compromise

The mini 9's on Dell Outlet sold faster than I thought. By the time I checked yesterday, all that was left were Mini 9's without webcams. Ordered a 1GB, 8GB SSD, Bluetooth configuration. I could have gotten a 10, but I wanted small.

the evolution/devolution of netbooks

Our 21st anniversary was today; Kerry asked what I wanted. I think I'm going to get a Dell Mini 9 netbook.

As part of my job, I'm in the server room copying data onto printed spreadsheets. When back at my desk, I type in the numbers. It would be great to capture that data as it is generated and avoid double entries. It would also avoid repeated reprinting of my server data spreadsheets.

I like the Dell Mini 9 because it's small and light. The keyboard is a little small, but for my purposes OK. I'm really looking for small, goes everywhere. I don't want to think about whether I should carry it with me.

They discontinued the Mini 9 last month. Dell has stopped using the SSD, which I want for the durability and battery life.

They have black ones with 1GB of RAM, an 8 GB SSD and a .3mp webcam for $239. They have 512MB models for $10 cheaper without the webcam. The webcam would be worth $10 to me, so go with the 1GB.

I can always swap the SSD for a hard drive to run OS X. The Mini 9 is the only 100% OS X compatible netbook according to this chart :

http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/12/17/osx-netbook-compatib.html

At best, the others have broken audio (HP) or broken ethernet (MSI Wind).

Had a discussion with someone at work today about netbooks. He talked about how he would need a hard drive so it could be loaded with Microsoft Office. This totally misses the point.

The netbook is the perfect interface to the...here it comes..."cloud". All your apps and data reside on the internet; the netbook is just a smart conduit. Local word processing is probably necessary, but bloatware like Word is just overkill.

The vendors (at least Dell) are missing it too. The netbook is evolving by losing its' SSD for a hard drive (bye bye battery life) and growing bigger screens (bye bye portability). Pretty soon netbooks will become ....laptops.

iPod Touch strangeness

I've been having problems with podcast listings on my iPod Touch where the podcast appears on the iPod Touch, but does not show up in iTunes. I could delete these podcasts on the Touch, but they would never go away. After reading about auto purging of listened podcasts, I played the podcasts in question, oldest to newest. The "phantom" podcasts were essentially empty (1 or 2 seconds long) and they all "played" in a second or so.

Once they were played, I could delete them on the iPod Touch, and after syncing with iTunes, they were still gone. Yay.

My remaining problems appear to be podcasts with improper metadata in specific podcast episodes. The July 8 edition of "On The Media" copies to the iPod and is visible on the iPod, but does not appear in iTunes on my Mac. No content is apparently copied as the podcast plays for a second then stops.

My workaround to make these broken podcasts playable :
- Convert podcast to AAC (from right-click menu)
- Copy podcast to iTunes
- Set Genre to "Podcast-Other"
- Create smart playlist on iPod to show these podcasts

Bjork, Volta, Voltaic, gestural controllers

I was listening to Bjork as the guest DJ on All Songs Considered. She has an esthetic I can appreciate ... blending electronic and natural sounds in her music. She is using a gestural control instrument from Reactable on her Voltaic tour that can be seen in this video from "Later with Jools Holland".

To get a feel for the Voltaic live show, here is a video of "Pluto" from the Paris show.

Just ordered a copy of Volta...looking forward to the listen.

Costa Rica Diary : Day 5

Today was pretty lazy. Woke up early -- 0630 -- even though I went to bed past 2230. Kerry and I went for a walk on the road leading to the villa. Saw some birds and of course lots of crabs. Nearly missed breakfast while reading on the patio, which would have been unfortunate as it was excellent. French toast, sausage, eggs, toast, pineapple and mango. Finished "The Black Swan", went swimming in the infinity pool.

Kerry, the kids, Stephanie, Carly and Darby walked up to Lookout Point. When we got back, had fajitas for lunch, which were OK. The beef was a little tough.

More afternoon lazy time....went back over "The Black Swan" to find favorite quotes. Got on the internet and looked at SD card based disk drive replacements for the C64 -- not sure what led me there. Went back outside, watched the kids play in the surf.

Kerry, the kids and I went on an ATV ride down to the beach. Took some pictures...then it started thundering, so we headed back. After about 45 minutes, we had a shrimp dinner.

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.