.....Blogger
In all seriousness, I'm done with it.
I mean, it's nice and all, portable, convenient, and generally does what you need done, though that depends on what you want to get out of your blog.
I've been saying it for a few weeks now, that I'm gonna move out of blogger, and switch over to wordpress and even host the blog myself on an old comp that I'll reuse as a server. Which so far hasn't happened, mostly due to time constraints, but also since I don't currently have the comp nearby (long story). So I've been holding out on switching, so as to get it all done at once. but after today, when i was trying to get even simple things set up here on blogger, and kept running into annoying problems (text resizing out of hand, html/etc tags showing up randomly) to say nothing of the reasons i wanted to leave in the first place. So over the weekend I'll make the switch, temporarily host the blog on a free site or my laptop until I get my hands on my would-be server.
Never fear though this page will be here, so long as google doesn't delete it, and I'll look into putting in a redirect so you'll always find my page even if you come here.
Also don't get me wrong I do like blogger for the most part. and it works great for some people, just not me, it's not what I'm looking for, so it's time for me to say good bye.
Goodbye, blogger. It's been alright
Addendum:
I'm gonna be here for a little while longer it seems
This whole server thing is a bit more complicated than I'd originally anticipated.
So... while I'm working on that behind the scenes, you can continue enjoying your regular dosage of my thoughts (and whatever other crap I output)
-enjoy (...?)
Friday, July 31
A little HTML here, a little CSS there, and what do you have?
A blog that's held together with what is essentially duct tape.
Which is rapidly becoming an increasingly accurate description of my blog.
I don't know html, or css or xhtml or any of the web related languages. I know a bit of Java and some C++, everything else I just sorta grope my way through. It helps a lot though that the source code for websites are freely available (at least for every web site I've ever seen), and that I know how to program so figuring out what others are doing is a bit more straightforward to me (to say nothing of having the internet available to look up everything I don't understand) So most edits I try to make to my site require a look through the code of sites that have elements I'm looking to add. Not long ago, I decided to add a few little things to my blog to make it look a bit more ....interesting.
I figured a nice RSS feed and twitter button would be a good place to start.
After an exhaustive search through many lines of code I finally got something done, though I like to think I learned something through this whole process, which I intend to share with you all:
The internet is an awesome tool for learning (though you don't need me to tell you that)
While reading random articles (today's topic was the whole Google Voice debacle) I came across this blog, which had this very cool icon for twitter on the right side of the page that followed the page as it scrolled down. I wanted to put that in my blog so I looked through the source code and found this:
<style type="text/css">
div#fixme { position: absolute; top: 200px; right:0px; }
body #fixme { position: fixed; top: 200px; right:0px; }
</style>
<div id="fixme">
<a href="http://twitter.com/riverturninc"><img src="http://www.riverturn.com/images/twitter3.png" alt="Twitter" /></a>
</div>
Now I didn't know what it meant at first. But I recognized the obvious little things like the image source or the page where it linked to. So I changed that accordingly, but i still wanted to have one for my RSS feed, so I duplicated it accordingly (changing fixme to another name for the duplicate ...took me a while to realize that) But after seeing it on the my page I realized that it was too annoying to leave as it was, so I made some modifications to change it to the way it is now, I didn't know how to. So I did what any internet addicted blogger with a goal to accomplish would do .... I turned to Google. and I found what I was looking for:
This in particular was quite handy in allowing me to change different things in the code and see what happens.
This was also quite useful by giving a quick rundown of CSS positioning.
Besides those few sites, I just messed with stuff til I got an idea of what they did
Which I suppose is in many ways the core of programming in general, getting a feel of what code does by trying it yourself, see what happens when you change certain parameters. Eventually you come to understand what each thing does on a level that can never truly be reached just by reading (note: If you do this with something important, or at least something that you don't want screwed up, back up the code first before you mess with it)
Also, credit where credit is due:
The RSS image was found here, which got it from here.
And the twitter image was from this site.
Hope you enjoyed the show. See ya and happy coding (or whatever it is you do with your free time)
Which is rapidly becoming an increasingly accurate description of my blog.
I don't know html, or css or xhtml or any of the web related languages. I know a bit of Java and some C++, everything else I just sorta grope my way through. It helps a lot though that the source code for websites are freely available (at least for every web site I've ever seen), and that I know how to program so figuring out what others are doing is a bit more straightforward to me (to say nothing of having the internet available to look up everything I don't understand) So most edits I try to make to my site require a look through the code of sites that have elements I'm looking to add. Not long ago, I decided to add a few little things to my blog to make it look a bit more ....interesting.
I figured a nice RSS feed and twitter button would be a good place to start.
After an exhaustive search through many lines of code I finally got something done, though I like to think I learned something through this whole process, which I intend to share with you all:
The internet is an awesome tool for learning (though you don't need me to tell you that)
While reading random articles (today's topic was the whole Google Voice debacle) I came across this blog, which had this very cool icon for twitter on the right side of the page that followed the page as it scrolled down. I wanted to put that in my blog so I looked through the source code and found this:
<style type="text/css">
div#fixme { position: absolute; top: 200px; right:0px; }
body #fixme { position: fixed; top: 200px; right:0px; }
</style>
<div id="fixme">
<a href="http://twitter.com/riverturninc"><img src="http://www.riverturn.com/images/twitter3.png" alt="Twitter" /></a>
</div>
Now I didn't know what it meant at first. But I recognized the obvious little things like the image source or the page where it linked to. So I changed that accordingly, but i still wanted to have one for my RSS feed, so I duplicated it accordingly (changing fixme to another name for the duplicate ...took me a while to realize that) But after seeing it on the my page I realized that it was too annoying to leave as it was, so I made some modifications to change it to the way it is now, I didn't know how to. So I did what any internet addicted blogger with a goal to accomplish would do .... I turned to Google. and I found what I was looking for:
This in particular was quite handy in allowing me to change different things in the code and see what happens.
This was also quite useful by giving a quick rundown of CSS positioning.
Besides those few sites, I just messed with stuff til I got an idea of what they did
Which I suppose is in many ways the core of programming in general, getting a feel of what code does by trying it yourself, see what happens when you change certain parameters. Eventually you come to understand what each thing does on a level that can never truly be reached just by reading (note: If you do this with something important, or at least something that you don't want screwed up, back up the code first before you mess with it)
Also, credit where credit is due:
The RSS image was found here, which got it from here.
And the twitter image was from this site.
Hope you enjoyed the show. See ya and happy coding (or whatever it is you do with your free time)
Thursday, July 30
The economical woes of a college student
Now as you are no doubt aware, I am a college student.
And not just any college student, I am a student at one of the most expensive colleges in the free world.
And even with the help that I'm receiving from the school, there's plenty of debt left to go around, from the remaining tuition costs to room and board, to books (how a few measly little textbook can cost up to several hundreds of dollars is beyond me). So I'm taking it upon myself to try and cut some of these costs (not that I haven't done so before, I just never kept track, and wasted a bunch of money in other ways).
I've already had some minor success with curbing my future debt. This past year I worked a student job (or 2). Mainly I tutored math at my school's Math Learning Resource Center (MLRC) ...I few days ago I told my mom about what I did for my job during the school year (not sure how it came up), and she laughed at me (I felt somewhat insulted)
The working helped put a little extra money in my pocket (which since I had no method of keeping track of my expenses, shortly disappeared on stupid and ephemeral things)
So I've decided that my first order of business in this whole thing is to devise a budget (and stick to it). And then, I need to find ways to reduce my costs, the first being books. Which I'd like to think I'm already doing a fairly adequate job of doing. I almost exclusively by my books online, from sites like ebay, half.com, amazon, and others. I begin the search at Direct Textbook.com
Another good way of lowering costs for books, is borrowing/buying books from friends, which while less likely/expedient is definitely a lot cheaper. The biggest problem with that is finding people who have the exact book you need (and haven't sold it already) also, you may not want to borrow when it comes to your main classes, as you may want to have a copy for a reference.
My next problem is room and board. Room's a bit tricky for me to save on, short of moving in with my older brother (who lives not far) though I'd prefer to avoid that, as he's married with a kid, and my other brother, not to mention I get the feeling it wouldn't be much better than living at home (...). So my only other options would be becoming an RA or getting an apartment. The RA route is nice, as you get free room and board, but there's the added time drain, not to mention having to continue to live in a dorm watching over freshman/sophomores. There's always renting an apartment, though that's usually only cheaper if you have people to room with (which I don't) and it's also a hassle in and of itself trying to find one. Overall this isn't something I have the luxury of worrying over now, as I'm slated to live in the dorms this year, and it's far too late to become an RA.
Lastly but certainly not least. There is food expenses. I'm sure i don't need to tell you, but college meal plans are expensive (or more accurately a rip-off) costing on average (at my school) over 2k a semester (!!!) not to mention limited to what the school has to offer. Now earlier today I came across a very interesting story (brought to my attention by HackerNews) And it is an amazing article, the author (Andrew Hyde) basically recounts how during college he was able to live reasonably well on $36 per month on food (I know I was also astonished)
Here are a few tips he mentioned in his article:
Everything you buy, should be at least half off retail. ; cook at home ; load up on foods that are deep discounted. figure out the coupon/sales/clearance cycles of your nearby stores. pass on things that aren't sale, and keep things in your house from spoiling (freeze perishable foods, store things properly, etc) ; He mentioned several other very good tips, but I'll just direct you to the article again, rather than list more.
I know a friend of mine, Aaron who goes to my school (and has a blog himself) could really do to read this article, as he's very financially conscious himself.
Unfortunately as I'm living in a dorm this year, I've no choice but to get a meal plan, but next year! I shall put my plan into action, and save some money. In the mean time, I hope this has been at least a little helpful to you oh nameless reader. Good luck, and take care (now is where you turn the other way so I can slip away into silent anonymity) which is one of the best websites I've ever seen for finding cheap books, it's essentially a search engine (and a store) it finds prices from many different sites (including the ones I already named) it also adds in the cost of shipping making it all very nice and convenient.
And not just any college student, I am a student at one of the most expensive colleges in the free world.
And even with the help that I'm receiving from the school, there's plenty of debt left to go around, from the remaining tuition costs to room and board, to books (how a few measly little textbook can cost up to several hundreds of dollars is beyond me). So I'm taking it upon myself to try and cut some of these costs (not that I haven't done so before, I just never kept track, and wasted a bunch of money in other ways).
I've already had some minor success with curbing my future debt. This past year I worked a student job (or 2). Mainly I tutored math at my school's Math Learning Resource Center (MLRC) ...I few days ago I told my mom about what I did for my job during the school year (not sure how it came up), and she laughed at me (I felt somewhat insulted)
The working helped put a little extra money in my pocket (which since I had no method of keeping track of my expenses, shortly disappeared on stupid and ephemeral things)
So I've decided that my first order of business in this whole thing is to devise a budget (and stick to it). And then, I need to find ways to reduce my costs, the first being books. Which I'd like to think I'm already doing a fairly adequate job of doing. I almost exclusively by my books online, from sites like ebay, half.com, amazon, and others. I begin the search at Direct Textbook.com
Another good way of lowering costs for books, is borrowing/buying books from friends, which while less likely/expedient is definitely a lot cheaper. The biggest problem with that is finding people who have the exact book you need (and haven't sold it already) also, you may not want to borrow when it comes to your main classes, as you may want to have a copy for a reference.
My next problem is room and board. Room's a bit tricky for me to save on, short of moving in with my older brother (who lives not far) though I'd prefer to avoid that, as he's married with a kid, and my other brother, not to mention I get the feeling it wouldn't be much better than living at home (...). So my only other options would be becoming an RA or getting an apartment. The RA route is nice, as you get free room and board, but there's the added time drain, not to mention having to continue to live in a dorm watching over freshman/sophomores. There's always renting an apartment, though that's usually only cheaper if you have people to room with (which I don't) and it's also a hassle in and of itself trying to find one. Overall this isn't something I have the luxury of worrying over now, as I'm slated to live in the dorms this year, and it's far too late to become an RA.
Lastly but certainly not least. There is food expenses. I'm sure i don't need to tell you, but college meal plans are expensive (or more accurately a rip-off) costing on average (at my school) over 2k a semester (!!!) not to mention limited to what the school has to offer. Now earlier today I came across a very interesting story (brought to my attention by HackerNews) And it is an amazing article, the author (Andrew Hyde) basically recounts how during college he was able to live reasonably well on $36 per month on food (I know I was also astonished)
Here are a few tips he mentioned in his article:
Everything you buy, should be at least half off retail. ; cook at home ; load up on foods that are deep discounted. figure out the coupon/sales/clearance cycles of your nearby stores. pass on things that aren't sale, and keep things in your house from spoiling (freeze perishable foods, store things properly, etc) ; He mentioned several other very good tips, but I'll just direct you to the article again, rather than list more.
I know a friend of mine, Aaron who goes to my school (and has a blog himself) could really do to read this article, as he's very financially conscious himself.
Unfortunately as I'm living in a dorm this year, I've no choice but to get a meal plan, but next year! I shall put my plan into action, and save some money. In the mean time, I hope this has been at least a little helpful to you oh nameless reader. Good luck, and take care (now is where you turn the other way so I can slip away into silent anonymity) which is one of the best websites I've ever seen for finding cheap books, it's essentially a search engine (and a store) it finds prices from many different sites (including the ones I already named) it also adds in the cost of shipping making it all very nice and convenient.
Wednesday, July 29
Holy Crap I'm getting old
At the ripe old age of 19 I look back on my life and realize just how much as changed.
While rummaging through the inter-webs I came across a interesting article:
100 things your kids may never know and as the name suggests it's a list of 100 things that will probably be (or are already) forgotten by the time you have kids (or at least older kids) reading through the article I realized just how many things I knew myself, and with it the realization that my future offspring will never know about (unless I take the old-timer route and force the info on them through tales involving cheap gum, and impossible slopes)
The list which included many things that may be common knowledge to you, but I bet won't be (for obvious reasons) in the future. After you're done reading this, go and talk to your younger relatives or friends, maybe they're your children, or nephews/nieces, cousins, even neighbors and ask them if they recognize any of the things on this list, and watch as the younger you ask, the less they'll know (if they even know any of it) obviously your results will vary depending on their exposure to technology and if they have older siblings (as I had, which is why I knew about most of those things) but odds are most of whom you ask, won't recognize more than a handful items if even that.
As I thought about all those things long forgotten in an ever changing era, what about the things we know about now? what's changing? all those things that we've taken for granted as staples of the technology industry, how long are they going to be there? and what else will come that we'll start to accept as normal? take google for example, from simple search engine to gigantic company invloved in numerous enterprises from browsers, to email to now operating systems not to mention the bevy of assorted apps that are far too numerous to name. In fact they do so much now that I have no idea what industry they may already been entrenching themselves in. On the other hand look at Microsoft, slowly but surely losing it's market share, now with the open source movement gaining more strength the tides are turning, are we going to see the day when the software giant finally topples (note that if it does I shall start every class that day with a rousing rendition of "Ding Dong the Witch is dead") It's really hard to take in all at once, but the worlds changing. And I'm coming to accept that I'm changing with it.
The headlong rush into adulthood (the real kind, not just legally speaking) that I find myself in is really starting to affect me in ways I haven't noticed til now. This fall I'll be entering my second year at college, and I can't help but marvel at the speed at which I've arrived there, why it only feels like just yesterday I was starting, or perhaps a week ago, that I was sitting in high school waiting for that day that I would finally step up and take my place in that world.
I have 2 older brothers ages 33 and 29 and when I was younger I watched them go off to college and grad school and now work (one even is married with a kid!) and after all those years I find myself actually finally here, and quite frankly it's a bit daunting. The knowledge that I have but 3 more years til I'm thrust out into the "real" world, where I have to have a job and my own place to live, now I could always go the grad school route, put off on making a decision for a few years more, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm no longer sure if that's really what I want to do anymore. So here I am, with less than one month left til school no longer certain of what I want to study, let alone what I want to do after that. and given the nature of my life so far I can expect the time to go just as fast (if not faster as I get closer to the end of college). I've never been one for an office job, while I spend vast amounts of my time at a desk at a computer, it's usually been for reasons of my own, and the idea of spending the rest of my working days in a cubicle or even an office slaving away at a desk, is just not appealing to me. On the other hand I could try research, or teaching (preferably at a college level) or even something else entirely that I haven't considered yet. But in order to do such things, I need to make sure that I'm interested enough in a certain field to actually want to put in the time and dedication to get there, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm no longer sure if I am.
I have in many ways come to terms with the growing expectations of maturity, which are in their own way becoming a bit more visible in my posts (compare my recent posts to my early posts and you'll see what I mean) I don't know what that means, am I actually growing up? or do I just think that I am? I like to think that it's a result of experiences (particularly last semester) but I can't say definitely. In a rather hilarious coincidence my post happens to falls on the same day that this xkcd comic gets posted:
As always I hope you enjoyed (or at least didn't hate) this foray into the recesses of my mind. This is my cue to leave, but if you feel like sharing your thoughts feel free to make your mark in the comments. See ya.
While rummaging through the inter-webs I came across a interesting article:
100 things your kids may never know and as the name suggests it's a list of 100 things that will probably be (or are already) forgotten by the time you have kids (or at least older kids) reading through the article I realized just how many things I knew myself, and with it the realization that my future offspring will never know about (unless I take the old-timer route and force the info on them through tales involving cheap gum, and impossible slopes)
The list which included many things that may be common knowledge to you, but I bet won't be (for obvious reasons) in the future. After you're done reading this, go and talk to your younger relatives or friends, maybe they're your children, or nephews/nieces, cousins, even neighbors and ask them if they recognize any of the things on this list, and watch as the younger you ask, the less they'll know (if they even know any of it) obviously your results will vary depending on their exposure to technology and if they have older siblings (as I had, which is why I knew about most of those things) but odds are most of whom you ask, won't recognize more than a handful items if even that.
As I thought about all those things long forgotten in an ever changing era, what about the things we know about now? what's changing? all those things that we've taken for granted as staples of the technology industry, how long are they going to be there? and what else will come that we'll start to accept as normal? take google for example, from simple search engine to gigantic company invloved in numerous enterprises from browsers, to email to now operating systems not to mention the bevy of assorted apps that are far too numerous to name. In fact they do so much now that I have no idea what industry they may already been entrenching themselves in. On the other hand look at Microsoft, slowly but surely losing it's market share, now with the open source movement gaining more strength the tides are turning, are we going to see the day when the software giant finally topples (note that if it does I shall start every class that day with a rousing rendition of "Ding Dong the Witch is dead") It's really hard to take in all at once, but the worlds changing. And I'm coming to accept that I'm changing with it.
The headlong rush into adulthood (the real kind, not just legally speaking) that I find myself in is really starting to affect me in ways I haven't noticed til now. This fall I'll be entering my second year at college, and I can't help but marvel at the speed at which I've arrived there, why it only feels like just yesterday I was starting, or perhaps a week ago, that I was sitting in high school waiting for that day that I would finally step up and take my place in that world.
I have 2 older brothers ages 33 and 29 and when I was younger I watched them go off to college and grad school and now work (one even is married with a kid!) and after all those years I find myself actually finally here, and quite frankly it's a bit daunting. The knowledge that I have but 3 more years til I'm thrust out into the "real" world, where I have to have a job and my own place to live, now I could always go the grad school route, put off on making a decision for a few years more, but as I mentioned earlier, I'm no longer sure if that's really what I want to do anymore. So here I am, with less than one month left til school no longer certain of what I want to study, let alone what I want to do after that. and given the nature of my life so far I can expect the time to go just as fast (if not faster as I get closer to the end of college). I've never been one for an office job, while I spend vast amounts of my time at a desk at a computer, it's usually been for reasons of my own, and the idea of spending the rest of my working days in a cubicle or even an office slaving away at a desk, is just not appealing to me. On the other hand I could try research, or teaching (preferably at a college level) or even something else entirely that I haven't considered yet. But in order to do such things, I need to make sure that I'm interested enough in a certain field to actually want to put in the time and dedication to get there, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm no longer sure if I am.
I have in many ways come to terms with the growing expectations of maturity, which are in their own way becoming a bit more visible in my posts (compare my recent posts to my early posts and you'll see what I mean) I don't know what that means, am I actually growing up? or do I just think that I am? I like to think that it's a result of experiences (particularly last semester) but I can't say definitely. In a rather hilarious coincidence my post happens to falls on the same day that this xkcd comic gets posted:
As always I hope you enjoyed (or at least didn't hate) this foray into the recesses of my mind. This is my cue to leave, but if you feel like sharing your thoughts feel free to make your mark in the comments. See ya.
Tuesday, July 28
The woes of technology gone amuck
I'm beginning to suspect that technology hates me. Despite all the love i give it in return, it instead spurns said love, trips me, kicks me while I lay there and then spits in my hair. In many ways I feel like this situation is far too reminiscent of this xkcd comic:
Now as I may have mentioned in an earlier post (honestly i can't remember if I have or not) for the last month I've been taking an online course in MATLAB through my school (Villanova) and yesterday happened to be the day of my final exam (you may see where I'm going with this) and during the course of said exam, I was using MATLAB (naturally) and firefox (no surprise there) now ... somehow I ended up getting MATLAB stuck in an infinite loop, which slowed down my entire comp (including firefox) a quick look at taskmanager showed that both MATLAB and firefox where using up vast amounts of my CPUs processing power, so I ended the processes, my computer was still acting wonky, so I shut it down. I turn it back on, and before it even makes it to the boot menu, it shuts down (just my luck) I try a few more times to make sure it's not just a fluke but it's to no avail. So I contact my professor, and I arrange to take the test at a later date after my computer is repaired.
So, this morning, I took off from work and head down to Villanova so that I can get tech support to help me out with this, when I get there..... the damn thing boots, no problem (except for a prompt asking if I want to start windows normally or in safe mode or something)
I swear it's like the singing frog, from the cartoons, when no one's around it just attracts problems like electrons to protons, but when others are looking, there's no problem. I really do wonder though if windows and dell really do have it out for me, I mean it's only when running windows that I run into these kinds of issues (which is why I support OSS), and only on dell hardware that things just keep breaking (which is why I hate it) whereas most of the people I know are just fine and dandy no problems. Hell even firefox acts screwy under windows, always getting to the point that it gobbles up vast amounts of system resources forcing me to shut it down.
It's things like these that makes me hate the fact that Villanova implemented a laptop program, we're stuck with the hardware they decide, and the software they force on it and then dependent on their tech support ('cause it's not like any of us are masochistic enough to try dell's support line) I think I'm going to rename my computer Michigan J. Frog, I feel it's woefully appropriate. You may remember me mentioning that I'm probably going to switch to computer science, if I do, I'm going to make sure to contribute what I can to the Open Source movement. Because I've seriously had enough with windows, if it weren't for the fact that there are certain software I need to use that runs only on windows, I'd probably just erase it from my drive completely.
I'm sure that you're all sick and tired of hearing me rant about my hatred for shoddy hardware, and shoddy proprietary software. So I'll just end it here.
Inn case you're not cool enough to know about Michigan J. Frog (or just need a refresher), take a look at this youtube video, titled "One Froggy Evening" it was Michigan's debut:
Now you may think that it cannot possibly be as bad as I claim, but let me assure you my dear reader, that it is as bad as (if not worse than) I claim (all the way down to the computer physically struggling with me via it's disk drive). Now if you just happen to have reader some of my earlier posts (you know the ones with the writing even worse than these ....I know I can hardly believe it myself, but my current writing may actually be an improvement over something else) you may recall this particular post where I vented my rage at dell over their shoddy hardware. Well... you may (or may not) be suprised to hear that I similar (though not exact) situation occured yesterday.
Now as I may have mentioned in an earlier post (honestly i can't remember if I have or not) for the last month I've been taking an online course in MATLAB through my school (Villanova) and yesterday happened to be the day of my final exam (you may see where I'm going with this) and during the course of said exam, I was using MATLAB (naturally) and firefox (no surprise there) now ... somehow I ended up getting MATLAB stuck in an infinite loop, which slowed down my entire comp (including firefox) a quick look at taskmanager showed that both MATLAB and firefox where using up vast amounts of my CPUs processing power, so I ended the processes, my computer was still acting wonky, so I shut it down. I turn it back on, and before it even makes it to the boot menu, it shuts down (just my luck) I try a few more times to make sure it's not just a fluke but it's to no avail. So I contact my professor, and I arrange to take the test at a later date after my computer is repaired.
So, this morning, I took off from work and head down to Villanova so that I can get tech support to help me out with this, when I get there..... the damn thing boots, no problem (except for a prompt asking if I want to start windows normally or in safe mode or something)
I swear it's like the singing frog, from the cartoons, when no one's around it just attracts problems like electrons to protons, but when others are looking, there's no problem. I really do wonder though if windows and dell really do have it out for me, I mean it's only when running windows that I run into these kinds of issues (which is why I support OSS), and only on dell hardware that things just keep breaking (which is why I hate it) whereas most of the people I know are just fine and dandy no problems. Hell even firefox acts screwy under windows, always getting to the point that it gobbles up vast amounts of system resources forcing me to shut it down.
It's things like these that makes me hate the fact that Villanova implemented a laptop program, we're stuck with the hardware they decide, and the software they force on it and then dependent on their tech support ('cause it's not like any of us are masochistic enough to try dell's support line) I think I'm going to rename my computer Michigan J. Frog, I feel it's woefully appropriate. You may remember me mentioning that I'm probably going to switch to computer science, if I do, I'm going to make sure to contribute what I can to the Open Source movement. Because I've seriously had enough with windows, if it weren't for the fact that there are certain software I need to use that runs only on windows, I'd probably just erase it from my drive completely.
I'm sure that you're all sick and tired of hearing me rant about my hatred for shoddy hardware, and shoddy proprietary software. So I'll just end it here.
Inn case you're not cool enough to know about Michigan J. Frog (or just need a refresher), take a look at this youtube video, titled "One Froggy Evening" it was Michigan's debut:
Monday, July 27
This whole blog thing
Writing this blog is pretty fun, even when it seems like no one is reading.
I've routinely asked myself "why do i do this?", or "what do i want out of it?", or even "what will I write?"
What is my purpose for this blog? is it like some, a way to provide interesting and relevant news on a particular subject? or political commentary (of which I am woefully ignorant) or is it a way to garner a few extra dollars to support my education as friend of mine is doing, or could it be something else entirely?
truth be told I wouldn't mind any of those things being the focus of my blog (particularly the money thing, which would be nice) but I can't seem to lock down one particular purpose for my blog.
And I realized that, I don't need a focus, because I don't have one. And maybe it's better that way. I'm free to write whatever I want, which is a pretty nice feeling, when contrasted against years of schooling being forces to pump out tons of papers primarily of the useless and meaningless variety. While I may not have a focus i do have many interests and can highlight them throughout my blog, enabling me to bring what knowledge and experiences I have to an audience (using the term audience loosely of course)
I suppose of all the possible benefits of having a blog (which I never considered before I started) is the educational value it has for me, I've never really been "connected" to the vast majority of news/social-networking/blog/etc sites out there, so now when I scrounge about online looking for things interesting to talk about I find out a lot more about things I was once only vaguely aware of. Not to mention the fact that when typing up my more technically oriented posts (like the ones relating to routers [I,II,III])I'm learning how to do the things that I'm writing about as I write them, by searching through the sites for all these things I find out a lot more about them than if I were to just read it off of some other blog or website.
You may be wondering what brought up this train of introspection, I'd attribute it more strongly to this post I read in this blog (that I came across while searching randomly for interesting things of course) it's a really nice article and definitely rings true with regards to my own thoughts regarding blogging.
I'm definitely glad I could share my thoughts on this matter. Enjoy
I've routinely asked myself "why do i do this?", or "what do i want out of it?", or even "what will I write?"
What is my purpose for this blog? is it like some, a way to provide interesting and relevant news on a particular subject? or political commentary (of which I am woefully ignorant) or is it a way to garner a few extra dollars to support my education as friend of mine is doing, or could it be something else entirely?
truth be told I wouldn't mind any of those things being the focus of my blog (particularly the money thing, which would be nice) but I can't seem to lock down one particular purpose for my blog.
And I realized that, I don't need a focus, because I don't have one. And maybe it's better that way. I'm free to write whatever I want, which is a pretty nice feeling, when contrasted against years of schooling being forces to pump out tons of papers primarily of the useless and meaningless variety. While I may not have a focus i do have many interests and can highlight them throughout my blog, enabling me to bring what knowledge and experiences I have to an audience (using the term audience loosely of course)
I suppose of all the possible benefits of having a blog (which I never considered before I started) is the educational value it has for me, I've never really been "connected" to the vast majority of news/social-networking/blog/etc sites out there, so now when I scrounge about online looking for things interesting to talk about I find out a lot more about things I was once only vaguely aware of. Not to mention the fact that when typing up my more technically oriented posts (like the ones relating to routers [I,II,III])I'm learning how to do the things that I'm writing about as I write them, by searching through the sites for all these things I find out a lot more about them than if I were to just read it off of some other blog or website.
You may be wondering what brought up this train of introspection, I'd attribute it more strongly to this post I read in this blog (that I came across while searching randomly for interesting things of course) it's a really nice article and definitely rings true with regards to my own thoughts regarding blogging.
I'm definitely glad I could share my thoughts on this matter. Enjoy
Sunday, July 26
A major desicion
So I've been thinking a lot recently, on the direction I'm going with my college career, which has been to major in physics and minor if not major in math as well. Recent events (namely my second semester) have forced me (with no small encouragement from my parents and siblings) to seriously consider the focus of my education, and the direction I want to go with all this. Now originally I wanted to after completing college, maybe try my hand in industry or pursue graduate school, either for physics or for math (or maybe something else that I have yet to consider) the hope would be that I would eventually earn an advanced degree in one of those (preferably a PhD) so that I may move on to pursue my eventual goal of research and then teach at the university level.
Now I've been thinking for some time, whether physics was the right path for me, and with the constant badgering of certain relatives (who shall at this time remain nameless ....but you know who you are) I've come to really, dig deep and consider if I'm on the right path. Now don't get me wrong I love physics and math for that matter, and that won't change (at least not in the foreseeable future) I'm just not sure if what I want to do with my life requires me to have a physics major, or PhD or any advanced degree in it for that matter (though I someday wish to complete my studies in physics, though that's for another time) I realized today that, research (which was my eventual career goal after all this) may not be what I really want, sure I love to read and learn new things, but if I want to go into research I would need to take another 5-10+ years out of my life to even get the opportunity to really do research (with the exception of what I may do during my time in grad school) and I realized that, the idea of sitting in a lab or office (or a cubicle for that matter) just doesn't appeal to me, spending my days alone, or as a part of a team working towards an answer that may not even be there. Science is not absolute, there's nothing firm and stable to base anything on, it's all there because it hasn't yet been wrong. So even if I do, go through all the hassle of grad school, and research it may all become invalidated in one fell swoop. In fact as I think about it, if I were to do research it would likely be in math, which is (as opposed to many other sciences) very open and collaborative, not to mention sturdy and logical.
Now my decision to leave physics as my course of study is more than just "it takes too long, or my research may be futile or even become invalidated" though that has a strong influence on this decision. I have lots of interests (as you've no doubt noticed if you've read my blog) not just physics or math, but computers, and programming, and all sorts of things. So I've come to this conclusion that perhaps it's best if I not just constrict myself to this one path doesn't help me, as I begin to lose track of the other things that hold interest in my life.
Probably the most important realization of all of this, is the one that, I don't need to constrict myself to the deadlines imposed by society, I don't need to be done in exactly four years or less, I don't need to stress so much over what I major in, as if that is going to be the sole determinant of my future. And even once I graduate, there's nothing to stop me from pursuing my other interests (including physics) afterwards. I think that was the hardest part of all this, that the path that I choose now, doesn't necessarily lock me into one specific unalterable path, that I can change my mind, and that it's okay to take more time, so long as it's worth it for me to do so.
So after lots of mental deliberation I've decided that I'm going to try my hand at computer science, this next semester my schedule will contain a hearty helping of programming (which is fine by me) as well as a few humanities courses, and who know what else to fill in the blanks. Now don't look at this and think that I've completely given up on physics, just as it's possible for me to still incorporate physics in my work with computer science the converse is the same, and while this next semester I won't be taking physics I plan to do so (depending on how I fare this fall) in the spring, how knows maybe I physics might not be as far out of my reach as I've come to fear, so I'll keep in mind that just as I can switch to comp sci, I can just as easily switch back to physics (or math).
Now I realize this may have been a bit less interesting than my other recent posts highlighting different technological things of note, this was just something I felt necessary for myself (and perhaps others facing a similar dilemma)
Though never fear! my next post shall not fail to satiate (or at quell) your immense appetite for knowledge.
Now I've been thinking for some time, whether physics was the right path for me, and with the constant badgering of certain relatives (who shall at this time remain nameless ....but you know who you are) I've come to really, dig deep and consider if I'm on the right path. Now don't get me wrong I love physics and math for that matter, and that won't change (at least not in the foreseeable future) I'm just not sure if what I want to do with my life requires me to have a physics major, or PhD or any advanced degree in it for that matter (though I someday wish to complete my studies in physics, though that's for another time) I realized today that, research (which was my eventual career goal after all this) may not be what I really want, sure I love to read and learn new things, but if I want to go into research I would need to take another 5-10+ years out of my life to even get the opportunity to really do research (with the exception of what I may do during my time in grad school) and I realized that, the idea of sitting in a lab or office (or a cubicle for that matter) just doesn't appeal to me, spending my days alone, or as a part of a team working towards an answer that may not even be there. Science is not absolute, there's nothing firm and stable to base anything on, it's all there because it hasn't yet been wrong. So even if I do, go through all the hassle of grad school, and research it may all become invalidated in one fell swoop. In fact as I think about it, if I were to do research it would likely be in math, which is (as opposed to many other sciences) very open and collaborative, not to mention sturdy and logical.
Now my decision to leave physics as my course of study is more than just "it takes too long, or my research may be futile or even become invalidated" though that has a strong influence on this decision. I have lots of interests (as you've no doubt noticed if you've read my blog) not just physics or math, but computers, and programming, and all sorts of things. So I've come to this conclusion that perhaps it's best if I not just constrict myself to this one path doesn't help me, as I begin to lose track of the other things that hold interest in my life.
Probably the most important realization of all of this, is the one that, I don't need to constrict myself to the deadlines imposed by society, I don't need to be done in exactly four years or less, I don't need to stress so much over what I major in, as if that is going to be the sole determinant of my future. And even once I graduate, there's nothing to stop me from pursuing my other interests (including physics) afterwards. I think that was the hardest part of all this, that the path that I choose now, doesn't necessarily lock me into one specific unalterable path, that I can change my mind, and that it's okay to take more time, so long as it's worth it for me to do so.
So after lots of mental deliberation I've decided that I'm going to try my hand at computer science, this next semester my schedule will contain a hearty helping of programming (which is fine by me) as well as a few humanities courses, and who know what else to fill in the blanks. Now don't look at this and think that I've completely given up on physics, just as it's possible for me to still incorporate physics in my work with computer science the converse is the same, and while this next semester I won't be taking physics I plan to do so (depending on how I fare this fall) in the spring, how knows maybe I physics might not be as far out of my reach as I've come to fear, so I'll keep in mind that just as I can switch to comp sci, I can just as easily switch back to physics (or math).
Now I realize this may have been a bit less interesting than my other recent posts highlighting different technological things of note, this was just something I felt necessary for myself (and perhaps others facing a similar dilemma)
Though never fear! my next post shall not fail to satiate (or at quell) your immense appetite for knowledge.
Saturday, July 25
best laid plans
so as I mentioned in several earlier posts [I,II] I've been planning some updates and projects and just all around awesomeness. I've been working steadily towards that goal, but it's been a bit diffficult what with work and school and all, but rest assured these things will happen. After all it's like the saying goes: "the best laid plans never go awry" ....that's how it goes ...right?
well at any rate I figured I'd just to update you on what's happening and such:
Blog: I'm switching from blogspot, at first I was gonna go about it slowly but recently I've become aware that I really want to change soon: mostly so that I can gain some more control over my blog, google blogspot's tools while nice are not what I'm looking for, they're just too limited for what I have in mind, and my knowledge of html is no where near good enough to edit the html directly (which is available) besides a few basic things. I'm definitely considering using wordpress, as I've heard some good things about it so far.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do about hosting though, I've heard of a few very nice free online services, and registering a domain name is pretty cheap (although I can't find an acceptable one to save my life) I'm not yet ruling out the host it myself option, which while it has it's advantages, also has it's distinct disadvantages the most notable being the bandwith pull of a site in the (hopeful) future, especially since I plan on hosting more than my blog.
I'm looking into different options, I'd really like to do the server thing, if only because it'd be cool to do and I'd learn something in the process.
DIY awesomeness: thanks to some very awesome sites (most notably lifehacker) I've been getting some nice ideas for a little do-it-yourself goodness, which I plan on getting around too once I have some time and tools, the biggest forseable problem with this (besides the cost, potential property destruction/deconstruction, and lack of experience) is time, I don't have a lot of it (personally I think someone's hogging it all and just won't share) summer's ending soon, and most of my time is spent at work anyway to say nothing of my class (which'll end my monday anyway) once fall sem. hits I'll be swamped with work and things of that nature, I won't have the time to dedicate to such things, while it's possible that I may be able to accomplish one or 2 projects during the year they'd at best be small fry, not anything worthwhile, so it seems they're probably gonna be put on a sort of hiatus (at least until I have time and the server thing is taken care of)
Other: I have a few other ideas, that I'm not about to share, though I'll make sure to inform you ....in good time. Just know that they're gonna be good 'uns and rely (quite heavily on the whole hosting issue)
well that's it for now, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments (you know you have some) if you know of a good (site/blog) editior/site hoster/other awesome thing that you'd like to mention take a stroll over to the comments section and make it known.
you've been a greatcrowd ....person see ya next time
well at any rate I figured I'd just to update you on what's happening and such:
Blog: I'm switching from blogspot, at first I was gonna go about it slowly but recently I've become aware that I really want to change soon: mostly so that I can gain some more control over my blog, google blogspot's tools while nice are not what I'm looking for, they're just too limited for what I have in mind, and my knowledge of html is no where near good enough to edit the html directly (which is available) besides a few basic things. I'm definitely considering using wordpress, as I've heard some good things about it so far.
I'm not sure what I'm going to do about hosting though, I've heard of a few very nice free online services, and registering a domain name is pretty cheap (although I can't find an acceptable one to save my life) I'm not yet ruling out the host it myself option, which while it has it's advantages, also has it's distinct disadvantages the most notable being the bandwith pull of a site in the (hopeful) future, especially since I plan on hosting more than my blog.
I'm looking into different options, I'd really like to do the server thing, if only because it'd be cool to do and I'd learn something in the process.
DIY awesomeness: thanks to some very awesome sites (most notably lifehacker) I've been getting some nice ideas for a little do-it-yourself goodness, which I plan on getting around too once I have some time and tools, the biggest forseable problem with this (besides the cost, potential property destruction/deconstruction, and lack of experience) is time, I don't have a lot of it (personally I think someone's hogging it all and just won't share) summer's ending soon, and most of my time is spent at work anyway to say nothing of my class (which'll end my monday anyway) once fall sem. hits I'll be swamped with work and things of that nature, I won't have the time to dedicate to such things, while it's possible that I may be able to accomplish one or 2 projects during the year they'd at best be small fry, not anything worthwhile, so it seems they're probably gonna be put on a sort of hiatus (at least until I have time and the server thing is taken care of)
Other: I have a few other ideas, that I'm not about to share, though I'll make sure to inform you ....in good time. Just know that they're gonna be good 'uns and rely (quite heavily on the whole hosting issue)
well that's it for now, feel free to post your thoughts in the comments (you know you have some) if you know of a good (site/blog) editior/site hoster/other awesome thing that you'd like to mention take a stroll over to the comments section and make it known.
you've been a great
Thursday, July 23
Movin' On Up! Wireless Edition Part Last: Everything Else
Okay, now it's occured to me that this series has gone on long enough, so it's time to wrap it up with a few last minute things.
Tomato:
Another Open source third party firmware for your router, with many of the same features as DD-WRT. Tomato can be used to up your routers signal output, track bandwith uses (along with fancy lookin' graphs), set QoS rules, access restriction rules (set up rules to block certain types of browsing at certain times) as well as other useful things. Now as you may have noticed that Tomato and DD-WRT are very similar, with a few minor differences, Tomato offers a better graphical interface, while DD-WRT offers more features, though chances are a lot of the features that's not in Tomato, are not the kind that will be utilized by the average user anyway. As for which is better, that's up to you. Try one out see how you like it. if you want to see some more information on them (besides their respective sites) take a look at these lifehacker.com posts (where I originally got the info) for Tomato and DD-WRT.
also before you try to install tomato make sure that your router is supported.
you can follow the pointers for upgrading from the previous post.
Extras, Additions, and DIY's:
I found a few other interesting things you can do to help improve your router:
- Hardware DIY from the DD-WRT page.
- Expand your wireless network
- power your router with only an ethernet cable (requires soldering skills)
- DIY laptop wireless antenna
- Boost your wifi antenna
And there are so many others, my suggestion go on google or websites that deal heavily with technology or diy modifications. and go to town.
good luck, and enjoy
Tomato:
Another Open source third party firmware for your router, with many of the same features as DD-WRT. Tomato can be used to up your routers signal output, track bandwith uses (along with fancy lookin' graphs), set QoS rules, access restriction rules (set up rules to block certain types of browsing at certain times) as well as other useful things. Now as you may have noticed that Tomato and DD-WRT are very similar, with a few minor differences, Tomato offers a better graphical interface, while DD-WRT offers more features, though chances are a lot of the features that's not in Tomato, are not the kind that will be utilized by the average user anyway. As for which is better, that's up to you. Try one out see how you like it. if you want to see some more information on them (besides their respective sites) take a look at these lifehacker.com posts (where I originally got the info) for Tomato and DD-WRT.
also before you try to install tomato make sure that your router is supported.
you can follow the pointers for upgrading from the previous post.
Extras, Additions, and DIY's:
I found a few other interesting things you can do to help improve your router:
- Hardware DIY from the DD-WRT page.
- Expand your wireless network
- power your router with only an ethernet cable (requires soldering skills)
- DIY laptop wireless antenna
- Boost your wifi antenna
And there are so many others, my suggestion go on google or websites that deal heavily with technology or diy modifications. and go to town.
good luck, and enjoy
Tuesday, July 21
Movin' on Up! Wireless Edition Part 2: Firmware
Now another thing that you'll want to make sure to do, is to keep your router's firmware updated.
If you remember from last time we logged into the router and changed the security setting, this time you would again log into your router and click the administration tab and then click firmware upgrade, there you will be able to load a new firmware to your router. You can download your router's firmware from the website of it's manufacturer.
You can also download an open source firmware like DD-WRT or Tomato to greatly enhance your router's capabilities.
Some things to note, before you decide to change your router's firmware:
1: make sure your internet connection and power supply will be uninterrupted
2: make sure that while you're upgrading, that you're wired to the router, don't try upgrading over a wireless connection.
3: read and follow the documentation associated with the software you're downloading.
4: Before you start upgrading reset your router to it's factory defaults, an easy way to do this is to "hard reset" your router - press and hold the small button on the back of your router for 30 seconds.
5: While it's upgrading, Don't Touch your Router or your Computer, leave them be, this is one of those times where you let your computer do what needs doing, without interference. A good idea would also be to end all programs with the exception of that one browser page while upgrading.
It's possible that while upgrading your firmware you may end up "bricking" your router, or in other words rendering it a useless hunk of plastic, so please exercise caution when it comes to this.
DD-WRT
For those routers that are supported the DD-WRT firmware adds several (very awesome) features to your router such as:
Boosting your Wireless Signal: Go to the Wireless tab, and then to Advanced Settings. Find the entry labeled Xmit Power, which is set by default at 28mW, and can be set up to 251mW.
- please note that while it's tempting to boost your signal all the way, more power is not necessarily better as too high an output will increase the temperature of your router and end up shortening it's lifespan.
I've heard several reports as to what output level is best for high range without killing your router prematurely, and it the general opinion (including the DD-WRT faq) seem to trend to 70-84 mW, although.... I hear that lower power settings give greater speed (due to their low signal to noise ratio) so choose wisely (remember there's tons of great and unable information to be found all over the internet ...just buried under the porn and download sites)
Setting up Quality of Service (QoS) rules:
Most routers handle all bandwidth requests the same, but if you set up some QoS rules you can ensure that certain programs (or IP addresses) get priority, ensuring that you'll always have some bandwidth available your programs.
Much, much more
There's plenty that can be done with the help of DD-WRT, most of which are beyond my own technical understanding, if you're interested in what you've read so far you can go ahead and download DD-WRT from their site there's also a FAQ and several tutorials on their site that you can take a look at if you need help
such as what to do in case you brick your router
before you go off running to download DD-WRT, you may want to hear me highlight another (also awesome) firmware update for your router, called Tomato
y'all been great, drive home safe now, ya he'r?
If you remember from last time we logged into the router and changed the security setting, this time you would again log into your router and click the administration tab and then click firmware upgrade, there you will be able to load a new firmware to your router. You can download your router's firmware from the website of it's manufacturer.
You can also download an open source firmware like DD-WRT or Tomato to greatly enhance your router's capabilities.
Some things to note, before you decide to change your router's firmware:
1: make sure your internet connection and power supply will be uninterrupted
2: make sure that while you're upgrading, that you're wired to the router, don't try upgrading over a wireless connection.
3: read and follow the documentation associated with the software you're downloading.
4: Before you start upgrading reset your router to it's factory defaults, an easy way to do this is to "hard reset" your router -
5: While it's upgrading, Don't Touch your Router or your Computer, leave them be, this is one of those times where you let your computer do what needs doing, without interference. A good idea would also be to end all programs with the exception of that one browser page while upgrading.
It's possible that while upgrading your firmware you may end up "bricking" your router, or in other words rendering it a useless hunk of plastic, so please exercise caution when it comes to this.
DD-WRT
For those routers that are supported the DD-WRT firmware adds several (very awesome) features to your router such as:
Boosting your Wireless Signal: Go to the Wireless tab, and then to Advanced Settings. Find the entry labeled Xmit Power, which is set by default at 28mW, and can be set up to 251mW.
- please note that while it's tempting to boost your signal all the way, more power is not necessarily better as too high an output will increase the temperature of your router and end up shortening it's lifespan.
I've heard several reports as to what output level is best for high range without killing your router prematurely, and it the general opinion (including the DD-WRT faq) seem to trend to 70-84 mW, although.... I hear that lower power settings give greater speed (due to their low signal to noise ratio) so choose wisely (remember there's tons of great and unable information to be found all over the internet ...just buried under the porn and download sites)
Setting up Quality of Service (QoS) rules:
Most routers handle all bandwidth requests the same, but if you set up some QoS rules you can ensure that certain programs (or IP addresses) get priority, ensuring that you'll always have some bandwidth available your programs.
Much, much more
There's plenty that can be done with the help of DD-WRT, most of which are beyond my own technical understanding, if you're interested in what you've read so far you can go ahead and download DD-WRT from their site there's also a FAQ and several tutorials on their site that you can take a look at if you need help
such as what to do in case you brick your router
before you go off running to download DD-WRT, you may want to hear me highlight another (also awesome) firmware update for your router, called Tomato
y'all been great, drive home safe now, ya he'r?
Sunday, July 19
Movin' on Up! Wireless Edition Part 1: Security
As I've mentioned earlier that I'm planning some cool stuff for the future, one such plan is the eventual understanding and upgrading of my home's wireless network. So thanks again to the good people over at lifehacker (and the rest of the inter-tubes) I have the knowledge required to achieve these goals. Over the next few days I'm going to highlight several tricks, tips and ideas for improving your mastery over your wireless network
Part 1 - Security:
Now for those who are unfamiliar (as I was until not long ago) WEP encryption is not secure, not even remotely as recent developments make it possible for one to crack WEP in as little as a few minutes.
Though hilariously enough even though cracks in WEP were seen in 2001, and it was thoroughly broken as early as 2004, and despite being put to rest with the introduction of the IEEE 802.11i standard, it's still in widespread use.
Don't believe me? then take a look yourself, next time you look at nearby networks take a look at their encyption, I'm certain that a majority of them will be using WEP as opposed to WPA or WPA2
So In light of all this information I decided to change my routers encryption (from none) to WPA2 which, was surprisingly easy all you need to do is log in to your router.
Step by step here's what you do:
Step 1: go into the command prompt (for windows) and type in ipconfig note the number after default Gateway, and type that in your browser, you'll be prompted for a password which was originally included the box (if you forgot it, hard rest your router and then search online for the default passwords for your particular router).
Step 2: now that your in, go to the wireless tab, and click wireless security, and change the setting under security mode to your desired level (I personally picked WPA2 Persona with AES as my encryption algorithm)
Please note that the image below is an example of what the page will look like and your mileage may vary,
Step 3: Find a secure password, WPA and WPA2 have a maximum limit of 63 characters, I recommend going with that. you can even use this website to come up with a secure and random password.
Congrats you've now switched your encryption to WPA (much better than WEP)
Feel free to pat yourselves on the back, though understand: even though it's more secure than WEP, WPA is far from completely 100% secure.
Make sure to tune in next time for more on improving your Wi-fi
Part 1 - Security:
Now for those who are unfamiliar (as I was until not long ago) WEP encryption is not secure, not even remotely as recent developments make it possible for one to crack WEP in as little as a few minutes.
Though hilariously enough even though cracks in WEP were seen in 2001, and it was thoroughly broken as early as 2004, and despite being put to rest with the introduction of the IEEE 802.11i standard, it's still in widespread use.
Don't believe me? then take a look yourself, next time you look at nearby networks take a look at their encyption, I'm certain that a majority of them will be using WEP as opposed to WPA or WPA2
So In light of all this information I decided to change my routers encryption (from none) to WPA2 which, was surprisingly easy all you need to do is log in to your router.
Step by step here's what you do:
Step 1: go into the command prompt (for windows) and type in ipconfig note the number after default Gateway, and type that in your browser, you'll be prompted for a password which was originally included the box (if you forgot it, hard rest your router and then search online for the default passwords for your particular router).
Step 2: now that your in, go to the wireless tab, and click wireless security, and change the setting under security mode to your desired level (I personally picked WPA2 Persona with AES as my encryption algorithm)
Please note that the image below is an example of what the page will look like and your mileage may vary,
Step 3: Find a secure password, WPA and WPA2 have a maximum limit of 63 characters, I recommend going with that. you can even use this website to come up with a secure and random password.
Congrats you've now switched your encryption to WPA (much better than WEP)
Feel free to pat yourselves on the back, though understand: even though it's more secure than WEP, WPA is far from completely 100% secure.
Make sure to tune in next time for more on improving your Wi-fi
Saturday, July 18
Updates II: "Movin' on Up"
I've been mulling over these ideas for some time now, but now thanks in large to that oh so wonderful website lifehacker these dreams may just become a reality.
Now if you weren't aware, lifehacker is a website that just takes tons of useful information from all over, and essentially hands it to you on a silver platter. It's chock full of all kinds of "hacks" or tips, and tricks for many things you come across in everyday life, but especially 'geeky' things, like technology and computers, while searching through their site (which is all I ever do at work nowadays with the exception of reading webcomics) I found some, truly awesome links: "set up and host a blog on your comp", "host your domain w/free apps", and lastly "build a home ftp server"
Now I'm sure you (being the intelligent person you are) can guess what it is I plan to do. Set up a server and host my own domain and blog. Now I realize this is a pretty ambitious goal, especially considering I know next to nothing about anything that's required for this, even html. But I figure that maybe it's better I jump into things right away and learn the ropes by doing instead of roaming through tons of sites and trying to learn the things beforehand, for that way lies path of discouragement. Not to mention the timing is perfect, it's summer, my course is coming to a close in a week or so, and since my mom who had basically took over my desktop computer since I went to college and got a laptop, decided to upgrade, so I happen to have a computer at hand that could definitely act as a server (seeing as I have no other use for it, save to take it apart and put it's internal components to some other use) Also I really want to do this so that I 1 get some better control over my site, but also maybe expand into more than a blog, and all the while learn what to do rather than rely on some web service
So that's my plan for now, rig up that old comp, and see what happens, that's not to say I won't still be here for a while, it won't be set up overnight, and even once it's done it'll be some time before I feel it's ready to be moved. So never fear for I will be here, and I'll make sure to inform you my reader before I make the switch, and leave this site up so that all may know where it now resides...
Thanks again for listening, this has been your host Aemon (brought to you by the evi...good folks at Google) wishing you a good night, and a happy summer.
Join us next time for more of that dull humour you seem to enjoy.
Same site, different day.
Now if you weren't aware, lifehacker is a website that just takes tons of useful information from all over, and essentially hands it to you on a silver platter. It's chock full of all kinds of "hacks" or tips, and tricks for many things you come across in everyday life, but especially 'geeky' things, like technology and computers, while searching through their site (which is all I ever do at work nowadays with the exception of reading webcomics) I found some, truly awesome links: "set up and host a blog on your comp", "host your domain w/free apps", and lastly "build a home ftp server"
Now I'm sure you (being the intelligent person you are) can guess what it is I plan to do. Set up a server and host my own domain and blog. Now I realize this is a pretty ambitious goal, especially considering I know next to nothing about anything that's required for this, even html. But I figure that maybe it's better I jump into things right away and learn the ropes by doing instead of roaming through tons of sites and trying to learn the things beforehand, for that way lies path of discouragement. Not to mention the timing is perfect, it's summer, my course is coming to a close in a week or so, and since my mom who had basically took over my desktop computer since I went to college and got a laptop, decided to upgrade, so I happen to have a computer at hand that could definitely act as a server (seeing as I have no other use for it, save to take it apart and put it's internal components to some other use) Also I really want to do this so that I 1 get some better control over my site, but also maybe expand into more than a blog, and all the while learn what to do rather than rely on some web service
So that's my plan for now, rig up that old comp, and see what happens, that's not to say I won't still be here for a while, it won't be set up overnight, and even once it's done it'll be some time before I feel it's ready to be moved. So never fear for I will be here, and I'll make sure to inform you my reader before I make the switch, and leave this site up so that all may know where it now resides...
Thanks again for listening, this has been your host Aemon (brought to you by the evi...good folks at Google) wishing you a good night, and a happy summer.
Join us next time for more of that dull humour you seem to enjoy.
Same site, different day.
Friday, July 17
Updates
So......
sorry (once again) for the extended absence (I got distracted ....again)
I'll try to keep more regular with the posts in the future
on a bright note I finished Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture
and all I can say is ...wow, amazing book, seriously, usually I don't get so sucked into non-fiction books, but this one just sort of grabbed me and wouldn't let go
After reading it, I can only say that I'm appalled at the state of our country's copyrights laws, and the sheer abusiveness of these large companies in their attempts tp "protect" their intellectual property rights
If out of everything I ever write, you listen to one thing I say, let it be this, "Read that book" ...immediately, as in now go and download the book, and when you have a moment to spare, start reading. I said this before, but it's important enough that it should be repeated, for anyone who uses the internet, or in any way participates in creative activities (i.e. writing, drawing, filming.....etc) this book, is a definite must read, even if you don't regularly engage in any of these activities, I still wholly recommend reading it. It pays to stay informed.
Now don't worry, I'm not gonna just sit here and rant at you all day
I have better things to do (and so do you)
So, I've recently gotten into a bit of a DIY/learn stuff kick, I recently revisited a favorite website of mine lifehacker.com, truly an amazing site, and it's given me some great ideas for things to do.
I'm not going to get into to many details at the moment, since I'm kinda sleepy and I want to keep some material for future posts, but just know this there will be changes around here ...awesome changes, not to mention some more posts from yours truly highlighting some other yet-to-be-named-awesomeness.
I'm really kinda excited about the future, I just hope it'll all pan out in the end
sorry (once again) for the extended absence (I got distracted ....again)
I'll try to keep more regular with the posts in the future
on a bright note I finished Lawrence Lessig's Free Culture
and all I can say is ...wow, amazing book, seriously, usually I don't get so sucked into non-fiction books, but this one just sort of grabbed me and wouldn't let go
After reading it, I can only say that I'm appalled at the state of our country's copyrights laws, and the sheer abusiveness of these large companies in their attempts tp "protect" their intellectual property rights
If out of everything I ever write, you listen to one thing I say, let it be this, "Read that book" ...immediately, as in now go and download the book, and when you have a moment to spare, start reading. I said this before, but it's important enough that it should be repeated, for anyone who uses the internet, or in any way participates in creative activities (i.e. writing, drawing, filming.....etc) this book, is a definite must read, even if you don't regularly engage in any of these activities, I still wholly recommend reading it. It pays to stay informed.
Now don't worry, I'm not gonna just sit here and rant at you all day
I have better things to do (and so do you)
So, I've recently gotten into a bit of a DIY/learn stuff kick, I recently revisited a favorite website of mine lifehacker.com, truly an amazing site, and it's given me some great ideas for things to do.
I'm not going to get into to many details at the moment, since I'm kinda sleepy and I want to keep some material for future posts, but just know this there will be changes around here ...awesome changes, not to mention some more posts from yours truly highlighting some other yet-to-be-named-awesomeness.
I'm really kinda excited about the future, I just hope it'll all pan out in the end
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