Praise God! A mystery since the ’70’s has been solved. Jonathan Corum, a lad with far too much free time on his hands, has estimated the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow. And you thought that a swallow had to beat its wings 43 times a second to maintain airspeed velocity didn’t you?
A grand Huzzah to Mr. Corum.
The U.S. Army has dumped Microsoft Windows in favor of Linux for their new ‘Land Warrior’ high-tech soldier ensemble.
“The Land Warrior was designed to provide communications and networking capabilities to dismounted soldiers that so far only have been available to mounted forces. The idea is for members of a platoon to be able to pass around battlefield procedural messages, graphics, alerts and other pieces of information that currently are communicated by hand signals and voice.”
“The LW SI will have a single processor. The previous LW had a dual processor, which frequently malfunctioned. Other changes include a more simplified data bus and a Linux-based operating system, as opposed to Windows. “Evidence shows that Linux is more stable. We are moving in general to where the Army is going, to Linux-based OS,” said [Army Lt. Col. Dave Gallop].”
I guess the Army doesn’t want to deal with “Download Critical Updates” messages in their HUD when involved in a firefight.
More information at
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/article.cfm?Id=1238
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/33611.html
Got a Nokia 6800? Want to change that switch’s configuration from the beach? Why are the first four sentences questions?
Well, Idokorro Mobile has a SSH client for your Nokia 6800. From the site …
“Idokorro Mobile SSH for Nokia creates direct connections to your servers right from the device without the need for any kind of intermediate proxy. The Nokia 6800’s Qwerty keyboard allows typing all your favorite commands in an easy to use interface. With the 6800’s GPRS capabilities connections are fast and allow streaming of data such as running ‘tail’ on a web server log file.”
“SSH connections can be performed to any SSH-2 server. Industry and government standard Triple DES and AES (Advanced Encryption Standard – FIPS-197) encryption methods are supported. Data is encrypted from the device all the way to the SSH server, so there are no intermediary or proxy components where the data might be unencrypted and vulnerable to attack.”
You can use Pine on your cell phone! Schweet! Truly mobile computing. $45.
First off, if you will be using your PC Notebook computer more than half the time on a wireless network, get Windows XP. XP’s ‘Wireless Zero Configuration’ (WZC) feature makes life so much easier. WZC eliminates the need to install third-party configuration clients for your wireless network cards, and in my experience is much more reliable at managing multiple wireless profiles.
I used the WLI-CB-G54A on both a Windows 2000 and XP notebook. If you are running Windows 2000, don’t try to be clever and download the latest client software, use the version from the installation CD. The new client software does not support multiple profiles, nor the ability to see any other AP besides a Buffalo product. The software client on the CD supports all of the above, and provides a much nicer overall interface. If you are running XP, just use the CD for the drivers, you don’t need the client software. Are you an Apple PowerBook user running OS X and the latest Airport software? Don’t already have an Airport card? You too can use this 802.11g card.
Once installed and connected, I tend to not notice the network card I am using, which is how it should be. The WLI-CB-G54A was solid, causing no blue screens of death or other system hiccups. File transfers around the local network were noticeably faster with fewer network lags. My experience with the Internet hasn’t changed, nor should it. The improved speeds in 802.11g will only improve your printing and file-sharing speeds on your local network. If your Internet connection is currently slow, buying one of these newer cards will not provide any improvement. However, if you have more than one computer around the house or office, the increased speed for file sharing and printing is well worth the cost. Note: The final 802.11g geek spec dictates that if an older 802.11b-based computer connects to the network, overall maximum speed drops to 22Mbps. To realize the full benefits of a 802.11g network, you should use only 802.11g cards. Makes you think someone wanted to sell more of these faster, newer cards eh?
Price: $58.79 – Dell
I was an early adopter of Wi-Fi with Buffalo’s first wireless Access Point (AP) the WLA-L11. You could plug this AP into an existing computer network and have instant wireless access. Pretty nifty. The web interface was utilitarian in appearance and whatever online help provided was confusing at best. In short, as with other early wireless offerings, you needed a pretty good idea of what you were doing.
Two years later and Buffalo is trying to expand their SOHO market by breaking into the consumer market. As your premiere source of consumer information, Buffalo naturally sent Dig_iT one of their new WBR-G54 Cable/DSL Router/APs for a test run. I’ve been using it for about a month and the ride has not been luxurious.
The WBR-G54 retains the same tall and thin egg shape and size as previous Buffalo products. For AP functionality this is great, as the wireless card inside is aligned properly for best signal strength without the need of large external antennas like those sported by Netgear and D-Link. The footprint is about 3″x6″, so it doesn’t take up much space.
The hardware setup is plug and play easy. Connect the power cord and run an Ethernet cable (supplied) from the Ethernet port on your Cable/DSL modem to the ‘WAN’ port on the AP. Further setup is done via the embedded web server with your web browser.
The setup screens, while thorough, make me feel like I am still using Netscape 4 (shudder!). While some may appreciate the utilitarian look of the screens, I much prefer the interface of Netgear’s competing WGR-614 product. On Netgear’s pages the sections are broken up by good uses of color, and a detailed help screen for each setup page runs down the right side. Buffalo might want to consider retaining a designer to help the look of the web-based setup.
If you get confused by some of the terms during setup, Buffalo’s help boxes are not much help, and not very understandable. Much of the text reads as if it were badly translated from uber-Geek to pidgin English. I probably have too much experience with this wireless stuff yet with some of the double negatives, even I couldn’t understand what some of the help messages were trying to explain.
When I decided to try an admittedly complex configuration, I ran into trouble and had to call Tech Support. I was pleasantly shocked to talk to a live person within minutes. He was knowledgeable and friendly and answered my questions. Conversely, this is an area where Netgear could learn something from Buffalo.
When helping people setup their home wireless networks I often hear, “I don’t want the neighbor’s kid surfing for porn on my dime.” Buffalo’s SOHO past is of help with this concern. The WBR-G54 allows wireless authentication through Radius, 802.1x, AES as well as the new WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption scheme. Older security methods such as WEP and MAC address filtering are also available to wireless clients. If you don’t know what this means, don’t worry too much, but if you are really concerned about the brat next door who spends way too much time inside, ask your favorite IT person to come over and make sure the little git can’t get in. Barb Bowman has a good article on setting up WPA with Windows XP and this Buffalo AP.
The next question I hear is, “Does this mean I can work by the pool?” Leaving aside the fact that most notebook screens aren’t bright enough to be visible in direct sunlight, the WBR-G54 is definitely “better, stronger, faster” when it comes to transfer speed and signal range. In casual testing around the house, the WBR-G54 has a wireless range of about 30′ greater than the older WLA-L11. As for speed, yes, 802.11g is definitely faster than 802.11b. File transfers around the local network were noticeably faster with fewer network lags.
If the range still isn’t enough, an external antennae port is available on the back of the case. The antennae connector for this AP remains the same size as 802.11b antenna connectors, so you will be able to continue to use any omni-directional (sends a signal in all directions) or uni-directional (sends a signal in one direction) antennas previously purchased.
My conclusion? If you are a first time Cable/DSL subscriber, this router/AP will definitely do the job but there are other models by Netgear and D-Link that the average consumer may find easier to setup. Buyers with an eye towards tighter security or home offices will appreciate some the advanced security features offered in this model. At under $100, this is the only product in its class offering this level of security.
(Best Price: $85.95 – Dell)
Kudos to my sources at CNET for finding this nifty bit of software. I have often complained about the static location of the application’s menu bar when working with a dual-display. When you are working on the non-primary display, it is a long mouse journey back to the ‘File’ menu. It seems that I am not alone in the Apple dual-display desert. Karl Hsu has developed a bit of donation-ware called DejaMenu that with a key-combination, will display the current application’s menu bar right above the current window. Nifty. NeXTStep alums will recall that this was available in that OS with a right click.
Thank you Karl.
This is pretty funny in that strange but true sense. In an effort to deflect the Blaster worm attack and its many variations, as well as potential problems from the Sobig virus, Microsoft has turned to Akamai to provide a ditrubuted cache of their website. The irony is that Akamai’s servers are Linux-based. And yes, Alanis Morissette, THAT is ironic.
Yes, this is a week old, but on Aug. 16, the weekend of the blackout, CNN posted the top ten pieces of advice from Iraqi’s on how to deal with the heat during a blackout. I thought New Yorkers would appreciate #2.
Thanks to our friends at Cannonball Fine Art for providing me with a great satellite image of the recent blackout in the northeastern US. I love these kind of shots.
Update 9-1-2003: Per Aaron’s comments below, this picture is indeed a hoax. I’ve been had! Bad Fritter! Nevertheless it is pretty cool. Check out Aaron’s link for more information on this hoax.
Ah, the things we do to waste time. My task today, have a proper icon for my iPod display in Explorer and My Computer views in Windows XP.
Custom WinXP iPod Icon
To start, a disclaimer. This modification entails changing some settings in the Windows Regsitry. If done incorrectly, Registry changes can corrupt your entire Windows installation. If you are not comfortable making Registry changes then this modification is not for you. Also, this may work on Windows 2000, but you will need to find different icons as Win2K does not support XP high-res icons. Finally, you need to have Administrative access to your WinXP computer.
That said, visit this page at the Xicons site and download the icon zipped file. Next unzip the icons and save them somewhere that makes sense to you. Personally, I have an ‘icons’ directory in the ‘My Documents’ directory. You can also save the icon files to your winnt/system32 or windows/system32 directory if you wish. Now choose which of the icons you wish to use. I have only found XP icons for the original iPod, which is the model I have. If you find XP icons for the new iPod design, please make a comment below.
Next we need to make sure that the iPod gets the same drive letter each time it is connected. Personally, I like the letter ‘I’ (for iPod). It is far enough away to allow my other removable devices to not infringe. Typically, you can choose any drive letter after ‘D’ . To change the drive letter go to the Control Panel and then open the ‘Administrative Tools’ folder. Then double-click ‘Computer Management.’ In the left tab of Computer Management click on ‘Disk Management’ — your various hard drives will show up on the right. In the top right pane, right click on your iPod’s drive letter and choose ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths…’ and then click ‘Change’ and then change your drive letter. Click ‘OK’ twice and then close ‘Computer Management.”
Open the Registry Editor by going to Start->Run and typing ‘regedit’ and click OK. Goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer]. Look for ‘DriveIcons.’ If it doesn’t exist, create it by right-clicking on ‘Explorer’ and click ‘New->Key’ and entering ‘DriveIcons’. Then right click on ‘DriveIcons’ and choose ‘New->Key’ and enter the drive letter you chose above. Again, right click on the drive letter and click ‘New->Key’ and enter ‘DefaultIcon’. Now click on ‘DefaultIcon’ and the right side should show (Default) – REG_SZ and (value not set). Double-click (Default) and in the ‘Value data’ enter the full path to your icon file. If you used a folder in ‘My Documents’ or if the path to your icon file contains directory names with spaces then you should enclose the entire path in double quotes, i.e. “c:\documents and settings\username\my documents\icons\ipodAngled.ico”.
Close the Registry Editor and disconnect your iPod. When you reconnect your iPod your new icon should show up in the various explorer views. Credit for the Registry hack goes to David Candy and a post I found in Google Groups.