December 26, 2006
December 15, 2006
Remote Desktop CLI tips
Remote Desktop - Tips, Tricks, and what you didn't know you could do. - Windows Central Forums
Most people like to just use the default Remote Desktop Application found in Windows XP. Some prefer to use the RUN command off the START Menu.
Personally I use both since on my desktop with two monitors I can have multiple Remote Desktop's running with little problem but, on my laptop screen space is at a premium so I use the command line to set certain variables for the remote desktop sessions. This allows me to size the individual Remote Desktop Sessions to fit my needs and also gets around the global remote desktop settings.
**Note – Microsoft has released a new version of Remote Desktop for Windows XP SP2. If you have NOT upgraded you might want to. Visit the Windows Update page and look under “Recommended”, you should see it listed there.
Example:
Say I need three Remote Desktop Sessions on my laptop. Instead of using the Remote Desktop GUI interface I'll use the command line to stipulate certain screen sizes for each session.
mstsc /v: myserver /w:640 /h:480 (window size is 600x480)
mstsc /v: myserver2 /w:800 /h:600 (window size 800x600)
mstsc /v: myserver3 /w:1024 /h:768 (window size 1024x768)
Other variables you can pass via the command line are:
/console (useful when you need to connect to Windows 2000 Machines – you MUST have the remote desktop software installed on the Win2000 machine: - Remote desktop for Windows 2000 and Older Clients
/edit
/migrate
/v:
December 14, 2006
Windows command line dev manager
The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager. It allows you to manipulate attached devices as you would in the gui. You can enable, disable, restart, update, remove, and query individual devices or groups of devices. DevCon also provides information that is relevant to the driver developer and is not available in Device Manager.
December 13, 2006
VMTN Subscription dying?
Alessandro Perilli notes that VMTN Subscription links have disappeared. I wonder why they would kill this program off? I think it has really driven the growth of VMware (along with the free Player and Server).
HP unix model scripts
HP JetDirect printer installer for UNIX model scripts contains a list of model scripts (essentially drivers) for use with HP Jetdirect print installer (HPPI).
This is how you would install a new model script.
There is also a good list of documents to give further guidance.
HPPI is available from hp.com
December 08, 2006
HP-UX panned
» “HP promises Unix improvements” uhuh | Paul Murphy | ZDNet.com takes a dim view of Itanium and HP-UX. He asserts that neither has a future. Interesting.
December 04, 2006
10 minute email address
10 Minute Mail looks handy for quick use to for generating logins to websites.
Installing VMware ESX on a white box
December 03, 2006
EXT2/3 for windows.
If you currently have Windows running and you realize that you need some files for your work which you have stored on an Ext2 volume of your Linux installation, you no longer have to shut down Windows and boot Linux!
November 29, 2006
You might be a redneck if you think this is racking a computer.
In a pinch tape fixes anything..
November 12, 2006
Mini raid box
Mini Storage Tower from Addonics. I have been looking for a nice cheap storage enclosure. This looks to fit the bill. I wouldn't run sata drives with out mirroring though.....
Web 2.0 tools
O'Reilly Radar points out two neat web 2.0 tools. I like how Ajax and web 2.0 apps work, but my biggest problem is the inability to use them offline. It looks like Zimbra is addressing that. I have played with Zimbra in a VM and it looks very neat.
The other is Stikkit. it is a web based sticky notes tool.
November 10, 2006
Putty line drawing problem
I have been riving myself nuts trying to figure out why the line drawing in putty didn't work.
I finally figured out that it was the LANG variable.
export LANG=en_us did the trick.
July 31, 2006
Unblobking attachments in Outlook
July 25, 2006
PC laxative
The PC De-Crapifier is designed to remove a specific list unwanted software in an unattended fashion. Before running, the user may select exactly what software should be removed.
July 18, 2006
Junctions
Junction is a windows utility comprable to ln under *nix. It is very handy.
nlite
I ran across a great tool nlite:
Have you ever wanted to
remove Windows components like Media Player, Internet Explorer, Outlook
Express, MSN Explorer, Messenger...
How about not even to install them with Windows ?
nLite
is a tool for permanent Windows components removal and pre-installation
Windows setup. After removal there is an option to make bootable image
ready for burning on cd or testing in virtual machines. With nLite you
will be able to have Windows installation which on install doesn't
include, or even contain on cd, unwanted components.
nLite Features
- Service Pack Integration
- Component Removal
- Unattended Setup
- Driver Integration *
- Hotfixes Integration **
- Tweaks
- Patches ***
- Bootable ISO creation
June 08, 2006
Google strikes again
Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes your browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across your computers. It also allows you to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions.
June 07, 2006
GB for windows replacement?
June 06, 2006
Spreadsheet errors
May 26, 2006
How not to manage geeks
Positive Sharing » How NOT to lead geeks is an intersting discussion of the things managers do wrong in dealing with technical people. I experienced a lot of this at the company I left earlier this year after 10 years. This company was known as an engineer's company until they changed CEOs duringthe dot com boom, and it has been going downhill since then. They don't even realize they are driving away the good employees....
May 25, 2006
easy ssh tunnels
May 24, 2006
Backing up DVDs to Xvid
May 23, 2006
May 03, 2006
Creating a VZ ringtone
April 25, 2006
Find examples
find examples is a cool page. It gives some real world examples of how to use the find command.
Ipod battery ideas
Playlist: Prolong iPod battery life
I hate rechargable batteries. They never last as long as advertised.
April 24, 2006
April 17, 2006
15 security tools
Top 15 Security/Hacking Tools & Utilities »
I have used most of these, but several of these are new to me.
April 01, 2006
iFolder howto
iFolder is a web sharing technology from Novell.
iFolder allows you to access, organize, and manage your files from anywhere, anytime. iFolder also provides worry-free security, ensuring that all your files are always safe, secure and up to date. Now your files can be as mobile as you are — at work, home or on the go.
March 31, 2006
VMware upgrade to ESX 3.0
A nice graphical vi cheatsheet
March 29, 2006
CSS Rounded box generator
March 25, 2006
Configuring Apache for performance
VMware disk GUI
March 24, 2006
Using vmkfstools
March 21, 2006
Using iTunes to backup your music
Using iTunes to backup your music
This sounds like an easy way to backup your music and podcast files. I am going to try this out.
March 14, 2006
Learning Python
I am learnging Python for my new job. I have been looking for resources online. Dive Into Python is the best I have found so far. I also like How to Think Like a Computer Scientist.
March 13, 2006
Azureus console
After acquiring all of these, you can start the Console UI by putting them together in one directory and running:
java -jar Azureus2-XXX.jar --ui=console
Solaris VMware Tools
January 13, 2006
VMX builder for VMware Player
There is a Cool Online VMX file builder available out there. This can build virtual machines for the VMware Player.
January 05, 2006
Howto configure gaim for gtalk
I needed to :07 seconds � Configure GAIM for GoogleTalk. This page made it easy.
December 20, 2005
Wireless hacks
The Ethical Hacker Network - Essential Wireless Hacking Tools is a nice one stop shop for wireless tools. It has pointers to some tools I use from time to time (specifcally netstumbler).
November 07, 2005
Expnding ESX
VMTN Discussion Forums: Expanding a Virtual Disk in ESX is a nice guide to extending partitions after adding disk space in esx.
November 01, 2005
October 31, 2005
Script to create vmx files
October 25, 2005
Portable USB apps
Portable USB Apps - TheInfoBox.com has a collection of portable USB apps. These are great if you use multiple computer or public computers regularly.
October 24, 2005
Finding MANPATH
Finding The Right Man (Page) has a neat little scriptlet to dynamically set MANPATH. Very handy!
October 21, 2005
VMware rocks more
The Browser Appliance Virtual Machine is available now as well from VMware. You can use this to test the new VMware Player.
VMware rocks
VMware player is the newest cool tool from our friends at VMware:
VMware Player is free software that enables PC users to easily run any virtual machine on a Windows or Linux PC. VMware Player runs virtual machines created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server and also supports Microsoft virtual machines and Symantec LiveState Recovery disk formats.
ActiveSync 4.0 problems
October 17, 2005
Binary powers activate!
October 12, 2005
mplayer stream recording example
A great example of using mplayer to record streams. I have my own version I have written that is specific to the few streams I record.
Disk space
New M$ licensing
Microsoft makes its Windows License Policy very Virtual Friendly!
This is very big. It makes the cost advantage for VMware and other virtual servers huge.
October 06, 2005
MSCONFIG update
MSCONFIG System Configuration Utility Update is available from M$. It looks like it adds a bunch of nice new features.
September 25, 2005
Unintentional MMORPG Plauge.
Gadgeteer talks about the plauge that popped up in World of Warcraft. A spell called Corrupted Blood got loose in the game and was able to spread from one player to another. George Bush has been slammed for his slow response. He was seen flying above the virtual environment in AF1.
How to send SMS messages via email.
September 20, 2005
How to configure VMware NAT
September 19, 2005
Google gets cooler by the minute
Google Blog: The illuminated continent details how you can enable National Geo. photos within Google Earth. What will they think of next?
Howto Restrict Access to ESX SC and MUI
September 13, 2005
How to disable windows messenger
Updated suse / vmware install
Arcanus Maximus: How to install vmware 5 under Suse is a bit out of date. I foune a better way to do this...
login as root
cd /usr/src/linux-(kernelrev)
make cloneconfig
make prepare
vmware-config.pl
September 11, 2005
Mozilla based browser IDN vulnerabiltiy
SANS - Internet Storm Center - Cooperative Cyber Threat Monitor And Alert System - Current Infosec News and Analysis ahs details on the mozilla/FF/netscap IDN vulnerability. The fix is:
1. Type about:config into the address field and hit Enter.
2. In the Filter toolbar, type network.enableIDN.
3. Right click on the the network.enableIDN item and select Toggle to change value to false.
UPDATE: There are more details here.
June 12, 2005
Spoofstick
SpoofStick makes it harder for a fake site to try to phish you. I seem to get more and more of this crap in the mail. I am sure there are plenty of savvy people that get nailed with this junk. Some of the human engineering that these creeps do is slick. BE WARY.
May 07, 2005
Idea from the latest DSC
I really enjoyed the latest DSC podcast with Steve, and I did listen to the
whole thing! There is one flaw that I see in podcasting that is similar
to the flaw that allowed the consultants to take over FM. That is the
cost of entry. The cost of entry in FM was the transmitter. People
can today get micro transmitters similar to your 100watt transmitter
that you loaned the troops in Iraq, but they have no impact. It is
the big guys that have impact.
The same problem WILL plauge podcasting unless we act. The problem is
bandwidth, as the Strategycast showed. That is the cost of entry
that could kill a mass market for podcasting. There are multiple ways
around this such as bittorrent, and it is not as complex as you think.
As you said podcasting is like tivo for audio, and bittorrent + rss
is like tivo for torrents. There are already clients that show this.
Look at clients like videora. To marry the two and make it automagic
to download content to a computer based on feeds, and below that
search criteria.
Check it out and please let me know what you think..
March 28, 2005
Text wrapping pictures
A neat article on the ability to word wrap around pictures in movable type.
March 21, 2005
Podcasting howto
March 09, 2005
I was bowled over by
I was bowled over by Google Maps. It is even cooler now because you can hack them up since they are XML based.
HOW-TO: Make your own annotated multimedia Google map - Engadget - www.engadget.com
Cool tool
pdftk looks great. I am going to try it out. It does the following:
* Merge PDF Documents
* Split PDF Pages into a New Document
* Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
* Encrypt Output as Desired
* Fill PDF Forms with FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
* Apply a Background Watermark
* Report on PDF Metrics such as Metadata, Bookmarks, and Page Labels
* Update PDF Metadata
* Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
* Unpack PDF Attachments
* Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
* Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
* Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)
Regex resources
March 03, 2005
Program of the day.
I ran across a neat tool. syncOtunes. It allows you to sync your itunes libraries between two computers. I haven't tried it yet. Maybe I will this weekend. I wish there were more options to sync between computers. I am still looking for a bookmark sync program that I like.
hattip engadget
February 28, 2005
February 14, 2005
Ten CSS tricks
January 24, 2005
Yet Another Button Maker
January 18, 2005
New version of Picasa
Yahoo! News - Google Releases Photo Organizing Software
Google has released a Picasa 2.0. It is free and works well. It now has added auto indexing.
January 14, 2005
I love (free) WIFI
I have been spending a lot of time out of the house lately. I have a chapter due to my publisher Monday for my book. I have to get away from the house to write and research. The kids are too much distraction. I have gone to three places locally to write, and use their free WIFI. I have been very productive, and I can find great music on the net to listen to (currently listening to BBC Radio 6.
The strangest place was Krystal, but free is free. After that I graduated to Panera Bread. This was very nice. Great food and ambiance, but I spent way too much money and ate way too much food. My main complaint about both of these establishments is the lack of plugs. Batteries are laim. At Panera I found a socket in the CEILING. Well whatever works.
I have now moved on to KSU. The ambiance isn't great and the food is eh, but they have WIFI in many of the buildings and lots of plugs.
January 08, 2005
Neat google trick
Need to convert meters into feet? try google Need a calculator? try google
There are many more cool tools available as well.
January 07, 2005
Book review
This book review makes me want to get the book. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0321247442/qid=1105137958/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/104-8149685-5305524?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 sounds like a great read. The first chapter is available online
January 05, 2005
Cool tool O the day
Check out Copernic Desktop Search. It is much better IMHO than google's competing product.
January 04, 2005
Tsunami videos
I see pleas from bloggers about bandwidth problems because they are hosting tsunami video files. Why aren't they using bittorrent instead of hosting the files locally? It is the fastest and least impact way to host files. After starting the seed they would only be hit with a few Kb each time someone downloads the file(s)
For example, you can get them via other sites on bittorrent
It is not like bittorrent is hard to use. I use it all the time to download Linux media.
December 30, 2004
Cognitive Overload
I have days where I feel like I am drinking from a firehose. I think we all do. There are so many sources of information, and they all call for attention at once. I have wondered if it is possible that we are lying to ourselves when we think we are more effective multitasking.
December 29, 2004
Expanded wifi range
A good article about expanding wifi range. It deals more specifically with Linksys APs.
Free Gmail invites
I have six gmail invites. Please email me at kirk10 at yahoo.com to receive one.
December 23, 2004
Putty settings manager
I was looking for a tool to export my putty settings into a file. Putty saves its settings in the registry. I ran across a great tool for this Putty Settings Manager.
December 20, 2004
Movable privacy?
Slashdot is reporting that Metropipe is working on a virtual privacy machine
This would run from a usb key drive and contains tools like gpg, thunderbird, firefox.
December 18, 2004
Maximizing Firefox
I have had two complaints about my favorite browser firefox. The first was that it takes up a huge amount of ram and doesn't give it back. The second was that if you minimize it for any amount of time at all it take forever to bring the window back up while it swaps the memory back in. I ran across an incredibly helpful article that addresses both of these and give other hints on maximizing the performance and usability of firefox.
Fix a memory leak in Firefox 1.0
Firefox is supposed to dynamically release memory from its RAM cache to other Windows applications as needed. Unfortunately, Firefox 1.0 seems to consume more memory than it should, which hurts performance, when set to the default of 51200 Kb (51 MB).
To solve this, Firefox power users recommend limiting the memory cache using the Configuration Console. This frees up memory for other apps, speeding up everything to a greater or a lesser extent, depending on your machine and the applications you run. Here's how the trick works:
Step 1. Type about:config into Firefox's Address Bar and press Enter.
Step 2. Right-click any row, then click New, Integer. Type or paste the following preference name into the dialog box that appears (this is a hidden preference that doesn't exist in the Configuration Console until you create it):
browser.cache.memory.capacity
Step 3. Click OK, then enter the following integer number into the next dialog box, representing 16 MB of RAM for the cache:
16000
Step 4. Click OK to close the dialog box, then close all instances of Firefox and restart it.
For a lengthy discussion of this option, see Mozillazine's forum topic 172041.
and
Speeding up the maximizing of Firefox
By default, when you minimize Firefox, it gives back to Windows most of the RAM the browser was using. It sometimes can take several seconds for the browser window to become fully loaded when you restore the window to its original size. This is one of those "version 1.0" things, in my opinion, that will become more streamlined in future bump revs of the program.
Fortunately, there's a hidden setting that can accomplish the restoration of Firefox windows much more quickly:
Step 1. Use about:config to create a new, Boolean value. Type or paste the following string into the dialog box that appears:
config.trim_on_minimize
Step 2. Click OK to close the dialog box. Change the value from "true" to "false" and restart Firefox.
This doesn't piggishly retain all of the RAM that Firefox has claimed. If Windows needs more RAM to devote to another application, Windows can take it. What the setting does is prevent Firefox from giving up most of its RAM until the memory is actually required elsewhere.
Setting this item to "false" may noticeably slow down other applications while Firefox is minimized, if your PC has less than 256 MB of RAM. If so, change the setting back to "true."
There's an extremely long discussion about the development of this trick, going back to March 2004 (and continuing up through today), in Bugzilla bug report #76831. If you're determined to delve into this, I'd recommend starting with comment 329.
Speeding up Firefox on Windows XP
You can speed up the loading of Firefox on Windows XP by adding it to the programs that XP "prefetches."
To do this, right-click the Start Menu item for Firefox, or any icon you use to start Firefox, and open the Properties dialog box. Add a space plus /Prefetch:1 to the command line and click OK. The resulting line might look as follows:
"C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" /Prefetch:1
A detailed explanation of XP's prefetch feature is provided by TechRepublic.
Yousendit
A neat tool yousendit allows you to park large files (up to 1gb) temporarially so you can link to them in email.
Using vnc over ssh
A good nest of links for using vnc over ssh for security. This is done via ssh tunnels. You can also use the tunels for things like imap and pop.
December 16, 2004
Xlivecd blows me away.
xlivecd is a concept turned 90 degrees. It takes the concept of Linux live cds (like knoppix, and applies it to application software.
XLiveCD allows users of Microsoft Windows to connect to remote Unix computers, run graphical applications and have the graphics displayed on their desktops. The software runs from the CD without being installed. XLiveCD was prepared by University Technology Services to facilitate use of research Unix systems at Indiana University by Windows users on campus.
and
In the parlance of Unix, an X server is run from the CD. A secure shell (ssh) client is included, and it is configured to allow by default forwarding of graphics from X11 applications. Users run the ssh client to connect to the remote machine, and X11 graphics are forwarded automatically from X applications that are run. The X server is that by X.org, and the ssh client is openssh.
It uses cygwin and wizard apprentice to accomplish this. There may be other applications with this concept, but i haven't seen them. The closest is probably portable mozilla software from John Haller. The difference between these two is that the mozilla software is meant to be run from a removable usb drive (usually key based).
December 10, 2004
Bittorrent vs Hollywood
Looks like the media is starting to notice BitTorrent. ABC news has a story about how Hollywood is starting to worry the same way mp3.com and napster work up the music industry and the RIAA. The MPA is certainly giving BitTorrent it's due. From the article:
"BitTorrent is more of a threat because it is probably the latest and best technological tool for transferring large files like movies," said John Malcolm, senior vice president of anti-piracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America. "It is unusual, perhaps unique, in that the moment you start downloading you are also uploading," he added. "It's what makes it so efficient."
Irc information
I ran across this irc guide the other day and have been using it since. It is a handy one glance refernce to irc commands
December 06, 2004
A guide to what each MT template does
I found a nice guide to Movable Type templates. I have always had trouble remembering which template does what.
December 03, 2004
Http status codes
here is a great docs on apache status codes. I was having a lot of 206's returned. I didn't realize that anything in the 200's is successful
Successful
200 - OK
The 200 status code is by far the most common returned. It means, simply, that the request was received and understood and is being processed.
201 - Created
A 201 status code indicates that a request was successful and as a result, a resource has been created (for example a new page).
202 - Accepted
The status code 202 indicates that server has received and understood the request, and that it has been accepted for processing, although it may not be processed immediately.
203 - Non-Authoritative Information
A 203 status code means that the request was received and understood, and that information sent back about the response is from a third party, rather than the original server. This is virtually identical in meaning to a 200 status code.
204 - No Content
The 204 status code means that the request was received and understood, but that there is no need to send any data back.
205 - Reset Content
The 205 status code is a request from the server to the client to reset the document from which the original request was sent. For example, if a user fills out a form, and submits it, a status code of 205 means the server is asking the browser to clear the form.
206 - Partial Content
A status code of 206 is a response to a request for part of a document. This is used by advanced caching tools, when a user agent requests only a small part of a page, and just that section is returned.
November 28, 2004
Solarlite. It is cool
Sorry
I was trying to despam my comments and accidentally nuked my comments. Sorry to all of you who posted.
November 04, 2004
Back
Sorry we had some dns issues. We are back in business now.
October 29, 2004
Changing ftp client from passive to active
I am not sure why I didn't know this......
local: strace.tar remote: strace.tar
227 Entering Passive Mode ()
ftp: connect: Connection timed out
ftp> passive
Passive mode off.
October 23, 2004
Security related
October 20, 2004
Cheap n easy way to kill em all.
Description
This recipe is useful when one wants to kill all the processes belonging to one user or having a particular regular expression in the process name. One can use different options of "ps" and "grep" to kill the undesired process(es).
Directions
The following is the general syntax of this recipe
ps -u <username> | grep <processname_pattern> | awk '{print $1}' | xargs kill -9
ps -u will find all the processes of the user username.
This output is then greped for processname_pattern which is then piped to awk.
awk '{print $1}' will print only the first column of the output (the process-id, in this case).
This is then xargd to the kill with sure kill -9 signal.
As a result,all the undesired processes will be killed.
Note : One should give the processname_pattern carefully as an incorrect
regular expression may lead to even desired processes being killed.
October 10, 2004
Sans top 20 vulnerabilities
A nice gut check on the top 20 Internet securitiy vulnerabilities. Are you patched for all these?
October 08, 2004
Sample Veritas commands
October 06, 2004
Gmail adds feed
Gmail has been busy adding new features. This includes my favorite, an atom feed. I wonder why no rss feed as well. I still am not sure why atom would be superior. I will have to research. I also ran across this cool link to create your own gmail icon.
Is MS MCE worth the hype?
Two reviews of Micro$oft Media Center Edition.
New styles and a redesign at Movablestyle.
The new MovableStyle.com looks great and has a few nice looking mt3 styles.
Unix tools free from Microsoft?
Check out What's New in Windows Services for UNIX 3.5. Micro$oft has released the latest version of Windows Services for UNIX free (as in beer). It looks like a neat set of tools. I will have to test it vs. cygwin.
September 13, 2004
gmailfs
I am currently testing gmailfs. I am copying a file to the filesystem now. I will post my review in a few days.
August 28, 2004
Cool tool
If PDF is electronic paper, then pdftk is an electronic staple-remover, hole-punch, binder, secret-decoder-ring, and X-Ray-glasses. Pdftk is a simple tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. Keep one in the top drawer of your desktop and use it to:
* Merge PDF Documents
* Split PDF Pages into a New Document
* Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
* Encrypt Output as Desired
* [new!] Fill PDF Forms with FDF Data and/or Flatten Forms
* [new!] Apply a Background Watermark
* Report on PDF Metrics, including Metadata and Bookmarks
* [new!] Update PDF Metadata
* [new!] Attach Files to PDF Pages or the PDF Document
* [new!] Unpack PDF Attachments
* Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
* Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
* Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)
Pdftk is also an example of how to use a library of Java classes in a stand-alone C++ program. Specifically, it demonstrates how GCJ and CNI allow C++ code to use iText's (itext-paulo) Java classes.
Wish for thunderbird
I was thinking this morning.....
I wish you could set it to load or not load images in emails on a per folder basis.
August 22, 2004
Dick Van Dyke - CGI Animator?
I have always been a fan of Dick Van Dyke. The story of his involvment in computer animation just enahances that. So many seasoned citizens are afraid of technology. It is great to see the wonderful results when someone with Mr. Van Dyke's experience embraces a new medium.
August 18, 2004
Sysinternals.com
Unix like tools for windows at http://www.sysinternals.com/
July 30, 2004
EFF and the broadcast flag
From the EFF:
Join the Television Liberation Digital Front!
Today, you can use any device you like with your television: VCR, TiVo, DVD recorder, home theater receiver, or a PC combining these functions and more. A year from now, when the FCC's broadcast flag mandate [PDF] takes effect, some of those capabilities will be forbidden.
and also:
Here's where you can help. The folks at www.pcHDTV.com make an HD-capable (ATSC) tuner card with Linux drivers. The MythTV project has built a terrific personal video recorder (PVR) platform that gives a GNU/Linux PC features like TiVo's pause live TV and "season pass" recording. These are great for geeks, and we're looking for volunteers to help make the combination more accessible to the general public.
How to get networking information under windows
To use the ipconfig utility, go to the Start button, then select Run to open the window show below. Type
command
into the Open dialog box, as shown, and press OK or Run (varies depending up Window version).
An MS-DOS (Command) Prompt should open (below). At the dos ">" prompt, enter:
ipconfig /all
and press enter key.
July 25, 2004
Spam poison
A neat tool to foil spammers trawling your page for an email address.
June 29, 2004
New netgear wireless hub.
Neat new product from netgear.
From designtechnica:
Netgear, Inc. today announced the launch of the breakthrough WGR101 54 Mbps Wireless Travel Router, a pocket-size 802.11g router to enable wireless access during travel. In addition to delivering up to 54 Mbps wireless Internet access when linked to an existing wired Ethernet connection, such as found in a hotel room or conference room, the WGR101 also provides the added security of a “double firewall” along with routing functionality, and can be used in both single and multi-user environments. Capable of providing up to five times the data throughput speed and twice the range of 802.11b wireless networking solutions, the small, attractive WGR101 has an internal antenna that eliminates the concern of breakage during packing or transport. A convenient carrying case is also included, enabling users to easily pack and carry the router and other essential accessories when they travel.
June 13, 2004
The wisdom of the Iron Lady
From this weeks Time Magazine:
An examination of the guest book from Blair House, where Nancy stayed last week, showed that Thatcher's touch for brevity and devotion was still intact, though she did not have the strength to talk in the cathedral and had them play her recorded speech. "To Ronnie," she wrote. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
Crop rotation makes me dizzy.
I need to get two more beds going so I can start a proper crop rotation going. Especially since I am growing tomatoes and peppers. I have two beds going now. I figure that two more and I can rotate a crop through a bed a year. I use a combination of raised beds placed on 6 inch depressions I dug out. Digging out is the worst. We have very hard red clay.
Tivo alternatives
From Clark Howard:
A cheaper alternative to Tivo
Personal video recorders such as Tivo and Replay TV have reached almost cult-like status these days. These services are expensive,
though. Usually, people have to buy the device, pay a licensing fee of about $250 and pay a monthly charge to get the service. But companies
are coming up with less costly alternatives that function just like Tivo using your home computer. Basically, you buy software and install
it on your home computer, which becomes the brains of the operation. You can then buy adapters to hook up to your TV and youre good to go.
One of the products is called Beyond TV3 and it costs $80. You can try it for a few weeks for free, and then buy it if you like it. It
includes all of the functions of Tivo, plus a skip commercial feature. Clark is going to try out one of these services and let you know how
it goes.
I have also seen the MediaMVP talked about recently. This is not really a direct competetor for the Tivo, but it is interesting.
MediaMVP Features:
- Access digital music, videos or pictures from your TV set, over your home network.
- Uses 10Mbit or 100Mbit Ethernet, for the best network performance with any type of digital media. Plays DVD quality videos on your TV set over an Ethernet LAN!
- Composite and S-Video outputs for the best video quality on TV sets, plus stereo audio output to TV sets or home theater systems.
- Watch digital camera pictures (JPEG or GIF) on your TV set. Play slide shows with music, too!
- Plays MP3 music, either individual titles, all the music titles in a directory or M3U, B4S, PLS and ASX playlists.
- Plays MEPG-1 and MPEG-2 recordings made with the Hauppauge WinTV-PVR's. Will also play most other MPEG-1/2 standard video files. With MediaMVP’s remote control, you can pause, rewind and fast forward through your recorded videos.
- Remote control for easy access to your PC media from your TV set. MediaMVPs remote control allows you to navigate through your PCs disk drives, and displays media names, directories and other information on the TV set. MediaMVPs remote also can control the audio volume and mute of videos and music being played.
June 01, 2004
Cool tool of the day - pdftk
pdftk is a simple tool for doing everyday things with PDF documents. Keep one in the top drawer of your desktop and use it to:
* Merge PDF Documents
* Split PDF Pages into a New Document
* Decrypt Input as Necessary (Password Required)
* Encrypt Output as Desired
* Burst a PDF Document into Single Pages
* Report on PDF Metrics, including Metadata and Bookmarks
* Uncompress and Re-Compress Page Streams
* Repair Corrupted PDF (Where Possible)
There is also a GUI available for it.
April 28, 2004
Google and SSL
It is possible to use gmail via ssl according to the google weblog.
March 30, 2004
Misc. notes I picked up on burning dvds under linux
Notes to myself from research I did on the web on video dvds under linux...
hav
Continue reading "Misc. notes I picked up on burning dvds under linux" »
March 29, 2004
Large file transfer
Details about a couple of interesting services that help with large fiel transfers via email. I am curious about their privacy standards, how they make money, and what is in this for them.
http://www.yousendit.com/
http://www.dropload.com/
Another alternative is WASTE
March 23, 2004
Button maker
February 09, 2004
Timeshifter
A post on timeshifting radio. I have been looking for a good way to do this. I have an IPaq and would like to listen to the bbc or npr while working out.
February 03, 2004
Hp Insight manager
HP Insight manager combines the strengths of HP Insight Manager 7, HP Toptools, and HP Servicecontrol Manager to deliver a single tool for managing ProLiant, Integrity, and HP 9000 systems running Windows, Linux, and HP-UX. The core Systems Insight Manager software delivers the essential capabilities required to manage all HP server platforms. Systems Insight Manager can also be extended to deliver unparalleled breadth of device management with plug-ins for HP storage, power, client and printer products. Plug-ins for rapid deployment, performance management, and workload management allow systems administrators to pick the value added software required to deliver complete lifecycle management of their hardware assets.
January 29, 2004
WEP beware
AirSnort is a wireless LAN (WLAN) tool which recovers encryption keys. AirSnort operates by passively monitoring transmissions, computing the encryption key when enough packets have been gathered...802.11b, using the Wired Equivalent Protocol (WEP), is crippled with numerous security flaws...AirSnort requires approximately 5-10 million encrypted packets to be gathered. Once enough packets have been gathered, AirSnort can guess the encryption key used.
January 25, 2004
Mizpelld Spaam
The Nytimes has an interesting article about misspellings as a positive view of spam fighting. Their view is that the messages are becoming so unintelligible as to be useless.
This got me thinking. I wonder if you could use the number of misspelled words as a filter? After X misspelled words the email is quarantined. It is an interesting thought. I don't know what the proper number would be, but it should work relatively well. I wonder how you could integrate a dictionary into a spam filter? The only problem would be a lot of jargon or abbreviations would trigger it. You could possibly add a custom dictionary. The other thought is to set up a phrase that would by pass the checks and give that to friends to include at the end of their emails. This secret phrase would be different for each person. It would have to be a non dictionary string so it couldn't be included by accident.
January 22, 2004
Recovery discovery?
It appears that HP and Cisco are thinking that 2004 is starting to shape up as a decent year for IT spending. After several years of bad news it is nice to hear something different. Of course, one terrorist attack in the US and all is called into question. The sword of Damocles is still there.
January 14, 2004
Good deal on a usb enclosure
USB 2.0 enclosure for $29 at pcmicrostore
Microsoft Office update site.
You can download MS Office Updates from a central website. The bugs are free.
Free beer from Micrsoft
From slashdot
"Version 3.5 of Services for Unix will be free. Previously, it was $99. This article at Information Week has the details. It contains an NFS client and server in addition to POSIX libraries and utilities including pthreads. Aside from the NFS utilities, how does the environment compare to Cygwin?" An anonymous reader adds links to coverage at News.com and at geek.com, writing "The reviews for these tools have been highly favorable. It looks like the next volley has been fired in the struggle between Windows and Linux."
oops
oops. I have clobbered my blog and I am reloading everything manually
November 18, 2003
Sco to close shop and become law firm?
I do not understand why SCO is pursuing this strategy? They are acknowledging that it is hurting what you would think is their core business. Now they want to sue Novell. At first I thought this was a gambit to be purchased. Now I don't know what it is.
It is like a bad soap opera...
October 30, 2003
Setting up a photoblog in MT
An interesting article about a photoblog
[Listening to: Map of the World - Marillion - Anoraknophobia (05:02)]