DSL Speedtest, Farewell IBM

Posted on 08/25/2008 by

For many years, we have had “free” ISDN then DSL access thanks to IBM. Alas, that relationship is coming to an end, so we’re having to pay for internet access for the first time. Taking this speed test of our DSCGA service so I can benchmark the new AT&T/Bellsouth service, which is supposed to be 2 to 3 times faster. (So we can all watch YouTube’s at the same time.)

speedtest.purdigital.net

File size transferred : 10.0 MB (10485760 bytes)


Total time taken : 69.79 seconds (69794 milliseconds)
Throughput : 150.0 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]
= 0.15 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
= 1200.0 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]

= 1.2 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]

Update 9/2:

AT&T FastAccess DSL self install kit arrived. Higher speed over the same wires…

File size transferred : 10.0 MB (10485760 bytes)


Total time taken : 29.15 seconds (29145 milliseconds)
Throughput : 359.0 KB/sec [Kilobyte-per-second]
= 0.36 MB/sec [Megabyte-per-second]
= 2872.0 Kbps [Kilobit-per-second]

= 2.87 Mbps [Megabit-per-second]

Publishing Queue

Posted on 08/24/2008 by

Testing the use of Publishing Queue. Instead of posting upon save, I’ve enabled this setting to post on schedule. This means my save experience is quicker, but it also enables Brandon Fuller’s Twitter plug-in I’m testing.

Jonas Brothers Stuck in the iMac 20

Posted on 08/17/2008 by

Claire inserted her new Jonas Brothers CD into our iMac 20, and it would not show up nor would it eject. I tried all the tricks I could find on the internet to get it to eject: eject key, iTunes eject, reboot holding down mouse button, typing a terminal command. I could hear the disk spinning and even feel it with a driver’s license, but it would not come out.

Shut it down overnight to see if cooling would help, but that did nothing. Made an appointment with the Apple Store “Genius Bar” over the internet to take it in. Just before I packed it up in the original box, I pressed the eject button on the keyboard, and the Jonas Brothers popped out! (Or their CD, anyway.) I tried putting it and other CDs back in, but none would show up. I could at least eject them. Off to the Genius Bar.

Of course it worked fine as the Apple Genius tried CDs and DVDs in the Apple Store. So he decided to call it intermittent superdrive failure, and change it out for free. (Still under the 1 year warranty.) Kathy and I went to pick it up Saturday, having dinner at the food court.

It turns out replacing the superdrive did not solve the problem, so they replaced the entire logic board (which is basically the computer.) The whole tab was over $1,000 between parts and labor. The logic board alone is $650.

Looking at the system profile under “Disc Burning”, I got a message “No device is attached.” Ack! That was a symptom before the fix. But I put in a CD, it started playing, and looking back under system profile I saw what I expected. So who knows. I’ll probably end up buying an extended warranty, which I’ve never done.

MATSHITA DVD-R UJ-85J:
Firmware Revision: FM0S Interconnect: ATAPI Burn Support: Yes (Apple Shipping Drive) Cache: 2048 KB Reads DVD: Yes CD-Write: -R, -RW DVD-Write: -R, -R DL, -RW, +R, +R DL, +RW Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, DVD-DAO Media: Type: CD-ROM Blank: No Erasable: No Overwritable: No
Appendable: No

CCode and TCode MT4.1

Posted on 06/20/2008 by

One confusing part of upgrading to MT4 is all that all the new templates and my old templates end up all mixed together. I created a “Temp41” blog from scratch just to have a reference set of code to help sort out the mess.

I missed that the javascript template is now “mt.js” instead of “mt-site.js” and that both were still being generated. Since this is where I store the CCode/TCode javascript (anti-spam), it was important to retire mt-site.js and get the obfuscator function into mt.js.

CCode and TCode works in before saving spam feedbacks to MT system. CCode/TCode makes it very difficult for spam-bots to guess tb URL and the required ct input fields. Target ct/tb URLs to send spams are calcuated from unrevealed entry/trackback data and obfuscated by Javascript.

Steps to install CCode/TCode in MT4 (vs. MT3.)

Download MT4 version.
Remove old plug-in code and add new plug-in code in MT system.
Place obfuscator.js code into: mt.js template:
mt41:default_templates:javascript.mtml
Refresh mt.js in each blog to bring it in.
Install the tag into the Comments Form template. This is an improvement because the new sub-template approach means only updating one sub-template vs. multiple templates under MT3. Put it under this line:<input type=”hidden” name=”entry_id” value=”” />
Republish individual archives.

SMTP Inbound on Domino

Posted on 06/10/2008 by

Exact settings to allow SMTP inbound Internet Site document to work. (The host name will need to go to i.p. with R7.)

Descriptive name for this site: SMTP

Organization: FiveForks

Host names or addresses mapped to this site: gandalf.netcentrix.net

Domino servers that host this site: *

AutoMySQLBackup (Monthly)

Posted on 06/08/2008 by

The contents (text) of mac5 are all stored in a MySQL database. I use a script called AutoMySQLBackup to run daily, weekly, and monthly backups of the contents. These “dumps” are then copied over every night by Retrospect to a backup server (currently Mac17’s external Seagate drive.)

I routinely check these to make sure they are running by inspecting the contents of a recent dump. I noticed in the monthly set that besides “fivefor1_mtfiveforks” was another database “mysql”. Went on a wild goose chase looking under the /etc/periodic/monthly script and couldn’t even find AutoMySQLBackup. Turns out the monthly (and weekly) runs are all addressed in a single daily script under /etc/periodic/daily. Oh. Right. Set it up 3 years ago… who can remember.

Turns out I had not noticed an extra “advanced” setting that had a default database “mysql” in it, and so I was backing up a default, empty database every day for the past several years. Not much space, and easy enough to correct. While there decided I should add the gallery2 database (which holds photo titles, descriptions, and comments.)

So on OZ in

HD2:private:etc:periodic:daily:automysqlbackup.sh are two lines:

DBNAMES=”fivefor1_mtfiveforks gallery2″

MDBNAMES=”fivefor1_mtfiveforks gallery2″ <-under advanced settings

Movable Type 4

Posted on 06/06/2008 by editor

This entry is being created with Movable Type ~~4.1~~ 4.01. (We’ve upgraded.) I did a test of this no a second computer, and it all went pretty well. Off to find what’s broken…

Update: I used an old download and did not realize I upgraded to 4.01 instead of 4.1. No wonder I couldn’t find several features I thought were supposed to be in the system (like Global Templates.)

What is the answer to this question?

Posted on 06/01/2008 by

I’m not sure. Is it a trick question of some kind? Either way, I like the drawing, especially the last panel.

Clue for Nicole

Posted on 06/01/2008 by

Nicole,

In case you can’t get to e-mail, your clue is next to the most recent “combination” we created:

331 n / s

543 c * y

231 n / 5

127 n + 6

457 n = 2

982 c + f

153 n – d

Online Banking Checks (HSBC)

Posted on 05/30/2008 by

With Wachovia, I have never been clear what would happen to an on-line bill pay check if the recipient did not cash it. This mainly had to do with the paper checks that are sent to people or small businesses rather than corporations… corporate bill pays tend to be electronic.

At Wachovia, my account would be deducted right away, and I had no way of knowing if the person had received or deposited the check. I didn’t like that.

At HSBCdirect.com, the “laser checks” act more like a real check. It only comes out of my account when the recipient deposits the check, and I see an image of their endorsement on the back. So I like HSBC’s on-line bill pay better than Wachovia’s.

Of course, none of this is good news for my company.

Letter attached.

Continue reading →

JEB:LOG

Yearly Archives: 2008