Year: 2008

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The new Linksys WRVS4400N is in place!

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I just hooked-up my new Linksys WRVS4400N Wireless N Router with VPN server built-in.   It is currently acting like an Access Point at this juncture, since  I want to make sure some issues I discovered during my research phase do not become apparent before I place it in Gateway mode, where it will control of my entire network and the Internet connection.

But already, I am quite impressed by this unit.  And boy, is this puppy fast.  My Wireless G signal strength appears to be about 40% better than with my previous 2Wire 1800HG Wireless G Router.  And the number of security options is truly dizzying.  I’ll be beating on it for the next day or so, then hook it up so that it will be the Gateway.  This hurried aspect is due to my having received the Router today, and the seller only offers a 3-day window for returns.

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Just bought a new Linksys WRVS4400N Router!

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WRVS4400N Purchased on eBay just today (not a venue I normally purchase hardware from, but they had an unbeatable price of $100.00, which is more than half off it’s regular price). 

This  router is so high-end, it boggles the imagination.   It has Wireless-N, dual-band reception, a VPN server, and even Intrusion Protection (IP).  Not to mention GIGABIT network speeds for the local network, and full backward compatibility for Wireless G (and way old “B”) connections.

My life will be so much easier after I get this router installed: I can retire the VPN function that my tired old Windows 2000 Server currently controls, and my VPN will be back-up and running again!  

It will offer me future growth capability in two areas, I currently do not have Wireless-N clients yet, nor are any of my desktop’s equipped with Gigabit Ethernet adapters, so whenever I wish to take advantage of those technologies, they are there waiting for me.

The big benefit for me will be Intrusion Protection (IP) feature, which is a step further than an SPI Firewall (Stateful Packet Inspection), which the unit also comes with as an Industry standard.

But it’s the VPN that I will get the most use out of.  I use VPN on almost a daily basis to link my laptop with my home network so I can access File Shares and FTP.

I’ll be reviewing this unit in the near future. Hopefully it’ll get high-marks…  

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New LiveWriter Technical Preview Available

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Of interest to me and any other bloggers out there: Microsoft has a Technical Preview of the latest version of LiveWriter available here.

This release is largely about updates to the Writer SDK, which now includes hooks for pre- and post-publish events. These updates are still experimental and these APIs are not stable–we may make changes based on your feedback that break plug-ins that use these new methods. However, we’re really excited about the new set of scenarios have been unlocked and look forward to hearing feedback from all of you Writer plug-in developers out there.

For more details about the SDK, please see the blog post on Windows Live Dev.

New Features

You’ll also get an early look at some improvements and new features we’ve been working on:

Video and Image Publishing Enhancements

  • Upload videos to Soapbox
  • Image cropping and tilting
  • Additional border styles
  • Support for LightBox and other image previewing effects (like Slimbox, Smoothbox, and others)
  • Support for centering images

Editing Enhancements

  • Auto Linking
  • Smart quotes/typographic characters
  • Word count

UI Improvements

  • Revised main toolbar
  • Tabs for view switching
  • Improved category control with search/filtering
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Gathering data on Shavlik NetChk Protect

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shavlik_logo I just installed Shavlik’s NetChk Protect 6.1.0 (build 57), a product that that I used more than a year ago, back when it was version 5.31.   This previous product ran for a whole year and kept my six systems (one server, two laptops, and three desktops) fully up-to-date. 

Sure, Windows Update can do this for you for free, but the process is controlled by Microsoft, who does not always have the consumer’s best interest in mind when they install products like Windows Genuine Advantage, which can take a totally legitimate installation of Windows XP and disable it for no apparent reason.

Also, NetChk Protect updates a lot of common non-MS applications like Adobe Reader,  WinZip, etc…

I will be performing a product review of the NetChk Protect application in the future, so we’ll see how this product does in the next month or so…

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No help from 2Wire this time…

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2wire_red_logo Good news and bad news on the home DSL front.  The good news is that 2Wire sent me word today that they would love to be able to help me.   Unfortunately, (can you sense the pending bad news?), they then told me that they will be unable to assist me further, as their inventory of the 6v 2000mA A/C adapter is exhausted.

So I have a perfectly good Router that can’t be powered-up because all of the A/C adapters burn-out prematurely.

It looks like I’ll end-up buying a nice Linksys router instead…   Any ideas?

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SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs is shipping!

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softmaker_textmaker Now available: SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs…

After extensive beta testing, we are proud to announce that SoftMaker Office 2008 for Pocket PCs is shipping and ready for purchase.

This new version of our mobile office suite has significant advantages:

  • NEW: SoftMaker Presentations, the mobile alternative to PowerPoint.
  • NEW: PDF export in all Office applications.
  • NEW: Printing from all applications (JETCET PRINT is bundled).
  • NEW: Many new features in TextMaker 2008 and PlanMaker 2008.

softmaker_planmakerIf you wish to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on the Pocket PC without losing formatting or content, SoftMaker Office is your only choice. There is no other mobile office suite that reads and writes your Office documents as faithfully as SoftMaker Office 2008.

Find out more:
http://www.softmaker.com/

If you own an older version of TextMaker, PlanMaker, or SoftMaker Office, you are entitled to special upgrade pricing — you can find the details on our web site above.

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Turn your phone into an Authentication token!

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I was turned onto this Authentication Solution recently, and I have to admit after having looked the site over that the possibilities for this type of a solution are extremely high!  Cost of Ownership appears to be significantly lower than a Token Key system (think SecurID), which means Return on Investment will likely be much higher.

Here’s how it works on a pre-configured site:

  • Enter your usual username and password.
  • Instantly, you receive a phone call. Answer and press the pound sign (#).
  • That’s It!

This simple process provides two separate factors of authentication through two separate channels (your computer and your phone service).  So instead of just answering a network challenge by providing your PIN and PASSCODE displayed on your SecurID token, this service will call your cell-phone and then you enter a # into your phone.

Some advertised benefits:

  • Works with any VPN, enterprise application, or website
  • Eliminates the need for tokens
  • Works with any phone anywhere
  • Easy to setup, manage, and use

Pretty cool, huh?   For more details, check out their homepage…

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I applied to be on ETEN’s Beta Test team

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Well, I was invited to take a survey and see if I "qualified" to be a part of ETEN’s  Beta Test team.  

I am certain that I qualify on the technical front, but I am unsure if I’ll get the role since I was pretty hard on them in the survey that they asked me to fill-out.  Some of the questions appeared to be geared to see if I had high-expectations of the company and their products, and since I said yes to all of them, I will likely be passed-up.   Oh well.

It would have been fun to work with them!   And if I could only get them to up the ante on their SD RAM offerings, every device they made would be top-notch.  This was the Achilles’ Heel of the X500+ that I reviewed a while ago.

Here’s hoping….

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DSL Service Temporarily restored…

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2wire_red_logo Well, I dusted off an older 2Wire router (1000SW) and plugged it into the equation.   It will restore DSL service immediately, and will provide most of the services that we used to utilize on the newer 1800HG.   It will lack some services, like Wireless “G”, “IPSec Passthru”, and of course all of the firewall entries that I had created on the 1800HG…   sigh…

I’ve written 2Wire Technical Support to see if they could assist.  I remembered that they had assisted the last time I had this problem (yes, it has happened before) by sending me a complimentary replacement cord/adapter.  I think they felt bad that the router (very high-end electronics with Integrated Circuitry) was lasting longer than their A/C Adapter power cord.

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My 2Wire Router’s Power cord died…

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While I have had nothing but success with my 2Wire 1800HG Wireless Router, I cannot say the same about the bundled A/C power adapter.  It’s a 6V 2000mA converter, which is impossible to find a replacement for.  Even 2Wire themselves no longer stock the replacement items.

Luckily, I have an older 1000SW (Wireless-B) Router from 2Wire, so I have plugged that into the equation.   This restored internet access, and provides basic wireless “b” service, but the effective radius of service is about two-thirds of what we used to have with “hyper-G” service.   Also, the older router does not provide “IPSEC Passthru” capabilities, so VPN is dead in the water…