Joe Wein’s blog

Comments from Yokohama, Japan

Entries Tagged as 'electronics'

DD-WRT on Buffalo WZR-HP-G300NH (Japanese version, A0 A3)

August 7th, 2010 · 3 Comments

I’ll be moving to a new house next week, my first move in a decade. To make the switchover as smooth as possible I decided to set up and test the broadband connection and router at the new location ahead of the move, so I’d only have to bring along my PCs and everything should [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · electronics

GuruPlug Server and JTAG interface

June 10th, 2010 · 4 Comments

The GuruPlug Server Plus that I ordered from GlobalScale Technologies in February finally arrived around the middle of May, about two weeks later than anticipated.
These ARM-based Linux computers draw a mere 5-6 Watt of power at idle according to my WattChecker Plus, yet provide as much port connectivity as a regular notebook or desktop [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · electronics

GuruPlug Server Plus, a $129 Linux server based on ARM

February 21st, 2010 · 5 Comments

Over the years, Intel and its microprocessors have become a household name, recognized by millions of PC users. However, far more people own computers based on ARM processors without ever having heard of that CPU – it’s their mobile phones. More than a billion mobile phones are sold worldwide every year, each one more [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · electronics · software

RCA Airnergy looks like a hoax

January 14th, 2010 · 6 Comments

Gizmodo reported about a Gadget shown at CES 2010 that supposedly harvests energy from a wireless hotspot. The “RCA Airnergy WiFi Hotspot Power Harvester” consists of a small battery, a USB connector and some circuitry that is supposed to convert wireless signals into DC power to top up the battery. The gadget can then be [...]

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Tags: Computers · electricity · electronics · energy

The most robust router I ever used – WHR-HP-G54 (DD-WRT)

December 9th, 2009 · 3 Comments

It’s been 15 months since I set up a Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 with open source Linux-based DD-WRT firmware as my main broadband router (see “DD-WRT on Buffalo WHR-HP-G54″, 2008-09-06). I’m happy to report that this US$70 router it is the most robust router I have ever used. Its performance has been solid as a rock.
I’ve owned [...]

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Tags: Linux · electronics · software

Marvell MC85 with NdisWrapper on Ubuntu 9.10

November 13th, 2009 · 1 Comment

Last week I updated my Gateway M-6750 from Ubuntu 9.04 to Ubuntu 9.10 (“Karmic Koala”) and managed to get myself into a right mess, as I lost access to both my wired and wireless internet connections. I then burnt an Ubuntu 9.10 live CD from an ISO image dowloaded with uTorrent and reinstalled from [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · Windows XP · electronics · software

Computer power usage: AMD, Intel and VIA

November 3rd, 2009 · No Comments

The Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor P4460 by P3 International is a popular gadget in North America for measuring power usage by electronics and electrical appliances. You simply plug it into the wall socket and plug the appliance into the device and it will give you instant read-outs of power usage in Watt, [...]

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Tags: Computers · electricity · electronics · energy · environment

Memory upgrades for Lenovo S10e, Aspire M5201, eMachines T6212

October 13th, 2009 · 3 Comments

Last month my Gateway GT4014j suddenly died and I replaced it with an Acer Aspire M5201, which came with 2 GB of memory installed. That was less than the 3 GB I had in the Gateway and it affected some very memory hungry apps I use. So three weeks later I did a memory upgrade [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · Windows 7 · Windows Vista · Windows XP · electronics

Setting file dates from EXIF data for JPEG files

August 12th, 2009 · No Comments

I just came back from a fabulous 6 day trip to Utah, Arizona and Nevada with my family, retracing a tour there back in 1992 inspired by reading Edward Abbey’s “The Monkey Wrench Gang” which is set in the Four Corners area of the Southwestern USA. The Grand Canyon (North and South rim), Monument Valley, [...]

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Tags: electronics · software

IPv6 with DD-WRT router and Hurricane Electric

May 25th, 2009 · 5 Comments

Last weekend I got IPv6 working on my US$60 router, allowing all my machines here to talk IPv6 to the outside world. That includes an Ubuntu Linux server, 4 PCs and one Mac.
The biggest incentive for upgrading to IPv6 is the fact that at the current pace we’ll run out of (IPv4) IP addresses in [...]

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Tags: Computers · Linux · Windows 7 · Windows Vista · Windows XP · electronics · software