just another random geek…
Well.. it’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I think it’s time to get back into it again..
Here’s a quick write up of our raceday in Clubman Heavy last Sunday the 14th at Bolivar, for the Festival State Cup, Group B round 3.
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Today I took the exam for the Sun Certified Solaris Associate (SCSAS) vendor cert.. and I passed!
I kind of expected to pass to be honest, even though I had to learn a little about some of the specific material in the exam such as rcp, rlogin, Korn shell / KSH and that kind of thing – most of it was quite basic and nothing I hadn’t done on Linux before..
Learning for the exam was quite easy. I setup a Solaris 10 Virtual Machine on my VMWare server, which was invaluable for referring to and practising on, and I used the free online certification guides on the Sun Training and Learning Website and Sun’s Free Proficiency Assessment to determine if I was ready. As it turned out, I got a better score on the real exam than I did on the practice 
Happy I’ve got it finally as I have been planning the certification for a number of months now.
Next on the list.. Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) and one of the MCTS certs, not sure exactly which yet though!
While i’m probably coming in at the tail of the ‘7 things’, here’s mine after I was finally tagged by Lig 
1) I’ve got a big interest in all things Japanese; my car is imported from Japan; I’m attempting to learn Japanese on my own and will be beginning classes soon; Myself and my partner Melissa are planning a trip to Japan sometime later this year, and hope to start Karate lessons as well.
2) Like a lot of software developers, I’ve never much been one for creativity. At least until recently when I bought an entry level DSLR Camera, a Nikon D40. I bought the camera simply out of a desire to take better photo’s – but since then, I’ve developed an interest in actual Photography. It’s something I’ve really been enjoying immensely, even to the point where I’ll go out with the camera specifically to take photos – rather than taking photo’s while I just happen to be out.. I’ve even developed something of a talent for it, well – at least I think I have
3) I have been around #phpc and the PHP Community since (and I didnt realise how long it’d been until I was typing this) early 2007. I’ve met so many people online, many of which I hope to meet in real life down the track. I’ve even met most of the Australian regulars, which has been great!
4) Since I was born, I’ve had an interest in cars. Cars, racing and going fast! I have owned a couple of Rotary Mazda’s, an older Series 4 RX7 – and more recently a JDM Efini RX-7. Some weekends, perhaps twice per month, I race go-karts – Not the 4 cycle put-put’s you drive on a corporate team building day, real fair dinkum 100cc 2 stroke racing karts. Here’s some pics, that’s me in #6, #10 or #26 Recently though, I’ve been in a moral dilemma over it, however, with the state of the planet.. For this reason I drive my own cars very rarely – Generally once a week on the weekend, two or three times in a week maximum. I take public transport to work, every day; and am seriously considering buying a deadly treadly to ride to work every day (fitness is a motivation to do that too).
5) I always touch the door-knob with the back of my hand before opening a door, to prevent getting a shock. (Not sure why Peter didn’t think of that in Office Space!)
6) I have a big interest in Coffee; good coffee that is. The fresher the roast, the better! I’ve got my own Espresso machine and Conical Burr grinder; a machine that gets a work out daily! To this day I’ve never had a better cup of Coffee anywhere else, than what I’ve brewed myself
7) I spoke at the OSDC conference in Sydney late last year; and had a blast! It was my first conference and I was only able to stay for one day, but I loved it and am looking forward to getting along to the next conference and hopefully speaking at it! (php|tek|au, go on, do it!)
Well that’s my 7 things done. Not sure who hasn’t been tagged yet!
And here are the rules:
Well, While I’ve clearly posted here in the recent past, none of it has been that interesting for people who aren’t in the IT space and working with either PHP or Solaris.. So here’s an attempt at bringing people up to speed on what ELSE has been going on
Back on the first of August, I hinted that I was looking to upgrade my car. I have always been a Mazda fanatic and was stoked with my FC – but it was just a little old and being a 6 port NA 13B, too slow. Well, it was a lot of fun around the hills from a handling aspect – the Tien’s were great, but it didn’t have the ‘push you back in the seat’ grunt. And it was loud.. as Dad has expressed his disgust at since selling it.. On the 22nd I posted it was for sale, and on the 17th of September I had finally sold it.
Well, that’s where the updates finished. Since then, I’ve managed to buy a new car Yes, another RX-7 – only this one has a turbo! Well, it actually has two
So, I went from this:
FC!
To this:
White FD!
Click the photo to go to a gellery of more pics It’s a 1993 Efini RX-7 R2, with full MazdaSpeed GT-C bodykit, Advan Wheels, and other than that – pretty well stock. It’s a personal import, rather than Australian Delivered so it’s quite a way better than the equivilent Australian Delivered models. No sunroof, no leather seats, no pre-cat, no waste of time rear seats, no airbags! It’s got Victorian plates in those photos, but I’ve since had it roadworthied and transferred into my name here in SA.
It’s decent and goes pretty hard, though I’ve got some new bits to go on to make it a little more fun
So that brings up todate my car situation
Been a while since I posted here, but I thought this was worthy of a mention: Tomorrow the Open Source Developers Conference (OSDC) begins in Sydney – and I’m quite nervous
I’m presenting my talk ‘Improving PHP Application Peformance with APC’ at the conference on Wednesday – my first conference and my first presentation, so needless to say – I’m a little nervous and apprehensive that things won’t go so well
I’ve practiced my presentation in front of my workmates and they were mostly happy with it – I have learned though that while it may flow in your head, it may not flow when you’re speaking out loud! Following that I’ve got some tweaks to make to my presentation better, so it should all be OK come Wednesday
So, if you’re attending OSDC in Sydney this week, come and check out my presentation on Wednesday and see how I go!
I’ll post my slides on my blog once my presentation is over.
Wish me luck!
Sold the FC, finally. I took the first serious offer I had, and the new owner got one hell of a bargain! I hope he gets as much enjoyment out of it as I did
Anyway, let the FD hunt begin
Well, my FC has been on the market for a while now, and I’ve had almost no interest. There’s been over 300 views of the ad on Carsales, and yet I’ve had 4 calls and 2 SMS’s and exactly 0 people come to look at it.
Perhaps it’s just a bad time to sell a car, or perhaps people just dont want a non-turbo FC.
Anyway, here’s a link to the carsales ad.
Someone please buy it, I want my FD!
So.. After looking at some awesome photo’s of Series 8 FD’s online, I’m seriously considering an FD over the FC.. Higher outlay, but infinately awesome car.
Possibly be easier to make it ‘quickest street registered rotary around mallala’, too. At least the turbo I bought will still be useful
Sigh, why am I so indecisive?
Recently I’ve been fortunate enough to be offered a speakers position at OSDC 2008, in Sydney. I will be presenting a talk on ‘Improving PHP Application performance with APC’, a topic i’ve blogged a little about in the past.
I’m a little nervous about it, i’ve never done any public speaking before, but I’m also looking on it as a challenge and hopefully I will enjoy the experience