define command{
 command_name check_customport
 command_line /usr/lib/nagios/plugins/check_tcp -H $HOSTADDRESS$ -p [PORT]
}
Using this method required extra definitions in my configuration files and even then my services were reported as working when in fact they were not (although, I may have just figured out why).

There is a much simpler way! I was sure there must be a native command for altering which port Nagios checks. Finally, I found it buried in their wiki:

define service{
 use generic-service
 host_name remotehost
 service_description HTTP
 check_command check_http!-p [PORT]
}

It is as simple as appending “!-p [Your Custom Port Goes Here]” to the check_command! My Nagios definitions just got a lot simpler.

Sticky Notes

With Windows XP, throughout the day, I would accumulate many instances of Notepad; each with different notes taken from phone calls, assignments given to me by others in the office, or just little tasks that I did not want to forget. Having so many instances of Notepad open all at once would clutter up the taskbar and also the Alt+Tab window making it more confusing and time-consuming to navigate from one window to another. When it came time to restart my computer for whatever reason I first had to go through all the Notepad instances and save them to my desktop. If my computer ever shutdown unexpectedly due to a crash or power-loss I lost all my unsaved notes from that day.

After installing Windows 7 on my new computer I was quite happy to see a program called Sticky Notes. Sticky Notes solves all the problems I had experienced previously by using Notepad to log all of my notes. The individual notes even grow automatically as I type more and more text in them. If they get too big for my liking I can then make them smaller again and a scrollbar appears. You can also change the color of each note if you wish. The only feature I miss is the ability to change the font size. Sometimes only two words fit on one line before the next gets pushed down which isn’t aesthetically pleasing.

Full Date Displayed in Taskbar

This may sound like something unimportant but I am horrible at keeping track of the current date. I am always amazed when others can easily predict what day of the week some future date will fall on. In Windows XP, unless you make your taskbar at least twice as tall as the default size or move it over to one of the left or right side of your monitor you can only see the time. To see the date you have to hover your mouse over and wait for the tooltip to pop up showing the date (which oddly doesn’t always work) or you have to double click on the clock to open up the Date and Time Properties window which comes with its own problems. Have you ever spent a moment browsing the calendar and then accidentally clicked OK instead of Cancel? The system date changes!

Now with Windows 7 I can see the full date without moving my mouse. If I want to browse the calendar I click it an up pops a non-destructive, read-only calendar! If I absolutely want to change my system date (which I’ve never wanted to do before but I suppose is necessary for computers that don’t have access to the internet for an NTP server) I first have to click ‘Change date and time settings…’.

Pin Programs to Taskbar

Access to my favorite and most-used programs is now only one mouse click away thanks to the ‘Pin this program to taskbar’ feature. Now if only Microsoft would allow me to pin a folder to it without using a silly hack!

And finally, I am allowed to reorder the position of the open applications shown in the taskbar! Yay!

Better Navigation in Windows Explorer

This one is a bit difficult for me to explain. When I first started navigating in Windows Explorer I panicked when I couldn’t find the Up button to jump to the parent folder (Yes, I know. There is a Back button but back isn’t always up!) but then I found something better. There is an ant trail at the top where you can click on any parent folder. Even better is that each parent folder has an arrow next to it that when clicked drops down to give you access to any of its sub folders. This makes moving around much quicker.

Configure Schedule in Disk Defragmenter

Keeping my hard drives fragment-free, optimized for speed and efficiency, is now easier with Windows 7. Back in Windows XP I had to setup a custom Scheduled Task to run Disk Defragmenter on a schedule. Now, setting up the same schedule is easily done using the native Configure Schedule tool within Disk Defragmenter. Click ‘Configure Schedule’, set the frequency, the time of day, and you are done!

Snipping Tool

How do you think I got all the nice screenshots for this post? Capturing part of the screen used to mean taking a screenshot, pasting it in Microsoft Paint, saving it, opening the saved image in Adobe Photoshop, cropping it, and saving the final image! That is a lot of steps. So many, that I often avoided providing a screenshot.

Now, with Windows 7 I have Snipping Tool! Snipping Tool allows me to draw a box around an area of the screen and click save. It is that easy! If you don’t want to draw a rectangle you can use the other snip types, Free-form Snip, Window Snip, and Full-screen Snip. After capturing an image you can draw on it or use a highlighter before saving it. My only complaint is that I haven’t found a way to get a shot of something that requires control of the mouse to display such as tooltips, drop-down meus, and right-click menus. I also couldn’t figure out how to get a snip of the tool itself to show you here. Yes, I could open up Paint and then Photoshop but who does that anymore!

With the black cover on you shoot into the umbrella and the light bounces back at our subject. Remove the cover and you have a semi-transparent shoot-through umbrella. I was worried about how hard it might be to remove and replace the cover but was quite pleased when I saw just how easy it was. The black cover has little metal end caps that slip over the end of each umbrella rod.

I am very impressed with the construction of this umbrella. Every part of it seems so durable including the solid shaft that runs through my flash bracket.

So far my only complaint about this umbrella is that is comes with the same cheap bag as all the other umbrellas I have seen before. My first time putting the umbrella back into the case I discovered that it already has a hole in it.

Feature Request: Google should now be ready to implement a new feature I have long been wishing for. When searching for directions in Google Maps you are given two check boxes allowing you to avoid highways and tolls. Where is the option for avoiding roads currently experiencing slow traffic?

What will any HR department find when they research you online? Is there enough positive content about you to prove who you are and what you have to offer? Is there any embarrassing or degrading content about you, perhaps even written by you, that can be easily uncovered? Are you even heard of in the online world?

Create a domain for yourself online. I recently updated my website with this idea in mind. A quick visit to my home page and you will see that in a very simple manner I show you who I am and provide you easy access to the best online content about me. One improvement to my own page I hope to make soon is to replace my photo with a new vocation specific photo. I picture a photo of myself sitting in front of my clean desk and large monitors with some code I have written shown on them behind me.

Free tools at your disposal:
• WordPress – This website is built on WordPress. I use it everywhere and continue to praise that it is the best blogging tool out there.
• FriendFeed – Get online and communicate with others in your field. Share your knowledge and expertise. Participating in an online community will help you stay up to date with the latest and provide opportunities for you to learn from others. FriendFeed is the best but you can use any online community to accomplish this. Subscribe to my feed at FriendFeed.com/skylercall.
• LinkedIn – Get away from that static, boring resume and begin building a rich, dynamic resume with LinkedIn. I believe they are still too new to have a major impact today but I see great potential. Link your account to those you have worked with to begin building your pool of references. If I could make one suggestion here it would be that you not sit around waiting for volunteers to write a reference for you. Write one about them first. Hopefully they will see the effort you put into building up and improving their LinkedIn profile and will return the favor. View my LinkedIn profile at LinkedIn.com/in/skylercall.

Purchasing a domain name and web hosting
I recommend purchasing your domain name and web hosting from 1and1.com. I have used them for years and am very happy with the service they provide. Feel free to contact me if you need help setting up an account with them or installing WordPress on your newly created account.

Personal websites I have helped organize or design (updated 8/17/2009)
Feel free to use these as examples when creating your own website.
• Mark Christiansen – markwc.com

What other services do you use that aren’t officially supported by FriendFeed that you are able to import with the Custom RSS/Atom option?

Subscribe to my FriendFeed account at http://friendfeed.com/skylercall.