Category Archives: Technology

Starting a Podcast/Netcast

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I have been wanting to start a podcast for a very long time, inspired by what Leo Laporte does with TWiT and with what my parents did educating people. So, I spent some time thinking about a focus for the show and decided to start a podcast for people who are wishing to learn more about Linux. The Linux Enthusiasts’ Podcast recorded its first rehearsal podcast today (yes, on April Fool’s Day) to get a feel for the amount of material to need to fill 30-60 minutes.

For the most part, I would like to spend the time answering anyone’s Linux questions. But I thought I would include some weekly news, and I want to include two applications per week, one graphical and one text-based.

To get help with any conundrums, email len@nosbig.net. I want to hear from people before and during the podcast. I will probably post the rehearsal after I edit it down a little. There were a few spots where my ADD got the best of me and I repeated myself or I had to pause a moment to collect my thoughts. I thought I had prepared sufficiently for this episode, but clearly not.

Lingering Projects

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Over the course of the last few months, I have come across a few projects that I have not taken the opportunity to work on, and I really should. The following projects are on my short list of things to do:

  • Obtaining and reflashing a Linksys WRT54G router, either the GL or GS.
  • Playing with and/or hacking a LaFonera wireless access point
  • Building my power lockout device for my ham radio
  • Building a PC for my car with wireless capability for a media center
  • Building a decent amateur radio station, including packet station
  • Building a podcast station
  • Upgrade my radio license to General Class

At some point in the future, I want to do some kind of podcast. But before I would commit to that, I need to find a topic that I can regularly update and contribute. Part of the issue of the lack of updates is the company for which I work. MCPR has me doing some very interesting things, but they are marketable ideas that I have to keep quiet. The only project that I can talk about is our Asterisk dabblings. We are offering the ability to connect analog or IP phones to the system and connect to about any outbound media out there, including SIP trunks.

But much beyond that, I don’t have the ability to talk about the details of what I do at work with the world at large, between protecting our clients’ privacy and not wanting to give any competitors any ideas about our strategy.

Some Nostalgia

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While surfing around the internet, I happened upon this blog and was enthralled by the August 4 entry. For those of you who enjoyed the “Lemmings” series of games for DOS and the Mac, here is your chance to play it, in your browser window. The website contains many of the original levels, and all of the original gameplay from this classic series.

Secret Modding Project Revealed

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Once again, I am a little lacking on posting, but I’ve got some exciting news….

I would like to announce the arrival of the Apple2PC. My first mod, I took an old Apple IIe and swapped out the original components with modern parts. The system includes:

  • Via M10000N Mini-ITX motherboard with 1GHz processor, onboard audio, video, and network connections, 256MB DDR RAM, 4 USB ports and 2 Firewire ports on the back, and more…
  • 30 GB Maxtor hard drive
  • 250 watt low profile power supply

The actual construction only took me about 3 days, once I sat down and did it. The parts had been sitting for more than a year, waiting for me to get motivated… ;-)

I plan on writing up something about the construction later. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep, but I want to get it done soon.

Wireless Streaming Media Server

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Today, I am finishing up my Streaming Media Server. It will wirelessly share music streams and setting up in-house file sharing for my music.\n\nThe hardware included a Thinkpad 390E from IBM (333 MHz Pentium II, 192MB RAM, 6 GB hard drive) and a D-Link DWL-122 USB Wireless Wi-Fi Adapter. The software I am using is Debian 3.0 stable and the SlimDevices.com SlimServer software.
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Windows 2000 == Unix? Does not compute!

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Sitting in my Windows 2000 class (a required course for my degree), the instructor talked at great length tonight about Active Directory, groups, roaming profiles, and permissions. While listening to him, I ponder, “What is exactly the point of running Windows 2000?”

- Active Directory (a fundamental part of the Windows 2000 and XP environment) appears to be based on Novell’s NDS, which is in turn based on LDAP.
- Windows 2000 Native Mode Domains rely on DNS, another standards-based technology
- Roaming Profiles are the poor-man’s method of doing NFS for home directories

There are other eccentric quirks to Windows 2000 that I should cover in a future entry, should I not have more coming my way to interfere with writing it.

Secret Project on Track Again

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My secret modding project was being held up by the lack of a metal part for the back of the machine. Two days ago, Bill (the gentleman making the part for me) came through. I have had some success with grinding and deburring, but I will need two brackets before I can finish the project. I can at least get started, however.

Once I finish with the metalworking, there have to be several holes drilled to attach the backplate to the chassis and to attach the motherboard and other components inside the box.

After that, I can begin assembly, as long as I don’t want to paint the rear panel.

Playing a GAIM…

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For quite a while, Gaim, my IM client, was crashing on me… I don’t know what it was, but my whole system kept locking up on me. So, I tried the latest version, 0.67, and it is amazing. It has a new look from older versions of the software and some little features that are really nice. In addition to tabbed conversations, it also can have the status icons from the buddy list right on the tabs. You could keep your buddy list minimized and know which of the folks you are talking to are away/idle/unavailable…

You can pick up a copy at http://gaim.sourceforge.net. And don’t worry if you are running Windows, there is a Windows port that also works very well.

Pardon the Cobwebs

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Over the last year or so, I have had this blog and my main personal blog, and I just haven’t had a great deal to say… Having speedy internet access at school will help in a month or so, but until then, things will be sorta slow. Of course, at whatever point I will have broadband internet access, I will surely update more often. And I need to work on other content, especially in my Linux Learner’s section. I have another new design for it, just not as much content as I hoped. I have spurts of creativity, and then long droughts of very little to say. To all three of you who read this blog, I apologize. I will attempt to better in the future.

2.4.21 Released

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Just a couple of days ago, the newest release of the 2.4 Linux kernel was released, after a lengthy period since 2.4.20. While there were very few truly new features, there were a great deal of improvements to existing drivers and subsystems….

And I could continue to repeat the same sort of reporting that many Linux news organizations would give you, but I won’t… What I will say is that I am really pleased with the driver changes for the ESS Solo1 sound chip. The driver actually plays audio right out of the box. There are still problems with it, however. The playback is a bit spotty. Every once in a while, I will get distortion and other problems. Usually unloading and reloading the drivers helps, but I hate to have to reboot for that! So, I went back and re-installed the ALSA drivers. Of course, the driver fixes in 2.4.21 could be entirely in vain, seeing as 2.6 is expected to use the ALSA drivers, anyway….

Now, everything is a bit quicker; there is a bit of improved performance overall.