Liquid Salt

MBR stands for Master Boot Record. It is the part of your hard drive that tells where the partitions on that drive are located. It is also the part of your drive that becomes worthless if you try to install Windows on your hard drive after Linux. Of course, i have never done this … more than twice.

So i came across a poor soul that had done this and wished he had kept a backup of his MBR and it got me thinking “i could automate that,” because I hate to do something like this more than once. So I wrote a quick bash script to handle the issue.

#!/bin/sh

SAVETO=”/etc”

# Do ATA drives
for DRIVE in `ls -l /dev/hd* 2>/dev/null | grep -v [0-9]$ | grep disk | cut -d”/” -f3`
do
dd if=/dev/$DRIVE of=$SAVETO/mbr-$DRIVE bs=512 count=1
done

# Do SCSI drives
for DRIVE in `ls -l /dev/sd* 2>/dev/null | grep -v [0-9]$ | grep disk | cut -d”/” -f3`
do
dd if=/dev/$DRIVE of=$SAVETO/mbr-$DRIVE bs=512 count=1
done

Obviously, there is a whole lot that could be done to improve the script (error checking, user notification, overkill), but if you aren’t already backing up your MBR, start here. Throw it into a cronjob and forget it – cron.monthly not cron.hourly.

Download it here.

Tags: Linux by jon
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What a sight the Israelites must have been in Moses’ day. A vast people numbering around 2 million, camped in the desert, as structured and large as any other city on earth, yet moving like like no other city.

Their actions and customs would have been completely foreign to any other people, yet it would be incredibly obvious that these were a special people.

I used to thank God that we don’t have to live by the extreme rules and regulations of the Old Testament. How much easier it is to simply love Jesus and follow his teachings than some archaic protocals.

Now, i realize that the rules of the Old Testament weren’t a cage, but a release; release from the diseases, idolitry, and enslavements of the day. Jesus gave us his rules as well – and through Jesus, those rules give us the way to The Father.

We are still called to be recognizably different by our actions and customs. The actions and customs have just been changed to keep pace with the world around us.

The modern world is conflicted concerning sexuality. Jesus said to stay pure and avoid immoral thoughts. [1]

The modern world says the pursuit of wealth is most important. Jesus says money is not a treasure [2] , Love for the Father is most important. [3]

The modern world says spirituality comes from inside ourselves. Jesus says the Spirit comes only from God. [4]

We are called to be recognizably different. When the people around us stop asking why we are different, we have forgotten who we are here for.

[1] 27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. – Matthew 5 NIV

[2] “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” – Luke 12:21

[3] 35 One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” 37 Jesus replied, “`You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. – Matthew 22 NLT

[4] 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world at large cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you do, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. – John 14 NLT

Tags: Relationship, Society by jon
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18 Some men came carrying a paralyzed man on a sleeping mat. They tried to push through the crowd to Jesus, 19 but they couldn’t reach him. So they went up to the roof, took off some tiles, and lowered the sick man down into the crowd, still on his mat, right in front of Jesus. 20 Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” – Luke 5:18-20

I would not be in love with the LORD had someone else not carried me to Jesus. We often think that we do everything for ourselves, and we try to. Yet this is not how God planned life or how it is in reality.

God puts people in our lives; some for us to help guide, some to help guide us. If we ignore the friends and family God has given us, we also ignore the gifts God is trying to give us through them. Beyond our current friends and family, God also wants us to seek out new relationships, to bring others to Christ – especially those who cannot carry their own mat.

I am so thankful for the members of my small group. They continually provide views i hadn’t (and wouldn’t have) thought of on my own. They offer fellowship freely, but most of all, they allow me to freely share my love of Christ. Without them, i don’t know that i would be growing as fast spiritually, or even growing at all without their help.

We don’t get to God on our own, at the very least Jesus takes us to the Father. I have friends who don’t yet know Christ. They say that they see a change in me, but that “Religion isn’t for [them].” I let them know that religion isn’t for me either, Christ is. I try not to pressure them – i know God will bring them around, and when he does, i hope i get to help lower their mat in front of Christ.

Tags: Relationship, Society by jon
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All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be taken as plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” – Numbers 14:2-3

 

[The Lord said] “Have I not commanded you? Be stong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:”Go throught the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own.’ ” – Joshua 1:9-11

Grumbling against God was all too common for the Israelites of the Exodus. It is amazing that a previously enslaved people would dare speak out against God – who had just removed them from the oppresive Egyptians.

Just as the Israelites failed to comprehend how powerful God must be to remove them from such a crushing force, i too forget that God is capable of anything. I believe that for me – it is an issue of not being able to imagine that much power (but that’s probably a cop-out).

When i grumble is when most people grumble – when i’m under stress. I think and say things like “Why is this happening to me?” or “I don’t deserve this.” When in reality, i deserve that and far more for my sins.

I am blessed that God is slow to anger and that Jesus paid the way for me to ask God for forgiveness, before He gives me what i truly deserve.

Tags: Relationship by jon
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