Geekologie

These drivers are stable and much faster than having VirtualBox emulate the network card. You need V3.1.X virtualbox to use the new adapter.

The adapter works for Windows 2k, xp, and probably 2003…

The HowTo

Tip: How to setup Windows guest paravirtual network drivers | KVM – The Linux Kernel-Based Virtual Machine

Sourceforge site…

http://sourceforge.net/projects/kvm/files/

Excellent… Fast… If you want to plan where to put everything in your room check out this site.

Icovia® Space Planner

it appears that if you are creating an email on an OSX Mac, and you copy and paste an image into the email, the image is put inline as a .tiff attachment. Well I’m not sure when this started in the Windows line, but it appears that windows no longer has the association for .tif or .tiff files in Outlook / Outlook Express / Etc…

Here is a link to try:
You cannot view pictures by using Windows Picture and Fax Viewer in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921048

Here is an example of a script to create the associations via the registry in XP:

This reg file will restore .tif and .tiff file association to Windows XP
default.

Copy between “=====” and paste in notepad, save as tif.reg

Double-click or right-click and merge into the Registry.

========================
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tiff]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tiff]
“Content Type”=”image/tiff”
“PerceivedType”=”image”
@=”TIFImage.Document”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tiff\OpenWithProgids]
“TIFImage.Document”=hex(0):

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tiff\PersistentHandler]
@=”{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tif]
“Content Type”=”image/tiff”
“PerceivedType”=”image”
@=”TIFImage.Document”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tif\OpenWithProgids]
“TIFImage.Document”=hex(0):

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.tif\PersistentHandler]
@=”{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}”

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document]
“EditFlags”=dword:00010000
“FriendlyTypeName”=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00, 73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00 ,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,69,00,6d,00,67,00,76,00,77 ,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
00,2c,00,2d,00,33,00,30,00,36,00,00,00
“ImageOptionFlags”=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\DefaultIcon]
@=”shimgvw.dll,4″

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\open]
“MuiVerb”=”@shimgvw.dll,-550”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\open\com mand]
@=”rundll32.exe C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Fulls creen
%1″

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\open\Dro pTarget]
“Clsid”=”{E84FDA7C-1D6A-45F6-B725-CB260C236066}”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\printto]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TIFImage.Document\shell\printto\ command]
@=”rundll32.exe C:\\WINDOWS\\System32\\shimgvw.dll,ImageView_Print To /pt
\”%1\” \”%2\” \”%3\” \”%4\””
========================

Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts.

I find myself searching for these from time to time, and if they are here I know where they are… ;)

The Universal Access preference pane allows you to turn on Mouse Keys. When Mouse Keys is on, you can use the numeric keypad to move the mouse. If your computer doesn’t have a numeric keypad, use the Fn (function) key.

I lifted the following info from the following sites (I archive them here in case the sites go away). ;)

VK2K.com ,  Logitech Forum, and FixYa

If you make holes in the pads on the mouse you can get replacements here.

The best walkthrough on VK2K.com

Logitech MX1000 Mouse: Battery replacement how to tutorial/guide

This tutorial is for those who wish to replace their “non-serviceable” MX1000 battery

(last updated May 15, 2008 by VK2K)

The Logitech MX1000 mouse is one the best ever made and it has been my friend for a the last 3 years. Sadly the battery life went down the drain like any rechargeable would after prolong use. Logitech states that the battery can not be serviced. Meaning tough luck, time to buy a new mouse from Logitech. But googling around there were people who had successfully replaced their MX1000 battery. This website here (no longer exists) inspired me to give it a try. All I had to do was find a battery that matched the MX1000. People online had mention “klic-5001” battery works great.

Required tools/items
-Klic-5001 battery for Kodak Li-Ion 3.7V 1600mAh bought off ebay for 5 bucks
-Some 60/40 solder + 15-25w Soldering Iron bought from radioshack
-Screw driver

Step #1: Remove bottom screw

The two screw at the bottom near the recharge contact points circle in green below is hidden.
You must peel off the mouse studs to reveal the screw.

Step #2: Remove top screw

The two screw at the top is also hidden.
You need to peel off the logitech sticker as shown below

Step #3: Take it apart

You should now have all 4 screws out.
The top and bottom pieces should start to come apart
There is two cables that need to be removed circled below

Step #4: Remove battery from top half

The battery is secured by two screws circled below.

Step #5: Cut the battery power cables

Remove the battery cover. There is a stick pad there so it might be little hard to remove
Cut the power cable as close to the battery as possible.
There isn’t much cable lenght to play with so the longer the better.

Step #6: Snip the power cable and solder to new battery

Snip the ends of the power cable as shown below. Just enough so it could be soldered.
If you have nevered soldered before I suggest reading some guides online. It is pretty easy.
Solder the power cable to the new battery in the same color order shown below.

Step #7: Put the pieces back to gether

Putting the mouse back together will probably be harder than taking it apart.
Making it all fit and align up so the buttons work can be a little challenging.

From Logitech Forum

Screw Holes

Battery Frame

Kodak Battery KLIC-5001

With pigtail soldered

From FixYa.com

Now this is funny!

Ok, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth. I finally have a set of products that allows you to upgrade your Intel Mac Mini (I have the core 2 duo 1.8ghz) to a reliable wireless n solution.

So I have set up a home network with an Airport Extreme base station and to connect other computers via wireless I Have extended the network with two Airport Express modules. My understanding is that if you have a wireless N network that allows wireless G connections, the instant a G connection is made the entire network is slowed to wireless G speed. Since I use the Mac Mini as a media player (via the most excellent media player package in the entire world – PLEX),  I really need the wireless network to run at full N speed. To that goal I set the Airports to run Wireless N at 5 ghz only (I set up a cheap G router as a bridge for any wireless G people who visit the house). Since the only clients that can connect at 5 ghz are A and N I’m good to go.

First off, I’m not planning on a pictorial for Mac Mini disassembly as the people over at HardMac already have a nice one.

The Ordeal:

• First off I tried adding one of the wireless-n USB sticks. This allowed me to connect with N but the wireless USB sticks only run 2.4Ghz. I was in search of the 5Ghz range so this was not an option
• I ordered the Macbook Pro wireless upgrade card (part number Apple MA688Z/B – Airport Extreme Wireless Upgrade Kit – I picked it up from J&R Music online for $49) . Since the Mini only had one antenna I installed the card with only one antenna connected (On the internet there were many reports that the card would work this way, but at slower speed). After installation the Mini did not recognize the card as 802.11 A/B/G/N (viewed via the Network Utility.app in the Applications/Utilities folder) even though I was using Leopard 10.5.5. So I installed the airport software that came with the Airports. After that the card showed up as a 802.11. A/B/G/N and all was well. The card hooked right up to the network and worked great – for a few minutes. The trouble was that it would drop the network connection every time I loaded the card up with traffic. Whenever it dropped the connection the card would be unable to connect to any network, until I rebooted the system then it would hook up again. Sometimes the card would run for days at a time if I did no more than surf the net a little, but every time I viewed video or played music from my NAS server the Mini would drop off the network.
• I found a blog entry on the net saying that you could use the bluetooth antenna as the second antenna for the MA688Z/B card. Thinking that the second antenna might be an issue, and given that I was not using bluetooth in the Mini I gave that a go. The card displayed all the same issues as before.
• I gave up and put the old card back in, thinking that I could at least hear my music and watch low bitrate video off the server, and I could just copy the high definition videos off the server to the mini whenever I wanted to watch them. No dice. After the drivers were upgraded for the Mini it would not work with the old card again (I didn’t try playing with drivers or configuration files after that since wireless G was not my original goal).
• Since the network card in the Mini (and in most all notebook computers) is a standard Mini PCI card I started to look for non-apple alternatives. I did some research and found one blog entry where the poster said they had success installing a Gigabyte brand card in a Macbook Pro. I did some research and found the Gigabyte GN-W106N-RH. This card is based on the same (or similar) Atheros AR5008 chipset as the Apple MA688Z/B card. In the same research I found that antennas themselves are frequency rated (2.4ghz, 5ghz, or both), which makes sense, but I had not thought about the antennas in the Mini not being optimized or even capable of 5ghz (even though the Mini would not even run the MA688Z/B card at 2.4 g speed successfully). I went looking for a source for the antennas and found Oxfordtec.com.  Since they also had the best price for the Gigabyte mini PCI network card (59.95) I ordered both the card and 3 antennas ($8.95 each) from them (I actually ordered the version with the longer wire, but I think it’s a bit too long so I’m recommending the one above). I installed the Gigabyte card and plugged in the three antennas (I also tried every combination possible using the internal Mini’s antennas – bluetooth and the original network, but neither worked well with 5ghz wireless N). Since the Mini’s case is aluminum (which would block the antenna signal) and I didn’t want to futz about and mess up the cooling flow through the vents in the bottom of the mini, I routed the antennas out the back of the mini through the lower corner hole for the fan vent (the vent hole farthest away from the power button). I turned on the Mini and the card hooked right up. The drivers for the Apple card worked wonderful for the Gigabyte card. Network Utility shows a solid 300 megabit connection and the card runs solid as a rock.

I also had a 2GHZ Macbook (Core 2 non duo) that I wanted to upgrade. That one was a breeze. I followed the directions from HardMac for the upgrade with the Apple card, since I had a spare one from the Mini debacle… ;)  Once again, even though the posters say Leopard had the N drivers built in (maybe if I did a clean install Leopard might have put in the driver for the N card) I still had to run the updater utility from the Airport cards. Since the Macbook had two antenna connections already, no issues with wondering if I needed another one. The Macbook hooked up 5ghz 802.11n and is stable as a rock.

Roger Pielke’s blog has moved…

Climate Science: Roger Pielke Sr. Research Group News

Dr Pielke’s blog is a wonderful resource for those who are interested in actual Climate science. It it not geared toward the population who would prefer the mantra method of climate science, which as methods go can be more the most effective use of time, as it allows one to become “learned” regarding climate science in front of the TV and not have to read a bunch of boring science junk.

Of course the mantra method makes it easy to dismiss actual scientific debate, because anyone who does not chant the mantra is obviously a heretic unbeliever and is spouting blasphemy. Interesting how a “belief structure” that is loosely based in science has become a virtual religion where the true believers disdain and belittle those who question the basis of their beliefs (stop me when you see the analog). The belittling, of unbelievers, must of course be done at the chant/mantra level, because a true believer should never have a deeper understanding of the issue.  Questioning the articles of faith could lead to agnosticism, and eventual banishment from the fold….

I find the 8/19/2008 post regarding ocean temps very interesting.

And the Hurricane study that points out that the climate has always been changing.

Ohhhh, and this one too (especially the points and links under item 2).

Perot Charts » Charting Government Fiscal Irresponsibility

I believe every American should at least be aware of this data. We as voters should also ensure that our presidential candidates present specific measurable steps they will take to address these issues.

Of course, with such a high percentage of Americans who cannot grasp the insanely complex concept of a variable interest rate associated with an ARM (adjustable rate mortgage)… We might well find that the population could not identify a fiscally responsible solution if they were presented with one…

See where and for who your tax dollars work…

Welcome to FedSpending.org

To install Leopard on an “unsupported” G4 clocked under 867 MHz:

1. Reboot your Mac and hold down the Cmd-Opt-O-F keys until you get a white screen with black text. This is the Open Firmware prompt.

2. Insert the Mac OS X Leopard Install DVD.

3. Type the following lines exactly as shown below into the Open Firmware prompt. Be mindful of capitalization, spaces, zeros, etc. If the command is properly typed and understood, Open Firmware will display “ok” at the end of each line after you hit “return”. What these lines do is set the CPU speed reported by Open Firmware to OS X as an 867 MHz G4 processor system. They then continue the boot from the DVD drive.

For single CPUs, use the following three lines:

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi

For dual CPUs, use the following five lines:

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@1
d# 867000000 encode-int " clock-frequency" property
boot cd:,\\:tbxi

4. Continue the install normally.

5. This CPU setting is only in effect until the Mac reboots. Once OS X Leopard is installed and your Mac has rebooted, the proper CPU speed should once again be displayed when you select About This Mac under the Apple menu.

Be sure to enter every line above exactly as written. The system will prompt you with an “ok” after each line if you have

The text above was lifted from the link below… :)

Faking Out the Leopard Installer with Open Firmware

If you wish to opt out of having American Express share your information with their “partners” or just want to stop them from emailing you junk…

http://www.americanexpress.com/communications

Or call 1-800-297-8378

1/1/2009 – Note: This entry has taken on quite the life of it’s own. I’m not sure what mechanism keeps adding user comments requesting removal from Amex mailing lists, but it seems to keep on going. I’m leaving the entry up for now… Just wondering how long it will continue. My current thought is that someone is keying on the phone number or something and has an autoposting function for any blog with that number, another possibility is that spammers are using the entry to try to seed my system to let them spam other entries…  Any other ideas?

How to add holidays to your iCal…

If you have wondered how to add the current vacations to iCal you can past this in a web browser and it will allow you to subscribe to a holiday calendar.

webcal://ical.mac.com/ical/US32Holidays.ics

Ok, It’s impossible to find the Amazon.com customer service phone number on the web site. I found it searching the web, so I thought I would post it here.

Customer Service is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
——————————————————-
U.S. and Canada: 1-800-201-7575
International: 1-206-266-2992

Ok, I keep getting these calls almost every single day from my “Credit Card Management Company”.

If you have not heard about it here is how it works…

You get a call offering to lower your credit card interest rate. The call has no caller-id number and is listed as “out of area”. If you are interested press a number. The number seems to be random and changes so I cannot set up a system to feed the operator “answer tone” reliably. When you get the marketing agent on the phone they start asking you questions regarding your credit balances etc… These people are not as fun as the normal annoying telemarketers as they will hang up on you the second you give an answer they don’t like, so you cannot torture them easily.

The biggest problem is that you cannot do anything at all about the call other than try to keep them on the phone as long as you can.

The federal do not call list requires a company name or phone number for a complaint, you don’t get either.

The local phone company claims that they cannot block the calls due to technical issues, unless you buy a service from them for an additional $5 per month. One would think, if the issue is technical it couldn’t be so easily overcome with a standard $5 per month offering. The phone company claims that they have absolutely no way to identify the abuses in any way. Not even the gateway being used to put these calls on their phone network can be identified. Well somebody call Al-Qaeda. I have found the magic method to prevent anyone from tracing the source of calls, it’s like the Matrix…  Oh, the phone company also pointed out that anybody can call me if my number is listed. Surprisingly enough, they offer yet another service (for a small additional fee) that makes my number unlisted. Well I’m no rocket scientist, but I believe anyone can call you if your number is unlisted too…

So back to my torture tips:

Don’t ask them the name of the credit card they manage for you (they will hang up).

Tell them you over $4,000 in credit card debt.

Tell them you have cards near the limit.

Do not tell them you have an interest rate below ~ 20% (they will hang up).

Things I plan to try, but have not had time yet (not sure if any of it will work as they are VERY quick to hang up, which makes the torture sweeter as it means they are in a hurry):

Stuttering… Making it painfully slow to get out information.

Acting embarrassed, making them dig every detail out.

Telling them I have to get my last statements and putting the phone down.

Transunion, one of the three primary credit reporting agencies has begun offering credit freezes to persons who live in states that do not already provide for this practice in their laws. While this is of limited use, it is a positive first step toward self-regulation. I am bothered by the fact that I have to pay in order to restrict personal data about me, but that is a debate for another day. Paying will be the reality everywhere just as it is in most states that already require the credit agencies to do this upon request. This should do much to limit opportunities for identity theft and related kinds of fraud.

TransUnion First to Announce File Freeze Option in all 50 States, D.C.

Here is a Bikely map of a fairly easy route to get you from the South Fulton County Medical Center (East Point) to North Ave (Georgia Tech Area). This route is fairly low traffic if you travel outside of rush hour. I plan to comment the route better in the future. But I was just baning it up there for now.

By the way, if you ride a bicyle then Bikely is for you! It is a wonderful mapping program that will give full elevation profiles etc…  My understanding is that Bikely has been bought by BikeRadar. Unfortunately BikeRadar is not complete yet, but looks promising…

South Fulton Med Center To Coca Cola North Ave

Share your bike routes @ Bikely.com

Beginner’s Guide to Running with pretty cool links… Yet another bookmark for my personal interests… :)

Oh and some great info on training through shin splints…

http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=aa7796aa-e4a5-4c06-be84-b62dee548fdaNational Post article

I hadn’t given the recent emphasis on replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent ones much attention. With few exceptions, I have been conservative in my use of artificial lighting. There has been a flurry of activity with some businesses, cities, towns, etc., recommending, demanding, and everything in between to encourage this switch. The article I found this morning, and several others I hunted down, show another side of this issue which deserves scrutiny. The bulbs are not made in the US because of our environmental laws. They come from India and China where environmental law advocates do not have much political power. The reason is mercury. The story above concerns someone who accidently broke a bulb and is now looking at a very expensive remediation job before her daughter can enter her bedroom again. If you are planning to switch to these bulbs, do your research thoroughly including what procedure, if any, your city or county offers for disposal of toxic wastes such as mercury. Otherwise, you are contributing to a time bomb as the mercury in those bulbs will eventually find its way into our ground water, which will lead right back to us.