Retr0rob's Blog

...ask a silly question

2011-08-31T10:49:00.001-05:00

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Tapper

2011-05-28T07:35:00.001-05:00

Did you know that Tapper was the first arcade time management game? Which is kind of funny if you think about it. Tapper is a time management game about beer. Time management is generally why you NEED a beer.

What I've been playing

2011-05-01T14:43:00.001-05:00

Well, I have been a bit busy lately, what with work and trying a bit of you-tubing, and have really been ignoring the heck out of this thing so I figured I would rundown what I have been playing. Hope you enjoy!

Portal 2 (Windows/Mac/Xbox 360):
Odd, I am pretty sure there are some small dialog differences between the computer and console versions of this game.. Minor ones, but still... Weird. Anyway.. I'm really enjoying following the further adventures of GlaDos and her human sidekick... Graphics are nice and while it looks just awesome on my Alienware M11x I am pleased to note that my son's 500 dollar Dell
inspiron runs this game excellently as well. Lots of well designed levels, new objects and a gripping storyline make this game a winner!

Super Bomberman (SNES):
I know there were multiple sequels and it's available on Xbox live for next to nothing, but there is nothin like plugging in the old SNES cart and playing the real thing. Sure, I can't ride around on a FRIGGEN dinosaur, but the controls are perfect, and gameplay is perfectly balanced. Good use of my Yobo FC16 Go. More on the FC on mug urine station btw..

My Little Restraunt (iPad):
If you enjoyed Diner Dash, this will be right up your alley! Graphics are nicely drawn and well animated. I particularly like the way the cut screens are presented as a series of "moving photos". Nice. It has good in game instructions, and allows you to skip them if necessary. The speed seems to be a little more hectic then I remember diner dash to be, but these games are VERY similar. The game allows you to pick a character AND an avatar (for the high score boards), which adds a little more character. It is pretty easy to advance through levels (there are a lot of them, spread over several themes) and the presence of a high score board ensures you keep trying to get the gold. My Little Restaurant is a lot of fun especially when you only have a few mins and would like a quick gaming fix.

I'm just getting into order and chaos: gameloft's ambitious take on WoW. I'm liking it so far!

Oh yeah, and I've been playing the heck out of Minecraft! Hit me up if you want to join our server mind crafted.dyndns.org.

And as always, feel free to add Retr0rob on Xbox live, gameloft live, steam, and YouTube.

Seeya!

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Location:Home

Quick asteroids background

2011-04-06T14:06:00.001-05:00

I made an Atari Asteroids wallpaper yesterday, I think it looks pretty nice..

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Stupid VmWare Tip

2011-03-24T12:54:00.001-05:00

If you are trying to download VMSD or ISO files from your ESXi server and the vSphere client keeps crashing on you partway through the process try the following:

Open up your browser and browser and type https:// followed by the Name or IP address of the exact Physical VM Host you would like to download the files from (Not the sphere mgr).

Click on "Browse datastores in this host's inventory" located under the heading "Web-Based Datastore Browser".

When prompted for the password use an account with LOCAL access the that VM Host -- this is generally different from your VSphere manager user. Root could be used if necessary.

Browse to the Datastore that holds the files you would like to download, right-click and "save target as" to the location yo would like to copy to.

The VM Guest should really be shut down if you are copying .VMDK files.

iPad. How to delete unwanted podcast episodes.

2010-12-01T08:47:00.001-06:00

So you want to delete old podcast episodes from your iPad without wasting a half hour of your time synching up? Here's how:

1) Open the iPod app and locate the podcast that you would like to delete.

2) Swipe once from left to right on the podcast entry you would like to delete.

3) Press the red delete button next to the podcast.

4) Do the power user funky chicken dance.

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Email to Bethesda about my problems running Fallout New Vegas

2010-11-05T14:11:00.001-05:00

This is a copy of my email to Bethesda about the ridiculous framerate issues many Nvidia (and ATI) gamers have had with the game. Its annoying when this kind of thing happens. games are the only item I can think of that you cannot return if it is truly defective.

I am having severe framerate issues with the PC version of this game whenever I run into NPC’s.
This problem basically makes the game unplayable, no matter what the video settings are. This is not a video card performance issue, as making some corrections (every time you start the game) clear this problem up completely and allow smooth play of the game at high settings.

A correction for this problem is available at:
http://anthonydamasco.net/blog/aleinware-m11x-fallout-new-vegas-framerate-fix/

Unfortunately my Nvidia drivers do not recognize New Vegas automatically so it takes me 10-15 mins to trick this into working.
Unacceptable. The GeForce GT 335M is not exactly an unusual or obscure card, and your support site is ablaze with complaints about this. This problem should easily have been caught in quality control testing.

Basically, I would like to know if a patch is being worked on to correct this issue. If it is not, then I want to request an immediate refund. I do not take kindly to paying out $50.00 for things that are unusable.

Sincerely, Rob Benson

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

What I am playing this week.

2010-10-22T18:35:00.000-05:00

This is a short one as I have been way busy with Backup Exec, Zenoss and Sharepoint beating me up at the same time. It sure beats workplace boredom tho!

iPad
The iPad has been keeping me busy with the return of my Angry Birds addiction. Im sure if you own an iPad or iPod you know AB... so I will skip the details. Needless to say I lost time to it.
Across Age HD turned out to be a winner. I would describe this game as a Zelda-Like with a nod to deeper stuff like Chrono-Trigger here and there. The graphics are crisp and clean, yet SNES-like. It has a pretty well written story line. The characters don’t say anything too embarrassing (at least not so far). Controls are a little loose, I found that I often miss the fire button... bummer. The controls can be adjusted up and down to avoid wrist fatigue...Yay. Anyway, fun game.

Reckless Racing HD : This is a great top down racer with excellent controls and some of the best graphics I have seen on the iPad. Really awesome graphics. really awesome physics. My fun was Tragically cut short by the fact that the game is indeed tragically short. I really loved internet multiplayer although there way a lot of lag when I was playing. For $5. worth a go.

Starfall was back on my playlist again since the dev decided to add pretty much EVERY feature that their customers asked for. Go figure. If you you have not tries Starfall it is a TD game that takes a lot of it’s art inspiration from Starcraft. It has a lot of tower types and tricky upgrades to keep things interesting. The update removed the annoying “bomb your base from afar” feature when you blocked the path to your base -- Now you are just not allowed to completely block the path. They also added an indicator so you can tell what upgrade lever your towers are at without clicking on them. Way to respond to criticism devs! Bravo!

MC2 Black Pegasus. Oh how I love your multiplayer... You are soooooo close to awesome with a side of awesome.... Not there yet but.. I Must rank up once more.... and unlock that rocket launcher! I have not even bothered with the single player. What’s the use?

OK, well. I admit. This week’s blog sucks. But last week’s did too so why stop when I’m on a roll?

What I'm Playing This Week

2010-10-15T19:13:00.002-05:00

Week 2 of "What I'm Playing"
Well, Its been a busy week of work and I have not really had as much time to play as I would like. I'm busy putting the final touches on FrankenSAN - the home brew SAN for our VMWare environment . I will cover how I built it for you techies out there.

On the Mac...

Left4Dead 2

If you did not pick this up for $7 last week you must be out of your head. Left4Dead 2 is a co-op 1st person survival shooter. It's a pretty great game and runs very well on my trusty, rusty 13" Macbook Pro. Valve also seems to have solved the problems they have been having with Mac's microphones: My built in worked without any fiddling around at all. This version also includes a couple extra scenarios featuring the original characters from the first game: A big bonus for me since I liked the characters from the first game ever so much more than the second.
Left 4 Dead 2: $19.99
http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/

Torchlight

Still going! Check out last week for comments. I really can't wait for Torchlight 2 with multiplayer options.

Torchlight: $19.99

http://www.torchlightgame.com/

Revenge of The Titans:
Another massively wonderful TD game with retro-style graphics and a sense of humor. An amazing amount of upgrades are available if you can survive to get them -- this game is hard as hell. The site declares that you can only pre-order but you get the full game right away on purchase. This game is worth every single lousy little penny.
Revenge of the Titans: $13.37
http://www.puppygames.net/revenge-of-the-titans/

On the iPad:

9 Innings 2011

A fun Universal Baseball game with really horribly pixxelated graphics. Still, for a buck it's well worth playing a couple seasons with.

9 Innings 2011: $.99

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/9-innings-pro-baseball-2011/id373290787?mt=8

Cut The Rope HD
I hate myself for loving this game. Cut ropes and avoid obstacles to feed a cute, hungry monster my wife thinks looks like a frog. I played through the 40 levels before I could put it down. Oh for 2 bucks just go buy it you cheap git.
Cut The Rope: $1.99
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cut-the-rope-hd/id394610743?mt=8

Pickups:

Skee-ball HD (iPad): I soo wanted to love this game, but the physics are a little too much to the random side for me.

Across Age HD (iPad): Downloaded this Zelda-Like on a whim... Have literally played less than a minute of it.

Bejeweled 2 (Mac): It was free from Popcap last weekend for Popcap Password members so I downloaded it. I'm still to busy getting whooped on the Facebook linked iPod version to play it much tho.

On Steam? Need an easy target? Add me!

http://steamcommunity.com/id/retr0rob

What games I'm playing this week

2010-10-06T17:51:00.005-05:00

OK, Its been awhile since I posted. So I figured I will at least try to write something. Well, how 'bout I quickly run through about a couple games I'm currently playing. No objections??? Good. Heres what I'm playing this week. It has been an exceptional month for the TD genre. I have defended the living hell out of everything, and had a great time.

Oh hey, I have seen some debate on whether a Macbook Pro 13" can run DragonAge Origins. Let me clear this up for you. Yes it can, and no you should not try it. The graphics have to be scaled back so far that it just plain looks awful on my 2009 Pro 13. If you want some loot go play Torchlight: It looks and plays faboo.

On the Mac...

Defense Grid
What if you ported the most advanced Tower Defense game and no-one knew about it? You would get Defense Grid. An awesome TD game with outstanding 3d graphics and a wonderful storyline. Why the Mac world is not ablaze with this release is beyond me. I really love this one.
Defense Grid: $24.95
http://www.hiddenpath.com/node/982

Torchlight

Who needs friggen' Diablo 3 anyway? I can hack, slash and loot my way to happiness with Runic Game's Torchlight. Nice smooth running graphics that look great maxxed out even on my 2009 13" Macbook Pro. I really enjoy hacking away with the huge variety of weapons and armor available in this game. Top notch. Bravo.

Torchlight: $19.99

http://www.torchlightgame.com/

On the iPad:

Monster Feed HD

This gets my personal award for most under-hyped game ever. This is a high quality tower defense game in the vein of Creeps, but oh... it is so it's own game. From the highly detailed comical graphics to the fast and varied gameplay Monster feed is an A+ production all the way. This labor of love deserves space on any TD lover's iPad.

Monster Feed HD: $2.99

Pickups:

Heroes of Might and Magic V was on sale for $19.99 at Freeverse so I got that one right away. So far I love it!

Left4Dead 2 was finally released on Steam for the Mac at an amazing $6.79. Steam really must be looking to take over the Mac game market.... The prices are crazy.... Still downloading that one.

On Steam? Need an easy target? Add me!

http://steamcommunity.com/id/retr0rob

Fixing the achy-breaky studdery pointer in Server 2008 R2 Under VMWare ESXi 4

2010-08-26T13:41:00.001-05:00

OK. I'll admit it: I'm impatient. I hate waiting for Christmas, my birthday,
downloads, stuff I ordered from eBay to show up, and the next Star Trek film to show up (!geek!). But what really grinds my gears is waiting for my slow friggen' pointer to catch up to my mouse movements when I am trying to get some work done for goodness sake!

Well Server2008 r2 under VMWare was seriously grinding my gears (and loosening some screws). Whenever I connected to an R2 server through the VSphere client console I got a studdery mouse like I was connecting through VNC through a dial up connection... On a Commodore 64. Yes, of course I installed VM Tools. Yes acceleration was set to high (You can't set it in this case anyway). No, I was not connecting through a dial up. No I was NOT using a C64 at work. What is it about r2 that does this? I don't know. Why don't I just connect through RDP? because I manage Linux servers too. Why Don't I just get to how I fixed it and shut up already?? OK. *sigh*. Fine.

DANGER WILL ROBINSON!

I have used this method on several production servers with no Ill effects. Your mileage may vary. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE snapshot your VM before following these instructions. No really. Im not kidding. You have been warned!

Pre-Flight Checklist:
A) Ensure that VMWare Tools have been installed in the guest.
B) Ensure you have allocated enough video RAM to the server.
C) All steps are performed from the guest server.

0) Snapshot your VM.
1) Left Click on the start menu. Right click on Computer and select Manage. The server manager window will appear.
2) On the left pane click on the + next to Diagnostics and click on the Device Manager. The center pane will display the Device Manager.
3) In most cases a list of devices is listed with a + next to them. If just your server name is displayed click the + next to your server name to display the list of devices. Click the + next to Display Adapters to show the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter.
4) Right Click on the Standard VGA Graphics Adapter and select Update Driver Software.
5) Select --> Browse my computer for driver software.
6) Click the Browse button next to the box under the title "Search for driver in this location".
7) Browse to Computer --> Local Disk (C:) --> Program Files --> Common Files --> Drivers --> VMWare --> Video.
8) Click OK. You will be returned to the Update Driver Software screen.
9) Click Next. A message will inform you that Windows has Successfully Updated Your Driver Software.
10) Click close. You will be asked to restart your computer.
11) Click yes and wait impatiently while the server reboots.
12) Once the server reboots, right click on an empty section of the desktop and select Screen Resolution
13) Click on Advanced Settings (it's on the center right of the window).
14) Click on the Troubleshoot tab
15) Click Change Settings and the Display Adapter Troubleshooter window will appear.
16) Drag the hardware acceleration slider to Full.
17) Click OK.
18) Put your Prozac back in the medicine cabinet.

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Location:In my secret data center bat cave

Last call for ESX

2010-07-30T09:47:00.000-05:00

Well, here we are.... 4.1 will be the last version of ESX. Once upon a time ESX was the VMWare flagship... The sign that your organization was serious about virtualization. Now it's just a footnote in the VMWare update process.

Let's all take a moment to remember all the good times ESX has brought us.. Maybe hum "remember when".

Now I would like to take a moment to address ESX directly.

ESX: You may be perilously close to that great consolidation field in the sky, but you have given me years of enjoyment and entertainment. Remember all those nights we spent together when upgrades went wrong? Or that time you dropped from the console and I couldn't find you until you rebooted? Hide and seek was one of your favorite games! Or that time You hid all my guests and I sweated bullets while I rushed around trying to find out what happened to them? Good times. I'll make sure to visit you in the retirement home when my blood pressure is running low or when I need to lose some sleep.

So long, sweetheart.

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Unknown Device On Dell Precision Notebooks

2010-07-20T13:46:00.002-05:00

Looking for that special Unknown Device on your Dell Precision laptop?
Pulling out your hair?

Well, right click on the Unknown Device and select properties. If the Hardware ID is ACPI\SMO8800 you may rejoice! The driver you seek is the ST Microelectrics Free Fall sensor. This handy little thingy detects if the laptop is falling and stops the hard drive from spinning in order to minimize the chance of hard drive damage.

Here's a link:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R257449&SystemID=LAT_E6410&servicetag=&os=W764&osl=en&deviceid=22031&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=0&libid=25&typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=378126

Don't send money, just buy me a beer....

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Does iPad iOS 3.2.1 deliver?

2010-07-16T06:40:00.000-05:00

Well, I’m downloading the ipad software update now and will let you know what I think.
I am specifically hoping it corrects my occasional wifi drops and the annoying stops and starts I get when playing back youtube vids.
14 mins to go. I sure hope this patch actually DOES something.
For those jailbreakers out there rumor has it that this WILL break your jailbreaking, so fair warning.

Well, it kind of delivers. The YouTube app which was once basically unusable is now working decently enough. On some videos it was not smart enough to pre-buffer, but if I paused for a second or 2 the rest of the video played smoothly. I wonder why Apple can't figure out that a couple second wait before playing YouTube videos would be a huge improvement... But at least it doesn't quit buffeting during playback. Yay.

As far as wireless goes, it's hard to tell yet. My dropouts were occasional anyway. I will update later.

Oh yeah, Bing is now a search engine choice, so if you want to try out a search engine that throws back completely random results coupled with highly accurate ads, well, there ya go.

So far, the update kinda delivers. Kinda.

Free iPad and iPod Apps Linkstravaganza!

2010-05-03T06:33:00.001-05:00

OK, well there are only a few ipod/ipad free app sites. More of link “gathering” if you will.
NONE of these require jailbreaking. Most of the apps listed on these sites are only available for free temporarily, and are downloaded through the app store.

FreeAppADay: So far it has only a couple of ipad apps, but they feature awesome ipod apps. Mostly games.
http://www.freeappaday.com/

AppShopper: Pretty much my favorite app site. Tracks not just free apps but price drops as well. You can sort by ipad, ipod or both, and by free or paid. Has all types of apps, not just games. Very nice.
http://appshopper.com/

Free Game Of The Day: OpenFeint’s free game site. Generally pretty good games, all feature OpenFeint community connectivity.
http://www.freegameoftheday.com/

Great App A Day: Umm. better named “mediocre app of the day with occasionally great apps thrown in”. Always game apps, always ipod only (so far). Quality tends to be a bit lower than the other sites. Occasionally you find a gem.
http://www.greatappaday.com/

Free App Alert: Warns you of apps that have just become free. Covers lots of apps that the other sites do not cover.
http://ipad.freeappalert.com/

If you know of more sites, let me know!

A Week, no Month! With My Big Ass iPod

2010-04-09T09:43:00.001-05:00

It's Friday, which makes it one week since I became a big ass iPod user. I wanted to wait a few days to let the newness wear off so I could make some honest statements about what works great and what doesn't.

***Update*** OK, well it’s no longer Friday and its no longer April. It’s been a MONTH now. How the heck did I live without this thing? I really love this device, but now it’s weaknesses -- Printing STILL sucks, no webcam, fairly weak image editing tools -- are starting to become a bit more grating. At least the image editing is improving quickly. Photo Pad is a great program for cropping and playing with photos + it’s free. (yay!) Printing still sucks without a base system around to use as a print server (boo!). Gaming is downright great - and still draws a crowd. All in all a GREAT device, one of those things you never knew you could not live without until you had one. Just a few tweaks tho.... and it would be SOOO.... MUCH...... BETTER.....

I will also update this from time to time to cover changes and make corrections.

Basically I am thrilled with the device. It truly is an excellent "in between" product that is small enough to take places you may not want to take your laptop, but powerful enough to get some work done. I take it pretty much everywhere with me and find that my poor overworked MacBook pro can finally get a break from the constant abuse I have given it over the last couple years. Feel free to skip any paragraph you don't feel like reading, there is very little overlap between them. Again, this is a WIP.

Hardware:

Apple's construction is very good as usual. The iPad feels solid but is pretty light. I have heard complaints from folks online that it is difficult to hold with one hand. I have no such complaint, but then again I have big 'ol meathooks for hands and spent a few years in a gearbox factory before getting into I.T., so your mileage may well vary. I have connected to several wireless hotspots and have found generally good connectivity, but a couple of them did have the dropping problem I have heard about. in each case the wireless icon would show a very weak connection. Sometimes the connection would drop. Testing the some router with other wireless devices showed no connection problems whatsoever. In each case the problem was corrected by disabling and re-enabling the ipad's wireless system from the settings manager. This is mildly annoying ... The early white MacBooks had this same behavior which was cleared up by an update, really Apple - How did this problem make it into production? The screen is beautiful and bright. I have heard it referred to as smudge resistant, but I would call it smudge-loving. I bought a screen protecting film and recommend everyone do the same. As a side note, spend the extra money and buy a decent screen protector: The cheap Chinese ones on eBay look like crap. I tested 2 of them and the both were thick and bubbly, they also caught every single bit of lint and dust and magnified them the annoyingly huge levels. They also smudge FAR WORSE than even the unprotected iPad screen. I recommend Zagg's Invisible Shield: It looks great and is tough as nails. Just make sure to follow the directions COMPLETELY or it will make you miserable.

As far as carrying bags, avoid the Apple store and Best Buy as they are WAY overpriced. Both eBay and Amazon have better bags at half the price. I just picked up a new army messenger bag on eBay for 11 bucks delivered. Will update to let you know how that works out.

Why Apple did not include a webcam is beyond me. Stev-o just didn't think it was that important... Hundreds of thousands of people beg to differ Steve. Bad Apple. That said, I used my webcam all of 3 times on my MacBook. Not a big deal for me but a crappy misstep none the less.

Typing:

Not bad. I actually prefer typing on the iPad to any of the number of net books I have had. It makes a clicky sound so you feel better about typing on a flat surface. I have not had the constant typo's that I get from the ipod touch, probably due to the bigger screen. I'm pretty sure that I can type at full speed. Not bad. Applications seem to move punctuation keys arbitrarily, and it's driving me insane. Or maybe I'm insane already and the keys are not moving at all. Best move on... I hate the spell checker, it makes me want to kill. It keeps correcting words when I purposely wish to misspell them. Annoying.

File Sharing.

Sucks. Pick up a third party file handling utility. I use GoodReader. It costs a buck and works pretty darn well.

I don't agree with all the whining about not having USB connecters. they would be thicker than the iPad and make it more bulky. This is one of those times where I think some people just don't "get it". When I need to share files I either use GoodReader to send them to a more accessible location or I email them. Not a big deal.

Browsing:

I thought that having no flash would be a bigger deal than it is. Facebook is certainly much faster to load. No flash also means my wife won't be stealing the iPad to go play Farmville. Yay.

Safari is amazingly quick and responsive, I really prefer browsing with the iPad to using my laptop. Every once in a while though, something important and flashy is missing.... And I curse Steve Job's turtle-necked butt for being such an arrogant ass. Fortunately 99% of the time no Flash is a good thing. Unfortunately I will NOT be winning any more free iPod Nanos. Shame.

IBooks:

I like the app. I like the fact that I can read in the dark. Page turning feels natural. I can get many of the books at Half Price Books for Ummm.... Half the price. Bummer. I hear there are some free books other than Winnie the Pooh out there. I will have to look them up. Honorable Mention: I do like that I can preview a pretty substantial portion of most of the books before buying. I just wish that the buying was cheaper.

Business Apps:

Pages is an adequate for basic word processing tasks. It has a spartan interface that works well with the iPad: Its closer to Microsoft Works word processor than it is to Word. I generally create a very basic document in it then do the formatting and pretties in Word. This also minimizes any compatibility issues that may creep up. I have not tried the other 2 Apps.

For file sharing I use GoodReader .. I mentioned it under File Sharing above. It's nice, easy, and clean.

WinAdmin is a basic app for connecting to computers via RDP. I connected to my Backup Exec server and played around. It works pretty darn well. I will post more as I get familiar with it.

I'm using Blogpress to write this and it works well. See that graphic up there? I posted it WITH the text of this blog entry, a feat that MacJournal cannot achieve. I still can't figure out how to format text in this thing, so no bold or italics for me for now. Arrgh.

I also like using Bloomburg's stock tracker, which is far superior to the widget on my MacBook. I can now watch myself go broke in style.

Exchange 2007:

Strangely, mail would not connect to my exchange mail server at first, even though I have exchange set up to allow auto configuration from the outside. It worked fine once I set it up inside the network, and has worked flawlessly inside and out of the network ever since.

The calendar synchs up with my Exchange/Outlook calendar and all of my contacts made the trip ok as well.

I can also switch easily from my home account to my work account by clicking the account link at the top of the mail app. Classy.

Games:

Oh yes. This thing was born to game! Monkeyball is a favorite around my house because you can set the iPad on the table and play against each other using controls on each corner of the 'pad. Nice. I have been playing a whole lot of GodFinger, a free God sim which is a cross between populous and Farmville. If you play, be a pal and add Retr0Rob to your friends list, will ya? I have been downright obsessed with Warpgate HD. It looks and plays great. Every iPod game I have tried on the 'pad has worked well, if not faster. You can double the size by tapping an icon on the bottom of the screen. I have found that most iPod games play a bit better on the iPad due to the increased real estate. I have also found that. I often accidentally hit the sizing icon at the most inopportune moments. It would be nice to have a way to choose the size before the app loads. Double sizing does hake the games grainy, but I didn't think they looked to bad. Of course I still play Atari games, so take my opinion there with a grain of salt.

03/04/2010 Update:

Printing:

Sucks. for the most part you have to keep a Mac or PC around for the printing apps to work. I have tried several, and none have been able to print directly to my networked Konica Magicolor 2430 I hear networked HPs and Canons have better luck. That said, the printing programs are rather clunky. Mostly I open the thing I want to print in whatever app I created it in, copy the doc, close the app, open the printing app then paste the file into the printing app. Ouch. Supposedly printing will be improved for OS 4. Hope so!

Print quality looks good. I have not had scaling issues as some have reported. I have tried several printing apps and kept both MobileToolz pro and ePrint. I guess ePrint is my favorite.. It sucks marginally less and costs half the price. ePrint has WAY less file managing capabilities than Mobiletoolz, but I use the far superior GoodReader when I need file management. So basic recap: Printing bad, Ug. If you must do it, use ePrint. If you have a USB or obscure network printer leave your PC or Mac on and setup printer sharing.

-- Posted from my big ass iPod

Location:Wisconsin 100,Wauwatosa,United States

A Quick Set of Mac Freeware Gaming Links

2010-03-12T10:29:00.001-06:00

I always laugh when I hear that Macs suffer from a game shortage. There is no shortage of games. There is, however a serious shortage of the types of games that you would play on an Xbox 360. I have one, so I really have no need to play them on a PC.

I really don’t want to get into a PC/Mac flame war. I use both. I like them both. It’s just that if I want to play a console game, I play it on a console. If I want a quick action game snack, I head for my Mac.
If you are a FPS freak I seriously doubt Macs will ever be for you, but if you are a game omnivore you are in the right place.

What I have noticed about Mac freeware is that:
1) There are way less spyware/fake freeware games out there.
2) Many of my favorite Linux games have been ported to the Mac.
3) Google searches don’t seem to do a very good job of finding them.

Below is a few gamer links. Some freeware you probably never heard of, some indie games, and some shareware/freeware. I even include some of the commercial guys for balance.

TigSource: This is my current favorite site. Lots of games, many that are not listed elsewhere. Well organized and comprehensive.
http://db.tigsource.com/browse?genre=&platform=mac-os-x&max-price=&release=&min-rating=&developer=&publisher=&engine=&code=&content=&language=&tag=&sort_by=name&sort_dir=asc

Inside Mac Games: Mostly commercial game news and downloads. Sometimes misses major releases. Still one of my fav’s.
http://www.insidemacgames.com/

Retrospec: A site that covers retro gaming remakes. A lot of these have Mac versions.
http://retrospec.sgn.net/index.php

Mac Games and More: An old school Mac gaming site. Alot of freeware that does not pull up in a Google search.
http://www.macgamesandmore.com/macosxgames.html

Game Agent: A commercial site that has regular new releases of popular games.
http://www.gameagent.com

Game Tree: Gametree carries a lot of commercial Mac ports of popular PC games. They also carry many inexpensive indie titles.
http://www.gametreeonline.com/

Indie Games: Has a large collection of PC and Mac free and pay-for indie games with links to the dev sites. Also has a great game guide to get you started.
http://www.indiegames.com

Go Gamer: Look under the Mac tab for a whole lot of commercial Mac games.
http://www.gogamer.com/

CNet’s Mac Download Section: An up to date listing of Mac freeware, shareware and commercial applications with download links.
http://download.cnet.com/mac/
or for just games:
http://www.macgames.com/

Apple’s Game Downloads: A fairly complete list of freeware, demos, and new releases. Often misses the oddball stuff.
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/games/

ThriftMac: A freeware site dedicated to free Mac software, including games.
http://www.thriftmac.com/

Steam (Coming soon): Steam, which is reported to have 70+ percent of the online gaming market, has announced it’s intent to support the Mac some time this summer. I for one can’t wait.
http://store.steampowered.com/

App Donkey: Lots of apps and games - has that usual “Freeware Mac” look. You know - big pretty icons for every game that generally look better then the game itself. That said, there’s some gems here.
http://www.appdonkey.com/index.php?cat=Games

Gamers Database: Really awesome site. Lots of freeware mac games with descriptions, top 10 lists and a ratings system. top notch!
http://www.gamersdatabase.com/download-mac-games/

This, of course is an incomplete list. I will add to this as I find more!

First test of MacJournal

2010-03-10T16:15:00.000-06:00

This is basically just a test. Really it is. You can just ignore it and wait until I have something actually interesting to say. Yesterday I picked up the MacHeist Nanobundle. Pretty neat stuff in there. One of the ‘wares included was of course the Mac Journal. Supposedly I can post my blog using it (although other products I have tested have said the same thing). If this posts .. well ... I can post more often since I won’t have to deal with Blogspot’s bizzaro editor. Yay!

Anyway. This Macheist actually had quite a bit of stuff that I wanted. There was Tales of Monkey Island which I have considered buying a few times. Flow is a file transfer program that looks promising, and Scout which is supposed to track down the covers that iTunes can’t. Bunch of other neat doodads as well.

Sooo. here goes nothin’ Let’s see if it posts.

Update: well. It DID post, but it does not appear to upload the images that I attached. *sigh*

Oh man. BTW, the MacHeist bundle is only running for the next 24 hours. Not bad deal for $20. www.macheist.com. I’m looking forward to the next one!

Blue Screen of Death BSOD on Dell Latitude D630 and others Solved AVG, Norton, MCAfee, Dxec01.sys

2010-02-05T10:18:00.008-06:00

FAIR WARNINGS:

Note that this solution is ONLY going to help you if the Dxec01.sys is the faulting module. You will see this listed under Technical Information on the blue screen error.

All other errors are your own lookout. You have been warned. I describe the correction in the 4th paragraph, feel free to skip to there if you don't wish to read my ramblings.. Don't worry, It wont hurt my feelings.

For the past few months our user base has been experiencing sporadic BSOD's on many of our Dell Latitudes -- Mostly on the D630's. Basically the user is working away when suddenly the terrifying blue screen pops up with the message "A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer". Unfortunately it does not prevent the loss of the documents the poor user was working on.

Unfortunately things on the server admin side of the job has been keeping me busy, so I did not really have time to focus on figuring out what the problem was. Fortunately, I got lucky. One of my users came down with this problem yesterday and I had a good hour to beat on it. I rebooted a few times, browsed the 'net, opened some random Office files, sent and received emails and finally just yelled at the thing. Nothing. Solid as a brick. Finally I called up the user and asked if anything new had been installed in the last month that she would miss. Nope. OK, time for the hack-technician's secret weapon: System Restore. Fail. Hmmph. OK, log in as Admin. Fail. Hmmm how 'bout from safe mode? Fail. Well. OK, Often restores will be blocked by a virus or rootkit. AV is always on and I had been scanned so, rootkit scan sounded like a great idea. Instant BSOD. Hmmmmmmmm. Fluke? Reboot! Try again. BSOD. Well, maybe AVG is the culprit. But... I figured I better actually READ the error and see what the faulting module was. It was Dxec01.sys. Now, A search with AVG and Dxec01.sys brought up alot. Many users uninstalled AVG and the fault went away, but a little more digging found the same fault with Norton AV and MCAffee. A lot of reports stated that installing CLAM AV or Comodo. Well... I pondered. What's the difference between the first 3 products and the last 2? Pretty easy answer for the educated (yet still stupid) network security admin.. AVG, Norton, And MCAffee all have integrated root kit scanners. CLAM and Comodo do not. So... back to the faulting module -- what the heck does Dxec01.sys belong to? A quick Google search found that Dxec01.sys belongs to the Knowles Acoustics Intellisonic Speech Enhancement Driver. A quick check in the Device Manager showed no such beast... Hmmm.. How's about Add/Remove Programs? Oh yeah baybeee! Jackpot. Uninstall... run Rootkit scan..... no BSOD. Since then I have run into 3 more. Same issue, same resolution.

KILL BILL: How to remove the Speech Enhancement Driver.

First confirm that you indeed are running the darn thing.

1) Click Start and Select the Control Panel

2) Ensure that you are in "Classic View". If the Control Panel has the title "Pick a Category" you will need to select "Switch to Classic View" from the left hand side of the window.

3) If you see the Intellisonic icon below within the Control Panel, You have the Speech Enhancement Driver.

The good news is that if you followed the first 3 steps you are in the right place to remove it.

1) While in the Control Panel select Add or Remove Programs and wait for the list to populate.

2) Click on the entry entitled "IntelliSonic Speech Enhancement".

3) Click the Remove button.

After a reboot you shall Blue Screen no more. I have noticed that after uninstallation the sound is often set to "mute". Click on the volume control icon in your system tray and uncheck the "Mute All" checkbox to restore sound.

Postmortem:

Some of our laptops had this problem, others did not. Why? It goes back to following good security procedures. The laptops that blue-screened had NOT been formatted and the OS re-installed with the minimum driver set required to make the laptop work. I have said it before, and I will surely say it again. Format and rebuild that laptop when you buy it - for home or ESPECIALLY business. Getting the circusware off the system will save you time and money in the long run.

GP2X Wiz Linux Handheld First Impressions.

2010-01-10T08:13:00.033-06:00

My GP2X Wiz showed up on the doorstep Friday. I bought it from the GP2X store. $150. + some shipping. 5 day turnaround... Not bad. Anyway I figured I would write down my first impressions about the system along with a few pics.

The first thing I noticed is that the packaging is downright awesome. Gamepark has always had catchy packaging, but they have outdone themselves here: a heavy cardboard treasure chest with a semi-gloss finish features the Wiz logo. The words "Whatever You Want" mysteriously printed below. The color is bright and the printing crisp and clear. Sony,Nintendo and Microsoft could learn a few things from GamePark.

There is almost no Engrish to be found in the manual or box. The only (slight) error I caught was on the inside flap where the advertising proclaims "Revolutionized Game System". Notice that on the front of the flap the corrected "Revolutionary Game System" is displayed. American and European companies do worse all the time. This blog does as well.

Build quality is WAY higher than GamePark's

earlier models. It's a small device, but it feels

very solid. It's a little heavier than a digital camera. What looks like a second d-pad on the right side of the screen is really 4 individual buttons. This works surprisingly well. 2 bumpers are located topside. Controls feel solid. anyone who owned the GP2X models will be impressed that GamePark can actually make decent controls. I played Quake 2, any number of Mame and GBA games and all played really, really well with these controls. Shooters cramp your hands a bit if you have gorilla-hooks like I do.

SD cards are inserted topside. The first time I inserted an SD in the slot it was a bit "clunky", it felt like something was hanging up inside, as if I had inserted the card upside down. This cleared up after the first go-round. The unit has a semi-adequate 1GB internal storage. I have an 8 GB SD that I store games on which appears to give plenty of room. Volume controls, charge port and headphone jack are located across the bottom. The battery appears to be removable. YAY!

The touch screen is nothing short of friggen' amazing. The Wiz uses an OLED screen like the new Macs. Black is black, and the colors are really bright. Look at the new Macbook screens and you will know what to expect. Tough is accurate and tight. Battery life is 4-6 hours. Unfortunately the charge time is 2-3 hours. I hear that it charges in about half t

he time with the plug-in charger instead of using USB, but the maniacs at GamePark did not think including the charger was important. I have ordered one from Play-Asia and will update once it arrives.

The game lineup is pretty much the same as one

would expect from GamePark. Emulation includes arcade machines, SNES, NES, Gameboy Advance, Genesis, etc. on and on. I have found emulation to be generally faster than the F1000/2000 models. I am running the latest versions of the various emulators. Specifically GBA and MAME games run really well. I expect even better speed as the emus are optimized for the system.

The games are the same stuff that GP2X's of the past have run for the most part. Warcraft, XCom, and most of the homebrew stuff returns to make an appearance -- generally running faster than on systems past. Thanks to a coding contest there is a number of new and original tower defense games. They are a mixed bag and none have really gripped me yet. Sadly Cave Story has not yet been ported and may never be due to licensing issues. A number of flash games are included and play well but I have only found a limited number of them available for download that actually work. The flash support is somewhat limited.

Quake 2 now runs at a reasonable speed and supposedly can be played through to the end. The controls need a rework in my opinion, but I suppose that can be done by editing the config file (Like you could in Quake 1).

There's no shortage of games for this system, but most of the best stuff is emulated or ported from other systems.

I'll post updates as I get more acquainted with the Wiz.

*** Update 01/17/2010:

Quake 2's controls can be changed via the config.cfg file located in the /Baseq2 folder. This makes the game excellently playable.

A couple configs are available in the GP2X forums. More info here: http://www.gp32x.com/board/index.php?/topic/51449-changing-controls-in-quake-2-port/

Links:

www.gp2xstore.com Buy the Wiz here.

pdroms.de Wiz News

www.gp2xwiz.com Official Website

dl.openhandhelds.org Wiz file archive

Solution: VMWare Server 2 has no CTRL-ALT-DEL under Linux

2009-11-20T14:13:00.003-06:00

From the Stupid-Is-As-Stupid-Does Department:

There are still a couple VMWare-Server based machines on our network.
After installing the latest VMWARE-SERVER build under Ubuntu 9.10 I found that there was no way to send a CTRL-ALT-DEL! The good old CTRL-ALT-INSERT shortcut has absolutely no effect on Linux-Host, Windows-Guests, and there is no longer a menu option to send a CTRL-ALT-DEL. WOW!
Fear not folks, you can still get into those stubborn windows boxes. Use CTRL-ALT-PRNT SCRN. This will send a CTRL-ALT-DEL. Way to go VMWare!

Comodo Antivirus Locking up Windows Systems

2009-10-09T12:00:00.005-05:00

The latest update to Comodo appears to be locking up Windows computers. If you use Comodo and are having this problem, feel free to skip to the bottom section entitled "Removing Comodo when your D*** Computer Wont Listen to You" for instructions on removing it and possible replacement products. If you feel like reading the novelized version, read on.

A couple of days ago my Windows 7 box started freezing up, stuttering, moaning and just being a general pain in the neck.

Within 5 minutes of boot, the computer would become completely unusable. Suspecting a bad Microsoft update, I restored to a couple days before and rebooted. Windows was fine for about 10 mins, then locked up again tight as a drum. "That's RC's for ya" I said to myself,as I formatted and installed a fresh image of XP. I did not have time to debug a beta operating system at work, so I restored XP and got on with the work of the day thankful that I keep an Ubuntu laptop around for occasions when Windows is being grumpy.

After work I drove home and prepared to relax with a cold beer in the hot tub.

It was not to be.....

My son greeted me at the door with that look of sadness that only the most tortured, wronged and neglected children can produce. "Daddy, my laptop is froze up".

Me: "Reboot"

Neglected Son: "I already did twice. I can't play my game."

Me: "aargh"

Needless to say the thing was locked up tight as a drum. Multiple reboots and I still could not even get it up long enough to see what process was causing all the trouble. So... time to do the Safe Mode Shuffle. Interesting. The laptop came up just fine in safe mode..... Just like my Windows 7 box at work.... and after restoring, his laptop was still as frozen as an Eskimo eating freeze pops in a blizzard. The light bulb had lit (dimly). What was the same between my 7 box at work, and my Son's XP laptop? Both were Dell... I also did fresh installations on both to avoid the Circusware Dell puts on their laptops... They were both silver... I had touched both (can't rule out karma)...There was 1 other thing. Comodo Antivirus. I use Comodo's free product at home and for prototypes and non-domain test computers at work... Could it be?

I navigated my way to add/remove programs and uninstalled Comodo... Reboot, and... Bingo!
The Boy's laptop was chugging along at full speed again (well as fast as a 9yr old's laptop chock full of kidware can go).

After reboot I substituted Avira free AV to keep my reckless internet surfer safe.
Yay - hero geek Dad!

Next day at work the helpdesk received a handful of support calls about frozen computers. Each one with Comodo installed. I had them routed to me for removal and substitution.

Removing Comodo When Your D*** Computer Won't Listen to You.

1) If your computer is frozen up, Choke it to death by pressing and HOLDING the power button down until the computer shuts off. Otherwise shut down normally (unlikely).

2) Start the computer back up and press the F8 key just before the Windows logo appears. You will see the "Windows Advanced Options Menu".

3) Use your up and down arrows on the keyboard to select "Safe Mode With Networking"(preferred) or "Safe Mode" and press the Enter key.

4) The next screen may say "Select operating system to start:". In most cases there is only one entry so press the Enter key. If there is more than one entry, select the OS you are using. If you are not sure try the first one. If you get some type of error, reboot and try the second.

5) The screen will fill with text messages referring to the Windows boot process. Ignore them. Eventually either the Safe Mode desktop or your logon screen will appear. Logon if needed. If you are on a Domain, the computer may or may not be able to contact it. If not, logon as local administrator. most folks can ignore those last couple sentences. Everyone should get a warning that "Windows is running in Safe Mode". Click YES to continue.

6) Click on the Start menu and select Control Panel.

7) From the Control Panel click "Add or Remove Programs". Locate Comodo Internet Security or Comodo Antivirus

8) Click Remove.

9) Go though the removal process (varies, but generally involves some next and OK's).

10) Reboot.

11) Find new antivirus software.

A Couple Suggestions For Free AV :

Although I use enterprise grade antivirus at work, I have ahealthy respect for the free stuff. A couple of good choices are:

Avast!

Good, decent antivirus solution that does not nag the heck out of you. It does require free registration.

http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

AVG

Feature rich, reliable, but annoyingly nags you to purchase an upgraded version.

http://free.avg.com/ww-en/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

Avira

Another good, lightweight AV product that unfortunately nags you to purchase an upgrade.

http://www.free-av.com/

ClamWin

Great antivirus with a high detection rate. Unfortunately it does NOT have an active scanning capability. Great for file servers or computers with very limited resources. Absolutely, no-nagging.

http://www.clamwin.com/

A good comparison of antivirus products is available on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antivirus_software

SQL Failure After Upgrade from VMWare 3.5 to VSphere 4 Fix

2009-09-04T11:15:00.007-05:00

I ran into a problem with our Microsoft ISA Server after moving to VSPhere 4 today. After searching the 'net for a solution I found a lot of painful solutions, most of them had no effect or made matters worse.

I have finally tracked the issue down and corrected it myself. It's a 5 min. fix. If you want to skip all my jabbering and just get to the solution, check the section marked Solution below. Fair warning that the Problem and History section contains information you need to know to confirm that this is indeed the correct solution for you.

In this case the victim was an ISA server, but any SQL server or VM client that uses Msvcr71.dll could be affected.

Problem and History

After upgrading my ESXi server from version 3.5 to 4.X to allow for management via VSphere 4 I noticed external users were unable to connect to my reverse proxy server.

I logged into the ISA server via the VSphere manager as I was unable to connect via RDP (If you are running a SQL only server you will not have this problem). When I opened the ISA manager (Start-->All Programs --> Microsoft ISA Server --> ISA Server Management) I noticed that Monitoring showed both the Firewall and MSDE services were down (The Monitor can be accessed by Clicking Monitor on the left hand menu, and selecting the Dashboard tab). I then attempted to restart the services by clicking the Services tab, right-clicking on the Microsoft Data Engine and selecting Start. I repeated this for the Microsoft Firewall. Both times ISA reported that it was unable to start the service.

The Database instance for the firewall (not to be mistaken for the Microsoft Firewall Service) is MSSQL$MSFW. It can be manually started in the Services Administrative Tool (Start -->All Programs -->Administrative Tools --> Services) by right clicking on the MSSQL$MSFW service and selecting Start. In this case I got error events 7009 (Timeout waiting for the MSSQL$MSFW service to connect) and 7000 (The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion). OK, great.

I needed to know If SQL was actually still viable, so I ran sqlservr.exe (C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL$MSFW\Binn\sqlserver.exe)* and braced for the excitement. I finally got something useful: The message "This application has failed to start because MSVCP71.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem". I did not really feel much like taking half a day to reinstall and configure so I searched the server for msvcp71.dll. There were a couple of them with the added extension .F26FFD4A_Yadayada which probably would have worked if I copied them to %windir%\system32 and renamed them, but nothing named msvcp71.dll. I powered up the old ESXi 3.5 VM (I ALWAYS backup before an upgrade, and you should too) and sure enough msvcp71.dll existed in both the %windir%\system32 and more tellingly C:\Program Files\VMWare\VMWare Tools. Apparently the 3.5 and older tools use msvcp71.dll, and 4.0 does not. When I upgraded the VMWare tools the 3.5 tools are uninstalled along with msvcp71.dll from both the VMWare Tools directory and System32. VMWare tools 4.0 does not require msvcp71.dll, so the .dll is never returned.. Very very naughty.

Solution

Easy peasy mac and cheesy: Download msvcp71.dll from dll files at http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?msvcp71 or copy it from your (better have) backed up VM. Copy msvcp71.dll from wherever you unzipped the file to %windir%\system32. Reboot the server. Prayer may help here. Confirm the correct operation of SQL. Go get a beer.

*Yes bin is actually "binn" in the path

Snow Leopard and Me

2009-08-29T15:19:00.002-05:00

Well, Installation of Snow Leopard went really well. I think it was the smoothest upgrade I have experienced on any system. It took about 45 mins. including the one reboot in the middle. It is pretty much identical to Leopard, but it does feel much snappier (and Leopard was no slouch). I spotted a couple of issues

1) Insomnia does not work anymore. The icon comes up, but it fails when you try to enable it. This is a pain in the neck because I love to listen to iTunes all night, and it's nice to be able to shut the cover without the laptop going into sleep mode. I'm sure the folks who make Insomnia will fix this soon...

http://semaja2.net/insomniaxinfo

2) I had to re-register Darwinia. Not a big deal, but as most of my other system settings (even my background) stayed the same it's funny that Darwinia hiccuped.

3) ARRRGH! Still no Exchange 2007 Support. Exchange requires an update to talk to mail. What a PAIN. I will try to sneak in the update during Tuesday maintenance.

All in all not too bad of a job. So far it has been solid as a rock. I tested all of my proggies that I usually use, and they all seem to work. MS Office came up fine, and seems OK, Doomsday (Doom engine) with all to goofy special effects ran, Spore runs smoother if anything, Mame OSX, a slew of other games, MS Messenger, Firefox..... blah blah blah.

What else???????

Umm, yes, boot times seem massively faster, and I got back about 6-8GB of hard drive space.

Not bad... not bad at all.

3 Things I hate about Ubuntu 9.04 and How to Fix Them

2009-05-28T12:53:00.002-05:00

I should make this very clear right away: I love Ubuntu. No, really. I'm not kidding. It's a good thing I can't marry it. But as a daily user of Ubuntu as both a home and business user I have found that my favorite OS is often found wanting in ways that are profound, especially as other Linux distros have got this stuff right on a regular basis. Below is my nitpick list.

1) For goodness sake fix snmp: Ubuntu makes so many server configurations a snap. Why can't they get snmp right? It's kind of annoying when the Redhat servers work pretty much out of the box -- even AIX's weirdness can be accounted for, but if you want to get a software inventory via SNMP in Ubuntu, download and compile snmpd yourself. Then cross your fingers.
BTW, if you came to this blog looking for the fix to this problem, heres a link for ya:

Ubuntu SNMP hrSWInstalled OID fix.

2) Decreasing video performance in a new Ubuntu version is not a "stability feature": Look, I know Intel video cards are awful, so does everyone else. They just straight up suck. They do however make up a substantial percentage of the video hardware for low-end laptops that run Ubuntu. It is insane that a game that ran at 50FPS under 8.04 now runs at 15FPS in 9.04. Who thought this was acceptable? Madness I say:

Fix video performance here.

3) The sound doesn't work: Sound worked great in 8.04, but it was overly complicated. Between OSS and Alsa there was way too much complication to the sound system for Ubuntu users. The solution: keep OSS and ALSA and make a totally confused monkey mess by adding Pulse to the linux sound trainwreck. That'll teach us. The link below also covers the whole "no sound in flash" problem as well.

Fix your sound system

As I said I really love Ubuntu, and there is a whole lot of great features in the 9.04 release. I just hope that in future releases the first-time Ubuntu experience reflects the "It Just Works" mentality that made Ubuntu great in the first place.

How to: Make Windows Vista or XP recognize your DVD drive again

2009-01-07T11:54:00.002-06:00

Ive seen this a few times over the years and thought I would document the fix. I've seen too many DVD replacements or OS re-formats due to this problem.

You are working away at your PC and decide to throw a CD in to listen to, or maybe pop a DVD movie in for an afternoon at the mini theatre. Maybe you just need to burn a copy of some files for work to CD. Anyway, you pop the CD and nothing happens. "Funny" you think, "I don't remember turning autoplay off". You double click on My Computer. There you see the C: drive and... well.... nothing. You try to think back to the last time you used the CD drive.. hmm been awhile... It diddn't seem upset. A quick check of the device manager shows that lovely ! symbol next to your DVD driver. You delete the driver and re-detect. No luck. Finally you hurl your laptop out the window.

At this point I might just tell you to install Ubuntu if I am feeling snarky, but I'm not. Instead I will show you how to fix this tragedy.

1) Click on the start menu.

2) a) If this is a Vista machine click the pearl and type the work regedit in the "start search" bar and run it. The program may not show in the list until you type the whole word.
b) If this is an XP machine click the Start button, select run and type regedit.
c) For goodness sake, select File from the top menu, and Export. Save the export as backup. This will save your butt if you delete the wrong key!

3) Below "Computer" is a few hives -- They look like folders. Start at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and keep navigating until you reach HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. In the right panel you’ll see a list of entries. These entries are called strings. Look for strings with the names “UpperFilters” and “LowerFilters”. Click on each of these “filter” strings and hit the delete key. In Vista you will get the scary "Deleting certain registry values could cause system instability" message. What does Vista know? Click yes to confirm delete. XP just asks to confirm. Do so.

5) Restart Windows and ensure CD-Rom operation.

6) Gloat.

If this does not work confirm that you deleted the correct entry. The key number {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} must be EXACT.

Removing drop shadows from icon titles in Windows XP

2008-12-17T14:36:00.002-06:00

Sometimes Windows XP “arbitrarily” adds a shadow behind the title of icons on the desktop. This can be annoying, and ugly. To remove the shadow and make your icon names appear on a transparent backdrop do the following:

1) Open the Control Panel.
2) Double-click on the System icon.
3) In the System Properties window click the Advanced tab.
4) In Advanced click the Settings button under the Performance section.
5) In the Performance Options window scroll down to "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" and uncheck the option and click Ok.
6)Once completed you should no longer have the drop shadow.

The above generally corrects the issue. If it does not, do the following:

1) Right-Click on a blank are of the desktop.
2) Select Properties.
3) Click the Desktop tab.
4) Click the Customize Desktop button.
5) Click the Web tab.
6) Uncheck any checked boxes.
7) Click OK.
8) Click Apply

This should make your desktop icons look good again.

How to: allow users to send email as another user or a group in Exchange 2007

2008-11-25T15:55:00.009-06:00

This is a quick post to set the record straight on allowing your users to send emails as if they are another user or from a distribution group. So many help forums get this wrong that I figured I would post this to firmly set the record straight.

Scenario 1: If you would like to allow a user to send an email on behalf of another MAILBOX, the solution is simple:
1) Run the Exchange Management Console
2) Click on Recipient Configuration
3) Click on Mailbox
4) In the Mailbox pane on the right, select the mailbox you would like to allow sendas: permissions added to.
5) Under the mailbox name in the Action pane, there is a triangular menu control: ensure the control is allowing the options below the mailbox name to show. Click on it if it is not.
6) Select Manage Send As Permissions
7) Click +Add
8) Select the user or group you would like to give Send As permissions to: The search box at the top can help you greatly in this.
9) Click OK
10) Click Manage.
11) Click Finish.

Congrats: your user may now send on behalf of this mailbox.

Scenario 2: You want to send on behalf of a distribution group: It has no mailbox.

1) Run the Exchange Management Shell
2) Run the following command:
Add-ADPermission -Identity "{Distribution Group Name}" -User "{User Name}" -AccessRights extendedright -ExtendedRights "send as"


Note the brackets are not entered, but the quotes are. {Distribution Group Name}  is the name of the distro group you would like the user to be able to send as.
{User Name} is the user name of the user you would like to allow to send as the group. Remember. No {}'s are to be used.

In the above command you can add | f1 to format the output in a easy to read manner.
That's it! Now your users can spoof away in Exchange 2007! Note that in Outlook 2007 you must click on the Option Ribbon and select Show From to change the from field before sending the email

If Microsoft Made Only the Xbox 360....

2008-10-07T10:00:00.006-05:00

... I would love them.

However their desktop OS just sucks. I wonder what went wrong with Vista? I have tried out Server 2008 and I think it is most likely Microsoft's finest hour. Almost every concern that system admins have had about the Windows Server series has been addressed. If you want a light server you can install 2008 GUI free, significantly lowering chances of attack. Also Active Directory is now a service. It can be stopped and started without a reboot: nice. The new virtualization technology resides at HAL -- making it very fast next to the last gen MS technology. It is going to be an excellent OS.

Meanwhile Vista is a fat, bloated slob. Installing it on a PC with less than 2GB RAM is a disaster, and even then it is slow. The built in DRM makes it annoying to use for multimedia (Ask High-Def video fans about this), and how the he** can a modern OS ship without built in .pdf and DVD viewing capabilities? Both Mac and Ubuntu do(Ubuntu does require a confirmation click). It also features annoying, draconian anti-piracy "features" which basically only discourage the honest people. I honesty do not recommend Vista for home use. If you must use Windows, use XP - it's a much better vetted OS.

If you would like to use a Microsoft product for home use, try the Xbox 360: It has some excellent games, and Xbox live is probably the best online presence I have ever seen in a console. The game controllers are meaty and well-built (even if the console has had reliability problems). Microsoft has extended the warranty to 3 long years, which really is amazing these days. I have also fount XBox support to be excellent and trouble-free.

I will probably take some heat for this, but for heavy gaming I prefer a console. I game all the time on my Mac, but I really play a totally stuff on there. The only really valid excuse I have heard from Vista home users is that it is a better gaming platform than the Mac. I say buy a Mac, and buy an Xbox 360 (Ive been eyeballing the PS3 as well). A Macbook (not pro) and XBox combined will cost less than a serious gaming rig, and you will be less stressed out as well.

Check out my Xbox 360 blog and get one for yourself!:
http://www.360voice.com/tag/retr0rob

5 More Free Mac Games: March of the Emulators.

2008-09-29T09:03:00.013-05:00

I was looking through YouTube this morning for any news on Mac freeware. What I found was pretty darn pathetic. It is pretty obvious that there is not a lot of Mac freeware knowledge out there. There is great stuff out there for the Mac, but there does not seem to be enough sites dedicated to freeware to let folks know whats available.

Slight rant aside, here is another 5 great free Mac games. Note that one of these is shareware, but it does not limit use, so I think it's fair enough to list. Also a couple of these are emulators which of course let your Mac pretend it is a game console. All of these programs work well under a regular Macbook with crappy Intel video.

A quick note on emulation: Emulators require a copy of the original game cartridge called a "ROM" to operate. These ROMS can be found all over the internet and are legal to download only if you either (a) have the original game, or (b) the game has been released from copyright. Don't say I did not warn ya! Also I am fully aware that Playstation emulators do not use ROM's. they use copies or ISO's. Now quit being picky flamers.

1) Battle for Wesnoth http://www.wesnoth.org/ . Wesnoth is an old - fashioned turned-based stategy game. The gameplay is purposely kept simple to make the game easy to play, yet it is deep and the difficulty level can get quite high. The graphics, sound and gameplay are all highly polished. There are dozens of campaigns available allowing for hours upon hours of gameplay. Note that this game just plain eats time. Play when you don't have prior engagements.

2) SixtyForce http://www.sixtyforce.com/ .SixtyForce is an emulator which will allow you to play Nintendo 64 Games on your mac. Many games run really well with only a bit of slowdown. Many games also just crash on load-up... bummer. Sixtyforce can run N-64 games in a higher resolution than the N-64 was actually capable of making them look much better than the originals - Mariocart looks awesome! It is a bit buggy, but is the only real choice if you want to play N-64 games on your Macbook. SixtyForce is actually Shareware, but no crippling limitations are placed on the emulator.

3) PCSX http://pcsx.gpost.dk/ . PCSX is old. I mean like really very old. It has been out of development for 3 years (that's a decade in computer years). The good news is that PCSX played the vast majority of Playstation games I threw at it. Ridge Racer Revolution was excellent. It also played Silent Hill without a hitch. There are a couple issues though. The graphics look REALLY blocky on an LCD screen, and there does not appear to be any decent plug-ins to clean things up up as there are in the PC and Linux versions. To get PCSX working under Leopard you need to go into the preferences menu and disable Dynarec CPU core. Otherwise the emulator will crash. All in all PCSX is pretty good, and much like Sixtyforce, it is the only game in town for Playstation emulation.

4) MAME OSX http://mameosx.sourceforge.net/ . MAME runs hundreds of arcade games from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and early 2000's. If you love classic arcade games you will absolutely LOVE MAME OSX. Almost all games I tested from the 70's, 80's and early 90's ran great. I especially recommend running the Neo-Geo games such as Metal Slug and Baseball Stars 2: They are really awesome. DO NOT mistakenly download MacMAME - it is not nearly as good and runs way less games. It also will try to date your sister. R
really, really not good.

5) TORCS http://torcs.sourceforge.net/ . TORCS is a rare thing indeed - A Mac racing game. TORCS features dozens of tracks and cars. The experience is a bit open-ended as there is no career mode as such. The sounds an graphics are not spectacular, but not embarrassing either, and it all runs pretty darn well on a stock Macbook. Note that the tracks and cars all have to be downloaded separately. Do this right away as you download the game otherwise things will get boring real fast.

4 Great Free Games for Your Mac You Never Heard Of

2008-08-27T20:09:00.010-05:00

Mac does not always get the latest and greatest games like Windows does. Mac was made for stability, reliability, creativity and all those other high minded 'ilities the snobby folks at the Mac store tell you about (relax, I'm just kidding about snobby). But unknown to all... late at night when no one is around and the moon casts a pale glow across the old office desk, your Mac is up to some serious gaming greatness. So loosen up your ties and drop you Macattude, It's time for 4 great Mac games you probably (note how I inserted that "probably") never heard of:

4) Gridwars OSX: A complete and utter rip-off of XBox 360's Geometry Wars. It is so complete, and so excellent that the Geometry Wars folks have ordered every copy to be taken off the internet. For those who have not played, Gridwars is the bastard offshoot of Asteroids and Robotron. The retro-graphics are icing on the cake for this non-stop awesome arcade game. Let me know if the link goes down to Atomic Gamer and I will find another.

http://www.atomicgamer.com/file.php?id=39310#

3) Neverball / Neverputt

Fancy a quick 3d game of mini golf? Sick of your buddy showing off his copy of Monkeyball on his/her iPod Touch? Well show off your full size, completely free version of Monkeyball minus any personality whatsoever and not quite as great graphics! It still looks nice enough, and the wide variety of mazes means you may never get tired of rolling balls into holes. BTW. The golf is REALLY, REALLY fun when played agains friends.

http://icculus.org/neverball/

2) L1neum Gamescape:
An awesome rip-off of the 80's arcade classic QIX, where you basically draw lines, blocking in parts of the playfield, and well, try not to get killed. The graphics and sound are excellent, and more than make up for the weird name. You will lose alot of time to this simple yet addictive game.

http://www.la1n.ch/l1neum/

1) Cave Story: I saved the best for last. If you try any one game listed on this post, this is the one. For the love of all holy, play this stinkin' game! Cave story is a simple enough platformer, but comparing Cave Story to a Mario game would be like comparing a Ferrari to a VW Beetle. In fact, I probably should not have mentioned Mario at all because it gives the wrong impression. This game features an amazing storyline with detailed and intricate gameplay which quite honestly is unmatched by the majority of commercial games I have played. Quite simply amazing.

Make sure to download both the game and the English patch.
http://www.miraigamer.net/cavestory/

This orignally started out as 10 Great Games for the Mac, but I have such a case of ADD (and husbandly duties) that I had to shorten it, so stay tuned and I will make sure to post some more in the future. Also let me know if you have any great unheard of freeware Mac games.