Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Hi Tech

What's amazing is that I'm sitting on the beach in Aruba, watching the Tour De France live on my PC via a Wi-Fi connection. Lance is still the overall leader although Vinokourov had a massive ride today. He attacked at 28km and won the stage! He was ahead by over 3 minutes going over the Col Du Galibier. I guess he was pretty upset about getting spanked yesterday.

The only problem I'm having is that my laptop battery is about to die. Go figure.

Hello from Aruba! Here is a look at some palm trees outside our hotel room. The ocean is just beyond the trees to the right. It is morning here and my lens had a little dew on it. I'll post more later!
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Monday, June 27, 2005

Windows 3G EV-DO Mobile-Based Device

Windows 3G EV-DO Mobile-Based Device: "US : The search is over for mobile professionals and gadget enthusiasts in need of a wireless device with reliable EV-DO high-speed connectivity, a familiar user interface and essential hardware features. Samsung?s SCH-i730, featuring Microsoft?s Windows Mobile software, is available today for large account customers and on July 7 for consumers, exclusively through Verizon Wireless, operator of the nation?s most reliable wireless voice network. "

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Problems with HP 2000C

Trying to find support software (Toolbox) downloads for the HP 2000C printer.

Apparently this printer has chips in the printheads! Not so good that they can have date issues!

http://www.ddjembedded.com/resources/articles/2002/0209k/0209k.htm

Monday, June 20, 2005

pdaPhoneHome.com Archive - Wireless Sync problem

When trying to synchronize my smartphone (Samsung i600) with my MSOutlook through Verizon Wireless's Wireless Sync, the calendar on the phone was deleted. Apparently, one needs to open the calendar feature at least once before performing a wireless sync.

pdaPhoneHome.com Archive - Wireless Sync problem: "Well, according to a VZW FAQ or User manual (don't remember which) you need to open the calendar app at least once on your treo before installing wireless sync. Did you do that? Apparently opening it, cause some file to be created that is needed by wireless sync. If the file isn't there, wireless sync will fail. Not sure if this is the problem. Hope it helps."

Hard reset of Samsung i600

Reset the Samsung I600 (How to)
To reset, turn phone off, hold down # and 6 while pressing power, now hit left soft key when prompted, could take a while (5 to 20 minutes)"

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Fixed Wireless in Alberta, Canada

Here is yet another announcement about a BWA system using pre-WiMax type gear. No word on the frequency range but one has to suspect that Bell is going to use some of the frequencies they just won in the auction this past February.


Press Release:
Bell Canada Deploys DragonWave's Radios6/2/2005

Bell Canada is building out its network in Alberta, Canada using fixed wireless equipment from DragonWave Inc.

Bell Canada is a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) providing communications services throughout the Alberta province. The company offers services to residential and business customers, using both wired and wireless infrastructure. Bell Canada's wireless network includes more than 100 of DragonWave's AirPair Flex links, according to an announcement issued by the companies. DragonWave makes millimeter-wave radios that can support bandwidth ranging from 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps. Its AirPair gear is optimized for IP networking, which fits in with Bell Canada's IP-based network plans."

Bell Canada is deploying an innovative network solution to strengthen and expand our existing IP broadband network in western Canada,” stated Stephen Wetmore, Bell Canada's group president of national markets. “DragonWave’s products give Bell the flexibility to deliver services to our customers when and where they need them."

Thursday, March 31, 2005

Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass Reviews - The Tabworld.Com

I just got me one of these baby's on ebay. It arrived yesterday and I promptly wore the skin off of my fignertips playing it. I love it!

Fender Geddy Lee Jazz Bass Reviews - The Tabworld.Com

Thursday, March 24, 2005

AAA

What is the purpose of a AAA server? Simple!
*Authentication
*Authorization
*Accounting

The AAA supports the PDSN with functions to allow interworking between a RAN and the IP-backbone network.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Star Wars III Spoof

This has got to be one of the most impressive "home movies" I've ever seen. The green screen effects are top-notch. The costumes and puppets are extremely detailed. Even the hammy acting is better than average. The story follows the lead of the R.O.T.S. plot leaked thus far but these moviemakers have lampooned it to great effect. Several of the gags are hilarious, if somewhat basic (the very pregnant Padme.) I love this movie!

Star Wars Episode III: A Lost Hope

Friday, March 04, 2005

T-Mobile Report on the Hilton Sidekick Hacking

SECURITY ALERT

Last week hackers broke into the T-mobile server and stole personal information from esteemed actress Paris Hiltons’ account-- including celebrity phone lists, chat transcripts and personal notes. "T-Mobile's computer forensics and security team is actively investigating to determine how Ms. Hilton's information was obtained. This includes the possibility that someone had access to one of Ms. Hilton's devices and/or knew her account password," Zidar said, cleverly casting all blame on the actress.

As it turns, her password was “paris”. Here’s a small sample of what leaked out:

Paris: so wats going on
Nichole: just watching us on tv
Paris: do I look hot
Nichole totally. love that pink sweater
Paris: I hate it
Nichole yeah, me too
Paris: it only cost me 5 thousand,
no more dolce for me
Snoop yo dog, wat up
Paris digging my sidekick
Snoop: I’m doing my own laundry
Paris: that’s so hot
Hillary: hi everyone how are you all doing

Police have apprehended a suspect and detained him for questioning. Law officials are keeping his identity confidential, being that the suspect is only 5 years old. When asked to change her password to something more difficult to decipher, Paris replied, “I’ll change it to ‘hilton’”, adding, “but this time I’ll use all capital letters.” “Good thinking,” answered her lifetime bestfriend.

With a question of security now on everyone’s mind, at least if you read the first part of this sentence, I decided to find out how easily our personal accounts could be accessed and spent the better part of last Saturday evening using my “computer hacking skills” to break into Jon Smalls directory. The following information is for demonstrative purposes only, please don’t distribute or use in any illegal manner:

Phone Contacts
The Boss (240) 555-8601
The Guy I Boss over (240) 555-8611
Mom (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Best Friend (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Travel Agent (xxx) xxx-xxxx
Madame Mings House of Delights ?

As I’ve just clearly illustrated, it is infact very easy to gain unlawful access to private information. When asked about this gaping security loophole, T-mobile officials in the Beltsville office pointed out a multi-step approach, entitled “The Big 5”.

Monday, February 28, 2005

Linksys WRT54G Router Setup Adventures

I set up a Linksys wireless router over the weekend. Everything I had read led me to believe the installation would be a breeze and take about 5 minutes. That was not exactly the case.

I had just set up DSL-Lite on a 1999 Dell P3. The PC has 128 M of RAM and a 6 GB hard drive. The DSL modem is a Westell (the little white one.) I ran the installation wizard. I was surprised at how slow it was between steps. It seemed to almost crawl and hang-up between phases (such as verifying the internet connection, etc.) Finally, it got to the point where I had to disconnect the modem and connect the router. It was at that point that it failed.

I stepped through the menus on the wizard. First it asked for the host and domain name. Then it asked for the type of service (802.11b, g, or mixed), the SSID, and some other stuff. Then it asked if I wanted to enable security. Finally it summarized the settings and asked if I wanted to confirm (yes/no) or exit.

The first thing that was wrong was the service type. Even though I selected "Mixed" the confirmation screen was showing that I selected "B-only." I stepped back a couple screens and verified I had the right selection on the pull-down menu (I did.) I went forward to the conf. screen and it still said "B-only." I chose "Yes" to confirm my settings.

The software appeared to go into a hang-state and then told me several minutes later that the router could not be found. It asked if I wanted to power off the modem and try again (I did.) The same thing happened. I tried the wizard several more times with the same results.

I did find a work-around to the services selection. It turns out that if you choose "B-only" the software will set the router to "Mixed" mode. Funny huh?

I gave up on this for a couple of days while busy doing some other work. Finally Sunday morning I was determined not to let a little thing like a router get the better of me. I was getting an RF signal and it was recognizing the ports and internet so I was convinced it was an IP setting conflict.

I searched on the internet for advice and finally found an obscure note on a sub-page of the linksys customer support site. It said to "check the IP address in the router and make sure it is not 198.162.1.1." Now this is frustrating for a couple of reasons. First, the setup wizard sets the IP address to 198.162.1.1. Second, the wizard never mentions that this is not right.

The obscure page said to manually (through the internet settings page) set the IP address of the router to 198.162.2.1. I made the change from 1 to 2 and guess what? The internet sprang to life on my screen.

My frustration is that the setup wizard did not correct this problem. Second that it was so hard to find what is really a pretty simple answer.

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Pink Rubber Bands

I guess I was naive to think people would not take this whole rubber wristband thing, which was originally a very noble effort, and turn it into a fashion enterprise Pink Susan Komen Wristbands

When Nike and Lance first developed the concept I was intrigued. I tried to order some of the first ones and they were on back order. When I finally received my shipment in August I wore mine with pride. I gave out several and told everyone where they could get their own and what the purpose of the foundation was.

I was first disgusted when I went into a shopping mall around Christmas time and saw a cart vendor hocking them for about $5 each. Next a Carolina Panthers player started selling poor-quality latex bands. Then I started seeing other stores (Hallmark, 7-eleven, etc.) hocking their own version of the bands for their own charities.

I think it has cheapened the meaning of Lance's crusade. Livestrong was unique and it was a unique way to honor Lance, his incredible achievements, and the incredible work his foundation does. The uniqueness was what made it so special.

I have no problem with other charities raising funds but why did they have to steal the concept of the rubber bands? I guess it is the American way isn't it?

Friday, January 28, 2005

The Iraq elections

There are 150,000 US and coalition troops in a country of 25 million. That is a ratio of .006 soldiers per citizen. Therefore most of the citizens are probably already on our side. The problem is that there is a minority of extremists, that have a lot of ordinance, that are opposed to our presence. Actually, their actions demonstrate that what they are really against is freedom.

That is why they've stepped up their attacks in anticipation of the election. They are terrified about the Iraqi people learning what it is like to vote, to actually have a voice in their country.

It is really amazing to think about it. In less than three years, two countries in the Middle East have gone from dictatorships to having free elections. No, the elections have a lot of details to work out. But the mere fact that there are elections at all is just amazing.

These people are where America was during the end of the 18th century! Back then only men who owned property could vote. Now we have a democracy that is a model for the future of our species!

It is exciting to think about what the future holds for the Middle East. I look forward to witnessing the changes during my lifetime and envious about not being around to see what it will be like a hundred years from now!

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

True Stories from the classroom

From a special teacher friend:

"This is one of the funniest things that has happened to me in my teaching career!

Last night I gave my students the following homework assignment: Write a thank you note to someone who gave you a gift over the holidays. Tysheemia brought hers in this morning and asked me to put a stamp on it for her and mail it to her daddy. The address was:

Mr. Mann
1 Deadbeat Street
Charlotte, NC

I almost died! She told me her mom gave her the address! This is the same student who gave me an uncooked, unwrapped spicy hotdog for Christmas.

Hmmm...I wonder if her daddy is neighbors my ex-husband? "

RF Consultant

Here is a link to one of my friend's web page: RF Consultant. Steve now works for a company called Open Cell. They provide coverage solutions to areas where towers just don't fit.

Juice Experiment #1

My first juice experiment. Start with all organic vegetables and fruits.

2 large carrots
1/2 cucumber
1 small pc. ginger
1 large granny smith apple
4 pcs spinach
3 radishes

It tasted pretty good. I started with 1/2 of the apple but when I added the rest it was much more pleasant tasting. Not sure I could taste any of the ginger.

Thursday, December 23, 2004

Wireless Wars 2005

There seems to be trouble brewing between the backers of IEEE 802.16 and a new working group for 802.22. (rethink)

The conflict centers around access to the juicy frequencies in the sub-1 GHz range (spectrum nirvana.) The 802.16 group thinks that with its development of the standard into a true mobility standard, it would be able to serve the rural markets cost-effectively. The 802.22 group thinks it should develop a separate case purely for serving those rural markets. It all boils down to competition between the standards.

Friday, December 10, 2004

Sprint and Nextel in merger talks, sources say - Dec. 10, 2004

This could be an interesting development in the wireless wars. It would aid an ailing carrier (Sprint) and give NEXTEL better access to the private phone service sector. It would also solve NEXTEL's problem of not having a high speed data strategy.
Sprint and Nextel in merger talks, sources say - Dec. 10, 2004

Thursday, December 02, 2004

Yahoo! News - Judge finds fault in CMS

The election of 11/2/04 in Mecklenburg county resulted in democrats gaining a majority of the county commission by claiming the 3 open "at-large" seats. The republican candidates all ran on platforms of greater accountability from the school board. The democrats seemed to unanimously support increased funding for the school system. This article was just published yesterday and documents a comparison of Wake to Mecklenburg County schools.
Yahoo! News - Judge finds fault in CMS

Thursday, July 29, 2004


Here is an action shot from last year's Duke Half-Ironman.
Posted by Hello

Is there anything better than someplace goofy to stick your head for a photo? Posted by Hello

Thursday, July 22, 2004

Haven't posted any updates in awhile.  It's hard to believe it but my 20 year HS reunion is upcoming.  I am not ready for it!  In 1984, I promised that I would drive a shiny red Ferrari to it and I still don't know anyone that can loan me one!

I am really looking forward to seeing about 5 people of the 585 in my graduating class.  The venue looks interesting.

Blink XT2 Thumbnail Failed Fix

Well, this is a bit frustrating. I have one outdoor Blink XT2 camera from Amazon which I installed about a year and a half ago...or maybe tw...