The Bungling Sys Admin

Transitioning from iPhone 3GS to HTC Evo 4G (Part 1)

2010-12-28T12:16:00.007-05:00

I know. Long time, no blog, right? I'm on "vacation," I've got some spare time, and I just got the HTC Evo 4G yesterday afternoon. I figured I'm overdue, so here it goes.

Hi. Longtime iPhone user, first time Android ponderer. Love your show...

My contract has been up with AT&T for some time now, and I had been debating "the next phone." I had been using the iPhone 3G and 3GS for some time (gave my wife the 3G when she joined AT&T and took her new phone. I know, shame on me), but I wasn't ready for the iPhone 4. I've been growing tired of the New Wave Apple Fandom. You know what I'm talking about. All the people that want Mac Book Pro's, but then end up "needing" to run a Windows Virtual Machine to do work. Not to mention, like some of your luxury cars, you pay extra for the fancy Apple badge on the computer. Never mind the irony that I'm typing this on my home iMac, but don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain.

Don't get me wrong, Apple makes slick looking products. They are generally easy to use or figure out, and generally work well within their own universe. Shiny, pretty fast... and your user experience is controlled by Steve Stalin... I mean Jobs. That's what turned me off. I was already growing tired of those using Macs just because it was shiny, but wouldn't try to figure out how to let go of their Microsoft world. I've been annoyed by all the "Area 51" secrecy at Cupertino, creating overinflated hype and wild expectations for Apple Announcements that lead to a media frenzy, and the mild letdown when some of the rumors weren't true. I was aggravated that Apple wouldn't allow some useful mobile apps in their iTunes store, such as Google Voice. And then came the iPhone 4. With its issues, and the snarkiness of Steve Jobs when people were angry their expensive devices wouldn't work right, it was the last straw.

All that negative technical energy lead me to, "What's the alternative?" There was no way I was going to use Windows Mobile (Remember their aptly named WinCE... or Wince?). WebOS is kind of nostalgic, but sadly I think "Palm is dead." And don't get me started on Blackberry (hello "bland"). A few months ago, I wasn't sure about Android, but now I've taken the plunge. Their Android Market doesn't seem so restrictive and their OS is backed by Google. Even though Google is probably the next "Evil Big Company," I like their products. So yesterday, I went to the Sprint store (boy was it crowded) and got myself the HTC Evo 4G.

My, that's a big screen you have, Evo...

Today, I'll go through the hardware portion of the Evo 4G, and compare it to my old iPhone 3GS. I know it's comparing apples to oranges (pun not intended), but this is more intended for those that are in my boat of iPhone users that don't want iPhone users anymore.

First off, the size of the phone itself. Noticeably, the screen is bigger. The Evo has a 4.3" screen, compared to the 3GS 3.5" screen. However, the Evo (4.8 x 2.6 x .5) really isn't that much bigger than the 3GS (4.5 x 2.4 x .48). I know some people say the Evo is too big, but when you put it in that perspective, is it?

The camera(s) (8 megapixel camera with flash and a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera) on the Evo is much better than the one 3 megapixel, no flash, camera on the 3GS. Granted, you'd hope so since the Evo is much newer.

I will say Apple did one thing arguably right with the iPhone. I do like the buttons and controls on my iPhone better than the Evo. The iPhone has the one magic button to return you to the main screens, as opposed to Evo's web browser-ish four buttons for navigation. Although I'm starting to get the handle of how navigation is supposed to work with the Evo/Android, I don't see my 2 year old son figuring out my Evo like he did with my iPhone. No more just handing him the cell phone to play his games when he gets fussy and not having to help him.

Also, I like the overall volume buttons on the iPhone as well. They both have the up and down volume button, but the iPhone also had the useful "change to vibrate mode" button as well. Speaking of volume, I'm disappointed that the Evo didn't come with a corded, hands-free accessory. I liked that the iPhone 3GS came with one, and it had a volume and rudimentary music/voice control on the wire.

Now comes the real unpleasant fact about the Evo. Its battery life does not compare to the iPhone. I will definitely have to keep a car charger and the USB charging cable with me at all times. It also brings me to another gripe that I also have with the iPhone. The Evo uses YAPC (Yet Another Proprietary Cable). At first glance, it looks like it uses a micro-USB cable, which would've been GREAT (hey, Blackberry uses one!). It's not. It has about the same width and shape, yet just not as "tall".

When will this diatribe end???

So far, I'm not blown away by Evo if I think about it from a pragmatic approach. The buttons, the battery life are a bit disappointing. Not to forget the fact I'm now using Sprint/Nextel, my least favorite of the wireless providers I've used in the past, doesn't get me very enthused. However, the look and feel, and the freedom from Apple's Iron Curtain is exciting and pretty cool. It's sort of like the feeling you have when you're getting into a new relationship with someone you're been really interested in from afar. Unlike most of those kinds of relationships, I hope this one will last through its annoyances and flaws.

In the next few days, I will try to post more about my experiences with Sprint service quality, usability, the main apps that I use, and if I decide to run back to AT&T before my 30 days are up.

Quick and Dirty NetBackup Reporting

2010-02-03T14:10:00.003-05:00

I needed a quick way to get the statuses of my NetBackup runs on a daily basis. This works for me, but maybe because there aren't that many servers (~30) that we are backing up. I'm sure there's nicer ways to do this, but if you want something quick and dirty, I have this line in my crontab.

/usr/openv/netbackup/bin/admincmd/bperror -U -backstat -s info -hoursago 24 | mail -s "Netbackup Report for `date +%D`" backup-admins@example.com

Info For Those Considering AT&T's Microcell

2009-10-05T11:27:00.001-04:00

I wanted to send this out in case others are considering purchasing AT&T's Microcell. Before this becomes an "AT&T stinks" thread, let me preface that my particular issue is with my apartment. It's a proven dead zone for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon. Also note that the Microcell only works with AT&T 3G phones.

Yesterday, I purchased the Microcell from the AT&T store in Cary. After taxes, it was about $162. The sales rep also informed me that if I did sign up with the $20/month "unlimited minutes" Microcell plan at the time of purchase, there was a $100 mail in rebate for the Microcell.

After some issues trying to set me up with the rebate deal (a Microcell with 5 months of unlimited minutes?), we found out my account wasn't eligible since it was created in the Washington, DC Metro area. The deal is only good for plans created in these trial markets. This also goes for the ability to purchase the $20/month for unlimited minutes. The sales person did say that they've been told the Microcell was going to be further rolled out in January, and I'd be able to get the $20/month unlimited minutes plan then (sadly, minus the $100 rebate). However, the Microcell itself only has geographical constraints, so it would still work in my apartment.

Once I got home, my set up was pretty easy. The only caveat is that the Microcell needs to be able to get a GPS signal. That meant I couldn't place the Microcell where I really wanted to in my apartment. Once it was powered on and connected, it took about 90 minutes for the Microcell to connect, register with AT&T, get its GPS signal, and be ready to go. When it was online and ready, I received an SMS message saying something to the equivalent of "Thanks! You're Microcell is ready."

I now have full signal in my apartment (as opposed to none). A few test calls and text messages worked fine as well. I haven't tried web access over Microcell, since I use my wi-fi with my iPhone. You can have up to 10 phones that can connect to your Microcell. The numbers have to be added to your online AT&T account management page for others to be able to use it. Right now, it's just my wife's and my cell phone.

For DBA's, new blog to follow

2009-07-08T16:10:00.003-04:00

An old co-worker of mine has started The Bungling DBA blog. Even though we now live on separate coasts, he and I are forever bound together as Lunch Twins. I'm not sure if this blog is also a bit of friendly ribbing at my expense or not, but I applaud him for starting a tech blog and look forward to his updates.

Server "uptime" bragging

2009-06-26T16:03:00.004-04:00

I recently saw a blog post about someone showing their server having an uptime of over 400 days, and wanting other readers to reply with some of their larger uptimes. Quite a few people obliged, and the numbers were in the hundreds of days. This made me think, "Is this really a "good thing" anymore?"

Some questions that come to my mind when I see servers with long uptimes are

1.) Are patches being applied? There are a lot of security and performance updates that are released within a year. Some may not be critical, but are you being responsible and diligent in keeping your server up to date and secure?

2.) Does the server need to be up for so long because it is a single point of failure for a critical service? Hardware gets cheaper and cheaper, and many services can be loadbalanced or clustered. With the popularity of virtual machines, even more so. If this service experiences a failure, will your customers or users notice? How long will it take to restore its functionality?

3.) Do you know if the server will restart correctly in the event something causes a reboot? This could be unexpected, like a hardware or power failure; or expected, like applying kernel updates. Over a long period of time, a lot of small changes can happen that could cause startup scripts to break, but would go undetected until you have to restart. Or, your hardware just might not want to go through a restart for whatever whacky reason.

I guess what I'm saying is, having regular maintenance reboots aren't a "bad thing." Yeah, it used to look cool to have a server up for 600 days, but I don't think it's really worth it now.

Free download of SnagIt (through 6/5/2009)

2009-06-01T09:55:00.004-04:00

Some of you may like to take screen shots for documentation, blog posts, or other troubleshooting info exchange. One product I've used that is more useful than Ctrl+PrintScrn or Alt+PrintScrn is SnagIt. Until 6/5/2009 5PM EST, they are providing free download and registration key for their SnagIt 7.2.5.

http://www.techsmith.com/Covermount/covermount.asp?ID=8

Note this is for PC only, and is not compatible with Windows Vista.

Rumor: iPhone and SlingPlayer over 3G without Jailbreak

2009-05-20T15:50:00.005-04:00

I've overheard a couple rumors that users have been able to use the SlingPlayer application with their iPhone over 3G (as opposed to Wi-Fi) without having to jailbreak their phone. Apparently, when they connected their iPhone using a Cisco VPN solution, they were able to use the SlingPlayer application. It got me thinking if this rumor is true, would this trick work with another type of VPN server that is compatible with the iPhone? Perhaps running a PPTP server at home, such as Poptop?

I haven't been able to confirm or deny this, since I'm not willing to pay $30 for the iPhone app, and I'm not sure if it will work with my original SlingBox, but I wanted to share for those that would be interested.

Monkey - House: A Big F-U to GoDaddy

2009-03-28T20:42:00.001-04:00

Heads up to those that, like me, trust their domain registrations with GoDaddy.

Monkey - House: A Big F-U to GoDaddy

It's ridiculous what they can do when your domain lapses. I guess I got distracted by their advertising.

Getting the VMware Boot/POST screen

2009-03-27T12:40:00.007-04:00

I was trying to re-kickstart an install of a Linux server in my VMware cluster, but I couldn't get the VMware Boot/POST screen so I could choose the PXE network install option. I also was having a rough time with my Google search queries to find the answer. Since I had a tough time finding it, I thought I would write it here, so if anything, I could find it again.

I had to modify my .vmx file for my virtual machine and add the line

bios.bootDelay = "10000"

The numeric value is the number of seconds the POST/Boot screen is shown. So in my example, this would be 10 seconds, which deceptively goes by pretty quick.

DNS and Asset Information

2009-02-26T17:58:00.003-05:00

Saw this post at TaoSecurity today about using DNS as a tool for Asset Management.

http://taosecurity.blogspot.com/2009/02/asset-management-assistance-via-custom.html

It toys with the thought of creating custom DNS records that identify asset owners. It's an interesting thought that was partially used at my last job. Our senior sysadmin had an unwritten policy that any server added to our internal DNS would also need a TXT record that contained information such as the hardware serial number. I'm not sure how many characters a TXT record supports, but I'm sure you could add other info as well. If you weren't sure who the contact person for a server was, or where it was located, you could "dig servername txt".

Here's an example of a DNS TXT record entry.

http://www.zytrax.com/books/dns/ch8/txt.html

Man page reading tip

2009-02-24T18:11:00.006-05:00

I usually keep my ssh windows pretty small, but it makes them a pain to read man pages. The way I read man pages now is using Google and finding man pages posted online. That way, it's as easy as reading any other web page.

For Linux, I use the search string (minus the quotes) "man linux command", and it usually pulls up the appropriate man page on http://linux.die.net.

For Solaris, I'll use the search string (minus the quotes) "man sunos command", since the syntax or switches of the Solaris command may be slightly different than the Linux one.

Another bonus is that commands and configurations in the "SEE ALSO" section are usually hyperlinked to the corresponding web entry. There are probably browser plugins or toolbars that will accomplish the same thing, but this is universal and lightweight.

NFS with VMware

2009-02-20T17:10:00.004-05:00

I came across this blog post, and it piqued my interest.

http://blogs.netapp.com/virtualization/2009/02/mythbusters-nfs.html

It briefly suggests that NFS is a viable alternative for VMware instead of SAN. I don't have the resources or clout to try this, but I'm curious to how well NFS would work. This information could potentially be useful for people that don't use NetApp also.

Modifications to stock CUPS server

2009-01-29T14:19:00.004-05:00

I've been tasked with setting up a Unix print server, since the current one runs unmanaged on a PC beneath someone's desk. Since we use RHEL4 for our servers, obviously this is going to be using CUPS. Setting up CUPS isn't too painful. The web interface is pretty easy to use. My concern though is when you click on the Administration link and log in, it continues to use plain-text HTTP to pass the credentials.

Here are the few things I've changed to make me feel a little bit less uneasy.

First, I created a self-signed SSL certificate and copied the key and crt to /etc/cups/ssl.

Then, I enabled the following in cupsd.conf

ServerCertificate /etc/cups/ssl/server.crt
ServerKey /etc/cups/ssl/server.key
SSLPort 443

I still have the stock port 631 listening as well.

Finally, I modified the index HTML page for the CUPS service. I found this located in /usr/share/cups/doc/index.html. I edited the two hyperlinks for administrator so that it pointed to "https://print.example.com/admin". I know this won't stop people from using "http://print.example.com:631/admin", but at least if they are just clicky-clicky, it will have them log into the administrative interface using HTTPS. I'm not sure how to force users to use HTTPS when accessing the administrative page in CUPS, but at least this is a start.

Now, I don't feel like my usernames and passwords are floating around in the clear when it comes to CUPS.

Thought on malware spreading through known vulnerabilities

2009-01-16T13:54:00.004-05:00

The BBC has an article today about the spreading of an Internet worm to millions of PC's (aka Conficker, Downadup, or Kido). Interesting enough, this vulnerability was addressed by Microsoft in MS08-067 on October 23, 2008. The BBC article then obviously states "users should have up-to-date anti-virus software and install Microsoft's MS08-067 patch." What I found interesting was the estimated top locations of infections.

China 38,277

Brazil 34,814

Russia 24,526

India 16,497

Ukraine 14,767

Italy 13,115

Argentina 11,675

Korea 11,117

Romania 8,861

United States 3,958

United Kingdom 1,789

I wonder how this ranking compares to the total number of pirated/unsupported instances of the operating system running in each country, as in "not recognized as a 'Genuine' license to Microsoft and therefore unable to apply patches from Windows Update." I'm wondering if the spread of malware like this that targets personal PC's or office workstations would be significantly reduced if Microsoft either opened up their Windows Update service to non-verified owners, or changed their pricing to be more affordable for its worldwide users.

Deleting a Solaris RAID created with Volume Manager

2009-01-12T13:36:00.002-05:00

It seems most of my "howto" posts recently have been Solaris related. The main reason for that is that my Solaris admin knowledge is weak, requiring me to look up Solaris-specifc tasks. And when I learn how to do something, I like to share with others the answer, just in case they didn't either.

We have a Solaris 10 host in the lab that we do software tests on, and I somehow have been tapped to admin and be in charge of its OS. The production hosts we create for clients use RAID-1 with two disks, so the orignal install steps specified using the Sun Volume Manager using the different "meta" commands (metadb, metainit, metattach). Without much warning, they've gone and changed the install steps to use the simpler "raidctl" command. My problem now is that I have to reinstall the lab test host, and setting up the RAID with raidctl. However, I have no idea how to delete the previous RAID configuration. Thankfully, I came across this. It appears all I had to do was run "metaclear -a".

My take on "Which Unix to learn"

2009-01-06T12:13:00.003-05:00

I came across this post on TaoSecurity today, with Richard Bejtlich's suggestions for an "Introduction to Unix." Like text editors, the discussion about which distribution of Unix to learn can be considered a "religious" argument. If you're a regular reader of his blog, it's no surprise he suggests FreeBSD. He does clarify and say if you're running a server, he suggests FreeBSD; and if you're running a desktop, he now prefers Ubuntu. And if you're still adamant about running Linux as a server, he suggests Debian.

My opinion differs, depending mainly on "why do you want to learn Unix?" If the answer is related to increasing your work/resume skill sets, I would have to disagree about using FreeBSD or any of its other BSD derivatives (Net, Open, etc.). In my experiences of being an admin or some other support role, I have yet to encounter a *BSD server. I'd encourage someone to use a distribution that they would encounter in a corporate environment. The Unix server OS's I've had to support have been Red Hat (now Fedora), Red Hat Enterprise Linux (also known as RHEL), and Sun Solaris. To avoid having to pay licensing fees, you could substitute CentOS for RHEL.

If I were asked the question, I would suggest a "major" Linux distribution or Solaris/Open Solaris instead. I would think their device names, software packages, and file system organization would help with familiarity when trying to translate the knowledge learned to a corporate environment. Although this may be an unfounded opinion, I also think that there are more support options and supported software using them, rather than using *BSD. I do agree with Bejtlich that if you want to run a Unix distribution on the desktop, to stick with Ubuntu, since it seems to "just work" when installed and there are less configuration headaches. Or you can just use a Mac if you want a Unix desktop (troll... and yes Mac could be considered a BSD variant).

Managing "To Do" items for work

2009-01-05T15:59:00.004-05:00

I'm trying to decide the best way to manage my tasks, projects, and "mini-projects". I define mini-project as something larger than a task, but I'm my own manager and don't need to submit a project plan. Maybe I should've asked for Tim Limoncelli's "Time Management for System Administrators" as a Christmas gift.

The options I know of are:

"Remember the Milk" - Pros: Seems very extensible, geeky, multiple ways to manage, etc. Cons: I doubt my company would like me storing information with a third party.

Using "Tasks" in Outlook - Pros: This would be stored and backed up at work. Cons: I like to keep my interaction with Outlook at a minimum. I just don't like the interface for it, anyways.

Creating tickets in a case management system - Pros: I've done this at previous jobs creating cases assigned to myself for tasks and mini-projects. Cons: My employer takes its case tracking statistics seriously.

Personal Wiki - Pros: Uses a web browser to edit. Some Wiki's have version control and search capabilities. Cons: Some wiki's require running on a server and using heavyweight services (is that overkill?). Is it really the best tool for the job?

Right now, I'm using TiddlyWiki. I feel the interface is a little clunky, but does a lot of what I want it to do. For instance; it's lightweight (does not require a server or a database), can be portable (it's just files), only requires a web browser and access to its files, and has some searching capability.

I'd be interested to know what other people are using to manage their tasks and other assignments that are not necessarily part of the "everyday routine."

Impression of Acer Aspire One netbook

2008-12-31T12:42:00.006-05:00

I mentioned in an earlier post about my thought process on purchasing a netbook, that I'd follow up with my impressions and experiences. Now that I've got some legitimate use of my Acer Aspire One netbook, here it is. I wanted to write this before Christmas for those that were thinking about giving one as a gift, or buying one on sale, but I guess it's "better late than never." For the record, I'm writing most of this post on my netbook while watching college football on the couch.

Portability

Obviously, this is one of the big features of the netbooks. Even with the 6 cell battery, it's still very light and compact. I carried it around quite a bit during the holidays. It took up about the same room as a smaller O'Reilly book, and probably weighed the same or less. The battery life was up to its billing. With web surfing and email, I was getting about 5 hours per charge. The wireless card range seems a little weaker than ones built into laptops, since it would connect with "Very Good" instead of "Excellent", but overall, I didn't have problems with network speed.

Performance

The boot up time isn't much slower (if even noticeable) than my other laptop. The only web performance issue I've noticed so far is when using the standard view of Gmail. It seems to hang or is sluggish when trying to load. However, I have no problems using the basic HTML version. The built in speakers aren't very loud, but that's not that big of a deal to me. If I'm going to listen to music or need audio, I can just plug in some headphones or powered computer speakers.

Usability

The keyboard is slightly smaller than a laptop keyboard, but I don't have too much difficulty touch typing. It is definitely easier than typing on a smart phone or my iPhone. The screen real estate is noticeably smaller, but doesn't impede too much considering this is a mobile device. Again, it's much larger than a smart phone or an iPhone. I didn't get any complaints from "guest" users either; including my wife, brother-in-law, or father-in-law. My only complaint, which is very minor, is the touchpad and the positioning of the left and right click buttons. However, it's mostly because I'm used to the buttons being positioned differently. I like the "zoom" feature with the touchpad that is similar to the Macbooks or iPhone. The three USB ports seem to work fine. I've only used them one at a time to connect my iPod or iPhone.

Other Features

The built in microphone and video camera work surprisingly well. Using the video chat feature on AOL Instant Messenger v.6, the video and audio received by the recipient was decent quality. Because it works so well, I was disappointed my netbook did not come with a Mac-like "Photo Booth" program pre-installed (more on that later). I haven't used the SD card slots yet. I'm not sure why there are two of them. I haven't used the VGA-out port either.

My Modifications

The netbook does come with pre-installed software, which I'm not generally a fan of. I removed the trial versions of Microsoft Office and McAfee Anti-virus. It also came with Microsoft Works. I haven't decided if I want to uninstall that and install Open Office instead.

As for software I've added (all are freeware for personal use), here's the list and why I chose them.

AOL Instant Messenger - I'm normally a Pidgin fan, but Pidgin doesn't support video chat right now.

AVG Anti-Virus (free for personal use) - I picked this one over Avast because it was supposed to be lighter weight. It seems to work pretty well, but I don't like the browser plugin that scans all links on a web page. It really hampered my web browsing. I've disabled the plugin, but now there is an exclamation point "splat" on the icon in the system tray.

Debut Video Capture - This program is a lot like the Mac's "Photo Booth". I was happy when I found it, and best of all, it's free.

Firefox Web Browser - I personally like it better than IE7.

iTunes - I don't plan to use my netbook to manage my music on my iPhone or iPod, but since I have over 100GB of storage, I figure I can copy my library over.

Picasa - Just in case I want to do some light photo management while travelling. My permanent photo storage will be on my desktop.

Skype - Another video chat client, just in case someone uses that instead for video chat.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, feel free to leave them in the "Comments."

Linux Mag's Top 10 Sys Admin Articles of 2008

2008-12-23T11:55:00.003-05:00

With 2008 coming to an end, everyone is starting to put out their "Top" lists. I saw the announcement today in my Inbox that Linux Magazine posted its Top 10 Sys Admin Articles of 2008. Unfortuantely, the links to articles requires registration, but it's free. The two articles on ZFS interest me the most, and I want to refresh myself on the "port knocking" article. I forget where I've heard about port knocking before. I'm pretty sure it was a couple years ago though.

It also made me realize I miss reading physical magazines over online copies. Then again, I rarely read the ones I get in the mail now. It's amazing how technology changes things.

On a totally unrelated note, I just wanted to share a good laugh about Matt Simmons' comment on a blog post about having multiple superusers on the VMware ESX server.

"Once, many many moons ago, probably near the peak of my danger curve, I got tired of su’ing all the time, so I just changed my uid to 0 in the passwd file. That was fun."

I can't explain why it struck me as funny as it did, but that was probably the funniest thing I've read today.

My netbook purchase thought process

2008-12-22T11:32:00.009-05:00

I try to keep this blog relative to System Administration, but once in a while, I should be allowed to stray. It's the holidays after all, right?

My Acer Aspire One arrived on Friday. I've used it a little bit, and I wanted to give anyone interested my initial thoughts and opinions. There's quite a bit of hype about these "low cost" netbooks. For those considering a netbook, this was my criteria and rationale for buying one. Just a side note about about my link to this netbook. When I bought it, it was available directly through Amazon.com. It appears they are now selling them through other online merchants. If you buy through that link, your mileage may vary.

First of all, I wanted something small and mobile to use for casual to light web access. I used to use my Compaq laptop to surf the Internet, check email, and do other lightweight computing tasks from the living room couch or on trips. Unfortunately, it's having power problems and I was looking for a replacement for this device. We also have a desktop computer that we use for storage or to do heftier computer tasks.

Second, the replacement gadget had to be intuitive and useful enough for general users. I would not be the only user, and I try to avoid being a system admin or operating a "helpdesk" when I'm not at work. Don't get me wrong; I like helping people, but I don't want to create unnecessary issues for myself. I was sure that my wife, or other guests, would want to use this device; and potentially when I was not around to help them use it.

My third "want" was a device that had good battery life. I didn't want to be dependent on the accessibility of an electrical outlet within an hour or two of usage. I can depend on an outlet when I'm at home, but if I'm traveling or visiting, this becomes more cumbersome and intrusive.

After thinking about what I really wanted and needed for a replacement portable device, I thought about what I already owned, and if I really needed to replace my laptop. I already own an iPhone. It's small, portable, decent battery life, supports Wi-Fi for Internet access, and all-around I really like it. However, it's also my cell phone, which means I take it everywhere with me. It's also a very "personal" device for me, and I'm hesitant to allow other people to use it (maybe I'm just strange). These two reasons make it difficult for being a shared device for around the house. Someone suggested buying an iPod Touch for my wife, but she has an iPod Nano that she got last Christmas. Plus, if we had guest users of our Wi-Fi device, not everyone is going to know how to use a Touch, and I'd have to spend a few minutes here and there helping them operate it. I do think the Touch is nifty device, but in my opinion, not practical enough in this case.

"So you think you want to buy a netbook..." As mentioned in my PXE live distro post, I looked at Acer, ASUS, Dell, and HP's offerings. For the prices and features, I concentrated on Acer and ASUS.

Which Operating System should I use? - The geek inside me wanted Linux. My wife could probably learn how to use Linux also, but there would be a slight learning curve. I had intended to use our desktop, which runs Windows XP, for permanent storage of important files, such as photos or other documents. Having the device run Windows XP would make network drive setup and usage much easier. Plus, she's already familiar with Windows. I chose Windows XP.
What kind of local storage should I get? - Another tough decision. Solid stage drives (SDD) seem geekier. Without much investigation, I thought they could be potentially faster, use less electricity, and be more durable if the netbook was accidentally dropped. However, knowing how bloated XP can be and the other programs I wanted to run, I wanted more storage than what could be offered on a USB stick. I could only find netbooks in my price point with about 8GB of SDD. If I could have purchased a 32GB SDD model, I would've bought that. It was overkill, but I ended up with the 100+ GB standard hard drive.
What size battery do I want? - I read people complaining that the 6 cell batteries made the netbook "too heavy and bulky." However, I liked the fact that they could last about 5 hours, as opposed to the standard 3 cell that gave about 2.5 hours. It would be rare for me to have to have 5 hours of battery life, but I didn't think it was that bad of a trade off. In the end, it only added about an inch to the back of the netbook, and it wasn't that much heavier. Yes, the 6 cell battery, please.

As for the other available options, such as the integrated webcam and SD slots, they are nice but not totally necessary. Of course, Wi-Fi is a must, but all of them have that integrated. I don't have a need for Bluetooth at this time, so that didn't need to be integrated. If I do need Bluetooth, I can get a USB adapter that should be compatible with Windows XP.

I've only played with my netbook a couple of days, and I like it so far. I already had the expectations that the screen and keyboard would be small. For those that touch-type, I find the reviews of the smallness of the keyboard slightly exaggerated. I do sometimes strike wrong keys, but it is still faster than typing on a smartphone. The layout of the left and right click buttons for the touchpad makes dragging/dropping and windows resizing more difficult than a full sized laptop, but I knew I was going to be sacrificing some functionality when I bought something this small. Overall, the smallness is noticeable, but does not take away from its functionality. Once I get some more hours in, I'll post other opinions and findings.

"Live" distribution PXE install server idea

2008-12-16T12:49:00.007-05:00

I've had netbooks on the brain for the past few days now. I'm thinking about buying one for couch/living room use for the wife and I, since we use my failing Compaq laptop for web access and email. Late last night, it had me thinking about OS re-installs without physical media; considering netbooks seem to only support SD cards for removable media.

I'm not sure how practical this is, but I had an idea for reinstalling netbooks if you have another PC on your home network. I don't want to dedicate a host on my network to be a server for PXE installs (ex. Jumpstart or Kickstart), but what about a Live CD (or DVD) that has these services configured? If I needed to re-install my netbook, I'd just boot my desktop PC off the Live disk and then run the PXE install on my remote host. Does anyone know if I'm re-inventing the wheel, or if this idea is practical? I did a cursory search on Google, and didn't see any projects or distributions related to this.

On the netbook front, I'm torn if I should purchase one or not. I do own an iPhone, but that doesn't help my wife with Internet access around the house. She already has a recent iPod nano, so purchasing her a Touch would be a waste of money. I'm also seeing notebook prices dropping, and wonder if I'd just be better off buying one of those instead for a couple hundred dollars more. A co-worker of mine did mention that if I wasn't happy with a netbook, there would be plenty of interest in buying one used, and that the resale value on Craigslist or eBay would probably be about a $100 loss on my part. I'm looking at the Asus Eee and Acer Aspire One models, and I'm leaning towards this one. I would normally be interested in one using Linux since they seem to have SSD, but with the wife also being a user, I don't want to have to play sysadmin/helpdesk at home.

"find" and "Permission denied"

2008-12-12T15:48:00.004-05:00

I was trying to run "find" on a directory, looking for a perl script. Because of which user I was running it as, I was getting a bunch of "Permission denied" errors.

I thought I could just tack on "| grep -v "Permission denied" at the end of my command, but no luck. I fruitlessly checked to see if there would be something in the find man page as well.

I came across this site: http://www.hypexr.org/linux_find_help.php

The correct answer to what I was trying to accomplish was

$ find / -name foo.bar -print 2>/dev/null

Are new releases of Slackware newsworthy?

2008-12-11T11:50:00.005-05:00

From the Slashdot RSS feed, I saw "Slackware 12.2 Released", and it made me wonder if this is actually newsworthy. Granted, Slackware was technically the first Linux distribution I ever installed. It came with a "Linux for Dummies" book I bought in 1997, when I was starting to become more interested in doing more with computers than basic every day tasks (email, web surfing, word processing, games). However, my experience with Slackware was short lived because I was still living at home, and my parents used AOL for Internet access.

Nowadays, it seems Slackware is revered by older users, but isn't used. To me, it falls into the same area as using the Eudora mail client, or until recently, Netscape web browser. It seems Ubuntu (and its variants) and Fedora dominate the Linux desktop, with a smattering of Debian users; and CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, and Ubuntu (somewhat surprising to me), with some Gentoo diehards, leading the Linux servers. I think this may be the least used "mainstream" *NIX distribution available. Except for nostalgia, what reasons do users install Slackware for?

Not that I'm discouraging further development of Slackware, or trying to insult their users. I'm just questioning their relevance in today's IT news, unless it's just a slow news day :)

What's your blog's personality?

2008-12-03T17:53:00.002-05:00

I came across this blog post (a post about a post about a site) that discusses a beta online tool, Typealyzer, that tries to determine your blog's personality. Mine came out to be "ISTJ - The Duty Fulfillers."

The responsible and hardworking type. They are especially attuned to the details of life and are careful about getting the facts right. Conservative by nature they are often reluctant to take any risks whatsoever.

The Duty Fulfillers are happy to be let alone and to be able to work int heir [sic] own pace. They know what they have to do and how to do it.

Doesn't sound too flattering, but I guess it could be worse. What personality is your blog?

iPhone messaging lameness

2008-12-02T17:51:00.003-05:00

I like my iPhone, but today I discovered another behavior I'm not too thrilled about. I didn't realize that people can send email directly to your iPhone. I'm used to connecting to Gmail with the Mail client if I want to receive email. I saw in someone's post that you can email directly using someone's phone number "@txt.att.net" (ex. 5551234567@txt.att.net).

I tried it out from my Gmail account through the web browser, and sure enough, I got this SMS message.

FRM: My "From" Name
SUBJ: test
MSG: does this work?

However, all it says is that it came from some non-descript number. I was able to successfully reply to it and received it in my Gmail Inbox.

That's fine and all, but that's an odd way to get a message. Someone could change their "From" full name in their mail client and send deceiving emails, since there is no way to verify the actual sender.