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Repo Men

Forrest Witaker and Jude Law work for the Union, a company that specializes in poviding artificial organs. Witaker and Law are repo men who retrieves those organs from those who fail to make their monthly payments.  In a freak accident Law ends up becoming a client for the company he works for by having an artifical heart implanted. Law no longer is able to perform his Repo job and becomes one of the victims he hunted in the past.

Repo Men’s premise sounds great, but the execution of the story was done poorly. The movie dragged on longer than is should, and the lack of character devolopement didn’t help it either. But there were some moments of action and fun, but it was done too sparringly to keep it interesting.

Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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Tech Tip: Offline files as a Backup Solution

One of the most important things I tell my users is to always backup their data because they never know. Sometimes people forget to run the backup process or copy the files and folder to a backup drive. Most people buy thumb drives or external hard drives and manually copy their files over to it. Sometimes those backup devices come with cumbersome software where you have to schedule a task to run your backup.  But there is a simple and relatively inexpensive solution that can can keep your files backed up and do so automatically.

This solution will require a few things. In addition to your personal computer you will need a Network Attach Storage Devices (NAS), or a spare computer with enough space to backup your files. And I’m assuming you have a home network through a wired LAN or wireless.

1. If you’re using a NAS, create a mapped drive on your computer (pointing to the NAS or a directory on the NAS).

2. (If you use Windows Vista or 7 skip to step 4) On your computer, enabled Offline Files. To do that on a Windows XP system you will need to disable Fast User Switching in the User Accounts settings in the Control Panel (this process is required to enabled Offline files).

3. Then go to Folder Options in the Control Panel then to the Offline Files tab and enable the Offline File by selecting the check box.

4. Finally, go to your mapped drive, right click it, and click Make Drive Available Offline. Then copy all the files you want backed up into that drive. That’s it. You’re all set.

If you’re using the spare computer make sure you create a directory and share it. Be sure to give that shared folder read and write access. The rest of the process is exactly the same as described above.

When the files are copied to that drive you actually have two copies. One on that network drive and one stored locally on your computer. Even when you’re disconnected from your network you’ll still have access to your files. If you edit or add new files  it will sync with the network once you do connect back to it. You can always force it to sync or it’ll sync by itself at its default schedule of 1 hour intervals. Also, the sync process will automatically run when you log off or turn off your computer.

Note: I recommend you work directly off that mapped drive or link it your Documents folder.

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She’s Out Of My League

Jay Baruchel plays Kirk, an average guy who doesn’t have much luck with the ladies, gets hit on by a beautiful girl named Molly. On a hotness scale Molly’s a 10 and Kirk’s a 5 with nothing going for him. Kirk’s friends are confused. The math doesn’t add up and they’re convinced that their relationship will be short-lived.  This movie falls short of trying to be an Aptow flick (Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin) instead it’s just a mediocre romantic comedy.
Rating: ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

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Tech Tip: Sharing printers on Windows Server 2008

Sharing printers on a Windows Server 2003 is easy. Windows 2008 Server has increased security and sharing printers may require an additional step. Computers and users on the same domain or has an NTLM user account on the server will have no problems accessing shared printers. It’s the computers and users who are not on the domain or have an NTLM user account that sometimes have problems accessing the shared printers such as non-members or guests.

In Windows 2003 server and prior, if the user’s computer did not have the correct drivers the server would push the drivers to that computer to print. In Windows 2008 server, an additional explicit permission will have to be given for the server to give access to those drivers.

To give non-member or guest users access to those drivers you’ll need to access the folder: C:\Windows\System32\spool\driver and give that folder Read permissions to the Guest account.

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Old School MP3 Players revisited

These were the first MP3 players that I bought (pictures were take off their wikipedia page). They were expensive, and at the time many people were unaware of these portable audio products and it was considered a niche tech device. It wasn’t until a few years later that the Apple iPod made it’s debut that popularize and became ubiquitous in the portable audio device industry. The one on the right (Rio 500) was purchase back in 1999, and the one on the left (Rio S10) I purchased when I was in college.

I gave the Rio 500 to my brother after using it for a year and replaced it with a Panasonic CD player that was capable of reading MP3 files. The MP3 CD player was great because I was able to store a ton of songs on a CD compared to the 64 MB that was built into the Rio 500. With the CD player I could listen while waiting between classes in college and wouldn’t have to worry about listening to the same song 12 times a day.  It wasn’t until I started doing long distance running that I got the Rio S10. The unit was light and I could hold it comfortably in my hand when I ran. Unfortunately it also had 64 MB, but it was enough to last me a whole run.

Eventually my running out-grew the Rio S10, and I picked up a Creative Muvo. It had 256 MB of memory. It was a good player but it didn’t last very long since there was no good way of holding it when I ran, so I gave that away to my brother too. I later bought an iPod Nano. I quickly realize the Nano was too big. Wearing the Nano iPod arm strap was too cumbersome, so I traded down for a shuffle which I think is the best MP3 player for a runner or for anyone who likes with listen to music when they workout.

MP3 players have come a long way and I’ve been following it since appeared in consumer hands. Today they’ve become more popular than ever. The ability to play MP3s are now embedded into almost every portable device from GPS units, cell phones, car stereos, and even sunglasses. As with all individual technologies it can adapt to the advancement of other technologies around it or die off in obsolescence. MP3-only devices are approaching the latter, but not without a fight. Many of the successors of MP3 players of yesterday are called Portable Media Players (PMPs) today. Not only do these play music, but they play video. And even these PMPs are beginning to reach obsolescence as well. They will soon be replaced by handheld video game consoles and smartphones. Only time will tell, but I’m sure their days are numbered.

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Tech Tip: Wireless Configuration and Security

There have been countless amount of times where I would scan a neighborhood and see a few unsecured wireless network. Most people who buy wireless routers simply forget to modify their security settings. Here are some suggestions you can do to increase security and protect your wireless access from prying eyes.

  • Enabled the wireless security and use WPA Personal or WPA2 Personal. Avoid using WEP as it has been proven to not be as secure.
  • Change the SSID to something that you can easily recognize as your own, but different enough where no one can pinpoint where it’s from. Better yet disable the broadcast of your SSID. The latter will provide better security, but when you want allow other devices to to  your wifi you’ll have to manually add the wireless network to it.
  • Change the admin login of the wireless device. This one is obvious but people tend to forget to change this sometimes.
  • Place the wireless router somewhere in the middle of your home.  This will give you maximum coverage for you and minimizes the range for access outside your home.
  • If your wireless router manages your internet connection make sure you do not have any unused ports enabled in your Port Forwarding settings. Most newly purchased wireless routers comes with all their ports disabled in Port Forwarding, but it doesn’t hurt to double check.
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Tech Tip: Transferring the Schema Master Role

Transferring the Schema master role to another Domain Controller is not something any administrator does on a regular basis. But when they do, the steps can be easily forgotten.

The option to transfer the schema role is not readily available in the Administrator Tool’s list. You’ll have to utilize the Microsoft Management Console (MMC).  But before you access the MMC you’ll need to install the Schema snap-in. To install you’ll just have to register an existing dll.

First, log in to the DC that you’ll want to transfer the Scheme Role to.  Then, open up the command prompt and type in regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

To access your MMC type in mmc in the Run box or search (for Windows Server 2008 and up). Once the console is opened you can now add the Scheme snap-in and change the Schema role.