Category: computerhardware
Router Hack
I’m of the mind that if something isn’t broke, I don’t fix it. This is especially true of computer hardware. I have friends and work associates that believe in over-clocking their computer motherboards, hacking their TiVo’s, and their Xboxes. While I freely admit that I had my Xbox hacked, I generally am the first to laugh at people when their overburdened and modified hardware takes a dump.
However, there was a very good reason to hack my router. Living in an apartment, I have to compete with several other routers within broadcast range for wireless bandwidth. This normally isn’t a huge issue as I don’t consume mass amounts of wireless bandwidth, but the arrival of my Nintendo Wii changed all that. My Wii is positioned two walls away from my wireless router, and that means it generally can’t make it through a software update without erroring-out.
After hacking my router using this handy tutorial, I can now select my router wireless transmit power. More power means a clearer signal for my secure wireless network and therefore more bandwidth. And no more unhappy Wii.
Posted: 10.21.2007Broadband Theft
While doing my daily Slashdot surfing, I came across this story detailing how British police are cracking down on broadband thieves. It's easy enough to do with a laptop, wireless card, and access to unsecured home wireless networks run by lazy or apathetic owners.
I honestly used to be of the mind that an annoyance such as broadband piggybacking that doesn't affect anybody shouldn't be actively enforced, but given likely future cyber threats and the possibility of identity spoofing, I'm beginning to think that law enforcement does need to keep an eye out for broadband thieves.
Posted: 08.22.2007The Rise and Fall of Commodore
This looks like a very interesting book. Per Andrew Leigh on Slashdot:
On The Edge: The Spectacular Rise And Fall Of Commodore by Brian Bagnall is fodder for anyone interested in the buried history of the personal computer. Whether you owned a Commodore computer or want to hear a new angle on the early stages of computer development, you’ll find this book easy to pick up and almost impossible to put down. Bagnall has gone to a massive amount of effort in telling this tale, researching and interviewing the real personalities involved. It takes readers on an important and often emotional ride that will many times leave you shaking your head at how painfully it all went wrong.
Many old school computer geeks I know had a C64. Hell I even had one with the dog slow 1541 floppy drive (Beachhead was the coolest game evar!). It’s sad that a company that had so much going for it became a non-issue and flamed out so early. I for one am intrigued at being able to read more than what google or Wiki can offer me.
Posted: 11.22.2006Laptop Batteries
What is it with laptop batteries? Two stories in the news over the past two days might cause some concern for anybody considering the purchase of a laptop system. Not only are they expensive, but now it appears that the engineering staffs at both Dell and Apple have failed miserably in engineering their laptop batteries for longevity and possibly even safety.
Yesterday, this story appeared detailing how a Dell "exploded" while being used at a conference in Japan. Dell had published recalls on several battery models so this story wasn't a huge surprise.
Today, Slashdot linked this article describing battery swelling due to overheating in the MacBook Pro.
Posted: 06.22.2006