To further educate myself, gain experience, and also make use of my spare time while searching for employment, I am continuing my internship in the Information Technology department on campus. I hope that one of the employers who have posted job openings, of which I have applied for, will contact me soon for an interview. The best positions I could hope for, would be Linux administration, Windows administration, entry-level database administration, and network administration.

As a side note, if you are reading this and work for, or manage an Information Technology company or department that is currently hiring for positions mentioned above, please contact me using the email address in my “About Me” page. I am immediately available for hire, and can work any day of the week. I would prefer morning, or evening hours, but will work graveyard hours on a temporary basis.

Here’s to hoping that this blog post pays off!

Useful Tools on the Jasager (Fonera) Router:

root@Jasager:~# cd /tmp

#This is htop, an advanced version of top
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/htop_0.6.5-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install htop_0.6.5-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

#This is nano, an easy to use text editor
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/nano_2.0.6-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install nano_2.0.6-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

#This is openntpd, an ntp client for the Fonera router (current date and time)
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/openntpd_3.9p1-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install openntpd_3.9p1-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

After installing openntpd, you need to configure it to contact the servers closest to you.
I am located in the United States, so I used the servers from us.pool.ntp.org.

NTP server reference – http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/
root@Jasager:/tmp# cd /etc
root@Jasager:/etc# cat > ntpd.conf << “EOF”
server 0.us.pool.ntp.org
server 1.us.pool.ntp.org
server 2.us.pool.ntp.org
server 3.us.pool.ntp.org
EOF

1.  Open up the webif management page (http://192.168.1.1/index.html or http://192.168.1.1/webif.html)
2.  Click on the “System” tab
3.  Select the timezone that you are in
4.  Click “Save Changes” in the bottom right corner
5.  Click “Apply Changes” in the bottom right corner
At the moment, I do not recommend installing openntpd because it seems to continually spawn a new set of processes every 5 minutes or so, eventually slowing down the router. I am currently looking for a solution.

Changing the MAC addresses:

First we are going to install “macchanger” to our Jasager (Fonera) router.

root@Jasager:/etc# cd /tmp

#This is macchanger, a tool that will allow you to easily change your MAC addresses
root@Jasager:/tmp# wget http://ipkg.k1k2.de/packages/macchanger_1.5.0-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# ipkg install macchanger_1.5.0-1_mips.ipk
root@Jasager:/tmp# rm *.ipk

After installing macchanger, we need to modify the file network located at /etc/init.d/network
If you installed nano, run nano network otherwise run vi network

root@Jasager:/tmp# cd /etc/init.d
root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# cp network network.bak #Make a backup of the original file
root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# chmod 444 network.bak #Make the backup file read-only

You will need to insert two lines into the file to change the MAC address
Replace “00:11:22:33:44:55″ with a MAC of your choice (make sure they are the SAME)

root@Jasager:/etc/init.d# nano network

#!/bin/sh /etc/rc.common
# Copyright (C) 2006 OpenWrt.org

START=40
STOP=40

boot() {
setup_switch() { return 0; }

include/lib/network
setup_switch
[ -s /etc/config/wireless ] || /
/sbin/wifi detect > /etc/config/wireless
macchanger ath0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55
macchanger wifi0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55
/sbin/wifi up
}

1.  Save the file, overwriting the existing file named “network” and reboot the router.
2.  When the router is finished booting up, run ifconfig to confirm that ath0 and wifi0 contain the MAC address you specified.
3.  Run a wireless network scanner to confirm that the router is broadcasting the new MAC address (airmon-ng and airodump-ng)

I didn’t attempt it, but you could possibly use

(ifconfig ath0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55) and

(ifconfig wifi0 hw ether 00:11:22:33:44:55)

instead of

(macchanger ath0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55) and

(macchanger wifi0 -m 00:11:22:33:44:55)

My plans for a career path started out in Information Technology.  At the start of college, I began focusing on becoming a Systems Analyst to work my way up to managing Information Technology.  But lately, I have lost the drive.  I have hit a roadblock.  It is possible that photography might be the career path I choose, I don’t know.  One thing I do know for sure, is that I bounce around way too much between career choices.

I have a decent knowledge of electronics and a more in-depth knowledge of computers.  Programming, not really.  Not as far as application coding goes.  But I can work my way around html, css and php, it just takes a bit of work.  I know quite a bit about home networking and building/setting up computer systems.  One thing that is limiting my progress in IT is certifications.  I have not bothered to study and certify myself in CompTIA A+, Linux+ and Network+.  As far as what I have seen with the tests, the A+ should be a breeze for me, Linux+ would be a slight stretch, but not by much, and with how in-depth the terminology and understanding of enterprise networking systems is, the Network+ certification would probably be the hardest.  Also, the tests are not free.  It is kind of useless to certify myself and not have a reason to use the certifications.  Not to mention, to find a job that would take me in with just the certifications and not much of an IT background, would be close to impossible.

Right now I am having fun with photography.  Although I lack the required funds for multiple lenses and a full frame body, plus accessories, I am trying to make the most with what I have.  I enjoy going out and taking photographs, and I just may continue to do so.  When I have a few more dollars to spend on a couple zoom lenses, I will be able to start putting myself out into the community for a chance at starting my own business.  Even if photography does not end up being my main career, it will definitely be a hobby if not a secondary form of income later on.

If you have any thoughts on what I should do or any experiences of your own, please let me know.