Recent Posts

7601

Living Room / Re: Strange phone problem - can anyone help?

« Last post by 40hz on May 24, 2011, 05:52 PM »

^We took pictures of it. If I can remember where we saved them I'll post them. 

7602

Living Room / Re: Strange phone problem - can anyone help?

« Last post by 40hz on May 24, 2011, 03:21 PM »

Still like to know why changing sockets mad the final difference?

-Carol Haynes (May 24, 2011, 01:03 PM)

After eliminating the cable:

• Semi-shorted outlet
• RF Interference along the wire run leading to the bad socket
• Damaged insulation in wire run leading to the bad socket
• Bad connection to demarcation point for that socket
• Dirty outlet contacts
• Loose outlet contacts
• "Just one of those things"

It's endless. If replacing the outlet doesn't cure the problem it's likely something in the wire run. Often it's something that didn't used to be a problem until the newer generation device couldn't get its required level of line quality. There's also a good chance something just recently happened to that wire which merely coincided with your needing a new phone. Hard to positively determine a cause without some fairly expensive test equipment however. And hardly worth it if you don't need to use that length of wire.

FWIW, I had a similar experience with phones in a new client's office. Everything worked perfectly except for one outlet located about 50 feet from the phone closet. We replaced the outlet, but to no avail. A quick check on the line showed it had a marginally higher electrical resistance than it should have. But nothing that looked to me (admittedly an amateur when it comes to phones) too far out of the ordinary.

The "phone guy" we brought in however, said: AHA!

He plugged a line analyzer into the circuit and got a report back that the wire run length was about 400 plus feet. We looked up in the ceiling and found a knotted ball of phone wire about the size of a soccer ball jammed between the wall and a half dozen electrical lines powering the fluorescent ceiling lights. All we could guess was that whoever installed that line had somehow managed to knot up their roll of cable in the middle when they were pulling that run. Only afterwards did this person realize the clean lengths of wire wouldn't stretch to reach both ends of the circuit. So rather than run a whole new line, he just punched down both ends, left about 325 feet of kinked mess in the middle, tucked it out of sight, and called it done.

Once that copper "beachball" got removed, the jack now worked properly. And entire Trixbox phone system started working much better than it had previously. Apparently that mess was acting like a coil and causing all sorts of intermittent noise problems for the phone server.

Our client just assumed that their occasional phone problems were a trade-off they had to live with since they were using the "community edition" of a FOSS-based product.  

7603

Living Room / Re: Strange phone problem - can anyone help?

« Last post by 40hz on May 24, 2011, 11:22 AM »

Additionally I have now moved the base unit to the kitchen and it seems to work fine. The kitchen is an extension off the main socket (where it was plugged into so why it works in the kitchen I can't imagine!

Probably wanted to be put there so it could more easily sneak teaspoons of jam when nobody's looking.  

7604

Living Room / Re: Strange phone problem - can anyone help?

« Last post by 40hz on May 23, 2011, 07:20 PM »

Do you have a monitored home alarm service on the same line? Likely not since they usually won't share a line with ADSL traffic, but you never know. If there is an alarm monitor on the same line, they might be suppressing the DTMF for number 3 because it's being used by them for something. Same goes for a VoIP router if you have one of those. There are cases where "jitter" buffering can prevent some tones from reliably getting through. Ask your ISP/voice carrier if there's a problem with compatibility for Panasonic phones. Or just that nasty git of a number: 3.

If you experience the same problem after swapping back your old phone, then it's definitely something up with the telco or ISP. I'd guess it was a recent change on their end that's causing it.

Long shot: does Panasonic have a UK specific version, or setting, for this phone? I don't know if the UK still goes it's own way as much as she used to. But there may be something the rest of the world is now doing (that the UK isn't) which is making this particular phone incompatible. Possibly the British DTMF for 3 is different than Panasonic's current one?

7605

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by 40hz on May 23, 2011, 07:02 PM »

I'm not generally too enamored of Dell. But I have to say I have never had serious issues with any of their servers. And that goes back to the 90s when I first started not insisting on IBM, Compaq or HP (they used to be two different companies back then!) for server deployments.

Dell does a nice reliable server. I have clients with Dell servers that have been running continuously for years. And if we set them up, the only time they ever need to get power-cycled is when a software upgrade requires it, or if a drive is getting replaced because it threw a SMART alert.

One additional thing I really like about Dell is they don't load their servers up with a bunch of proprietary technology, or adopt their own vocabulary for common industry-wide terminology.

------------------

Agree (like I almost always do) w/Stoic regarding the spec for your personal server. Unless you're planning on supporting more than 100 heavy users, the 29xx series (or equivalent) should do ya fine. And since you're mostly talking "file & print" as your core function, even the 29xx will provide you with more power than you need right now. Which is great because you'll have room to grow.

For you, the most expensive components you own will probably be your disk controllers if you're serious about running something like 15Tb worth of storage. Muy macho! I like!

Note: If you plan on running Windows Server, put any spare money you have into RAM (up to 8Gb) first. 4Gb is a good number. Probably 4Gb the sweet spot for what you'll be doing. So start with that and up it if you think you need to. Don't bother going past 8Gb however, because you'll start getting diminishing returns unless you have a lot of simultaneous users.

re:CPU - go with Intel if at all possible. I know you can arguably get more bang for the buck with AMD. Don't bother unless you're a heavy-duty Linux or BSD wonk. Intel OWNS the Windows server marketspace. And when it comes to CPUs, be sure to check for: 64-bit with support for virtualization. Because that's where everything is going - if it hasn't already gone there.

 

7606

Living Room / Re: Building a home server. Please help, DC!

« Last post by 40hz on May 23, 2011, 02:47 PM »

+1 X 100 with JavaJones on the above post.

If you're going to be configuring more than 4 drives in your storage array, you definitely want to either be on a 'business grade' server chassis - or have some of your drives in an external enclosure. And if you're thinking of using RAID (especially RAID-5) on your data drives, you most bodaciously DO NOT want to use a desktop/consumer class controller card.

The mobo RAID controllers (or those cheap weird-brand Asian imports) are OK for mirroring (RAID-1) your boot disk. But I wouldn't want to use them for much more than that. Especially when you can score a decent used "pro" card on e-bay or other places if you shop around. Most times they're between $100-$150 (with battery). Not a bad deal when you consider they run around $600 new - and some junk RAID card will set you back about $75-$80.

If you do go with a consumer card, burn a joss stick in front of the Data Buddha and keep your fingers crossed. Shanti!  


Buddhist monk repairing a computer in his monastery in Thailand. How cool is that!

Note: I've seen mirrored drives both get corrupted very nicely by cheap RAID cards. So maybe I'd restrict "RAID on the cheap" to RAID-1 and only if I were using a mobo-based controller. But I'd have to be feeling pretty good about myself on the day I chanced it.

Putting your big data drives in an external enclosure also goes a long way towards reducing heat build up in your server case. And taking some strain off your server's power supply. It can also (usually) just be moved over to something else if your main server dies. So you'll still have access to your data and archives in a pinch. You'll also get some additional protection by having your drives in two separate enclosures in the unlikely event your power supply or AC circuit experiences a catastrophic failure which fries everything downstream.

Just my 2¢  

P.S. Don't use RAID-5. If you have a good backup strategy and can afford occasional downtime to perform hardware maintenance or replacements, RAID-5 is more trouble than it's worth IMO.

7607

Living Room / Re: favourite hardware hacking resources

« Last post by 40hz on May 23, 2011, 01:07 AM »

A fun website for this type of thing is Instructables.com.

A few of the projects are a little dicey, so use some discretion, and don't take everything you read there as completely reliable. Fortunately, there's usually multiple 'builds' for each project so a little common sense (and research) will separate the chaff from the wheat.

Another very good source of reliable DIY tech projects is O'Reilly Media's Make Magazine website.

7608

Living Room / Re: Tech shopping tips

« Last post by 40hz on May 22, 2011, 07:40 AM »

Really?  I have only seen charging from corporations that really don't WANT to deal with it but are forced to.  I know our municipality holds regular collections free of charge

-steeladept (May 21, 2011, 11:41 PM)

Yup! Here's the handy-dandy infographic my town has so helpfully  provided it's residents:



They do have two "hazardous waste" days per year where you can bring the usual stuff (pesticides, lawn & pool chemicals, small propane tanks, non-latex paints and thinners, etc.) in for free disposal. But they won't accept electronic components or devices. The only exception to their "no electrical items" rule is dead car batteries.

7609

Living Room / Re: favourite hardware hacking resources

« Last post by 40hz on May 22, 2011, 06:40 AM »

The trick is Duct Tape and WD 40
If it moves, but shouldn't = Duct tape
If it doesn't move and should = WD 40

No other problems exist

-Fred Nerd (May 22, 2011, 06:39 AM)

 

7610

Developer's Corner / Re: Database for a Desktop?

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 04:20 PM »

I'm interested to hear thoughts/experiences with Grubba, if anyone chooses to try it...

-kyrathaba (May 19, 2011, 09:39 PM)

Looks like something that might be interesting for setting up a KB type database for a small group of users.

Does anybody know what fieldtypes are available in Grubba? The website isn't particularly helpful when it comes to specifics. And there doesn't seem to be a wiki or documentation available.

7611

Living Room / Re: DHCPV6 Server for Windows 7

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 04:07 PM »

Not to be nosy, but why do you want to run a "6-server" on Win7?  

7612

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 06:46 AM »

I wish I were insanely rich as I'd love to open a chain of stores called "Forever", with only products that are designed to last as long as possible. I think the shelves would be sparsely stocked though...

-Renegade (May 20, 2011, 07:35 PM)

I think the only thing there would be a credit card application. Once you use one of those, the monthly statements never seem to go away.
 

On the music gear side... I need to get a new mixer.

Quasi-OT

Check out the Behringer Eurorack series if you get a chance. Got the suggestion from my godson who recently graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston. You would not believe the labs! That school has every piece of music technology known to mankind. (And I suspect a few alien cultures as well!) His major was in music production and engineering - so he knows his boards.

'The B-Euro' is not a Neve or Allen-Heath by any stretch. But it's remarkably good sounding and versatile. Especially for the price. And you don't need a pilot's license to understand it. Very 'classic' design.

I just started working with one and I'm surprised how good it actually is. For live sound reinforcement it's also a good option. And cheap enough that you won't go completely insane if some drunk dumps a pitcher of cream stout over it in the middle of a gig. Maybe it won't get you bragging rights with the equipment snobs. But it will get the job done.

 

7613

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 06:25 AM »

has everyone gone mad?

-Carol Haynes (May 21, 2011, 06:17 AM)

Looks like it from where I'm sitting. 

7614

Living Room / Re: Tech shopping tips

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 06:18 AM »

1) Do not buy anything remotely close to serial number 0001 of anything.

-40hz (May 20, 2011, 07:05 PM)

Unless the make and model is "Fender Stratocaster" *drool*
(says the guy whose great-uncle received #0003 from his good friend Leo who said, "try it out, tell me what you think"; sold in 1970 for $1000)

-Edvard (May 21, 2011, 12:04 AM)

Regarding 4a: I'm a solid trigger finger with the soldering gun; If I can't fix it, it was broke when it left the factory.

Agree. I'm pretty solid with a soldering iron too. Or was until they came out with 4-layer boards with plated-thru mounting holes.  

7615

Living Room / Re: Tech shopping tips

« Last post by 40hz on May 21, 2011, 06:06 AM »

Experience has taught me - sure, you might have to replace something that breaks several times that one long lasting one will be cheaper in the long run.  However, technology moves so fast that if it is ease to fix you can a) fix it quickly, b) often can fix it cheaply, and c) fix it with a superior product featureset.  How many of you still have and use your old zip drives?  They sure do last, but no one reall uses them anymore, and can you even find drivers for them in Vista/Win7?

-steeladept (May 20, 2011, 10:52 PM)

For 4a, I believe "fix" really means "replace" in most circumstances. Got an iPod? Battery die? Oh... Just replace the iPod...

-Renegade (May 20, 2011, 10:55 PM)

I probably should have expanded on that a bit.

In the context it was given to me in, we we discussing the issue of maintenance. So I'll try rephrasing it so that my buddy Randy's point is a little clearer: It's ok to buy cheap or inexpensive as long as it's easy and cheap to fix. If it isn't, you're better off spending more money up front for something that's not likely to break to begin with.

There's been some debate about the necessity of considering things like this. Especially since much of the tech we use has been engineered with a high degree of obsolescence in mind. And also because most modern techniques for electronic assembly makes many devices virtually unrepairable.

But I think it's important to at least be aware of what inexpensive tech products really cost us. Because there's lots of things on a circuit board you really don't want (or can afford to have) sitting in landfills for the next century or so. A growing tidal wave of obsolete electronics has already started flooding our landfills. And most local recycling centers aren't geared up to handle this type of industrial waste. Consequently, many municipalities are enacting laws that prohibit just dumping electronics in the trash. And many are now charging a fee to pass such waste on to places that can recycle, detoxify, and dispose of electronics safely. (Which has the unintended consequence of encouraging illegal dumping - but that's a topic for another day.)

So it's important to remember that a lot of our technology becomes obsolete (and gets trashed) because it was deliberately designed to be "junked." This is the strategy of manufacturers who are out to make some easy money for their bottom line. They get the customer to not look too closely at what this practice really costs society as a whole by passing a small portion of the savings in manufactured cost over to the customer - as a bribe.

Machiavelli suggested that anytime something was going on that didn't make sense, you could get to the bottom of it by "following the money" to see who profited by it. Manufacturers make money in three ways. First, by the overall number of units sold. Second, by the margin of profit on each item. Third, by the avoidance of rework or re-manufacturing expenses whenever possible.

Building relatively inexpensive devices, which are designed to be thrown out every three years, is a good way to get an optimal yield out of the above three criteria. But only at the hidden expense of downstream waste - which the manufacturer is not held responsible for.

So next time you factor "avoiding obsolescence" into a purchase decision, as yourself the question: Why is there so much obsolescence?

And also ask who's recommendations you're following as a way to deal with obsolescence.

Follow the money and you'll soon discover half of what you've been taught to believe is marketing hype and industry propaganda.  

Regarding 4b, does "last" mean more than 6 months, or as long as the warranty + 1 day?

-Renegade (May 20, 2011, 10:55 PM)

 

I think it currently means from when the credit card transaction first clears until the 'charge-back' period expires.  

7616

Living Room / Re: Tech shopping tips

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 07:05 PM »

Just four:

1) Do not buy anything remotely close to serial number 0001 of anything.

2) Almost every category of technology has a "sweet spot" in its price/performance ratio. It's usually found one or two model numbers below a manufacturer's "top of line" component or device. That's where 90% of the real bargains will be found.

3) Since software development lags behind hardware advances by at least a year, having "last year's model" does not automatically mean lower performance. About 2/3 of all software is still written to work optimally on legacy 32-bit hardware and architectures.

4) The family of a friend when I was in college owned a huge Christmas tree farm. My friend told me that whenever you bought something for a farm, you bought it with one of two philosophies in mind:

     a) it's easy to fix

              -or-

     b) it's going to last.

Not a bad way to approach buying any technology.  

7617

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 06:40 PM »

^Same goes for most musical instruments and equipment.

All the guitars, basses, percussion and wind instruments, as well as the non-electronic keyboards I've ever purchased are still going strong. Same goes for most of the instrument amplifiers of which virtually all were based on the same simple tube circuit (i.e. Bassman) developed by Leo Fender & Co. back in the 50's. About half of my collection has had previous owners. And barring the eminent end of the universe scheduled for tomorrow evening, most will probably survive me to go on serving their purposes for many years to come.

Which is more than I can say for most of the 'modern' music tech I've owned.  

7618

Living Room / Re: favourite hardware hacking resources

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 12:14 PM »

^Added missing "solutions" to the KB. Thx!

P.S. Add impromptu grill. Or griddle with a double piece of heavy tinfoil. 

7619

General Software Discussion / Re: WorkTimer: A free web app for freelancers

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 08:36 AM »

Just registered to try it out. I'll do a review once I've used it for a bit.

7620

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 08:08 AM »

I have to ask...Was it Apple who predicted the end of the world to occur tomorrow?

-Josh (May 20, 2011, 07:47 AM)

I don't think so. But there's probably an app for it anyway.  

-----------
Update:  Figures. They do have an app for it!

End Of The World Facts 1.0
Device: iOS iPhone
Category: Lifestyle
Price: Free, Version: 1.0 (iTunes)

Description:

Select the end of the world prediction to display countdown to that date.Features interesting facts about what will happen by then based on current statistics.

Simple and fun.

Fun?

7621

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 07:46 AM »

From some of the comments posted in this thread, I'm beginning to think that in the more affluent levels of society, one's choice of computing platform serves roughly the same social function as tattoos and jive-signs do for inner city street gangs. 

7622

Living Room / Re: favourite hardware hacking resources

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 07:33 AM »

You're not from the south are you ... It's supposed to be Duct Tape and a Coat Hanger.

a.k.a. Standard Redneck muffler/exhaust repair kit.

-Stoic Joker (May 20, 2011, 06:31 AM)

1) AFAIK you only absolutely needed the coat hanger to fix the throttle on an old style carburetor. It was also an especially effective universal 'replacement part' for a lot of tricky little things in a pre fuel injection era VW Beetle engine...

2) And no. I am not from the south. (Unless 'southern' New England qualifies.)  

 

7623

Living Room / Re: favourite hardware hacking resources

« Last post by 40hz on May 20, 2011, 06:12 AM »

@Target:

  +     

7624

Living Room / Re: So Apple really is a religious thing...

« Last post by 40hz on May 19, 2011, 03:42 PM »

FWIW - I primarily use what I can afford.

"Coolness," "personal choice" and "best of breed"  doesn't usually figure into the equation for me. "Good enough" is truly good enough in my world. But more out of necessity than anything else.

Which is why I need to know a bit more about the technology I own than the person who can go buy whatever they want and be done with it.

"Use it up, wear it out, re-purpose, improvise, make do - or punt!" as the saying goes. 

And I think this applies to about 80% of all computer users.  

7625

General Software Discussion / Re: Need proxy software to capture outbound http requests

« Last post by 40hz on May 19, 2011, 03:19 PM »

pfsense on one of these babies is pretty sweet. We used them at 4 different locations at my last job. Only problem we had was with some VPN flakiness that came down to a particular security setting that we had to disable (just a minor security feature - the underlying encryption remained).

- Oshyan

-JavaJones (May 18, 2011, 09:35 PM)

pfsense is also an excellent option, and probably a better choice than Smoothwall at this point if you're willing to put a little effort into "grokking" what is a much more powerful security product. Time well spent IMO. We plan on moving our clients who have not subscribed to their ISP's managed router/firewall service over to it in the near future whenever possible.

There's an excellent 4-part tutorial/how-to for pfsense over at SmallNetBuilder's website. The fourth part gets into logging and may have eactly what you're looking for. You can find the first part of the series here.

Note: SmallNetBuilder    is an excellent resource, so spend a little time browsing it when you get a chance. It's perfect for someone in your line of work. Highly recommended.  


----

Another solution you might consider if network security is a concern  is something called Untangle. I've waxed poetic about this product before so I won't repeat my earlier comments. There is a very capable free version available, and non-profits can subscribe to the full version at the same discount rate offered educational institutions.