http://tabletopaudio.com/
You can play them right from the site, or even download DRM-free MP3 files!
Example:
Wednesday, May 31, 2017
Audio Ambiance Loops
Great site for music + ambiance loops!
http://tabletopaudio.com/
You can play them right from the site, or even download DRM-free MP3 files!
Example:
http://tabletopaudio.com/
You can play them right from the site, or even download DRM-free MP3 files!
Example:
Thursday, May 25, 2017
The Dismal and Depressing End to Deep Space Nine
/!\ SPOILERS WARNING
Don't read on, If you haven't watched Deep Space Nine (DS9), or haven't finished watching it...
Here goes...
3...
2...
1...
I admit, it's been a long time since I had watched DS9 -- probably at least 15 years ago. Long enough that I hardly remembered any of it. So it was time to watch it a second time. I started about a year ago, and we just finished the whole series last night.
I didn't remember the end being so dismal and depressing! In fact, I vaguely thought Kira was going to be allowed to become a shape-shifter and join her love Odo in the Great Link. Nothing of the sort.
Let's review the outcomes for the cast of DS9 - and you tell me, does this seem depressing to you?!
• The great leader and protagonist of the entire show, Captain Benjamin Sisko, dies in the end.
• Newlywed Kasidy Yates Sisko is left alone as pregnant widow by the death of her husband.
• Jake Sisko is left deserted to roam the station as an orphan... (His mother died in the beginning of the series, and now his father has died at the end.)
• Odo deserts the Federation, defects to join [and cure] the enemy Founders; and in doing so, dumps his love Kira Nerys.
• Kira, abandoned by Odo, and pushed into command by the death of Sisko, now has to run the station alone.
• Miles O'Brien, still just an enlisted man (no officer promotion in the whole series?!) takes some teaching job at Starfleet on Earth, and in doing so abandons his best friend of many years, the doctor;
• Dr Julian Bashir remains to toil on at his same post indefinitely, and friendless now that Miles and Garak have both left... At least he has some nascent relationship with the perpetually confused Ezri Dax¿
• Jadzia Dax? Oh yeah, she was killed off last season.
• Quark - teased that he was going to become Grand Nagus of Ferenginar, gets usurped by his younger brother Rom.
• Worf leaves the station, abdicates his Starfleet comission, and becomes a bureaucrat on the Klingon home world.
• The Great Klingon Warrior, General Martok, gets to live the rest of his days as a politician on Qo'noS...
• Gowron, Chancellor of the Klingon High Council, is killed by Worf.
• Garak, finally makes it home to his beloved Cardassia - from where he has been exiled from for the entire series - only to be devastated by the near genocide of his entire race by the Dominion. Everyone he knew and loved is dead, his home is gone, the culture he knew is gone, and he's not even appointed to lead his people (so far as we know).
• The newly-heroic rebel leader, Leggett Damar, dies just inches away from regaining his former position as leader of his Cardassian people.
• Kai Winn is incenerated - burned alive by Dukat.
• Gul Dukat is killed by Sisko's kamikaze suicide plunge to death, and is forever damned to exist as a spirit with the Pah-wraiths of the Bajoran Fire Caves for eternity.
• Weyoun9, the last of his clones, also dies (killed by Garak).
• The Female Shapeshifter, Founder and leader of the Dominion, is forced to surrender. Tried and convicted as a galactic war criminal.
Seem pretty dark and dismal to me... I don't remember thinking that the last time I watched this...
Wednesday, May 17, 2017
Kuddos to @Microsoft for Patching Windows XP & Server 2003 against WannaCrypt, even though those OSs are expired. 👍 https://t.co/iSzZbCrsO7
Kuddos to @Microsoft for Patching Windows XP & Server 2003 against WannaCrypt, even though those OSs are expired. 👍 https://t.co/iSzZbCrsO7
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) May 17, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Thursday, May 11, 2017
The ditching of GoogleTalk by @Google is a Bad Move on their part. Why drop a hugely successful IM client?! "Hangouts" is a poor substitute.
The ditching of GoogleTalk by @Google is a Bad Move on their part. Why drop a hugely successful IM client?! "Hangouts" is a poor substitute.
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) May 11, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
My @yourKarma unit let me down this weekend. And their email support is terrible. Site says no phone support. Is there any way to get help?!
My @yourKarma unit let me down this weekend. And their email support is terrible. Site says no phone support. Is there any way to get help?!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) May 11, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
The information in @amazon's product questions is great! But is there any good way to SEARCH those Q&As? There has got to be a way!?!
The information in @amazon's product questions is great! But is there any good way to SEARCH those Q&As? There has got to be a way!?!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) May 11, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Wednesday, May 03, 2017
Kuddos to @JoelGHodgson and all the staff at the New @MST3K on @netflix! You've done a Great Job on the reboot and kept it funny and clean!!
Kuddos to @JoelGHodgson and all the staff at the New @MST3K on @netflix! You've done a Great Job on the reboot and kept it funny and clean!!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) May 3, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Monday, April 17, 2017
I will buy a new iPhone @Apple when you add Qi-style wireless charging ability natively into the phone!
I will buy a new iPhone @Apple when you add Qi-style wireless charging ability natively into the phone!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) April 17, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
I usually listen to SN podcasts with my kids in the car - but Ep. #604 had to be cut off. @SGgrc and @leolaporte you should know better...
I usually listen to SN podcasts with my kids in the car - but Ep. #604 had to be cut off. @SGgrc and @leolaporte you should know better...
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) March 29, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Thursday, February 16, 2017
Come on @Google can't you add FAXing ability to @googlevoice service? This seems like an obvious instant software improvement to GoogleVoice
Come on @Google can't you add FAXing ability to @googlevoice service? This seems like an obvious instant software improvement to GoogleVoice
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) February 16, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
VirusTotal Multi-AV File Scanning
Recently, a colleague of mine had a website that was being blocked by both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox for having "potentially unwanted software":
He was quite sure that the EXE download that he was hosting was indeed safe, and had tested it with several desktop AntiVirus (AV) programs that had all passed his file as OK.
As it turns out, his file was good, but the wrapping software (to make a 30-day trial out of the program) was old, out of date, and had been hacked by others, on other sites (but apparently not his).
The only way we were made aware of this was by running the file through VirusTotal's website:
They have the ability to upload a file, recognize it uniquely by it's SHA256 hash, and run it against around 60 AV programs, and give you an output:
And even a link that you can share with others so they can view the same results.
I've been looking for something like this for a while, and am glad to see that VirusTotal is making this happen.
Since it's news to me, I'm sharing it with you!
-J
He was quite sure that the EXE download that he was hosting was indeed safe, and had tested it with several desktop AntiVirus (AV) programs that had all passed his file as OK.
As it turns out, his file was good, but the wrapping software (to make a 30-day trial out of the program) was old, out of date, and had been hacked by others, on other sites (but apparently not his).
The only way we were made aware of this was by running the file through VirusTotal's website:
VirusTotal is a free service that analyzes suspicious files and URLs and facilitates the quick detection of viruses, worms, trojans, and all kinds of malware.
They have the ability to upload a file, recognize it uniquely by it's SHA256 hash, and run it against around 60 AV programs, and give you an output:
And even a link that you can share with others so they can view the same results.
I've been looking for something like this for a while, and am glad to see that VirusTotal is making this happen.
Since it's news to me, I'm sharing it with you!
-J
Wednesday, February 08, 2017
In your Printer article https://t.co/E6OxSKfE1p, @DougOlenick, why didn't you get a copy of an actual Print and include it?? We want to see!
In your Printer article https://t.co/E6OxSKfE1p, @DougOlenick, why didn't you get a copy of an actual Print and include it?? We want to see!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) February 8, 2017
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Sunday, January 15, 2017
How to Save a YouTube video...
The easiest way is to try:
www.clipconverter.cc
If that doesn't work, try (for Firefox) this:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/
Or, (also for Firefox) this:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/flash-video-downloader/
Happy snipping!
Saturday, January 14, 2017
Kill the Tabs in Notepad++
Friday, November 11, 2016
Create a New folder in Windows 10 with a keyboard shortcut
New Windows10 shortcut!
In previous versions of Windows Explorer, to get a new folder made, I would use:
[Alt]+[F] --> [W] --> [Enter]
Now there's an official keyboard shortcut:
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[N]
-J
In previous versions of Windows Explorer, to get a new folder made, I would use:
[Alt]+[F] --> [W] --> [Enter]
Now there's an official keyboard shortcut:
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[N]
-J
Tuesday, November 08, 2016
How about more GIMP tutorials, to balance out all your Photoshop tutorials @howtogeek? Let's support open-source options we can all afford!
How about more GIMP tutorials, to balance out all your Photoshop tutorials @howtogeek? Let's support open-source options we can all afford!
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) November 8, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Monday, November 07, 2016
Is YOUR Network Listed in Shodan?
http://iotscanner.bullguard.com/
To see if you have IOT devices (or others) that are being publicly listed in the Shodan search network (not good!).
Monday, October 17, 2016
Stealth Health
This seems like a good idea:
-J
|
-J
Thursday, October 13, 2016
Why does @Dropbox software still run on Windows XP *and* ask for credentials, when "Dropbox doesn't support XP anymore"?? @DropboxSupport
Why does @Dropbox software still run on Windows XP *and* ask for credentials, when "Dropbox doesn't support XP anymore"?? @DropboxSupport
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) October 13, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
We need @HowToGeek to find us a way to fake @Dropbox into not knowing, or not caring, if it's running on WinXP or Server2003. Can you do it?
We need @HowToGeek to find us a way to fake @Dropbox into not knowing, or not caring, if it's running on WinXP or Server2003. Can you do it?
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) August 30, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Now @Dropbox has abandoned customers with WinXP and Server2003. Can't you get a more specific message than "An unexpected error occurred."??
Now @Dropbox has abandoned customers with WinXP and Server2003. Can't you get a more specific message than "An unexpected error occurred."??
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) August 30, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
Well @PanasonicUSA I looked at your FL421: 'meh' reviews. Switching to Brother FAX-2840 - @amazon's #1 Best Seller https://t.co/o94Ne39Vdt
Well @PanasonicUSA I looked at your FL421: 'meh' reviews. Switching to Brother FAX-2840 - @amazon's #1 Best Seller https://t.co/o94Ne39Vdt
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) August 17, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
@PanasonicUSA Have you discontinued your KX-FL511 Fax Machine? Why?? It was my Standard Go-To Fax! Sad. https://t.co/QqBbmtbCGS
@PanasonicUSA Have you discontinued your KX-FL511 Fax Machine? Why?? It was my Standard Go-To Fax! Sad. https://t.co/QqBbmtbCGS
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) August 17, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Why doesn't @Amazon make product manuals available right from the sales page? I shouldn't have to go off-site for a fax machine's manual.
Why doesn't @Amazon make product manuals available right from the sales page? I shouldn't have to go off-site for a fax machine's manual.
— Jay Harrison (@twrj) August 17, 2016
from Twitter https://twitter.com/twrj
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Best [Current] Deal on a Laptop PC
20160810:
20160212:
UPDATED 20160127:
UPDATED 2015030:
Lenovo Laptop ThinkPad T410 Core i5 2.4GHz - 4GB DDR3 - 320GB - WEBCAM - DVD - Windows 7 Pro 64bit - Refurbished
http://www.rakuten.com/prod/lenovo-laptop-thinkpad-t410-core-i5-2-4ghz-4gb-ddr3-320gb-webcam-dvd/q/sellerid/19322344/258034236.html
$260
---
20141006:
Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Intel i5 2500MHz 320Gig HDD 8192mb DVD ROM 14.0” WideScreen LCD Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Laptop Notebook - T420-2.5i5-8-320-DVD-7P64 - Reconditioned
Link:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/lenovo-thinkpad-t420-intel-i5-2500mhz-320gig-hdd-8192mb-dvd-rom-14-0/246599692.html
 |
| $199.99* |
| LENOVO T420 , 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, CORE i5 - Refurbished |
20160212:
 |
| $213.00* |
| Refurbished - HP EliteBook 2740p Tablet-PC, Intel Core i5, 4GB, 128GB SSD, W7P |
UPDATED 20160127:
 |
| $164.99*$204.99 |
| HP 3115M AMD E-450 Dual Core-1.65GHz, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD, W7P64, 1 YR WRT - Refurbished |
 |
| $219.99*$264.99 |
| HP 8440P Core i5-2.4GHz, 8192MB, 128GB SSD, W7P64, 1YR WRT - Refurbished |
UPDATED 2015030:
Lenovo Laptop ThinkPad T410 Core i5 2.4GHz - 4GB DDR3 - 320GB - WEBCAM - DVD - Windows 7 Pro 64bit - Refurbished
$260
---
20141006:
Lenovo ThinkPad T420 Intel i5 2500MHz 320Gig HDD 8192mb DVD ROM 14.0” WideScreen LCD Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Laptop Notebook - T420-2.5i5-8-320-DVD-7P64 - Reconditioned
Link:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/lenovo-thinkpad-t420-intel-i5-2500mhz-320gig-hdd-8192mb-dvd-rom-14-0/246599692.html
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Should I upgrade to Windows 10?
I've been asked before, and again most recently on this blog, "Should I upgrade to Windows 10?"
For starters, the free "window" to Win10 upgrade has passed, so that probably answers most people's questions by default. Who's going to pay $100-$200 for a once-"free" OS?
Probably no one.
What should you do?
Here's a great take on Windows 10’s Free Upgrade Offer Is Over: What Now?
I could tell you to stay with what you have; or to move to Linux or Free BSD; but I wont do that.
I'll only tell you what I'm doing.
I use a PC as a tool.
Not-so-much for recreation.
So I want a "business class" PC.
I want it to work well and work fast (or, as fast-as-possible).
This is why I turn off all the "pretties" in Windows (sliding windows, mouse cursor shadows, transparent window borders, etc), and always use the Classic mode. Even if that only gets me 1% additional performance, I'll take it!
What is everybody else doing?
Well, I think this single pie-chart - an excerpt from the article linked above - says it all:
I'm staying with Windows 7 Professional, for now.
(Maybe full time Linux Mint after that?)
But that's just me. ;)
-J
For starters, the free "window" to Win10 upgrade has passed, so that probably answers most people's questions by default. Who's going to pay $100-$200 for a once-"free" OS?
Probably no one.
What should you do?
Here's a great take on Windows 10’s Free Upgrade Offer Is Over: What Now?
I could tell you to stay with what you have; or to move to Linux or Free BSD; but I wont do that.
I'll only tell you what I'm doing.
I use a PC as a tool.
Not-so-much for recreation.
So I want a "business class" PC.
I want it to work well and work fast (or, as fast-as-possible).
This is why I turn off all the "pretties" in Windows (sliding windows, mouse cursor shadows, transparent window borders, etc), and always use the Classic mode. Even if that only gets me 1% additional performance, I'll take it!
What is everybody else doing?
Well, I think this single pie-chart - an excerpt from the article linked above - says it all:
I'm staying with Windows 7 Professional, for now.
(Maybe full time Linux Mint after that?)
But that's just me. ;)
-J
Thursday, May 26, 2016
Never 10
Many people have asked me about Microsoft Windows 10 Upgrades.
Should you upgrade to Windows 10? That's an entirely separate topic from this post...
This is post is just for people who are SURE they do not want Windows 10. Not now, not ever. And who do not want Win10 forced upon their Windows 7 PC(s). (BTW, Windows 7 will be supported until year 2020.) If this you, there is a tiny app that uses the very-little-known but Microsoft-approved way of disabling Windows from automatically upgrading to Win10.
Here's the link, if interested:
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm
(You can read more about this app, Never10, than you probably wanted to know at that link above.) ;)
Should you upgrade to Windows 10? That's an entirely separate topic from this post...
This is post is just for people who are SURE they do not want Windows 10. Not now, not ever. And who do not want Win10 forced upon their Windows 7 PC(s). (BTW, Windows 7 will be supported until year 2020.) If this you, there is a tiny app that uses the very-little-known but Microsoft-approved way of disabling Windows from automatically upgrading to Win10.
Here's the link, if interested:
https://www.grc.com/never10.htm
(You can read more about this app, Never10, than you probably wanted to know at that link above.) ;)
Monday, February 29, 2016
Great Deals for a Desktop PC
Update 20160301:
Update 20160113:
UPDATE 20151221
---
UPDATE 20150721 - Decent PC with Win7 Pro (upgrades to Win10 Pro), Quad-core, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and WiFi - not too bad for <$200:
http://www.rakuten.com/prod/dell-optiplex-760-sff-intel-core-2-quad-2-4ghz-8gb-ram-new-1tb-hdd/283353057.html
___
UPDATE 20150408 - Budget PC $129:
---
UPDATE 20150305 - budget PC link.
---
This is the best price [currently] that I know of, for a good refurnished desktop PC with Windows 7 Professional (and no bloatware).
Dell Optiplex 755 Intel Core 2 Duo 2300MHz 1 Terabyte HDD 8192mb DVD ROM Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit + 17" LCD Desktop Computer - 755SF-2.3C2-8-1T-DVD-7P64-7DV - Reconditioned
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-optiplex-755-intel-core-2-duo-2300mhz-1-terabyte-hdd-8192mb-dvd/242694675.html?scid=em_Promotional_20140730Dedicated&adid=17917
Don't need a monitor?
Try this one, that is similar, but ~$40 less:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-optiplex-755-intel-core-2-duo-2500mhz-1-terabyte-hdd-8192mb-dvd/242696325.html
UPDATE 20150216:
Dell OptiPlex 780 SFF computer Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz, 8GB Memory, 750GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit - Dell780BC1-0495 - Reconditioned
For a more powerful PC Desktop:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-precision-t1500-intel-i7-quad-core-2800-mhz-250gig-hdd-8192mb-dvd/259108584.html
 |
| $179.99$859.99 |
| Dell 19" Optiplex Desktop Computer... - Refurbished 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM, Win7 Pro 64, w Monitor |
| You Save $680 (79%) |
Update 20160113:
 |
| $164.99* |
| Dell Optiplex 960 Intel Core 2 Duo 1 Terabyte HDD 8192mb DVD ROM Windows 7 - Refurbished |
 |
| *Price after $30 Instant Rebate |
UPDATE 20151221
 |
| $169.99 |
| Dell OptiPlex 780 Core 2 Quad 2.4GHz, 8GB Memory, 500GB HDD, Windows 7- Refurbished |
---
UPDATE 20150721 - Decent PC with Win7 Pro (upgrades to Win10 Pro), Quad-core, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, and WiFi - not too bad for <$200:
http://www.rakuten.com/prod/dell-optiplex-760-sff-intel-core-2-quad-2-4ghz-8gb-ram-new-1tb-hdd/283353057.html
___
UPDATE 20150408 - Budget PC $129:
- Dell Optiplex 960 Desktop - Core 2 Duo - 3.1ghz - 4GB - 160GB - DVDRW - Win 7 Home Premium
- http://www.rakuten.com/prod/dell-optiplex-960-desktop-core-2-duo-3-1ghz-4gb-160gb-dvdrw-win-7-home/q/sellerid/42668892/278629571.html
---
UPDATE 20150305 - budget PC link.
---
This is the best price [currently] that I know of, for a good refurnished desktop PC with Windows 7 Professional (and no bloatware).
Dell Optiplex 755 Intel Core 2 Duo 2300MHz 1 Terabyte HDD 8192mb DVD ROM Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit + 17" LCD Desktop Computer - 755SF-2.3C2-8-1T-DVD-7P64-7DV - Reconditioned
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-optiplex-755-intel-core-2-duo-2300mhz-1-terabyte-hdd-8192mb-dvd/242694675.html?scid=em_Promotional_20140730Dedicated&adid=17917
Don't need a monitor?
Try this one, that is similar, but ~$40 less:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-optiplex-755-intel-core-2-duo-2500mhz-1-terabyte-hdd-8192mb-dvd/242696325.html
UPDATE 20150216:
Dell OptiPlex 780 SFF computer Core 2 Duo 3.0GHz, 8GB Memory, 750GB HDD, DVDRW, Windows 7 Professional 64-bit - Dell780BC1-0495 - Reconditioned
$190
For a more powerful PC Desktop:
http://us-micro-corp.shop.rakuten.com/p/dell-precision-t1500-intel-i7-quad-core-2800-mhz-250gig-hdd-8192mb-dvd/259108584.html
Sunday, December 27, 2015
Best Pocket Knife EVER
In my opinion, and after 20+ years of carrying a pocket knife, I believe that the Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Lockblade (Model# 54848) is the best all around pocket knife (and tool set) to be had.
I've been carrying this same knife, every day, for over five years now. It was given to me by a long-time family friend, the late Rick Martin. One of the most lasting and thoughtful gifts I've received; my thanks goes out to him, as I use this tool daily.
Some of the Pros of this knife:
• Great balance of tools - not too many, not too few. Tools include: 3¼" locking blade; a very good 3¼" stagger-toothed saw; a can opener with phillips-screw blade-point; a bottle opener with straight-screw blade; [flimsy] tweezers; a good plastic toothpick / point; a cork screw; a nice awl, and a lanyard attachment point.
• It's not too fat! Because it has the right balance of carefully selected tools, it's no "fatter" than most other standard pocket knives. A lot of swiss army knives try to cram way too much into the body, making it awkwardly thick, and not very pocket friendly. This knife, with all its tools, is only ¾" thick:
• The locking blade is very nice! You don't see this often in the typical "swiss army knife" The saw does not lock, but the knife blade does - and that's where you need it most. The release is a bit non-standard index-finger slider on the opposite side:
• This knife is not "tactical" looking. It's not a black / quick-open / tactical / fighting knife with all the PC-negative-stigma that goes along with that. While this knife is certainly capable in a knife fight, it looks like an old timer's pocket tool, and it is disarming / disalarming in that way. This is an important point. It's like urban camo.
• This specific knife is highly recommended by the Woods Master himself, the late Ron Hood. This is a guy that I have a lot of respect for, and has a college-level DVD course on woodcraft and survival (www.Survival.com). Here's a still from from Hoods Woods, volume five:
We sure will miss this guy (link).
You can sometimes find this knife on Ebay and Amazon sells a newer version of it too:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VUJGHS/?tag=intellections-20
I've not used the newer one, but I personally like the original look best.
I've been carrying this same knife, every day, for over five years now. It was given to me by a long-time family friend, the late Rick Martin. One of the most lasting and thoughtful gifts I've received; my thanks goes out to him, as I use this tool daily.
Some of the Pros of this knife:
• Great balance of tools - not too many, not too few. Tools include: 3¼" locking blade; a very good 3¼" stagger-toothed saw; a can opener with phillips-screw blade-point; a bottle opener with straight-screw blade; [flimsy] tweezers; a good plastic toothpick / point; a cork screw; a nice awl, and a lanyard attachment point.
• It's not too fat! Because it has the right balance of carefully selected tools, it's no "fatter" than most other standard pocket knives. A lot of swiss army knives try to cram way too much into the body, making it awkwardly thick, and not very pocket friendly. This knife, with all its tools, is only ¾" thick:
• The locking blade is very nice! You don't see this often in the typical "swiss army knife" The saw does not lock, but the knife blade does - and that's where you need it most. The release is a bit non-standard index-finger slider on the opposite side:
• This knife is not "tactical" looking. It's not a black / quick-open / tactical / fighting knife with all the PC-negative-stigma that goes along with that. While this knife is certainly capable in a knife fight, it looks like an old timer's pocket tool, and it is disarming / disalarming in that way. This is an important point. It's like urban camo.
• This specific knife is highly recommended by the Woods Master himself, the late Ron Hood. This is a guy that I have a lot of respect for, and has a college-level DVD course on woodcraft and survival (www.Survival.com). Here's a still from from Hoods Woods, volume five:
You can sometimes find this knife on Ebay and Amazon sells a newer version of it too:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004VUJGHS/?tag=intellections-20
I've not used the newer one, but I personally like the original look best.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Full Screen Web Page Display Appliance via Raspberry Pi 2
I have a need for a small PC/Appliance to boot up, and display a web page (and update / reload this page at a set interval).
One would think this would be easier than it is, and granted it's easier today than it's ever been, but it's still not trivial.
To start out, I want to give credit where credit is due. Probably the most helpful site I used in this build was Dan Purdy's Raspberry Pi Kiosk Screen Tutorial page:
https://www.danpurdy.co.uk/web-development/raspberry-pi-kiosk-screen-tutorial/
The content is great, as well as the comments helpful.
To start out, you have to purchase a Raspberry Pi 2 (RPi2). I got one from Amazon for around $38.
I didn't bother to get a case right away; as I wanted to be sure this was going to work first, with the least about of investment.
I didn't buy their $10 Power Supply (PS). Who doesn't have a USB micro PS transformer laying around these days? Especially since it seems to be the standard charger-of-choice for all non-Apple cell phones.
With the Pi in hand and an 8 GB SD card I already had, I need to get bootable Linux on the SD card to start-up the Pi2.
I chose to download Raspbian Jessie (Full desktop image based on Debian Jessie) available here:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
Then I had to use Win32 Disk Imager to write the .IMG file to the SD card in Windows (and create the boot sector and all that good jazz):
http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/?source=typ_redirect
This worked impressively well.
However, turns out that the IMG on an 8GB SD card is FAT formatted, and leaves ~3.7 GB of the card unallocated. The main partition, with the Full Debian Jessie desktop image, has only 2% free space on the disk at boot up! This leaves basically no room to add anything else.
I tried several different ways to add the unallocated space back into the primary partition, including Windows 7 partition manager, but eventually stumbled upon a much easier solution: Once you boot the Pi, goto [Start]Menu → Preferences → Raspberry Pi Configuration. The first tab, first option, is "Expand Filesystem". One click there, and a reboot, and it's done! The working drive goes from 2% free, to 52% free! Now, we've got some space to work with.
(Note: use command "df" to check disk free space in Linux terminal.)
The next problem I ran into is the web browser. This Raspbian Debian Jessie OS comes with the Epiphany Web Browser. This seems like a nice browser, and would probably be usable, IF there was a way to start it up in Full Screen (F11-style) mode. But there isn't:
Chromium browser (the generic / open-source? version of Chrome) does have a -kiosk switch that can do this. Snag: Chromium is not in the repositories on Jessie. So you have to get in manually:
Once that is installed, you can launch a full screen browser window, from the command line:
$ chromium-browser --kiosk www.google.com
Unless you're going to keep this isolated by wrapping it in a receipt for a while (like I did), you're going to need a case for your RPi2. I got this one:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQLB1N6
I'm impressed with how well this worked, and how good the tolerances are. The only drawback to this design I see, is that it should have a removable cover for the GPIO pins, if you're not using them (like me). Otherwise they're just all hanging out in the open for no good reason.
I was able to find a very small USB wireless NIC card/adapter for this that worked.
I first tried one from X-Media USA - their XM-WN1200. It did not work natively in the RPi2, nor in a full desktop install of Linux Mint 17.1.
I looked on their included mini-CD, and no Linux drivers.
I contacted their support department, and they said: "Please download Linux driver for XM-WN1200 from link below, choose MT7601U USB driver for Linux." and gave me the link:
http://mediatek.com/en/downloads1/downloads/
I tried this, but could not get it to work.
Sent them a follow-up email, and their final response was, "We do not have driver installation of Linux for XM-WN1200 as we only advertised this product supported Windows. Even though the chipset does support Linux, please search online for any help."
So I purchased an Edimax 150Mbps Wireless 802.11b/g/n nano USB adapter (EW-7811Un):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MTTJOY
And this device seems to work great with Linux.
With Linux Mint 17.1, it installed quickly, and was up and running with in a minute or two.
With the RPi2, it took longer, and I even had to do a reboot before it started working correctly.
But it's running good now.
Unless you have a large work space for testing these kinds of things, you will quickly tire of needing to have another full size keyboard and mouse to work your RPi2. I found this clever little micro keyboard and trackpad (mouse) combo that solved that problem nicely.
Rii 2015 Mini Wireless 2.4GHz Keyboard with Mouse Touchpad (mini X1):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5SW8MC
As an added bonus, it also combines both the keyboard and mouse to a single USB-nano adapter, freeing up another USB port on the RPi2. This kb/mouse is as big as the average TV remote. It also worked with RPi2, desktop Linux Mint 17.1, and Windows 7 (although the driver find / download / install on Windows took much longer). I can see myself using this a LOT for test PCs, and will probably be getting another one of these soon.
After hours of research and testing the numerous ways to "autostart" an application in this flavor of Linux (it should NOT be this hard -- this is why Linux has to fight for traction with mainstream users) I finally got Chromium to autostart on boot.
Had to create a file called chromium.desktop in the ~/.config/autostart/ folder, but launching nano.
In that file, you need to put:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Connect
Comment=Checks internet connectivity
Exec=/usr/bin/chromium-browser --kiosk --disable-restore-session-state www.GOOGLE.com
Problem: This does not prevent the "Restore pages?" bubble.
To keep the screen from blanking:
All that you should have to do is to open the file:
/etc/kbd/config
And in there set
BLANK_TIME=0
Problem is; this doesn't work.
And apparently it's a known bug.
However, you should set this anyway, as it's expected to be fixed in the future (test!).
So the work-around for now seems to be to set
consoleblank=0
in the
/boot/cmdline.txt
Testing this now... and it doesn't work either...
Still hunting for a solution for this...
---The rest of this is just random notes to myself, as this is still a work in progress for me---
Screen is still blanking... around 10-15m intervals...
% read all the other comments to main article first for ideas.
Next we need a way to remote into the RPi2.
(Ref: http://www.raspians.com/knowledgebase/?knowledgebase=setting-up-a-remote-desktop-view-the-pi-on-your-windows-pc/ )
We need to download Xming on our Windows PC:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/
Install that...
One would think this would be easier than it is, and granted it's easier today than it's ever been, but it's still not trivial.
To start out, I want to give credit where credit is due. Probably the most helpful site I used in this build was Dan Purdy's Raspberry Pi Kiosk Screen Tutorial page:
https://www.danpurdy.co.uk/web-development/raspberry-pi-kiosk-screen-tutorial/
The content is great, as well as the comments helpful.
To start out, you have to purchase a Raspberry Pi 2 (RPi2). I got one from Amazon for around $38.
I didn't bother to get a case right away; as I wanted to be sure this was going to work first, with the least about of investment.
I didn't buy their $10 Power Supply (PS). Who doesn't have a USB micro PS transformer laying around these days? Especially since it seems to be the standard charger-of-choice for all non-Apple cell phones.
Quick note about power / consumption of the Raspberry Pi 2: In all my testing, even running a basic version of Minecraft on the Pi (which ran surprisingly well) the Pi never had a current draw greater than 0.57 amps (at ~5.07 volts).
With the Pi in hand and an 8 GB SD card I already had, I need to get bootable Linux on the SD card to start-up the Pi2.
I chose to download Raspbian Jessie (Full desktop image based on Debian Jessie) available here:
https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspbian/
Then I had to use Win32 Disk Imager to write the .IMG file to the SD card in Windows (and create the boot sector and all that good jazz):
http://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/?source=typ_redirect
This worked impressively well.
However, turns out that the IMG on an 8GB SD card is FAT formatted, and leaves ~3.7 GB of the card unallocated. The main partition, with the Full Debian Jessie desktop image, has only 2% free space on the disk at boot up! This leaves basically no room to add anything else.
I tried several different ways to add the unallocated space back into the primary partition, including Windows 7 partition manager, but eventually stumbled upon a much easier solution: Once you boot the Pi, goto [Start]Menu → Preferences → Raspberry Pi Configuration. The first tab, first option, is "Expand Filesystem". One click there, and a reboot, and it's done! The working drive goes from 2% free, to 52% free! Now, we've got some space to work with.
(Note: use command "df" to check disk free space in Linux terminal.)
The next problem I ran into is the web browser. This Raspbian Debian Jessie OS comes with the Epiphany Web Browser. This seems like a nice browser, and would probably be usable, IF there was a way to start it up in Full Screen (F11-style) mode. But there isn't:
Chromium browser (the generic / open-source? version of Chrome) does have a -kiosk switch that can do this. Snag: Chromium is not in the repositories on Jessie. So you have to get in manually:
wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87113035/chromium-browser-l10n_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_all.deb(Source: https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=121195&p=818455)
wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87113035/chromium-browser_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_armhf.deb
wget https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87113035/chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_armhf.deb
sudo dpkg -i chromium-browser-l10n_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_all.deb chromium-browser_45.0.2454.85-0ubuntu0.15.04.1.1181_armhf.deb
Once that is installed, you can launch a full screen browser window, from the command line:
$ chromium-browser --kiosk www.google.com
Unless you're going to keep this isolated by wrapping it in a receipt for a while (like I did), you're going to need a case for your RPi2. I got this one:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MQLB1N6
I was able to find a very small USB wireless NIC card/adapter for this that worked.
I first tried one from X-Media USA - their XM-WN1200. It did not work natively in the RPi2, nor in a full desktop install of Linux Mint 17.1.
I looked on their included mini-CD, and no Linux drivers.
I contacted their support department, and they said: "Please download Linux driver for XM-WN1200 from link below, choose MT7601U USB driver for Linux." and gave me the link:
http://mediatek.com/en/downloads1/downloads/
I tried this, but could not get it to work.
Sent them a follow-up email, and their final response was, "We do not have driver installation of Linux for XM-WN1200 as we only advertised this product supported Windows. Even though the chipset does support Linux, please search online for any help."
So I purchased an Edimax 150Mbps Wireless 802.11b/g/n nano USB adapter (EW-7811Un):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003MTTJOY
And this device seems to work great with Linux.
With Linux Mint 17.1, it installed quickly, and was up and running with in a minute or two.
With the RPi2, it took longer, and I even had to do a reboot before it started working correctly.
But it's running good now.
Unless you have a large work space for testing these kinds of things, you will quickly tire of needing to have another full size keyboard and mouse to work your RPi2. I found this clever little micro keyboard and trackpad (mouse) combo that solved that problem nicely.
Rii 2015 Mini Wireless 2.4GHz Keyboard with Mouse Touchpad (mini X1):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I5SW8MC
As an added bonus, it also combines both the keyboard and mouse to a single USB-nano adapter, freeing up another USB port on the RPi2. This kb/mouse is as big as the average TV remote. It also worked with RPi2, desktop Linux Mint 17.1, and Windows 7 (although the driver find / download / install on Windows took much longer). I can see myself using this a LOT for test PCs, and will probably be getting another one of these soon.
After hours of research and testing the numerous ways to "autostart" an application in this flavor of Linux (it should NOT be this hard -- this is why Linux has to fight for traction with mainstream users) I finally got Chromium to autostart on boot.
Had to create a file called chromium.desktop in the ~/.config/autostart/ folder, but launching nano.
In that file, you need to put:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Connect
Comment=Checks internet connectivity
Exec=/usr/bin/chromium-browser --kiosk --disable-restore-session-state www.GOOGLE.com
Problem: This does not prevent the "Restore pages?" bubble.
To keep the screen from blanking:
All that you should have to do is to open the file:
/etc/kbd/config
And in there set
BLANK_TIME=0
Problem is; this doesn't work.
And apparently it's a known bug.
However, you should set this anyway, as it's expected to be fixed in the future (test!).
So the work-around for now seems to be to set
consoleblank=0
in the
/boot/cmdline.txt
Testing this now... and it doesn't work either...
Still hunting for a solution for this...
---The rest of this is just random notes to myself, as this is still a work in progress for me---
Screen is still blanking... around 10-15m intervals...
% read all the other comments to main article first for ideas.
Next we need a way to remote into the RPi2.
(Ref: http://www.raspians.com/knowledgebase/?knowledgebase=setting-up-a-remote-desktop-view-the-pi-on-your-windows-pc/ )
We need to download Xming on our Windows PC:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/xming/
Install that...
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