Labview Tech Talk

A couple of months back, we had Drew Pierce in-house to do a Tech Talk on National Instruments Labview product.  We recorded the talk and Drew has graciously allowed us to post it online.  It runs about 69 minutes in length and is a great intro to what Labview is and the amazing things that you can do with it, including data acquisition, system control, graphical programming, etc.  Enjoy.

Labview for Data Acquisition and Control

Doug White
http://twitter.com/cpuguru

Humanity +1

The world is suddenly looking a tad brighter than it has in the past few weeks.  Talk of doom and gloom and “these tough economic times” have been getting me down of late.  The reason, you may ask?  Well, I just got off the phone with my father and he told me about a recent mishap they just went through. 

It appears that my parents were on the receiving end of a hit-and-run accident yesterday on their way to a doctors appointment.  Some guy smashed into the side of their vehicle, put it into reverse and took off, leaving them stunned and stranded.

Fortunately for them, a “Good Samaritan” happened to be in a nearby vehicle.  He got out of his car and checked to see if my parents were okay (they’re in their late 60’s) and then he tried to chase down the guy who slammed into them.  (Note: don’t try this at home kids, not a safe or wise thing to do, let the police handle this part ;?) He was unable to catch up with the hit-and-run driver to get his tag number so he came back to tend to my parents. 

The side of their vehicle was smashed in and the back rim on that side was bent and the tire was flat, so they weren’t going anywhere.  He once again checked on their condition and then he proceeded to put the donut (teeny spare) on the back of their car so that they could limp home.

I want to publicly thank this man, and all others like him, that are willing to take time out of their busy days and aid someone in need.  It warms my heart to know that there are people like him, good-hearted and compassionate people, that are willing to go the extra mile for their fellow human being.

My parents, my family and I thank you!

Doug White
http://twitter.com/cpuguru

Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled External Hard Drive Enclosure

The time to think about backing up your data is definitely not AFTER you’ve already lost it.  The typical data-loss scenario plays out time and time again – the user has had a hard drive failure and has either permanently lost their data or they’ll have to pony up a pretty penny to get a data recovery service involved in its retrieval.  That’s when they start thinking about regular backups and the equipment and software that’s needed to backup their data. 

Having had over-heating issues with backing up entire hard drives to a passively cooled (and sometimes a completely sealed) enclosure, I always go out of my way to look for an external hard drive configuration that includes active cooling – that means there’s a fan somewhere that pushes air through the enclosure to help the drive run cooler.  The configuration that I’ve found the most satisfying of late is the combination of the Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled External USB/eSATA Hard Drive Enclosure and a SATA drive of my choice.  For the setup below, I went with a Seagate Barracuda 500Gig SATA drive to put in the enclosure – mainly because of its 5-year warranty and partly because I’ve had pretty good luck with Seagate drive reliability.

The enclosure will run about $50 and the 500Gig HD will run about $95, so for less than $150 you’ve got a 500Gig external hard drive with active cooling.  No worries if you’re concerned about the noise that a fan might introduce, the fan is so quiet I can’t even tell when the unit is turned on.  If 500Gig isn’t big enough for you, again no problem, just buy a bigger hard drive from the manufacturer of your choice.  I unboxed the enclosure and hard drive and had it plugged in and working in about 10 minutes.  All you need is a phillips-head screw driver.

I know what you’re thinking – you can probably go down to the local Staples or the like and get a 500Gig external USB drive for less, probably around $100-$129.  The thing to note is it would most likely be passively cooled (ie: no fan) and it’s probably only got a USB connection.  Many also only come with a 1-year warranty.

The Antec MX-1 does both USB and eSATA, with eSATA being a much faster mechanism for data transfer.  Additionally, the MX-1’s are stackable, so you can stack them vertically, and since they’re actively cooled, they won’t overheat.  Heck – you can even stack a few of them up and mirror them or set them up as a RAID 5 array for added data integrity (Note:  a RAID card may be needed if your motherboard doesn’t support these mirror/striping features, nowadays, many do). 

The array of cables that comes with the unit are also pretty impressive – it comes with a USB cable, an eSATA cable, an external power supply and an eSATA-to-SATA bracket.  You can use the bracket to plug into the SATA port inside your computer and connect the enclosure via the eSATA interface to get the fastest data transfer rate.  Those cables and brackets alone would probably cost you as much as the enclosure itself.  Since the unit has its own power supply, you can benefit from the fast transfer rates without having to wedge another hard drive into your computer (which may or may not be possible) and without having to beef up the power supply in your computer to handle the additional power load that adding additional hard drives brings with it.

With the changes that Vista and Windows Server 2008 made to the backup mechanisms (no support for tape drives), I plan on hooking one off these to each of my servers and workstations.  They’ll definitely help me sleep better at night.  I’m also looking into scripting file copies of the backup files to an offsite location for additional disaster recovery peace of mind.

Let’s do things a little differently…let’s think about backing up our data BEFORE we’ve actually lost it.  A wise man once told me that if you don’t have TWO copies of your data, then you don’t have any backup at all.  Do YOU have TWO copies of your data?  If not, just ask yourself how much time/money/effort is it going to cost you if {insert computer here} loses its hard drive today?

Doug White
http://twitter.com/cpuguru

Razor MX650 Electric Motocross Bike

We had an interesting addition from Santa last week – a Razor M650 Dirt Rocket.  We looked into the various electric scooter options from Razor and decided that an electric bike would probably be a safer alternative given my kids tendency to wipe out on his scooter.  We did the research and got the biggest model that Razor sells based on the reviews that we read.  The site lists them for 16 year olds and up but it’s much better sized perfectly for my 10 year old.   Their specs list the maximum weight at 220lbs (100kg), which I ALMOST make, but it was able to haul me around the development just fine.  It’s really hard to tell from the Razor site what the size of the machine actually is, so I took the pics below to give you some idea of scale.

Razor specs list the top speed of the MX650 at 17mph, which is quite fast enough for us.  We don’t want the little guy speeding around the development too fast.  They also claim that it’ll go up to 10 miles on a single charge.  We decided to do a little test and we took it around the development non-stop for about 8 miles before the low battery indicator started flashing, not too shabby considering it was in the low 40’s when we did the test.

I thought I’d give everyone a perspective of what the scale and features are of the MX650 in case they’re looking for possibly safer alternatives to the electric scooter craze.  Razor lists them at $509 on their site, but Amazon currently has them for $439 on their site (I got it for $397 back in November).

The issue bugging me now is this – if they can put out a 17mph unit like this for $400, why aren’t we seeing more adult-friendly electric scooter/motorcycle options for commuters in the low $1000’s?  Seems like it’s definitely doable, and I know I’d jump on something that I could drive to work solely on electric power for my daily commute.  Time to do some more research along those lines…

Doug White
http://twitter.com/cpuguru

Pumpkin Dip ala Tool Time

It’s that time of the year where I get to enjoy my favorite pumpkin-based desserts.  For Christmas, we decided to whip up some Pumpkin Dip…which is a sweet pumpkin-based mixture that you dip out with gingersnap cookies.

Part of the recipe called for “beating the cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth”.  Easier said than done as an 8 ounce brick of Philadelphia Cream Cheese is not easy to beat (unlike the Eagles, but we’ll save that posting for another day <ducks and runs>).  I tried the standard cordless mixer but it quickly lost its charge and didn’t even make a dent.  Not to be denied my pumpkin delight, I  broke out the big guns – an 18volt Skill cordless drill – which quickly whipped the cream cheese into shape.  What can I say…a man’s job is never done ;?)

A link to the Pumpkin Dip recipe can be found here - http://www.recipezaar.com/Pumpkin-Dip-147257

Enjoy!

Doug White

Christmas Pleo

Last Christmas I bought “Pleo the Dinosaur” for my son, and we’ve had a lot of fun with him.  Info on Pleo can be found on the Ugobe site www.pleoworld.com (which is apparently down for maintenance as I write this).  I just noticed that the price of Pleo has dropped about $135 from what I paid a year ago (price of early adoption) and they’re available for just over $200 at Amazon.

There are a number of freely downloadable “personality modules” for Pleo.  Below is a video that I shot this morning of Pleo with the “Holiday” personality module.

Enjoy,

Doug White

New XBox 360 Interface Look and Feel

Below is part 3 of the video series my son and I shot when we upgraded our XBox 360 in preparation for the new Avatar-based interface.  We signed into XBox Live and were prompted to install the new update.  The video below is what we experienced after the update completed and the system rebooted.

Doug White

XBox 360 Hard Drive Upgrade

I held off on upgrading the “OS” of my XBox 360 to the new Avatar-centric version that came out in November until after I upgraded its hard drive.  My unit still has an original 20Gig HD in it, and in anticipation of downloadable/streaming movie services like Netflix, I decided to go for the larger 120Gig drive.  The old disc was almost full of downloaded trailers, games, CD rips and the like, so it was time.

My son and I decided to film the process to give other potential upgraders some insight on what to expect.  We also filmed the XBox OS upgrade process as well and will post that soon.  I uploaded the videos to the new Silverlight Streaming service I uploaded the videos to YouTube and am linking to them for this particular post instead of uploading to YouTube or SoapBox or the like as an added experiment.  (Note: Switched to YouTube as the Silverlight Streaming would start downloading them upon entering the page, bogging down viewing the Spaces Blog page).  Enjoy the rundown on what’s needed to do the upgrade.

XBox 360 Hard Drive Upgrade Part 1 – moving your files over:

Xbox 360 Hard Drive Upgrade Part 2 – A lap around the Media Center functionality :

Enjoy!

Doug White

Lightship Overfalls Heads Out for Refit

The Lightship Overfalls - a historic landmark in Lewes, Delaware, started its journey south to have the hull repaired below the waterline.  Info on the Overfalls and the "Saving the Hull" progress is available on the Overfalls Maritime Museum Foundation website.  Here are some pictures taken this morning as she departed Lewes...

Doug White

Time For Some Campaignin'

The latest JibJab video pretty much says it all.  Enjoy the campaignin' in the weeks ahead and decide who's going to come through for you and who's blowing smoke (at least more smoke than the other guys ;?)

Doug White

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 Available for Download

Microsoft is now making "Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008" available for download.  Unlike the Hyper-V role-based virtualization that's available under Windows Server 2008, the Hyper-V Server product does not require a host operating system to run under.  This puts it more in-line with products like VMWare's ESXi product, also a free download.  Neither requires a parent (host) operating system to run under and both are administered via remote management interfaces now.

According to the Microsoft site, Hyper-V Server 2008 is ideal for "basic server consolidation, branch office consolidation and hosted desktop virtualization (VDI)".  It's pointed out that customers wanting large memory support (>32GB of RAM) and more than 4 processors on the host server should use Windows Server 2008 + Hyper-V.

I'll go through the motions of installing the new Hyper-V Server on a dev box later on and try to post a webcast of the process.

Doug White

International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge 2008

Awesome visualizations in this years International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge.  Take time to scope out the slideshow (I especially liked the video in #16). 

MSNBC also has a page with tons of other "Science You Can See" links and resources.  Another great resource both for your own amazement and for use in the classroom.

Doug White

Belkin Mini Surge Protector

I just picked up a handy little travel gadget - a Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger.  I don't know how many times I've been hunting for an open power outlet in an airport - or even in a hotel room in many instances - and wished I had something like this.  It includes (3) AC outlets and (2) powered USB charging ports.  The power plug rotates so you can either run it horizontally or vertically, depending on the layout of the outlet you're plugging into.  Having one of these on my travels not only enables me to share the wealth of an outlet with 2 other travelers, but it also allows me to charge up my phone and any other mini-USB-charged devices at the same time.  I can leave those USB wall-warts back at home and just bring some USB to mini-USB cables and I'm all set.

Included in the box are the surge protector (up to 918 joules of surge protection) and (1) USB to mini-USB cable.  Another added bonus is a $75,000 connected equipment warranty wherein (from the verbage on the box) "Belkin will repair or replace any equipment damaged by a surge, spike, or lightning strike while properly connected to our surge protector, up to the maximum value stated".  A handy power adapter plus cheap insurance for less than $20.  I shot a couple of pictures at various angles so you'd get a sense of what it includes:

Doug White

Large Hadron Rap

Okay guys - back to some science content.  Not only is this rap video cool, so is the "LHC" or "Large Hadron Collider" - which is currently being cooled down to an operating temperature of -271 degrees C.  The LHC is the worlds largest particle accelerator and is scheduled to get its first full loop test on Sept 10th. 

If you've got extra CPU cycles to spare and want to get involved in some simulation work - sign up for the LHC@Home project - a distributed computing project based on the Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing (BOINC).

Doug White

Paris Responds to McCain Ad

Turn-about is fair play - McCain used a shot of "celebrity" Paris Hilton in his video - her video response follows (and pretty quickly I might add).

Hmmmm....we've been wanting a female president haven't we?  This one's much easier on the eyes than any of the other contenders ;?)

Doug White

Live Mail Lives!

Yaaay!  My Live Mail nightmare is finally over!

Peter Laudati - a local Developer Evangelist from Microsoft managed to get me hooked up with Stephen Sisk from the Live team.  (Thanks Peter!)  Mr. Sisk took a genuine interest in my plight and stayed in regular contact as the Live Mail guys worked through whatever *issues* the Live Mail servers were having with my account.  (Thanks Stephen!)

My first clue that the issues had been corrected was when my Windows Live Mail client miraculously sync'd the folder structure while checking my mail a week or so ago.  The Inbox began accumulating messages that were received from that date forward, but not any messages received before.  Stephen suggested that I remove the account from the Live Mail client and then re-add it.  That did the trick.  When the folder structure synchronized after re-creating the account, all of the old Inbox, Deleted and Sent items sync'd just as they should - even the older ones.

Many thanks to Peter and Stephen for helping to bring this issue to a happy ending!

Doug

Hands Free Law

I ran across this video the other day that makes fun of the new California "Hands Free" law - wherein California makes it illegal to hold a cell phone and have a conversation.  Ironically, you can still legally text message somebody and drive in California from what I'm told (disclaimer: I am not a legal expert, nor do I play one on daytime TV - so I could be completely wrong about this). 

If you're going to go so far as to make it illegal to hold a cellphone and talk - why would they (or anybody else) stop there and still allow texting from your cellphone or PDA?  With texting, you actually have to look away from the road while you read over your messages as well as read the responses.  I know of one person who's 16-year-old son died last year and they determined that he was text messaging at the time of the crash.  Why would that be any safer than talking on a phone?  Come on guys...if anything, texting should be outlawed while driving. 

Doug

Live Mail Fail (still)

Okay...a few more weeks have passed, and surely my Live Mail Woes issues that I blogged about in June are resolved, right?  WRONG!  Oh I keep hoping...today's the day...today's the day that I'm going to click on "Download" and my folders will sync up and all will be right in the world.

So I click onward and nothing happens.  Perhaps I didn't click hard enough - CLICK - maybe with my left hand, yeah, that's the ticket - CLICK - arrrggggh!  No joy.  Maybe it's a problem with Vista x64 - I'll install Live Mail on Vista 32-bit edition - that'll solve the problem - CLICK (on Vista 32) - nothing...  Maybe Live Mail doesn't like Vista, I'll install Live Mail on XP Pro - good ol' XP Pro - never lets me down - okey dokey, XP install's done, Live Mail's installed and - CLICK - STILL nothing! 

Excuse me if I'm a tad dubious about signing up for the Microsoft Online Services new offerings of Exchange Hosted Services.

Granted, the Live Mail offering is "free" - as in it isn't costing me up-front money to have the mail account - (I'm guessing the payback is the important demographic and contextual info they're gathering from my emailings and the like).   That said, I have an expectation of some semblance of service and support for the account.  Simple expectations along the lines of if I inform Microsoft of a problem with their service, then perhaps they'll actually fix said problem and maybe even restore my accounts folder integrity within say.....two months????  Is that too much to ask? 

As it is now, if somebody were to ask about my opinion of the Live Edu mail hosting offerings from Microsoft I'd have to say "No Thank You" in light of what I'm seeing now.  And if businesses were to ask about the Exchange Hosting Services?  Same thing...I can only recommend what I've had good success with, and so far, my Live Mail hosting story is nothing to email home about...oh yeah, I couldn't if I wanted to 'cause my folders won't download!

Maybe they'd better slap a "Beta" tag on their header like GMail does.  That way they'd at least have the excuse that "it's still in beta - whataya expect?".

Doug White

Password Complexity Requirements

Okay - yet another one of my pet peeves.  I installed the Adobe CS3 web suite and had to log into the Adobe site to pull down the authorization key to get this puppy fired up.  Typical steps - enter email, set a password and...what's this?  Adobe didn't like my choice of passwords?

Enter the pet peeve.  I HATE it when I run into these draconian IT guys who think that they're keeping me so much safer by enforcing the security wisdom passed down through the generations - that a good password is a "complex" password.  Ancient IT guy say password must have numbers + alpha characters + symbols.  Heck, while we're at it, let's throw in some Alt-character symbols while we're at it - right?  Time for these guys to attend a SANS security class...it's password length, not complexity, that makes it harder to brute-force your password.  Come up with a good pass-phrase of >15 characters and mis-spell some of the words.  That'll be tough to crack and easier to remember.

So do yourself and your users a favor and quit adhering to legacy logic.  Let 'em put in whatever passwords they want and maybe force a minimum length - do away with all that "complexity" nonsense.  It just makes us have to write the passwords down and paste them to the monitor - or better yet - on a sticky note under the keyboard - nobody will EVER think to look under there ;?)

Doug White

Live Mail Woes Continue...

On May 6th I was doing a re-install of the OS on my laptop and I installed Live Mail - which had previously been working fine.  That was up until the "unable to synchronize folders" issue reared its ugly head.  This time, when I was setting up my Live Mail account under Windows Live Mail, it wasn't able to synchronize the Inbox, Junk, Drafts, Sent and Deleted folders.  No error pop-ups as to what happened, just the ever-present "Download" button at the top of the screen - which, when clicked, does absolutely nothing whatsoever.

Eager to get things fixed, I emailed Live Mail support.  As expected, they needed log files, screen shots, uninstalls, reinstalls, delete sections from the registry, etc.  The usual cadre of troubleshooting steps that we've all come to know and love.  I was even running into intermittent "unable to sync" issues with my Mobile 6.1 device, so it was pretty obvious that the issue wasn't with the client - it was with the server.  Their response to that last piece of info?  I'd need to take that one up with the Mobile guys as a separate trouble ticket ;?)

Finally, after a couple of weeks of this, I was told that the problem had been escalated and that they were very sorry for the hassles I was encountering.  That means that my problems are over...escalation means I'm getting the top-of-the-line support guys...the ones that can get things fixed, right?  Wrong!  A couple of more weeks passed and still no word.  I replied to the support email again and asked for a status update...pleading for them to check the folder structure on the mail server...better yet...move my account over to a different server...at least do SOMETHING.  Again, the "we're sorry for your problems and we're looking into it" response from yet another tech.  And oh, by the way, we won't be moving your account to another server and that "this is being dealt with utmost priority and that the product group is working diligently to have this problem fixed as soon as possible". 

Okay, now we're going on week 6 and still no joy.  The screen shot above is from yet another system that I have Vista on...and I get the same results on an XP box as well.  Come on guys - you can do it - just get'r fixed.  Or at least give me my money back for the Live account ;?)

Doug White