Resize Windows Partitions with Ubuntu

Today at work I received a new Dell laptop for one of our employees. We normally split the HDD into two partitions (C: and D:). D: is used to hold all of the user’s data such as; word documents, pdf’s, etc… I didn’t want to go through the hassle of formatting the C: drive and then splitting it through the XP boot disk, so I did some research on alternate ways of accomplishing this task.  Most articles I found stated that Ubuntu Live disks worked incredibly well.  They couldn’t have been more right.

Resizing NTFS partitions with Ubuntu

1. Insert Ubuntu Disk (I used 9.04)
2. Reboot PC and when prompted boot from disk
3. Click “Try Ubuntu without installing”
4. Once booted into Ubuntu go to System  > Administration > Users and Groups
5. Click on Root and then on Configure
6. Create a password for root and click ok
7. Open up a terminal window and type in su without the quotes and press enter
8. Enter the root password you just configured and press enter
9. type in gparted and press enter
10. Once the gparted GUI launches, you’ll notice a graph of the HDD and how its split up in partitions.  Right click the partition you want to resize and click resize
    

    gparted

11. Once the new window opens, change the partition size to whatever you wish and click ok
12. After step 11, you can either apply the changes and allocate the free space through windows or right click it and format it with NTFS.

Troubleshooting Video Problems

Kait35 asked: “Bought a Pavilion s3137c from someone who didn’t need it anymore. They bought it new from Costco in early 2009. I have had it since October 09. Motherboard has already been replaced under warranty. It has Vista Home Premium on it. It has run fine but after being on for a while the video gets distorted with either vertical or horizontal lines and the system locks up. It was infrequent enough that I ignored it and just rebooted when it happened. I bought Windows 7 upgrade and the problem happens EVERY time I have tried to do the upgrade. Had Microsoft support on the phone. Did a complete backup,format HD,and custom install. Still locks up at the end of the upgrade from the video. Not sure if it’s the onboard video or power supply. Has to be one of those. Any suggestions???”

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Kait,

When dealing with video problems, they can be classified into two categories: hardware and software.

Software Problems usually originate from corrupt driver files.  Drivers are kind of like the middle man between Windows and the actual hardware device.  Without a driver Windows does not know the correct language to speak to the hardware.  For example:  If I went to Korea and needed to buy something, I wouldn’t know how to communicate what I needed to the cashier.  If  I had a translator (driver) with me, I could easily purchase what I needed.

Now that I’ve defined what a driver is, we can start to diagnose the problem.  Since you mentioned that the problem existed when you were running Vista and continued and worstened when you upgraded to 7, it could be due to a bad driver.  To test this theory reboot your computer.  Are you able to see any of the graphics or text (HP Logo screen or RAM count) that appear when booting without the lines running on the screen?   If so, the problem exists within Windows and is most likely a bad driver.   Comment this page after you’ve done what I’ve asked and I’ll continue on once I hear your response.

DROID!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am the proud owner of the Motorola Droid.  This phone IS the iPhone killer. I know that’s a bold statement, but that’s how I feel.  This phone does everything from 3G web browsing, real time map updates while running a GPS, media playback, YouTube integration, thousands of apps, and more.

The following is a breakdown of my favorite features on the Droid:

3G Web Browsing. The web browser built into the Droid is much like the one implemented into the iPhone.  It allows for scrolling and zoom capabilities by the touch of the main screen.   A lot of phones on Verizon’s network up until now have great phones but terrible mobile web browsers.  If you wanted to navigate to a site that did not implement a mobile version of its site, you were screwed.  The Droid however allows you to view web pages in their original format.

802.11g capabilites. The Droid also has the ability to connect to access points for quicker browsing if you’re at home, work, Starbucks, or wherever.  Thanks to the nice little alerts bar at the top of the interface, its easy to connect to open WiFi connections that you may have stumbled upon.  You can also set up secured APs through the Droid’s settinsg app which will keep a database of SSIDs and their keys.   Once the Droid picks up one of the saved SSIDs, it will automatically connect to it.

WiFi

Google Maps/GPS/Car Mode. I absolutely love these features.  The Droid has an App that comes preloaded that changes the desktop layout of the droid into an easier to navigate while driving interface.  Instead of having to search for basic features such as phone, maps, and Google voice search on a cluttered desktop, they’re placed on a neatly organized toolbar.

The google maps and GPS integration is amazing.  This feature makes car GPS’s obsolete since Google maps never gets outdated.  What I mean by this is when you set up a route that you would like to travel, the Droid queries Google Map databases for the best route and then sends the latest map to your phone for navigation.  This is a great feature as long as you start your journey in a place that has 3G.  Maps will be unable to load if you attempt to set up a route from outside of the 3G network since Google databases will be unreachable.

Car App

Google Maps

Media Playback. The Droid comes default with a 16Gb micro SD card installed.  This allows for a lot of storage space for apps, music, videos, and other data.    Most of my 16Gb card is filled with mp3.  The music player is somewhat limited in features but organized neatly and efficiently.  When you first open the Music Player you are greeted with 4 options: Artists, Albums, Songs, and Playlists.  Each one respectively shows what it’s title describes.  Once you choose how you want to play the music, you are taken to the player itself.   The player comes equipped with Album art, playlist, shuffle, repeat, song information, play/pause, rewind/backtrack, fast forward/skip to next track, and a progress bar.

Multitasking. The Droid allows for true multitasking.  For instance, I use my Droid basically as a media center for my car.  I have the Droid connected to an FM tuner and resting on a dashboard mount.  It is common for me to be running Google Maps and Music Apps simultaneously.  The Music plays constantly until google maps has to tell me something or a phone call comes in.  In that case the music pauses and picks back up where it left off once the other apps are done alerting me.

YouTube Integration. I haven’t used this feature to its fullest potential yet, but it seems like a great idea.  With this preloaded app, you are able to view YouTube videos on your phone.  There is a built-in YouTube search button which allows you to search the YouTube database and load up videos.

The other feature in this app is the ability to record videos with the Droid’s built-in camera and then immediately upload it to YouTube via WiFi or 3G.  I’ve only tested this by uploaded a 30 second video, but it did in fact upload it pretty quickly (probably about 1 minute).

Youtube

Sliding Keyboard. The Droid is the only Android phone in Verizon’s arsenal that has a physical keyboard.  All other’s have touch screen keyboards much like the Dare’s or Env Touch’s.  The touch screen keyboard is nice, but I like to know that I’m actually hitting buttons.  This also allows, for me atleast, to minimize errors and compose e-mails/texts quicker.

Through all of its glory and majesty, there are some problems that I have with the Droid:

Screen is not multitouch. The screen on the Droid does not support multitouch which only really hurts the use of the on screen keyboard.  For instance, if you are typing something and accidentally have two fingers touching the screen at once, the Droid will only accept whatever the last key you typed was.  So if I typed the letter D and then had two fingers on the screen and tried to touch F, the Droid would register it a D.

Making phone calls. It seems like making a call is more of a hassle than it should be.  Say I wanted to make a call to my friend Todd.  There are 5 + ways I can go about this.  1) Open the phone app and dial his number 2)Open the phone app, hit the Contacts tab, scroll down to his name, touch his name, and finally pick whether I want to call his home or cell 3) Open phone app, hit contacts, touch search icon on phone, and begin to type his name out, touch his name, and choose whether to call his home or cell 4) Make a shortcut of his contact information on the Droid’s desktop 5)use google voice/text search and use keywork “Call Todd.”   It just seems that it takes too many touches to call anyone.

Overall, I give the Droid a 4.5/5

Ubuntu: Awesome Support but noticeable compatibility issues

As you may have read in one of my earlier posts, I had fallen in love with Ubuntu.  Up until recently, I have been using Ubuntu for everything from web browsing to web design.

Regretably, I’ve been noticing that a lot of my hardware, in my Dell XPS 410 is not supported in Ubuntu (sound card, printer, etc…). The Ubuntu forums provides tons of “solutions” for hardware problems, but either I don’t have the expertise, the solutions don’t apply to me, or I have to add 20 lines of code to a certain system critical file.    I’m not saying that Ubuntu is a terrible OS, but I’m saying its a terrible OS for my PC and my patience.

I’m sure there are people who will be reading this who have the same PC as me and can’t figure out why I’m having so much trouble.  When it comes down to it, I work 10 hour days and don’t get home till 6pm at night.  Once I’m home I usually like to hop on my computer and shoot the shit with friends.  Sometimes I’m put in a situation where someone wants to talk on Skype.  I have an account from when I had XP and installed it on Ubuntu.   As it turns out, Ubuntu doesn’t support my sound card and it won’t recognize my mic.  So I googled solutions and found 100s of pages of restults.  I tried about 10 of them just to be left frustrated and let down.  Next thing I know its time to turn in for the night.  Now on the otherhand, I have Ubuntu 8.10 running on my Dell Inspiron B130 without any problems.   It does what I need it to and couldn’t ask for more from it.

Now I’m back using XP on my XPS and am loving how everything seems to be compatible.  No longer do I need to do custom editing on files.  Most problems can be fixed by downloading a program or driver.  Although, I’m experiencing a noticable performance defficiency in XP as compared to Ubuntu.  Overall, I’m happy with XP and will stick with it for my primary PC.

What are your experiences with Ubuntu as compared to XP?

Long time no Blog

So, its been a while since I posted on here and I figured it was time I atleast did something.   So here it is.     Recently, I have been going through an academic “rebirth.”  Its not the kind of rebirth in which I change my concentration of work in the field, but the kind in which I decide I need to do more.

I took and completed both the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) and CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) classes throughout my academic careers.  I have yet to get the certifications.  Which is where I am now.  I have recently read over all of my CCNA Modules and have purchased a CCNA cram book that I’m reading now.  I hope to be certified by the end of next month.

I’m hoping that this will make my peers and employers take me more seriously and maybe, just maybe get me a promotion or atleast recognition.

I hope to post some more before I take the test, but in the case that I don’t, I will post on the results.

-Jim

Why Leaderboards and Ranking Systems are Ruining Online Gaming

YES!   Its true.  Online gaming, as we know it, is getting less pleasant everytime a new game comes out.   Ranking systems in games accomplishes many things: it turns people into assholes, removes the fun of the game, and adds frustrations.  Think about it.

When I first joined Xbox Live people played games to interact with each other.  This is where I met most of my online friends which I now know by name, address, phone number, email, etc.  (NO, I didn’t hack there accounts to get this info.)  We would play Call of Duty 2 constantly and laugh about how someone shot you in the head from across the map or how you got caught on a latter or were killed due to bad lag.  If you lost a game then, it just meant that you needed to improve your skills during the next game.  If I remember correctly, people used to switch teams between games so that teams would even out.

Halo 3 Rankings

Now if you play Gears of War 2 or Halo 3 you have to worry about being called a racist slur or having bad feedback left against you because you play the game better than someone else.  I can honestly say that my feed back was 85% preferred and 15% avoided during the COD2 time period.  When Gears of War 1 and Call of Duty 4 came out my feedback went to 65% preferred and 35% avoided.  I barely trash talk on Live and if I do its because someone insulted me or a friend online.

Like stated before, kids online are generally all assholes any more.  If you would have asked me back when I was 13 to say the words fuck, shit, or call someone’s mom a whore I would have rejected the offer.  I can’t even remember how many times I have been called a Nigger, Spick, Wetback, etc online by a white child who is somewhere between 10 and 16 years of age.  The worst part of it is that this language is used all too commonly without any type of coaxing.

Furthermore, I’m tired of hearing excuses.  FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, NOBODY HAS USED A LAG SWITCH SINCE HALO2.  Stop using that as an excuse for dying.  Maybe there was a murmer in your internet connection.  Did you ever think of that?  No, you probably didn’t since you can’t think rationally due to the competition.

What do you guys think about this topic?

Are Video Games Making Me Lose My Head?… Pun intended

Much like most of the masses, I purchased Gears of War 2 for my 360 on Friday. I owned the first of the two and loved everything about it. Although, I did find one part of the game to be more appealing to me. EXPLODING HEADS. Shooting people in the head in Gears of War has to be the most enjoyable thing in life, in fact I don’t believe anyone can truly say they lived a fulfilling life until they pop the head off of a grub or a gear.

Its not really the sight of chunks flying, its more the sound that it makes that pleases me.  All of those that play Gears can agree that the sound of a headshot is awesome.  Usually when you hear the squishy popping noise of a head exploding, the sounds of players shouting, “OH SHIT” or “JESUS CHRIST” are soon followed

If you happen to join a game on live that I’m in, you better believe that I have the sniper rifle in my hand awaiting the moment that some poor chap stops to pick up grenades, or any weapon for that matter.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not even close to the best sniper in the game, in reality I’m probably second to last.  The rarity of me actually getting a headshot makes the successful shots all the sweeter.

WeAreCentralPA.com…. Don’t be so proud…

Today I noticed an add on wearecentralpa.com that was advertising a computer component.  A quick glance showed that this was no mere computer monitor.

Turns out it was a good-working Dell computer MONITAR!!! I’ve never actually seen a monitar before and was thrilled.  What sucks, is that I was going to buy it but don’t know the U.S. currency exchange for 15 DOLALRS…

Can anybody help me out?!?!?!?!

*exit sarcasm*

I’m tired of seeing those god forsaken MAC commercials!

Am I the only one who thinks this way?

“I’m a MAC, I’m cool, hip, and can have any girl I want!”  “I’m a PC, I have seasonal allergies and get off to WoW!”  Freaking stereotypical bullshit.  I refuse to watch any movies with Justin Long in them due to the fierce amount of anger I feel when I see him.  I don’t even understand how MACs can be trendy!
What is it that kids find so awesome in MACs?  Is it the awesome 1 button mouse?  Or perhaps how outrageously expensive they are?   Better yet, maybe the pretty multicolored loading wheel?

The only people I could possibly see owning a MAC is, at best, graphic art students due to the MAC’s hardware performance and exclusive software.  Otherwise, buy a freaking PC with Windows on it!  Hell, buy a PC and put Ubuntu on it!

It just drives me crazy of how high and mighty Apple thinks they are… Oh! well they did come out with the iPod, so therefore they must be the greatest thing since nipple slips.  Ipods, in my opinion, are the biggest rip off ever (with the exception of the iPod touch).  I recently bought a Sansa mp3 player which is basically an ipod for 3/4 of the price an iPod.  Why are people paying an extra 40-100 dollars for the apple logo?  Because they are slaves to trends.

I’m just glad that Microsoft has finally started firing back with their weird assed Bill Gates/Jerry Seinfeld and “I’m a PC” ads!

Let me know what you think on this subject by participating in my poll!

***BONUS POINTS****   Steve Jobs,  please wear a different colored shirt for the love of god!!!!!!!!!!!!

Analog Fax Machine over Ethernet (The Ghetto Way)

It was recently brought to my attention that we do not have a fax machine at my place of business.  Keep in mind that I work for a fortune 500 company which likes to keep up with emerging technology.  Apparently users have been complaining amongst themselves about our lack of fax machines but decided to not bring it to my attention.  It wasn’t until a programmer was unable to send a fax to a software company for it to come to my attention.  It turns out that our office Copier/Scanner also has a built in Fax Machine.  Regrettably, there are no phone jacks located near the copier.

What I had planned to do was purchase a Cisco modem (we’re mainly a Cisco ran company) which would convert the analog fax machine into an IP fax machine.  From there our network admin could assign a number to it through Cisco call manager.  My boss however decided that this would be a waste of money and suggested that I figure a way to hook it up for next to nothing.  Like stated previously, there are no phone jacks near the fax machine.  In fact, there’s probably only about 5 phones jacks in the building. Yes that’s right, we are strictly VoIP.   This means, of course, that I have a plethora of RJ45 wall jacks to choose from.

The RJ45 half of my RJ11 to RJ45 cable.

After mapping out where the closest ethernet wall jack ran and where the analog phone lines are terminated I brainstormed a resolution.  Luckily, the ethernet patch panel and 66 block (phone patch panel) are loacted in the same room.  What I figured was my best plan of action would be to run a CAT5 cable, with a RJ11 connector on one side and a RJ45 connector on the other, from the fax machine to the wall plate.  From there I would run another CAT5 cable from the patch panel to the 66 block.

Blue CAT5 cable punched down on the 66 block

Once I had all of the cables crimped and installed, the final step was to map the fax machine to one of our phone numbers.  To do this, I simply punched the ethernet wires down parralell to a phone line that has a number leased from the phone company and then conected the two connections with briding clips (the silver clips shown on the picture to the left).

I searched for hours looking on a how-to for this topic with no luck, that is why I decided to document this.  Consider this a starting point for people who are in the same predicament.