Costa Rica Diary : Day 4

Slowly, I am becoming used to the keyboard on this computer -- it was designed for the Spanish speaking market, and the country settings in Vista do not quite match. I still don't know how to type a colon.

I tried to fix this once, but since Vista requires a reboot after changing the keyboard language, I decided to live with it. I feel like I am only one reboot away from a re-configuration marathon.

Today we did zip line rides through the canopy in Montezuma. I was at first somewhat reluctant to go, but glad I went. The height did not really bother me...it was so much higher than I normally deal with, that it did not really register that I should be afraid.

After that, a short ride into town and some shopping, then a ride back to the villa. Chicken quesadillas and fresh guacamole was served. I then went to the infinity pool to read some more of The Black Swan.

Costa Rica Diary : Day 3

Today we went ATV riding. Alan arranged it and all but Kerry and Stacy went on the trip. We cruised along the beach and through the forest adjacent to the beach. Crabs are everywhere. In some places it looked like the ground was moving.

Costa Rica Diary : Day 2

This was to be the day of the Internet Fixing.

Woke up around 0800. Had some breakfast, did some reading. Watched the ocean. I've always enjoyed the sights and sounds of the ocean more than swimming in the ocean.

So, I'm in Costa Rica, and I'm fixing problems. Can't get it out of my system.

I had been unable to get the wireless internet working yesterday.

Some additional complicating factors :

- The computer was running Windows Vista Home Premium
- Almost all the text is in Spanish
- The ISDN modem was a USB device

Normally, the USB network device would not such a big deal if we were connecting one computer. In our situation, the goal was to share the connection to the Linksys router, allowing wireless clilents to connect.

On Saturday, I had discovered and removed a redundant network cable from the router to the computer. I tried configuring the device for ICS, but could not get it to work. I spent my time on Saturday mostly trying to get the system back to English. Through some research with Mr. Google, I learned that this version of Vista did not support multiple language packs. We were stuck with Spanish.

I knew Alan would need the internet access, so when "Scruffy" arrived, I sat down with him to help him get it working. Scruffy arrived from the states 20 years ago on his sailboat, and never left. He is a good friend of the villa owner. He spoke Spanish and together we were able to move forward.

This was one of those situations where having two people working on a problem can be quite helpful. Especially since he could translate menus. We tried a number of configurations until we got it working. We also used Alan's laptop to help with the configuration of the router.

ICS - Internet Connection Sharing - wanted a dynamic IP address...and only the Linksys router could do that. If I set the range of DHCP addresses to start at 192.168.1.50, then the ICS connection would always get 192.168.1.52. I wanted to set the IP address of the router statically, but it would not allow me to set the gateway address to the same as the internet address -- 192.168.1.52, even though that appeared to be correct.

The implication of this was that wireless clients could never connect automatically, as DHCP was unable to deliver the proper gateway address. There was probably a way of fixing this, but I had reached the point where I just wanted it to work, and that any working repeatable procedure was acceptable.

Another complication we discovered -- the Acer PC had its' own wireless adapter, which would try to connect to the Linksys router. We turned it off to simplify matters.

After a couple of hours, we got it working -- with the caveat that IP, netmask and gateway had to be set manually on any wireless adapters that wanted to connect. It had not been working, and on a whim, I entered the IP address of Google.com, which loaded. The ISP DNS was sucky.

Just as we got it working, the PC spontaneously rebooted. Sigh. This computer BSOD a number of times, which seemed to be related to the flaky ISDN modem.

When it came back up, the Linksys Easy Configuration software loaded and somehow blocked the ICS connection. So we uninstalled the "helpful" Linksys software and rebooted again.

Here was the final configuration :
- Acer PC connected to the internet via the Intracom ISDN modem
- ICS used to bond the NIC in the ACER to the Intracom network
- ACER NIC cabled to LAN connection on Linksys router

On the Linksys router
-DHCP turned on
-gateway set to the base DHCP address plus 2

For any connecting wired or wireless hosts
- IP set manually to a 192.168.1.X address not already used
- Netmask set to 255.255.255.0
- Gateway set to 192.168.1.52
- DNS addresses set to the public OpenDNS.com addresses. The DNS servers of the ISP were unreliable.

I entered the configuration into Alan's laptop and gave it back to him.

He needed to download some software from Nikon.com to process his photos. At a maximum data rate of about 18 kbps, this took a couple of hours.

The download speed went up and down as the ISDN B channel kicked in and out. But it worked.

Costa Rica Diary : Day 1

Woke up at 0400 Saturday morning...made it to the airport by 0530. Flight left on time for Miami. So far, all uneventful. Met some nice folks in Miami that were scheduled to be on the same flight from San Jose to Tambor on which we were booked. She spoke Spanish and called Sansa to tell them that we would be a bit late. Missing the Tambor flight would put us on the bus to the coast, a long ferry ride and final drive to the villa.

The flight left Miami on time. We discovered that the crew had forgotten the immigration and customs paperwork. We would have to complete those forms when we arrived in San Jose. We arrived on time and madly filled out the handful of forms. Just as we were getting in the first line, our family was diverted to a shorter line since we had 2 kids. Immigration went relatively quickly and we rushed to the Sansa terminal. We arrived at 1330 for the 1400 flight and got checked in. Fortunately, the folks we met in Miami arrived shortly afterward and we all got on the flight.

The 25 minute flight to Tambor was remarkably smooth. Liam slept through the entire flight.

We were met at the Tambor aiport, which consists of a landing strip, a parking lot and a porta-potty. We paid our $1 per passenger airport tax and were on our way.

The drive from the Tambor airport to the villa was actually rougher than the commuter flight to Tambor. We arrived at the villa and met our host, Hansel. We settled in, and 4 hours later the others arrived. In the pouring rain.

I discovered that the internet service was not quite working. More on that tomorrow.

Dinner, then bed soon afterward. A long day.

keeping us safe - The dangerous lithium battery

Our Sun servers have CR2032 lithium coin cell batteries. Thes batteries are obviously very dangerous, considering how replacements are shipped. When one goes bad, this is what you get from Sun : A large box with ominous stickers, which contains a smaller box protected by "packaged air". Inside the smaller box is an anti-static envelope (protected by foam). Inside the envelope is a single CR2032 lithium coin battery.

For what it cost them to send me one battery, they could have bought me 20 batteries.

Alien Autopsy : Wierd POS terminal

I found this item on a recent trip to the Raleigh Flea Market. It appeared to be some sort of custom point-of sale terminal. It had :

• smart card slot
• credit card scanner
• PC card attachment
• large rectangular touch screen

There were no external markings. It was only $1, so what the heck. As is usual with such items, I take them apart.

The internals are a spectacular mess. Wires go in every direction. Copious silicone caulk holds it together. The PC Card/flash connector on the back goes nowhere. Apparently a design change.

I am impressed at the volume of stuff they managed to jam in there :

• smart card reader
• credit card scanner
• processor board
• VGA PC Card
• thermal printer
• 2 rechargable batteries
• 2 alkaline batteries, caulked in place
• 4 AA battery holder
• 2 AA battery holder
  
• LCD touch screen
• 2 pushbuttons

And of course the case, which is the best part. It will make a nice case for an upcoming project.

King Charles Troupe : 44 years of unicycle basketball

On my ride into work today, a spoke with an ex-member of the King Charles Troupe, a unicycle basketball exhibition team founded in 1968. It's a small world.

iPhone Repair : The New Frontier

My son's 1G iPhone has started misbehaving. Looks like the sleep/power button gets stuck down, which causes a reboot loop. Needless to say, he is not particularly enthusiastic about Dad taking his iPhone apart.

For now, I told him to not use the Sleep button...just allow the iPhone to power itself off.

Mr. Google was not particularly helpful. I did find a few people that have had this problem and fixed it by taking the iPhone apart.

I was thinking that it might be possible to use some alcohol on a swab or contact cleaner to free up the stuck button. I am seeing issues with the Home button also. Sigh.

I have ordered the official Apple Spudger Tool (Apple Part # 922-5065) in preparation for the inevitiable.

iPod Touch : Apps that sync data locally

When I bought the iPod Touch, I realized that I would not have :

• phone capability
• GPS
• camera

but I wasn't willing to spend the $1200 out of pocket expense ($199 + 24 mo * $40).

Most iPhone apps work on the iPod Touch, but data is only available within the range of a WiFi hotspot. So I concentrated on apps that can sync when the network is available, and still function offline.

The apps that I use that allow offline functionality :

• Memengo Wallet - Secure document storage. Syncs to memengo.com
• Toodledo - GTD style to do lists. 2 way sync to toodledo.com
• NY Times - free - Syncs NY Times content locally
• BookshelfLT - free - book reader with access to downloadable content (it caches)
• Stanza - free - Another book reader, access to more, different, content
  

favorite iPod Touch apps

A short list of my favorite iPod Touch apps so far (not pre-installed) :

• AOL Radio (free) - Dozens of streaming radio channels, free from AOL. Personal favorites are "Video Game Scores" and "Anime Radio".
• Google Earth (free) - Still useful even without the GPS. Can do simple location determination based on information gathered from Wi-Fi hotspots by Skyhook Wireless
• Google (free) - GMail, Google Reader
• Pandora (free) - streaming radio
• BookshelfLT (free) - EReader with access to many public domain and free books
• Memengo Wallet ($2.99) - encrypt private data, store encrypted copy on the web
• Evernote (free) - Synchronized notes capability
• Phanfare Photon (free) - Local access to phanfare.com photo albums
• Toodledo ($3.99) - To do lists, synchronized and shareable

iPhone or iPod Touch ?

So, I've been watching Aidan use his iPhone, and have been impressed with what is available through the app store. I am still using my 5G iPod, but the screen is a bit small for watching video. So perhaps a new 3G iPhone?

Well, I have a work issued BlackBerry 8703e, and it's hard to justify paying for another phone. The BlackBerry has Internet service. I have a very nice Sony-Ericsson k790a Cyber Shot phone on a shared AT&T service plan as my personal phone. Up till about a week ago, I carried both.

Also, with the iPhone, I determined the actual cost of the iPhone to be about $1200 when the required data plan is factored in.

I looked at the iPod Touch, and decided that the feature set was right for my needs. With the help of a $100 BestBuy gift card, I bought a new 16GB iPod Touch. In order to pare back down to 2 devices, I've forwarded the calls from my personal phone to the Blackberry, and my k790a has become a very fancy camera. Once my new case arrives, the iPod touch will take the place of the k790a as the second device that I carry.

gadget update : Aidan's iPhone

So my son wanted an iPhone, but there was no way he could afford a $40/month service plan. Solution? Purchase a used 1G iPhone (thanks Hal) and activate it without a data plan. While the new 3G iPhones require a 2 year data plan, repurposed 1G iPhones do not. Big thanks to Esai at AT&T for making all the appropriate account settings to disable the data service on Aidan's iPhone. He wanted to be able to text message, but the iPhone data/SMS plan is a bundle. The only way to get just SMS is to purchase the Family SMS plan, which is $30/month.

I don't think he has really missed it. He usually has access to wi-fi, so he can watch his YouTube videos and download apps from the iTunes store.

Had to reset the iPhone this evening; it would not power on. Mr. Google filled me in on the details and all is well.

blog revival : work status

It's been a while since my last update. Many changes. We are into our second year as a merged IT organization at NCSU. I've been spending much of my work time deploying new equipment. There is something especially satisfying about starting with a box of parts and seeing the results shortly afterward. We will shortly be deploying our new VMWare ESX cluster. But enough about work.

re the Colbert incident

Recently watched the video of Steven Colbert's presentation at the White House Correspondent's Dinner. Funny and sad at the same time. The John McCain "salad fork" bit was cold, cold, cold. And priceless. Unfortunately, only our comedians have the balls to "undress" Emperor Bush and his conspirators.....tk

The transcript, for your enjoyment :

Other links :
http://www.radioopensource.org/stephen-colbert-court-jester/
http://www.edbatista.com/2006/05/debord_stewart_.html
http://billmon.org/archives/002417.html
http://thankyoustephencolbert.org/

Froshmauskrieg - the battle between the frogs and the mice

German for "battle between the frogs and the mice". Used by Albert Einstein's secretary on a file folder tab.

Said folder contained information that " (described) the long and bitter dispute between the School of Math and the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study." Also useful for describing discussions involving email and calendar systems.

Here comes the judge...

After initially thinking I would be chief election judge in my precinct this year, I was told that the Democratic Judge would become the chief judje, as my affiliation is currently listed as "unaffiliated".

Got a call this morning that the Democratic judge had resigned, and I'm the chief judge again.

Training starts tomorrow and I get to see the new election equipment on the 17th.

GMail whoops

Two nights ago, I completed the moving of all my GMail to my iBook G4, where it will be sorted and a subset will be moved to my fastmail.fm account. It had gotten quite slow and kind of unreliable. This morning, I couldn't get access.

I currently have the GMail account forwarding to my fastmail.fm account, but not deleting mail so I can catch the few straggler accounts where the gmail address is my preference/id.

So I will be primarily be using my GMail address as a forwarding service. GMail likely does not mind much, it still provides visibility for their service while not having to keep my stuff.

Microsoft as earnest contractor? It depends...

Ross Rubin in his Switched On column, feels that Microsoft is being quite earnest in trying to please its' customers.

I would contend, that this earnestness exends only so far as determining which version of Windows the customer should be running. Sometimes, especially in the area of mobile devices, the devices should not be running Windows at all. But with Gates and Co., that is never an option, no matter how much sense it makes.

Early versions of Windows Mobile were nearly unusable, as they forced the user into the Windows "Start" menu paradigm, rather than Palm (who currently has its' own assortment of problems, like relevancy) who created a simple interface that was best adapted for how a mobile user interacts with a PDA. I still remember having to ask someone how to enter a URL into mobile Internet Explorer.

I see Microsoft repeating their mistakes again in the form of the UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC). Rather than design a interface which is available in seconds, and mostly concentrates on staying out of the way, we will end up with Windows XP Tablet Edition with the edges sawed off. By the time it is done booting, your opportunity for using that spare moment in time will have passed, and soon, it just gets left at home.

In this arena, I think Nokia has the right idea with the 770 tablet. It runs a version of Linux and has no hard drive. It is optimized for casual use. Turn it on, use it, put it away. It fits in a coat pocket and weights about half a pound. And sells for $350.

Super Nintendo (SNES) repair

If your Super Nintendo is dead, it is probably easily repaired. This posting has been sitting in my Blogger queue for 3 months. I'm planning to add pictures, but for now, I want to get at least something up.

Disclaimer : You do this at your own risk. If your house burns down as a result of these attempted repairs, it's not my fault.

One has to admire the engineering that goes into these consoles. They are built like tanks. I recently reassembled a Nintendo 64 from parts. Works like a champ.

On to the repairs...

Problem 1 : Broken power jack
Soultion 1 : First, make sure that the conductors in the broken jack are not shorted together. Remove the circuit board. Solder wires to the circuit board at the location where the power jack connects to the board. Purchase a replacement jack from Radio Shack. If you use part number xxx-xxxx, you will be able to use a -9v Sony power brick. Mount the new jack on the corner of the case nearest the power jack.

Problem 2 : Lost/broken power supply. Can't find a -10 volt power supply
Solution 2 : If the plug is ok, cut the cable off the power supply, and patch on a new one. Any 9 volt supply of at least 500 ma will work. It turns out that the -10v input is regulated down to 5 volts anyway, so 9 works as well as 10. Be sure to wire the polarity correctly.

On future repairs, I'm planning to install a bridge rectifier between the power jack and circuit board. Then the polarity is irrelevant.

Problem 3 : Power light does not come on (probably related to problems 1 and/or 2)
Solution 3 : The internal fuse is probably blown. The fuse is soldered to the circuit board. Remove and replace with a fuseholder and fuse. Or use a fuse with pigtail and solder it in directly.

If the cart slot is damaged, I don't know what to tell you. Cleverly, the connector can be unplugged from the main circuit board, making connector replacement easy. Assuming you can find one.

iPod utility on the cheap

I just bought a 5G Video iPod last month and I love it. What I don't love is the high price of iPod accessories. $30 for a rubber protective sleeve is just too much. I have also discovered that some accessories can be used in multiple ways. I keep all this stuff in a small carry bag.

- silicone sleeve - purchased from PC Microstore for $10 with free shipping.

- Belkin Auto Kit - The Belkin iPod Auto Kit is one of the most useful accessories I own. It is basically a car lighter adapter that allows the iPod to be charged and provides a 1/8 line out which connects to a cassette adapter of FM transmitter. The line out signal is amplified and adjustable via a volume control.

- 12 accessory adapter - This plugs into an AC outlet, and any 12V powered device with a car lighter plug can be plugged into it. Rather than buying both auto and home accessories, plug the auto accessories into the accessory adapter. Also works well for cell phone accessories

- cassette adapter - connects the iPod line out to a cassette deck

- passive portable speakers - I have a pair of passive Sony speakers which work fine. Target has the Sony SRS-P7's for about $10

- AV cable - I bought a camcorder adapter cable from eBay for $6. Since the wiring is different, I marked the RCA plugs with the correct iPod "polarity

These items can be combined in a variety of ways :

AC powered iPod "stereo" - plug the Belkin car kit into the 12v accessory adapter, then plug the passive speakers into the Belkin car kit. Volume is adjustable via the Belkin car kit.

self powered iPod stereo - plug the passive speakers directly into the iPod

iPod charger - the Ipod does not come with an AC adapter, so plug the Belkin car kit into the accessory adapter