Arion's random thoughts

25 Years of Arion.Net

2021-12-09T09:00:00-05:00

Arion.Net is 25 years old this month. At the quarter century mark, I am feeling quite nostalgic and it’s time to capture some of how Arion.Net came into existence.

I registered Arion.Net in 1996 shortly after I started grad school at Carnegie Mellon University. As a student at the Information Networking Institute, I figured what better way to understand the Internet than to create my own presence. At this time, you really had to self-host everything. There was no AWS, no Google Cloud, no Azure, and no DNS registrars. There were fledgling ISPs but nothing within easy reach of individuals. Also, as a poor student, my goal was to learn as much as possible while outlaying the smallest amount of funds needed. My goal was to discover, and at a minimum, these were the topics I wanted to explore:

How does DNS work?
How do I go about registering a domain?
How do I run a name server? How do I create and host a zone file?
How do I host a simple web site?
How do MX records and mail services work?

Domain registration

I set out looking for a domain name to register. I suppose it is rather vain that I chose Arion but since I was looking to create my own presence, I figured why not? Also, as a relatively obscure and unique word, I assumed it would be available to register. Short domain names, even in 1996, were starting to become rare. To my surprise, there was an arion.com already registered. From my recollection, it was a company in Japan. (Apparently the registration for arion.com lapsed in 1999 and I should have been monitoring this so I could grab it, but meh.) Anyway, arion.net was more suitable in the end — I was studying information networking!

In 1996, there were only a handful of top-level domains. These were documented in RFC1591:

World Wide Generic Domains:

COM - This domain is intended for commercial entities, that is companies. This domain has grown very large and there is concern about the administrative load and system performance if the current growth pattern is continued. Consideration is being taken to subdivide the COM domain and only allow future commercial registrations in the subdomains.

EDU - This domain was originally intended for all educational institutions. Many Universities, colleges, schools, educational service organizations, and educational consortia have registered here. More recently a decision has been taken to limit further registrations to 4 year colleges and universities. Schools and 2-year colleges will be registered in the country domains (see US Domain, especially K12 and below).

NET - This domain is intended to hold only the computers of network providers, that is the NIC and NOC computers, the administrative computers, and the network node computers. The customers of the network provider would have domain names of their own (not in the NET TLD).

ORG - This domain is intended as the miscellaneous TLD for organizations that didn’t fit anywhere else. Some non-government organizations may fit here.

INT - This domain is for organizations established by international treaties, or international databases.

(The RFC goes on to also describe .gov, .mil, and .us as well as the two-character international country code domain names.)

Arion.Net was available and I set about registering it. This was a manual process, which required filling out the “Domain Template” form. This form was available at ftp://rs.internic.net/templates/domain-template.txt. That FTP server is still alive but the template isn’t there anymore. Here’s a copy for posterity. (As a side note, you can download the current root zone from that FTP server if you are interested in knowing every top-level domain live on the Internet!). As described in the above RFC, the use of the .net domain was for computers of network providers. While a bit of a stretch, this still seemed appropriate for me. There wasn’t any enforcement of the use of this domain so on my application I put some language about providing “hosting services” even though I didn’t really intend on doing anything more than hosting a web site for a friend or two.

I found my original application and the initial two-year registration fee was $100. I specified my name and my parent’s address at the time for the administrative, technical, and billing NIC handles, since it was my only permanent address. I used the name Arion Information Services on a whim as the Organization Name. There was no DNS privacy back then and as the Internet continued to explode I did get a steady trickle of junk snail-mail to my parent’s address with this name. A few years after I registered Arion.Net, I updated my NIC handles to reference a PO Box address to put an end to that. Eventually the registrars figured out that WHOIS record privacy was something people would value and started offering services to shield personal info from data mining.

The application required me to specify the name servers that would be hosting the Arion.Net zone. This was important because I needed to run my own name server. On the original application, I listed:

Primary Name Server
7a. Primary Server Hostname....: rhetoric.ini.cmu.edu
7b. Primary Server Netaddress..: 128.2.237.169

Secondary Name Server(s)
8a. Secondary Server Hostname..: mcbain.ini.cmu.edu
8b. Secondary Server Netaddress: 128.2.237.176

(hat-tip to any Simpsons fans for McBain reference)

I hadn’t wrapped my head around the concept of glue records at the time (hey, this was all new to me!) so you can see that I really shouldn’t have listed the name servers like this. It would have been better to just list ns1.arion.net and ns2.arion.net with those IP addresses instead of their CMU network names.

After waiting a week or so, Arion.Net was live! Its anniversary date is still visible in its WHOIS record:

$ whois arion.net
[ ... ]
Domain Name: ARION.NET
Creation Date: 1996-12-09T05:00:00

Life after initial registration

One of the computers I hauled with me to CMU was an old 486 desktop tower computer. I ran an early Linux distribution on it which came with all of the software and tools needed to host a domain. Combined with a static IP address from CMU and plenty of bandwidth, I had all I need to host Arion.Net.

Name services

I set about configuring the BIND name server software with a zone file that had a few simple records. It was a very simple zone since everything pointed to this single Linux host! My registration listed two name servers, but I only really operated one. The other name and IP address was a secondary machine I had at CMU but I never used it for hosting Arion.Net (things ran fine with only one name server online). I ran my own name server for Arion.Net from 1996 through 2000.

Every two years I paid domain registration fees directly to Network Solutions, since they were an authorized monopoliy for the top-level domains at the time. I found an old invoice from 2000 that shows a 2-year renewal fee of $70:

You can read about the fascinating history of Network Solutions on Wikipedia. Eventually the monopoly was broken and the market for domain registration services matured. I moved domain registration and DNS hosting of Arion.Net to a small startup called EasyDNS in Canada. Twenty years later, they are still handling domain registration for me.

Web services

My Arion.Net server ran a simple web site using the Apache HTTP software. The earliest capture from The Wayback Machine was on 12/8/1998, a few years after it had been running. At that time, Arion.Net had a few static pages. Here’s what it looked like in the early days:

Hey, at least I didn’t have an under construction GIF or any marquee text!

The first big change really came when I implemented Drupal in 2003. I ran Drupal for more than 10 years but it was riddled with constant security vulnerabilities and required lots of maintenance. In the end, it was overly complex for my needs so I moved to a simple static-site generation platform called Pelican.

Mail services

My Arion.Net server also run email services and I self-hosted email for more than 20 years using a variety of solutions. The last email platform I used was Zimbra before deciding that it was time to move on. I finally threw-in-the-towel on self-hosting and moved to Microsoft’s Office365 services a couple of years ago.

25 years later

I was initially inspired to register a domain and learn about hosting from a friend at CMU named Paul Clip. Paul was a year ahead of me at the INI. He helped me with some of the initial logistics of domain registration and gave me advice on how to configure BIND.

While I may not update the content on Arion.Net with any regularity, it will continue to be the place where you can always find me. Perhaps I’ll write another nostalgic post when it turns 50.

CONF T

2016-09-24T00:00:00-04:00

Typing “conf t” is the way to enter configuration mode on a Cisco router/switch. This says you want to enter configuration commands on the terminal (“t”).

IRC-6667

2016-09-24T00:00:00-04:00

IRC is the Internet Relay Chat.. the original and old school chatroom technology. The default IRC server port is TCP/6667.

IT GUI

2016-09-24T00:00:00-04:00

IT GUI.. as in Information Technology Graphical User Interface? Not sure why someone would put this on a plate.

MCRSFT

2016-09-24T00:00:00-04:00

Microsoft. Pretty straightforward.

REBOOT

2016-09-24T00:00:00-04:00

Reboot.. as in the way to fix any problem with a Windows computer :)

Rethinking Arion.Net

2016-09-23T23:30:00-04:00

Arion.Net has been through a number of changes over the years. My first web site was pretty rudimentary when I put it up in 1996 (!!!). Until recently, I was running Drupal. It served me well for a good ten years. In the early days I would post occasional articles but as time went by it became neglected. I continued to patch and update but last year the final nail was put into Drupal’s coffin. The version I was using went completely out of support. I wasn’t really interested in upgrading and I never really needed the power of Drupal. While I think I did a good job securing Drupal, it’s history of vulnerabilities has been pretty bad and continues to this day. For a replacement, I started looking into static website generators. Since I wasn’t doing a lot with dynamic content (besides some hacks to support my Geek Plates and a dynamic IPv6 badge) generating static content seemed to be the best way to go. Since I know enough Python to be dangerous, I gravitated to the Python based solutions and settled on Pelican. I found a decent theme and started hacking away. I did a good bit of customization to the default templates and found a good way to show my Geek Plates in pure CSS. So far I’m pretty happy with the results but no promises on updating content any more regularly :-)

SYSTEMS

2016-09-18T23:07:00-04:00

Systems.. The proper version of SYSTMS that I saw a number of years ago..

WEB503

2016-09-18T23:07:00-04:00

503 is the HTTP (‘web’) error code for The service is unavailable. Not sure why you’d want to put that on your car.. unless you want to be clear you don’t do ride sharing?

Turkey Vultures

2007-05-25T03:57:00-04:00

I’ve spent the last couple of months working on site at a client’s location. I’ve spent most of the time in a conference room up on the 12th floor of the client’s building. The view from the conference room is nice, but I was kind of freaked out during the first week in the room when several turkey vultures landed on the ledge just outside of the large glass windows right behind where I was sitting.

Although there was a nice thick piece of glass separating them from me, they were still only a couple feet away and they are a little menacing. Anyway, I came to enjoy watching them throughout the days. Below is a short video that shows the up-and-close view I had of them. Enjoy.

Here are a couple of pictures as well..

An XBOX’s Full Potential

2004-08-20T16:49:00-04:00

Microsoft’s XBOX provides a great platform for the inner hardware-hacker in me. But by ‘hardware-hacker’ I mean taking stuff apart and soldering a couple wires. I’m definitely not a real hardware hacker, like some of the guys I know. However, I do enjoy playing around with a piece of hardware in the take-it-apart-and-then-reassemble-it Lego mentality.

After reading some articles a couple years back about how Andrew “bunnie” Huang first reverse engineered the XBOX and all of the cool things that were possible with an ‘unlocked’ system, I decided to buy one and hack it. This involved buying a ‘modchip’ (I choose the Xecuter model) and soldering it to the XBOX’s motherboard. Doing the actual soldering was pretty straightforward, except one wire that was very difficult (the infamous d0 point).

A hacked XBOX allows you to run non-Microsoft approved/certified home-brew software (even Linux!). Over the past few years, several fantastic programs have been written to be run on modified XBOXs. My favorite is the XBOX Media Center (XBMC), which turns an XBOX into an all-in-one multimedia center for viewing pictures, movies, listening to music, and so forth. I like XBMC so much that I went out an purchased and modified a second XBOX to put in my bedroom instead of buying a normal DVD player. Hell, how else could I get a network-enabled CD/DVD/AVI/DivX/MPEG/MP3/Picture viewer for about \$180?

I’ve helped a bunch of my friends acquire and mod XBOXs as well. After most people see the cool things that can be done with an unlocked XBOX they usually break down and buy one and modify it. Since my soldering skills are pretty weak, my friend Wayne has helped with a lot of the soldering, since what takes me about 30 minutes only takes him about 30 seconds. The picture for this article shows one of my XBOXs and my friend Andrew’s XBOX, after it had been successfully modified.

Cycling Craziness in NYC

2004-07-15T10:25:00-04:00

My good friend Rick is an avid bicyclist. I suppose that isn’t very out of the ordinary. However, he lives in New York City and when I saw him last he said that riding his bike is his primary means of transportation. After seeing how crazy the people in NYC drive and the wide variety of dangerous vehicles (like the taxi cabs with the tank-like armor bumpers), I was concerned about his health. I wouldn’t be able to visit him as often if he was permanently lodged into the hood of a large delivery truck. After conversing with him and Robb, another friend in NYC who bikes around town, they assured me that most drivers are aware of bicyclists and that riding is quite safe. However, Rick forwarded me this link (local copy) today which now makes me think that the people driving cars are the ones who should actually be concerned.

Cherry Blossoms

2004-03-28T23:28:00-05:00

I went one of the events of the National Cherry Blossom Festival today: the Lantern Lighting ceremony. Although this event was one of the first of the festival, it looks like the trees are already in full bloom. It was a beautiful spring day and the trees were breathtaking.

Burbclaves

2004-03-27T20:48:00-05:00

Today I came to the realization that Northern Virginia is full of burbclaves. I guess I always knew I lived in one, but today I was given solid evidence. I spent the afternoon walking around the new neighborhood going up near my house. This new neighborhood seems to be the epiphany of a burbclave. So, what is a burbclave you say? Neal Stephenson, in his cyberpunk-esq book Snow Crash, describes a future where neighborhoods don’t really exist any more. In their place are self-contained city-states that are corporate run. He gave them names like Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong, Nova Sicilia, and New South Africa. So, while I was wandering around the snaking side streets that interconnected the rows and rows of generic-townhouses, McMansions, and drab apartment buildings, the corporate presence and homogeny of this new neighborhood was uncanny. With one entrance and a grand ‘Welcome to blah blah blah’ sign, the only burbclave item missing was the Rat Thing… What is the Rat Thing? I don’t think I can do it justice in a summary, you’ll just have to read the book.

A Civil Engineer’s Sense of Humor

2004-01-15T23:47:00-05:00

No, this picture was not doctored. This is a real exit off of I-75 in Detroit, Michigan. Can’t imagine they weren’t aware of what a lot of people would think when seeing this sign..

Lovely Detroit

2004-01-15T23:29:00-05:00

I spent the last couple of days in Detroit. What a lovely place. Here’s a picture that sums up my experience in Motor City:

Snow, Cars, Traffic; repeat.

0DAY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“0 Day” has several meanings online - mostly in the hacker/warez community. Refers to a new exploit or a new file.

1010011

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Wow. A plate in binary! Uber-geeky. Lets see.. its 7 characters (size limit for plates), so we’ll assume there is a leading 0 to make it 8. Now, its 8 bits.. which would be 1 byte.. so.. as a decimal number it would be “83” and as a hex value it would be “53”. 0x53 hex is “S” ASCII. Hmm. Someone clue me in as to the significance?!

10S MSTR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

IOS Master? As in someone who is good with the Cisco router operating system? Wonder if he/she has a CCIE :-)

186K MPS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

186,000 miles per second is the speed of light. Don’t think his car had warp drive though.

1NFO MGR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Information Manager… You know, like that guy in the movie Office Space who said he was a “people person.”

1S&0S

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

One’s and Zero’s. Get it? Ahhhh….. binary humor….

2BLDYGO

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“To boldly go where no one has gone before!” (car had Star Trek stickers too).

3COM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, 3COM makes network equipment. If the owner of this plate doesn’t work for 3Com, I guess they really love their equipment.

3DES

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Triple-DES. This is an encryption algorithm.

3G-DEMON

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I agree, the cell phone companies are full of demons.

4DEBIAN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Debian is (IMHO) the best Linux distribution. Guess this guy has seen the light as well.

4TOBMUP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Four to beam up”. Heh.

777ACL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

When you “chmod 777” you give everyone access to your files!

A-CCIE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Another router dude tooting his horn (figeratively).

A HREF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Yay, we have achieved hypertext linking on license plates!

AFK BRB

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Away from keyboard”, “be right back”. Dude, you are driving!!!!

ALTESC

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

ALT-ESC, one of the magic key sequences under Windows.

AOL-STK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Observed on a Corvette. AOL Stock? Guess this guy cashed out before AOL announced the biggest loss in corporate history this year.

B&WIDTH

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Clever use of the “&” to produce “bandwidth.” The thing that all geeks crave the most.

BLCKBRY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Crackberr… er, I mean Blackberry.

BRN2HAK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. And yes, he was definitely born to hack! You’ll find him on IRC as Pimpshiz. :-)

BSD 1337

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok, *BSD is pretty leet…

BUGFIX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Observed on a new VW Beetle. Ok, that’s pretty clever.

BYT BLDR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Byte builder? That’s my guess. Dunno what else it would be.

BYTE WAR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. How else would you fight a war except for one byte at a time…

C1PHER

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cipher (‘sI-f&r), n., a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning. Well, the plate had a “1” instead of a “i”, but close enough.

C PROMPT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Man, if this guys is still using DOS, I really feel sorry for him. Dude, snap out of it and use a modern OS!

CAR JPG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Seen on a Mini Cooper. And the owner painted a “dot” between the CAR and JPG. Cute.

CBLDAWG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cable dog? I suppose this guy fetches patch cables as one of his duties at work.

CD LINUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

CD is the “change directory” command in most Unix-like operating systems. So, change to Linux!

CODE HKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Code hacker. Hack on, dude.

CODEHKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Code hacker. And no, its not a dupe. The other one is “CODE HKR” with a space!

COM1

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

COM1 refers to the first communication port on a DOS/Windows computer. You usually hook modems or mice up to these serial ports.

CORDLS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cordless. Always preferable…

CPUTR WZ

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Computer wiz. Clever. Licence-plate-creater-wiz as well it seems.

CRAV T3

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ahhh… bandwidth… It satisfies all cravings. (for those curious, a T3 connection is approx. 8237 times faster than a dialup modem)

CSCONVL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cisco/Novell? I guess this guy is certified for CISCO and NOVELL. However, if he truly has a Novell certification these days, he might be certifiable.

CYBERDAD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, if you have soccer-moms, you must have cyber-dads, right?

CYBERMN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cyber-man? Sounds like a super hero… and why not…

CYBPUNK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cyberpunk. A genre of science fiction that usually involves computers, hackers, and futuristic stuff.

CYBR WAR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. My co-workers could mount quite a private war… And if the cyber thing doesn’t work out, they are well armed too.

CYBRCOP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

In addition to referring to a cyber-savvy cop, there is also a product made by Network Associates called Cybercop that works as a remote network scanning tool.

CYBRNUD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cyber Nude? Maybe this belongs to some famous Internet porn star?? Submitted by a friend, don’t think he got a look at the driver though.. :-)

CYBRVXN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cyber vixen, eh? I wonder if the driver is like “Lora Croft”.

DATACOM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Data communication. True, dat.

DBDOCTR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Database doctor. “Now, Mr. Oracle. Turn your head and cough.”

DIJITL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Digital. Get it? Kewl speling.

DLIVR8R

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Yes! The Deliverator! This is a reference to the pizza delivery car that the main character (Hiro Protagonist) drove in the book Snow Crash.

DOGBRT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok. This is a little bit of a stretch, but I’m everyone knows about the Dilbert comic strip… Its based on the idiosyncrasy of high-tech management… Dogbert is one of the characters.

DOT BMB

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Dot Bomb. As in a failed Dot Com. Why would someone put this on their plate? I guess they were able to afford personalized plates with their severance package…

DOT DLL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I think Windows should include a new dynamically linked library called loser-with-a-custom-plate.dll

DOTCOM-R

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Observed on a red Mustang. I guess there are a few computer geeks out there that drive bitchin’ stangs…

DR4MACS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate was on the car of a Macintosh lover. Man, the car was plastered with Apple stickers.

DR SYN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Nice… a SYN packet is the start of a TCP handshake.

DR UNIX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Doctor Unix. He probably gets mad when you call him “Mister Unix.”

DSKTOP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Desktop, duh.

DT COM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Dot Com.. Observed on a Porsche. I guess this guy was able to cash out before his Dot Com blew up. Bastard.

DTHV8DR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Continuing with the Star Wars theme, I present to you: Darth Vader.

E-CHIK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, if I can’t find a WEBCHIC, maybe I’ll find an E-CHIK instead.

E-GEEK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

An e-geek? Is there any other kind?

E-HACKER

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. I suppose he’s not a golf player or a cab driver.

E-MALE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ugh. Yes. Some dork actually has this license plate. Hopefully someone will spam his Inbox.

E-THIEF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. Hopefully he won’t get E-CAUGHT or E-IMPRISONED.

ELECCHK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Electric chick = elecchick? Sure, why not.

ELSIF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Computer science logic geekness… If…then…else…else if… While most programming languages use ‘else if’, Perl uses the ‘elsif’ keyword.

EPRINT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

e-Print? Um, ok.

ETREE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Uhhh. I dunno… what makes an E-TREE… a techie-treehugger?

EXENET

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I can only guess this is referring to “extranets” which are wide area networks that interconnect offices and stuff.

FATADMN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Fat admin. This plate was very fitting. It was on a Jeep parked at a BBQ restaurant, and the dude that got out was quite large.

FIREWAL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Firewall, and I hope not a reference to that horrible Harrison Ford movie.

FORTIVO

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

For TiVo?

FSCK ME

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Fsck me? Fsck you!! Ahhh, UNIX humor. (‘fsck’ is a ‘file system check’ command)

FUXOR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

LOL. This is geek slang for f@#$ing something up — you FUXOR it up. Made it past the DMV screening :-)

GEEK GUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Classic.

GEEKS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Doesn’t get any more straightforward than this. This is the poster-child of VA-Geek license plates.

GO2WEB

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Huh? Go to what web? Yeah, I ‘go to web’ often. I like to browse. So what? If you want me to ‘go to’ a certain web site, we need more info, bud.

GOOGLE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Its everywhere!!! Even on the roads!!!

GOT CODE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Got milk too???

GOT TECH

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Like “Got Milk?” I suppose.

GOTROOT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

A play on the milk campaign (got milk?). If you have root, you are cool. If you hacked into a system and then got root, you are cooler.

GREP BIG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Grep is a Unix command to search for a keyword within a file. Seen on a Ford Expedition. I guess that’s the ‘big’ part.

H8WNDWS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hate Windows? Hmmm.. Well, I kinda like windows (you know, the kind that open and air flows through), but I do hate windows (you know, the buggy OS).

HACK IP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Gotta hack something :-)

HACKERS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This is a pretty classy geek plate. As long as the owner isn’t making the statement that he/she actually liked the movie “Hackers.”

HACKERZ

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok. Pretty straight forward. There was only one person in the car though. So I guess it was more like “hacker.”

HAXOR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

HAXOR is computer slang for hacker. This is pretty high up on scale of uber geek plates.

HAXXOR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

…as in slang for “hacker”

HCKRCOP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hacker Cop? Protect and Serve… files and computers that is..

HKR HNTR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hacker Hunter? Quick, run for the hills!

I0SLVR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I’m guessing this is a play on “Hi Ho Silver!” from the Lone Ranger.

I BYTE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Not sure if its “I” or “1”. One byte would make more sense though, eh? Observed on a Porsche Turbo.

I O SVR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Input/Output server? Is there any other kind?

IAM ROOT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I am Ironman… I am the Walrus… I am root? Why not.

ICEWEB

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Ice” or “eye-see”? In anycase, web related.

ICMP 3

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

ICMP 3 is the code for “destination unreachable”. Clever, eh?

IF ELSE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Conditional statement in most programming languages: IF… THEN… ELSE…

IH8WNDZ

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I hate Windows! Wow, this person is really making a political statement. Lets all rise up against the Washington State dictator! I urge you all to CTRL-ALT-DEL!

IHACK4U

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. Given the right incentives, I guess he’ll hack for you. Just don’t ask him to “crack” for you.

IMACCIE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

A “CCIE” is a “Cisco Cerfitied Internetwork Expert.” This is a really tough certification to pass, so I guess the guy has the right to toot his own horn about it. Well, maybe not.

IMG SRC

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

More HTML geekness - image tag.

IN2UNIX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ahhh. Another Unix lover.

INET GOD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Boy, if we all didn’t pray to the Internet God every day, just imagine the chaos? Fire and brimstone flowing through the CAT-5 cables! Oh my!

INIT 0

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

You can shut down a UNIX computer by switching it to run level 0. This is the command you type.

IP ENGNR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Pretty straight forward. An engineer who designs IP networks I suppose.

IP VOICE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Rather than Voice over IP?

IPSWTCH

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Not sure if this refers to a network switch, as in a box that you plug computers into, or refers to switching your network to TCP/IP (from something else?)

IT SUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

IT, or information technology in general, does suck. Often.

IWEB4U

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I web for you? WTF? I guess this person is a web developer. I bet they are envious of IHACK4U :-)

JAVA GUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Nothing like a steaming cup of joe… or a few lines of code in the morning.

JAVAWZD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Java wizard. Or as my friend John calls them: “Java mountain hippies.”

JEDIAMI

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Yoda backwards you speak. Powerful the force is.

LAN LORD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

LAN stands for Local Area Network. But I think the owner was trying for a bad pun on “land lord”. Nice…

LANMGR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“LAN manager” as in someone who manages a Local Area Network.

LINUUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

You got too many U’s in there buddy!!

LINUXER

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

What the hell is a Linuxer? I’ve heard of a Linux user, but this?

LNXCHK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Linux chick? Or maybe Linux check?

LOL STFU

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Two common abbreviations seen online: “laughing out loud” (LOL) and “shut the f*@# up” (STFU).

LTTL BIT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This one has been a source of argument. Was this intended to be a geek plate or not? I’m including it anyway :-)

LUV BYTZ

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hmmm. Geek or not geek.. Well, with “bytz” it seems like the owner is trying for “bytes”, so I’ll throw this in the geek column…

MAC4ME

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I’m guessing this person is a Macintosh fan, but I didn’t see any Apple stickers on the car. It was a Volkswagon though.

MAC ONLY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Mac zealots have to drive cars too I guess…

MADHCKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I’m not sure why this hacker is mad. I wonder if he is mad as in crazy or mad as in angry. We’ll never know I suppose.

METATAG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ugh… Talk about puns. This is definitely high up there on the list of super-geek plates. HTML (the hypertext markup language, you know, the language web pages are constructed with) can have METATAGS that instruct your browser to do certain things. Ok. In case you missed the pun, license plate = tag. Get it?

MLN FCLN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Millennium Falcon. Wow. Not quite computer-related, but still pretty geeky. If you don’t know the movie this is from, then you are just dense. :-)

MODEM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Modem. Old skool.

MOZILLA

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Err, wonder if a geek rock band has ever done Mozilla as a cover of Blue Oyster Cult’s cult classic? Go Go Mozilla!

MRLINUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hmm. Well, I doubt this person’s last name is really “Linux.”

MY LINUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

My linux, your linux, his linux, her linux. Plenty of linux to go around.

MY XW1NG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Even more Star Wars: X-Wing Fighter!

MY Y2K

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I saw this on a Mazda Millenia. So, I suppose it doesn’t have to necessarily be geek related, but hey, I don’t think the driver would mind if I call him or her a geek :-)

NCRYPT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Encrypt. I wonder if someone else has DCRYPT? Would be the perfect pair for someone who has two cars :-)

NCRYPTD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Encrypted.

NET ADMN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Network Administrator. Someone’s gotta police the packets…

NET DAWG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Here rover… That’s a good boy… Fetch the packets for me…

NET FREK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I wonder if he/she is super-freaky?

NET GEEK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hmm, well I’d say all geeks are net geeks by nature…

NET NERD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Heheh. At least the guy knows he’s a geek. And is damn proud of it! I say “Amen, brother!”

NET PLYR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I wonder if this person thinks they are a “player” or they just like to fool around with networks.

NET PWR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Net power!!!!

NET SPLT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Net Split. If you have ever used IRC (the Internet Relay Chat system), you know exactly what this is. A ‘net split’ occurs when the main IRC servers lose connectivity with each other.

NETBUG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Observed on a new VW Beetle. We had the ‘love bug’ virus. Don’t think the driver of this vehicle was contagious though…

NETMGMT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Network management? Bah, its much more fun when you let the packets just go where they want to.

NETSEC

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Network security. Yes, network security is a good thing(TM).

NETSTUD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Yes. Its sad.

NETWORK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Wow, another uber classic geek plate. Amazing that I saw hundreds of other geek plates before this one.

NEUSTAR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

NEUSTAR is the company that operates the .biz and .us domains. This guy must work there. Guess he’s an executive, since the plate was on a nice BMW.

NJINEER

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Engineer — get it? Clear phonetic spelling.

NO URL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Hmm. Why?

NOSPAM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Unless it comes from a can.

NT MCSE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Okokokok. This is referring to the Microsoft certification called the “Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer” or as I life to refer to it: the “mindsweep certified solitaire expert.”

NTADMIN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

A Windows NT system administrator? Well, I won’t hold it against him.

NULL PTR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Null pointer. In programming languages (usually C), a null pointer is often the result of an error condition.

OC-48

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

An OC-48 is a pretty biefy Internet backbone connection.. Well, with OC-192, I guess its not that great. :-) I wonder what kind of bandwidth this guys gets in his car?

OH LINUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

That’s for sure.

OK STFU

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

No, you STFU.

OPENBSD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

OpenBSD is probably the most secure (out of the box) Unix-like OS out there. I wonder if this guy has biometrics in his car.

OPN SYS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Open systems are cool. Heh Heh.

OPNSRC

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Open Source.

ORACLE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Database. Duh.

ORCLGUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Oracle guy. There is a pretty big Oracle office in Reston, VA. I’d guess this guy works there.

OSPF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

For a description, see “OSPF 0.”

OSPF 0

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok, this one will need a little explaining. OSPF stands for “open shortest path first” and refers to a TCP/IP routing protocol that is used mostly within corporate networks where RIP (another routing protocol) just can’t cut it.

P2PTEK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Peer-to-peer tech? I’ll bet this guy frequents SuprNova…

PERL GOD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Larry Wall would be ashamed at this blasphemous self-proclamation. Observed on a purple PT Cruiser.

PERL GUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

The guy driving this car was wearing a Red Fedora hat. Gee, you think he likes the Red Hat Linux distribution???

PERL HKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Perl hacker. Should get to know PERL GUY.

PERLHKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Perl Hacker. Perl is an interpreted programming language that is used widely throughout the Internet. Its very cool. In case you are wondering, this nifty geek-plates site is generated by running a Perl script. :-)

PIXL8R

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Pixelater? Don’t quite get it, but I guess this person deals with graphic design and pushes a lot of pixels around.

PKTLOSS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Packet loss. The result of an overburdoned network.

PRL HCKR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Perl hacker. Perl seems to be the ultimate hacker language: you can do a lot of damage… on purpose, and also by accident.

QUAD DMG

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

One of the cooler plates I’ve seen. My friend Eugene has this plate. Now, if you’ve ever played the computer game Quake, you’d get this reference right away. If not, “quad damage” is a special privilege you can pick up during the game to deal out 4 times normal damage against your enemies.

RAID5

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

RAID, or redundent array of inexpensive disks, it a technology for using several hard drives together as a single unit for speed and redundency purposes. RAID level 5 is one of the more advanced configurations.

RED HAT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Red Hat is a Linux distribution. See www.redhat.com for more info!

RED HAUT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Gee…since “Red Hat” was already taken, this guy had to result to spelling it differently. If you ask me, that’s LAME. However, he could be some German guy that makes hats. Who knows?

RUN BSD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Sure, whatever.

SECURSW

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Secure software? Hmm… Hope this guy doesn’t work for Microsoft :-O

SETUID 0

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Under UNIX, if you log on as a normal user, you can’t do some of the cooler things that the administrator can do. So, if the administrator wants to let normal users run certain programs that only an administrator could run, the programs can be marked as “setuid 0.”

SLVRWEB

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok.. ‘WEB’ in the name. What the hell is a ‘silverweb’ though???

SMTP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, delivering yer mail.

SMTPBOY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

SMTP is the simple mail transport protocol. And yes, some guy at my apartment complex has this license plate.

SPAMSUX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Yes, yes it does.

SPOOF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Kewl elite hackers often try to “spoof” network packets so that their attacks appear to be coming from different places. Spoofing is often used in denial of service attacks to mask the true source of the attack.

SQLKING

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Bow down and pay homage to the king of queries!!!”. I’ll bet he’s a tyrant.

SRCH NGN

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Search engine. Wonder if this person works for Google or something. Why else would they put this on their plate?!

STRTREK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Star Trek. Or Street Rek, but I’m guessing its the first :-O

SU ROOT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

When you need administrator access under the UNIX operating system, you have to log in to the “root” account. Or, you can switch to it using SU (su = switch user).

SYBR PNK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Cyberpunk. A genre of science fiction writing that deals with futuristic computer and human interaction. One of the pioneers of the genre was William Gibson. My favorite author is Neal Stephenson.

SYN ACK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

In the TCP/IP protocol, when you initiate a TCP connection (like a web request), your computer sends a “SYN” packet, the remote system sends an “ACK” packet, and then your computer sends a “SYN ACK” packet. You follow that? Good. There will be a quiz later.

SYSOPS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Sysops are “System Operators” — usually associated with the old days of modem bulletin boards.

SYSTMS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Systems.. Kinda bland.

T1E F1TR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

More Star Wars: Tie Fighter!

TAR XVF

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Tar is an archiving program for Unix systems ([T]ape[AR]chive). xvf = Extract, verbose, filename. This plate probably confuses lots of non-geeks.

TCP 23

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

TCP 23 = telnet port. But why?

TCPDUMP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Tcpdump is a network sniffer for Unix.

TECHGUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Again, stright forward.

TEK LORD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Observed on a mulletized Jeep.

TEKMOM

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

The ultimate anti-soccer mom? Perhaps.

TELSOFT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Dunno, but “tel” as in “telecommunications” and “soft” as in “software”? Maybe?

THXAOL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, some people might hate America Online. But this license place was observed on a Ferrari, so I’m sure this guy did just fine when he cashed out his AOL stock.

TOY YODA

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ok. This one holds the record for most-geekiest. Car was a Toyota and the dude had two toy Yoda dolls in his back window. Also has “Jedi Academy” sticker in window.

TPS RPTS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Um, yeah.. Peter.. if you could finish your TPS Reports, that would be great.” If you don’t know the movie that TPS Reports are from, you are missing out!

TRACERT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Traceroute. Handy little program to trace the route that network packets take.

UID 0

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

In the UNIX world, the administrator account (“root”) is user number 0. UID refers to “user ID number.”

UNIX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Ahhhh.. the epitomy of geek license plates. Simple. Sweet. Geek.

UNIX DR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Unix Doctor. He’s probably good at re-attaching inodes and killing zombies.

UNIX GOD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, we all have to pray to someone. Might as well be the UNIX God. He hath bringith the command line… and it is good.

UNIX GUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Classic geek plate.

UNIX RWX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

The UNIX part is obvious. But RWX? Well, that would be READ-WRITE-EXECUTE. Standard filesystem permissions.

UNIXGRU

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

UNIX Guru? Probably works for SCO…

UNX4EVR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Unix Forever. Amen to that.

UNX WZRD

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I suppose that anyone who works with UNIX is doing some wizardry.

USE OSX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

I agree.

USR FRLY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

When a software program is easy to use, it is said to be “user friendly.” On a side note, there is a geek comic strip called User Friendly. See www.userfriendly.org for a chuckle.

VBS LAME

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

VBS is Visual Basic Script, a Microsoft scripting language responsible for just about every email virus out there. Yes, its very lame.

VIA NET

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Well, its got “net” in it, doesn’t it? So it must qualify as being geek-related.

VPNDUDE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

VPN = virtual private network. I guess this guy rounds up the packets instead of the cattle.

WAR DIAL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. If you’ve seen the movie Wargames, I’m sure you are familiar with the art of war dialing: sweeping telephone number ranges in search for computers with modems.

WARP COR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Warp core… from Star Trek? As Scotty would say: “The warp drive is a hopeless pile of junk.”

WE LOL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

We laugh out loud? I sure hope so!

WEB DR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Web Doctor?

WEB DUDE

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Uh, like, surf’s up!

WEB DVA

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Web Diva. Wonder if she tours…

WEB GUY

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Pretty straight forward.

WEB HXR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my co-workers. Not much more to say, he hacks the web. Which is made easy as long as people use Microsoft web servers.

WEBAOL

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

WEBCHIC

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

My only question is, where can I find my own web chic?

WEBCODR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Web coder.

WEBMSTR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Pretty stright forward: web master.

WEBSRFR

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Aren’t we all…

WIN PRO

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Windows Pro? Err, don’t think that takes much. Kinda like being a pro at breathing.

WINSOCK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

In the early days of Windows systems (and I suppose its still true today) all programs that communited via TCP/IP used the “winsock” programming APIs. Don’t ask me why anyone would ever want to put this on their license plate though.

XML THIS

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Wooh there. Hold on. Don’t tell me what I can and cannot XML! (XML refers to the eXtensible Markup Language. It is a meta-language that can be used to describe the syntax and format of other languages like HTML. Does that make sense? Didn’t think so.)

XSPL0IT

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Exploit. pwnd.

Y2KCHIP

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Huh? Is this guy mad that the chips in his computer aren’t year 2000 compliant?

YOONIX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

This plate belongs to one of my old co-workers. UNIX but spelled funny. I wonder if anyone in West Virginia has “YALNIX”?

YTWOK

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

Another plate with the year 2000 theme. Hope these guys realize that Y2K came and went.

ZRODFX

2004-01-13T23:12:00-05:00

“Zero Defects”. A goal, but never obtainable.

New Years Eve in NYC, kinda.

2004-01-02T14:22:00-05:00

I was actually in Times Square in New York City on New Years Eve. Honest! Here’s a picture for proof!

If you want to know how I ended up there, well my company got a frantic call from one of our clients and I had to be there to help them in the morning.

“Why didn’t you stay for the ball-drop?!” my friend Brian asked after I spoke with him later in the day. Well, when I was in the city I thought about it for a few seconds, but I really didn’t feel like it. First, I wasn’t prepared — it gets damn cold when you are just standing around and I wasn’t dressed for it. Second, being stuck in the city at 3:00am or so didn’t sound very pleasant. Finally, I was staying with my friend John at his house in NJ and he was already planning a party. I’ll take a nice quiet party with good friends any day over standing around a bunch of rowdy strangers freezing my ass off.

Honda Memorial

2003-12-01T17:03:00-05:00

The Honda Memorial

This web page is dedicated to my first car, a 1981 Honda Civic.

History

I believe my parents first acquired the Honda in 1986 or 1987. My parents used it as a second car and since it was a hatchback, it was used whenever we needed to move anything. I remember that we always would use the old Honda to haul a Christmas tree back to the house every December. (In fact, if you look at some of the pictures below of the interior carefully, you may see some pine needles!).

The car was titled in my mom’s name, however, I eventually inherited it and became the primary driver. I started driving the Honda regularly when I first got my drivers license. Starting with my Junior year in high school, I drove the Honda every day….. little did I know that I would be driving it for the next 9 years. I drove it all through high school, college, and briefly after I finished graduate school! The car was never very attractive (often referred to as “puke brown colored”), but it sure was a solid vehicle!

During my 9 years of driving the Honda, it slowly deteriorated. However, with this deterioration came many new “features” for the car. The pictorial below shows off some of these special features and gives some more history about this wonderful vehicle!

First, lets start out with some pictures of the fabulous vehicle!

The Engine

The Honda was quite a vehicle. I mean, with its 4 cylinder engine and approximately 1335cc of displacement, who could ask for more power behind the wheel? For those of you not familiar with the term “cc”, its a measurement of engine displacement in cubic centimeters. Note, not may cars are measured in “cc” units. However, its very common for motorcycles. In fact, many motorcycles have engines that approach the size of my old Honda! I’m not sure how much horsepower the Honda had, but I’m sure it was less than 100hp!

Opening the front hood revealed the massive powerplant (yeah, the 1335cc engine). During the years that I drove the Honda, a small hole appeared in the hood near where the air filter was. When I first realized this, I had idea for adding some humor to the car. My plan was to get one of the toys from “Alien” and stuff it through the hole in the hood so that it looked like it was coming from the engine, but alas, I never got around to it. Oh well…

The Rust

While the Honda was in OK shape when I first started to drive it, it did develop a slight rust problem as the years progressed. The first picture below shows the model number (Civic Hatchback 1300) and some of the rust. The second picture is my favorite. It seems that at some point, one of the prior owners of the Honda had “Ziebart Rustproofing” performed on it. Seemed as though it worked pretty good, eh? Anyone have an e-mail address for Ziebart? I should really sent this picture to them……

Interior

The interior of the Honda wasn’t really luxurious, but it was functional. As you can see from the pictures below, the seats had covers. After having the car for a year, the plastic and foam of the seats had deteriated so much that there was a lot of exposed metal. The seat covers became a necessity because of that. As you can see from the picture in the center, the door handle is missing. It broke off early in the Honda’s lifetime. In order to close the door, I had to grab ahold of the door by the window trim. If you look closely in the detailed picture, you can see the imprint from where I would grab the trim to close the door.

The hatchback area can be seen in the third picture. With the front two seats positioned at a comfortable setting they basically touched the rear seat area. Therefore, I kept the rear bench folded most of the time. However, the back seat was used once in a while. In high school, a bunch of us used to go off campus during lunch. I was often nominated to drive (not sure why actually). At one point on one of our lunch time excursions, I was able to fit the entire defensive line of the football team in the Honda! That’s right, five really big guys (myself included).

From The Drivers Seat

The Honda was spacious for a sub-compact. Even though I’m a pretty tall guy (6‘2”), I has plenty of space in the drivers seat. The first picture below shows the view from the drivers seat. Although the speedometer says the Honda could reach 85mph, I could never get it above 75 (it started to shake really bad above that speed). There were always some loose cables dangling down near the gas petal. I don’t know what they were for, but I didn’t bother them so they didn’t bother me.

The second picture shows the rear view mirror. If you look closely, you can see that there are two screws holding it up. Yeah, it broke off sometime in the early nineties. All attempts to use glue to refasten it failed miserably so I had to resort to drilling two holes through it and screwing it back to the ceiling.

Removable Glovebox

The three pictures below show a “feature” of the glovebox of the old Honda. That’s right, it was removable. The pictures below show my good friend Dave demonstrating how this feature worked. I suppose it wasn’t always that way though.

Rear Windows

Alas, the rear windows of the Honda were broken. I mean, they were still attached to the car, but the latches that held them closed were broken. If you look carefully at this picture, you can see my attempt to fix this with some duck-tape. It never really work very well. Whenever I closed the front door while the windows were rolled up, I could hear the back windows rattle from the air pressure.

The End

Well, we’ve come to the end of the tribute to my Honda. It was a great car. Just think, I could park it on the streets of Philadelphia and still sleep good at night. I mean, who would want to steal it? Near the end of its life, my parents mechanic was afraid to put it up on a lift because he thought the frame was so rusted it would just crumble. The car sat idle in my parents back yard for the last year of its life (where the pictures were taken). Amazingly enough, my parents found a non-profit organization to donate it to (that actually wanted it!).