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So, I set up FreeNAS today on my PC. I was going to use it as a CentOS dev server, but I’m too stupid to set the thing up properly so I formatted everything and installed FreeNAS on it. FreeNAS is a BSD operating system that is used as a NAS server. NAS is Network Attached Storage for those who don’t know; basically a file server that can be accessed from any computer in the network.

It was really easy to set up, hardly had to think at all Just burn the tiny (I think it was about 40MB) ISO to a CD and install. After the initial install, everything is done from a web GUI similar to how you might manage your router. I’ve got (S)FTP, SSH, Windows sharing (CIFS) and Apple sharing (AFP) enabled which is super cool. You can create user accounts and groups so only autorized users can access the system, but there’s no GUI for specific permissions (yet). I’ve tested CHMOD’ing a directory to be readable only and that seemed to work, that’s enough for now. What I would really like to see is FTP ‘jailing’, so I could let my friends leech off of my without giving them access to everything on the system and without having to always CHMOD the things I don’t want globally readable.

Anyway, I’ve only got a 160GB drive in there now, but I’m going to buy a nice 500GB one soon. I moved 55GB’s of video from my Mac today as a test, and it works. I can even stream video over the network I was going to buy an actual NAS enclosure that would hook up to my router, but this is way cheaper. The only downside, as Floris pointed out, is that now the PC is on 24/7. Other then the obvious downside of the energy being wasted (though it shouldn’t use too much just idling, and the HDD’s automatically sleep after 10 mins of inactivity), it’s loud! I haven’t had my PC on for a while since I got the Mac. The Mac is quiet, but I put it to sleep at night anyway. I had forgotten how loud the fans were in my PC. But it’s a price I’ll pay for NAS

Other then that, I’ve started to really work on Outershift. This weeks task was to get a logo done. I ordered one from Ypson the other day. I said I wanted something really simple but still recognizable, and am in communications with the designer about one. I’m not sure of the one he came up with. It’s simple like I wanted, but still not sure. I may order one from a different designer and then just choose the best of the two. I probably could have come up with a simple one myself, but honestly, it would have taken me ages and it would probably have been some messy rasterized PSD The Ypson logo only cost $80, so the time saved and the vector-based files I get are worth that to me. Besides, I get to write this off as a business expense

The first product Outershift will be a newsletter script. There are a ton out there, yeah I know. But I decided that’s what I want to do first. Floris is always bitching about how the vBulletin mass mailer is pretty useless, so we got talking about what we’d want in a newsletter script. The ideas were pretty good and I think I have some pretty unique features that aren’t in any of the available scripts. I think people seem to think little of the actual script, it should just manage lists, compose, and send right? Well yeah, but there’s a bunch of features that I think will be extremely useful to people who have sites already and want to add a newsletter to it. I’m going to pull a Jelsoft and not say any of the features I’ve got in mind :p But it’ll be pretty cool.

Speaking of the biz, I’ve got to file my taxes soon. Here’s the moment of truth where I find out how much money I get back, or none if I made some mistake somewhere or learn I’ve been working illegally or some crazy thing like that. I’ve got a bunch of stuff I plan on writing off, so hopefully I’ll get a nice big sum. I’m going to go to H&R Block with all my receipts and paperwork and get them to do it. First, they’ll tell me exactly what I should include and what I can get away with etc. so I get the maximum payout. Second, they will pay me on the spot if I am owed Pretty good service for a good low price.

In other news, the sister’s coming back home soon. She’s dirt poor up there, so she has to come home and earn some money before going back to school. I’ve gotta help her go move back on the 23rd I think (*groan*). It shouldn’t too bad this time. Walking down three flights of stairs with stuff shouldn’t be as hard as walking up them. Right? Right?! And I will simply refuse to move the TV-from-hell (that is, the ancient TV that weighs about a ton)! Actually we’ve already decided we’d leave it there instead of risking the remaining vertebrae in our spines

And that’s all for today I’ll post when I’ve got the Outershift logo to show you. Though don’t be too imaginative in your mind, I asked for simple as my main requirement. I said it should be color-scheme-independent, be able to go pure white/black or grayscale, and simple. So it’s not going to be uber-cool