Jimiz.net – Jim Becher on the web

My trusty linux box at home needed to be reloaded. The hardware had run it’s course so I now have my linux system using a Dell Zino HD small formfactor PC. (DELL ZINO)

I do enjoy the process of reloading linux. I am currently using Ubuntu 9.10. The first thing I do after installing ubuntu is install SSH and set a few config changes (PermitRoot = no). SSH allows me to access the machine from anywhere. After that I add my favorite program DenyHosts. (DenyHosts)

DenyHosts is a security application that monitors the “/var/log/secure” log. If it sees suspicious activity it will add the IP address to the /etc/hosts.deny file.
This is a great simple security app that keeps bad people away.

It is worth a read to hear how DenyHosts was created and what motivated the developer to write the application (HackTale)

My wife’s laptop decided to be unreliable. I took the opportunity to upgrade her to a new computer. As with many items I am attempting to keep things portable. So we are upgrading her from a 15 inch Toshiba laptop that I purchased in 2007 for ($400) to a 13 inch HP Dm3-1130. I chose the HP for 2 reasons; size and price.

Of all the 13.1 inch laptops out there this was the most reasonable in terms of price. It has the AMD vision processor (though I’m not a fan of AMD). A very nice aluminum / brushed case that is really small. The price was hard to beat, $499 for a 13.1 inch laptop is pretty hard to find. The purchasing experience was interesting. I had been looking for a deal both online and locally, when I found this at officemax. Two of the 3 local stores did not carry it. When I did find it, the sales team was very admit that I needed an external mouse, and many other accessories / software if I purchased this machine. I am guessing they are suggested to offer these items to anyone purchasing a computer. However, that process of telling a computer shopper that they need to purchase software or other items makes me angry.

So far (day 2) the machine is great. I had to (decrapify) the computer but I was expecting that. The little guy has a great keyboard, fun to type on. The machine has no DVD or CD-rom drive. Not having a media drive is just fine with me, we don’t have any CD’s or DVD’s anymore. So far the battery life has been as expected 4 plus hours. It is now loaded with Windows 7 (x64) and has pretty good performance.

Overall, this will be my wife’s primary laptop that she takes with her and uses at home. I HP did a great job on this laptop.

I recently had the need to reload two machines and get them ready to re-use or resell. I have many copies of XP and started to look for the install CD. After not finding the CD, and being too lazy to burn one from an ISO file, I started thinking why did I need cds / DVDs for install. My linux LIVE disk and install are all on USB thumb drives. Why couldn’t I make USB drive that had my install media for XP, vista , and Windows.

After a little searching I found some methods that use “Bart PE” and some other slipstream ideas. It looked like I would be able to create a one use USB drive (XP or Vista) but not all versions.

I ended up using (WintoFlash) to create my bootable USB drive. I only tried this with XP but it mentioned that it works with other versions of windows.

I am now armed with a XP rescue USB that I can re-install an OS.

I decided that I should do a post on what I have been doing.   First and foremost I have been spending more time with my family.  Three girls make life fun.   

I have also been training more and running more often.  Running gives me time to think and if I run on the treadmill I get more time to watch movies.    The most recent movie was War Games 2 – (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0865957/). 

I love Netflix and use that in conjunction with my Media Center 7 system when I am running.  Media center makes recording TV (soccer) and watching Netflix really simple.

In my sparse spare time I have been attempting to sell almost all my old computer parts / stuff on craigslist.  I have made it a game that I try to sell something each week and pay for gas.  During the evenings I attempt to read some, recently I have finished 3 of the James Bond collection (Thunderball, From Russia with love, and Devil May Care ).   Another great title I have been reading and need to finish is O’Reilly – Inside Cyber Warfare.

Here is an interesting article from Mark Cuban. He is discussing the NBCUniversal/Comcast deal and Al Franken. I was reading my RSS feeds and came across this post from Mark. It got me thinking on 1. the future of media (cost) 2. how legislation could inadvertently change how and what media we get.

It is worth the read.

http://blogmaverick.com/2010/02/24/senator-al-franken-is-requesting-user-caps-on-internet-bandwidth/

I mainly develop inside of a virtual server / application. In the last year I have been using Virtualbox instead of Virtual PC. I have a base image that I use as a testing machine. It is a base Windows XP image. I recently discovered that I could save some disk space by using a few commands to shrink / compact the vdi file.

To do this you will need to install a small application Nullfile (http://www.feyrer.de/g4u/nullfile-1.02.exe) This allows the empty disk space / unused data bytes to be filled with zero-bytes. You can read more about this at (feyrer.de/g4u/)

Once you have the file copy it to your Virtual Image. Run a disk defrag on your Virtual box system. After running a few defrags, you now need to just run the nullfile.exe. You only need to doubleclick the .exe.

Once the file is done, shut down your virtual image.
Open a command prompt and navigate to the directory where your vdi file is located. Mine is c:\vpc

Once in that directory we will be running the vboxmanage utility. On my Windows 7 pc it is located at C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe

Here is the command we will be using modifyhd -compact

“C:\Program Files\Sun\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe” modifyhd -compact “c:\vpc\BaseXP.vdi”

Once this was completed my virtual image went from 4.3Gig to 2.7Gig.

Have fun with this utility. I was able to shrink my typical Windows 2008 server image to a much smaller size.

I have been asked a few times to share the steps that I used to get all my photos off my iphone. Here are the basic steps to download all the photos on your iphone using Windows XP or Windows 7:
Windows XP:
1. Attach your iphone via usb cable
2. When XP asks what application to use select: (Microsoft Scanner and Camera Wizard)

3. It will then attempt to read the files

4. XP will then start the import wizard

5. You then can select all photos are a subset

6. At this step you can label your pictures and select the directory to save the images.

7. The import process will now begin (may take a few minutes)

8. You are now complete and can close the window


I hope this little tutorial helps. I was able to get all images saved and have a backup.

I have posted before the Media center plug-ins that I have used with my media center.  After upgrading my Mediacenter PC to Windows 7, some of my favorite ones no longer work.

My absolute favorite : Web Guide (WebGuide) will not work with 7.  I hope they come up with some type of fix / new version

However, there are a few great plug-ins that you should look at for media center 7. 

Hack7mc has a great list that I think covers almost all of them.  The only item I think they missed was MyMovies.

So head on over and check out the list.  You should add this to your MC7:

http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/04/5-plug-ins-every-windows-7-media-center-install-should-be-using.html

I finally had the chance to test the new Logiitech Touch application (Logitech touch)

What a great little app. You essentially install the server side of this app on the computer you want to control, then run the app on your iphone. The iphone app lists all available (controllable) systems on your network. You then can use the mouse / keyboard by moving around on your touch or iphone.

This is a great feature to add to my Home theater system (windows media center). It seems to be nicer than typing on my windows remote.

So I decided to jailbreak my iphone again. This time I was taking a trip out west SteamBoat and wanted the ability to tether my phone and get internet access. I had previously purchased an iPhone app (iphonemodem) and had success.

However, this time I decided to try a new app for tethering. Mywi (http://www.rockyourphone.com/index.php/mywi.html). What an amazing app. I was in the Chicago airport with a layover and was able to get some work done with out having to pay for wi-fi.

MyWi basically allows you to turn your iPhone into a wireless access point. I set the app to have an SSID of SecureWebAccess and then used WEP and a password to secure it. After those 2 steps, all I had to do was connect to it with my laptop like any other wireless network. Just for that trip it was worth every penny.

As for other jailbreak applications, I use ROCK manager and have installed a few other tools that allow me to quickly change settings with just two clicks.

Who else has had good luck with Jailbreak?

It is amazing the number of netbooks and small form factor laptops that were showcased at CES. I am a full supporter of Laptops. I have gone through the process of eliminating as many PC’s in our house as possible and replacing with Laptops. My current need is to replace my wife’s laptop, in this purchase process I have been looking to get a 13inch machine.

I have not found a need to have a larger Laptop and it seems that the constraints of a larger pc are not worth the hassle. If I need more screen real-estate I can just hook up to a secondary monitor.

The leading players in the 13inch laptop market are Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Mac. I have ruled out a Mac due to cost and needs. Each of these laptops have exceptional battery life, which is one of the critical items on my list.

HP dm3-1130us: (HP site)

Thinkpad Edge: (Lenovo Site)

Asus UL30A-X5 : (amazon link)

I have read and heard great reviews of each. In one conversation the HP model was called a MAC killer (I don’t know about that). Since batter life is a critical item, the ThinkPad and ASUS are at the top of the list. Though the thinkpad can be configured with an AMD processor, it appears that the Intel chips have better battery life. I am not against AMD, I just want a longer run time. Those of you who know me, will understand the fact that I love thinkpads. They have the trackpoint and are durable as hell.

The only issue with going out and purchasing the ThinkPad is the cost. The intel version runs about 700 Plus.

Anyone have thoughts, suggestions, reviews?

Was checking twitter and one of the people I follow had a link to a sweet laptop bag. I followed the site to see some laptop bag goodness.

They make some sweet bags – http://www.booqbags.com/

I’ve been testing mailbrowser (MailBrowser.com)

It is a gmail (browser plugin) that allows you to search / file / lookup contacts based on interaction. Similar to Xobni for outlook.

I have used Xobni for outlook before and had performance issues. I will update on the usage of this new little plugin

I have recently started to listen to more podcasts. When training for the Chicago Marathon back in 05 I listened to a lot of podcasts.

Here are some that I subscribe to

• 5 live world football
• Hak5.org
• Tekzilla
• Dave Ramsey

What else is interesting that I should be listening to?

I am very lucky to purchase computers. I have a macbook, netbook, toshiba laptop (wife), and my trusty T61 thinkpad. I have realized that I use each device for a specific task. Excluding my wife’s laptop I have found that the macbook and netbook are interchangeable. The small form factor MacBook makes it as handy as the netbook.

Because of this I am thinking a purchase to replace both would be in order. A 13/14 inch laptop that I would use for more travel and development.

The Asus UL30 or the IBM Thinkpad Edge are pretty tempting.