Digital Choke Daynotes

 Monday, October 18, 2004       mail    link   the story

A quick reminder to try out the Simple Steps for Safe Computing. And to share that information with others.

Spent a lot of yesterday and tonight working on my problem with slow startup of programs. The network trace/sniff shows that there is some DNS name queries going on to a server on the work network. I've played around with the netstat and other commands, but no improvement.

I did try a "repair this connection" in the Network Connections screen. That has improved things a bit. The programs start a bit faster, but the DNS name query is still in the sniffer capture. It's getting a bit late, so I'll have to try some more things tomorrow.

Some interesting things in the news.

This guy had some bad luck with gravity: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/17/content_2102407.htm , (link fixed - thanks, Brian C.) although the house owner reportedly said "The satellite landed in our home. Maybe this means we'll have good luck this year.''

Newsweek magazine has come out with their judgement of the 10 ideas that are "Inventing the Future". One of them is the "space elevator" made out of buckyballs. This layman found it interesting. Story is here.

 Tuesday, October 19, 2004       mail    link   the story

Stormy today, as predicted by the weather dweebs, although it was 5 hours after their prediction. So we woke up to some good winds as a precursor to the rain that followed for most of the day. It was a day that I decided to work from home.

After a breakfast of the usual ("two scoops" for you non-regulars) and reading the paper (front to back, ending up with the comics), I set up the laptop on the kitchen table. In front of me are the windows to the west, which is the usual direction of the storm, so I had a nice view of things the whole day.

Lots of wind, averages about 20 mph, gusts to 40-45 mph, but no damage in my neighborhood. The gutters didn't flood, the rain drained properly, and the patio cover is still there. I did a walk around the house between storm cells, and all was well. At the prior house, I'd be up on a ladder cleaning out the willow leaves from the gutter. In the rain, of course, since I would usually procrastinate the task until during the first rainstorm. Didn't need to do that here, which is a good thing, since this is a two-story house.

The laptop is working a bit better. There is still some DNS traffic trying to get to the work server, even without the VPN connection active. I did activate that connection for most of the day, grabbing files and mail from the work servers. I tried several combinations of with/without the wireless connection, VPN connection, but the delay in starting the programs seems to be much less. Not sure what fixed things, but I'll be keeping an eye on things to see if the problem comes back.

Along with some work-related stuff, I did some minor editing of the "Simple Steps for Safe Computing" page. Then, following my own instructions, I shared the information with Dr. Jerry Pournelle, who has a few more visitors on his site than I do. He was kind enough to publish my letter on his page. You might also be interested in this week's column on Byte magazine, although you have to subscribe to see it. I've enjoyed reading his columns in Byte magazine for many years. The subscription cost is worth it to read what he has to say about the computer industry.

I note with happiness that John Dominik has started his new day job, back in the computer support position in a company that is very lucky to have him around. It was a long struggle for him since his last computer gig. He is part of the Daynotes Gang, and is a daily stop on my Internet rounds. Good luck in the new job, John!

And thanks to Brian C, who alerted me to a bad link on the Chinese satellite story on yesterday's post. I had an extra space character in the link, so it didn't work. All better now.

Over at Wired News, there's a story about a guy that has invented (and producing) a global TV remote control that turns off any television in the area. The guy thinks it is quite funny, although he claims it is to help people get out of the television habit. I suspect he should stay out of the sports bars...and my house.

 Wednesday, October 20, 2004       mail    link   the story

The weather cleared up today; this afternoon was sunny with some scattered clouds. Up in the hills (Sierra Nevada mountains, east of Sacramento), there are some dark clouds. The storm that came through here yesterday (with record rain and wind) deposited around 3-4 feet of snow in the mountains. One of the ski resorts (Boreal) will be opening up this weekend. This is a bit early for snow (and rainstorms of this magnitude) around here. But much needed; it's been quite dry the past few years.

I took Pam to the airport this mid-morning. Stacy (youngest daughter, in the nursing program at BYI-Idaho in Rexburg) is still having some unknown health problems. Pam went back to help her out through all the diagnostics. She has some great roommates and friends there, but it will be helpful to have Pam there to drive her to her appointments and ask the doctors questions.

So, I'm "home alone" again. But not a problem. I know how to work the microwave, and there are many fast food places nearby. And I do like Raisin Bran and toast.

In computer security news, I see that someone hacked into the University of California at Berkeley's computer system that contained personal information (name, addresses, phone numbers, social security number) of 1.4 million Californians who are participants in the state's In-Home Supportive Services program.

It is not clear if the information was transferred to the hacker, nor if any identity theft problems have already occurred. But they are recommending that participants put fraud alerts with the three major credit reporting agencies.

One story is here at The Register. The California Dept of Social Services site is here with more info, including a FAQ about what to do.

The stories both note that the FBI, and the California Highway Patrol (?!) are investigating. Not sure why the CHP is in there, though.

Anyone involved in that program would be well advised to get a current credit report and place the fraud alert. They should also closely monitor their financial accounts, although no financial info (credit card/bank account numbers) was in the possibly stolen database. Even if you are not involved in the program, the information on those sites might be helpful.

On the laptop problem, I am getting closer to determining the problem, although haven't gotten to the permanent solution. Since we have a Novell network at work, I have the Novell client installed on the laptop. That allows me to get into my network drives (after authenticating via the VPN connection). I don't always log into the network via the Netware client; only when I need to grab a file from my network drives.

So I looked at the current Netware connections box, with the VPN active, but not logged into the Netware tree. The connections box showed a connection to one of the Netware servers, although I was not authenticated (logged in). Not sure why that would be so. I disconnected that connection, and the slow-starting program problem is no more.

The next step is to figure out why that unauthenticated connections is active. A bit more research on that tonight. But I am getting closer to the ultimate solution.

One of the things that happened yesterday while I was home during the storm was a call from my mother-in-law. She was having problems with her car that seemed to be battery-related. So she came by, and we popped open the hood on her 1999 Camry.

Immediately, I noticed 'steam' coming from two of the vents in the battery. Not a normal thing. So I carefully removed the battery caps, and noticed that the battery fluid in those cells was bubbling. Again, not a normal thing.

I got out the hygrometer, and found that two of the cells had lower readings than the others. That indicates a failing battery; or at least improper charging.

Figuring out a battery/charging circuit problem is pretty easy. With the car turned off, measure the voltage at the battery posts. It should be 11.5-12.5 volts. Then turn on the car, and measure again (watching out for fans and belts, of course). This measurement should be around 14.5 volts. That indicates a properly working battery and charging circuit. If the voltage is higher (15+ volts), then you probably have a bad voltage regulator in the alternator/generator. If the voltage is lower than the value with the car engine off, then you have a bad alternator/generator.

So, that was my plan. Get out the digital voltmeter, and then discover that the meter's battery was dead. Since the battery looked to be the original, it would be about 6 years old, and at the end of it's expected life. So off to the local auto parts store to get a new car battery, and a stop at the local Radio Shack to get a set of batteries for the meter.

Back at home, the measurements showed that the charging circuit was OK, so the battery needed replacement. That didn't take long (although you do need to be careful if you have a fancy radio with a security code that runs off the car battery -- you can kill the radio). Put the new battery in, added those red and green felt things on the battery posts (to reduce 'battery gunk' buildup), hook up the cables, install the hold-down, then make sure that there were no tools laying around the engine compartment.

Then did a voltage measurement with the car engine off, then with it on, and the readings were normal. Checked the fluid levels in the car (OK), and the tire tread (OK), and the mother-in-law was suitably impressed with my car repair skills.

And I was glad that I didn't have to replace the alternator. A bit more difficulty, and prone to some damage to the skin on my hand.

See, I don't just talk about computers here. I have other minor skills.

 Thursday, October 21, 2004       mail    link   the story

Hmm. The 'fix' I figured out last night about the laptop problem didn't work. After a restart (which I didn't try last night), the slowness has returned.

The good news is that Stacy's problem of not feeling well (slight headaches, fuzzy vision, mild dehydration) seems to be caused by her use of a prescription medicine for mild acne. She stopped taking it a few days ago, and has gradually gotten a bit better.

She had a CT head scan because of the blurred vision and headache symptons. Until they did that and some other diagnostic tests, there was a bit of worry about major problems. But the doctors said the tests came back normal, slightly dehydrated. The vision change may be a side effect. But generally healthy, which is a good thing.

So Pam will return on Saturday. We figured that she deserved a no-stress day there before flying back here.

So, another night alone in the "big house". Had a fried egg sandwich for dinner, which was good for a change. Started reading "The Hanged Man's Song" by John Sandford. It's a novel about some computer hackers, and seems interesting so far.

 Saturday, October 23, 2004       mail    link   the story

Rainy day today, so stayed inside, except for the trip to the airport to pick up Pam. All is well in Idaho, although Pam is a bit tired. And there was a trip to the local grocery store to pick up supplies for Sunday dinner. Among those supplies was a fresh bag of baby "Baby Ruth" candy bars. They are my favorite, but I try to limit myself to two of them a day.

Still working on the laptop problem. I decided to try removing the Novell network client software. Of course when you do that, the login screen changes to the 'welcome screen' with an icon for each user name. There is a way to get around that, though, which I discovered after a Google search. Buried in the registry is a setting for the 'logon type'. But you can also get to it on the user accounts, in a setting called "change the way users log in".

You can also get the 'classic' login box by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del twice at the login screen.

After all that work, including moving the document files around between the different users, I got my desktop back to normal. But the slow program loading is still there. So it's back to some more Googling. An interesting excercise, though.

I watched "Father of the Bride" this afternoon. Good movie. I can relate to a lot of it, having gone through the wedding of my oldest daughter several years ago. I still got some chuckles out of it, along with some rememberences of the same feelings of the Steve Martin character.

There's a total eclipse of the moon scheduled for Wednesday night. The story here has quite a few details of the event, with a map of who gets to see it. It will be happening during the baseball game, so perhaps more will be able to see it via TV. Moon eclipses have a special place in our family. There was one back in 1975 that I used as the occasion of my proposal to Pam. That decision worked out pretty well.