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Ubiquiti Wireless Card

I was recommended this brand of wireless card about a year ago. Compatible with Windows/Linux/UNIX, this is the type of card you would use for rigorous wifi analyzing or wardriving.

Ubiquiti Wireless Card SR71C 802.11N/G/B/A w/ 2 Antenna Jacks & Clip-on Antennas

http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-137/Ubiquiti-SR71C-SR71-dsh-C-MIMO/Detail.bok

Ubiquiti SR71X Wireless-N Card for Express Card Slot. Has Antenna Jack. 802.11N/G/B/A

http://www.data-alliance.net/-strse-104/Ubiquiti-SR71X-300mW-802.11N/Detail.bok

You can find more products on their website (http://www.data-alliance.net). They also sell these on eBay. Just search Ubiquiti.

Symantec LiveUpdate Button is not active

I had an issue where a client's antivirus program (Symantec EndPoint) was outdated and there was no way to update the virus definitions from the program. The LiveUpdate button was disabled when the program was installed.


For managed Symantec EndPoint Clients, open regedit and navigate to the following entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection\LiveUpdate\AllowManualLiveUpdate

The value must be 1 to enable the LiveUpdate button on Clients side.

What type of Linux should I use?

Linux. There are so many different flavors out there! Which one is right for you?

zegeniestudios.net's Linux Distrobution Chooser was very helpful for me when I was looking to step into the world of Linux. It's a very easy to follow quiz-type questionnaire that will point you in the right direction if you're looking to find the right one for you:

http://www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/

Check it out!

Internet Speeds Explained - Finally!

Bandwidth and download speeds can be tricky to understand. If you don't know the math behind it, you could end up being seriously let down once you commit to a service plan. Every service plan will advertise their speed but keep in mind it is the maximum speed, not what you'll be getting all the time. Adverse weather conditions, distance from your provider, other people on your network, or restrictions imposed by your provider all contribute to this.

To start off, here are a couple of equations to solve the difference between bits (advertised speed) and bytes (what you're probably use to seeing when downloading):

Advertised max speed in kbps divided by 8 = Your max download speed in KB/sec
OR
Your download speed in KB/sec times 8 = Advertised max speed in kbps

  • If you sign up for a 768kbps plan, your max download speed will be around 96 KB/sec
  • If you sign up for a 1.5mbps plan (that's 1500 kbps), your max download speed will be around 187.5 KB/sec
  • If you sign up for a 5mbps plan (that's 5000 kbps), your max download speed will be around 625 KB/sec
That's it.

Below you will find more information on the math behind all of this. It's a lot of technical jargon but if you want to know why those equations work you should read on...



...you have been warned!









Here's a breakdown on sizes:

MegaByte (MB)> KiloByte (KB)> Byte (B)

Most people know bandwidth speed by what shows up when they download a file. You'll typically see something like "X" KB/sec for your file download speed.

KB or kB = KiloBytes
MB or mB = MegaBytes
(notice the upper case B)

Let's say you're browsing around for a new internet service provider. They advertise a two plans. Their "Budget Plan" has with a maximum download speed of 768kbps. Their "Choice Plan" has a maximum download speed of 1.5Mbps.

kb or Kb = kilobits
Mb or mb = megabits
(notice the lower case b)

At first glance, your 768kbps plan might look amazing, but keep in mind that it will not let you download at 768 KB/sec. Why? It all comes down to how computers handle numbers and information.

Computers work in a language called binary. It's the most basic form of computer language. In binary, a "bit" is either a 1 or a 0. A "byte" is 8 bits. For example: A string of ones and zeroes (bits) like 10101101 is called a byte. Notice that there are 8 bits in that byte.

Confused?

There are a couple of equations to figure all this out:

Advertised max speed in kbps divided by 8 = Your max download speed in KB/sec
OR
Your download speed in KB/sec times 8 = Advertised max speed in kbps

To convert kbps to mbps, divide your amount in kbps by 1000:
1500kbps = 1.5mbps
5000kbps = 5mbps

Download YouTube Videos

Ok, so you know what YouTube.com is... but have you ever heard of kissyoutube.com?

Let's say you want to use a video clip for a presentation you'd like to have a copy to download on your computer. Then this is the site for you!

Once you find the video you'd like to save, add kiss in front of the URL...

turns into

You'll need to have Java installed in order to use the download feature.

http://www.java.com/getjava

I usually recommend downloading the "HQ" version. The file will be in .mp4 format so you'll need a video player like (1) Quicktime or (2) VLC Media Player.

(1) http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download

(2) http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Interesting Site: instructables.com


Do you like Do-it-Yourself projects? Ever wanted to know how to make a laptop case out of old floppy disks? How about finding out how to convert your old xbox controller to use it on your computer? You can find these useful guides (and many more) at www.instructables.com

Here's a particularly good one about all the things you can do with an old computer:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Things_to_do_with_a_old_computer/

And here's another one on how to run composite video and network data through an Ethernet cable:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How_to_Run_Composite_Video_Through_an_Ethernet_Jac/

Make sure to browse though your categories of interest, you're sure to find something worth working on!

Useful Programs!

CCleaner is a nice tool to clean up old temp files and clear out registry errors. When running this program, make sure you know what you're checking to get rid of. Here's a nice walk through guide on how to use the program (Click here!).

http://www.ccleaner.com

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

There are other nice FREE cleaning programs out there. I also recommend checking out (1) Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware or (2) Spybot Search & Destroy and (3) AVG free

(1) http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

(2) http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

(3) http://free.avg.com