Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon
Join Dr. Bill as he examines the wild and wacky world of the web, computers, and all things geeky! Hot Tech Tips, Tech News, and Geek Culture are examined… with plenty of good humor as well!
Recorded with the new laptop’s 2 megapixel webcam… the audio’s a little weak, but I will work on that… but the netcast was fun to do, and features “Big Buck Bunny” an Open Source video made with Blender Open Source animation software on Linux! How geeky is that? Check it out, either from the Dr. Bill.TV site at this link:
Or, right off the YouTube video below:
As you know, I am always trying to improve the podcast quality, and my recent experiences with my new laptop, and trying to get the audio recording to work, created the need to boost my volume in my headphones. A side benefit to this particular “fix” is that it also provides the ability to have THREE headphones driven by the system. That means that if the Gamemaster and Vlad join me to do a Gamemaster’s Benspin podcast (as they will this weekend,) we can all enjoy hearing the recording as it happens! Definitely helps in the production! So, here’s another consideration if YOU need that headphone sound boost! It is called “Boostaroo” (cute.) I got mine at Radio Shack, but it is also available on-line, here:
I can’t believe I haven’t already mentioned this one. If you are a Linux/Unix geek and need the command line, you will have probably used PuTTY. It is a great, free telnet/SSH client for Windows. Check it out!
“PuTTY is a free implementation of Telnet and SSH for Win32 and Unix platforms, along with an xterm terminal emulator. It is written and maintained primarily by Simon Tatham. PuTTY is a client program for the SSH, Telnet and Rlogin network protocols. These protocols are all used to run a remote session on a computer, over a network. PuTTY implements the client end of that session: the end at which the session is displayed, rather than the end at which it runs. In really simple terms: you run PuTTY on a Windows machine, and tell it to connect to (for example) a Unix machine. PuTTY opens a window. Then, anything you type into that window is sent straight to the Unix machine, and everything the Unix machine sends back is displayed in the window. So you can work on the Unix machine as if you were sitting at its console, while actually sitting somewhere else.”
(I might mention… PuTTY is a small, tight single file executable program, you don;t really “install” it. You just put the executable file in a directory, like: “C:\Program Files\PuTTY” and create a shortcut to “putty.exe.” That’s it! Back to the days when programs were programs and men were men!)
Dewd! Check out this video… it rocks! This is an early beta, but… wow! I am looking forward to trying it with my Ubuntu laptop!
The plugin is: Stackswitch. Rock on!
I’m not kidding… that is the headline in a story in a Seattle newspaper! I kid you not! Vista is, indeed, the lamest OS ever… and I have used Windows Me!
Man gets Windows Vista to work with printer
“Regular readers may recall the story of Charles Walling, the retired Seattle warehouseman whose struggle to get his printer to work with Windows Vista was documented in our story marking the Microsoft operating system’s first year on the market. Charles Walling prints from his Windows Vista PC. Well, it’s working now — but not without some help from a Windows test manager. The underlying problem reflects the huge changes Microsoft made from Windows XP to Windows Vista, and the need for hardware makers to adjust. At the same time, the experience may provide a good reminder for PC users making an upgrade. Here’s the back story: After the article ran, I received e-mails from a couple of people inside Microsoft who were curious about the cause of the problem. With Mr. Walling’s permission, I directed them to him. Tom White, test manager for documents and printing in Microsoft’s Windows Experience group, visited the Walling household on multiple occasions, figured out what was wrong, and ultimately got the printer to work. Here’s what White figured out: When Mr. Walling bought his new Windows Vista machine, he initially used the installation disc that came with his Dell 942 All in One printer that he had been using with his previous PC. That disc was meant for Windows XP. The problem: Dell’s printer driver for Windows XP did install on Windows Vista. But it didn’t work. And it couldn’t be easily removed.”