Category Archives: Web Wanderings - Page 15

Gmail Invitations

Posted by on August 25, 2005 1 comment

I was lucky to get a Google Gmail invitation early on and now anyone in the US can sign up. If you’re outside the US and need an invitation for an account you can get one at this useful site or if you have a bunch of invitations you don’t know what to do with you can share them by sending the invites to gmail@swal.org

Getting USB Mass Storage Devices Working in DOS

Posted by on August 21, 2005 Comments Off on Getting USB Mass Storage Devices Working in DOS

There are a variety of reasons you may need to access USB mass storage devices (hard drives, CD-ROM drives, etc.) from a DOS prompt. Perhaps you’re trying to run some disk repair software like SpinRite or trying to save an image of your main hard drive to an external drive in Symantec Ghost or maybe you just can’t give up DOS! In any event you may be surprised to find out that DOS has not been left behind when it comes to USB storage though you will need a good understanding of how DOS drivers work and some time to make it all work. I would suggest looking at the following sites for more assistance and instructions:
USB DOS Resources
Computing.Net – DOS mass storage driver USBASPI.sys
Bootdisk.Com – DOS USB Drivers

Geek Pop

Posted by on August 18, 2005 1 comment

For the September 2005 issue of Popular Science the magazine hired Jonathan Coulton to write a freely downloadable soundtrack. Being a pretty rare thing to see a soundtrack to a magazine I decided to check it out and it’s a good thing I did. The songs are an absolute hoot and the PopSci page led me to Jonathon’s website which has even more songs free for download all licensed under the supurb Creative Commons license which is even better! I’ve got an email in to Jonathan now to see if I can purcase FLAC versions of his music, in the meantime I suggest you check his stuff out. Described as geek pop be sure to listen to “Ikea” and “A Laptop Like You”. Of course if you too enjoy his music I encourage you to buy it and/or make a donation!

BASIC Programming

Posted by on August 14, 2005 Comments Off on BASIC Programming

One of the easiest programming languages to learn is BASIC. For some time the ability to compile BASIC programs has been availible in commercial software but I have recently been pointed to FreeBASIC and wxBasic which are designed to allow BASIC programmers to have some advanced functionality (eg. pointers) and allow for compiling. Sometimes for a simple script or program a quick and dirty language like BASIC just works best.

GPS Connectivity

Posted by on August 13, 2005 Comments Off on GPS Connectivity

For some time I’vwe been looking at GPS solutions without making any decision on a purchase. Ideally I would like a nice standalone GPS that also has the ability to talk to my iPaq PocketPC and laptop via bluetooth. So far I’ve yet to see this in anything but some of the most expensive units. Today I stumbled across the Pc-Mobile cables store which has a bluetooth adapter that will work with any NMEA serial GPS. This looks promising. Now I could buy a middle of the road handheld GPS and get a bluetooth adapter from these folks to use it with my laptop and PocketPC. Sometime down the road I’m going to have to pick out a GPS and get this rolling…

Mapping Minnesota

Posted by on July 25, 2005 Comments Off on Mapping Minnesota

If you’re interested in maps as either a hobby or resource you may want to check and see what your state provides. Last night I was driving around the web and found the MnDOT Transportation Data and Analysis page. Here you’ll find a state highway map, county maps and even many city maps in PDF format all free for the taking. If you have a system that can take GIS data you’ll find that there too. What a resource! I beleive it’s all public domain too!

Collectors Resources for the Macintosh

Posted by on July 24, 2005 1 comment

If you’re a collector of old Macintosh Computers you might find Gamba’s site to be of use. It has locations for old system enablers, boot disks, manuals, schematics, downsizing instructions and more.

Linux Based Router Software

Posted by on July 24, 2005 Comments Off on Linux Based Router Software

If setting up a NAS server isn’t what you’re looking for but you want to use an old system as a router you might want to look at m0n0wall or smoothwall.

Free and Easy Network Attached Storage

Posted by on July 24, 2005 Comments Off on Free and Easy Network Attached Storage

For those that want to setup a network file server without all the complexity (and flexibility) of a complete Linux/SAMBA server two projects to look at are NASLite and Openfiler.

Twin Cities Railfan Resources

Posted by on July 22, 2005 Comments Off on Twin Cities Railfan Resources

Tonight I was looking around for information on area street atlases and happened upon a good area railfan site which led to a few more. The Twin City Railfan’s Guide hasn’t been updated in a year but contains all sorts of useful information. The Minnesota Railroad Research Project has links to both current and historical railroad maps for the Twin Cities and outstate Minnesota. There is also a personal account of a railfan visit to the area complete with lots of photos. Other notable local organizations include the Twin City Model Railroad Museum, the Minnesota Transportation Museum and the Minnesota Streetcar Museum. Both the Transportation and Streetcar Museums offer operating exhibits. Another option for those looking to experience rail transit is the Friends of the 261 which has a long term lease for steam locomotive excursions and owns several historic cars. Of course the latest addition to MetroTransit, the Hiawatha Line, offers a view into the possible future of local rail transit. Last but not least, the Northstar Commuter Rail will be the next passenger rail transit addition to the Twin Cities.

Addition: The University of Minnesota also has a railfan club with a very informative website and lots of photos.