One of the finest computing texts ever written...

Sorry, ladies... He's married.

Looking through some files in the outskirts of my academia folders from what seems like decades ago... It was circa spring of 1997. I was working on Tanenbaum's Modern Operating Systems (old school 1st Edition boyeee...) at the time at Clark University.

I was 20 or 21, relaxed, with relatively few cares, without the burden of some things yet to come down the road. It was a very quality learning period for me.

Q: When a file is removed, its blocks are generally put back on the free list, but they are not erased. Do you think it would be a good idea to have the operating system erase each block before releasing it? Consider both security and performance factors in your answer, and explain the effect of each.

A: It would be a good idea to erase the disk blocks before putting them in the free list. The performance issue arises from the additional time it takes to seek to the proper blocks and perform the erase operation. But, then again, the probability that a subsequent user will receive enough ordered blocks to make sense of them is slim. It’s like running a secret document through a paper shredder. Even if the hacker has the imagination and patience to tape everything back together, there’s no guarantee that half of the document hasn’t already become packing material, and is on its way back to Microsoft with the non-functioning version of Windows.

Some things don't change...

OK, anyone who has had to contend with nspluginwrapper (a small handful of us gauging by MySpace's browser penetration numbers) will be overjoyed by the news that Adobe Labs has released an alpha of 64-bit Flash Player 10 for Solaris and Linux.

I don't consider myself a complete Linux geek, but I must say I'm more joyful this Christmas because I have this new little alpha to play with. I got it up and running in about 5 minutes, including the time it took me to remove the nspluginwrapper nonsense; it will not be missed.

This is new hope for those of us that wonder what the hell anyone would run Windows Vista for. I have installed 64-bit or 32-bit Linux over every Windows install I used to have. I haven't looked back. I even set up my second workstation at work right before the Christmas break with 64-bit Linux (the primary desktop runs Leopard). I'm enamored with the Linux and OS X operating systems, and couldn't be happier having switched over.

You can do some pretty outstanding things with Linux, even with a 64-bit install. I recently bought a new Dell 30" 3008WFP monitor. This thing must be the king of all computer screens out there. But I'm also a photographer. Once I plugged in the new screen, the view was great, but the colors were all jacked up. I managed to figure out how to color correct my LCD using my Pantone colorimeter, even in a 64-bit Linux environment - something I never would have attempted a year ago (I probably would have sucked it up and gone running back to Windows to get good color).

I noticed in Target by our house that they are now selling bargain basement laptops, running, guess what: Linux. I feel like I voted for Obama all over again, filled with renewed hope that people will give up this addiction to the giant Windows monster and more people than just geeks will be running Linux. Oh what a happy day that shall be. If you're frustrated with Vista, I highly recommend trying Ubuntu. It installs in about 10-15 minutes and comes with free image editing, and office suite, games, and a host of other useful tools. I'll even let you complain to me if you hit any road blocks.

You know, one of the things I enjoy most in life is music.

Lately I've been listening to some eclectic stuff like Stevie Wonder's Talking Book/Innervisions/Songs in the Key of Life period, some Frank Zappa from multiple time periods, Ben Folds Five, as well as Ben's solo work, Jack Johnson, as well as Zach Gill's band.

Without insult to any of those artists' works of art, I do want to highlight one album that really has stood the test of time and has been speaking to me, in the musical sense: Purple Rain. Prince's composition as well as stunning guitar work on this album is unparalleled.

You can check out the Wikipedia page here, for more detail on Purple Rain and the man who made the Minneapolis sound.

You can listen to Purple Rain, or any other of your favorite albums, on MySpace Music to your heart's content - all for free.

So it's been a long time since I've blogged, and a lot has happened in 2008.

To begin with, the most monumental thing to happen this year was the birth of my daughter Lindsay Sage Freund on February 8th. From the moment I saw her, she had me by the heart strings. She's such a happy little girl, always a smile on her face, always ready for a snuggle. I could not have asked for anything more out of life. And when I find myself griping about those things in life which I wanted but couldn't have, I take consolation knowing there's a little girl who I created who loves me more than anyone on Earth and will until she meets someone special and falls in love herself. I'm so thankful for both of my kids, who really make life worth living.

Following up from being a dad again, I traveled to the Kingdom of Kuwait in March, running the Internet's first 480p live HD webcast from Camp Buehring, 15 miles south of Iraq - the middle of the desert - hello combat showers... That also resulted in my first official production credit, as the show was rebroadcast in April on the FX television network. While in Kuwait I rode in a Blackhawk helicopter, played with M4 and mounted 50cal simulators, got to hang with coalition troops, and even stopped in Berlin on the way home to visit the MySpace Germany offices and see my friends and colleagues Philipp and Desiree. Kuwait definitely put a new perspective on life, love and oil. Shortly after the trip I went out and bought my wife Kim a Toyota Highlander hybrid. I'm thankful to have the awakening that I did when I did. I saw young kids carrying weapons that could rip a person apart. I saw coalition troops sacrificing time with their families defending a policy of the U.S. government, however unpopular, and I'm thankful that they're willing to go into harm's way so I don't have to.

Not surprisingly after about 2 years of being Johnny-on-the-spot with music and video at MySpace, in June I was promoted to Vice President of Technology, Media and Entertainment at MySpace. It has been a pretty good transition so far. I had been working at that level for some time, it was very nice to be recognized for my hard work. I'm thankful to Jim, Aber and Tom for seeing my potential and promoting me. I'm participating in as much executive training as I can to move forward in my career as quickly as possible - gotta defeat deflation somehow. Most of my summer was taken up building and launching MySpace Music, and I've since moved on to other initiatives at MySpace since the Music venture is a separate entity, and I decided to stay put at MySpace.

I'm sorry for losing touch with some old friends, but happy to regain the acquaintance of other long lost friends, having a good time with the people in my life that mean a lot to me, both personally and professionally, and that is what life is really about, isn't it?

On July 7, I broke my right wrist, contused my right knee and completely tore my scapholunate ligament in a head-on car wreck. I'm thankful the accident happened right in front of the Beverly Hills fire department, because EMT's were at the scene before I even stumbled out of the car. I was also burned on my left wrist when the airbags deployed, but I consider myself fortunate to be alive - and fortunate that the accident was ruled the fault of the other party. My Jetta was also totaled in the accident, so I went out and replaced it with a Prius.

The car was easier to replace than my body, as I had open wrist surgery to repair the ligament, have 2 of 3 pins still in my wrist, and I still have a long way to go on the recovery. Again, thankful to be alive, that's the important part.

The accident left me pretty physically jacked up, which understandably caused some upheaval in my personal life, but every day is a new day, and I hope that every day I get a little stronger physically and mentally. I recently decided on a makeover just to mix things up a bit. I traded my glasses for contact lenses, I shaved off my facial hair for the first time in 8 years, I'm doing my best to lose weight (I'm down to 213lbs from 260lbs), started weight training on my good arm, I'm walking Monty and Ty a lot, I'm treating Kim as best I can as a husband, I'm trying to be a good dad, and hopefully making the world as thankful for me as I am for it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is the trailer for the new Indiana Jones movie. I hope George Lucas doesn't do to this what he did to Star Wars. Hopefully Steven Spielberg won't let him!

So, I spent a little time away from home this month.

So I went to Beijing to help deploy MySpace China. We had a few unexpected events which turned a 7 day trip into an 11 day trip.

I got a lot of good sightseeing in on the weekend. Chuan and Vivien from MySpace China set me up with a killer tour that really gave me a good sense of the long history of China as well as the current state of the economy and the government. I visited Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Great Wall at Mutianyu, and even took a tour through a Hutong by Rickshaw (too bad I left my whip at home).

Visiting a cloisonné factory.

I made a new friend.

Having fun with depth-of-field at the Summer Palace.

At the office it was very tough work (reminded me of the old days of MySpace, everyone working ridiculous hours), but it was very rewarding to see the site launch without any major issues. I even learned how to get around Beijing solo, just using public transportation (which is not an easy task since very few signs are in English or any other recognizable Western language).

I got home in time to observe Labor Day with Kim and Isaac, then flew out Tuesday morning for Amsterdam.

I traveled to Amsterdam to attend IBC - which was a very interesting expo. I saw lots of cool technologies, ranging from encoding software to encoding equipment to mobile satellite equipment. I spent a lot of time meeting with some specific vendors and potential vendors to iron out some strategies for the next 6 months - it will be very exciting - stay tuned to find out what's in store.

I was in Amsterdam with fellow MySpace dude Jason. He and I enjoyed the night life in Amsterdam - I wish I could say we enjoyed the night life to the fullest, but you'd have to be one sick mofo to enjoy Amsterdam's night life to the fullest. But we weren't there to judge...

My preferred mode of transport.

Ahh, Amsterdam...

I'm no contractor, but I think the folks who built these houses spent a little too much time in that coffee shop.

We enjoyed a trip to Supper Club with our good friends Bill and Lauren, a visit to the Amsterdam Dungeon, and even a pass through the Oude Kerk. A word to the wise: If you're looking to head to Amsterdam, make sure you stay away from the north side of the Oude Kerk ("Good LORD, I'm BLIND!!!"). Also, Bill, Lauren, Tim and I went to this great little Thai restaurant right in the middle of the Red Light District. They served a lot of great dishes, including some I had eaten at a Thai restaurant with Chuan, Ling, Cong and the gang back in Beijing. One dish that had me getting my hopes up: a dish I waited for with great anticipation, being in the middle of the Red Light. When it came to the table I was pretty disappointed. The dish? "Pork with Ginger". Being in the Red Light, I expected something COMPLETELY different.

Throw in a solo trip to the Rijks Museum and the Anne Frank House and it shaped up to be an amazing experience. I can't wait to go back. Next time I'll try to get a hotel a little closer to the downtown area, rather than Uithoorn (which is a hell of a cab ride).

So I finally sucked it up and spent the money for doubles. Being that I'm about to start my ocean certification for advanced nitrox and decompression diving, I decided it was high time I had the gear to do the dives. So I marched into Hollywoodivers with Kim in tow determined to just get the damn gear and not worry about how much it cost. So it started simply enough: pick up a few accessories and I'm off and running.

But nothing in life can be this simple, can it?

Throw in all the stuff that diving doubles entails: a new Halcyon Evolve 40 lb. buoancy wing (I may exchange this for 60 lbs, you never know when you'll need a little extra lift), two new HP 119 tanks, a 300 bar manifold and tank bands to hold the tanks together, another ScubaPro MK25 1st stage regulator, a DUI TLS350 dry suit for backup buoyancy (with pee valve, bellows pockets and zip seals), and last but not least the thermal underwear to keep warm inside the suit.

Now, you may be wondering what a pee valve is for. This is where being a guy rocks.

So you dive down to 250 feet under water. Then on the way back up you have a long time to wait while you do your decompression stops. And like a good diver, you've been drinking a lot of water to mitigate decompression sickness. Suddenly, you find yourself 150 feet under water with the uncontrolable urge to flush all that liquid from your bladder which is about to explode. In a wetsuit? No problem. Remember, there are two types of wetsuit divers: those who pee in their wetsuits and those who lie about it.

If you're in a drysuit, things are a little different. Wet suits flush with ocean water. Not drysuits. Enter the pee valve. A pee valve (emphemistically called an "overboard discharge valve") attaches via a condom catheter and allows the male diver to make his contribution to nature with relative ease. Hey, it beats peeing all over yourself. So the obvious question: What do women wear in a drysuit? Depends... (get it???)

So, to add insult to injury, I took my current HP 119 tank in for a visual inspection and the guys at the shop found a pretty bad case of rust inside the tank (and in the threads). So that's what I've been breathing. Also why I twitch every now and then... So they are sending that tank out for a tumble to repair the damage. Also, all my other life-support gear is in the shop for an overhaul to make sure all my gear is in top shape for the upcoming 150+ foot dive on the oil platforms. Maybe I will get a few dives in at Catalina and/or the Channel Islands before the oil rigs one to make sure I'm in good shape. There are a lot of people I know who want to go diving.

In two weeks when I get my gear back, it's on. Oh, yes. It's on.

OK, so the T.I. and friends webcast is going well so far.

http://www.myspace.com/sidekick

We're webcasting from the Riviera Theater in Chicago right now, and I'm in the office (Beverly Hills) working remote support. Hector 2.0 is on the ground in Chicago, rubbing elbows with the rappers.

It's been a busy month, hence the hiatus on the blogging. Last month I seem to have met a whole bunch of famous people. First, there was Dominique Wilkins. Then there was Michael Eisner. Then there was Mr. T. Weird...

Let's see, a lot happenin'. I bought myself a new MacBook Pro 17", bought Kim a MacBook Pro 15", and built myself a new machine at home, complete with a 2 TB RAID-5 array. In layman's terms, that's pretty redundant storage, and a lot of it. And now Kevin is poor.

So on top of re-learning BSD (it's been a long time since I've used BSD, and never administrated a box running Darwin), I'm troubleshooting Kim's ramp-up issues (as well as my own), setting up network print servers, organizing my files on the new file server, working, and trying to spend what little time I can with Kim and Isaac. A lot to do.

And I got really sick last week - a nasty cold which I may have inadvertently spread to my boss (sorry, Jim). I guess that's a sure way to avoid getting a raise.

We're making very good progress on the audio, video and image fronts here at MySpace. We'll be spinning up some data centers in the next few months and building out our infrastructure to support some really cool new features (sorry, can't tell you about them, you'll have to wait).

Also Kim and I are looking more seriously at houses. According to my credit score I qualify for way more of a house than we could ever afford, but at least it's nice to know I finally have stellar credit. Now all I need to do is win the lottery. Or sell a kidney.

Catch you later.

OK, during my tenure at/on MySpace, I have made a very large attempt to stay apolitical. But I saw an ad banner fly by on MySpace that must be addressed:

Now I know I'm a dreamer, but I had hoped that the Department of Homeland Security would be aiming a lot higher than the homeland security equivalent of ITT Technical Institute.

I may be making an unfair generalization here, but if you couldn't hack it at a 4 year university (or even junior college), I don't want you protecting my life, liberty or pursuit of happiness.

I want people like my friend Dan protecting my safety. A guy who doesn't have his head up his ass (sorry, Dan, hardly an endorsement), who doesn't block you from boarding an airplane with 2 ounces of hair gel in a 4 ounce container. Someone who doesn't frisk an 11 year old white girl because she might be a terrorist.

I want you to pay these people what they're worth - and if they aren't worth shit, I want you to pay them less than shit (better yet, fire 'em), rather than what the union says you must pay these people, who would be flipping burgers without the government to give them a cushy job and a fat pension.

While all of this is likely to get me a full body cavity search at the airport the next time I travel, I feel it's worth pointing out that putting our lives in the hands of people who need to go to school to tell the difference between an Islamic fundamentalist and a grandmother from Des Moines is a really bad idea.

Feds, please look into hiring some capable people. Give me a call if you're interested. You know the number (I hope).

Project Inglewood has launched to rave reviews. The story behind the name is this: my team got together and decided to name all new R&D projects after Los Angeles slums.

Project Inglewood is the new video uploader to come out of the CDN team, mostly written by my good friend Nick.

Here's a screenshot:

Of course, you wouldn't need to rely on a screen shot if you would upload a video or two. Check it out. While you're uploading a big video, try unplugging your internet connection for about 10 seconds. The upload will continue like nothing happened when you plug your connection back in. That's some tight shit right there.

To try the new uploader, all you need to do is upload a video. So get out your web cam or mobile phone and film yourself in a compromising situation. When you get to step 2 (upload a file), look under the regular uploader for a link to the "new awesome uploader".

The folks on the CDN team have a lot more cool stuff in store for you, stay tuned.

OK. So 45 lbs down, I'm looking and feeling a lot better. I know I promised pictures, but I don't have any, so sorry to disappoint. That Fatty McGee picture on my profile will just need to stay for a little while longer.

I did end up enrolling in the advanced nitrox and decompression dive classes mentioned in a previous blog. The 2nd and last class is next Wednesday, and I have some homework to do before then (damn, makin' a brotha write an' shit). After that, it's the big plunge to 150 feet deep with two tanks on my back and an oxygen stage bottle - somewhat unnerving. I've done 143 feet deep before in warm water with 1 tank (back when I was young and reckless). But I've done the dive site 3 or 4 times before (that's me on the right on that dive site in the photo below), so it shouldn't be that bad.

No guts, no glory.

The main thing that gives me worry is when I did 143 feet in French Polynesia I was narced out of my mind (this means I was literally high on nitrous oxide). What happens when you get that deep on 21% oxygen (normal compressed air) is that your body absorbs proportionally more nitrogen for the oxygen you breathe. This means you're literally inhaling nitrous oxide down there. And that deep, with your life on the line, is no time to be high. Good thing the water is cold - keeps me focused on not screwing up.

The next certification level after these two classes is the extended range class, which teaches you to dive on trimix: Nitrogen, Oxygen, Helium. The idea is that helium is inert and offsets the nitrogen in the mixture, which is what narcs you in the first place at depth. So with Helium in the mix, I'll be talking like a munchkin after coming back up, but I won't be high, and there's less chance of getting the bends.

Speaking of diving, I'm putting together a basic open water class for my compadres at MySpace. If you work at MySpace/FIM and want to join this class, let me know and I'll throw you on the list. Don't worry, I won't get you killed. May 12 and 13 is the day of the ocean dives out in Avalon (on Catalina Island).

Ty and Monty are still walking me (though somewhat reluctantly since I put them back on the Haltis). They're good dogs, and really helping to keep me thin and get me thinner. Though Monty is literally in the dog house.

Isaac's 2nd birthday celebration was on Wednesday - the family only one. My sister baked Isaac a choo choo train cake and it was left out on the kitchen table, so Monty decided to help himself to a piece of cake Wednesday night after everyone went to bed. He got some frosting and some candy decoration down before I caught him.

I expect better behavior out of my boys. Though while I say he's in the dog house, he's really not. I can't stay angry at him. He had a nice hug and a kiss from me before bed on Wednesday. I guess I'm a sucker for a good doggie buddy.

Expect some pics soon of the new improved Kevin. And maybe some more dive photos and videos soon.

First week in February: what a travel itinerary!

First stop, Calgary to attend my fraternity's Pig Dinner. Drinking hard liquor and Canadian beer until 5 AM: that's a recipe for a hangover if I ever heard one (at least it was last year).

I fly out the following day to Boston where I'm scheduled to recruit at MIT's tech fair, recruit/speak at Harvard Business School (If my high school guidance counselor could only see me now, LOL), and participate on a customer panel for Akamai (MIT, HBS, and Akamai are all in Cambridge). Perhaps see the parents while I'm out in Boston, then fly back to Los Angeles to see my parents two days later, who are flying out to visit Isaac (and Kim and me if there's time).

Add to that a flight to Barcelona, Spain the following week to attend 3GSM if I can convince the folks in finance to sign off on the trip. I spend a bit more money than most people, but that's a consequence of my line of work (content encoding & delivery)

It's shaping up to be quite a month.

See you sometime mid-February, if I survive the trips.

Cheers!

So I lost a little weight this month: about 30 lbs.

So I'm down at around my college weight, looking to get down to about 200 lbs once all is said and done. I'm really doing this to avoid becoming diabetic, which I'm genetically prone to.

I'm also about to enroll in two SCUBA classes (Advanced Nitrox & Decompression Diving) where they teach you the ins and outs of diving twin tanks, and an extra steel tank adds a shitload of sink to the dive rig. So much so that I will need to go out and get a drysuit for redundant buoyancy (believe me, you don't want to be in 700 ft. deep ocean water and have your only buoyancy bladder get punctured by something (it's a long ride to the bottom). Being that drysuits are relatively expensive, I would like to be at a good weight before I get fitted for one.

I have found that the weight really just slips off if you put your mind to it.

Another 10 lbs or so and I'll post some photos of the new, slimmer Kevin. It's already shocking (almost no more beer gut).

I would like to extend a hearty thank you to my boys Ty and Monty, my ever faithful nighttime walking companions for sticking by me through the grueling walks I've been putting myself through. Though sticking by me is somewhat a given when you're on a 6 foot leash.

Well, the Ben Folds Show went off. There were a few large potholes on the road to execution, but I can (and do) feel proud that I have successfully pulled off my first live webcast. Next stop Miami. November 18th. Mark your calendars. Miami is going to be a real trip.

Earlier today, it dawned on me that the creative producers were oddly quiet for a day when we're releasing a live show into the wilds of MySpace. Turns out nobody had given any thought as to how we were going to deliver the Folds show to the end users on Ben's page. As people were hitting refresh on their browsers waiting in agony for Ben's show to start, I was in my office feverishly putting the final touches on a page injection script for his profile page - and just at the stroke of 6PM Pacific, I jammed the thing on and it went without incident from there on out.

Ben put on a great show, and if I can arrange the licensing you will be seeing it in "syndication" as it were. Highlights of the show include the guitorchestra, Ben falling to his doom, and of course, Titler. It's not a show without everyone's favorite German dictator in a tight black dress with monster boobs.

I was on the line to my buddy Isac (he was down in Nashville during the show), and I was also on the line to our satellite vendor. The inside story is we still had 30 minutes of satellite time booked, and, had I informed them earlier, there may have been more tunes had Ben not already started his final number "Bitches Ain't Shit".

Prior to this show I didn't spend too much time listening to Ben Folds (just what I heard on XM), but thanks to this experience, I have found Ben Folds to be an accomplished musician and a great entertainer. He will definitely be going into my play rotation from here on out.

I went to Huntington Dog Beach today with Ty and Monty. Kim and Isaac joined too.

It's about 1 1/2 hours to the dog beach from our house, but Huntington Dog Beach is the only off-leash beach we know of. And the boys love to run around in the surf and swim out to retrieve their orange rubber retriever rolls in the crashing waves. They also love to run down the wet sand chasing their tennis balls.

Normally we go to the dog beach in the morning, but today we went about one hour before sunset. And what a great sunset it was. It made me wish I had brought my camera. Nothing makes me as glad to live in Southern California like the orange sun going down over the Pacific. With Long Beach in the distance just coming alive with light, the container ships and oil platforms silhouetted against the waning sun. It doesn't get much better than that.

Unless it's holding your little boy's hand while he takes his first steps into the surf, listening to him giggling with excitement everytime the waves wash over his toes.

The only thing I don't like about going to the dog beach is the inevitable bath awaiting Ty and Monty when we get home. They weren't too happy to take their bath tonight. I wasn't too happy to have two soggy doggies tearing around the house. They jumped up on the bed and soaked it. My bed now smells like wet dog.

Well, such is life in Southern California.

Tomorrow it's back to work.