NPD: "Aren't Routers Boring?" the developer asked.
"My main question for network engineers is... aren't routers boring? =P" I'm pretty sure he was trying to blow us off. But he's got a point. Aren't routers boring? So I actually posed this question in a company-wide e-mail. Here are some of the best responses:

Spoiler: It turns out routers are more interesting than he thought.

kde-look.org: Linux Distribution Timeline
From GNU/Linux's beginnings in 1991, a chronological and genealogical map of the many different Linux distributions in use today.

Hmm... kinda puts Windows Vista's six different versions in perspective...

Computerworld: Networks beware: Skype 3.0 includes new cloaking technology
Network administrators worried about the security hole Skype represents have a new headache today: Just-released Skype 3.0 includes new cloaking technology that makes it harder to detect than ever.

Damn Romulans!

Cisco Blog: Configuring a Cisco Router to Accept VPN Connections
I hate to admit this, but my home PC (where I get all my email) was hacked since I allowed Microsoft's Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and VNC from anywhere on the Internet (very bad idea). That was the end of that - now VPN connections are required to get to my home PC. Well, the simplest way to configure a VPN on a router is to use the Cisco SDM...but Real Cisco Techs™ use the command line :). So here we go:

Learning to accept your VPN Connections is the first step to forgiving them.

InfoWorld: Predicting human behavior is not an exact science

For example, data about customers dialing in to a call center to complain about poor cell phone coverage can be correlated with what the network equipment is doing and will do at a certain location, under specific weather conditions, at a particular time of year. By putting these sets of data together, the carrier can take practical steps to improve quality of service before the customer decides to try another vendor. IT is also using analytics to understand and predict usage patterns across thousands of servers in order to ease capacity planning. With predictive analytics in place, IT can optimize its assets, notes Anne Milley, director of technology product marketing at SAS.

I've just been informed by my IT department that you're going to be reading this post soon after I post it. Hello!