Miranda Fern Ley - Historic Costumes

The co-worker who introduced me to Pete (from the band Pete Simple), is Miranda Ley. In her spare time, Miranda creates historically accurate clothing. Think of the Texas Renaissance Festival, Dickens on the Strand, or theatrical productions, and you'll be in the ball-park of the type of work Miranda creates.

Her website, mirandafern.com, can put you in touch with Miranda. I'll be attending the TRF at some point this year, and I'll definitly be looking for Miranda. She said she'll be there every weekend. Apparently, it's one of her favorite times of the year.

If you're interested in her work, you should consider attending the TRF or Dickens. If you can't make it to those events, you can always visit her website. If all else fails, let me know. I see her every day at work...

Pete Simple

I have a co-worker who showed me her boyfriend's website. He's a member of a band called Pete Simple. I've heard a few of the songs on the website, and liked the song called "Here". I wasn't fond of the beat-box on several other songs, but I've heard the beat-box is no longer with the band.

If you listen to the songs on their site, you should understand Pete Simple is a part-time band. The members can't afford to pursue their passion full-time. Check out the site, and let me know what you think. I'll pass on any constructive comments or criticisms...

New Texas Laws Starting September 2007

By now, you've probably heard of all the new laws going into effect on September 1st, 2007. Most news organizations pull a few of the laws out, and tell you about them.

I've always found it interesting to see all of the laws going on the books. Many times, there are several additional laws affecting my life. Here are a few laws I have not seen listed by the news organizations which are somehow related to my life:

• Red light cameras must have warning signs posted within 100 feet of the intersection.
• Commercial vehicles restricted from parking in sub-divisions are now prevented from parking on adjacent streets to the sub-division.

There are many others, but it's getting late, and I'd rather just give you the link to read any that might apply to you. Remember, what's important to some, are not important to others. Don't think you have the full story by hearing it on the sound-byte referred to as news.

Here you go: http://www.legis.state.tx.us/Reports/Report.aspx?LegSess=80R&ID=effectivesept1

Site Crash

Wouldn't you know it, I had a hard drive crash. When I went to retrieve my backup, I found backups made for a friend, a neighbor, my wife, but not my own! I did manage to find my header graphics, and blogger made it simple to re-publish my site. My main loss was time, and the photos and files I linked to in my blog.

Oh well, it's not the first time I've lost everything, and I'm sure it's not the last. Now, all I have to do is find out where I stored my backup... I know it's around here somewhere!

Router and firewall troubleshooting

There are many items to look for when troubleshooting router issues. The best tool for troubleshooting is to use a network sniffer like www.wireshark.org to determine where information is being routed to, versus thinking the configuration is actually correct.

If you see the router passing data through the firewall, then you know your firewall is configured correctly. If the firewall blocks the routed packets, then you have some additional troubleshooting to perform.

Just remember, that when you troubleshoot routers and firewalls, you must look at each router in the path, verify traffic is passing through the firewall, and you have the proper tools and knowledge to correctly troubleshoot your router and firewall.