Nelson Wong Life Blog

Router Setup Wikis for Windows Home Server and Small Business Server Published

Microsoft have published two Wiki articles on TechNet to support Windows Home Server and Small Business Server users configuring their router. Whilst both platforms have the ability to automatically configure UPnP routers, the wide variety of routers out there with differing implementations of the standard leads to inconsistent results.

Each guide provides step by step walk throughs for the manual configuration of a number of popular routers, plus a general guide for other owners. Links to sites with relevant help and support are also provided, and readers are encouraged to contribute their own tips to the wiki.

Windows Home Server Router Setup
Small Business Server Router Setup

Chinese scientists demonstrate 2Mbps internet connection over LED

LED data transmission used to be all the rage — we fondly remember beaming Palm Pilot contacts via IrDA. Then we got omni-directional Bluetooth and building-penetrating WiFi, and put all that caveman stuff behind us. But now, scientists the world over are looking to bring back line-of-sight networking, and the latest demonstation has Chinese researchers streaming video to a laptop with naught but ceiling-mounted blue LEDs. The Chinese Academy of Sciences claims to have realized a 2Mbit per second internet connection that transmits data simply by modulating the flicker of the little diodes, and imperceptibly enough to have them serve as room lighting as well. Like Boston University before them, the Chinese scholars see short-range LED networks controlling smart appliances. It’s not quite the gigabit speed you’d get from laser diodes, but this way you’ll get more mileage out of those expensive new bulbs.

Difference between low-E low-E4, SunCoat low-E

There are basically five types of LowE coatings currently on the market.

Three are “sputter” or softcoats and two are “pyrolytic” or hardcoats.

Of the three softcoat products, basic LowE would be considered a high solar heat gain product. LowE2 would be considered a low solar heat gain product, and LowE3 would be considered an even lower solar heat gain product.

Andersen’s LoE4 has a standard LowE2 coating between the lites and argon gas for energy performance, but it also includes a titanium dioxide coating on the exterior of the window that makes the glass “self-cleaning”.

Although some folks might cringe at the term self-cleaning, the coating does work quite nicely and you will notice a difference in how they look and in how often you will have to clean the glass.

Finally, the “4th” feature of the LoE4 is a plastic film that is applied to the glass in the factory that protects it from dirt and debris and even minor scratches during shipping and handling and install.

Andersen’s SunII glass is a tinted LowE2 that has very nice solar heat gain blocking ability and also it is nice because it cuts down on glare as well.

Milgard’s SunCoat is a standard LowE2 product – much the same as the LowE2 that Andersen offers as their standard.

SunCoatMax is a LowE3 product. The LowE3 product is very new and has only been around for maybe 3 or 4 months – this doesn’t mean avoid it because it is new – it means that it is an advancement of a proven technology and it works really well.

LowE3 has the same heat blocking ability as a tinted LowE2 (such as SunII), but with visible light transmittance very similar to a standard LowE2 product – without tint.

In the case of a west-facing door that has both heat and glare issues, then you may prefer a tinted LowE but with the understanding that the view thru the door will be less.

SunII has either 38% or 40% visible light transmittance (I forget which version they use) and SunCoatMax has 66% visible light transmittance – again with very comparable solar heat blocking capability. Standard LowE2 (including SunCoat) has about a 70-72% visible light transmittance.

Standard LowE has about a 78% visible light transmittance, but it also passes significant solar heat which is an advantage in places other than where you live.

I didn’t mention anything about hardcoat coatings because none of the products you mentioned use them. Also, they are much less appropriate in your environment (primarily cooling) than are sputter coats.

No LowE coating has an affect on sound propagation thru the glass.

Download Full Version of Portal FREE from steam until may 24th!

Portal is now available for download for free to anyone with a steam account.

PC AND Mac Version

http://store.steampowered.com/freeportal/

Hard to find 800 number website

Amazon.COM Hours of Operation (PST): 24/7
1-800-201-7575 or 1-206-266-2992
orders@Amazon.com or info@Amazon.com
More info about Amazon CS phone numbers

Amazon Seller Support: 877-251-0696

Amazon rebates status line 866-348-2492

Amazon.CA Hours of Operation (PST): 24/7
1-877-586-3230

Bally’s Total Fitness Member Services
1-562-484-2980
6:00am – 5:00pm PST, Monday – Friday

Bank of America “Customer Solutions” department, 1-888-717-3999

Barnes & Noble.COM Hours of Operation (EST): 7 days 7AM-11PM
1-800-843-2665
service@BN.com
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ClamCase Turns Your iPad Into A Laptop

Steve Jobs publishes some ‘thoughts on Flash’

Steve Jobs just posted an open letter of sorts explaining Apple’s position on Flash, going back to his company’s long history with Adobe and expounding upon six main points of why he thinks Flash is wrong for mobile devices. HTML5 naturally comes up, along with a few reasons you might not expect. Here’s the breakdown:

• It’s not open. “While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.” Man, that’s some strong irony you’re brewing, Steve. Still, we get the point — HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript are open web standards.
• The “full web.” Steve hits back at Adobe’s claim of Apple devices missing out on “the full web,” with an age-old argument (YouTube) aided by the numerous new sources that have started providing video to the iPhone and iPad in HTML5 or app form like CBS, Netflix, and Facebook. Oh, and as for flash games? “50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free.” If we were keeping score we’d still call this a point for Adobe.
• Reliability, security and performance. Steve hits on the usual “Flash is the number one reason Macs crash,” but adds another great point on top of this: “We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it.” You’ve got us there, Steve, but surely your magical A4 chip could solve all this?
• Battery life. “The video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software.” Steve Jobs is of course H.264′s #1 fan, and it’s hard to blame him, since he cites 10 hours of H.264 playback but only 5 hours with software decode on the iPhone. Still, those “older generation” sites that haven’t moved to H.264 yet are pretty much the exact same sites that aren’t viewable with HTML5, which means we’re being restricted in the content we can access just because some of it doesn’t perform as well.
• Touch. Steve hits hard against one of the web’s greatest hidden evils: rollovers. Basically, Flash UIs are built around the idea of mouse input, and would need to be “rewritten” to work well on touch devices. “If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?” That doesn’t really address the Flash-as-app scenario (that’s point #6), but it’s also a pretty silly sounding solution to a developer: your website doesn’t support this one UI paradigm exactly right, so why not rewrite it entirely?
• The most important reason. Steve finally addresses the third party development tools situation, but it’s really along the lines of what we were hearing already: “If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features.” We doubt this will end all debate, but it’s clear Apple has a line in the sand.

He concludes in saying that “Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice.” Basically, it’s for the olds. And you don’t want to be old, do you? Follow after the break for the whole thing in brilliant prose form.

Eken’s $100 Android MID

When we first spotted the Eken M001 MID, we immediately liked its honest nature. The M001 didn’t claim to be an iPad killer, or boast ridiculous specs and decades of battery life; it was simply cheap, and proud of it. Now, Shanzai.com has discovered the tablet is exactly what we expected. Running Android 1.6 with a VIA WM8505 processor, the device is pokey with terrible battery life, and the 7-inch, 800 x 480 resistive screen has noticeable lag. Still, the M001′s moderately capable; think of it as a digital photo frame with tablet functionality — like the HP Dreamscreen, but affordable and battery powered — rather than the other way round. Were it readily available stateside, we could see a few souls actually picking it up for $680 RMB (about $100)… but definitely not the $200 Haleron asked for in February. Video after the break.

RIM shows off BlackBerry 6

Sleep Underwater in the Maldives

The world’s first undersea restaurant opened 5 years ago this month at the Conrad

Maldives Rangali Island, and to celebrate the anniversary the restaurant is offering guests the chance to not only eat under the sea but sleep under it as well. The 12-seat restaurant will be converted to a private bedroom suite for two, complete with private champagne dinner and breakfast in bed.

Ithaa sits five meters below the surface of the Indian Ocean, encased in plexiglass and reached by descending a spiral staircase. The restaurant offers breathtaking views and ‘fusion Maldivian cuisine’ (local cooking with a western twist), and rumor has it that over lunch the place is so bright that guests and staff have to wear sunglasses (they even keep spares on hand and offer a sunglasses cleaning service). Sounds wonderful, although I imagine seeing the sun rise while eating breakfast in bed is even better.