Technology Tamed Links Discussion

"LASTest Skype Upgrade" phishing email

2011-10-05T00:18:00.000+10:00

Don't get conned into clicking the "lastest" skype update link from "The people at skype" in the email shown below ...
Instead, let Skype™ know about it by email on 'spoof@skype.net' but be aware that if you forward the email with the links in it, it will probably be blocked in transit to them, so remove the hyperlinks first!
Do NOT click on the links (or reply to the email or download additional content)!

The Power of 1 - how one persons dream is helping people, improve, succeed, meet and grow

2011-09-11T16:21:00.004+10:00

Its not often the creator of Meetup.com writes to the whole Meetup® community, but here's an inspiring story of how meetup.com came into being and how one person's dream can touch the lives of millions of people.

He starts his communication thus ..

"I don't write to our whole community often, but this week is special because it's the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many people don't know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.

Let me tell you the Meetup story.
I was living a couple miles from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought local community doesn't matter much if we've got the internet and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I hoped they wouldn't bother me.

When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they'd normally ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being neighborly.

A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was born:
Could we use the internet to get off the internet -- and grow local communities?

We didn't know if it would work. Most people thought it was a crazy idea -- especially because terrorism is designed to make people distrust one another.

A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months after 9/11.

Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it's working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups, Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups... a wild variety of 100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common -- except one thing.

Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to neighbors.

And what often happens next is still amazing to me.

They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and motivate each other, they babysit each other's kids and find other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace together. They make friends and form powerful community. It's powerful stuff.

It's a wonderful revolution in local community, and it's thanks to everyone who shows up.

Meetups aren't about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it weren't for 9/11.

9/11 didn't make us too scared to go outside or talk to strangers.
9/11 didn't rip us apart.
No, we're building new community together!!!!

The towers fell, but we rise up. And we're just getting started with these Meetups.

Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ) Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup New York City September 2011

Add info@meetup.com to your address book to receive all Meetup emails

Meetup, PO Box 4668 #37895

New York, New York 10163-4668

ACCESS - blank parameter queries - SOLVED

2011-08-20T17:15:00.000+10:00

I have had sooo much troubl getting a parameter query to work in the ACCESS query grid.
Something seemingly so simple ....
When running a query I wanted to be prompted for whether the records should show those with a Checkbox field Ticked, eg (T)rue, Unticked (F)alse or Both Ticked and Unticked (All)
To cut directly to the chase, here is the query criteria which I finally got to work.

Note: The checkbox field being queried is called TaxClaim

IIf([Tax Claim? (T)rue, (F)alse or 'Enter' = All] Is Null,[TaxClaim],IIf([Tax Claim? (T)rue, (F)alse or 'Enter' = All] Like "T*",-1,0))
If Then Else

If Nothing is entered in the prompt dialog e.g. if just 'Enter' or 'OK' is pressed Then display everything in the [TaxClaim] field ... both Ticked and Unticked.

If anything is entered in the parameter dialog (preferably T, or True, or F, or False) the Else statement is executed.
Within the Else section is another nested IIf which checks if the entry is Like anything starting with T (Like "T*") if it is Then it sets the TaxClaim query criteria to -1 which equates to ticked checkboxes. If its anything Else which doesn't start with "T" (i.e. F or False) the TaxClaim query criteria is set to 0 which equates to Unticked checkboxes.

Key points:
The first and subsequent references to the one prompt must be identical

[Tax Claim? (T)rue, (F)alse or 'Enter' = All]

or (a) subsequent prompt(s) appear(s) and the logic breaks

In the first ImmediateIf, the Is Null only seems to work the way shown.

I originally tried to use it like IsNull([Tax Claim? ....]) ... that doesn't work in the query grid

The only thing which returned All records (both ticked and unticked) was the use of the Field Name (TaxClaim) in its referenced form (square brackets [TaxClaim])

Watts , Lux, Lumens, LEDs, and inacndescent lights

2011-08-19T12:27:00.000+10:00

For a more detailed explanation, see this web site, but as a rough comparison, think of these points:

Lumen s measure the total number of packets of light produced by a light source

To compare watts to light output and LED bulbs, we talk about ‘lumens per watt’ (lm/w).

Incandescent bulbs generate around 12 lm/w,
(so a 60watt bulb produces approximately 720 lumen)

LEDs and halogen lights are almost equivalent at 40 lm/w.
(so a 60watt halogen down-light produces approximately 2400 lumen)

Fluorescent tubes can produce 60 lm/w
(so a 60watt fluoro tube produces approximately 3600 lumen)

So for only 3 watts of consumed power, a single 3 watt CREE LED can produce 120 lumen (about the same as a 10watt incandescent bulb), while a 27 watt LED lamp (9x 3watt CREE LEDs) can produce 1080 lumen ... as much as a 90watt incandescent globe ... for only 27wats consumed !

Using the ATO AUSkey with ECI

2011-08-18T19:39:00.001+10:00

With my existing ATO OCAIII certificate for my Technology Tamed BAS submissions through the Electronic Commerce Interface (ECI) software, due to expire in a couple of months, I decided I should bite the bullet and install AUSkey well ahead of this month's BAS submission to see if I could get it all working ok.

It turned out to be a reasonably painless process made up of the following main steps to install it to an XP SP3 computer (as opposed to a USB key) running Firefox as the browser of choice

Register for an AUSkey (as an Administrator) providing necessary details of your identity.
If you already have an ATO certificate, those details are used as verification
Record a code generated at time of registration
Receive an email with an AUSkey download link in it
Within 42 days* execute the link for the first time
* If left for more than 42 days, the registration expires and you have to reapply ... like I did ... DOH!
Your browser will be checked for the presence of the correct version of Java support
If unsupported or no Java is found, you will be directed to install it before continuing.
In my case I'm using Firefox (3.6.20) and Java Console 6.0.26 with Java Quick Starter 1.0 extensions along with the Java(TM) Platform SE 6 U26 (6.0.260.3) and Java Deployment Toolkit 6.0.260.3 Plugins
If all is in order you get to download a Microsoft Installer (.msi) file ... AUSkey_software.msi
Once the download completes and the Internet Security Suite has approved it, execute the installer.
Once installed, it requests a restart of your browser which appears to activate an ABR_AUSkey Mozilla Plugin (1.4.0.0)
Execute the emailed download link a second time
Provide the code that was generated when you registered for your AUSkey, along with the required captcha
Provide a secure password
BINGO! the AUSkey cert was downloaded and installed
(to C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Application Data\AUSkey)
Now load the ECI client ... it must be version 6 or later
Choose Select Certificate and in my case I could now see two valid certs.
One due to expire shortly, which if I selected it and chose Details, I was informed it had an Issuer: ATO OCAIII with a Location: CSI STORE
Another with a an expiry date of two years away (probably from last-use, as AUSkey never expires as long as it is used at-least once very year). Selecting and choosing Details on this shows the Issuer: Australian Business Register CA with it's Location: SBR STORE
To actually use the new (AUSkey) certificate is as simple as selecting the correct one when you attempt to transact with the ATO.
e.g. From Business -- Activity Statements -- In Tray, choosing Get New Documents will prompt with the Connect to ATO dialog, simply choose the appropriate certificate in the Organisation Name drop-down and supply the secure password you specified earlier.

Some useful additional information is available through links from the ATO FAQ page.

About AUSkey

    * What is AUSkey
    * Are you eligible
    * Who can 'register' for an AUSkey at www.abr.gov.au/auskey
    * Does each person in the business need an AUSkey or can we share
    * Types of AUSkey
    * Will your AUSkey expire
    * When should you cancel your AUSkey
    * What can you do if you disagree with a decision we make about your AUSkey

Getting and setting up your AUSkey
For the first time:
1 Register > 2 Install AUSkey software > 3 Install AUSkey > 4 Link AUSkey to government.

    * How to register if you have an ATO digital certificate
    * How to register if you do not have an ATO digital certificate
    * What information to have on hand if we ask you to phone us
    * Registering more than one person at a time
    * Registering for a Device AUSkey
    * How to install a Standard/Administrator AUSkey on your computer
    * How to install a Standard/Administrator AUSkey on your USB stick
    * About installing Device AUSkeys
    * Installing AUSkey to networks
    * Backup your AUSkey
    * How to link your AUSkey to government agencies

After the first time:
1 Install AUSkey software to your desired location (computer or USB stick) > 2 Request additional copy of your AUSkey via the AUSkey website > 3 Install AUSkey > Link AUSkey to government.

    * How to access the AUSkey software after installing your AUSkey
    * How to request an additional copy of your AUSkey

How to

    * Use an AUSkey that is installed on a USB stick
    * Change your password
    * Upgrade to an Administrator AUSkey/Downgrade to a Standard AUSkey
    * Update your name on our system if you have changed it
    * Move your AUSkey to a different location
    * Cancel your AUSkey
    * Delete an AUSkey from your computer or USB stick
    * Change the custodian of a Device AUSkey

Technical information

    * Operating systems and browsers
    * Active X
    * JavaScript
    * Restrictions on download, installation or USB access
    * Anti-virus software

Troubleshooting

    * Lost activation code
    * Lost ‘download and install’ email
    * Did not receive an email after completing an AUSkey registration
    * Cannot login to government online services using AUSkey
    * Cannot remember your AUSkey password
    * Lost or stolen computer or USB stick
    * AUSkey corrupted
    * Received an operating system not supported message
    * Received an error message or experienced an issue while trying to register
      or download an AUSkey
    * Creating new user accounts
    * Why have I been redirected to the AUSkey software installation page

Suggest you check this out - Unstoppable Affiliate

2011-08-07T21:50:00.000+10:00

Have a read though the feedback on warrior forum and then have a look at the product.

It might be worth your time to investigate it.

Warrior Forum P3 P2 P1 and Affiliate Helper and a Youtube video review on Unstoppable Affiliate

Andrew Hansen is a name that can be trusted. Elite Niche Research was a great product

AH Twitter

AH YouTube

I like Todo Backup free home version so much ...

2011-08-07T21:46:00.001+10:00

REQUEST

I like the free Todo Backup product so much that I will gladly make a contribution for each copy that I use.

Is there some way I could make a donation for each copy I choose to use on my home pc’s?

The old-fashioned idea of being able to fully trial for an unlimited period, then being able to buy single-version copies outright, without having to “subscribe” or “renew” or “regularly upgrade”, suits my needs perfectly.

Your product, however, is so good that I would gladly pay a token amount per copy to support the continued free-access home-use policy.

SUGGESTION

I have two small usability improvement suggestions to offer.

On the Backup tab In the Backup Management dialog where it shows all tasks/plans, it would be great to see the last-run and/or next scheduled time for each task/plan.

I would find this more useful than the Created Time field, currently shown.

Another little bit of feedback was when I started using the product, in that same summary dialog it has the Status column.

To me, “Started” means the backup task is actually performing a backup, though I quickly realised it meant the task was loaded and waiting for the next execution.

Maybe a status of “Scheduled” would be more descriptive?

(e.g. Status’ could be .... Started(or Running); Scheduled(or Pending);Paused)

Thanks for a great product.

Keep up the great work and please keep a “free” (or very cheap) version for other small users like myself – with the option to donate

Regards
Colin J Sanders Automation Analyst, Dip Elec., MCSE, ITIL, PRINCE
Technology Tamed ®
A.B.N. 13 442 206 580
Blogs: TechTamed Discussion digital-video-security

Twitter: @automation_man

Skype: automation_man

More on CCProxy and Home Web Access Management

2011-06-13T17:56:00.002+10:00

Well I've had a 10-client license CCProxy^(TM) installed and operational for twelve days now, and I simply cannot sing its praises loudly enough!
Their email support has been exemplary (even in the face of a "dumb-user-error" on my part)
Everything I have wanted it to do, ... it has done.
Three times I have wanted special functions from the product and every time it was already there, built-in and available, with some additional explanation from the support team.
Specifically I wanted:

To be able to set up multiple time/web filters per user/device

e.g.
iPods only access web from 5am to 10:30PM M~F, cant access Facebook^(TM), Tumblr^(TM), Picnik^(TM) during homework times
PC's access web any time, cant access Facebook^(TM), Tumblr^(TM), Picnik^(TM) during homework times
M~F
etc
As per my first blog on this topic, they explained how that was done

I did not want each separate filter definition to consume one of my 10 user licenses

In my first blog on this subject I had said

The catch with this approach is that it appears to consume TWO client licenses so in our case we need a minimum of FOUR licenses per child (2 per iPod and two per desktop - per child) so there go eight licenses immediately. This means we are forced to buy the minimum paid license which happens to be 10-user for US$70 (as at Jun 2011). Still that is a one-off cost so for the flexibility its not bad.

i.e. When you enter an allow filter for an IP/MAC it shows a user count of 1
When you then enter a blocking filter for that same IP/MAC it shows a user count of 2
... even though its for the one user and one device
Once again, however, the authors had thought of this, because the user-count from a license perspective is the number of concurrent users accessing the system at one time.
To quote their response:

The number of accounts is based on online clients which means you can create 20 accounts, only 10 of them available at the same time.

I wanted to be able to filter the logfile analysis by pattern-matching rather than individual definitions
The drop-down filter allows filtering on any ONE of the defined User names e.g.
User1_PC-Allow OR User1_PC-Filter OR....
Whereas I wanted all entries starting with User1 e.g.
User1_PC-Allow; AND User1_PC-Filter; AND User1_iPod-Allow; AND User1_iPod-Filter

The solution was as simple as entering the string into the "Log Analysis" "Filter" textbox then clicking "Analysis" and waiting ... the waiting bit was what this "dumb-user" got wrong - DOH!

Two final tips for this blog:

Even though the default time blocks are hour-to-hour, minuted periods can be manually specified
e.g.
If you use the tick-boxes to select filter times you only have 00:00~01:00, 01:00~02:00 ...22:00~23:00, 23:00~00:00.
You can however, specify times such as 20:00-23:30 by typing it into the daily time schedules.
I found it helpful to visually record my filter definitions in an excel spreadsheet so I could visualise the times I wanted to apply filtering or blocking on

Manage Family Web Access using CCProxy

2011-06-01T02:27:00.015+10:00

After messing around with Norton Internet Security^(TM) trying to use their "Parental Controls" and finding nothing but frustration with the limited functionality, I finally put procrastination aside and decided to try implementing a PROXY server to provide the level of control I was seeking.

The big limitation most products have is that while they may allow (some) site and time restrictions, most of them don't seem to combine both features very well (if at all).

After looking at a whole raft applications (like Norton Internet Security, OpenDNS^(TM), Net Nanny^(TM) and the like) I decided I didn't want to spend the sort of money some of these products were asking and most of the "free" ones just didn't cut it in terms of functionality and flexibility.
I started to focus what proxy offerings were out there and after trying a bunch of both paid and free ones, I've finally settled on CCProxy^(TM) (current version 7.2).

The key reasons I chose CCProxy over others I considered were:

It is a windows based product
(I could have gone the linux route using squid, and I'm sure it would have done all I wanted, however, I'm not really a linux guy but know my windows and networking pretty well)
It will run on plain old XP - e.g. it doesn't need Windows server or any "special build" to make it work
It will work on a single-homed machine - i.e. just a single network card
To achieve what I wanted, all I had to do was reconfigure the browsers on the clients I wanted to control.
It had a free and un-crippled trial offering so I could check it out properly before committing to buy it
The purchase price for 10-user home use was "very reasonable"
MOST IMPORTANTLY - I could configure it the way I wanted!

To set the scene.
Let me say up front that I purposely have chosen not to make this solution hack-proof and un-able to be bypassed.
I had a fairly secure, working, home network, which I wanted to put a configurable filter in for individual devices.
I did not want to alter the network config any more than absolutely necessary.
I am also relying on my kids not reconfiguring their browsers to use the unfiltered route to the internet as I want them to learn self restraint by being made aware that there are appropriate times to conduct various internet activities.

OK here's our setup and what I wanted to achieve:
We have a home Local Area Network (LAN) with an ADSL router providing Network Address Translation (NAT) fire-walling from the internet.
That then connects to a multi-switched network, one switch also providing b/g/n WiFi
There are six client PC's, one printer, four netbooks, three iPods, an eReader and a Wii connecting to the network

The Wii, iPods and eReader all use the WiFi.
The Netbooks can be cabled or WiFi
The rest are all cabled.

Two of the cabled systems run XP Prof 24x7 . One acts as a "data backup server" and hosts the CCTV security system (local and off-site access), the other has a dual function of being my primary workstation and acting as the "shared resources" server (shared data, individual home drives, printers, scanner and fax). Another two of the workstations are located in our "living" area for the kids to do their homework on (so we can monitor usage and homework progress).
It is these two PC's and the kids two iPods which I have set out to manage, because despite reasonable self-control, both kids can "loose" an inordinate amount of time in their use of Facebook, Tumblr, Picnik etc.

First Criteria - be a Windows based proxy
...for the reasons stated above.
It also needed to be able to run on XP workstation (not server - as I don't currently have server running on anything but my testbed machine)
It should not be too resource intensive because the CCTV software chews a vast amount of resource when running a large number of cameras

Second Criteria - MAC filtering
While the network is pretty tightly locked down with static IP addresses on all the cabled devices and individual internet security suites on each of the clients, it just wasn't going to be practical to assign static IP addresses to all the radio devices because we wanted to use them in other DHCP ( Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) enabled environments such as MacDonalds, the school network, coffee shops, etc.
DHCP allocates an IP address to a device from a range of possible addresses, so for the the iPods and Netbooks we wanted to control, the first selection criteria was that Media Access Control (MAC) address filtering had to be possible, because that is a fixed address no matter what the IP address the device has.

Third Criteria - scheduled internet (web) access
We wanted to be able to completely deny all web access after certain times at night (e.g. 9~11pm) and not re-enable before certain times in the morning (e.g. 5~7am)

Fourth criteria - different per-person schedules (i.e. per-device)
Because of age and work commitment differences we wanted to be able to allow more "social" web access time for one than the other, yet more "overall" web access time for the older one who now uses the web for a lot of legitimate research and resource acquisition.

Fifth criteria - constrained site access within allowed web access window
Not too many products seemed to provide this!
So the objective here was to allow general web access from morning till night but at certain times, preclude access to certain time-consuming sites such as Facebook^(R), Tumblr^(R), Picnik^(R) Twitter^(R) and the like.
To add complexity, we wanted the applications and the duration of those limited access times to also be tailored to the individual.

How CCProxy met ALL those criteria

I downloaded the trial (3-user limited) installer from the Youngzsoft^(R) download site. (1.4MB)
On the P4 2.4GHz 2GB RAM XP Professional CCTV/Backup system, I set a System Restore Point then following the ccproxy_quick_start.pdf, executed the CCProxy trial installer.
A couple of minutes latter it was installed! That was all there was to it!
The installation relies on the installation machine having the correct default gateway defined for access to the internet.

From there I followed the clearly explained quick start guide, to set up my first user, a simple web filter and a schedule, before moving on to the slightly more complex task of defining a scheduled-web-filter then multiple scheduled-web-filters set within each other ... as I'll describe below.

I started by using my own workstation as the test target to make sure I could;

redirect my browser via the proxy
filter a particular web site, then multiple web sites
set a schedule when my web access was allowed/prohibited

I discovered that (unlike some other products) I could control each of the seven week-days differently and could have multiple segments throughout every day when access was/was-not limited by the proxy

All I had to do on my workstation was go into my web browser (Firefox^(TM) in this instance) and under
Tools-Options-Advanced-Network-Settings, select Manual Proxy Configuration: and enter the IP address of my system where I had installed CCProxy.
I also ticked the Use this proxy server for all protocols checkbox

[Note: an Internet Explorer^(TM) example is provided in the quick start guide]

One thing to remember when you are testing if its all working, is that if you have allowed access to and accessed a web site, then closed the browser (or tab), reconfigured the proxy to prohibit that site then retried accessing the site, it may appear that the proxy is not prohibiting access!
Not-so!
Clear the browser cache on your client and again try accessing the site and you will get the proxy warning regarding time or site access restrictions.

With the simple stuff all working, I moved on to the more complex task of seeing if I could schedule not only overall web access times, but also when certain sites were blocked (or allowed).
That turned out to be as simple as going into the Edit option of a particular client (my workstation) and selecting not EITHER a Web Filter OR a Time Schedule but rather selecting BOTH, at which point the chosen Web Filter is applied according to the chosen Time Schedule (simple eh!)

OK so I created a Time Schedule called Time0500-1700_2000-2300 and set each day as shown here:

Using a Permit Category: Permit Only and an Auth Type: MAC address I created an account which I called WebAllowed using the MAC address of my client.
I checked all the protocol boxes (www, Mail, Telnet etc) along with Time Schedule: where I selected my already defined Time0500-1700_2000-2300 schedule
This meant my workstation (based on it's MAC address and regardless of it's IP address) would be granted internet access for all selected protocols from 5am to 5pm then again from 8pm till 11pm every weekday; from 5am to 10am, midday to 2pm and 5pm to 11pm Saturday
from 5am to 11pm Sunday

Next I created a complementary Time Schedule to "fill-in-the gaps" of the first schedule

No effect Sunday
Applies 5pm to 8pm
Applies 5pm to 8pm
Applies 5pm to 8pm
Applies 5pm to 8pm
Applies 5pm to 8pm
Applies 10am-12 and 2pm-5pm

I also created a HomeworkDeny Web Filter thus:

As you can see , I chose to forbid web sites using the Site Filter checkbox then set "Forbidden Sites" filters for both un-secure (http) and secure (https) traffic (which uses port 443) for both Facebook and Tumblr
You can't quite see it in the graphic but to define the port you want to filter you specify colon{port-number}after the site address.
e.g. *.tumblr:443

Now the nifty bit.
You create a second account for the same device (using the same MAC address)
So again ...
Using a Permit Category: Permit Only and an Auth Type: MAC address I created an account which I called WebRestricted again using the MAC address of my client.
I again checked all the protocol boxes (www, Mail, Telnet etc) along with Time Schedule: where this time I select my already defined second (complimentary) Time1700-2000 schedule

This now means my workstation (based on it's MAC address and regardless of it's IP address) will still be granted internet access for all selected protocols from 5pm to 8pm every weekday;
from 10am to midday and 2pm to 5pm Saturday
with no access-control (by this schedule) on Sunday

So when the two schedules are combined, the effect is that this one device (based on its MAC address) has web access all the way from 5am to 11pm every day
But now ...
In this second account definition we also apply a Web Filter using the HomeworkDeny filter we defined previously, so the times specified in the schedule for this second account (for the one machine) prohibits the sites specified in the HomeworkDeny filter during the times specified in the Schedule for this second account definition, yet still allowing all other internet traffic to all other sites during these times

i.e.

Web access only between A(5am) & D(11pm) and within that,

restrict certain sites during period B(4pm) thru C(8pm)

A(5am)------ all web ---------B(4pm)---web without some sites---C(8pm)--------- all web ---------D(11pm)------- No Web ------->A

The catch with this approach is that it appears to consume TWO client licenses so in our case we need a minimum of FOUR licenses per child (2 per iPod and two per desktop - per child) so there go eight licenses immediately. This means we are forced to buy the minimum paid license which happens to be 10-user for US$70 (as at Jun 2011). Still that is a one-off cost so for the flexibility its not bad.

Two other noteworthy points:

To configure the iPod Safari browser to use the proxy.

Settings

Manual

IP address

808

Because this is a fully-fledged proxy offering, web-caching can be enabled on the proxy installation, however it does consume additional disk, memory and CPU resources, so that must be considered when deciding if there is value in avoiding repeated downloads of sites and potentially faster page delivery

ASUS 3G EeePC - 1000HG - PING but browser fails

2011-03-02T01:01:00.000+10:00

Well I haven't blogged for a while, but for the sake of any other EeePC fanatics who are suffering the same frustration I have with my little netbook, here's a tip.
We have two of the ASUS EeePC 1000HG netbooks in the family (as well as a couple of the other models too) and we really love them.
At 9~10inches and very light, they are a GREAT for the kids to lug to college and my wife and I to use on the train to/from work each day.
We run all manner of software on them from games to Office apps, including Visio; Powerpoint; Access; etc. Sibelius music composition software, iTunes, etc etc etc.

With prior models, there was no inbuilt 3G capability so you had to continually carry and attach/detach the annoying external USB modem (an Huawei E220). They are a great little modem and worked well, it was just annoying having the thing hanging off the side of the netbook all the time and having to put it away every time you wanted to stow the netbook..
With the EeePC 1000HG came the on-board 3G modem, which in our case was the Huawei E770.
When I first set it up using a data-only SIM from the 3-Network here in Australia, it worked fantastically well, apart from the lousy coverage and below-average service which the carrier offered! (Thats what you get for $15/mth)

While I was away on a business trip I took works E220 USB modem which uses the OPTUS network carrier, so I didn't have to consume my bandwidth while I was connected to work. That was when my woes began.
I plugged the OPTUS USB modem into the netbook and as expected it came up and ask if I wanted to install the drivers for it. Naturally, I did ... the install which I had used several times without error on other laptops ... failed!
To cut the story short, it turned out the Huawei E220 install somehow conflicted with the internally installed Huawei E770 and then neither worked! Being away from home, I did not have the original driver disk which came with the Eee to reinstall the internal modem (nor did I have a portable DVD drive even if I had,had the disk) and I could NOT get the external one to play AT ALL! I wound up downloading over a rather slow conference WiFi connection, what I thought was the correct driver from ASUS, after searching on this ASUSTEK support page for my model (1000HG) , supplying my OS (WinXP) and downloading the offered 3G Wireless Driver. (as CMO_3G_Driver.zip)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing! I should have paid more attention, as it wasn't the driver for the Huawei modem! Again, a long story short ... that failed dismally! After some extended searches of forums I came up with the fact that the driver for the EeePC 1005PE was compatible with the 1000HG Huawei and comes in the form of 3G-HEM770-V2_0_3_824.zip, one source of which is http://dlcdnet.asus.com/pub/ASUS/EeePC/Driver/
Its about an 86MB zip so quite large over a slow WiFi link!
At-least I was operational again!
....BUT! .... All was NOT well!
Gradually as time went by the 3-network coverage became more and more unreliable as they merged with Vodaphone and demand on their resources increased. Somewhere in amongst trying to get their service to work reliably, one of the many useless support suggestions tipped my EeePC 3G Connection Manager over the edge. I could connect fine, I could use POP3 email (Outlook) and I could PING everything from the command prompt, but try and use any browser for HTTP and it gradually went from sporadic to unusable.
I tried everything I could think of. Emptying every cache known to man. Resetting route tables, hard-mapping DNS servers, re-installing the Windows modem connection. I even changed carriers, switching to the more reliable and better coverage of TELSTRA ... there wasn't much I didn't try. In the end when I could no longer use a browser at all, I bit the bullet and went back into control panel and completely removed all traces of the internal modem (E770), the external modem (E220) and the EeePC 3G Connection Manager.
I re-installed the the EeePC 3G Connection Manager by running the AsusSetup.exe found inside the extracted 3G-HEM770-V2_0_3_824.zip. This contains and reloads the drivers for the Huawei E770 modem.
Instantly upon restart and reload, all browsers were back to full functionality

One other thing to note which caused me some consternation at first, is the way the 3G Connection manager configures the dial-up connection. It sets the Advanced TCP/IP settings to "Use default gateway on remote network" so if you do an ipconfig /all it will show the Default Gateway as the same IP address as the IP address of the computer, allocated by the carrier's DHCP

Any questions on this, feel free to comment on this thread.

Sony Reader Touch Edition PRS-650

2010-09-29T17:37:00.000+10:00

It's new - it's sleek - its touch - it doesn't require a 3G account nor WiFi as it relies on direct USB connectivity to a hosting PC or laptop - it's not locked to a book chain, supplier or country!
Read all about it here
Here's an except of the review....

No two ways about it, the Reader Touch (more specifically, the PRS-650) is a gorgeous piece of hardware. The front bezel and spine are cool-to-the-touch brushed aluminium, the rear panel has a grippy rubberised plastic coating, and the whole unit feels as if it’s been put together with a craftsman’s fine attention to detail. It’s solid as a rock too, and feels nicer to hold than the Kindle.
The Reader Touch boasts 2GB of internal storage, plus twin memory card slots on the top edge for expansion (one for Memory Sticks, one for SD cards [up to 32GB cards]). On the bottom edge resides a 3.5mm headphone socket for listening to audiobooks or MP3s, while a stylus is tucked into the top right-hand corner for making notes.

It has three input methods,

finger touch (for page turns and navigation),
stylus (page turns and annotation)
button (for page turns and navigation)

The interface is a tad slow but definitely very usable.
Available from Borders in Australia for $299 (as at Sep 2010) which makes it a bit pricey compared to the 3G and Wifi equipped Kindle at $247

It's probably worth noting here that ...

Australians pay about $4 per book more than in the US because Amazon could not reach an agreement with Telstra to run it's service. They didn't want to use other providers due to coverage issues, so instead it uses expensive data roaming provided by AT&T in the US.
So in fact you are paying for the data every time you download a book and you are locked to their supply infrastructure.

The unit does not ship with a power supply as it is USB powered, but you can buy a generic (e.g. Dick Smith) PSU for under AU$20

Requires the Sony Reader software installed on your host PC to manage your books - app is free from the Sony e-bookstore at and looks very similar to Adobe Digital Editions

We just contacted Sony (Australia) to inquire about battery replacement.
They were most helpful and are fully researching our inquiry, but initial feedback suggests the battery will be a Li-Ion so should give three-to-five years life, however, because the battery is sealed within the unit, it will be covered by the unit's warranty initially.

More info as it comes to hand

Google Advanced Search parameters

2010-09-18T19:36:00.000+10:00

To Open the Google™ Advanced Search panel with other than the default 10 results used to require the parameter &num=nn where nn was something like 20, 30, etc.
That stopped working recently (Sep 2010) and it appears you now need to follow that parameter with &as_qdr=all thus...
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?&num=30&as_qdr=all

Water Fights can be EXPENSIVE!

2010-09-05T15:15:00.000+10:00

15 Feb 2010 - our 16yr old has a party at our place and invites a group of friends.
Part of the activity is an organized water-fight.
At 52, Dad(me) decides to stay out of the fight and man the filling of the water stations from the tank.
The inevitable happens when it is noticed that Mr S is NOT wet!
Standing filling a water station, I did not see the attack approaching from behind.
The first I knew was when a full 20litre plastic pail of water hits me side-on mid-shin as the attacker slips, loosing hold of the full pail and throwing it against my leg as he runs toward me, instead of throwing the water over me.
After the initial shock and pain, I continue to fill the water-station but suddenly realize my leg is swelling visibly and rapidly before my eyes.
I hobble inside and call for assistance in the form of R.I.C.E. (Rest Ice Compression Elevation)
Fast-forward through x-rays, an ensuing infection resulting in copious antibiotics and a venous ulcer, which at its peak was about 150mm long by 50mm wide, many visits to the GP as well as visits to a plastic surgeon and several months under a general surgeon.
Now ... over 7 months later ... the leg no longer bleeds and apart from a cavity in the tissue where the ulcer was, is mostly recovered.
I just totaled up all the Dr, Specialist and Chemist bills relating to this "little incident" ....
$2,008.13 which after refunds still comes in at the grand sum of $1,474.53 so
BE WARNED! water fights can be expensive, painful and horribly inconvenient ... but then ...most things in life come with a degree of risk

Some useful resources on differing architectural models

2010-09-05T15:08:00.000+10:00

Apart from the OSI model at the technology layer, the following links describe some of the enterprise layer models

There is the Zachman Framework .... have a look at this page which references it

You also have EAF (Enterprise Architecture Framework) – this page also has a comprehensive list of the various architecture methodologies available

A much more simplified model is described on this page under the Architectural Layers section

I also came across a reasonable explanation of the Agile architecture while I was researching

16 weather links

2010-09-05T15:07:00.000+10:00

Globe weather (Japan Met)

Select:

Full Disk

Water vapor Large Color

To UTC

Last 24 Hours Play

0.2 sec/image

Qld Sea Surface Temperatures

Current Tropical Cyclones

Sunspots and solar storms

GeoNet (NZ earth movement)

USGS (International earth movement)

Qld lightning - near real-time (as opposed to Energex 15min delayed feed)

Aust MSLP (Mean Sea Level Pressure or Synoptic)

Aust weather radar

Brisbane weather radar 1

Brisbane weather radar 2

Brisbane weather observations

Regards
Colin J Sanders Automation Analyst, Dip Elec., MCSE, ITIL, PRINCE
Technology Tamed ®
A.B.N.      13 442 206 580
SBI:         http://ilovesbi.sitesell.com/Colin20.html
Blog1:      http://digital-video-security.blogspot.com

Windows Junk Files Phone Scam

2010-09-05T00:00:00.000+10:00

Earlier today I get this "Private Caller" phone call on our land-line phone. The caller starts in with this ethnic dialog spiel ...

Caller: "Hello, May I speak with Mr Sander please"
Me: "Mr Sanders speaking"
Caller: Mr Sander, I am calling about your computer problem. Are you at your computer?

Me: "No! Who is this?"

Caller: "I am from Global Computer Repairs, we are going to help you clean up the junk files on your computer, can you go to your computer and turn it on please."
Me: "I don't think so!" "Who gave you my number and where are you calling from?"
Caller: "Please go to your computer so I can help you with the problem"
Me: "EXCUSE ME! I did NOT request your help and you are intruding on my privacy! I am a computer tech and take care of my..." CLICK! (caller hangs up)

What really scares me is that people are resorting to cold-calling to social-engineer folk into allowing them access to their systems in blatant person-to-person conversation!

How many less techno-literate people will have been suckered into this scam before it gets taken down?

- Automation_man

Low-level disk format utility

2010-08-15T14:40:00.000+10:00

Found a great Windows low-level disk format utility

HDD Low Level Format Tool

This freeware Low Level Format utility will erase, Low-Level Format and re-certify a SATA, IDE or SCSI hard disk drive with any size of up to 281 474 976 710 655 bytes. Will work with USB and FIREWIRE external drive enclosures. Low-level formatting of Flash Cards is supported too. Low Level Format Tool will clear partitions, MBR, and every bit of user data.
He also has lots of other equally useful tools like...

HDDScan

HDDScan is a freeware program for low-level HDD diagnostics, it supports IDE/SATA/SCSI hard disk drives, RAID arrays, external USB/Firewire hard disks, flash cards. The program can scan the surface, view SMART attributes, adjust AAM, APM (Power Management), etc.

DELTEC PowerRite Plus 600 ?

2010-08-15T13:07:00.000+10:00

Hi XXXXX
Regarding your inquiry about DELTEC Potencia 600W Serie ..314..?. Entrada 220V Salida 220 V 50 Hz Estados Unidos ... ...el 492-818

Inside the electronic-board reads "PCB 05142776 REV A" (may be that helps?) "VCB-2" "Made in Mexico"

The details you were able to provide do suggest a DELTEC PRAxxxxxxx() series as the portion of the serial number you could provide sounds like one of the early PRA serials which were often like A0013456. Unfortunately the key thing which is missing is the Model number

I have never worked on a “Plus” myself and can find no reference to such a device in the (scant) PowerRite manual archives.
The best I can offer you is I have the DELTEC PowerRite Pro series User Configuration manual which covers their PRA400 thru PRA2200 series devices (thus also the 600).
Your description sounds a little different in that these talk about 6 dip-switches not 4, but it might get you started.
Over here (in Australia) most of the ones we see are the PR{A/B/C}xxxxxxxi series which are the international variant, so they may differ from yours slightly

That document is on my old UPS web page as DELTEC PowerRite Pro User Manual

Now to answer a couple of your other queries;
“which software use the com-port and is it the same cable like APC”
Software:
You should be able to use the LANSafe software from the link on that same page.
Failing that the older FileSafe v3 seems to work with most OS’s to XP SP3 for most Deltec UPS’
(I use v3 for all my workshop testing of all Deltec units)
Cable:
Do NOT use the same cable as for APC! They are wired entirely differently and have ground wires going to active pins on a Deltec!
Also, a standard serial cable will NOT work.
Use the serial cable definition shown on my web page for DELTEC units
Hope some of this helps

Are we missing the good things in life becasue we are too busy ?

2010-07-02T17:45:00.000+10:00

PERCEPTION

. . . Something To Think About . . .

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007,

a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.
During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

About 3 minutes into the recital:
A middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.

He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

At about 4 minutes:
The violinist received his first dollar.

A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.

The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard

and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.

This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception

- forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician had played continuously.
Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.
About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.
The man had collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over.
No one noticed and no one applauded.
There was no recognition at all.

What no one knew was this, the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each

to sit and listen to him play the same music.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enter date by double-clicking an Excel cell

2010-06-03T22:40:00.007+10:00

Ever wanted to quickly enter the date in an Excel spreadsheet cell without typing it or looking up what date it is?
Here's how

In the worksheet you want this to occur in, press Alt-F11 to open the MS VB Editor dialog
Make sure the Project Explorer widow is open by selecting Ctrl + R.
In the Project Explorer, double-click the worksheet you want to add dates to, and this will open the code page for that worksheet (e.g. Sheet1)

Copy and paste the following code in the resulting blank code page

Private Sub Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick(ByVal Target As Range, Cancel As Boolean)

Dim CellTime, CellState

' Limit the effect of this code to single-cell selections

If Target.Cells.Count > 1 Then

MsgBox "More than one cell selected", vbInformation + vbOKOnly, "Selection Error"

Exit Sub

End If

' Limit the area of the spreadsheet to which this code applies

If Intersect(Target, Me.Range("A2:A65000")) Is Nothing Then Exit Sub

' Insert approved time in cell

If ActiveCell <> "" Then

iCellState = MsgBox("Cell already has data. Overtwrite ?", vbExclamation + vbYesNo, "Data Overwrite Warning")

End If

If iCellState = vbNo Then

SendKeys "{Esc}"

Else

ActiveCell = Date

SendKeys "{Enter}"

ActiveWorkbook.Save

End If

End Sub

A couple of things to note:
The section commented as Limit the area of the spreadsheet to which this code applies limits the double-clicking entry of dates to the range specified.
In the example it is any cell from A2 to the bottom of the spreadsheet in the A column.
Change this range address to the area you want to insert dates on your spreadsheet

If the cell already has data in it, you will be prompted to confirm the replacement of that data with the current date

If more than one cell is selected when you double-click you will also get a warning

If you need help extending or modifying this code to suit your needs, give me a shout.

xbox 360 repair quide

2010-01-26T17:55:00.001+10:00

Found an excellent XBOX repair guide

18 Oct 2007 Links Page Updates

2007-10-18T00:46:00.000+10:00

Added Icons to weather links
Added borders to information groups
Started BLOG and added link to page

Discussion Blog Startup

2007-10-18T00:05:00.000+10:00

Welcome to the Technology Tamed - Links page Blog
I set this blog up purely for easy feedback on items you would like to see included or modified on the links page, or just to discuss something you have seen on the website.

To leave a comment, click one of the the "comments" links below a post;
Enter your text;
If you're not a registered Blogger, select "Other" and leave your name;
Preview then Publish your comment.

In some cases I will receive an email asking me to approve your comments before they will be published.

I look forward to any comments you may have.
Regards
Colin