Category Archives: Silicon Valley HBO

Linux Sysadmin, Silicon Valley HBO, Tech Companies

Happy SysAdmin Day 2016!

Happy SysAdmin Day for all you hardworking System Admins that keep the internets running, the bits flying, the Pokémons evolving, and the Twitter tweeting!

SysAdmin Day is celebrated on the last Friday in July. What do SysAdmins do? Well we’ll just let Gilfoyle from Silicon Valley’s Pied Piper explain:

” What do I do? System architecture, networking and security. No one in this house can touch me on that.”

” I prevent cross-site scripting. I monitor for DDoS attacks, emergency database rollbacks, and faulty transaction handlings. The Internet – heard of it? – transfers half a petabyte of data minute; do you have any idea how that happens?

“It’s not magic, it’s talent and sweat. People like me ensure your packets get delivered unsniffed. So what do I do? I makes sure that one bad config on one key component doesn’t bankrupt the entire f***ing company. That’s what the f*** I do. ”

So while you’re out there hunting for Pikachu this Friday and your Pokémon Go app is actually working, thank a SysAdmin. If its not working well then just kill and restart your app. If your Pokémon Go app still isn’t connecting to a server then maybe its a sign for you to stop walking around while staring at your phone instead of watching where you’re walking.

Pikachu_over_water_Pokemon_Go_Screenshot
A screenshot of Pikachu hanging out on the waterfront in Silicon Valley from the Pokemon Go app.
American Ingenuity, Silicon Cali Tech Business, Silicon Valley HBO

I am Pied Piper Billboards appear in Silicon Valley

Stuck in traffic this morning on 101 with thousands of my closest friends, I pass the big LED billboard in San Carlos and there it is.

The “I AM PIED PIPER” billboard from last night’s episode of Silicon Valley breaking out into the real world of SiliconCali. This had me cracking up in my tiny narrow car even though I was only crawling at 8 miles an hour on the 101. Didn’t have a chance to snap a picture with all the traffic jockeying to get past the spilled concrete mess but here it is:

 

Unless you caught the show last night after Game of Thrones you probably would just think it was another billboard for some cloud based music sharing app or whatever else is normally on these billboards. Nope. Just good old fashioned Pied Piper viral marketing. Redditers have reported this billboard is up along 880 by Oracle Arena as well. Good stuff Mike Judge and crew.

Here is the actual I AM PIED PIPER billboard that is scheduled to be up through May 3rd.

I_AM_PIED_PIPER_Billboard_SiliconCaliAnd now that Pied Piper has Russ Hanneman funding, they are hiring.  Are you a fiend for data compression? Do you fully understand the theory behind middle-out compression? Then Pied Piper may just be for you. But if you think middle-out compression is some kind of slimming garment that Erlich Bachman wears then maybe you should just watch the show.

Wonder what HBO’s Silicon Valley will try next? Billboards with only the words:  Who is Strychnine McTwat?