Planet TLLTS

One of the things that really bothers me about my Provari is I am constantly changing batteries in it. Granted, I got a Provari Mini, which only takes button top 18350s (or 16350s) but I can go through 3 in a day pretty easy. For you full size Provari owners, you get to use an 18500, so it’s not quite as bad – maybe one battery change. Well, I started hunting around for a way to use a bigger battery in my Provari and came upon a couple solutions. The first is to buy the extended battery cap. This lets a Mini user like me use an 18500 and a full size user use an 18650. The problem with that is I just don’t like the look of it, and I still want more battery. More digging revealed that someone else thought of this and made a nifty little device called a Twins telescopic extension. Now THAT is a nifty idea! It’s a telescoping bottom for the Provari and Provari Mini to extend either device for 18650 use (and anything in between). This also has its issues though. It is *very* difficult to find them in stock anywhere except Europe and they are on the expensive end +-$40 here in the states +shipping.

Well, Just the other day I was following an ad for something and landed upon CigTechs website and beheld a wonderful thing! The have a extension ring for the Provari called the Tatroe Ring Provari, which not only will let a Mini user use an 18500 **and** their own bottom cap for a more (IMHO) finished Provari look, but it will bump a full sized Provari up to 18650. By that reasoning I figured I might just be able to use 2 of them in conjunction to be able to get an 18650 running in my Provari Mini! The killer part of this entire thing is these are extremely reasonably priced at only $15. That is not only 2.5 times less expensive than the Twins, but even less expensive than the Provari extended bottom cap.

Queue here to a couple days later and I am thrilled to let you know that you can, indeed, use 2 of them together to run an 18650 in your Provari Mini, and I think it looks darn nice to boot! The diameter of the rings are the same as the Provari body, so it feels right and solid. Beautiful threading. You keep your own bottom cap, and, like I said, they are inexpensive and IN STOCK! Fast shipping and good customer service from the CigTech folks as well, Just can’t beat this if you are a Provari owner!

Yes, you heard it right! Get your backups up to date and your gear ready for the next release of the best Linux distribution available. Grab it here:

When most people think about customizing their e-cig / mod, most people think of J-Wraps, and for good reason!

J-Wraps was nice enough to send me some of their product to review, and I, and my wife had a lot of fun with it! J-Wraps is a company that makes adhesive backed covers for most popular e-cigs / mods. Most e-cig users get really attached to their e-cigs. Not only are many of them quite expensive, but they are also not quickly replaced. If you have a new mod, cover it up and protect it. If you have an old battle worn one, cover it up and make it like new again! Basically, think of these as something like a vinyl sticker in a large variety of designs and styles that you can use to personalize, customize and protect your e-cig.

The wraps are actually fairly easy to apply because they aren’t permanent, so you can pull and re-stick them to get them placed just right. It’s also possible to save and reuse them if you are really careful. If you pull too hard you may stretch them a bit, which makes them a little rumply You can also clean these – BOTH sides! One of the first wraps I tried to apply, I peeled off the backing board and then promptly dropped the wrap onto my carpet, sticky side down. It was absolutely covered with cat hair and fuzz. It turns out that you can clean gunk even off the sticky side with a little mild soap and warm water. I washed mine off and stuck it on my vanity mirror so it could dry, and once it was, I peeled it off and stuck it on my e-cig. No problems whatsoever!

Below you’ll see pics of those J-Wraps on a variety of mods. Some I received free from J-Wraps for review purposes and some I actually won at a local vape meetup. My favorites were the textured ones like the Carbon Fiber and the Ostrich. My wife really liked the Blue Hologram. J-Wraps has got something there for everyone and will even do custom jobs as well. Any non-custom wrap is available for less than $20 That’s a deal that is hard to beat on a great product! See for yourself!

A while back, when I was reviewing the eVic, AquaVaporCig also sent me one of their 100ml Sample Packs to check out as well. These are all “Premuinm USA Made” e-juices, and at 10ml a piece there were 10 of them to go through, so it took me a while Listed below are the flavors and what I thought of them:

Apple Pie

• Definitely apple pie. I can even taste the crust, with just a bit of cinnamon. Really delicious!

Ol Charlie

• This is a robust and nutty tobacco flavor. Think bold but not bitter, wholesome. It’s an odd description, I know, but if you try it I think you’ll see what I mean.

Bearyluscious

• This is kind of like an everything berry flavor. It’s good on it’s own but I found out accidentally that is goes well with the Menthandy as well

Carolina Leaf

• I probably should have listed this one after the FluCured, but stuck to the order they were listed on the website to help you with your selection. That being said, this is a lot like the FluCured tobacco but with a slightly stronger/brighter flavor. Any tobacco smoker should enjoy this.

CinnaTwist

• This probably sounds odd, but I have occasionally had these cinnamon twists from Taco Bell that I absolutely love, and this tastes *just* like that.

Cocoa Mint

• This one really reminded me of a Mint Chocolate Chip icecream flavor. Once I mentioned that to my daughter, she confiscated the entire rest of my bottle and I have not seen it since.

Cubana

• Tobacco and banana. I hate bananas.

FlueCured

• The flu cured taste in this is something I really enjoyed. It’s a very smooth tasting tobacco flavor, and *almost* sweet.

Mello Fruitello

• I had a really hard time with this one. Perhaps I am one of those anti-tasters, but on the inhale I got absolutely nothing. On the exhale, there was a faint fruity taste, something akin to a Juicyfruit gum, perhaps.

Menthandy

• This one is *very* mentholy (is that a word?) with this spearmint finish to it that is reminiscent of some of those more powerful chewing gums out there. I quite liked this *and* it really goes well with the Bearyluscious e-juice that I accidentally mixed some with in my clearomizer while doing a refill

First off, I was sick the entire week. I got to feeling bad (sore throat, fever, and chills) a week ago, but thought it was just a cold and would eventually run it's course. Monday was OK; but Tuesday was a little worse, so I left work early. I should have gone to the doctor about it, but because I was supposed to be in NYC for work on Wednesday and Thursday, I used the time I should have been at the doctor getting ready to travel.

The next two days I spent in NYC at a trade show for work. I felt awful to the point of not being able to go out to dinner in the city on Wednesday night. i went straight to my hotel after the first day on the trade show floor and slept till the next morning. On Thursday I went back to the trade show, but forced myself to walk to Times Square for lunch (this was my first trip to NYC). I got home late Thursday, and called into work sick Friday morning. I saw a doctor Friday and was diagnosed with Strep throat.

On top of missing out on seeing the city, I missed running in a much anticipated 5K race Friday night cause i still felt awful.

Three days into a 10 day dose of antibiotics, I finally feel great--just in time to upgrade my web/media/minecraft server to Debian Wheezy. The upgrade, as I fully expected, went off without a hitch.

I am looking forward to running again tomorrow for the first time in 7 days. It is good to be fully rested AND upgraded.

OK, ok, so I have been a bit absent lately. I have been mind blowingly busy at work. That aside, I *have* still been vaping and occasionally even answering my emails. SO, that brings me to this:

I have some things I want to review and I thought I’d post a little teaser to know what to watch for. I still have some e-juice flavors to review that AquaVaporCig sent me (delicious stuff by the way). J-Wraps sent me some really cool e-cig wraps to review as well. PaktPub just sent me an e-copy of the CentOS 6 Linux Server Cookbook, which I am really anxious to delve into (loves me some CentOS, I do). I also bought a few e-cig mods like the Vamo, the CCTS, the Draw Tube, Silver Bullet, Provari Mini, Segelei ZMax, Innokin SVD and a couple more on the way. Then there are the accessories like the Kanger Pro Tank, the iClear 30, a Cobra clone and the Kick, by Evolv. Hints and tips along the way, and even a review on Drip Tips! Stay Tuned!

Req.#: 14955
Job Title: SME,Infrastructure QA/Controls Job Type: Consulting
Duration: 4 months Business: Education/University
Location: New York, NY

Project Description:
Our direct client has an opening for the SME of Infrastructure Quality Assurance/Controls position reporting into the AVP of Internal IT Controls. The position will be responsible for day to day monitoring to ensure that the company's central IT infrastructure operation complies with its policies, procedures, and standards defined for various technology platforms. 

More specifically, the responsibilities are as follows:
Ensure ongoing monitoring for adherence to Standard Operating Environment procedures for Operating Systems, Middleware, Web Infrastructure and Databases.
Review and provide input into the design of Standard Operating Environment procedures.
Function as a source of knowledge on IT infrastructure and IT infrastructure quality assurance standards; build relationships with internal teams and external providers.
Foster progressive improvement IT infrastructure Standard Operating Environments in conjunction with quality assurance best practices.
Facilitate improvement of the IT infrastructure Change Management and Configuration methodology.
Regularly perform reviews of Change and Configuration Management processes for IT infrastructure components to validate compliance. Document non-compliance and escalate as appropriate.
Periodically perform reviews of provisioning and deprovisioning of privileged user ids.
Keep current with security trends in the IT infrastructure area (through the Security Team and other methods) and identify steps needed in order to stay current.
Ensure that core infrastructure components have fundamental documentation (architecture diagrams, configuration specifics, design documents etc.).
Ensure that key roles are documented for each infrastructure service area and that the segregation of roles is in place.
Review efforts to remediate access to sensitive data within the IT infrastructure.
Ensure that each IT Infrastructure area is in compliance with established standards.
Assist the infrastructure team with audit preparation and support, conduct pre-audits.
Ensure that estimation/resource utilization methodology is in place for all infrastructure components and that it is consistent across different infrastructure areas within company.
Work with appropriate counterparts to assist with planning for and implementation of agreed ITIL processes.

Minimum qualifications:

5+ years of IT infrastructure management experience. 
10+ years of hands on IT infrastructure experience 
Excellent communication and relationship management skills. 
Expert ability to analyze and interpret technical data. 
Experience with complex systems integration. 
Experience working with a culturally diverse team. 

Preferred qualifications:

In depth knowledge of Operating Systems (e.g. Linux, Solaris), Middleware (e.g. Tomcat, Apache, Web Logic), Databases (e.g. Oracle, Sybase) 
Demonstrated IT architecture experience
Demonstrated IT Infrastructure quality assurance experience
ITIL experience.

Required Skills:
5 years of IT Infrastructure management experience,
10+ years of hands on IT infrastructure experience,
Excellent communication & relationship mgmt skills,
Expert ability to analyze and interpret tech. data,
Experience with complex systems integration,
Experience working with a culturally diverse team.

Optional Skills:
Demonstrated IT Architecture experience,
Demonstrated IT Infrastructure Quality Assurance,
ITIL experience,
Knowledge of Operating Systems- Linux, Solaris,
Knowledge of Middleware- Tomcat, Apache, Web Logic,
Knowledge of Databases- Oracle, Sybase
Please remember that you can earn up to a $1500.00 referral fee for every I.T. professional you refer and that we place with one of our clients. Be sure to check our web site www.designstrategy.com for a complete list of our current consulting and permanent opportunities.

Thanks,
888 425 2404 ext 4313

Tony Dalmau
Office: 908-709-9800 x4313
Email: tonyd@designstrategy.com

Exceptional People, Innovative Solutions

I have been away for a while--over two years. I am back now. I am going to try to start fresh and simplify; I have deleted all the content from my site, including 135 podcast, and have moved my blog to a blogger account.  Having self-hosted a website for 15 years or so, I am not yet sure what if anything I will do with my web server. For the time being, I will post stuff here until I figure out what to do with my web server.

While on the subject of being back last week marked my return to TLLTS. I am glad to be back, and plan on being a regular co-host again. As far as my own show, I seriously doubt I will tackle creating and hosting my own podcast in the foreseeable future. I may make some appearances on Hacker Public Radio or other people's podcast from time to time.

Until further notice, look for me here, on google plus, and TLLTS.

Gonna try moving my blogging activities to blogger.

The LinuxLink TechShow celebrates its 500th weekly episode, tonight, 4/10/2013 at 8:30pm EDT. Join us LIVE by tuning into http://stream.tlltsarchive.org:8000/tllts and on IRC at thelinuxlink.net:6667/techshow!