it better.

Gods Speed.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Minimal CentOS 6.0 Install

Posted on September 19, 2011 by mark

This is just a quick not to myself on a quick / minimal CentOS 6.0 install.

CentOS 6.0 has a great MINIMAL install that is truly minimal. It doesn’t ask you for you network info or anything. So, there are a few step to setting it up. I also install lots of VMware systems so I’ve included the VMware tools as well.

The first that that needs configuring is the network so we can do an update.

    vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0

DEVICE="eth0"
BOOTPROTO=none
IPADDR=10.0.0.100
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
GATEWAY=10.0.0.1.1
HWADDR="00:0C:29:63:35:3C"
NM_CONTROLLED="yes"
ONBOOT="yes"

    vi /etc/resolv.conf

nameserver 10.0.0.10
nameserver 8.8.8.8
search grennan.com

    service network start
    ping google.com
    yum update
    init 6

Now we need to install VMware tools.

    yum install gcc kernel-devel perl make openssh-clients
    cd /tmp
    mount /dev/cdrom /mnt
    cp /mnt/VMwareTools-4.0.0-261974.tar.gz .
    tar zxf VMwareTools-4.0.0-261974.tar.gz
    cd vmware-tools-distrib/
    ./vmware-install.pl
    init 6

When your done iptables and SElinux are on. You may need to turn these off.

    service iptables stop
    echo 0 > /selinux/enforce

Posted in Examples | 1 Comment

Photo a Day #11

Posted on September 19, 2011 by mark

Hello my old friend.

I spotted this VW on the way to work today. It is almost exactly like my first car. I have many stories about that car. Like, when the battery died and I had to push start it for months. About how I jumped an embankment and smashed its nose. About how I rebuild the engine with the help of a great book. I remember all the girls I made out with. And when it died with a piston through the block and left me beside the rode with no money and little hope.

Posted in A photo a day, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

VisiCalc 1981

Posted on September 8, 2011 by mark

I found this on my book shelf. I remember teaching people how to use it. When I purchased this copy in 1981, I was working as a software developer.

I believe this is the program that turned microcomputers from toys to business computers. Before VisiCalc business and government agencies though of microcomputers as toys. After VisiCalc was discovered by insurance analysts business and government agencies where sneaking Apple ][ Computers into their purchases as “Calculators”.

You can read more about VisiCalc and the early days of software development at The Idea.