Archive for January, 2008

Service reviewed: Relakks

Relakks is a VPN connection provider based in Sweden, that allows you to mask your internet activity. Why would anyone want/need such a service? Simple: privacy. Relakks doesn’t keep any records since it is not required to and will only hand information (such as an email address) to authorities if, and ony if, a crime punishable by 2 years in jail has been committed.

I came across Relakks because I wanted to stream a couple of TV channels from JumpTV that are not available in the US because of licencing restrictions. My logic there was that if I was able to make my connection appear to come from another country, I should be able to stream those video feeds. (more…)

New posts on DigitaWiseGuy

I’ve written 4 new posts over at DigitalWiseGuy, the ultimate source of tech info as I like to call it.

- Form-shifting mouse. A new concept of a computer mouse that can be molded instanty into any shape the user desires

- New Sony Full HD Projector – Details on very-capable HD projector by Sony announced and soon to be available.

- Water-resistant Digital Camera by Minox – perfect for the outdoors

- ShakeMMS – an app developed for the Symbian platform that utilizes the Nokia S60′s accelerometer to read text messages.

There you have it. Head over to DWG for full articles

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My home network, part II: the server

This is the second part of the “my home network” series. In case you missed the first part, you can find it here. I will focus mainly on my server setup. To recap, all my files (pictures, documents, music, videos, etc) are stored on my server. This server is an old HP Proliant LC3 with a 500 MHz Pentium III processor, 512 MB of RAM and two 36 GB SCSI drives. This machine has been proven to be very reliable (its been running for 112 days now non-stop), as it sits on a closet outside in my balcony. I did have to run ethernet cabling from my router/switch to that outside closet, but that wasn’t much of a hassle (I know my was around a crimping tool and RJ-45 ends).

At that time I decided to go with a server-based solution because my laptop (my main computer at the time) was running out of space and I also wanted to access my files from anywhere. The first thing I did when I got this server was to wipe and reinstall the OS. Originally this server had NT 4.0 but I decided to go with Windows XP Pro. (more…)

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I’ve started a new blog…here’s how.

I did it. I bought a nice domain name (did I?), I set up WordPress and a new theme and I’ve setup a new blog for my girlfriend. She’s a behavior therapist that works with autistic children and I thought that the premise of a blog from the perspective of a therapist would be interesting. There is quite an extensive network of autism-related blogs out there, but most are from the perspective of the parents of autistic children. Check out the site at http://autismchronicles.com. After setting up the new blog, I thought that the documenting the whole process of starting a new blog would be interesting, so here goes.

1. Found a subject matter. I think this is the most important step for anyone planning on starting out a new blog. I’ve seen many blogs out there without a defined subject matter, which I guess isn’t wrong, (more…)

New client – new challenge

I got a call last week from the owner a real estate company, who was referred to me by my largest and oldest client. I had a meeting with the him last week, where he gave me quick tour of the office, introduced me to his employees and showed me his (quite frankly, chaotic) network. I explained the services I offer and he then committed to a service plan where they will get a scheduled weekly visit, unlimited phone/remote support and one unscheduled emergency visits for a reasonable (in my opinion) monthly fee, which is the way all my contractual clients are setup.

As usual, with any new network I get in to, I found it not being up to my standards. To be more specific, the physical wiring is messy, the servers are not physically locked down (they are simply next to the copiers), (more…)

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