Lanchester.net ...musings of an old nerd

• Verizon Novatel 2200 Mi-Fi Tutorial (Flash-based video from Verizon)
• Checking data usage
• How to remain under the 5gb limit
• Boosting the Mi-Fi's signal
• Locating cell towers (not a simple task!)
• Access the Mi-Fi admin page
• What does 5gb get you?

I bought a Verizon Novatel Mi-Fi 2200 Wireless Hotspot to work with an Apple Tablet. (It's actually an iPad, horrid name, yet to be released by Apple.)
 
I tested the speed of the Mi-Fi* at work and at home and at various places using my favorite iPhone speed test app, SpeedTest.net. Well, the Mi-Fi was getting TROUNCED by AT&T 3G on SpeedTest.net every single day. I chalked it up to a very nice AT&T 3G setup in this area. (*I understand I'm actually testing the speed of Verizon's 3G CDMA-based EVDO data service, not the speed of the Mi-Fi, but it's much shorter to say "Mi-Fi" than all that!)
 
Then something big happened. The "Great AT&T Melt-Down of 2010" at work began. Too many iPhones. Too much drain on the AT&T amplifier in our buildings. AT&T's service tanked to a range of 0.00 Mbps to 0.09 Mbps download last week.
 
The Mi-Fi provided zippy network access to three of us, including two who were hitting Pandora, and still the Mi-Fi download speed was reported around .29 Mbps. Hmmm...
 
I finally decided to get the computer at home on the Mi-Fi, and I used the internet version of SpeedTest.net to check the speed. What? The Mi-Fi reported 1.66 Mbps, a huge jump.
 
That's when I figured something was fishy. I tried the iNetworkTest app on the iPhone. Mi-Fi: 88.79 Kbps. AT&T 3G: 54.68 Kbps. What?!
 
So when I cruised to dslreports.com on the iPhone (i.dslr.net/iphone_speedtest.html), the Mi-Fi was 1510 Kbps, and AT&T 3G was 640 Kbps. Double what?!
 
The SpeedTest.net app (NOT the website) appears to be reporting incorrect data. SpeedTest.net app indicates the iPhone on Mi-Fi is .29 Mbps (296.96 Kbps), and on AT&T 3G is .38 Mbps (389.12 Kbps). Clearly wrong.
 
Speeds are measured in bits per second, not bytes. To translate megabits to kilobits, multiply the megabits by 1024, or divide the kilobits by 1024 (your choice).
 
The conclusions to be drawn are:

• Don't trust a single speedtest app/website.
• Speed test results vary, based on how busy the download/upload speed test server is and other factors.
• The iPhone appears to slow things down. (There's no way to test AT&T 3G on my laptop, but the Mi-Fi appears to download far faster on a laptop than on the iPhone.)
• The Mi-Fi was definitely the way to go for the Apple Tablet (iPad)!!!

The seven Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Dorothy Lamour "Road to..." movies are comedy classics, favorites of my Mom and Dad. I can't exactly remember any of them, but they all involved journeys and lots of slapstick comedy.
 
Trying to buy my adult child a car has involved journeys and lots of silliness. First, there's my kid, who had her heart set on a RAV4. I was near the end of my negotiations when the "acceleration problem" of 2009/2010 arose. So being cautious, I thought she should look at other vehicles, although her heart was set on the RAV4.
 
She FINALLY went to test drive the RAV4, the CRV, and an Equinox, and found she hated the RAV4! Now wouldn't that have been nice to know before I had three dealers in a bidding war?! How silly is that?
 
She didn't like the CRV's styling. But she LOVED the Equinox, and Consumer Reports gave it a thumbs up, so we were good to go.
 
Not knowing diddly about the Equinox, I went to the website, built what I thought the brat would like, and requested a quote from a nearby dealer, and then the fun began. First the "internet specialist" tries to sell me a demo Equinox which is NOTHING like the vehicle I requested, has 12,000 miles on it, and costs more than the list prices of the brand-new car I want!
 
Then, this "internet specialist" kept forgetting the prior emails from me, and apparently didn't have the one from Chevy with the car details. After four emails back and forth, he asked me if I want a four or six cylinder?? I wanted the car in the price quote request!!
 
Once I pointed that out, he sent me back a "price quote" with the MSRP after we've already established I work for a certain company which qualifies me for special set "no haggle pricing. I had to remind him again of a prior email from me.
 
So I tired of all this back-and-forth and requested a price quote from a different dealer, and her first email to me stated, "So, what can I help you with?" Oh, my gosh??? How about a price quote on the exact vehicle you have sitting in your inventory that I am interested in buying that I requested a price quote for (which is why you have my email address in the first place)???!!!
 
There is something wrong with Chevy's redirection of price quotes or "internet specialists" at Chevrolet dealers are clueless (based on my random sample of two :D).

First, you need to understand the concepts involved here:

• The problem to be solved is that you have an existing wireless network that doesn't quite reach far enough. (Examples: You're getting dead spots in a wireless network in a large house, or you want to extend your wireless network from one building to the next—and the buildings are VERY close together.)
• You have a spare Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS router.
• The spare router is on a list as being "third-party firmware upgradeable."

We'll be using DD-WRT, third-party firmware for numerous routers, to turn our Linksys into a bridge. What's DD-WRT?

So let's get started.

• Locate your spare Linksys WRT54G or WRT54GS router.
• Flip it over and find the tiny print "Model No." After it will be WRT54G or WRT54GS and the version (e.g., ver. 2). The version is important!
• Look for compatibility on this page, and note the special notes on the right for your version.
• Go to the DD-WRT download page, and type in
  Linksys
  then find your router in the list, and click it.
• Change the drop-down at the top so it DOES NOT SAY SP1 (what it needs to say will depend on the notes you found two steps prior). For example, in March 2010, for my router (WRT54G ver. 2), I should be downloading v24 preSP2, the recommended build, and use the VINT (vintage) standard (dd-wrt.v24-13064_VINT_std.bin). However, if I were to use TFTP, I would first need to flash the router with the TFTP mini-build. If I were to use the web (instead of TFTP), I would first need to flash the router with the web mini-build.
• After locating the proper software to download (both standard and mini-build) download away! (NOTE: TFTP is Windows only, if that helps your decision about which mini-build to download!)
• Next, plug in the power to your Linksys router, and hook it to your computer with an Ethernet connection. (Ensure your computer's Ethernet connection is active.)
• Now you have to try to remember what your old ID and password are for this ancient Linksys router! :) Launch your web browser, and go to http://192.168.1.1 (assuming you had the Linksys configured in a standard fashion). DON'T USE SAFARI on a Mac. Use Firefox.
• Click on the Administration Tab, and Factory Defaults. (I don't remember the exact steps here, but reset it to factory defaults.)
• After that's done, the ID and password will be admin and admin (all lowercase).
• Now it's time to flash. Go into the Administration Tab and choose Upgrade Firmware.
• Select the "mini" version of the file and upload.
• After that's successful, your ID and password are changed AGAIN to root and admin, respectively.
• Going back to 192.168.1.1 in your browser gives you a different look and feel now, since you're running under new firmware. It's time to upload the "standard" (and in my case, vintage) version of the firmware.
• GO to the Administration tab, the Firmware Upgrade tab.
• Select the standard version of the firmware file, and click Upload.
• After the process is finished, the hard part is over. All that's left is to set things up to match your current wireless network to this new bridge.
• Start out by changing the ID and password for the router to something you can remember. (Administration tab/Management tab)
• Now it's time to follow these instructions TO THE LETTER. (Ignore the stuff at the end of the page that says to ignore the "Virtual Interfaces Section." YOU NEED the Virtual Interfaces Section!)

I've helped a friend's son get his Xbox fix by employing this hack. (His Xbox is too far from the wireless signal when it's attached to the TV.) And now a local Boy Scout troop gets to reap the benefits when I extend the church's wireless network for them to one of our outbuildings.

The best general purpose gluten-free flour I've found is Sylvan Border Farm General-Purpose Flour. (You can order it from this link, or I've found it at Amazon in a "case" containing three small bags.)

Use it in place of regular flour for things such as:

• Cookies
• Thickening gravies
• Coating meats (e.g., fried chicken)

Each bag contains gluten-free baking tips and recipes.

NOTE: Don't use the general-purpose flour for bread. Sylvan Border Farm has a special flour for bread.

It was impossible for me to activate my new Verizon Wireless MiFi following the terrible instructions provided by Verizon. It appears the version of VZAccess Manager (software stored on your MiFi used to activate it) is incompatible with Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6). You have to download a new version from Verizon's website to get it to work. Verizon's MiFi Support page VZAccess Manager software for 10.6 (You'll have to enter your MiFi's phone number, which you can actually get off the WRONG version of VZAccess Manager, but you have to install the wrong version first.) Before installing the new version of VZAccess Manager, you need to uninstall the old version. The uninstall option is under the VZAccess Manager menu, if I remember correctly. Somewhere along the way, while fussing with the wrong version of VZAccess Manager, something (I think from the cell tower) started updating the MiFi, and it activated on its own, without my credit card info and without my name and address. Geesh. Have to call into them this morning and pass that along.

If you run a website with Drupal content, you understand the need to run cron periodically (http://yoursitename/cron.php). Some hosting companies won't allow cron jobs on their servers, leaving you in a bind.

If you have a Mac sitting around that's awake at a certain time every day, just have it and its built-in scheduling system, launchd, do the job for you.

• If you don't have a text editor like BBEdit, download Bare Bones Software's free TextWrangler
• Open a new doc in TextWrangler, and paste in this code:
  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.darla.cron</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/bin/curl</string>
<string>--connect-timeout</string>
<string>10</string>
<string>http://www.someurl.com/cron.php</string>
</array>
<key>StartCalendarInterval</key>
<dict>
<key>Hour</key>
<integer>8</integer>
<key>Minute</key>
<integer>0</integer>
</dict>
</dict>
</plist>

• Modify this line
  <string>com.darla.cron</string>
  so the text com.darla.cron is the same as the name you are going to give the file (see naming file step), without the ending .plist.
• Modify this line
  <string>http://www.someurl.com/cron.php</string>
  so that www.someurl.com is your site's name. (Drupal will need cron.php on the end!
• Modify this text
  <dict>
<key>Hour</key>
<integer>8</integer>
<key>Minute</key>
<integer>0</integer>
</dict>
  so the start time is what you want. This represents 8 am.
• Save the file to ~/Library/LaunchAgents, with a name such as com.yourname.whatitdoes.plist, where ~/ is your "home" directory (Macintosh HD/Users/yourname). It should save with the correct permissions. (You don't need superuser or root permissions.) You must have the ending plist!
• Open Terminal (Applications/Utilities).
• Type this command (and don't press Enter until I tell you to!):
  launchctl load
  Then drag the plist file you created near the end of the command you just type. This will load the path and name of your plist. NOW press Enter. (There is no need for sudo. As a matter of fact, using sudo will generate an error!)
• The Console (Applications/Utilities) will show any errors. Click on the System log, then in the search field, type in curl. This will filter the results for your curl command.

What does the above plist do? It invokes the Mac's scheduling system, launchd, at a specified time, and tells it to access a certain URL (link) via the curl command. That's all. Drupal has a built-in web page, cron.php, which performs certain maintenance tasks for your Drupal site. You could access the URL manually yourself once a day (or several times a day, depending on how active a site you maintain), but automation is so much more geeky.

I've read a few articles and heard a podcast indicating everyone should stop eating gluten (wheat flour, barley flour, etc.), because our bodies weren't made to process it. I don't eat it because it's apparently a migraine trigger. I find I miss it a lot less than I thought I would, although avoiding it is a pain.

Every now and then you have a hankering for something, like biscuits and gravy, and those items just don't make an appearance on a standard gluten-free menu. But these gluten-free biscuits are good and easy to make. They look good, too.

And to top them off, just make Bill's Sausage Gravy, and modify the recipe thusly:

• Use your favorite gluten-free flour in place of regular flour (Sylvan Border Farm all-purpose GF flour, Bob's Red Mill all-purpose GF...).
• Use 16 oz of Jimmy Dean's regular sausage or Bob Evan's regular sausage (instead of the 12 oz maple sausage the recipe calls for).
• Toss in five dashes of Worcestershire sauce at the end for that extra special "something."
• As a shortcut, you may also modify the recipe to leave the sausage in the pan, and add the flour to the sausage, browning the flour in with the sausage before adding the milk. (Sounds bizarre, but it works fabulously!)

Yummy.

I already have an iPhone with AT&T's 3G network. The network speeds where I live are great, but when we trek out to the east coast to where the brat lives, her 3G speeds are awful. In addition, the 3G networks between here and there are few and far between, so it's a lot of EDGE. So why not kill two birds with one stone? Get a Verizon MiFi and a WiFi Apple Tablet. The MiFi is on its way (1 cent from Amazon). Too bad I can't order a tablet yet.

I just can't understand the reasoning behind the choice of the official name for the Apple Tablet. (I like Andy Ihnatko's name for it during the rumor phase: The RAT or Rumored Apple Tablet.) Are those in charge of Apple so urbane and sophisticated they call "those things" feminine napkins?? It never occurred to them the name was harshly, grossly wrong?

I'm calling it the Apple Tablet.