Ok, I did preface this whole thing by saying I had not researched it much, but talk about feeling stupid when I saw this in my wireless router settings:

Yeah, that's right. Just tell it not to be a router... and it won't! Geeeeez what a bonehead. So changed that, and assigned all my wireless devices 192.168.1.x addresses, and presto.

The XBOX now sees my desktop PC. Next trick? Figure out how to get Windows XP Media Center edition. Probably not going to happen for a longgggggggg time.

Ahhhhhhh one network. All my machines and devices can talk to each other. I can transfer shows from tivo box to tivo box now too... cool.

I'll start this post by saying, I have not googled this yet, nor have I really applied a ton of effort to solve this problem. I figured that someone may have had experience in doing what I'd like to do with my home network.

With a bunch of different devices that need TCP/IP internet connectivitiy, and some different hardware mixed in, I'm challenged to solve this problem. Any help from anyone would be great. I'm really looking for the settings I'd need to input into the two routers, specifics.

So the problem is I have two routers each on their own network, a wired 192.168.1.1, and a wireless access point 192.168.2.1. Now you may ask, why not just have a wireless network? Two reasons, reason 1: Where my cable modem is located is probably the worst place in my entire house as far as wireless coverage goes, reason 2: I needed more than 4 ports on my router to plug into.

So my solution at the time was an 8 port wired router, plugged into one of the ports a fair distance away is my wireless router, in a location that services my wireless devices as I needed. See the diagram below, and please post any ideas/solutions you have.

Again, the goal is to get all the devices on a unified network 192.168.1.1, while still allowing my wireless access point to hand out addresses as needed to devices that connect w/ the proper WEP and security credentials. If you have any ideas on what I can do, please post specifics in the comments section!

Thanks!

(Click Image for larger version)

Ok, so this may be something everyone knows, but I just found out today. VNC has had the ability to do this from day one, so it's weird there is not a menu command for it using Remote Desktop.

I was terminaled into a server today and needed to change the password on my user account for that machine. (Windows 2000). So I really wanted to do a "CTRL + ALT + DEL". When I would do that, I of course would get the dialogue for my machine, not the box I was termed into.

Press "CTRL + ALT + END" that brings up the dialogue for the machine you are terminaled into.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=186624

There are some other shortcut combinations on this site as well. Good stuff.

I got my xbox on Tuesday of this week, had it out of the box, and setup in a matter of minutes.

I have only played PGR3 so far on it, but so far no regrets. I really need to get ethernet wired to the area in my house where the xbox, and tivo are. I may have to go wireless for a bit untill I can get that hooked up.

Although we've known for a couple of weeks, and told most of our close friends and family.... I'll post it here, we're having a boy. Due July 6th!

I'm gonna be so glad to have a boy in our house. Since I'm the only guy in the house I think there's a litte too much girl drama going on in our place sometimes! :)

I was talking with a friend who recently added the transparent console that Scott blogged about. He challenged me to inquire, "No spyware right?" I was relatively sure that there was not any, there was no install for transparent console, and I trust Scott.

So he added it to his machine, took my configuration settings. And while he was playing around with it, reported that he had just run a "netstat" and he was seeing a connection to some server in taiwan, a university in fact.

Now that's alarming. If you aren't browsing to a site with a .tw extension, and you're unsure of why there is a connection to a foreign country, the first inclincation is to shout "SPYWARE!!!".

So while talking with him we were using liutilities.com to check each process to make sure there was no virus, or spyware running. There wasn't. So after making sure all his running processes were legit, he started closing system tray programs, and then running the netstat command again.

After closing Skype. It went away. I'm not sure why Skype was connecting to Taiwan, maybe someone there had added my friend as a contact? Or was trying to see if he was online, but either way, it was good to find out what was using the connection.

Type netstat from a command prompt and see what's going on.

At the time of writing the following bundle is available at buy.com.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=202105748&adid=17662

It's $629 ish, but has the following items:

• Xbox 360 System - Play games in High Definition (HD) with 720p/1080i output and full surround sound! Stream digital photos and music from your Windows XP or Windows Media Center Edition 2005 PC! Also features a built-in Ethernet port for connectivity to Xbox Live.
• Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20GB) (included with System) - Save games and music, plus download new Xbox Live content.
• Xbox 360 Wireless Controller (included with System) - Enjoy speed, accuracy, and freedom to roam with its 30 foot range.
• Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable (included with System) - This connects gamers to the world of Xbox 360 games and graphics through high-definition and standard-definition connections.
• Xbox 360 Headset (included with System) - Trash-talk opponents or discuss strategies with your Xbox Live teammates.
• Additional Xbox 360 Wireless Controller - What fun is playing Xbox 360 alone? Challenge a friend or compete online against two of your buddies!
• Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64MB) - Save games, transfer Xbox Live accounts, rip CDs, and more.
• Amped 3 - Amped 3 brings you the snowboarding lifestyle with an all-new physics engine, an innovative artificial intelligence engine, and perfected controls!
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour '06 - Create a golfer using the most advanced Game Face technology ever released, and battle through five classic periods of golf with Tiger Woods and other legends like Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer challenging you every step of the way.

I didn't fall for it. But let's just say I almost clicked.

Seems like they'll never end. And they're getting more clever every day. I try and remind myself, not to fall for it. Just delete them, if it's really serious, I'll get a call from my credit card company. They just won't be contacting me online. I had renewed a domain name today, and the site I was using said that my charge did not go through. I don't carry a balance on my credit card, so I was a tad alarmed.

I promptly called my card company, and they said, "No... it went through." I thanked them and hung up. I submitted a trouble ticket with the domain registration company. Weird, but it must have gone through. I chalked it up as an error on their side.

Later, I went to check my email account, to see if they had responded. There was an email that appeared to be from Visa. I had just recently added more security to my visa account through a new type of authentication, and this email instantly grabbed my attention as being possibly legitimate.

After about three seconds, I knew it was bogus. But it goes to show how a series of events could lead you to believe that an email like this may be legitimate. Another blogger, I can't remember who, referred to it as a "perfect storm situation".

Here it is, read below for the numerous red flags that will make it impossible to be from Visa.

1. They've spelled verified wrong in their subject! You would think with the amount of time and effort they put into these scams, that spelling would be the first thing they would get right, but thankfully almost all of the email phishing attempts I've seen have horrible spelling and grammar.
   
   
2. They make reference to having this problem cleared up by February 31, 2006. Wow, looks like I'll never get this problem cleared up.  I'd typically wait till the 30th of Feb to handle something like this. There's no way Visa would send out email with an impossible date in the text.
   
   
3. I've removed the actual link target from the "click here" and the link below it from above, as it was actually pointing to www.comsec-data.dk/catalog/admin/backups/ (unlinked for your protection) an international web site, not even close to anything visa would be using. So remember, even if a link looks correct it's too simple to obscure where it really goes, mouse over the link and look at the bottom left status bar in your browser, it will tell you where it really goes.
   
   
4. I did not bother to look at the mail headers, but that's always something you can look at too.
   

Just remember to not fall for it. No matter how credible it seems, don't talk yourself into it. Call your bank. Call ebay. Call Paypal, call whoever it is claiming to be. Make them prove it's real. If you start down a path, and you feel strange, or you feel it's not legit, close your browser and quit.

Nothing is suprising from google, at least not any more. I was using the mapping service online, and noticed a link, "Google maps on your cell phone". I thought it was worth looking into.

http://www.google.com/glm/index.html?utm_source=us-et-localhpp&utm_medium=et&utm_campaign=gl

It's really cool. They start by asking you about the make/model of your cellular phone, answering these questions generate a link for your phone to download their application. After it's installed, it's just like google maps online, just smaller.

It's something that I could totally use, especially when you're not in a vehicle w/ navigation. All of the 'data' is sent over the net to your phone, just like a typical server to internet web browser session. It was remarkably fast too. And you can do a lot of the cool things that you can online, view satellite imagery, get driving directions, and much more.

Check it out.

UPDATE: Found a great site that will allow you to download virtually all of the channel icons for your remote. They also have XM radio icons, and about 25 different backgrounds for the screen. http://squareworld.com/harmony/ I was able to find a really good deal on this remote that typically retails for $249. I turned on my tivo the other day and saw an offer for a $50 rebate on the remote. This started the search for a 'deal'. After checking out some threads on FatWallet.com, I found a deal on the remote for $180 shipped, so minus the $50 rebate, I'm getting the remote for about $130. That's probably about the max I'd spend on a remote. I've been looking at getting the Harmony for a little less than a year now, so I was fairly educated about how it worked, and it's features. The remote showed up last night, and after removing it from the box, charging it, and installing the software on my laptop, I started into the setup. I figured that it would take a while to get it working with my setup, but I was completely wrong. You start by creating an account on the Logitech website, and then identifying your AV gear. I was able to locate all my devices. I then answered about six questions about how I do certain activities, like watch television, watch tivo, dvds, radio, etc. The logitech site then transmits a file via the web browser that is downloaded to the remote via USB connection. Slick. And it simply works. One nice feature of the device is the remote assistant. Now that I've got my setup tweaked and everything works I've turned this feature off, but here's why you want to keep it on for a day or two. I was testing all of the newly programmed items in the remote like "watch television". You push the "watch television" button, and it turns on the TV (if it's not on already, this thing is aware of 'state') switches the TV to the correct input, then changes the stereo to the right input, and (in my case) turns on the set top box. So the first time I pushed the "watch television", and I got no picture... I was a tad worried... until the remote screen read "Is everything working right" (or something to that effect) I pushed the "No" softkey. The remote responsed "Is the Television on?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. It then asked "Is the stereo on?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. It then said, "Is the Set Top Box On?" I looked, it was not on. So I pushed the "No" softkey. Then the picture came on, the remote screen read "Did that fix the problem?" I pushed the "Yes" softkey. Brilliant. There was only one other thing I really had to tweak, not all of my tivo remote settings mapped over, so I went onto the site, and assigned the TIVO buttons from the tivo remote, to the logitech remote (all via their web site) and reflashed my remote. Perfection. So I've taken four remotes that used to be out constantly, down to one remote, that does it all. It's so nice. I have not played with the advanced features yet, like being able to put my own pictures onto the color screen of the remote, not sure why I'd want to do it. There is a favorites section, that lets you add your favorite channels, and even upload a logo of that channel. Nice touch. One other cool thing to note: the new remote is all setup to work with the XBox 360 that is enroute here, the unit is not even here yet, and my Logitech remote is all ready to control it. So in typical technology fashion, a day or two after ordering the Logitech Harmony 880 remote, they released a new version called the 890. It does everything that the 880 does, but eliminates the infared line of sight issue. You see, this remote (like most other remotes other than Bose) requires line of sight to the components it is trying to control. The new 890 does not. The first question you ask, is how is that even possible? The 890 will control devices from about anywhere in your house, inside or out. You can be in the kitchen, and change songs on a CD playing in the office. If you have a Bose stereo, you're well aware that Bose uses RF (radio frequencey) instead of IR (Infared). That's all fine and good, but the big disconnect should be when you realize all of your AV Gear only accepts infared input! So the brilliant folks at Logitech have built an RF -> IR converter. You just set this 'pod' out near your AV gear, and it converts the RF signal to IR. I can't speak for how well this works, but the idea is great. And their implentation has to be better than those crappy little IR extenders you can buy, it has to be better. So with cool comes cost, this remote tops in at $399 retail. I'm guessing you could find it a bit cheaper, but even at $130, I had a hard time buying the 880. But the coolest thing would be to have all your AV gear hidden in a cabinet, never having to look at it. Heck you could even build some sort of enclosure that kept dust to a minimum, now that would be cool.

Harmony 880 Product Page  

$50 Harmony Remote Rebate (89.75 KB)