Monthly Archives: May 2007

Replacing a Router with IPCop

For reasons that will become clear if you read further, I have three pieces of advice: Do not expect a home cable/DSL router like the LinkSys WRT54G to work at capacity. It’s fine for a little Web surfing and some … Continue reading

Posted in Computers | 6 Comments

MySQL Server has gone away

I got an error message from MySQL last week that said, “The MySQL server has gone away.” I thought it an odd message, but since I was changing settings, configuring a driver, and experimenting with my program, I figured that … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Idiocy | 1 Comment

Slow Buffalo LinkStation

I bought a Buffalo LinkStation last summer and installed it on the office network. David and I used it a bit for a while, but then our needs changed and it mostly sat there idle. I’d back up the odd … Continue reading

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Fast, Neat, Average

It’s frightening sometimes what the brain retains. One of the many make-work jobs a fourth class cadet at the Air Force Academy has to endure is filling out the Form O-96 (that’s “Form oh dash nine six”) at the end … Continue reading

Posted in Memories | Comments Off

Documentation Headaches

You’d think that published documentation would be checked for correctness. I’m just getting started writing the code that parses files that use Microsoft’s Advanced Systems Format (ASF), and I ran across a rather confusing bit of documentation. The Header Extension … Continue reading

Posted in Oops, Programming | Comments Off

What kind of music is that?

My long-term work project involves reading music and video files to extract what is called “metadata”–text information that is embedded in the file. A .MP3 music file, for example, often has a lot of information in it: the song title, … Continue reading

Posted in Odds 'n Ends | 3 Comments

Paranoid License Agreements

Part of my project involves extracting metadata from media files. .MP3 music files, for example, often contain the song title, album, artists, and other information (including lyrics, sometimes). Not all media formats allow for metadata, but the major ones do, … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, Idiocy, Programming | Comments Off

Norton AntiVirus

I’d never used anti-virus software on my personal computer until I bought this notebook two years ago. I’d never had trouble with worms, viruses, trojans, or other malware, but people I trust and respect convinced me that I was just … Continue reading

Posted in Computers, User Interface | 2 Comments