November 2006 Archives

A couple of the blog owners have let me know about readers getting a 410 HTTP error when they try to post a comment. It doesn't happen consistently, but only if your comment text matches one of the spam-test patterns I've defined in the Apache web server's mod_security module.

If you get a "410" error on a comment, drop me a note, and please include the text of your attempted comment. Also, if you can provide your IP address and the time of your attempt, it'll help me find information in the server's error log. Once I find which pattern is triggering the error message, I can fine-tune the pattern rule to avoid this "false positive".

It seems I tend to stay with jobs. I work in IT as a system administrator; my first job (after college) lasted ten years, and my current one has lasted thirteen. However, I've decided to take some time away from full-time work. I'm switching to "on-call" status in a little over a week, which means that the company can call me in if there's some urgent need or some particular technical problem I can help with, but otherwise I'm basically done there.

For somebody as attached to job security and money as me, this is quite a move, but I expect that I'll be able to do all right with some short-term work and some income from my savings. That on-call status means the company can call me if there's some particular need during the transition, but I don't expect it to be an ongoing thing.

So it's time for me to get in some travel, some housecleaning, maybe some school or some training, some back-to-the-basics spiritual renewal, and some exercise (e.g., walking the mile to the parish for daily Mass: thank Heavens they have one at 11:30!)

I have to get one of those guide books to "offbeat" attractions. :-)