Archive for March, 2009
BattleField 1942 in Windows 2008
Posted by Randy in Applications, Games, Windows on March 25, 2009
I decided to play BF1942 today. I installed it and Battlefield Vietnam. These two games are about the only first person shooters I can play without getting simulator sickness. It had been a while since I played BF1942 so I wanted to try it first.
It should be noted at this point that I’ve been using Windows 2008 server as a desktop operating system for about three months now. Up until now everything pretty much worked out of the box, but once I tried to start up BF1942 I ran into a slight problem. It complained about having the wrong version of DirectX installed. It requires DirectX 6.0 or higher.
I knew I had a higher version of DirectX than this. So after digging around for a while I found out that there is a bug that causes this issue. The fix is a little strange. One person suggested that it was an issue with fullscreen mode. True enough, after changing one line of a config file for BF1942 to force it to start in windowed mode, there was no issues. The only problem is that windowed mode sucks.
So, searching further, I discovered that there is a fix that involves a patch for GTA2. Here are the instructions to execute this solution:
1.) Download this.
2.) Unzip
3.) Copy the dmusic.dll and dmusic.inf files to C:\Windows\System32
4.) Inside the system32 directory find dmusic.inf…right click on it and choose install.
BF1942 should now work in full screen mode.
Xlack Download!
Posted by Randy in Open Source on March 21, 2009
As stated in a previous post, I couldn’t find the Xlack system information script anywhere. Well I was looking through some old backup DVD’s I’d made and sure enough I have a backup of it. So for anyone that wants it you can find it here.
Xlack is my favorite sysinfo script for XChat. It isn’t supported any longer and that may be the reason it’s so hard to find. Also xlack.tk isn’t working any longer. I’m guessing it is an abandoned project. I may actually take it over, eventually. I don’t have the time at the moment, however.
So, download and use at your own risk. If you need help, please post a comment to this post. I will answer to the best of my knowledge.
My newest external harddrive reviews
I recently lost around 750GB of data. This was due to my trust in a brand new 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent drive. I wanted to move some data around and during the move, the drive died. So, needless to say, the drive was exchanged.
The 1.5TB drive used a standard 3.5 inch internal hard drive. I’ve had some bad luck with many of the newer drives. I’m pretty sure that the quality of drives in general has deminished as the capacity has increased. SATA drives in particular have given me much grief.
I decided to try out the Seagate FreeAgent Go 500GB drive even though it was a third of the size of the original drive I had purchased. The 1.5TB drive had firewire, USB 2.0, and eSATA. This wide variety of connections was a major factor in my decision to purchase it. The 500gb Go only had USB 2.0. This made it quite a bit less appealing.
That is about the only cons to the drive. There are, however, many pros. First of all, the drive doesn’t require any external power. It is completely powered from the USB port. This is especially useful in that one isn’t required to carry around a power supply. Also the USB port is standard mini USB, which is useful when you have about
Secondly, the drive is quiet. Many of the larger(physical size, not capacity) drives seem to be noisy. Some of this noise comes from the power adapter and the rest comes from drive itself. At any rate, this drive makes no noise.
Finally, the drive is ultra portable. Since there is no external power needed, the drive and the mini USB cable are all one must carry around. The drive itself is small. It will fit in a pants or jacket pocket. I would rather carry a 500GB drive around in my pocket than a 32GB thumbdrive.
It also appears to be much more reliable than the 1.5TB FreeAgent. This could be related to the type of drive used, since this uses a 2.5 inch notebook hard drive versus the 3.5 inch desktop hard drive used in the 1.5TB FreeAgent.
All in all, I wouldn’t recommend the 1.5TB Seagate FreeAgent. There are reports that there are problems with these drives. However, I do recommend the 500GB Seagate FreeAgent Go. It’s small, portable, and more reliable.
[phpbay]seagate freeagent go 500gb, 10, “”, “”[/phpbay]
Tips for Finding Cheap Website Hosting
Posted by Randy in Web Development on March 20, 2009
Starting a website isn’t hard. It’s much easier than one may imagine. There are many things to know before starting, however. By asking key questions like how the site will be used, who will be accessing it, and what features it will need, will make the task much easier.
Websites start out as an idea the anatomy of paystubs. There are three main types of website. Personal websites normally are used to display family photos, communicate with relatives, or display a personal interest. These websites have been very useful for many to get more familiar with building websites. They are the modern scrapbook. However, they are becoming less common these days due to another form of website. The community (Web2.0) sites have been taking the place of many personal sites. These online communities try to replicate real-world socialization. The final type of website is the business website. These are used as store fronts or to display related information about a company. They can also be used as portals for business employees. Knowing which of these types of one wishes to create is the first step in finding appropriate hosting like this professional wordpress hosting service.
For personal sites, a small hosting package is normally good enough. Minimal money will be spent on this type of site. If one plans to set up a community-based website or a business website, other more expensive hosting options will be needed. No matter which type of site is being built, the first thing that will be needed is a domain name. You should also look into how making use of a crm can help your business grow.
The very best place to grab a domain name is GoDaddy. For around the price of lunch, a domain name can be purchased for a year. So, it’s cheap to buy a piece of the web. The hard part is finding the domain name. The big three top level domains are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Finding a domain name within these three TLDs is the best, but very difficult. There are many people called “squatters” who buy up domain names just to resale later. Try to think of something clever and catchy that is related to what your site is going to be about. Limit the length of the name as much as possible. It’ll be essential that visitor be able to remember the name for later. Godaddy has a great tool for checking the availability of a domain name and suggesting ideas for other names related to your search.
Once the domain name is found and purchased, it’s necessary to have a hosting service. Godaddy also offers hosting, however hosting is a very competitive market and it’s easy to find unlimited shared hosting for very little. For instance, here are some examples of very cheap unlimited website hosting on eBay. If one needs good support it would probably be better to go with a company like HostGator. While the eBay hosting packages will cost around $10 per year or (in some cases) for life, HostGator will cost around $10 per month. It can not be stressed enough, however, that HostGator is a reputable company that will deliver the best product. “You get what you pay for” is very correct in this case. The HostGator plan also allows one to host as many sites as they want all for the same month price. Omnis Network also offers great deals on domain names and hosting plans.
This hosting is great for any of the three types of websites, but if the site has potential to receive a lot of traffic, it would be best to go with either dedicated servers, colocation servers, or VPS.
Dedicated servers and colocation servers are the most powerful of the lot. These are real servers that the user has full control over. They are, of course, more expensive. Dedicated servers are basically servers one can rent that are in a data center on a dedicated internet connection. Co-locations, “Colo” for short, are dedicated servers that are owned by the customer and placed in a data center like those used by the dedicated servers.
VPS is just alphabet soup meaning Virtual Private Server. It’s a dedicated server in a virtual environment. VPS is usually cheaper than true dedicated servers, but offer many of the same features. The customer is the owner of the server. They have full admin rights and can do whatever they want with it.
VPS, dedicated, and colocation servers are typically harder to maintain. They require more technical know-how than shared hosting or managed hosting. The customer is the administrator on the server and with the complete control comes complete responsibility. Unlike shared hosts however, dedicated servers and colo servers are completely dedicated to a single customer. There is always potential, while using a shared host, that the server will become slow due to heavy load from all the many sites it is hosting. Proper load balancing usually takes care of this but it could still happen.
So in conclusion, if someone wanted a small site for personal or small business use, the cost could be as little as $20 bucks for the domain name and hosting for a year, using Godaddy and eBay. For best results, however, it’s recommended to buy hosting from a reputable company like HostGator or Omnis. One hosting account will allow for as many websites as one wishes.
BitchX removed from latest stable Debian release
Posted by Randy in Applications, Linux Stuff, Open Source on March 19, 2009
I just recently realized that BitchX is no longer in the Debian repos on one of my servers. Apparently there is some kind of library dependency issue. I decided to try some of the other IRC clients for the command line (I use XChat for most of my IRC chatting but sometimes I want to chat from a CLI environment). The rest of the clients, however, sucked. Especially when one is used to BitchX. I could have probably gotten used to one of them but I just wasn’t impressed. I tried Irssi, ircii, weechat, epic4, and something called Pork. None of them felt right.
So, I downloaded the BitchX source. I couldn’t get it to compile (probably why it isn’t in the repos any longer). Configure didn’t report any errors. Make failed with a generic error that ld ended status 1. All that means to me is that ld ended with an error. I’m sure I could have tracked it down eventually but instead I downloaded the Linux binaries. Miraculously, the binary worked without any problems whatsoever.
So, if you are like me and really like BitchX for IRC, download the binaries from: http://www.bitchx.com/download.php
Once you have the binary, you can place it in /usr/bin with:
cp BitchX /usr/bin
and create a symlink like so:
ln -s /usr/bin/BitchX /usr/bin/bitchx
I created the symlink only because I’m used to starting BitchX using the lowercase version of the command. The symlink is optional.
Posted by Randy in Applications, Programming, Web Development on March 18, 2009
If you want to finance your career you should learn about students loans because it’s one of the few loans you will be able to take out in the future. When you are a student you will have to work for years at a high salary before you are able to begin making payments. The average student loan debt for undergraduates is $25,000, and it is expected that there will be about $1.3 trillion in student loan debt by 2020.
We all hope that our kids won’t have to take out loans to start their lives off in life, but it is the reality of today. That said, there are students out there that find the loans and work out how to avoid it altogether. For that reason we have compiled a list of the 7 things you should be doing if you are thinking of a career in student loans.
#1. Get Started ASAP
Just because you can’t afford a student loan doesn’t mean you can’t start your education. The sooner you start working towards a career in student loans the better. The last thing you want to do is spend years working towards an internship before you have made a commitment to something, because then you will never get that opportunity to work. There are plenty of places you can start right away. Check out this list of student loan companies. You can get started with a one-year option or you can work your way up to a five-year plan. #2. Understand The Loan Terms When you are looking at a student loan company, you will want to understand the terms of the loan so you can make the best choices. Some of the terms are specific to the type of loan you are getting and others are common in all types of loans. A good rule of thumb is to take a good look at the terms of any loan you are considering because all of them will be a part of the agreement. You will want to have a basic understanding of the loan terms so you can make the best choices for yourself when it comes to paying back the loan. Let’s look at the following information about paying back a loan:
A Good Loan Terms
The term of the loan is usually a couple of years. Usually the lender will tell you the exact length of the term and the payment schedule. Some banks will give you an estimate of how much you are going to pay every month.
The loan interest rate is the interest rate you are going to be charged when you make your monthly payments. You can expect to pay about 3% to 4% on your loan. You may find a lower interest rate on a savings or checking account at a branch of the bank. You can also try using the calculator on the lender’s website or by calling the lender to ask.
The term of the loan is usually a couple of years. Usually the lender will tell you the exact length of the term and the payment schedule. Some banks will give you an estimate of how much you are going to pay every month. The loan interest rate is the interest rate that you will pay each month on the loan. The interest rate will increase as the length of the loan increases. Generally, if you can get a lower interest rate, you may be able to get a loan for a shorter amount. It is a good idea to ask the lender what the interest rate is on the loan you are considering.
Before you start your loan application process, check with your bank to see if they offer loans in the states where you live. Get more info here.
Play the real stock market with fake money. Learn to lose money just like a pro in no time!
I’ve always wanted to be a day trader. There’s just something about the chance of making money from nothing but clever buys/sells. The only problem is, I’m broke. Just to start an account at most brokers you have to have $1,000. I may have the money but I’m not at the point in my life where I can throw it into some stocks.
What’s more, I don’t even know how to buy/sell stocks to begin with. Well at least I didn’t. That is changing for the most part since I joined (for free) WallStreetSurvivor.com. Now I can lose money with the best of them. All joking aside, I’ve really learned a lot about the market from this site. For instance, I had no idea what selling short and buying on the margin were before I started playing this game.
There’s also some really cool tools in the game such as performance charts speeding up the scaling phase. There’s a ticker showing some of the latest trades by other players. Oh I forgot to mention that you compete against the other players for prizes.
I had an idea for something like this a couple of years ago, but my version of the game was setup more like an online casino atmosphere. I’m not sure if any of you have played Texas Hold’em on the old online poker sites but that was the idea I wanted for my stock simulator. People could compete in tournaments. There would be an entry fee, and the house would get a bit of a cut from the pool. Hey, I had to run the website with something. Unfortunately, that idea never took off, mainly because I didn’t want to research the legality of such a business indeavor. I may actually start working on that idea and give WallStreetSurvivor.com a run for it’s money.
OpenDNS: A more secure, reliable, and up-to-date DNS service
Whether you’re a parent wanting to filter some of the websites your child visits or a small business looking for a way to keep employees off Youtube, OpenDNS may be your solution understanding paystubs. I’ve been using the service for a few months and love it.
Firstly, it tends to get updates faster than any other DNS servers I’ve ever used. So for someone like me, who is always working on new websites, it is important to be able to get to those websites by hostname as quickly as possible. OpenDNS seems to get updates within minutes. In the past, I’ve waited over a day for DNS to propagate on some sites using my ISP’s DNS servers, and as a rule of thumb it can take up to 72 hours for DNS to propagate fully.
Now the downside to this is even though you can get to the website pretty easily, most of your viewers aren’t using OpenDNS servers. They will have to wait, but at least you’ll be able to construct a site while they are waiting. So, this isn’t really a downside for you, it’s just an inherit downside that comes from waiting on DNS.
Another advantage openDNS offers is that one can manually control DNS entries for a network. This is all handled from a very nice configuration page after you create an account. For instance, I can’t stand MySpace.com and pretty much don’t want any computers in my house browsing to that site. I’ve worked on too many computers loaded down with spyware, and a good number of them had MySpace shortcuts on the desktop or the MySpace instant messenger app installed. This could be a coincidence, but I think not. So, I can just block that site. I enter the domain name, save the settings, and within 3 minutes none of the computers on my network can get to MySpace.com.
All that one has to do is create a free account at openDNS.com, add your network, and then change your DNS server settings. Subscribe to my blog. I will be posting a tutorial on changing DNS servers later this week. I will also be describing a bit more about using openDNS on a dynamic IP and some of the things that can be done to help make living with a dynamic IP less of a headache.