Name:	Tom Hood
Alias:	<Network Error>
Sex:	Male
Age:	~22
Height:	6'1"
Weight:	175 lbs.
Hair:	Red
Eyes:	Green
Hand:	Left Handed
Alignment:	Chaotic Good
Lucky Number:	13 & 3
Favorite Band:	Radiohead
Proficiencies:	Computer (hardware and software), Quality Assurance, and Networking.  All-purpose Geek-Freak
Last Known Local:	Lehi Utah.  Middle of nowhere.
Desired Local:	Lothlorian.  (I am such a GEEK!)

This is my desktop.  If you want to see what I'm into, this is a good place to start.  It's a dual-display screen shot.  (1024x768x16bit on the left.  1280x1024x32bit on the right.  Both on 19" monitors.)  If you want to see it, click the thumbnail.

Quick Profile: 

My name is Tom.  I go by <NetworkError>.  (Yes.  With the slant brackets, though occasionally I use chevrons.)  I've been into computers since I was big enough to reach the keyboard.  (That's sometime in the late 80's.)  I did my first hardware upgrade on a 486 in the early 90's.  (With help from my dad, of course.)  I wrote my first program in GWBasic before I was a teenager.  (Though my coding skills have gone very stale in all but HTML.)  By the time I graduated high school, I had torn apart over 50 computers.  I'd built over 20.  I'd worked on around 100.  (Though I wasn't always entirely sure what I was doing.  Trial by fire, eh?  I built all the computer labs for all the science departments in Jordan High from 486 cast-off's from other state departments.  Really good experience.) Since high school, I've worked Tech Support and Quality Assurance.  (For those not versed in the lingo, that's software testing.)  For a while I was even a product validation engineer working from home.  (That rocked.  Stupid economy ruining all my fun.)  Since then I've been pretty much unemployed.  But it's not all bad.  I've had time to get some Unix skills.  (And to put up this web site.)  My wife has been very supportive.  I've also been working on starting a company with Jon.  (TaoLung.) I put this page up originally in 2001 for two reasons.  First, I needed a place on the web to call my own.  And I wanted to make it look professional.  (Though the later of that wasn't accomplished until the completion of this version of NetworkError.org.)  Second, I'm tired of newbies getting crap for not knowing things.  The quest for knowledge is a noble one and those who shout RTFM at the drop of a hat really bug me.  (That's "Read The F***ing Manual".)  So NetworkError.org also exists as a resource for those seeking knowledge.  Though I can't always keep my technical articles up to date, I am always available to answer questions, point people in the right direction, and basically help the newbie get a leg up in the world.  (Though some effort on their part is usually expected.) Anyway.  That's me.  That's NetworkError.org.  Welcome and well met.

 

Web Journal: Preface:  This is where I keep track of my projects, goals, ambitions, current activities, and rantings.  And it's public so anyone who feels the need can read it.  It's organized roughly chronologically.  It follows no real guidelines for content.  I'll try to keep it PG.  Enjoy. April 15, 2002: Balthazar is still down.  I really need to get those drives RMA'ed.  The road trip was fun, though a bit stressful.  Huzah for Mysti's family.  I guess I just don't fit in well in towns where the primary entertainment is either gambling, drinking, or going to the strip clubs. Anyhoo...  Not much happening.  Aaron unplugged NetworkError.org on me for part of Monday.  Other than that... April 10, 2002: IT'S TERRIBLE!  BALTHAZAR HAS DIED!  Well..  Not entirely.  2 of the 4 IBM DeskStars went out.  (In a big way.)  So my RAID is gone.  Luckily I managed to pull the bits of data I didn't have backed up off the thing before it totally went down.  (I had to do it from safe-mode CMD prompt only.  Took it 45 minutes just to boot into it.  Hard drive grinding the whole way.  Then I was only able to access D:\documents and settings.  So sad.)  So kids...  This is why, if you have a RAID 0 array, you always keep your backups very current.  (Like me.)  And you never use IBM DeskStars on a RAID array.  (Luckily mine are under warranty.  I just need to get them sent in.) And as stated on the main page, it has not been a good few weeks for computers.  Thaumatergist's router machine's Hard Drive died.  Glemtar's computer is all messed up.  Flame Kitten's was blue screening quite often.  (Driver issue.)  And Sharon's modem appears to be fried.  How's your computer(s), kids?  So I'm stuck on Flame Kitten's box till I can get new Hard Drives.  It's not to bad.  I miss the dual-head.  And I really miss the killer performance.  But other than the I/O throughput, it's not to bad at all. Work continues on the Morgan site.  You can check it out in my dev zone.  It has some NetScape issues right now, but hey...  Nobody likes NS anyway...  (Kidding.)  I think we're coming down the home stretch on it. Flame Kitten and I are heading south to Nevada this weekend for her family reunion.  WOO HOO!  ROAD TRIP!  Proof that it's not the destination, but the journey.  I'm looking forward to getting out of town.  Especially since I just detailed my car.  Makes all the difference.  Now I just need to get some more music dumped on my *Empeg and we be ready to go.  Now I just need to get my base channel fixed on my Infinity Kappa 255a amplifier fixed.  (5 Channel amp.)  My poor subwoofer is feeling so neglected. Anyway...  (update...  Morgan site now works under NS.)  Other than the Armageddon of computers, not much happening right now.  (Except the morgan site.  That consumes most of my time.)  For great justice... *Empeg - Car stereo that runs Linux on a strong arm processor.  2x 20 GB laptop hard drives for music.  Front vacuum display w/buttons.  Remote control.  Serial, USB, and Ethernet ports.  Plays MP3, WAV, and WMA files. April 2, 2002: Jon and I are working on the Morgan Engineering site...   Actually.  Jon's not here yet so a better way to put it would be to say that "I am working on it."  That's alright though, it's fun.  And I fixed a bug on my site while I was at it.  Even added some buttons.  Woot. Earlier, I tried to get a mail server running on NetworkError.org, but it's not working right.  i.e. It doesn't do anything.  I've been through the config file a few times but I think it'll be a while before I can get this one figured out.  This is my first mail server so I get to figure all this stuff out the fun way.  (Read.  Edit.  kill -s 1 PID.  Test.  Repeat.)  I also need to make sure I don't have any of it's ports blocked off with my intrusion detection system.  But I'm to lazy to do that right now.  It's just bugging me because it's the last big thing I need to get running on this server to make it complete.  All well... It seems I'm plagued with tiny, annoying, technical problems.  My web-cam software jams the web-cam drivers about every hour or so.  To fix it I have to reboot.  Thing number...  7 (I think) on my list of stupid things I need to fix. April 1, 2002: FIRST POST!  WOO HOO!  This will be a short one.  I'm working on getting Digital Synapse Video Productions (DSVP) moving.  It's still a ways off, but I think it'll happen eventually.  I'm winding down a bit on my Unix education project.  I've learned a great deal in building this server.  I think I need to shift my technical education more towards networking.  There's so much I still have to learn.  But for now, my primary goals are finding a job and getting DSVP moving.  I also need to keep bugging Jason about his business idea. I also need to fix my Master Boot Record.  Poor Balthazar got smacked hard when I was playing with it.  (Accidentally wiped out my primary master.  Good thing I keep backups, eh?)  Right now I have it rigged up to boot win2000 off a floppy.  (i.e. floppy = MBR), but that's getting old.  I also need to get my DXR3 Card working.  (DVD-Decoder.)  Right now it just locks my computer when I try to use it.  I think my second video card doesn't agree with it well.  And MSTasks.exe crashes on boot-up every once in a while.  That's pretty annoying.  I guess I should have expected this though, I'm still ironing out the kinks in this Win2k install.  (Reinstalled a few weeks ago.)  This is going much faster than last time. I can't wait to get my GForce II MX back and try out that overclocking hack from Jason.  I might be able to squeeze a third video card in to, though I kind of doubt it considering my second and third cards are from the mid 90's.  They don't play well together. Right now I'm waiting for the last of NetworkError.org's web content to finish uploading.  The Wedding pictures are freaking huge.  I'll need to make thumbnails for them soon.  I'm really happy with how this site is turning out.  Only a few days old and already looking so much better than version 1.  I also need to pull some of the popular tech articles over from version 1, update them, and repost them here.  Ah...  It's nice having a functional web page again. I really hope this site gets more love than the old NetworkError.org.  It's already proving much easier to maintain.  Now I just need to get broadband.  >:)  But then I'd never find a job...