Messages

26

Living Room / Re: Any ideas - expand a wireless network to a neighbouring house?

« on: May 26, 2009, 11:50 AM »

There are universal wireless repeaters that you can purchase.  That's what I have done at my brother's house several years ago.  But now not I do not like having a specific device for one function only

Last year I experimented in replacing existing router firmware with the open source dd-wrt firmware (dd-wrt.com).  It has specific versions for different routers.  Basically it replaces the router's firmware and gives it advanced features such as universal repeater and repeater bridge functionality; and increasing transmission power, and encryption which is what you are looking  to do.

I've used this on several Linksys WRT54GL routers and even on a Belkin Wireless repeater device.  The MAC address filtering does not seem to work in repeater or repeater bridge mode but the WEP/WPA encryption schemes will work.  

If you go the dd-wrt method please see if your router model and version number is supported, then read faq, forums carefully since you are essentially replacing the manufacturer firmware (invalidating the warranty) and have the potential to "brick" the router.

You can also ask me some questions before you proceed, since I'll also be updating the dd-wrt version at my parent's house when I go on holiday next week.

patrick

27

General Software Discussion / Re: Win7, disk imaging, vmware

« on: May 14, 2009, 12:32 AM »

For the disk imaging part, try the offerings from  Terabyte Unlimited (www.terabyteunlimited.com) which I have been using for several years now.

Image for Windows (which includes Image for Dos/Linux createable bootable media if you buy IFW) is reasonably priced compared to other imaging programs, not bloated, and can also be installed on server OS.  Support forums are pretty active.  I know versions from the past few months introduced support for VM.


patrick

28

Living Room / Re: dvd burner crisis

« on: March 18, 2009, 02:56 PM »

Try to isolate whether the issue is with:

1. Your media - try another DVD brand or image with Nero but at a slower speed to match the rating on your DVD media.

2. Your Nero burning software - try Imgburn or Infrarecorder.  If those work then you can use those OR try to reinstall Nero.  I see you've tried CDBurnerXP but others are worth a shot.

3. If the 1 & 2 above  have been eliminated then, the DVD drivers is next.  Check your computer manufacturer's website or maybe your machine has a "applications and driver" cd that you can reinstall the DVD drivers.

4. Previous Windows restore point?

5. Do an image restore from your image backup OR reinstall?

I would try first slowing down the burn speed to match the rated speed of your DVD media rather than using the optimum or maximum setting on the burning software.

I recently purchased a new Acer laptop which I immediately had to get repaired since the touchpad was erring out.  But at that point I was able to use DVD to create image backups.  Acer fixed the touchpad issue by replacing the motherboard.

But when I got my machine back, and tried to create new drive images, it was showing errors specifically on validation.  Spent about 10 DVDs that are now coasters.  The errors were occurring when I use Acer's image utility, Windows owen image utility, and my 3rd party image utility software.  So I was almost convinced it was DVD driver / firmware not compatible with new replacement motherboard.

So as a last resort, I slowed down the burn speed since the bulk DVDs I got handed down was about 4 years old.  So far I've been able to image and validate using DVDs several times.

29

General Software Discussion / Re: *Foolproof* sware to import photos & make CD ?

« on: November 20, 2008, 10:19 AM »

A similar option to "Photo on Web" , I use the free Jalbum softwate (jalbum.net) to create web based albums both locally on the hard drive or over the internet.  It has lots of skins / layout templates available and supports multiple OS platforms.

30

General Software Discussion / Re: Dilemma - Free AVG8 - Buggy; Updates for Free AVG 7.5 ending May 08

« on: May 18, 2008, 08:46 AM »

Despite what we see on the AVG 7.5 Free pop-up ending support as of end of May, it seems like AVG has extended support until the end of the year (12/31/2008).  See relevant sticky thread post on their forum:

http://freeforum.avg.com/list.php?1

So at least it gives us more time to explore alternatives.  Currently I'm trying Avast Home on one of my laptops.  Will keep AVG 7.5 Free on the other machines to see if the updates really happen after the end of May.

31

Post New Requests Here / Re: Screamer Radio frontend - ScreamerMenu

« on: May 03, 2008, 10:05 PM »

Just a heads up for those of you using Screamer Radio:

There's a new beta / pre-release 0.4.0 version available.  Author mentions that he aims to make this release an official stable release as opposed to the version 0.3.9 which has been in beta for over a year.  I have not yet tested to see if Skrommel's Screamer Menu works properly with this version of Screamer Radio.

http://forums.scream...c.php?f=9&t=9683

-- Version 0.4.0, beta

 080503:
 * Resolved long path bug when recording
 * Updated manifest file with Vista privilege properties
 * Tray icon now recreated on explorer restart
 * Tray icon now indicates if you are recording (when custom icon is off)
 * Tray icon menu now has a quicker option to enable/disable recording
 * Preset menus now split into columns of 35 items each

 080427:
 * Upgraded BASS to 2.4.0.1
 * Upgraded BASSWMA to 2.4.0.1
 * Upgraded BASS_AAC to 2.4.0.1
 * Added manifest file and adjusted GUI a little, slightly prettier dialog

 071022:
 * Fixed internal string bug

 070801:
 + Screamer now fades out on stop
 * Windows Desktop Heap bug adressed, but not fixed.. will require new way to
   select radio stations, preset menu is simply too large

32

General Software Discussion / Re: HowTo EASILY create image backup?

« on: April 16, 2008, 09:39 AM »

Given the numerous advantages to NTFS, some people prefer to stick with FAT file systems since some non-windows systems such as MAC and Linux can read and write to it.

Although some Linux variants are starting to support read only access to disks formatted with the NTFS file system.

33

General Software Discussion / Re: HowTo EASILY create image backup?

« on: April 15, 2008, 07:34 AM »

Image for Windows (IFW) current version 2 now supports differential.  It does not currently support incremental.  The IFW pdf manual (appendix section) indicates that incremental backups are harder to manage and may be problematic in disaster recovery situations.

Although I have all of Terabyte's products, I still use BootItNG for imaging as I am more comfortable with imaging from a bootable CD and not when windows is running.  Image for DOS and Image for Linux also runs from a bootable CD and, from an interface / features perspective, more easier to use that BootItNG.

Image for DOS and Image for Linux are self contained bootable cds meaning it runs on the cd from the respective OS title.  It does NOT mean that you have to know or need to have a hard disk that has DOS / Linux on it.

34

General Software Discussion / Re: books/blogs on database design?

« on: March 01, 2008, 08:58 AM »

The topic you should be searching for is the term "data warehousing" or "data modelling".  Data warehousing and data modelling is all about getting the proper database design (cases when you should "normalize" or not, when to split data into different relational table, etc) as opposed to the technical aspects and implementations of a specific RDBMS.

Search amazon for "data warehouse" and you'll see books by Ralph Kimball - the "father of data warehousing".  I like his books since it really focuses on "real world" data modelling cases.  Other database books either give too much overview/theory or too specific in the technical operations of a specific database system.

patrick

35

Living Room / Re: log users off at a certain time using task scheduler

« on: January 29, 2008, 07:03 PM »

I have used both
Shutter (http://www.den4b.com) and
PowerOff (http://users.pandora...an/applications.html)
Both utilities have the capability to LogOff a user as what you are looking for.

Currently at my niece&nephew's computer, I have task scheduler invoke a batch file calling PowerOff to shutdown the computer after 45 minutes of inactivity.  There's a 30 second message pop-up window warning of the shutdown.  The PowerOff specific command in the batch file I am using is:

start /min poweroff.exe shutdown -force -warn -warntime 30

You can add the "-nocancel" option to prevent the cancellation of the action from the warning message box or sys tray.

Patrick

36

General Software Discussion / Re: preparing for a phone interview: best books on algorithms/programming practices?

« on: January 29, 2008, 11:05 AM »

Steve McConnell has authored several books regarding software development - http://www.stevemcconnell.com

Here are some links I've been keeping regarding sorting algorithms and data structures:
http://www.iti.fh-fl...sortieren/algoen.htm
http://cg.scs.carlet...~morin/misc/sortalg/

Since it's a phone interview it's probably an initial screening one to decide whether to bring you into the office for the 2nd round.  Most likely it will center on what you've done.  If they do get programming specific and you don't know the specific answer, then it's best to answer you don't know but counter that with "but here's how I would approach the problem..." and relate it to what you do know. 

Sort of like infamous Microsoft / Google type interview questions like "How many marbles can fit in a bus?"  What interviewers are looking for here is not the specific answer but to get a feel of how you would tackle the problem - your thought processes.  Assume marble has a radius of x and get its volume.  Measure the volume of the bus (without seats for simplicity sake). Divide that by the marble's volume... this is just one approach to answering the question.

Good luck.
Patrick

37

Developer's Corner / Re: Looking for tool to identify windows controls on windows forms

« on: January 25, 2008, 01:18 PM »

Don't know if this would help specifically in your case but give it a shot:
Nirsoft's SysExporter (http://nirsoft.net/utils/sysexp.html)

It shows you info on "the data stored in standard list-views, tree-views, list boxes, combo boxes, text-boxes, and WebBrowser/HTML controls from almost any application running on your system".

38

Coding Snacks / Re: Idea: TCP/IP Configuration Save/Restore

« on: January 23, 2008, 02:29 PM »

With NetSetMan, "out of the box" it would say no adapter found since the settings.ini file is not populated.  If you press the "Refresh" button it would read your network adapters, populate the  drop down box and save it in the settings.ini file.

To use on another machine just delete the settings.ini file and the app will create a new one.

To use it portably, install with installer and copy the install directory to another place, excluding the unins000.exe and unins000.dat files.

39

Coding Snacks / Re: Idea: TCP/IP Configuration Save/Restore

« on: January 23, 2008, 10:34 AM »

In NetSetMan's IP and DNS Server section, there is a little icon of a "checkbox".  If you click on it, it gets the current IP / DNS settings which you can then save to an adapter's profile.

-patthecat (January 23, 2008, 09:48 AM)

My above reply was in reference to version 2.4.0

It appears that in 2.4.1 the checkbox is gone.  To save the current settings, right-click on a tab and select "Get all current settings".

40

Coding Snacks / Re: Idea: TCP/IP Configuration Save/Restore

« on: January 23, 2008, 09:59 AM »

Technitium MAC Address Changer has a feature which allows you to save NIC settings into config presets.
http://www.technitiu....com/tmac/index.html

41

Coding Snacks / Re: Idea: TCP/IP Configuration Save/Restore

« on: January 23, 2008, 09:48 AM »

NetSetMan does not have the ability to save the current configuration...

-Tekzel (January 23, 2008, 09:32 AM)

In NetSetMan's IP and DNS Server section, there is a little icon of a "checkbox".  If you click on it, it gets the current IP / DNS settings which you can then save to an adapter's profile.

42

Post New Requests Here / Re: idea: Application to turn off a laptop's display.

« on: January 18, 2008, 08:33 PM »

Another option is a utility called "PowerOff" (see link below) whose primary purpose is to power off, shutdown or reboot your pc, log you off, lock your workstation, go to standby or hibernation mode and even wake up another pc via Wake On Lan.  It can even run via the command line.  I've been using it in a batch file run via task scheduler to shut down my niece&nephew's computer when it has been inactive for a certain amount of time.

The reason I mention it is that it also has the feature to turn the monitor OFF or ON.  So with the capability to run on command line / batch file, maybe someone can map it to a hotkey or like I have done put it in task scheduler.

http://users.pandora...oweroff/poweroff.htm

patrick

43

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Connected to Network Notification Window

« on: December 08, 2007, 11:15 AM »

Here's another idea, I subscribe to the service HotSpotVPN to encrypt wireless transmission when using a public wi-fi hotspot.  It uses OpenVPN software (http://openvpn.net).

So when I do not have it on or there is no connection from my OpenVPN client side to HotspotVPN's vpn server, the OpenVPN has no light (not active) or the connection is trying to connect (yellow light).  If there is an established secure connection, the OpenVPN icon turns green.

The icon I'm talking about can be seen in the screenshots section on OpenVPN GUI for Windows (http://openvpn.se)

44

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Connected to Network Notification Window

« on: December 08, 2007, 10:58 AM »

To somewhat alleviate the wireless interference part, what about segmenting using multiple wireless access points
- different SSIDs
- use non-overlapping wireless channels: 1, 6, or 11 (1, 7, 13 in Europe)

No traffic limitations but with the potential of 20 - 30 vehicles at a time on the network downloading or pinging constantly, bandwidth issues are certainly of some concern.  Downloading a small .txt file or something off one of the servers is certainly possible though.

-k4mz (December 08, 2007, 09:02 AM)

45

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: Connected to Network Notification Window

« on: December 08, 2007, 10:52 AM »

What about trying to do something with a command line based RSS reader:  This link shows some of them listed under the section "Command Line based aggregators" towards the bottom of the page: http://www.newsonfee....com/faq/aggregators

PS: i probably wasn't very specific about the previous question, i meant to ask if it is possible to download from an http server, as if it was downloaded from a browser.

-jgpaiva (December 08, 2007, 10:10 AM)

46

General Software Discussion / Re: Diagnostic for portable harddisk

« on: October 05, 2007, 01:22 AM »

I use HD Tune or PassMark's DiskCheckup for monitoring internal drives from time to time.  However for your question on external drives, I think it depends whether or not the external USB drive controller supports SMART reporting as mentioned in this threads:

http://www.passmark....howthread.php?t=1007
http://www.hddlife.c...leshooting/5_FAQ.htm

Western Digital Passport and IO drives seem to support SMART reporting as mentioned in this commercial product:
http://ariolic.com/a...smart/usb-smart.html

47

General Software Discussion / Re: Shareware that don't have freeware replacements

« on: September 25, 2007, 08:01 AM »

TrayEverything (freeware) seems comparable to PS Tray Factory from what PSTF features are described in above posts.  Allows minimizing to tray and or hiding apps from tray.  It also allows auto-minimizing of inactive windows and adding lite password protection to minimized/hidden windows. 

Am starting to switch to TrayEverything from TrayIt more and more.

http://www.winapizon...tware/trayeverything

48

General Software Discussion / Re: How to determine ipaddress of mini-webserver on a wireless network

« on: September 23, 2007, 01:25 PM »

Patteo - glad you were able to sort things out.

You may want to see if your Linksys router has this feature that I have found and used on a business level Netgear router.  The router allows to assign a specific IP address if it sees a specific MAC address from a wired/wireless network card.  For example, router assigns DHCP and wireless card set to get IP address automatically.  Each network card has a unique serial number / MAC address.  You put that MAC address in the router and tell it to reserve/assign a specific local IP address so that anytime that router sees that network card request for an IP address it always assigns the same one.

If your router does not have this feature then you would have to keep on changing your laptop's wireless card to go between specific vs. dynamic IP addressing.  I use NetSetMan, the free version (http://www.netsetman.com) to keep network profiles so I can switch between specific and dynamic ip addresses for the wireless and ethernet network card on my laptop.

49

General Software Discussion / Re: How to determine ipaddress of mini-webserver on a wireless network

« on: September 23, 2007, 10:02 AM »

Also I don't think you need the firewall setting of outgoing TCP port 82 enabled since web server basically would use port 80 automatically by default which you would have open usually. 

The way I see it, incoming request need to specify the port number since it needs to go to the web server.  But a response to the request can go on port 80 (I think).

Once you have port forwarding enabled see if the "outside" users can connect without the firewall outgoing port 82 configured.

50

General Software Discussion / Re: How to determine ipaddress of mini-webserver on a wireless network

« on: September 23, 2007, 09:53 AM »

The main thing you need to do is called port forwarding from your router on port 82 to a specific computer where your mini webserver is.

Look at the following site: http://www.portforward.com
This shows you how to do it for common routers.

It basically involves going into the router settings and telling it that any incoming requests from the internet on a specific port get redirected to a specific local ip address. In your example, people would refer to your web server as {external ip address}:82
Your router sees that port 82 was requested so it forwards the info to the mapped local ip address 192.168.1.100 where your web server resides.