Documentation is a very important step in any IT project and this particular project was no different. Our first step in the documentation process involved writing down what jack was connected to what port as they were being connected to the switches.  An easy enough process but definitely not a perfect one, so we added a second step to verify the documentation in the first step. To do this I wrote a script and web application that would utilize the Cisco Discovery Protocol that Enterasys so kindly includes in their switches.

The Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) is a Data Link Layer protocol developed by, you guessed it, Cisco. If enabled, the CDP packets can be transmitted on every port of the switch. These packets contain useful information including, but not limited to, Device ID, Port ID, IP address, and even Location. By default, the K-Series will transmit those packets once every minute.  For our project we set them to transmit every five seconds, so that the student employees that would be going room to room, would have to spend as little time as possible in each room.

I tried to find a decent Python module to capture the CDP packet but it proved to a major pain to find a module that would work with the version of Python I was using, so I decided to use Tshark, which is the command-line version of Wireshark.  It can be installed when you install Wireshark. I have the Python program open a tshark process with the display filters set to display only CDP packets and dies after 7 seconds.. The script captures the output of that process once it dies and parses it.  From the output, the script pulls out the Device ID, which is the base mac-address of the devices, and the port number. Once the script has collected that data, it opens a web browser and passes the data to the web application.

The web application is a simple set of php scripts with a MySQL back end. When the first page receives the data, it searches the MySQL database for the room where the jack is located for that particular port and chassis. If the room number is in correct, they can hit submit, if its wrong, they simply can change the room number in that field and click submit.  Any ports with incorrect locations were loaded in to a separate database table.

So far the other students have made it through two of the residence halls with no errors in the documentation, except for that of ports that were added after we had visited those closets.  Hopefully this verification process continues to go smoothly.

CAUTION: This will remove all settings, extensions, and bookmarks in firefox.

First of all, I’ve had my wisdom stolen… Ok, not really, but I did have my Wisdom Teeth removed. It was a most interesting experience. I went to an oral surgeon and was put under. I didn’t even really I was falling a sleep. They had me on an IV to knock me out, and that’s exactly what it did, instantly. The next thing I knew, I was being woken up and moved to a different room. I had several odd reactions to the anesthesia. Every couple of hours, I would get really nauseated, hot, and start shaking. I was kind of scared. I was in pain for two weeks, and it was an awful pain. It surged up to my ears and they felt like they were on fire. But eventually I got over it, and now I just dealing with the two holes in the back of my mouth.

I have setup a programming forum on my website. It’s main goal is to help students and programmers a like. The only problem is, I can’t seem to get enough publicity to get it rolling. The forums can currently be accessed at http://www.rychannel.com/forums/programming . If you have any suggestions, I welcome them.

The last part of this post is Data Structures. It is my favorite class this semester and I am really learning a lot. What is a data structure you ask? According to Encyclopedia Britannica, In computer science, a data structure is a particular way of storing and organizing data in a computer so that it can be used efficiently. So far we’ve talked about lists, queues, and stacks. I find them extremely interesting, but currently we are working on tree’s and due to its need for recursion I find that I can not wrap my head around how they work. I get the theory, I just don’t understand the programming behind it.

For the past week, I’ve been attempting to improve the conditions and figure out exactly what is going on when their computer systems. So far I’ve been finding ways to save money on equipment and improve even the health of their system. I know that I will finally be able to make a difference there and that will make me feel almost complete.

For the past couple of years Internet media has been getting increasingly popular.  More and more people are watching television shows and movie via the Internet (both legally and illegally).  Some examples are Apple iTunes, Netflix, and xbox marketplace.

There are so many ways for companies to broadcast their media.  Netflix uses the xbox 360 and its own set-top box.  Apple has iTunes and Apple TV makes it extremely easy to access iTunes via the TV. Most television stations, like ABC, NBC, and Fox, allow you to watch episodes of shows that you may have missed.  There is one company that gets how popular Internet broadcasting has gotten and has invested a lot of money in distributing and creating programming just for Internet viewing. Revision3 uses several different mediums of distributing its content.  Not only do they distribute through their website, but they also use iTunes, Tivo, PyroTV, Bittorrent, and even more. Revision3 (aka rev3) has produced several IPTV shows including but not limited to:

• Tekzilla
• Systm
• Diggnation
• The Digg Reel

They have also signed a contract to distribute another popular IPTV show Hak.5.

I would highly reccomend checking out Revision3 at their website, revision3.com.

Could internet broadcasting be bad news for Satellite and cable companies? Tell me what you think.

Last summer, I was doing Weight Watchers but stopped for some reason. I’m still not quite sure why. Perhaps lack of support, I don’t know. I would go back to Weight Watchers, but I remember that their site was always buggy and it costs about 17 bucks a month and since I’m a college student, I really don’t need another monthly bill. Am I right?

So I heard of a website called SparkPeople.com. It is a free service to help manage the food that you eat but giving you a total amount of calories, fat, and carbs, that you can eat in one day. It seems a little bit more complicated than WW but its free. So what do I have to lose? My current weight goal is 177 but next March. I think that means I have to lose about a pound per week. I’m hoping that I can double that and reach my goal in half of the time.

So all of the links in the side bar are there because I go to those sites a lot, need them for work, or need them for class.