awkward moments · funny · motivational

Recently I was building a new Windows 7 Home Edition system, when I encountered a hurdle I hadn’t faced before.

I booted from the Windows 7 installation disc, and started ‘nexting’ through the install wizard. I only got a few screens in, when I hit a snag. A dialogue asked, Where do you want to install Windows? – but – no devices were listed in the table.

Strange, I thought.  This screen should list my brand-new SATA disc. I should have 1 terrabyte of disk space ready to partition, format and install Windows.

I rebooted, checked that the BIOS could see the disc (it could), and rebooted.

Needless to say, I hit the same snag. Repeatedly.

After hours of rebooting, refreshing, trying to install updated drivers, fiddling with BIOS settings and re-seating all the SATA connections inside the machine, I found this little pearler in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Symptoms: When you try to install Windows Vista, the hard disk on which you want to install Windows Vista does not appear in the Where do you want to install Windows? disk configuration window.

Yes! Yes! That’s me! Just substitute the number ‘7′ for the word ‘Vista’.

Cause: This issue occurs if the hard disk partition contains an invalid byte offset value. For example, this issue occurs if the partition has a byte offset of zero (0).

Okay. Suddenly I’m thinking that my brand-new SATA disk might not be so brand-new after all. Anyway…

Resolution:

1. Use the Windows Vista DVD to start the computer.
2. At the Windows Vista installation screen, click Next, and then click Install Now.
3. Press SHIFT+F10 to start a command prompt.
4. At the command prompt, type diskpart, and then press ENTER.
5. Type select disk number, and then press ENTER. In this command, replace numberwith the number of the hard disk that you want to modify. For example, if you want to install Windows Vista on the first available hard disk, type select disk 0, and then press ENTER.
6. Type clean, and then press ENTER. You receive the following message: “DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.”
7. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit the DiskPart tool.
8. Type exit, and then press ENTER to exit the command prompt.
9. Restart the computer, and then start the Windows Vista installation.

Problem solved! I got to the same screen, which this time listed the previously-missing storage device:

Of course, it’s easy when you know how.

diskpart · install windows · installation problem · windows 7

I’ve got a netbook.  So does Mrs Dr Ron:

Mine is the Asus EeePC, which runs like a charm (but could do with a re-load, when I’ve got five minutes to scratch myself).

Mrs Dr Ron’s is the Acer Aspire 1.

A few nights ago Mrs Dr Ron complained that her netbook wouldn’t start.  After some basic investigation (like checking power supply and battery) it appeared that the BIOS had become corrupt.  The computer’s power light came on, but that was about it.  Not good.

The BIOS is the “Basic Input / Output System” and contains a set of instructions which tells the computer, amongst other things, how to access the hard disk and find the operating system when it’s turned on.  It also starts simple devices like the keyboard and the video.  The BIOS is the first set of instructions that the computer loads in order to function.  BIOS instructions are contained on a chip on the motherboard, and the BIOS works independently of the operating system, peripheral devices, and all that sort of stuff.

If the BIOS disappears or becomes corrupted for whatever reason, it’s a big problem.  The computer won’t start.  Thankfully, this doesn’t happen very often, and thankfully, modern computers let you “re-flash” the BIOS, which means writing a new set of instructions to the computer’s BIOS chip.

In this case I had to re-flash the BIOS on the Acer netbook.  This is the second time in 12 months I’ve had to do this.  I’m not sure if it’s a known issue with this model, or if Mrs Dr Ron just has an electric (electromagnetic?) personality which keeps causing this to happen.

How do you re-flash a BIOS? Every computer is different, but follows a similar procedure:

• First identify what type of computer you have. This netbook is an “Acer Aspire One A150″ model.  You’ll need the exact model number, because every type of motherboard will have a unique BIOS;
• Visit the manufacturer’s website to obtain the latest BIOS for your particular system (I went here); or undertake some intelligent Googling, it shouldn’t take long.  Download the latest version of the BIOS for your machine;
• Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for upgrading / flashing the BIOS.  This might involve copying files to a memory stick, and holding a particular combination of keys when you turn the device on.

For the Acer Aspire I followed these instructions from the Macles Blogspot, which worked perfectly:

First format a USB flash drive with FAT. It does not need to be bootable.

Download the latest BIOS, and extract all files from the zip file. Put both FLASHIT.EXE and the BIOS file with FD suffix in the root directory of the flash drive. The files must not be in a folder. Rename the BIOS file to ZG5IA32.FD before proceeding. It only works with this exact filename.

Turn the AA1 off, with the flash drive still connected, and make sure both battery and AC adapter are also connected.

Press Fn and Esc simultaneously, keep them pressed and press the power button. Release Fn+Esc after a few seconds. The power button starts blinking at this point. Press the power button once. The AA1 will now initiate flashing the BIOS. After a while the button stops blinking, and the AA1 reboots shortly after. Wait patiently.

If it doesn’t reboot by itself, but keeps blinking, wait at least a few minutes before turning it off, and try again.

Mrs Dr Ron’s netbook restarted, and before long was loading Windows XP.  Good as new!  No data was lost in this process, because re-flashing the BIOS doesn’t affect data on the hard disk or storage device.

The procedure is fairly straight-forward, but it’s critical that you don’t interrupt the upgrade in progress. Doing so could damage your computer or put the BIOS chips into a state where they can’t be re-flashed or upgraded. You run the risk of turning your computer into an expensive brick. Don’t turn off the power, don’t pull out the USB stick half-way through, and don’t unplug the power supply (just in case).

If you follow the manufacturer’s instructions, you should be okay.

Good luck.

Acer Aspire 1 · BIOS · flash · netbook · upgrade

For the love of God, will people please stop sending money to complete strangers via Western Union, and complaining that their money has mysteriously disappeared?!?!

I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with the following gentleman at work yesterday. This man, let’s call him “Phil”, was looking to buy a car on carsales.com.au, which is a popular Australian car auction website.

Having found an almost-new Ford Falcon sedan with low mileage for just $12,500, Phil thought that was a bargain.  IT’S ALMOST TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, thought Phil to himself. He made some email enquiries, and the seller said that he had to travel overseas with the military, and that he was reluctant to sell the car for such a low price, but that he needed a quick sale and didn’t expect to be back anytime soon.

The seller told Phil that he would remove the car from carsales.com.au, and list the vehicle on eBay with a “buy it now” link.  The seller then sent Phil an email with a URL, to something which looked a bit like this:

http://www.ebay.com.au.car-sales-server.someotherdodgydomainname.co.cn/

Phil clicked on this link which took him to what he thought looked like an eBay listing for the car, with a “buy it now” link.

But Phil was concerned about buying the car ’sight unseen’.  So he did two things:

1. He rang VicRoads, and they referred him to a VicRoads website, to check the legitimacy of cars being offered for sale.  He entered in the registration details, and the make / model / colour / VIN matched the vehicle being offered for sale; and
2. He asked the seller if he was covered by eBay’s “Buyer Protection” scheme.

The seller said yes, of course, and sent him another link to an address which looked a bit like this:

http://www.ebay.buyerprotection.biz/

At this site Phil submitted a form with the eBay Item number, and received a cheerful email reply confirming that the transaction was legitimate, and that Phil would indeed be covered by eBay’s comprehensive “Buyer Protection” programme.

Phil and his money were easily parted. He journeyed down to the local Post Office forthwith, and used Western Union (as requested by the seller) to wire $12,500 to a man by the name of JOHN SMITH.

For some unknown reason, the car never arrived. Phil used a freight-tracking website which the seller provided, but then that shut down, then the emails stopped, and the eBay link which Phil had in his emails stopped working too.

When Phil reported this to eBay, they told him it was a common scam and that Phil’s transaction ID did not exist.

When Phil reported the incident to the police, they told him that the car registration and make / model / colour / VIN were all legitimate, and that the scammers had simply copied these details (and the digital photographs) from a legitimate car advertisement.  They also told Phil that there was little, if any, chance of recovering his money.

How to avoid eBay scams

This list is by no means exhaustive. But some or any of these tips might have stopped Phil becoming the victim of an eBay scam:

1. Learn how to read URLs and internet addresses.  It’s not hard.  If in doubt, ask that tech-savvy person in your family for help.
2. Never, ever use Western Union to transfer money.  eBay says that Western Union is regularly used by online scammers: “They typically ask buyers to make payments using Western Union or a similar money transfer service because they are hard to trace.” Pay using direct deposit or PayPal so that some level of accountability exists.
3. Use a current web browser that offers protection from phishing scams.
4. Always type URLs directly into your web browser, e.g. “ebay.com.au”.  DON’T click on links in emails. DON’T click on images in emails.
5. Don’t buy expensive stuff if you haven’t seen it in Real Life!!  Always inspect real estate, motor cars, white goods and expensive items prior to bidding. The opportunity of a lifetime comes along every day.

And remember, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

419 · awkward moments · buyer protection · eBay · email · fraud · PayPal · scam · Western Union

I’m a self-confessed Sudoku addict. I like regular Sudoku, Samurai Sudoku and even hexadecimal Sudoku. I do Sudoku in books, newspapers, and (until very recently) on-line. I find it relaxing, entertaining and mentally stimulating.

Hence my horror last week, when in a personal vendetta launched wholly at me and intended to achieve nothing other than leave me in crumpled, listless, lifeless state on the floor of the computer room, grubby Zynga Games shut down their massively popular Challenge Sudoku game on Facebook. At the time this digital atrocity was committed, nearly 20,000 fans were friends of the game and Challenge Sudoku had received a rating of 3.9 stars out of 5 stars, based on 1,468 reviews.

Here’s the heart-wrenching message which greeted me when I logged on, in order to finish a 5-round “harder” marathon against my Facebook arch-nemesis, a game which I can only assume will now remain unfinished until the end of time itself:

The grubby error message from Zynga Games

Needless to say – but I’ll say it anyway – “important” games like Farmville, CafeWorld and Mafia Wars are still going strong.

Despondent, heart-broken, despised and rejected, I logged off Facebook, shut down the computer and wept quietly for some hours. I then started driving around aimlessly, in an effort to think clearly. I found myself at mum & dad’s, where I stopped seeking consolation and a mug of International Rust.

I confided in my mother, explaining  my Sudoku dilemma.

Mum said, “Well, there’s always the games you used to play in the garage. Let’s have a look.”

Curious, I followed my mother into the garage, where every single game, toy, camping tool, school book and scouting provision from my childhood was safely stored, and will also possibly (and coincidentally) be stored until the end of time itself.

Would you believe, in next to no time, my mother was able to produce 1 x original, genuine, 30-year-old Intellivision games console??!?!?

The Mattel Intellivision

Woo hooo!! The Intellivision was manufactured in the late-1970s by Mattel, and was a state-of-the-art machine in its day. My family spent thousands of hours in front of this bleeding-edge games console as we attacked aliens from outer space, negotiated Pitfall Harry over alligators and swamps, and even dodged dangerous barrels of burning oil in Donkey Kong.

The Intellivision is a cartridge machine and mum found a big bag of game cartridges too. I raced home and plugged everything in. No fancy HDMI output on this little sucker: the Intellivision was equipped with an RF modulator. Kids, this means you switch the television to channel 0 or channel 1, and plug a coaxial cable between the system and the antenna socket on your TV.

I was concerned that the Intellivision wouldn’t work after all these years, and I was especially concerned that the magnetic media on the games cartridges would have long since become corrupt or erased completely.

I was, however, excitedly surprised to find that most cartridges still actually worked, after at least 30 years of use and abuse, and storage in a high-humidity garage.

Here are some exciting images from the next few hours of my life, showing-off the Intellivision’s magnificent 159 x 192 aspect ratio and 16-colour graphics palette:

Space Armada

Swords and Serpents

Donkey Kong

…and last, but certainly not least:

Demon Attack

Other exciting titles include Happy Trails, Utopia, Star Strike, Auto Racing, Baseball and Thunder Castle.

And the GREAT thing I’m discovering about the Intellivision, 30 years on, is that no-one in the world knows who I am – or anything about me – when I’m playing a game; AND there’s not one single privacy setting which can mean the difference between access to the game itself and criminally-motivated identity fraud.

I’m yet to find a Sudoku cartridge, but for now, I think it’s safe to say that I’ve learned to deal with my Zynga pain. I’m too busy shooting demons and jumping oil barrels.

Long live Mattel!

facebook · games · intellivision · mattel · retro · sudoku

amateur radio · ARDF · foxhunting · ham radio

Someone in the chat last night mentioned the Google Nexus One Android-powered smartphone.

It won’t be sold here, and it won’t work on Telstra’s Next G HSDPA network. See this article in The Australian for more details.

For our brethren abroad, here’s a nifty comparison chart courtesy of Tech Talk Radio’s US correspondent, Mark Diggins:

Apple's iPhone 3GS vs Google's Nexus 1

android · Apple iPhone 3GS · comparison · Google Android · Google Nexus 1 · Google Phone · HSDPA · Next G · smartphone · Tech Talk Radio · telstra

I had a realization this week. I think I might be a “CLI snob”.

Every day I triage email; I key-ahead to delete voicemail without listening; and I multi-select text messages and hit “delete” without reading them.

Now this brutal yet effective time-management technique has started to influence the way I handle incoming phone calls. No Caller ID? No answer. Sorry.

Working in the I.T. industry fifteen years ago, the on-call techo from my department would start a mail client called “cc:Mail” twice daily, and connect to a Netware mail server. We’d check, optimistically (and naively optimistically in hindsight), to see if anyone had sent us any mail.

Nowadays, we’re bombarded with electronic messaging in every form, every minute of the day; especially I.T. people, who often receive automated alerts from monitoring systems and server scripts. And we’re expected to be available 24 x 7!

So this is what ends-up happening, and I’m sure I’m not the Lone Ranger here. I receive roughly 100 to 200 email messages daily, to my home and work accounts. I ‘triage’ these as they arrive, moving them into folders or just deleting them without reading. Some readers might find this to be normal practice, others might be appalled. If it took me just 30 seconds to open and read each of these messages I’d be spending an hour, maybe an hour and a half, each day just opening and reading emails. Not actually actioning them or doing anything productive, just opening and reading.

To manage time effectively you need to identify what’s relevant to you fast, and everything else can go on the back-burner.

If I’m in a meeting, and I have three missed calls from colleagues, and then three “missed call” text messages from voicemail, I’m not actually going to read any of those texts, or dial-in to voicemail and listen to people saying “Hi, ahhhh… looks like you’re busy… okay then, catchya later.” Delete, delete, delete. It’s what type-ahead was made for. I’m better-off ringing them back, or walking through the cube farm and saying, “Hey, sorry I missed your call, what’s up?”

Lately I’ve been ignoring calls from “private” numbers. Not because I don’t love antagonizing telemarketers, but rather, I’ve got a finite amount of time to get work done, and the telephone is a big distraction. At least if I know who’s calling, I can make an assessment as to the relevance of that call before I answer it.

If I “bounce” a call to voicemail, it’s for a good reason: not necessarily because the call is unwelcome, but that the interruption is unwelcome.

Similarly, if I call someone and I get “bounced” to voicemail (and yes, I do send my number on outgoing calls,) then I know the person at the other end is probably in the same position.

Someone called me a “CLI snob” the other day, because I bounced a private number to voicemail. Maybe I am, but for good reason. Time equals money. Show me some courtesy by identifying yourself in outgoing calls, and I’ll reciprocate by answering or returning the call when I can, and when I’m in a position to give you my undivided attention.

The telephone, like email, Twitter, voicemail, faxmail, text messages and everything else, is a communication tool for my convenience. It shouldn’t be a tool for someone else’s convenience to the detriment of my productivity. If it is, what’s the point in having it?

Oh, the private number caller didn’t leave a message either, by the way. I wondered, for a brief second, who it  might have been.

But only just for a second.

ANI · Caller ID · CLI · email · faxmail · productivity · SMS · text message · time management · Twitter · voicemail

Much has been said about the Australian Government’s proposed Net Filter legislation.

Outside of the Government, most of what has been said  is bad; except for this little gem by The Australian, which reports that  the new legislation is unlikely to be passed before the Federal election.

The Government was aiming to introduce draft legislation at the last sitting of parliament. This opportunity has been and gone.

Now, The Australian has reported that a spokeswoman for Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said that  the legislation would not be introduced in the May or June sittings of parliament.

Parliament will not then sit until the last week of August, and the next Federal election must be held before April 2011.

Today, Electronic Frontiers Australia (a vocal opponent of the Net Filter) reported that Senator Sue Boyce had called the proposed legislation ‘a farce’:

The Rudd Government’s hare-brained proposal to censor the internet was descending into complete farce with the Prime Minister admitting he didn’t have a clue what was going on, Liberal Senator Sue Boyce, said today.

“Yesterday, Mr Rudd at a media conference, admitted that he had ‘no advice’ about whether or not the legislation would be introduced before the election and fobbed the matter off to Communications Minister Stephen Conroy,” Senator Boyce said.

“This is despite the fact that Minister Conroy’s spokeswoman was quoted in the media yesterday morning (Thursday) as saying the legislation would be delayed at least until after the June sitting of Parliament,” she said.

Labor promised before the last election that it would force ISPs to block illegal content.  Now, with Labor’s time and resources focussed on the shelving of its Emissions Trading Scheme; extinguishing burning insulation batts; wrangling with the states over health reform and the GST; with any luck the Net Filter legislation will take a back seat, and quietly be abandoned under the guise of a Friday 4:55 P.M. media release like this:

The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Senator Stephen Conroy today announced he would introduce amendments to enhance protection for all Australians that use the internet.

After much consultation with industry groups and key stakeholders, the Australian Government is excited to announce the next stage of the implementation of its Cyber-Safety Policy.

The Government has determined that the function of ISP-level filtering, while efficient, effective and potentially of great benefit to all Australians, can be even better provided by the introduction of voluntary ISP-based filtering systems and Government-subsidised filter software for home users.

The Government has had constructive discussions with the Greens on this issue and now calls on the Opposition to support this ground-breaking strategy.

To facilitate the quick passage of the legislative amendments, and in the best interests of all Australians, the Government will not proceed with the proposal to implement a mandatory ISP-based Net Filter.

“A range of views were expressed in the public submissions, and I would like to thank everyone who contributed their comments and valuable ideas to the consultation process,” Senator Conroy said.

Senator Conroy said that the discussion period had been most valuable and that the Australian Government was now in a much better position to go forward with informed, decisive action to protect Australians from on-line dangers.

“Such a system will accommodate growth trajectories for internet usage, leverage investment in existing infrastructure and protect  family values through excellence in industry best practice,” Senator Conroy said.

“Control techniques will ensure continuous improvement in these systems and guarantee, at the end of the day, that a holistic approach to internet safety, including proper funding of law enforcement and availability of programmes for family education, is ultimately maintained.”

“This is a can-do government,” said Senator Conroy.

Expect sometime like this, anyway. I tried to think of more weasel words but my head was about to explode.

Feel free to copy and paste though, Senator Conroy, if it helps at all.

dbcde · isp filtering · legislation · net filter · no clean feed · Open Internet · Senator Conroy

Fox News ran a story today on GPS jammers, saying that:

An electronic device small enough to fit in a shirt pocket and big enough to conceivably bring down an airplane can be easily purchased over the Internet. All a terrorist needs is a credit card and $49.

Unfortunately, News Limited’s website “news.com.au” regurgitated the story with this sensationalist headline:

Internet jammer can be bought for $55, can bring down plane, say experts.

Now, in the immortal words of the ABC’s Hungry Beast programme, this sounds “a little bit bullshit”.  Here’s why.

The GPS system was designed many years ago by the United States military. It is a network of up to 32 satellites in Medium Earth Orbit, and each of these satellites broadcasts a unique signal. When a terrestrial receiver can “see” or “hear” four or more satellites, the receiver can determine its latitude, longitude and altitude with some accuracy.

An early model Navman GPS receiver

The system was used exclusively by the military up until the early-1990s. The emergence of domestic GPS receivers saw civilian access being allowed to an “intentionally degraded” signal, accurate to within about 15 metres, while the “military” signal provided accuracy to within a few metres. Because it was, and still is, a military navigation system provided free of charge to the masses, the old adage “caveat emptor” applied to early adopters of the technology.

By way of illustration, I was working for a government agency in the early-1990s, installing GPS receivers in a fleet of vehicles. These receivers were accompanied by a data transmitter which sent the vehicles’ locations back to a central controller. One morning in 1994 (?), when the United States commenced military action in Kuwait, our GPS system suddenly went haywire, with blatantly incorrect locations being reported by our vehicles. It took us some time to establish that there was nothing wrong with our network, rather the United States military had made changes to the GPS system ahead of large-scale troop movements in the Middle East.

At the time we used a differential GPS system to give us more accuracy; that is, we had fixed GPS bases (known locations) and compared the GPS signals received at these bases with their precise, known locations. This allowed us to calculate the error which was being introduced into the civilian signal, and get a much more accurate fix on our vehicles. The degradation of the civilian signal has since been significantly improved, if not completely removed, by the US military.

While the manufacture of “civilian” GPS receivers has now become a multi-million dollar industry, the facts remain that the GPS network is still owned and operated by the US military; it has errors which are intentionally introduced by the US military; and it’s provided to civilian users free-of-charge with no service guarantee whatsoever.

For these reasons, the aviation industry has never relied upon GPS as a primary system for navigation.

This may come as a surprise to the editors of Fox News and News Limited, but pilots in domestic aircraft were navigating their way around the world for many, many years prior to the availability of GPS receivers.

Pilots use a very stringent set of rules, systems and equipment in order to navigate. Pilots use transponders, Automatic Direction Finders (which include ground-based radio beacons, VHF omni-range systems) and other equipment to establish their location. They also talk to Air Traffic Controllers, and receive and comply with instructions which assist with navigation and help regulate air traffic.

Pilots use an altimeter to establish their altitude, which compares air pressure with that on the ground – not a GPS receiver.  Pilots use (surprise, surprise) a compass to determine their heading – not a GPS receiver.

Sometimes, planes might be fitted with a GPS receiver, which can be used to corroborate information provided by these other systems. Now I’m not a pilot, but I’ll go out on a limb here and say that if ever there was a discrepancy between a GPS receiver and a traditional navigation system, the GPS would largely be ignored.

If some joker actually managed to get a working “internet jammer” aboard an aircraft in the first place, a navigational discrepancy would probably be looked upon by a pilot simply as an interesting anomaly. Visions of planes falling out of the sky, as painted by News Limited’s headline, are both unfounded and unnecessary.

To say that an “Internet jammer can … bring down [a] plane”, well … it’s a little bit bullshit.

gps · jammer · navigation · plane