Archive for March, 2008
Is there a foldable keyboard I can carry with my laptop?
Mar 31st
The good folks over at Matias send us their Matias Folding Keyboard. When it is unfolded you have yourself a full sized keyboard at your disposal. Its full size is 18 x 5 inches. When you decide to fold and store the keyboard it shrinks to a 10 x 5 inch size.
I really liked its form factor and weight but I was unable to use it in my lap like I had hoped for (without hacking it a little). You see she kept folding up on me when I tried to type. So I added a make shift latch to the bottom that keeps it locked in place.
It is the right size for the job but it needs to be tweaked a little. What do you guys think? Do you use your laptop keyboard? Do you have other similar gadgets that you like?
Overall it is a good idea not VERY expensive at $60.00 and I know a few people that will be very happy by its existence but guys for $70 couldn’t you have thrown in a track pad? That would definitely make it worth $70 and maybe even $85! Hey how do you get a patent anyway…
Setting Up VNC in Ubuntu, Gutsy Gibson.
Mar 31st
We have had more than a few questions asked about how to get VNC working on Ubuntu. It seemed either you had it working already or you didn’t and no one could explain how to do it.
We found this how to on Lifehacker but the meat of the post came from a little know blog called Ubuntu Unleashed.
We love giving props to the little guy – so here you go have some PROPS!
The Ubuntu Unleashed blog has a great tutorial on remote controlling your Linux system—even through a Java-enabled browser. Here’s the whole deal:
- Install packages. Code: sudo apt-get install x11vnc vnc-java
- Set up a password for clients. Code: x11vnc -storepasswd
- Open up ports 5800 and 5900 on your firewall
- Run the terminal command: x11vnc -forever -usepw -httpdir /usr/share/vnc-java/ -httpport 5800 and add it for auto-starting in future sessions
That third step isn’t quite so simple, but luckily we’ve covered that ground before. The same warnings and disclaimers about running a VNC server in that link above apply here. While the guide and code are written from an Ubuntu users’ perspective, the packages and commands, possibly with a little tweaking, should be available in most distributions. Windows and Mac users can get help setting up their own VNC connections through this guide.
Do you do VNC? What do you use to get your remote administration going? In the comments guys!!
Unleash The Secret Admin in Vista
Mar 30th
The rules of the Administrator account changed in Vista. Did you hear?
What do you mean you didn’t get the memo?
It was in between TPS reports and all.
Before Vista, the Administrator account was not hidden out of the box and most users used an Admin account for their every day work. Vista did away with this and disabled the Admin account by default.
Did you know this super special account doesn’t get UAC prompts?
Before going further TAKE NOTE: Microsoft does not recommend doing this and feels The UAC is their way of protecting you from shooting yourself in the foot.
With that being said do WE really need this extra layer of protection? …
(Mind you I have see someone use group policy to lock everyone out of every app on a production server. )
But if you are game lets turn this account on by following these steps:
First, open an elevated command prompt by typing cmd into the Search box on the Start menu, right-clicking the command prompt icon that appears at the top of the Start menu, then selecting Run as administrator — or just use the shortcut you created in the previous hack.
Then enter this command and press Enter:
Net user administrator /active:yes
From now on, the Administrator account will appear as an option on the Welcome screen, along with any user accounts you may have set up. Use it like any other account. Be aware that it won’t have a password yet, so it’s a good idea to set a password for it.If you want to disable the account and hide it, enter this command at an elevated command prompt and press Enter:
Net user administrator /active:no
Alright back to being slightly less secure and making our lives slightly less repetitive!
Time to catch up with AskTheAdmin.
Mar 29th
Yet another geeky week has come and gone. If you have been under a rock recently here are some of our favorite AtA stories that you might have missed…
Don’t worry we changed the titles to drive you crazy (as usual):
- Drive people INSANE! April Fools day IS coming and all!
- Annoy People from a far! Another great gag!
- Where can I get those clean Vista fonts for XP – For free?
- Why I Hate Vista A Little More Each Day!
- Is your ISP slowing down your Bit Torrent downloads? Find out here.
- Unlock your hidden webserver that lives in your TIVO!
- Convert your .TIVO file to play anywhere!
- Blogger Administration via your Windows Mobile Device.
- SOUTHPARK For everyone! For Free! Online!
- Enter My Second TiVo! Find out why!
- How to ping from within the Fox! Firefox that is.
I have had some requests for Group Policy and other Automation techniques. Let me know if there are specific things you admin’s out there want to see! Otherwise I will start general and see where it takes us.
Got any good geeky pranks to share with us?? Speak up! Make your self heard!
I also wanted to say thank you to our friends at HP for giving us a sneak peak of whats going to be hot this year. We will have some more great reviews and give-a-ways. Stay tuned. And hey who wants some MONEY AskTheAdmin T-Shirts and Flash Drives??
_TheWeekInReviewAdmiN_
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