An unexpected problem hit me with Mint. I never would have thought that a system which found drivers for a whole bunch of devices on its own would be unable to set up a simple PPPoE connection.

Here’s what happened: I connected to a local network that provides internet via PPPoE. I tried to configure it through NetworkManager — no luck. Eventually got it working with the console tool pppoeconf, but for some reason NetworkManager then started saying my network card was no longer managed by it. (A few reboots and a reset of /etc/network/interfaces later, it started managing it again.)

An interesting question: We have a D-Link modem, which doubles as a router with built-in Wi-Fi. Specifically, the model 2600 (glamorous, white, belongs to a friend of mine). Well, we don’t have it yet, but there’s an intention to buy one. This modem comes with an ADSL port through which it can dial the ISP via PPP, an Ethernet port, and a Wi-Fi antenna to distribute the connection from the ISP to the end user. And we have an ISP — a local network that provides internet over Ethernet, with a PPPoE connection. That is: username, password, kind of like dial-up, the whole deal. The question is: will this modem be able to establish a PPPoE connection not through the ADSL port, but by dialing through the Ethernet port, and then distribute the internet around the apartment over Wi-Fi?

Shutting down servers. Yesterday I powered off my FreeBSD box that was running VPN, NTP, and torrents. Its fate from now on — a spare workstation, because after I leave, no one here needs a Unix box. Today I’m shutting down and archiving the virtual machines — Squid, Apache, TS. Archived images will take up less space, and who knows — maybe their time will come again someday. And there’s this feeling in my chest — sad, hollow, and bitter. So much time and effort put into this small fleet of machines — and none of it needed by anyone, none of it appreciated.

the cold has set in. yesterday we heated the stove. truth be told, it wasn’t the first time, so the book we’d been given for kindling had run out. had to take another one. a strange thing — burning the 8th-grade algebra textbook was morally much harder — because you felt sorry for the familiar equations and problems… the previous one, though — history — crackled away with even a certain joy, seeing on its pages about collective farms, the war, the victory of “the great russian people”, internationals and communisms.

Another milestone in life has passed — today I submitted my resignation letter. The real ending will happen when I receive my final paycheck. But the mental one, the one inside your head — that’s the more important one.

I don’t remember anymore who I’ve told and who I haven’t — not long ago I happened to win a regional competition. More precisely, the regional stage of a national competition. And to be even more precise — I shared first place with an employee of a regional government body. I’m still not sure what swayed the jury into awarding two first places; maybe it was the fact that I’m just a regular village guy.

by the way, the esteemed Umputun has released a new podcast, and has already pushed out two episodes. All fans of RadioT — go download and enjoy.

Damn it, I always rack my brain over the same thing: what to write in a cover letter for a resume? And I always end up writing something new :( No prepared template on hand. Today I managed to put together this:

Hello. Due to my need for growth and development, I would like to find interesting work at a promising company. The listed vacancy interests me primarily because of FreeBSD — as a clean and pleasant-to-maintain system. I have had some experience maintaining network equipment on a small scale, but I am ready to learn, as well as to develop skills in selecting server hardware. Theoretical knowledge is present (degree in computer networks), practical application is ongoing.

Downloading Radio-t 155 via EDGE/GPRS. After a whole night, 28% done. Hello, Umputun

UPD: Turned out I was wrong to blame Kyivstar. Now downloading with wget instead of the podcast client — and in 30 minutes I got half of it at a steady 22–24 kilobytes/s

Keeping it short. Turns out, to use Kyivstar’s 3G, you either have to sign a contract or buy a specially marked starter kit that comes bundled with a 3G SIM card. So now I’m stuck with EDGE, though at least in the regional center it’s better than out in the sticks. 5000 MB for 128 UAH, which works out to about 160 MB per day. I think that’ll do for now. And apparently because of the slow connection (I can’t think of any other reason), Pidgin, the pest, won’t connect. Not to ICQ, not to Google Talk. Looked at other clients — I want something multi-protocol, since I never managed to ditch ICQ. Nothing quite like Miranda is out there, Empathy wants to download 35 megabytes, which feels like too long a wait. I miss Kopete.