Michael W. Lucas's Blog, page 46
November 2, 2017
MS Word auto-recovery files and Dictation
Today, I learned about Microsoft Word auto-recovery files.
If Microsoft Word crashes and can’t auto-recover the document, find the autosave file. The location is given in File->Options->Save. Sort the directory by date, and your autosave should be at or near the top. The file name ends in .asd. Copy that file elsewhere and open it in Wordpad.
Your text will be therein, stripped of all formatting but present.
In related news: I’m trying dictation. I know several authors who produce several tho...
October 30, 2017
“SSH Mastery, 2nd Ed” News, Sponsorships, and Cover
SSH Mastery has been my best-selling title since I published it in 2012.
SSH Mastery has been on a five year mission to find and eradicate passwords. SSH has changed in the last five years. SSHv1 is no more, except where it is. A whole bunch of crypto algorithms are no longer in use, except when they are. We get jump hosts and centralized key management, except when we don’t.
It’s time for it to return to dock and get a refit. The new one will be cleaner! Brighter! Cover certificates! Capable...
October 19, 2017
Leveling Up
For those who can’t be bothered with long posts, here’s the short version:
My novel Immortal Clay is now featured as part of Kris Rusch’s Fear Bundle on Storybundle, one of the major book bundling sites. You can grab my novel, as well as thrilling and scary books from authors like Dean Wesley Smith, Leah Cutter, Rebecca Senese, Gary Jonas, Mark Leslie, Sean Costello, J. F. Penn, and Kristine Katherine Rusch.
If this was all that was going on, it’d rate a blog post. Storybundle is a big step...
October 4, 2017
I have a Patreon now
I’ve done it. I’ve sold out. I’ve joined the trendy hip crowd.
By popular demand, I now have a Patreon.
Why announce this now? Well, I’ve finished the intensive work on the third edition of Absolute FreeBSD. I won’t have the rights to distribute electronic versions of AF3e to patrons. (Why? Remember, authors don’t sell books; they license copyright. I’ve licensed those rights to No Starch Press.) I will have the rights to distribute all of the Tilted Windmill Press ebooks, though. I feel it’s...
October 2, 2017
First draft of “Absolute FreeBSD, 3rd Edition” finished!
The first draft is complete at 220,000 words. It’s out for community tech review right now.
I’m sure I forgot bits here and there. But from here on out, all I have to do is take corrections from dozens and dozens of people.
September 7, 2017
New story: Savaged by Systemd
Yesterday, I put a short story up as an ebook. This was a wild experiment that I wrote on a whim.
When I say “wild experiment,” I don’t mean I decided to play with tenses and point of view. No, I decided to spend one day writing a lunatic piece, something that I’ve never written before.
Erotica. Sort of.
Computer erotica, to be specific.
Linux sysadmin erotica, to be more specific.
OK, fine. Systemd erotica.
It’s called Savaged by Systemd. And while it certainly contains erotic content, it’s...
August 22, 2017
AF3e status, 22 August 2017
Your irregular “Absolute FreeBSD” status report!
It’s at 123,700 words. 12 of 26 chapters exist as first drafts. (Yes, the last report said 7 of 24. I can’t count.) Two more chapters are partially done. One of those partially-done chapters, on “Pre-Install Considerations,” won’t be done until I finish the whole book. I keep going back to add tidbits to it. It’s complete, except when I find something else I have to add to it.
The current status looks like this. Chapter titles subject to change...
August 11, 2017
BSDCam Trip Report
The FreeBSD Foundation has posted my BSDCam trip report. I also want to sincerely thank the Foundation for helping defray my expenses.
Robert Watson runs an excellent event. And what I learned at BSDCam will appear through the new Absolute FreeBSD.
Speaking of which, I need to go make some words. Buy.
August 3, 2017
Contributing to FreeBSD
I’ve talked to a whole bunch of folks who say things like “I’m a junior programmer. I’m looking for a way to help. I have no specific expertise, but I’m willing to learn.” Today, I present such junior programmers with an opportunity. An opportunity for you to learn skills that will be incredibly valuable to your career, and will simultaneously expand your career opportunities.
I’m at the FreeBSD BSDCam devsummit, gathering dirt information for the new Absolute FreeBSD. One of the topics is te...
July 25, 2017
First-ever interview with me, the novelist
I’ve been interviewed as a tech author many times, given numerous talks, and in general made a nuisance of myself in all available media.
For the first time ever, though, I’ve been interviewed as a novelist. It’s because I’m part of the Sci-Fi July bundle, where you can get 11 action/adventure SF novels for $9.99.
So, that’s one milestone passed.
