(yes, it’s an oxymoron)

are you preparing for the cisco ccnp exam? do you blog about your experiences? leave a comment below and let me know so i can start following your blog!

in regard to my last post, “dynamips lab topologies anyone?“, here’s the first network map i drew up in visio.

it was made to simulate (closely, but not exactly) the topology of internet2, as depicted on the internet2 atlas (which is a cool piece of work, i might add).

if you’re interested in seeing a dynagen .net file for this and/or some sample exercises to work through, let me know.

while there’s a plethora of labs to work through if you’re preparing for cisco’s ccie examination, there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot for the lower levels, specifically the ccnp (what i’m currently working on). it could very well be because i haven’t bought any of the “official” cisco press books, who knows.

regardless, i, like many others, have been making extensive use of dynamips for running labs on a pc (even though i have a stack of cisco gear sitting right next to me). it’s just easier to not have to mess with the physical cabling, plus i can take it with me (i have dynamips and dynagen set up on my macbook).

i’ve considering making up some of my own lab topologies and then creating some exercises to go along with me. there are plenty of lab topologies already available (some even with the dynagen .net file), but i haven’t found many that have actual lab exercises to go along with them.

if i were to make up some of my own (complete with visio diagrams, dynagen .net files, and exercises to work through), would there be any interest?

p.s. i don’t use gns3 so you’d have to come up with your own config files for that.

if you need a beta code for ping.fm, use “pingofpings”. it worked for me a few minutes ago.

what is ping.fm?

ping.fm was created for the sole purpose of making it as easy as possible to share your posts with the world. now you don’t have to fumble around the web in order to post anymore, you can just post once, and be done with it.

the idea came about when making some posts to twitter and tumblr . the idea of posting the exact same information in two places seemed a bit tedious, so ping.fm was born.

from craigslist:

free hillary clinton campaign material

bumper stickers, yard sign, pins, mugs, folders, letterhead and a large banner. won’t be needing them.

on a related note, i was shopping at union station in washington, dc, today and all the stores there that had hillary merchandise remaining had it on sale for anywhere from 50-80% off. that makes me giggle. =)

shortly after 11am today i took off from indianapolis international airport and around 12.30pm landed at ronald reagan national airport in washington, dc. a short train ride and a three-block walk later, i arrived at the donovan house hotel. having not seen it before today, i was actually impressed. it’s quite nice.

just after getting checked in i took off on a walking journey to see what was in the neighborhood. i ended up near the department of the treasury at which point i realized i was really close to the white house. then i had to go check out all the tourist sites all over again — the white house, the washington monument, the national mall, the capitol building, the j. edgar hoover fbi building, etc.

on my way walking back to the hotel i realized i could go ahead to the dc convention center and “pre-check-in” for the cfunited conference, so i hailed a cab and got over there. whenever i left i realized that i street i was on took me directly back to the hotel, which is pretty nice. it’s about a five block walk from the hotel to the convention center which shouldn’t be too bad.

i got quite a bit of walking in and my feet are pretty sore right now. i scored a drink or two and am now back at the hotel, about to turn in for the night. tomorrow is day 1 of cfunited 2008, which should be interesting considering i’ve never written a line of coldfusion code in my life!

if you happen to be going to cfunited (like me) next week, be sure to read through the cfunited attendee packet — some good info in there to know ahead of time.

this will be my first time attending cfunited and my first time in washington, dc, in about 15 years. anything i should know beforehand? =)