CurlyShavings

For the record, I have darkened the doors of my local Starbucks a couple of times these past weeks, all with someone else around. Yes, they were social visits, not coffee visits. To some, that may not be much of a distinction. The goal was to sit and talk with someone for a while, not to drink coffee. In fact, I couldn't even tell you what I got. This whole issue remains, not a boycott of anything but rather, a simplification of a lifestyle habit.

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal has an article "New Starbucks Brew Attracts Customers, Flak" in which we hear that the new Pike Place Roast coffee "has perked up the company's sales by attracting new business, but has alienated a small yet vocal group of longtime patrons." That's not really why I'm not drinking coffee these days, but I think it helps illustrate one of my points: pursuit of the perfect cup of coffee (or "Coffee!" as I've posted earlier) is a difficult business and one person's perfection is another's filth.

It was the pursuit that was wearing me down, both in my own home, playing with all the variables and in my Starbucks, hoping for the perfect cup each day.

I just finished breakfast and a cup of tea. Simple and sufficient.

We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea by Arthur Ransome

My review

Today's Cleveland weather is predicted to be almost Houston-like (OK, as close as we can get in Cleveland) with highs in the 80's, high humidity and thunderstorms. So I pulled out a red-striped, short-sleeved shirt to wear that I received as a gift way back in 1992 when I was expected to move to Houston for my first job out of college.

I had originally been offered a position with Interleaf (now Broadvision) in their Houston, Texas office. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but by the time I got around to accepting it, the job was in Chicago. They flew me up there for a day and I was given a tour of the office, a nice lunch and a flight back. What I remember the most was the huge pile of rotting snow (this would have been April, 1992) that was still sitting in the parking lot of the office in Oakbrook Terrace.

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So I ended up in Chicago. And found a orthodox, reformed Presbyterian church (hard to come by these days) at which my faith was salvaged. And met a wonderful, godly woman (almost as rare these days?) with whom I later married and had four children. I could go on and on with the life-changing details that came into play after I took the Chicago job instead of the Houston one. Including the move to Cleveland.

Same job, really, just a completely different city and result. Yes, you could argue that I might have ended up the same had I moved to Houston. But I didn't. And I'm glad.

And so today I'll wear a red-striped, short-sleeved dress shirt that was given to me as a way to handle the heat and humidity of Houston, not the general clammy dampness of Cleveland. And if you see me, ask me what I think of God's Providence.

Please note that no warranty is being made here. Even if you follow these suggestions, there's no guarantee that crackers won't flood your network, your systems won't go down and your hair won't turn green. As they say, "Your mileage may vary". Follow at your own risk.

Typing in passwords to jump from one *nix box to another can be a real drag. Even more so when you're on a trusted network segment and you're using SSH (more information here) to get from one hardened server to another. So I decided to do something about it on my own network. Here are the assumptions and requirements.

• all hosts are on a trusted segment (start/local and end/remote)
• all hosts are hardened to one's particular level of satisfaction
• all hosts are using roughly the same level/version/flavor of SSH
• the asymmetric algorithm to be used is the Rivest Shamir Adelman (RSA)
• user keys must be a minimum of 1024 bits
• the start/local system is the local system that the user is typing on and starting from
• the client is sitting on the start/local system
• the end/remote system is the remote system that the user wants to end up
• you've used ssh before on both local and remote systems

How it works

The basic idea is that SSH allows for a public/private key exchange. The local system generates a public/private key pair and the public key is distributed to the remote server(s). It is important to remember that the private key needs (must!) remain private.

When the client (running on the local system) connects to the remote system, it tells the remote system its public key. If this public key is known to the remote system, then some encryption and decryption happens between the two systems to validate that the client does indeed possess the correct private key. (Please see RFC 4252, Section 7 for a full description of the Public Key Authentication Method.) If this checks out, the remote system grants the access without requiring a password.

Please note that this is not the place to defend public/private key encryption. If you have concerns about it, go do some homework until you're satisfied.

What to type

On the local system's home directory,

     ssh-keygen -t rsa -b 1024 -f .ssh/id_rsa

If asked for a passphrase, leave blank. The -t rsa specifies our RSA requirement and the -b 1024 specifies our key length requirement.

Now, in the .ssh directory, you should find two new files: id_rsa and id_rsa.pub. These are the private key and public key (respectively). Copy the public key to the remote machine.

     scp .ssh/id_rsa.pub USERNAME@REMOTE:~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Until your public key is in the right location, you'll still need to provide your password.

     ssh USERNAME@REMOTE
     cd .ssh

Now check to see if the file authorized_keys already exists. Older versions of SSH might have (or even require authorized_keys2 rather than authorized_keys. If, when we're done, things don't work, play around with these two possibilities.

Now add the public key to the list of authorized public keys.

     touch authorized_keys
     cat id_rsa.pub >> authorized_keys
     chmod 640 authorized_keys
     rm id_rsa.pub

These last few steps add your new public key to the list of authorized keys. They're written to allow for this file already existing with one or more keys in it. Now exit and then log back in again. If everything was done correctly, you shouldn't be prompted for a password.

Updates

If you're already using a public key, you can "simply" start at copying to the remote server.

Update 20110623: If you'd like to use multiple keys, I found this page to be very valuable.

Today was a low-carbon footprint Geocaching day that increased our sneaker and hiking boot footprint.

curlyshavings found Not a Dogwood...Or is it? (Traditional Cache)

Nice hike from near St. Anne's to here. Out with the crew and Dave321. Thanks for the walk! From here we walked to Ambler Park.

curlyshavings found ambler park (Traditional Cache)

After walking from St. Anne's to "Not a Dogwood...", we walked here.

Looked for "Clark Freeway" but looks like it was retired as was "Nuclear Free Zone". Looked and looked and looked and looked. Finally found the flat rock, then counted back 25 feet.

Whilst standing in the middle of the creek reading the previous five logs (on my phone) and considering using clue #2, I saw a likely spot to match clue #1. Bingo. What a search, what a hike and what a day! With the walk back to St. Anne's, we think we logged five miles.

Found with Dave321 and the crew.

This red-hot Mexican Fiesta was seen on Coventry in Cleveland Heights Sunday afternoon, perhaps a bit "lost".

Click on the picture for a slightly larger view.

Tamaulipas is a state on the border of Texas and Mexico. From what I can gather on the web, Mante Ford is in the town of Reynosa, on Mante street.

Perhaps the plates were mailed to them. Or perhaps they're really, really lost: a red-hot Mexican Fiesta on its way to celebrate something somewhere.

Many of my high-school classmates are from Mexico; one is reported to read this blog from time to time. Perhaps he can comment? Otoniel?

Casablanca is one of our favorite classic films. There are many reasons to love it including the music, the lines, the acting, the scenery, the story and of course, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and Peter Lorre.

Last night was our night to watch this wonderful film. This time around, we focused a bit more on the politics of the situation. Something that has always perplexed me was toward the end when Captain Renault pours himself a glass of water, looks at the bottle and drops it into the trash. The label says it is from Vichy. I just finished The 33 Strategies of War and some of the situations surrounding France and northern Africa are covered there and so I thought it might be related.

We were discussing why he dropped the bottle into the trash; the event occurs at the end of the movie when Captain Renault covers for Rick after Rick shoots Major Strasser. Not only has Rick killed the German Major, but he has also taken the stolen letters of transit and used them to help the leader of the resistance flee to Lisbon and from there (presumably) to America. Up until this point Rick has been very careful to stay neutral, despite his history of being a mercenary, fighting on the wrong side of various wars, etc., but his most recent actions put him forcefully against Germany and for a free France.

Captain Renault likewise has stayed very neutral, being friendly to the Germans but always siding with "Unoccupied France". Turns out Vichy was the seat of power for Unoccupied France during this time and so we had a good conversation trying to understand the significance of this cinematic symbol. (See here, toward the bottom, for the answer.)

We went back and forth for a while, discussing French geography, world politics, de Gaulle and even some of the other symbols in the film.

Then the five-year old gave us his analysis:

"Well, maybe it was expired!"

33 Strategies of War, The by Robert Greene

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I liked this book; not fabulous, but I did like it. I have many of the books on war (Machiavelli's The Prince, Moltke on the Art of War, Sun Tzu's classic, Alexander the Great's version, some from Napoleon, some Civil War writings, etc.) and this is a conglomeration of many of those I'm familiar with.



Having said that, the style gets tiresome after a while. Many of the best parts are the sidebars where the author quotes directly from some of the best in war theory and war stories. Perhaps I shouldn't have tried to read it all at once but perhaps a chapter a week. As it was, it took me many months to get through.



Things I learned: Many of the things I learned were better found in Machiavelli, Alexander and Napoleon. Echos of things I already knew. Still, it is nice to have all of this in one volume. I suppose I could have done without the ever-present quotes from "I Ching" and such.


View all my reviews.

It's ironic somehow, that the things that most likely would make good blog posts keep me from blogging. Current projects include:

• Meadowbrook housing code violations remediation
• Wandle housing code violations remediation
• New job with The Employer
• Over-subscribed 2008 Webelos Resident Camp (expected 120, got 180)
• Dealing with my renters and some fallout from the credit crunch
• Living with a meniscal tear

I wish the boat was keeping me from blogging. I wish my family was keeping me from blogging.

Nope. Just onerous building code violations, yet another in a string of positions at my old/current/future employer, a camping nightmare with full-to-capacity dining hall and a bad bit of cartilage.

Really, though, these are all good reasons for not blogging. Real life will always be a good excuse to not spend time in this navel-gazing hobby!

Slack: Getting Past Burnout, Busywork, and the Myth of Total Efficiency by Tom Demarco

My review

[7/22/2009 Author's note: This posting has been unpublished since this time last year. I just completed 2009's first session of camp and am now resting up and preparing for the second. I wasn't going to publish this post but have relented since this year's experiences seem to match last year's so closely.]

Today is the opening day of Greater Cleveland Council's 2008 Webelos Resident Camp. I'm supposed to be the "Program Director". It is sort of an interesting job (volunteer position). This year we have downsized from two, 4-day camps to one 3-day camp. And upsized from 130-ish total campers to 180 total campers and 107 adult leaders. So camp's infrastructure is being stressed, from the swimming pool to the dining hall to the roads at camp.

It's mostly a fun position. Not always. I get asked to plan months in advance and then everyone seems too busy to hear until the week before camp. And even then, I'm still waiting to deliver the craft materials to the craft area that starts tomorrow morning at 8:45. So I am encouraged to plan as far in advance as possible and end up discouraged when no one wants to think past the next half hour!

Right now I'm waiting in a program area that has wi-fi, waiting for a group that is now 17 minutes late. Some one in the group has parked a car where they shouldn't and I was going to take a load off my feet, find some shade and pass along the message before moving on to head off the next crisis.

Crises are OK at camp, as long as the boys don't figure it out. A long line at the pool swim-check? Get more adults to take their tests early so we can get increase our spotters and achieve the maximum through-put of six simultaneous test-takers. No string at a program area? I've got string and can walk it around to the others.

I find that's largely my job. Walking around and putting out fires before they get too big. This morning it was peanut allergies. Solution? Well, we do have separate dining rooms.

Well, it doesn't look like they're coming. I think I'll get the keys to the craft area and go deliver 180 blank 1x4x9" boards for pondsailer sailboats. And then figure out where everyone is.

We had a great weekend at camp! More than 170 Webelos and more than 100 adult leaders descended on Beaumont Scout Reservation near Rock Creek, Ohio this past weekend (7/25-27) to build fires, whittle wood, shoot bb's, arrows (with bows) and dog food (with slingshots). We ascended the climbing tower, rowed boats, swam in the pool, played frisbee, hiked (what felt like dozens of) miles every day, made crafts, used a compass and from what I remember, just about everyone had a pretty good time.

(Yes, we had some stressful moments and yes, things didn't always go as planned and yes, we ended up with more than our share of sick campers, but overall, folks seem very excited and happy about camp.)

As program director, I certainly had a great time and I have all the Webelos Scouts and adult leaders to thank for it. Yes, I love being at Beaumont and I love doing camp—but it is the Webelos, the leaders, the camp staff and council staff that all come together to make a great camp and give me the greatest fun. Many thanks to all who participated!

I'm already thinking about Webelos Resident Camp for 2009 and ways to take the feedback we received and make next year's camp even better. I expect to have some of that information in a letter I send out early next month (August) along with the patches that didn't arrive. For all of you second-year Webelos, we'll include some information about next year's Scout Camps at Beaumont for your Troop. Don't forget—Scouting doesn't stop here! I hope you all find a Troop to cross-over into during this next year.

Again, many, many thanks! Enjoy the rest of the summer and keep on the Scouting trail!

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard

My review

The say that the best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago and that the second-best time is today. I planted this lovely maple before we left Wandle, so in 2001 or 2002. Of course it was just a little sapling at the time and look at it now!

That's Benjamin way up there. I gave him a boost to get to the first branch and coached him on some of the finer points of where to place his hands and feet, but he did all the work. We talked about what size branches he should trust and why it is important to put your feet and hands close to the trunk, if possible.

And of course, I stepped away to take some neat-looking pictures, too. Sometimes a boy needs his space, you know.

Afterward, he showed me the scratch he got while up there. That's what summers are for, you know. Climbing trees, getting scratches, being outside. Stuff like that.

If it isn't totally clear, I'm very proud of him. It's a nice tree, sure, and it is very nice for climbing. But it needed to be climbed and Ben was the guy to do it.

When we go back, there's an oak in a different part of the yard that he ought to try. I'll bet he can do that one, too. I planted that one, too, about the same time. I remember it was raining and George (a neighbor) brought over these two volunteers that were coming up in his bushes. The oak had a bit of a twist to it (which you can still see, a bit). Now it is a very handsome tree. A bit worn and abused by the tenants, but both trees are very nice. Makes me wonder sometimes why we left.

Take a close look at this picture (click on it for a larger image). Ben is hiding in there somewhere! The camera I used (my BB) isn't the best for this sort of thing and it was a brightly-lit day to begin with. Honest, he's in there! It's amazing how wonderfully this tree has turned out. It is a perfect maple shape, very dense foliage and seems quite healthy. I was going to bring it some dirt for around its roots (which are seeming a bit bare at the moment.)