Developmental Retardation

Development is currently at a snail's pace compared to my normal rate. It's been a week full of reconfigurations of all types. Servers, services, job positions, and family have all had their fair share of changes this week. Seems like I just have to sit back for a few minutes and wait... something is bound to go wrong, or need immediate attention. I don't know how else to say it, it's been a shit week, maybe two.

Development of the new install distro is still my top priority. When I am not running around putting out fires, that's what I am working on. I am also constantly making minor adjustments to [premium] zone control. That seems to fit nicely in the small divots of time I have to focus before something pulls me away.

I believe I have things in order for a much more productive week next week. The only thing that will remain is my added responsibilities at my day job. We had a couple guys quit, and I got stuck with some of the chores. It's kinda funny really... I am now the web specialist and firewall/content filter administrator for a 1500 employee corporation. At least for another week or two. AFAIK, there is only one other place that job combination exists...

Remote Authentication

I've been slacking a little for the last week or so... been on vacation from my day job so I decided to let the brain rest for a couple days.

Services are running fairly smooth. There was a problem a few days ago with a network database. I ended up putting a new server online and letting the problem server stay offline. It will probably stay that way until I put a fourth server online. Other than the rogue ndb node, things have been going well with the new Premium services.

In the News: I have completed the programming that allows Premium subscribers to use remote authentication via http. Zone Control can be configured to parse an ACL, or any remote webpage to authenticate a login from your hotspot. You can even parse for a specific string/date/number and display a custom message depending on the value. For example, a library is authenticating a barcode on the user's library card and parsing an ACL for "money owed" (and a few other things too). If the amount owed is greater than $4.99, then the user is blocked and a message is displayed to see a librarian for assistance. So far I've got four library branches and a university using remote http authentication.

What's coming: I'll be working on a new "Install" distro over the next week or so. This will allow you to install the gateway file system used for the premium system to a hard drive instead of using the ZoneCD. Sometime after that, I'll work on the WRT release.