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Something or another

Sean Et Cetera — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:21:48 +0000

I decided that I no longer want sean-ward.com to run SweetCron (and I’m not sure I want to update to LifePress) and that I had a lot of junk on my blog; I tidied up a bit and kept the posts that appeared to be the most relevant (to Google anyway). I’m still debating what to use my webspace for, but I’m not sure if much is going to be done with this domain; I may pick up another one (if I can figure out what I want to do with it in the first place).

Omnipternet

Sean Et Cetera — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 19:59:12 +0000

My brother is convinced that due my time surfing, I’ve come across many bits of knowledge which I’ve managed to recall when needed. When I mentioned this to a friend, his response was simply a word that might describe the concept: omnipternet. While it may not follow the correct way the word should be formed, the definition is “omnipotence gained by the existence and use of the Internet”.

Surprisingly (or not) the word “omnipternet” cannot be found by a Google search. Really, this post is being done to alleviate that problem.

On the down side, another definition of omnipternet could be “see Skynet“. That’s a lot less comforting, but fortunately, August 4, 1997 has come and gone.

Windows Vista error Code 80072F8F

Sean Et Cetera — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:34:20 +0000

I saw this error code this past weekend when I was working on my parents’ new laptop, which runs Windows Vista Home (I think that’s the version). It took me a while to figure out, but all it meant was that there was an issue trying to get an update. The reason: the computer’s date had been set 4 years into the past. Once I went and corrected the date, Vista was able to update correctly. Take that, Code 80072F8F!

After testing this on my work computer, I found that this also that the McAfee AutoUpdate will fail to update as well if the computer’s date is in the past as well. So, if you see that error message in Vista, or have issues with antivirus and other programs failing to update, check the date.

Settlers of Catan for the colorblind

Sean Et Cetera — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 01:47:13 +0000

First, let me say that Settlers of Catan is a great game. Everyone should try and play it a couple of times. Imagine the fun that you expect to have when playing Monopoly, but actually having fun when you do play! That’s not something that happens with monopoly. Anyway, the link to the Wiki article does a good job of explaining the game for now, which is not the point of this post anyway.

As some of you know, I am colorblind, so when I opened the Settlers of Catan 5-6 Player Expansion box, I gazed upon the new color pieces dishearteningly, as they were brown and green (I think). Anyway, I have always kept these out of game play because I cannot tell them apart. That, and we have only played with more than four people once, and that was only with five.

That was, of course, until this weekend. Here is a set of Settlers of Catan pieces (Settlers Expansion and Seafarers Expansion) that I painted grey… Bridgeport Grey, to be exact. The brown set is no more, and now there are 6 different colors to use with my copies of Settlers. I sorted them by attempting (and failing) to sort them myself until Meghan corrected my apparently obvious mistakes.

I’m thinking that I might paint all my pieces to make my copy of Settlers of Catan a little personalized, possibly get an adobe/stucco color for the buildings and paint their roofs the color of the set and paint the hulls of the ships brown but make the sails the color of the set. Once I know I have a job come the new year, I’m going to consider how I’ll do this. I’m also going some sort of sealant, as the paint is probably going to chip and wear with constant use.

Making a bootable USB drive with BartPE or UBCD4Win

Sean Et Cetera — Fri, 31 Mar 2006 19:16:13 +0000

At work, we use a tool called Ultimate Boot CD for Windows (UBCD). What this does is allows us to place the CD into a computer that isn’t booting, such as with malware issues, missing .dll files, etc, but not hardware issues, and boot up a version of Windows that is loaded into the system’s memory. By doing this, we can then edit the registry, even if there is malware that would hide the registry entry via a rootkit, delete problem causing files, such as worms that have a known file name, and even back up the files to an external USB HD, so that a client’s information can be saved prior to a format of an otherwise dead system.

I had been asked by my boss, as well as searching independently prior to his asking, for a way to laod the UBCD version of Windows off of a USB drive instead. I had found some sites that gave ways to attempt it, such as Windows In Your Pocket off of Tom’s Hardware, but for whatever reason, that method proved to not work. Earlier this week I decided to give it another go, and I managed to find a program that would make a USB drive bootable and then load a BartPE (Bart Preinstalled Environment) installation onto it. BartPE is what the UBCD is built around, with the UBCD adding many more plugins and other tools to BartPE.

In order to do this, you will need the items listed below. I’m am going to mention the items needed to create the UBCD build as well.

Follow the directions on how to build the UBCD4Win:
1. A Windows XP CD, with at least Service Pack 1. I know that at BGSU, the bookstore is selling Windows XP on DVDs. I imagine that it really doesn’t affect the process, but don’t quote me on that. If your CD does not have Service Pack 1, you could the service pack and create a bootable CD.
2. BartPE, UBCD4Win, and the UBCD4Win drivers, from the UBCD4Win download page.
Download PeToUSB and extract it to a folder on your hard drive.

Now that’s left is to follow the directions for building the UBCD4Win and then the readme file for Boot BartPE from USB, and eventually, you’ll have a bootable USB ready to go. I personally used a 512MB Cruzer Titanium. The only downside was that I ended up only having 70MB free once everything was said and done. As UBCD4Win has more on it than BartPE, you could remove items you don’t need from UBCD4Win, or just use BartPE, to get more available room on the USB. Prior to placing UBCD4Win on the USB drive, I had placed BartPE on it, and it worked no problem.

Yes, not every computer out there can boot from USB, but most computers made in the last couple years can. So, if you are going to be working on older computers, you should make sure you have a actual UBCD around.

Now I have a bootable version of Windows with me on my keychain where ever I go.

Mounting a Linksys WRT54G router

Sean Et Cetera — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 20:25:41 +0000

You could do the official thing and buy a Linksys SM01 Wall Mount and Stacking Bracket, or you could just use two picture hangers and stick the “hanger” portion of the hangers into the two holes in the bottom of the legs you want to be “on top”. There’s then still plenty of room to put the Ethernet cables between the router and the wall.

Total cost: $0.00 (absorbed). I had already purchased the picture hangers for other things.

And now I have that much more desk space. Woot.