The Ramblings of Ken

Oi!

Tudo bem? Meu marido, Kevin, e bem inteligente! Ele gosta de computadores demais. Ele e bem lindo tambem.

Yesterday I shutdown Microsoft Internet Information Services! I finally moved everything over to Apache. Everything now runs over port 80, like normal web traffic should. Before I had both Apache running some of my services and IIS running the rest. Now Apache handles it all! IIS on Windows XP x64 will not do more than one website without hacking it. Apache will allow you to run as many websites as you want, all using name-based virtual hosting. I knew that I was going to switch everything over to Apache for this reason, I just didn't know when.

Yesterday I decided to buy more domain names for a couple of my friends. Well, I was going to host one of those domains and I couldn't do it without finally making the switch. I was able to change my Apache configuration properly and work out all of the bugs. So, welcome to a website hosted by Apache! Doesn't it feel good to not have IIS serving the page?

Oh, by the way, visit [url=http://www.doehead.com]www.doehead.com[/url], the other site being served by my Apache server...

(Image borrowed from [url=http://httpd.apache.org]http://httpd.apache.org[/url])

My good friend Ken at work hooked me up with this site for my blog!!! What an awesome friend!

Yesterday I decided to try and install DOS/Windows 3.1 on the USB drive that I got. Well, I used VMware Workstation to do it. I got it all working fine in VMware, so I decided to try and boot my computer from the USB key. It worked to boot into DOS, but Windows would freeze before loading.

Well, today Bob and I were playing with it and Bob figured out how to make it work. If you add the /d:t parameter to win.com then it will run. Apparently, Windows 3.1 can't recognize that modern computers are 386 compatible. It freezes, not knowing what to do. Anyway, it works...

We got it running on Bob's laptop... see the screenshot:

I've been providing computer support to the Small Satellite Conference this week. It has been a really fun experience! This is a much larger conference than I anticipated. Such important people as Mike Griffin, NASA Administrator, and Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director of the European Space Agency, have been here! I have helped many important people get their presentations loaded onto the system and make sure that there aren't any bugs in them.

There have also been many generous people come my way. They've given me shirts, food, and other cool stuff. One thing I got today was a 512 MB USB drive! It is a cool one. It looks like it is a pocket knife, but it really isn't! It is in a really rigid metal and leather case. I couldn't believe it was a USB drive when he gave it to me. Here are some pictures of it...

to see the rankings at Washington Monthly.

Way to go USU!

A long time ago I was experimenting with using Internet Explorer on Linux. I never got it working quite right. Well, today I ran on to a site that makes it easy for you! [url=http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/index-en.html]IEs 4 Linux[/url] is an easy script that installs Internet Explorer on Linux for you. I just got done installing it and it works great! I'm even posting this entry running Internet Explorer on Linux!

Here's a screenshot:



Anyway, you may ask why in the world I would want to run Internet Explorer on Linux? Um... good question. My answer would be: because I can, I guess. There are good reasons to do this, but none of those good reasons are mine. If you want more information and more good reasons to run Internet Explorer on Linux, visit the [url=http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/index-en.html]IEs 4 Linux site.[/url]

I have updated the Photo Gallery application to Gallery version 2. I quite like it. There are many more features to take advantage of. Check it out! Let me know what you think. If you have any comments or suggestions, let's hear them!

This past Saturday I went on a hike with my mother and one of my best friends. It was fun! I love being on the tops of the mountains where you can see everything! We enjoyed the view from the top for awhile and then hiked down to High Creek Lake and played in the water for a short while. We saw baby salamanders (and grown ones too). Anyway, it was a blast! You can see pictures in the usual place, the Photo Gallery.

I recently got a new phone. Most of you probably already know. It is a Samsung SCH-A950. It is 5,000 times better than my old phone, an LG VX-3300. Phones can actually do more than just be a phone, I found out! This SCH-A950 plays MP3s and videos, has a camera which does both still pictures and video, and has Bluetooth! I like this phone a lot.

However, since I got this phone, I found out that Verizon cripples their phones. Not one of their phones supports Bluetooth Object Exchange. This means that I can't transfer files from my computer onto my phone or vice versa. They also disabled Bluetooth dial-up networking and other Bluetooth features. Now, Bluetooth hardware is Bluetooth hardware. If it can do one of these things, it can do all of them. It is simply that they've requested that the features be disabled!!! How ridiculous!!! For some phones there are hacks to enable these things, but for most there isn't a way to do it. I would absolutely love to use the capabilities of my phone and transfer files wirelessly to/from my computer. I would also love to dial up to the internet using my phone as it is wirelessly connected to my laptop. These are all built in to the hardware... Why does Verizon have to cripple their phones??? When my contract is up, I am switching to another provider for sure. 90% of my friends and family use Verizon, but I don't care. I will switch to T-Mobile, who doesn't cripple their phones like Verizon does!

Any of you out there have comments or concerns with T-Mobile, Verizon or other providers? Would T-Mobile be a good provider to switch to?