IT Terry's Style

BlackBerry Storm Update

2008-12-11T15:54:00.002-05:00

Well I guess this must be an issue that BlackBerry fixed with 4.7.0.75. I went into options, Advanced Options, and Web Update. I let it download the update that was released yesterday. After the update installed about 1 hr later the phone seemed to be back in working order again.

BlackBerry Storm Issue

2008-12-10T15:19:00.003-05:00

Well it looks like the storm is a really good phone by the most part. I had to setup three of these phones for our network. The phone comes with a rather slow response which could be fixed by going into the options and speeding up the response time.

Today one of the users said their phone was not working. It started to not work correctly while they were on a phone call. The speaker went to a static noise and the dial pad was all messed up that they could not dial another number.

Verizon is replacing the phone so we are waiting for the replacement phone to arrive. I though it was really funny to see the phone the way it was so I took some pictures of the phone. Pity I don't have a better camera to take a picture of the phones screen. The one picture is the keyboard it never converts to the full qwerty keyboard when tilted, and the other picture is the phone dial pad. you will notice that the numbers are not in the correct locations. The keys that are there when you press on them put thoses numbers on the line above.

I will post updates if the replacement phone or any of the others come up with the same or simular problems.

DropBox vs Live Mesh

2008-09-22T19:51:00.001-04:00

As I am writing this I found another service that does some of the same things as DropBox and Live Mesh so I guess I will be revisiting this topic again in a later date.

Currently with Microsoft's Live Mesh there is some real power here. With this software even though it is in what is called a Technology Preview you can' do many things. The more powerful of these features is the ability to remote any computer that is activity connected to your live mesh account. If you forgot something or needed to access a file that you didn't put is a live mesh folder. The ability to remote a computer so far is only available on the Windows OS. The Mac version has been posted to be coming soon. As for a Linux version of this feature I feel it will never be an option. The Windows mobile version of this software allow you to at lease gain access to files you are currently syncing with the Live Mesh system.

When it comes to syncing folders you can easily sync your files between the Windows XP and Vista systems. Once you have the Live Mesh client software installed on your computer all you have to do to get your files synced is right click on a folder, and select Add folder to your Live Mesh. This brings up options that allow you to say which computers you would like to sync your files with. You also have a webpage that you can log into and access your files from there. For testing I added my iTunes folder, and my Visual Studio Projects folder to the Live Mesh. Now anytime I update a programming project I am working on or any time I download a new iTunes song a copy of the changes I have made automatically get pushed to my other computers I have in the Mesh. This makes it even simpler when I am testing a program on several systems that are in my Live Mesh. I also put my Virtual Computers into the Live Mesh. This gives me the ability to have my files updated as soon as I start them. No need to constantly copy or open a security hole into my file system of the Base OS just copy a file I want to work on.

This product will be more and more functional as other Operating Systems are added to the mix. Microsoft is a big company and sometimes it is hard to change direction of this big ship. This is a small step to give up control of the file system to allow the files to live somewhere else and not on a Windows only environment.

Enter the new kid in town, DropBox. I started using this service about a month ago. They were in an Invite only beta testing only setup at the time. Today they are open to the public and anyone can setup an account with them. You are allowed 2GB of space on their server to store files that are Synced between your computers. This program works with Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Linux, and Fedora Linux. This software with its limitation of 2GB for all of your files, also gives you the ability to share your folders with other users of the service.

I quickly setup my system to work with my Ubuntu, Vista, and Windows XP system. I got Dan to setup the service on his Mac computer. We started sharing a folder and enter the fun. We noticed that if both of you have the file open, at least if one is on a Linux system and the other a Mac OS, you can both edit the same file, but only the last person to save the file will have their changes synced between the computers in your DropBox. The website with DropBox allows you to recover old changes to your files, and deleted file, if you make a mistake. I have not tested that part.

Install for but systems was really quick and painless. If you have lots of computers, or just two you want to sync files between this is a wonderful option. There is no remote control of a computer that is turned on like in Live Mesh, but DropBox wasn't designed for that in mind.

If requested I will add some screen shots to show what happens between the computers, but when a file is changed, added, or deleted a little popup appears near the DropBox icon in your status trays. This give you a little heads up of you are working with someone and they change a file. You can see instantly that you now have the most up-to-date file.

New Dell E6400 Review

2008-09-08T20:15:00.002-04:00

Dell Latitude E6400

This is the first total redesign of the D series of laptops that Dell has done in about 5 years. New docking stations that can now support dual monitors out with DVI or Display port is just one of the new added features that the docking stations have introduced. The new system now has eSATA, Display Port, 1394, SD Card reader, and Contactless smart card readers. When configuring the system you now have the option to pick if you want the old PCMCIA card slot or the new Express Card.

They updated the keyboard with another option that you can add backlighting to the keyboard. This makes the keyboard easy to see in very low light. The LCD has an ambient light sensor to automatically adjust the backlighting of the monitor. Another option that is available is a web cam in the monitor. This will make it easy for the user to use video chat programs, and anything that allows you the use of a web cam.

The inverted motherboard really helps keep the temperature of the bottom of the laptop cooler than previous version of the D series of laptops from Dell. I did however find that if you sit a glass of water on the left side of the laptop and make the processor work hard, it will warm up the glass of what rather quickly. The bottom of the laptop didn’t get as hot as my Latitude D830 at rest even when working the new E6400 at max speeds.
With the 9 Cell battery I have been averaging about 7 ½ hours of run time. This is not really a normal use, but with lots of installing of software, and testing different power options. I think if you would use it at a normal pace like typing and surfing the internet you may get 8 – 9 hours of battery life on this model.

This model also has the option for a fingerprint reader, which was purchased on this model, for future security setups down the road. The E-Module can store a second battery and you can also get a battery slice for this model, when can extend your battery life to 12 hours. The standard CD-RW/DVD drive was what I picked for this purchase, there is a DVD+-RW drive option, and I am hoping a blu-ray option will come along later.
Once the system was open we found that there where a total of three mini-Express PCI card locations for the system. One is taken up by the WiFi, card. The second and third, have options for Cell phone internet connections, and other wireless networking technologies. Bluetooth is still an USB type connection that is plugged into the motherboard.

The new touchpad now has the sideways scrolling and standard scrolling displaying on the touchpad. Also a standard volume up, down, and mute buttons at the top of the keyboard.
With this being the new Centrino 2 design with a 2.8Ghz processor, I ran it on GeekBench. The system performs at 3000+ on the GeekBench test, and compared to my XPS420 Core 2 Quad which is 4000+ and my D820 Intel Core Duo 2.16Ghz which is 2000+ I think this is a very nice upgrade for people replacing a laptop that is three or more years old, and a desktop that is four or more years old.

4GB of ram installed on the system helps it fly with opening programs and handling anything I could throw at it in the short time I had to test it. Windows Vista Ultimate works as a perfect match for this, Vista Business will fly as well, and just you don’t get the added security of file encryption that is missing from Vista Business.
Also I would say that the nVidia graphics card option is a must for this system. This gives you the extra graphics power you need to run two monitors without affecting the performance of the system.

I will add links to GeekBench and pictures of the laptop in the coming days, and after the recording of our podcast College Friends in the Wild Episode 27, which can be found at www.cfitw.com.

Social Networks on the road

2008-08-25T19:46:00.001-04:00

Twitter, Plurk, brightkite, ping.fm, Strands, Facebook, and MySpace all have a mobile version of their websites. At this time only Plurk is not allowing my to login to their mobile version with my phone. I have given them two weeks to respond to my request to fix the issue. At this point there has been no response and no fix to the problem.

I have been using the mobile versions for a long time. I have even downloaded a windows mobile app called TwitToday that gives you a place to post what you are doing to twitter. I am looking for a feature that is like this for ping.fm. This would make it a lot easier to post to all my networks at one time.

Ping.fm is the first place a take my mobile web browser to when I post an update. Then I load my other networks to see any responses if I think there will be. If I am to busy I just let the responses go, and hope that twhirl will pick them up upon my return to the interwebs.

I added ping.fm to my iGoogle page. I am sure I will be using it and replacing one of my tabs that load on start of firefox with another flavor of the week social network.

Strands so far is in beta and has no mobile version. I was hoping to see if things were updating but so far no go on being able to check this feature while on vacation.

The mobile version of twitter doesn't allow you to add things to your favorites which some I wish I could have added are long gone.

Brightkite is the only social network that I currently have that is working well here at the beach. Many people using it and you can easily see what is going on in your area. The only sad thing is that most of it is filled with I am at this Hotel or this restaurant. Makes for a boring social network. I can see why twitter is filled with I am eating this or that. I finally posted a picture from my phone to brightkite but it requires me sending and email the a special personal email address. If you only have text messaging on your phone you will be out of luck sending pictures to the service.

Yahoo! Go 3.0

2008-08-25T19:40:00.001-04:00

This little cellphone program for windows mobile is really cool. It give me a very easy way to add multiple pictures to flickr.com from my phone as I take pictures during the day. The flickr feature also keeps a check mark on pictures that have already been uploaded. This gives you a very easy way to keep track and not get confused on which pictures need to be uploaded yet.

Yahoo! Go 3.0 also gives you access to your email, news and other features that are common on the yahoo website. I have found this a must have feature for any new windows mobile phone I will buy.

Yahoo! Go 3.0 also have a weather feature that is far better than any other that I have found so far. You can add multiple cities to track the weather, giving you a quick look at where you are and where you are going to be when traveling.

You can also sync your address book that you have in outlook and on your phone with Yahoo!'s cloud. If you connect to an Exchange server you can still sync with Exchange and then sync your address book to yahoo as well. Giving you two places to look if you need to.

Microblogging and Social networks

2008-07-05T14:23:00.002-04:00

Well after this week I have been looking hard at where all of my knowledge is going in the world. I find it that there are some major issues with new micro-blogging social networks. In this article I am going to point out the good and the bad from all of the major services I am currently using.

People want to get away from twitter because it has this little issue call users using it really heavily. The system then gets over loaded and breaks, the scale whale fills the twitter web page and all of the errors appear. Complaining people start bad mouthing twitter and start looking for the next best thing.

I started out my micro-blogging with jaiku, www.jaiku.com. There didn't seem to be many friends there and I was having problems finding people that I knew. This is one of the big issues with being an early adopter. Jaiku is nice in the way it sets up the conversitions that people have. They are placed into a thread so you don't have to search through many other messages to follow the conversation. The mobile version looks like the web version with little differences. Jaiku also has a few programmers that have made apps to allow you to post and recieve messages from Jaiku. These apps are a little harder to find now that Google has bought Jaiku and taken it under its wings.

My second micro-bloggin adventure was then twitter. Twitter for me also started out slowly and I found not many of my friends were using twitter. It took almost a year for my friends to start using twitter. I found twitter was not useful until about 20 people were following me. That is 20 real people not to be confused by the robotic auto adding people that exist on twitter. The development community and support community is really backing twitter. In the last month even when I complain about something not working twitter users suprise me by pointing my to things that fix my problems. Most of the people I am following are now these apps that are question answering or support groups. They have make links into the twittervers and when someone knows the answer to your issue your fix is twittered to you. This has not happened on any of the other services I am currently using.

The rest of my micro-blogging areas are plurk, brightkite, ping.fm, and the newest kid on the block Identi.ca. For me plurk and brightkite both have some cool features that make them nice. Plurk gives you a Karma rating that lets you know how social you are. This Karma rating can be picky if you don't post to plurk for a day or so, which can bring down your ratings.

Brightkite integrates with google maps showing you where all of your friends are and what is going on in your area. I once again live in an area where there are little to no brightkite users so I can't find anyone to meetup with. Even when looking for people to just run into when at Hershey Park. I guess geeks don't get out and have fun much.

Ping.fm lets you post to most of your blog and micro-blog sights, update your status on your social networking sights. I have found this a wonderful tool.

Identi.ca the new kid on the block labeled a Twitter Clone, does 90% of what twitter already does. Nothing new there. I think it even got the breaking part down, the first day I tried it the support email didn't work, and I could signup for the service, but I could not login and make changes to my account settings. The major push for the Identi.ca service is that it is Open Source. I don't find this a big deal to jump on this service. All services have APIs that you can create apps for and you are not tied into having to go to that services website. If the openness of this service makes it a more distrubtied service so the service becomes more reliable, but time will only tell.

Hope to twitter, jaiku, plurk, bkite, Identica, or ping you all soon.

Fedora 9 on USB

2008-05-24T13:41:00.002-04:00

Well I had a 4GB USB drive laying around so I figured that it would be good to test this new live feature on the Fedora Project. The only thing that I found really interesting is that the ability to setup this USB key had a Windows Application to set the entire process. This makes it easy for Windows users to try the entire system with out having to re-partition their drives.

The first thing you need is to download the Fedora Live CD ISO file. This will be what gets installed on the USB key. The next thing you need is the Fedora Live USB Creator https://fedorahosted.org/liveusb-creator. This program will create your Fedora install in the USB Key.

After finally going through all of the USB key setup I booted a computer to see if it would work. The computer worked except for the WiFi card. I knew this would be the case since the WiFi card is a Broadcom chipset. Then I put the key aside for another day, a day which I would have some time to play more.

There was only one limitation you can only setup a maxium for the file system space to use which is 2GB from the live usb creator. This gave me still 2GB for file space that I can share with other systems.

The day has come when I could play more. I connected the key to my main laptop which is a Dell Latitude D820. I pressed F12 to bring up the boot menu at the BIOS. Booted the and found that this computer even the WiFi card was found. Got to love that Intel WiFi cards have a native kernel driver. Even the WiFi led works which doesn't work on the latest Ubuntu 8.04 LTS Release.

Next I figured lets see what I can break. I setup my VPN connection so I could log into a WiFi connection where I happened to be located. Sure enough it worked right away. So now I wanted to do more. I had the system check for updates, I then downloaded and installed all of the updates for Fedora 9 since it was released.

Then I figured lest break something else. I when to Adobe Air and downloaded the Alpha for Linux install and installed it. This was a little tricky since you have to run the install as a basic user and durning the install it asks for the root password during the install. This worked so then I figured twhirl, check my last post. It seemed to have the same install issue as the Adobe Air install.

After that I played with this for a while and figured it was time to add this to my blog. There are a few things missing but for a live version of this linux distribution. No OpenOffice, no out of the box support for my nVidia video card 3D graphics. It does have Abiword and a basic spreadsheet.

After playing with the usb for a few hours I put it away for use when I need it later. All of this post has been produced in Fedora 9 on the USB Key. I hope you enjoy and sometime maybe you will be using a USB key to support working on other computers.

Review twhirl vs spaz

2008-05-20T10:10:00.005-04:00

After playing with both Spaz and twhirl I finally have a final vote for which one I will be using on my computers. After all was said and done I hope you find the same results as me. Both seem to have issues in the Linux environment, and here is what I found testing them on Windows and Linux using Ubuntu 8.04 distrubtion. Both are Adobe AIR software which is Adobe's cross platform software development tool. The software will install the same on any operating system that is supported by Adobe AIR.

Spaz can be downloaded and installed from http://funkatron.com/spaz

Spaz I noticed that when you start it for the first time you have to enter your username and password for twitter, but the user name and password boxes appear over all of the settings options. I wasn't sure I was entering the username and password in the correct location. It worked and has some very cool sounds to it, kind of making me think of the old NBC tones that used to play inbetween the tv shows. I got totally spazzed that this program worked better than any of the other clients that were native to linux. The only draw back is every time I restart my computer I had to re-enter my username and password.

Then there is twhirl. My entire body was went into twitter overload. It allows you to cross post to other applications, search through the twitter database to see what others have tweeted about in the past. Say you need to know about a program. You want to see if people like the program. You can search for that program name. Sure enough tweets appear with that program name or what ever you search in for.

Twhirl also allows you to add other twitter accounts god for bid you have more than one twitter account and want to post to more and more accounts at one time. Also you can view and post to your friendfeed account. I guess you can also add multiple friendfeed accounts just like twitter and keep track of many of them.

twhirl can be download at http://www.twhirl.org

After playing with both of them for a week I have totally fallen in love with twhirl it has more features that I like.

Microsoft Live Mesh

2008-05-16T18:51:00.003-04:00

This is a cool new option from microsoft. You can remote any one of your Windows computers that is on the Mesh and you can share files from each of the computers. You have a Live Desktop when can be opened from any (even firefox in linux) web browser that will allow you to download your files and work on them. When you upload your files back to the Mesh the new file is synced to any computer that is part of your Live Mesh. This makes for easy of keeping all of your files up to date and working smothly. Here are a few screen shots of the Live Desktop on my Ubuntu computer with files I was playing around with. Click on the images above to see in better detail what the desktop looks like.

Iighting and USB talk from College Friends in the Wild Podcast

2008-05-16T18:41:00.004-04:00

USB Hard drive enclosure issues Jarrett caused when he thought the yellow ribbon cable on the picture above was removable. Now no IDE works on that enclosure.
This is a TV or Radio Tower being hit by lightning in Harrisburg PA. A very cool image we talked about on our podcast at www.cfitw.com Finally getting some time to update all of the sites I work on and updating here.

Apple Update

2008-01-16T17:34:00.000-05:00

Well I am not thrilled with the new MacBook Air. This new ultra portable doesn't seem to fit into what I was looking for in a replacement computer. I was hopping that the options would be better. It does have a very nice cool factor but that is about it. Apple should have put a bigger hard drive in it and given the option to upgrade RAM. I think this will just limit the ultra portable.

Facebook

2008-01-16T17:31:00.000-05:00

Today I logged into Facebook and found a new feature called expanded profile. This allows you to hide the apps in your profile that you do not use often and are low on your profile page. This is a cool feature for my page since it was starting to become a monster of a page with all of the apps I have installed.

Fedora 8

2008-01-05T23:27:00.001-05:00

I know I am behind the times, but finally got my first test system updated to Fedora 8. More information to be announced as I dig deeper into this version. See how it compairs to Ubuntu 7.10 and other Linux Distro's I use.

IT Business podcasting idea

2007-11-13T19:57:00.000-05:00

Taking in all my thoughts I think the missing podcast my be linking where business and IT meet so that business planners can see where IT is coming from. More thoughts on this later.

eye-fi

2007-11-12T08:20:00.000-05:00

A new leap in memory and wifi cards. I can't wait until mine arrives.

$18 per month.

2007-10-25T14:45:00.000-04:00

Just imagine how much you can do if 1.4 million users gave you $18 per month. Must be good to be apple.

2007-08-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

new iPods

Apple will introduce new flash based 30GB iPods, a new wide screen based Mac OS X iPod, maybe flash based.

I am betting the leaked images were not the final version of the product but they will be close to the final product.

Lets see if I am right I guess we will all find out tomorrow.

2007-05-17T08:36:00.000-04:00

Ubuntu SMB update

3 updates were released for ubuntu to fix the security flaw in SMB. If you use the SMB for file sharing it would be a good idea to install them asap.

2007-05-15T00:42:00.000-04:00

500GB Hard Drive

I never thought I would see the day that you could pickup a 500GB hard drive for under $200. So I bought one to make a backup of my system which really needed it.

I joined Second Life today also, I guess I will figure out what all of the big deal is with this new way to communicate with people. Friends will be receiving invites once I figure it all out.

2007-05-12T00:52:00.000-04:00

Ubuntu updates

Backports updates

hal-device-manager

libhal-storage1

libhal1

hal

Version 0.5.9-1ubuntu2~feisty1:

* Automated backport upload; no source changes.

Version 0.5.9-1ubuntu2:

* debian/rules: Only enable MacBooc on i386 and amd64, since only

works and builds there. Fixes FTBFS on sparc and powerpc.

Version 0.5.9-1ubuntu1:

* Merge with Debian experimental. Remaining Ubuntu changes:

** Ubuntu specific **

- debian/control:

+ Drop linux-kernel-headers dependency (called linux-libc-dev in Ubuntu

which is build-essential).

+ Add XS-Vcs-Bzr, remove Debian's XS-Vcs-Svn.

+ Ubuntu maintainer.

- Launchpad integration:

+ Add p-l-i dependency to hal-device-manager.

+ Add debian/patches/ubuntu-lpi.patch: h-d-m code bits.

- hwdb integration:

+ Add hwdb-client-gnome dependency to hal-device-manager and sharutils

build dependency.

+ Add icons: debian/{hal-cpu,hal-memory,hwdb}.png.uuencode.

+ debian/patches/34-add_hwdb_button.patch: Glade modifications and Python

code hook.

+ debian/rules: uudecode icons during build.

- Langpack support for .desktop file:

+ debian/hal-device-manager.desktop: Add gettext domain, improve comment.

+ Add debian/hal-device-manager.desktop.in: .desktop stub for intltool

POT creation.

+ debian/patches/ubuntu-desktop-POTFILES.patch: Add this desktop.in to

po/POTFILES.in.

+ debian/rules: Include gnome.mk to do the automagic POT building.

- Ubuntu udev world order:

+ Remove debian/hal.links.

+ debian/rules: Install udev rules into /etc/udev/rules.d/.

+ debian/hal.{preinst,postinst,postrm}: Transition code for changing the

udev rule priority (see 0.5.8.1-3ubuntu7, needs to be kept until next

LTS).

- https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MountAllLocalFilesystems spec:

+ debian/patches/56_probe_fstab.patch: Check whether a volume or storage

device is present in fstab, and if so, set linux.fstab.options and

linux.fstab.mountpoint.

+ debian/patches/24_ignored_volumes.patch: Ignore fixed partitions which

are supposed to be mounted automatically in fstab, but aren't.

- debian/patches/62_ignore_single_slash_label.patch: Ignore labels which

only consist of a slash, so that they do not end up as /media/-. An

earlier Ubuntu d-i/ubiquity created those labels by default.

(LP #83323)

** Packaging fixes which should go to Debian **

- Privilege reduction:

+ debian/hal.postinst: Add haldaemon to various groups for removable

device access (floppy, plugdev, etc.).

+ debian/patches/25_privileges-addons.patch: Run addon-storage as

non-root.

- debian/hal.init.dbus: Use actual init script path in usage help, not

hardcoded /etc/init.d/hal (since it is actually in /etc/dbus/event.d).

(LP #84642)

- debian/hal.postrm: Check mode ($1) properly.

- debian/patches/02_powerscripts.patch: Prefer alternative scripts over

pmi, since pmi is the default.

- debian/run-hald.sh: Put absolute paths in HALD_RUNNER_PATH so that

callouts are found, too.

- debian/patches/55_nonpolkit-mount-policy.patch: Implement a policy check

if PolicyKit is not available: Only allow mounting of removable devices

to non-root users.

- debian/patches/62_dbus-python-0.80.patch: Correctly show HAL properties

in hal-device-manager with dbus-python. (FD #9343; rejected upstream

because h-d-m is going away).

** Bug fixes which should go upstream **

- debian/patches/16_ntfs_allowed_mount_options.patch: Allow NTFS mount

option 'utf8' (LP #78142).

- debian/patches/24_ignored_volumes.patch: Ignore fixed partitions but

those mounted to /media.

- debian/patches/59_add_ssb_bus.patch: Add support for devices on the SSB

bus; patch by Matthew Garrett.

- debian/patches/63_fixup_macbookpro.patch: Extend 10-macbookpro-utils.fdi

fixes to more MacBooc models; patch by Matthew Garret.

** Bug fixes from upstream bugzilla **

- debian/patches/65-keyboard-addon-repeated.patch: Do not ignore key

repeat events in the keyboard addon. (FD #9767)

- debian/patches/66-NULL-fstype-crash.patch: Do not crash on NULL

volume.fstypes, and assing some fallback values to them. (FD #10429,

LP #87800)

- debian/patches/67-fix-probe-volume.patch: Fix scrambled labels.

(FD #10362, LP #69914)

Changes in this version:

* Remove debian/10-storage-policy.fdi to stop ejecting all USB/Firewire

devices. (LP: #63090)

* Remove debian/patches/57_allow_bus_virtual.patch: This does not apply at

all to 0.5.9, and must either be confirmed to be obsolete or redone.

* Disable debian/patches/34-add_hwdb_button.patch for now, it needs to be

reworked for 0.5.9.

Version 0.5.9-1:

* New upstream release.

* Patches removed as they were applied or fixed upstream:

- debian/patches/03_macbookpro_configure.patch

- debian/patches/04_cd_write.patch

- debian/patches/05_one_formfactor_fallback.patch

- debian/patches/06_smbios_return.patch

- debian/patches/07_ppc_suspend.patch

- debian/patches/08_openfirmware.patch

- debian/patches/09_check_hashtable_initialisation.patch

- debian/patches/10_callout_errors.patch

- debian/patches/11_no_useless_runner_errors.patch

- debian/patches/12_pegasus_pmu_crash_fix.patch

- debian/patches/13_hal_callout_bashism.patch

- debian/patches/15_partition_probing.patch

- debian/patches/24_dbus_connection_close.patch

- debian/patches/25_correctly_free_lists.patch

- debian/patches/26_fix_hald_not_running_coredump.patch

- debian/patches/27_hal_fix_dbus_error_is_set.patch

- debian/patches/29_handle_non_hal_mounts.patch

- debian/patches/30_cdrom_bogus_tocinfo.patch

* Revised patches:

- debian/patches/02_powerscripts.patch

* debian/patches/19_sonypi_support.patch

- Removed. Instead of relying on the external spicctrl tool, /dev/sonypi

is used directly now by the hal-system-sonypic addon.

* debian/patches/55_nonpolkit-mount-policy.patch

- Removed. We depend on PolicyKit now to check if a user is authorized to

mount local partitions.

* debian/control

- Add Depends: hal-info (>= 20070402) to hal package.

* debian/libhal(-storage)-dev.install

- Do not install libtool *.la files anymore.

* debian/rules

- Remove cdbs tarball.mk rules file.

- Cleanup obsolete rm commands from common-install-impl.

* debian/hal.dirs

- Create the directories /var/cache/hald (fdi files cache) and

/var/lib/hal (dev acl management list).

* debian/hald.8, debian/lshal.1

- Removed. Shipped upstream.

* debian/hal.manpages

- Install upstream manpages. (Closes: #277399)

Version 0.5.8.1-9:

* debian/no-cd-media-check.fdi

- Re-added "HL-DT-ST DVD-RW GCA-4080N" product string

Version 0.5.8.1-8:

[ Michael Biebl ]

* debian/control:

- Add an explicit build dependency on docbook-xml so we don't fail on

buildds without network access.

[ Sjoerd Simons ]

* debian/hal-unmount.sh: Always run pumount/umount if a block device is

removed, not only when it's mounted. This ensure that dm devices can be

properly deconfigured by pumount.

* debian/debian-storage-policy-ignore-fixed-crypto-drives.fdi

- Added. Ignore non-removable devices with crypto volumes again

(Closes: #414417)

Version 0.5.8.1-7:

[ Sjoerd Simons ]

* Acknowledge Steve Langasek's NMU. (Closes: #370186)

* debian/patches/29_handle_non_hal_mounts.patch

- Added. Handle volume removal for mounted volumed that weren't mounted by

hal correctly.

* debian/patches/30_cdrom_bogus_tocinfo.patch

- Added. Some cdrom drives/discs report a wrong start of the session in the

TOC, causing hal to not detect the filesystem. Work around this by

rescanning at offset 0 for discs when filesystem detection fails.

[ Michael Biebl ]

* Add XS-Vcs-* fields to debian/control.

* Drop debian-storage-policy-fixed-drives.fdi in favor of

debian/patches/55_nonpolkit-mount-policy.patch.

This fixes the problem that local devices are not shown in nautilus.

(Closes: #394155, #395169, #409879)

* debian/patches/02_powerscripts.patch

- Add support for pm-utils and prefer it over other solutions. This is in

anticipation of hal-0.5.9, where pm-utils will be the preferred backend.

* Install HAL specification document. (Closes: #413813)

- debian/control: Build-Depend on docbook-utils and libxml2-utils.

- debian/rules: Pass --enable-docbook-docs to ./configure.

* debian/watch

- Fix regexp to not match non-hal releases, like hal-info.

Version 0.5.8.1-6.1:

* Non-maintainer upload.

* High-urgency upload for RC bugfix.

* Provide /usr/share/doc/hal/examples/no-cd-media-check.fdi as an example

for disabling CD ROM media checks, and document this in README.Debian, as

a workaround for CD drives with broken firmware. Closes: #370186.

Version 0.5.8.1-6:

* debian/patches/19_sonypi_support.patch

- Added. Fixes the sonypi brightness setting method

(Patch from Mike Hommey) (Closes: #391528)

Version 0.5.8.1-5:

[ Michael Biebl ]

* debian/hal-doc.install, debian/hal-doc.links

- Install API documentation into /usr/share/doc/hal-doc/html and create a

link back to /usr/share/gtk-doc/html/hal so devhelp can find it.

(Closes: #398803)

* debian/control

- Add a Suggests on devhelp for the hal-doc package which allows to

access the API documentation more easily.

[ Sebastian Dröge ]

* debian/control:

+ Updated to use my debian.org mail address

[ Sjoerd Simons ]

* debian/patches/28_runner_64bit_values.patch

- Added. Ensure 64 bit values are correctly aligned before passing them to

dbus (Closes: #404937)

* Urgency high, fixes an RC bug

2007-05-11T00:37:00.000-04:00

Demo's

XBox 360 demo downloads, Forenza Motor Sport 2 and C&C3 I think I picked another one I guess I will see them in the morning when I wake up. Reviews to come. I played C&C 3 and love it very much for the little bit of time I played it.

Leo is going to get me in trouble with all of the new Tech stuff I can play with. http://terryjr386.tumblr.com and http://terryjr386.jaiku.com are some of the things I am playing with now. Soon I won't have to surf the internet I will have everything I need at my fingertips. This blog post will appear in tumblr via a rss feed what a cool way to keep track of everything.

Mandriva Spring 2007

2007-05-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

A new day a new Linux distro to download. Started the Bit Torrent for this download maybe tomorrow I will get to play with the new version and see what they have added and changed to make it better.

Tumblr

2007-05-09T14:27:00.000-04:00

Tumblelogs, since blogs aren't quick enough someone comes up with a faster way to get information you look at faster. I am now also on http://terryjr386.tumblr.com Anything I put here will also get put there automatically. Also you can now add your rss feeds to this service and all your new can be at one place. The Internet is always changing and getting better.

Patch Tuesday Vista hit again

2007-05-08T23:06:00.000-04:00

Well so much for a more secure version of Windows. Microsoft released about 18 new security updates today and sure enough Vista was also hit. If you were running MS Office 2007 you are also hit with security updates. Time to update your Windows systems and reboot again, and again, and again. Even my little test system which does nothing but boot windows needed 5 updates, and a reboot.

Microsoft wasn't the only OS hit with updates this week, my Fedora Core 6 also had 11 updates 5 that I could count were security updates. You have got to love Linux, I did the updates on this system and there was no reboot required this time. The only time my system needs a reboot is if I update a kernel module, dsub, and hal module.

I added more changes to my website making it easy to download my random desktop wallpaper script for my Linux computers. If I ever met the person I found this script from I would kiss them. A little bit of sad news is that I saw that there is a program for windows that does this now. I will update everyone more on this as I get time to test how it works compared to the script I use.

Fedora Core 7 T4 update.

2007-05-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

Something new I missed on the new version of Fedore Core 7 is Fedora now has a graphical trouble shooter for SELinux issues. A little Star appears in the applet panel. This allows you to see what was run and what the error was. This will help users figure out why their program was stopped from running. Added security is always a good thing.

A few more updates came in since the last update but since they are still in a Test version I won't be listing them for you. Pigin 2.0.0-0.36 beta7 is the latest version running on the new Fedora giving the final good bye to the old pictures and icons on GAIM. It looks like they could keep all of the old features of this wonderful IM client. I haven't found anything missing yet.

Main Site updated.

2007-05-05T23:54:00.000-04:00

The more time I get to look at my websites the more I find that needs editing. New Laptop running Linux has been added to the Linux info section of our site. Ubuntu, Debian and Fedora updates added to the systems running those versions. Links to this blog have been added to the website where I think they should be added in the Linux and Community sections for support. Current projects under way are customized support area for clients, updates and additions to the Community area, better contact us form, and more tutoring links.

Ubuntu updates for Ubuntu 7.04

2007-05-03T08:13:00.000-04:00

capplets-data now updated to 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2.1 from 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2

gnome-control-center 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2.1 from 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2

libgnome-window-settings1 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2.1 from 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2

libslab0 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2.1 from 1:2.18.1-0ubuntu2

All of the updates listed above are to fix/update music player keycode (Ubuntu: #107484)

Fedora Core 7 Test 4

2007-04-30T23:27:00.000-04:00

A smooth install, and I see they finally fixed the X server to adjust the screen resolution right after the resolution is changed. This is more like Windows has been, and Ubuntu 6.10 and 7.04 was when I had them installed.

I have not found many new features to talk about on this one. I did find, other than the X server resolution change, that the System Menu, Preferences and Administrator menu are now broken down into more sub menus. Way to go for better organization. In Fedora Core 7 they upgraded the OpenOffice to 2.2 skipping the 2.1 release, and are now running Firefox 2.0.3, which was not available in the Core 6 version unless you installed it manually. I am currently running FC7 in a virtual machine. This version is also sporting the new 2.6.21 kernel. Ubuntu 7.04 is running the 2.6.20 kernel. The default log on screen now look more like Windows does with the press on the username, and type in that user's password. You can still type in the user's name and password if you really want to (I do). Once logged in you will see your Name on the panel which allows for user switching between users on your computer.

Gaim's name is changed to Pidgin, since AOL didn't like it being so close to the AIM trademark. If you are looking for the Terminal it got moved to System Tools.

You will also notice that there are also Documents, Download, Music, Pictures, Public, Templates, and Videos folders the are now default in your Home directory. I think this will help the basic user be able to use Fedora as a Linux alternative to Windows.

Ubuntu seems to have a very user friendly interface and install. I will have to test the Live CD for Fedora next. So far for a Test version I think it is ready to go live from what I have seen so far. Test 4 is a far better improvement than Test 1 and 2 were when they were released. Keep up the good work Fedora Developers.

2007-04-30T23:04:00.000-04:00

Stand up and fight the stupid

This kind of article makes you kind of wonder where the personal life of a person stands and where their professional career begins. MySpace Photo Costs a Student a Teaching Certificate I have heard many teachers in my day talk about worse things than this picture, and to their class as well.

Folding @ Home

2007-04-27T20:58:00.000-04:00

Folding @ Home

Some computer projects that I have taken part in have had no way to help the world. This is the one time a project I am taking part in is helping the world. This little project takes all of the unused processing power of your computer and puts it to the use of folding proteins. In doing so your computer may help find a cure for the Alzheimer's, Cancer, Huntington's, pr Parkinson's Disease. Go to Folding@Home and download a simple program. Join the DL.TV team 57391 with the download and help find a cure.

Ununtu 7.04 and Debian 4.0

2007-04-24T23:44:00.000-04:00

RedHat and Fedora Core have been my linux distro of choice for a long time, and I figured I would take some time to check out the other versions.

I love the install of Ubuntu over Debian. The basic computer user will be able to use Ubuntu with ease. I like the encrypted partition of Debian, which is missing from Ubuntu, maybe it will be added later. I also noticed that Ubuntu is using the 2.6.20 kernel, and Debian is still using 2.6.18.

More information will be rolling in again now that my life is slowing down with all of the other projects I have been working with.

Maybe a weekly blog from here on out.

I've got game.

2006-09-15T00:12:00.000-04:00

You have guessed it I now have an XBox 360 with Xbox live. Game on.
Put your gamertag here too.

Fedora Core 5

2006-03-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

You got it I am all upgraded to the new version of Fedora. Not a major problem and things are working faster on my computer now.

More to come.

2006-03-27T13:58:00.000-05:00

Fedora Core 5

You got it, I have upgraded all of my linux systems to FC5 and all is well. No major problems and I am glad to see at least some OS Company/Group can get it right.

Free of Microsoft, and Windows.

2005-05-24T23:28:00.000-04:00

Finally I am using a computer and I am able to do everything I used to do with Microsoft Products using Linux. Windows no more. I can play internet radio, copy my music cd's to my local hard drive and listen to days of music.

More to come on my website with in the support area. www.terryesnyderjr.com

More updates to my site

2005-03-26T12:19:00.000-05:00

I sure hope everyone takes some time to check out my website. I take a lot of time to make sure it looks great and is full of helpful information. I think the new RSS New Room will be a great place to keep up-to-date with all that is going on in the Technology industry.

It feels funny being in college as well as working a full time job, and working on the side. I think if I am this busy for too much longer I might suffer from burnout.

Enjoy the site keeping up-to-date is the best way to not fall behind.

And then there was darkness and more...

2005-03-10T22:24:00.000-05:00

Still working on my information for my website I wanted to enter a blog, but blogger was down.

Boy this week has been fun for a lot of reasons, finally running into a slow time at work and getting to clean off the desk that gets filled with work all through out the year was a blessing.

I am still loving the new Netscape and I home that many other people are as well. I can't wait to see the final product.

Downloaded the new google desktop search. I like the new options since it became a final version. I will have to play with the plug-ins if I need them. I am really glad to see they have added history search to netscape, mozilla, and firefox now. So of the other features I might not even use.

I also got more drawing stuff I might think of making an IT cartoon, since sometimes I feel like I am in one.

Keeping up with new technology, and bloggies

2005-03-04T17:16:00.000-05:00

I can't believe there are bloggies an award for writing these little things. Many people getting awards seem to just be repeating things that many other people have already done. Oh well I could care less if I got anything for what I write.

I updated my forum on my website last night all to keep my users secure from the hackers out there. I really hate companies that release a patch, and two days later they release a patch to the patch. Oops we missed this security issue.

Maybe I should email all of my MSN Group members that we now have a new site for their needs. I have noticed a slow down since I closed the MSN chat room. No way I am going to pay to chat when I don't get paid from the people I was helping.

The college I am now going to is on spring break this week, whoopee!!! I still have to work a job to pay the bills. No nice trips to places where people can get drunk and party. So since I don't have class I will finish my assignment.

I finally had time to update my blog profile so now people if they want can find out more about me. New technology coming in, have to go learn it to help everyone else use it.

Netscape 8 Beta

2005-03-03T15:54:00.000-05:00

Well I just downloaded Netscape 8 and it handles the MSN home page just like IE does. Maybe we can finally have a web browser that is a complete standard between IE and Firefox/Mozilla/Netscape. More testing in the coming weeks. I can't wait to see how this one works out.

Tabbed browsing at its finest. This version has popup blocker just like 7.2 did with added feature to make the new popup open in a new tab verses opening a new window. You can now pick if you want to use the IE engine or Firefox engine.

Managing my web email accounts have never been better with the new Netscape 8. I can now login to all of the following email accounts with a click of a button on the tool bar: Gmail, Netscape Mail, Hotmail, Yahoo, Mail.com, Lycos, Excite, and AOL Mail. There is even a place to enter other email accounts as well.

Yes I am using the Netscape 8 to write this blog as well. I hope everyone that reads this download the new browser. I can't wait to see what kinds of extensions, and themes end up becoming available for this version of Netscape. http://www.netscape.com/download

More than one way to skin a cat.

2005-03-02T12:33:00.000-05:00

Interesting settings once you get the time to look at them. Each time I look at the setting for my blog I find a new little thing I might want to try.

This post is mostly just a test.

For the first time in 4 years I had a net loss on my personal company. I guess that isn’t bad, and it wasn’t by much. Oh will I guess I will get that when I don’t make much money on building systems, but I had new hardware that needed to be bought so there is where all the money went.

Have fun.

Things new to remember

2005-03-01T18:18:00.000-05:00

Well it has been a while. I finally got all of my video stuff setup, and now I can watch all of the MPEG file on my TV what a wonderful thing.

www.icerocket.com New search engine kind of like google with picture of website.
www.blinkx.com Search the internet for video files, TV shows, and more.

More updates to my website are coming soon.

Tax day for me will come before I think I will be ready for it. I still have to get all of my information together.

I just wonder if anyone ever reads this blog. I guess I will have to check my server log when I get some free time.

I started college again and now I only have one class. So far so good. One test and 2 projects done. I still have an A if that counts for anything. I will end up adding these things to my website also. I need more programming things there. I just love programming. I thought it would be a little harder since I have taken a 5 year break from programming. I guess the brain of a 28 year old is a little more logical than a 20 year old.

Someday I will get my Sun Solaris 10 workstation working so I can compile my projects at home with out having to compile them at college.

Feel free to view my website if you haven't before. www.terryesnyderjr.com

I love a computer challenge every now and then.

Keeping busy

2005-01-04T10:45:00.000-05:00

Well I start another step in my fun life today. I try to figure out what classes I should take at college. I am returning to college so I can finish what I started 9 years ago. Well I took a break and I guess I am one of the few that come back from a break. I have a great job I just want a piece of paper that says I know what I am talking about. You know just incase I want to find another place to work.

Today is filled with many little tasks for new software install instructions, and uploading all of that software to the server.

I started copying my music to my computer lastnight now I can play music on my TV with my DMR. I also ordered my ATI TV card and should have to tomorrow. I might install it on Thursday, and start using more of my great digital media system. I really dislike the Windows Media Center because it will not logon to a domain controller.

Maybe Microsoft should look into the professionals that want TV recording PVR functions as well.

A new years means more toys.

2005-01-03T11:10:00.000-05:00

Well starting off the last holiday when well and I am glad the holidays are over with. People plan to much stuff for me during the holiday and I never get anything I want to done.

DMR quest complete. I gave up on finding a product that will work with Microsoft's Windows Media Connect software and went with a Hauppage MediaMVP. Now with my ATI All-In-Wonder video card recording my TV shows, I can now watch them on a TV with out having to watch them on Windows media player or the ATI media player that comes with the Video card. And of course I love to live on the cutting edge so I downloaded the Beta Software for the new version of the server software. I didn't even use the CD-ROM that came with the little Digital Media Player. I still haven't gotten it to play internet radio stations yet, but I don't really care about that. Maybe that will be what I play with tonight.

Holiday 1 down 1 to go.

2004-12-30T22:06:00.000-05:00

I just love the gift cards, and the ability to spend the cards on what I want, and not having to return thing I don't like. I guess everyone liked it as well, because I stood in line for almost an hour getting things after Christmas.

Still searching for a DMR, and I think I am getting closer to a buying one. I think I may give up on the ones that work with Windows Media Connect though, because it looks like this program was an after thought for people that can't use a Windows Media Center PC. I also found out that my current Video card can do Picture in Picture, or dual video tuning with a second TV tuner card from the same company. I can't wait to go back and get a second TV card. I am guessing that won't happen until next year. Even though the store is just less than a mile down the road.

Most of this week was spent reading news groups and finding out what works and what doesn't. Seems like anything Microsoft has a hand in doesn't work more than it does. I don't seem to see many problems with devices that don't use Microsoft for its media serving.

With all of the wonderful viruses going around the internet I spent my time off updating my web server software and anything releating to PHP. I really like PHP, but just don't have the time or ability to keep checking the boards of each product every day for new updates. It figures though that the week after I updated my website a program update was released for a product that I had used. I guess I will be more up to date now, they have an email update news letter now to update current users of their software if you want it.

Model RailRoad used to be a little hobby of mine. Now this was the first year I didn't have a working train, so my loving wife got me a new engine for Christmas, and now I take up the entire dinning room with the train set. Maybe someday I will get an entire room to setup a train set, town and more trains. I also found out that a place near here will fix my old broken engines. They are there now and I hope to find out if and what it will cost to get them fixed. My one engine only cost $18 new when I got it before. Now new engines can't be picked up for less than $70. Either people aren't into the trains like they used to be or inflation went through the roof since I was 13 years old. Oh well I bring home more than a dollar a week so I am sure I can afford what ever the price will be to get my engine back.

Weekends, Viruses, and Holidays.

2004-12-22T13:06:00.000-05:00

Boy I wish weekends wouldn't be so busy. Since when does everyone plan everything for you on the weekend. Well I guess as soon as I get caught up from the weekend I have more to say.

Viruses are everywhere and they tried to take my website down, glad I have a very proactive hosting company that protected me until I got the updates finished on my site.

Have a merry christmas and a happy new year all. Back to the good old work for now.

Parties, 72 Pin SIMMs and Juno.

2004-12-17T23:05:00.000-05:00

Not in any order but today was fun. Filled with I think I have that part somewhere or we can convert those files for you, and of course a night out with college people.

Juno Email program really sucks, you can't convert it into any other program with out first converting it to something else. A friend at work had this old computer and wanted to copy all of his old Juno Email 4.0 program emails to his new computer and wipe the old computer clean. Well at work we have thrown away faster computers than this one, but I always love a challenge. It turns out that some very bright person made a conversion program, but it only works with the Juno 5.0 program. More hoops to jump through. I finally got it upgraded to Juno 5.0 on my computer with the data from the old computer. Then ran this cool little program. It made all of the emails into Eudora format, which imports right into ThunderBird.

Sharing internet on this old computer is now the next thing to do. It will run Windows 98SE or Windows 2000, but more memory is suggested and you guessed it by now that I have a ton of computer parts all over the place. Digging through all of this stuff I found an old processor that I think will fit into this old computer. Also to computer takes only 72 pin SIMMs or 30 pin SIMMs. I haven't had the pleasure to play with such an old computer in a while. I love the challenge. Yes I have old 72 pin SIMMs here as well. Maybe I will get some time to work on this little project on Monday.

I am not a party person but my wife wanted to go and drag me along with. I am not even on a close field of work that these people are in, and all I could do was sit and listen. The food was nice and the place was good. Normally I wouldn't be in a place like that unless I had to work there or setup a network, but oh well it was fun.

I figured out how to add a bio page to my site, and make it still flow. Each user that becomes a registered user to the site will be assigned a personal support person. This will be the perfect place to place my bio, but the only problem is only the people that get assigned to my will end up with my bio. Other people will get their support person's bio and not mine. I guess I can't will them all 100% of the time but at least it is a start.

Everyone once in a while I get in the mood to pick up a pencil and draw. Normally something I see, so here is my first public display of my art work. I figure this is the perfect place to show case my lack of art skills, but what the heck. I still watch cartoons/anime so here is a person from one of the shows I sometimes watch.

Maybe some day I will get time to draw more often but until that day finally comes I will still find each challenge and beat it to death, and never quit. Once you say you can't you have already lost the battle. Can't should never be something any one is ever taught to say or think.

The Quest for DMR

2004-12-16T20:58:00.000-05:00

A Digital Media Receiver would be a cool little toy to play with if it works. Microsoft released a program called Windows Media Connect that allows these devices to play media files from your computer on your TV or Stereo. I have found a few that are for a Windows Media Center PC, but there are less of these devices for Windows XP alone. So far I am not thrilled about paying more than $200 for it though.

Maybe after the holiday I will end up buying one.

Website added changes are coming soon, I did all of the redesigning of the site but didn't really add more stuff for people to use. Maybe a content management programming will help. I just have to sit down and program it. Maybe I will also add a bio page again, I kind of miss that on my new site. I just couldn't find a place to put it in the flow of the current site.

I have a party to go to tomorrow after work I guess I will have to try to live through it.

Typing this blog is kind of reminding me about a journal book I used to write in when I was very young. Maybe this will help me a little better in storing and conveying my ideas.

Very interesting that spell check in the blog things blog is a misspelled word.

Computers, Computers, and more Computers.

2004-12-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

People, want them and people break them. I just love working on computers when people think they are fixing a computer and end up making it worse than it was before they started. You guessed it I am repairing a computer that was worked on by a person that thought they were fixing it.

Hint if you want to help someone never remove the hard drive and put it into another computer. Windows XP Home really hates that with NTFS.

I guess this is way I have a job working on computers.

ThunderBird, and FireFox are really good replacements to IE, and Outlook Express. I have always used Netscape and never really ever used IE. Netscape 7.2 is kind of like FireFox, but some features are missing. I can't wait to test the new Netscape when it is finally released.

Now I am insearch of a hardware to play my recorded TV and Videos on my TV using the network in my house. I want to play with the Windows Media Connection program with Windows XP.

Welcome

2004-12-05T22:19:00.000-05:00

This is the first blog form me. Hope to see more of this when it works. All system info updates and life learning will be brought to you here.