D-Link DI-524

 *Update* check out this posting. I do NOT recommend this router.

D-Link DI-524I’m sitting here now with a new D-Link DI-524 on my desk. I ordered this to replace my venerable WRT54G. The WRT54G is generally a well regarded wireless router but if you search my blog for “WRT54G” you’ll see some of the interesting issues I’ve faced with it over the past couple of years. I’ll shortly be configuring the D-Link. My hope is that I’ll be able to re-enable WEP and 802.11g wireless communications. My primary motivation for replacing my existing router is that it seems to periodically “stall” which can be very irritating. Not only does your web surfing grind to a halt, but any VPN connections your are maintaining drop like hot potatos. Most of the time it seems resetting the WRT54G has resolved these outages but I have my suspicions about my Comcast Motorola modem and the Vonage Linksys RT31P2. I’m not an expert on networks so there are probably plenty of tools out there that could help me accurately determine where the failure lies when I have problems, but the wireless encryption issue helped push the WRT54G to the head of the list. It was very difficult to decide on a replacement router. Reading the reviews on CNet and other sources yielded no obviously superior products out there. They ALL seem to have their issues. The up and coming “N” standard has some appeal, but I don’t have a lot of faith that the “Pre-N” offerings would conform to the standards without a lot of monkeying about. Not only does the router need to be upgraded but also any wireless cards would need to be flashed or somehow updated too. One thing that seems very obvious to me is that the lay-user doesn’t stand a chance if they wish to purchase one of these devices and really be safe. For instance, my WRT54G allows you to use WAP as well as WEP encryption schemes, but the associated Linksys wireless drivers do not implement WAP on my laptop and Desktop. WEP can only be implemented using the 1st of the 4 possible keys generated from the passphrase on one of my devices (I *think* the other device will allow me to use other than the first one). I’m sure the D-Link will have its share of quirks so I’ll post a quick review of how it compares with the WRT54G when I install it. But I have high hopes that its particular quirks will be for things that I don’t need or care about.

D-Link DI-524 – so far I’m impressed

 *Update* check out this posting. I do NOT recommend this router.

Just finished configuring my DI-524, WEP enabled, MAC filtered and all and so far I’m very impressed. Performance seems to be MUCH better than my Linksys WRT54G.

I have a machine in my den at the front of the house (about 45 feet from the router plus going through about 4-5 interior walls) which, using the WRT54G I usually maxed out at 18 Mbps and more often hovered in the 5.5 – 11 range. With the new router I seem to be holding steady at 24 Mbps and it flirts with 36 (instead of with 18…) on a regular basis.
Since that machine is usually unattended the speed was never really an issue but I see it as an indicator.

Also, all my devices appear to be happy with the WEP encryption turned on. My little Roku soundbridge is merrily putting out my favorite songs with nary a hiccough.
Even more impressive to me is that I recycled the DI-524 and none of my devices complained. Not even the extra-sensitive Roku.

So far the only outstanding issue apppears to be that my BitTorrent client (Azureus) doesn’t seem to be able to get through the new configuration properly. I’ll post an update if I figure it out, the directions from D-Link for port forwarding are pretty straightforward but this doesn’t seem to help.

More Details – This Article indicates how to set up a virtual server port forwarding to the machine you run Azureus on. You also should choose a different port from Azureus’ default (6881) since it seems ISPs like to block it. I also have a Vonage Linksys RT31P2 router sitting between the D-Link and my cable modem so I also needed to forward the port I chose through that router too.

x41 Tablet delivery update

It’s almost here. The computer and its accessories are coming in two different shipments, one from Shanghai China, the other from Hong Kong.
1106

1108
It’s funny that, when I first saw the package progress, my mind kept translating the “CN” that is “China” to “Cincinnati”. The times were even all wrong – in the future by over half a day. That really should have been a hint.

I think I cerebrally have always understood that a lot of my consumer goods come from China, but that fact is usually masked by a vast net of retail distribution outlets. Somehow, tracking my packages directly from the Orient in this way makes them seem exotic.
I suppose “exotic” means “comes from far away” in my mind 🙂

I almost picked up the movie “Big Trouble in Little China” in honor of the Shanghai source of half of the shipment…

I’m not quite sure when the packages will arrive, the only delivery date I see is a “Resched Delivery” one that yesterday gave yesterday’s date and today, well.. says today’s date. Given the track record of things coming from Kentucky (where both packages resided as of about 3 am today) I’m betting that I’ll actually receive them on Monday. I’m not sure that UPS actually makes deliveries here in “the bible belt” on Sundays.

It’s Not Funny If I Have to Explain It : A Dilbert Treasury

It\'s Not Funny If I Have to Explain It : A Dilbert Treasury (Dilbert Books (Paperback Andrews McMeel)) It’s Not Funny If I Have to Explain It : A Dilbert Treasury.

Like many of Scott Adams’ “Dilbert” books now, there is a fair amount of repetition in this treasury. But the comments after each of the cartoons makes this worthwhile. As scary as it can be to wander around in this realm, I *do* like to know what Scott is thinking when he creates his mini-masterpieces.

So I definitely think this is a worthwhile addition to my collection.

Lenovo X41 Tablet PC Purchase

I finally had to break down and pick up one of these fine machines. I’ve been itching to get one for a while now.

Since the IBM (now Lenovo for the laptops) site is ever changing – I’m not sure that I’ve ever managed to find the same page more than once – I’ve copied the spec sheet onto my own website and you can view it here.

The tablet PC format sold me right off the bat, but there are a lot of them out there. This one is very light, about 4+ pounds with the 8 cell battery attached. The battery is *supposed* to give up to 6.5 hours of working time – we’ll see. But it should be much better than the 2+ that I am used to with laptops.

Also slick is the integrated biometric fingerprint reader to unlock the machine and to supply passwords to various applications.

Here is some more info on the x41.

Take a peek and tell me what you think.

Synergy – KM solution

**Update 1/24/2006***
Don’t download the 1.2.7 release, use instead 1.2.6. There is a problem with numlock and shift keys with the 1.2.7. I installed it and went back to 1.2.6 and am still very happy.
***End Update 1/24/2006**

Where KM is just a play on KVM (Keyboard, Video, Mouse). If you ever deal with more than one computer on your desktop and have plenty of screens but want to get yourself down to one keyboard and mouse, this is a solution for you.

I find the cramped keyboard and pointing solutions associated with laptop computers to be fine if you’re on the road. They are designed to work in a confined space and meet that need admirably. However, given the choice, I prefer the nicer feeling “real” keyboard with a separate keypad all the keys where my fingers “remember” them from years of touch-typing.
And nothing I’ve tried yet matches the precision and intuitiveness of a mouse for day-to-day GUI operations (note I’m not talking about specialized apps like gaming and the like).

Synergy (from Sourceforge.net) is a free software solution allows you to choose your primary computer and then allows you to control both the mouse and the keyboard for any number of different other computers. Linux, Windows, whatever, this will work. It even lets you share your clipboard across the different machines.

You can line up 5 laptops side-by-side and just run your mouse across all 5 screens if you choose. You can even go so far as to synchronize the screen savers.

All that’s required is that they all be talking via TCP/IP on the same network.

Take a look at it and don’t just dismiss it out of hand. It can take a few minutes to get your head around what it offers. This is a rock-solid application that impresses me a LOT.

Best Rollup/Wrap

Ever since immigrating to the United States from Canada, I’ve been looking for a restaurant that can replace the venerable Swiss Chalet. Their menu has grown incredibly over the past 10 or so years to obscure their real purpose for existing (the Chicken on a Kaiser with fries). But Swiss Chalet is still a no nonsense, value-for-the-money place to go and get a reliable meal that pretty much everybody will enjoy.

I’ve not been able to find a place that offers the basic, satisfying food that is as ubiquitous as Swiss Chalet, but due largely to their Chicken Fajita Roll-up, Applebee’s restaurant is a rising star on my short list of reliable, satisfying places to eat.

Worst French Fries

Rather than damning an entire Country, which would be consistent with my accolades for Moroccan French fries, I just wanted to highlight a glaring shortcoming of an otherwise fine restaurant.

Now that Kentucky Fried Chicken (now KFC) has changed their fries they no longer qualify as the worst you can get. Those of us old enough to remember can recall that the cardboard box that Kentucky Fried Chicken fries used to come in actually rivalled the fries in flavor.

No, the fries I’m talking about today are julienne, but dry and tasteless. They exactly remove any pleasure from any plate upon which they reside no matter how good the entree. I’m talking, of course, of the French fries offered by Ted’s Montana Grill.

I’ve been to three of their locations now and I have to hand it to them, their fries are consistent. I asked the wait staff about these fries and they’ve even taken them back and returned with freshly cooked batches to see if it made a difference. In the end they usually agree that the fries really aren’t their strong suit.

What could possibly explain this? I *have* to think that owner Ted Turner or whomever is proxying for him in selecting the menu items simply has dramatically different tastes than I do. If it was a case of bad ingredients or sloppy cooking technique surely replacement fries and different restaurants would uncover that.

Have you ever gone to a seafood restaurant and ordered a steak? I always find that they never do a very good job of it, frequently charring the meat and making it as unpalatable as possible. You may argue that it’s not their forté, after all they *are* a seafood house. But I argue that, if you can grill fish without scorching it, you can certainly at least not massacre a steak. No, I’m subscribing to the more paranoid notion that chefs that work at a seafood restaurant feel that if you visit such an establishment and order something so culinarily contrary to the restaurant’s mission, you deserve to have a terrible meal.

I’m tending towards a similar theory for Ted’s Montana Grill French fries. Could it be that food elitists feel that ordering the lowly French fry with your exquisite Bison-based meal is tantamount to heresy? And your punishment is to endure the worst that can be offered?

As you may have guessed by now, French fries are an extraodinarily important aspect of most restaurant’s offerings. If they aren’t good, I’m usually not a repeat customer.