The Promise Audit - National Journal

The promise of Change. The grass is greener.

[snip]
The Promise Audit - National Journal: "As memories of the campaign trail fade, it’s easy to forget some of the more than 200 promises made by Barack Obama."

http://promises.nationaljournal.com/

I think the betterment of the country is at stake. We should all keep an eye on the ways of government.

The immortal words of Ronald Reagan, "Trust, but verify"

XBMC and Hulu

I am a huge fan of Arrested Development. And Hulu.

This Lifehacker.com post made me happy.

http://lifehacker.com/5134070/simple-plug+in-brings-hulu-to-your-xbmc

Unfortunately, none of the actual shows are playing through the XBMC. Just another soul crush... :)

More to follow once I figure it out...

Linksys WRT54G - Wireless Failing Some Times

I am searching for a solution to an issue I occasionally experience. This includes my Linksys WRT54G router will just stop working for wireless clients.

Wired connections work just fine and have no issues. The wireless... no so good.

I am able to quickly power cycling the router without a problem. The wireless then just starts working once the router comes up.

This happens with the Linksys firmware or the DD-WRT firmware I am running now.

BTW - if you have a Linksys router (or any other supported hardware) and are not running DD-WRT, you need to (HAVE TO) check out the DD-WRT project for your basic home router software needs.

Windows 7 - More Aesthetics

I have been using Windows 7, off and on, since the download was made available earlier this month. The new bells and features seem to make the operating system show some new prowess. However, any of the issues I had before with Vista drivers, I am now having issues in Windows 7.

Amazingly, my cell phone actually charges when plugged into Windows XP SP2 after installing the Sprint software. (The same cell phone has always worked just fine on any Linux distribution)
So:

Windows XP - works after install

Vista - not so much.

Windows 7 - even worse.

I will say that the attempts to update Notepad and Paint are, well, ok. Some of the features are actually pretty nice. The docking taskbar, with links for Internet Explorer, WMP, and Windows Explorer, is a nice improvement. Also, User Account Control (UAC) is less intrusive and objectionable (to me, at least).

The upside -
All of my laptop drivers were detected and installed without an issue. (This is another wonderful piece of Linux, :). Also, the new KDE feel of the default UI is pleasing to me. I wonder if Gnome-like desktop is an option...?

No plans to reimage the laptop for now...

Adding a second monitor

My tech-savvy sis sent me a picture the other day of a computer where she wants to add a second monitor. Being 1,600 miles away, this requires some asynchronous communication and a bit of thought to make sure the proper advise is out there. So, I decide to post here and send her the link.

Firstly, the PC:




Alright, so this 'puter has only one video connection. A presumable AGP VGA card.








To add a second (or more) monitor, you would have to:

• Add a second card to one of the PCI slots.
  
• Good ratings, for the most part, for this guy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133233
• You could actually run three monitors if you had this card with the dual VGA connectors

• Replace the card you have with a new dual-head video card. There are some considerations here:
• Is you current card card PCI-X (don't confuse this with regular PCI) or AGP
• Does the video card require a separate power connection inside the case. Some video cards require more power than just the slot and use the same power connector - usually - as a hard drive (the white 4-pin MOLEX). Can your power supply take care of the extra load?
  
• Does the video card monitor connectors match the current monitor cable?
• There are two types of video connectors for PCS - VGA and DVI
• A decent card with DVI connectors will have at least one adapter
• DVI is digital and a better signal, but your monitor must support the digital signal (sort of like having HD cable. If you do not have an HD TV, what's the point?)
• VGA is the analog equivalent and supported by 99% of the monitors out there made after 2000.
• USB to VGA adapter
• http://sewelldirect.com/usb2tosvga.asp?adpath=/Google/Other%20Products/USB%20to%20SVGA%20Adapter&keywords=usb%202.0%20vga%20adapter&match=2&search=search&gclid=CObVqaGzuZYCFRJdxwodQkUBLg
• http://www.iogear.com/product/GUC2015V/
• Or go nuckin' futs: http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/25/iogears-wireless-usb-to-vga-kit-extends-your-monitor-sans-wires/
• I have not looked into this option much but you may find something out there that you willing to try.
  

From the perspective of "I might buy a laptop to replace my desktop", the USB adapter isn't a bad investment right now. The hardware is transferable as opposed to a hardware card that can only be moved from one PC to another.Of course, if you do go the laptop route soon, you will be able to have dual monitors pretty much right away. Unless you don't purchase a laptop with an external monitor connection. I don't think I have ever seen a laptop without one... but you never know.

Comment back on any other options out there to extend monitor quantity.

DD-WRT

With the fairly (no pun intended AT ALL) recent details about Comcast's latest endeavor to tighten the screws a little more against the consumers, I was curious about monitors or meters for those consumers to view the amount of usage.

There have been two lines of thought...and I can't confirm, completely, either but either:

1. Comcast will shut you down after 250GB/month for total bandwidth consumption
2. Or, you will be penalized for overages

Thinking to myself, "what can I do?", I decided to go after a way to monitor my own bandwidth.

Now, I have a couple of PCs running at the same time and do not want to get into a distributed solution. I need something as a hub for all of my PCs to consolidate to from a usage perspective.

Two options came to mind for me:

1. Set up a Linux box to use as a concentrator, if you will, for all of the network connections and sit between my wireless router (for the lappy worqs) and the cable modem
2. Or, figure out a solution on the router itself

I am a little Geek!y when it comes to Linux so that would not have been too big a deal - little iptables, ip forwarding, dual NICs, blah blah blah

But the really cool thing was... DD-WRT.

Here it the link to the main site:
Link

Hardware compatibility list:
Link

Lifehacker.com has a great write up on the install here:
Link

Example graphing for usage:

Luckily, I have the Linksys WRT-54 so I was good to go.



Now, I am able to track my usage - at least to the point that I trust the DD-WRT tools as opposed to the monitoring tools provided by the same provider as the consumable good...can you smell the conflict with that latter statement?

Enjoy

Mapping Management Consoles to Descriptions

As I was going through looking for a specific MSC file (Microsoft Manament Console Snap-In), I was having a rough time discerning one file from another and what the MSC snap-in actually was used for.

For example, Active Directory Users and Computers is named dsa.msc (well, of course). There would be too much confusion to call it something descriptive and intuitive
- like ADUsersAndComputers.msc.

I mean, NTFS can't handle larger than 8.3 file names, can ... it... I digress.

I Googled for a few minutes to find a listing of the various MSC snap-ins and found this list.

Link

Not sure how dated it is or what is missing or how accurate the listing may be. However, for my immediate need, it worked out quite well.