After some searching across the web I found that there wasn’t a very good write up on the step by step procedure to enable a TFTP daemon on Ubuntu (my choice for linux servers). I had actually messed around with the tftpd package, but in the little bit I was able to find I determined I wanted to use the ‘atftp’ and ‘atftpd’ packages available in Ubuntu’s universe repositories due to more adoption in instructions that were available. In what I’ve been able to determine, both the server daemon (atftpd) and the client program (atftp) are necessary on the server (computer). The reasoning, as best as I’ve been able to determine, is that the server (daemon) only makes the files available. The client (program) does all of the “work” in negotiating connections between each other, so a client (program) is necessary on both the server (computer) and the client (computer). I hope that made sense.

So that you have a baseline of expectations, I’ll be open with the specs and configuration of the server I’m using:

• Ubuntu Server 10.4 Lucid Lynx x86 (32 bit)
• Dual 1.4Ghz Pentium3 CPUs
• 512MB RAM
• Running as Guest OS on VMWare ESXi 3.5 Update5

Now, let’s get atftpd installed.

1. Get Root.

   sudo -i

2. Install atftpd.

   apt-get install atftpd

3. Edit atftpd’s configuration.

   pico -w /etc/default/atftpd

   change “USE_INETD=true” to “USE_INETD=false”

   ctrl+x, enter, y

4. Start atftpd.

   invoke-rc.d atftpd start

5. Add the tftp directory.

   cd /srv

   mkdir tftp

   chmod 777 tftp

   chown nobody:nogroup tftp

6. Restart atftpd.

   /etc/init.d/atftpd restart

7. Install the client (program).

   apt-get install atftp

8. Done!

At this point, use your favorite SCP client (program) to upload any firmware files to the /srv/tftp folder. Once it is uploaded, point the tftp location in your firmware update process to your newly deployed tftpd server. Easy enough!

Thanks for visiting, if you have any questions feel free to comment below and I’ll do my best to reply and help you out.

If you run into this same issue with a memory error and the following error in the server console window:

workthreadpool.cpp (296) : Assertion Failed:CWorkThreadPool::StopWorkThreads: Some threads required forcible termination.

The fix is to update your cfg/mani_admin_plugin/gametypes.txt with the one generated here at the Mani Admin Plugin’s site.

It took me a bit to find this fix, so hopefully the search engines were nice to you and directed you here.

1. sudo -i
2. apt-get update
3. apt-get upgrade
4. apt-get install build-essential binutils linux-headers-$(uname -r)
5. mount /dev/scd0 /cdrom
6. cp -a /cdrom/VMwareTools* /tmp/
7. cd /tmp/
8. tar -vxzf VMwareTools*.gz
9. cd vmware-tools-distrib/
10. ./vmware-install.pl

CD-ROM mount point may vary. Accept all defaults for vmware-install perl script.

This post won’t outline how to use Synergy, but rather just how to take care of the little things that will keep it from being a good experience on Windows Vista/7. I’m writing the rest of this post for those that are already familiar with Synergy, and instructions are targeted at Windows 7 Professional users.

Anyways, I was running into problems with my Synergy client on my home-office setup. I have a laptop docked with a second monitor for my office computer (operating as the Synergy client), and then a single monitor rig in portrait-orientation for my home computer (operating as the Synergy server). I use Display Fusion, which runs as an administrator-level service on my desktop, and I use the multi-monitor taskbar available on the paid version of the software. I was unable to use the Synerg-ized mouse to select a window on that Display Fusion taskbar, and considering that was my 24” monitor where a lot of my work takes place it would be a huge problem if the laptop didn’t have a keyboard. On top of that, every time the client computer would prompt for UAC approval for various things, I would lose the ability to use my G5 mouse and G15 keyboard on my office laptop.

I knew you could auto-elevate privileges, but just hadn’t taken the time to do it. Let’s get that out of the way, as that’s the first thing I noticed in the problems I was having.

Step 1. Open secpol.msc

Step 2. Set UAC Behavior for Administrators to ‘Elevate without prompting’

Next up is configuring Synergy to run as Administrator. I want to note that this was my initial guess as to why it wasn’t allowing me to Auto-start on computer start, however even after forcing it to run as Administrator and installing the Auto-start service, it still wasn’t working. I found out this is due to the way the System user interacts (or rather doesn’t) with the user’s desktop.

Step 3. Run Synergy as Administrator.

Right click on the shortcut for Synergy, and click the Advanced… button. Check the “Run as administrator” box.

Step 4. Auto-start Synergy on Log-in

Step 5. Start Synergy!

Follow these steps on both the server and client if they’re both Windows 7 machines, it’s just that simple.

So, for starters, lets take a look at what your normal car kit should have:

1. Basic First Aid Kit (for minor cuts, scrapes, burns)
   • Ideally, this is just for the little stuff you will inflict upon yourself from being clumsy working under the hood.
   • You might also want to add some kind of hand-sanitizer or cleaner.
   • Put this in a gallon sized ziploc bag.
2. Flashlight (extra batteries are always a good idea)
   • I’d have to say the 2x AA MagLites are perfect for this kit, though, if you want something smaller there’s a MagLite “Solitare” that uses 1x AAA battery.
   • I carry a 2x D-cell MagLite in my vehicle at all times, with an extra pair of batteries in the glove compartment. It’s size and weight has made it useful as a makeshift hammer to be used on my starter solenoid when the vehicle wouldn’t crank, such that I got it working so I could roll into the mechanic.
   • Add the small flashlight to your glove compartment. If you keep a larger flashlight I’d recommend keeping it up beside you, or under you at the driver’s seat.
3. Jumper Cables
   • You always need them when you don’t have them, and someone else usually needs them when you have them. You might as well keep them so at a minimum you can do your good turn of the day.
   • Put these inside the Action Packer.
4. Duct Tape
   • Do I really need to explain the usefulness of even a partial roll of this stuff? If so, go watch some MacGuyver.
   • Put it inside your Action Packer.
5. Simple Hand Tools
   • At the very minimum you should carry a pair of Screwdrivers (Phillips and Flat) and some Channel-Lock Adjustable Pliers. The utility in these alone coupled with a pocketknife and duct tape can get you a few extra miles down the road. If you know what problems your vehicle is more likely to have, and you’ll need other tools be sure to add them.
   • Put these inside a toolbox (if you carry many tools), or the Action Packer.
6. Pocketknife
   • It’s the Eagle Scout in me, but see my notes for Duct Tape.
   • Put this in your glove compartment.
7. Water
   • Water serves a dual purpose when kept in a vehicle: To keep yourself hydrated, or to keep the vehicle cool (in case of low fluids). I highly recommend keeping at least 2 liters of water with you (3-4 water bottles).
   • Put this in your Action Packer.
8. Misc. Automotive Fluids
   • I usually carry Oil, premix anti-freeze, and a funnel.
   • It’s a good idea to toss a couple automotive paper towels, or a scrap piece of an old shirt for spills.
   • If you can fit these in a ziploc inside the action packer, I highly recommend it in case of a leak or spill.

The above items tend to get you through most of what you’ll need if your car breaks down. In most cases you’ll be able to get help relatively easy, or it should be close by. But when the winter weather hits, you may not be able to get help for a good number of hours, and it is most important that you can stay warm.

Here are my tips for what to add to the trunk for winter weather:

1. Blanket
   • Indispensable when needed to stay warm, and nice to have for long car rides for any passengers that wish to rest.
2. Light Snack
   • Make sure it’s something that won’t melt if it gets too hot, but that will provide some calories. It is important that your body is able to generate enough heat to keep you warm underneath the blanket. Don’t gorge yourself on super-sweets, you don’t want to get sick. Trail Mix is typically a good bet.
3. Hand Warmers
   • Only necessary when you’re stuck for longer periods of time, but very helpful to restore body heat when the blanket just isn’t cutting it.
4. Ice Scraper
   • If you have adequate insulation, the energy you put into scraping ice off of your car will keep you warm. It also allows you to keep an eye out for any assistance that may come your way. Try not to get wet though, it’s counter-productive in staying warm.
5. Large bag of Cat Litter
   • Another dual-purpose item. This is most important for those of you with lightweight two-wheel drive vehicles. It adds weight for traction, and if you open the bag you can put it on the ground underneath your tires for added traction when the weight alone isn’t enough. Just keep in mind that “gunning” the gas isn’t going to help you: stay in a low gear and apply steady pressure to the accelerator pedal.

I can’t stress enough how important it is to know how and when to use these items. Knowing how your vehicle works and what your body needs to stay warm will save you a lot of stress if you ever encounter a situation where you need these tools. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. I’ll be happy to address them.

A note on the links I supply on my blog: I am not paid by CampMor or Amazon or any other site, I simply link to those sites because I trust their products and personally use them. Though, if they wished to sponsor some Ad Space on my site, I would certainly accept an offer

These malty sweet offerings tend to be a favorite winter seasonal. Big malt presence, both in flavor and body. The color ranges from brownish reds to nearly pitch black. Hop bitterness is generally low, leveled and balanced, but hop character can be pronounced. Alcohol warmth is not uncommon.

Many English versions contain no spices, though some brewers of spiced winter seasonal ales will slap “Winter Warmer” on the label. Those that are spiced, tend to follow the “wassail” tradition of blending robust ales with mixed spices, before hops became the chief “spice” in beer. American varieties many have a larger presences of hops both in bitterness and flavor.

Average alcohol by volume (abv) range: 5.5-8.0%

When I started exploring and enjoying beer, one of the first big “hits” with me was a winter warmer style ale. The Moonraker Ale, by J.W. Lees & Co., introduced me to malts like I had never tasted before, and a smooth mouthfeel like I hadn’t ever experienced before. Though I’d have to go back and give it another go almost two years later, I’ve always been a huge fan of Porters, Stouts, and Winter Warmers.

So, lets see how Rob did this time!

Drinking Notes

Appearance: Mocha brown body topped by a caramel head that dissipates fairly quickly.

Smell: Very malty chocolates, toasted notes, and alcohol are detected.

Taste: I initially pulled out some peppery spices, with some lightly chocolated biscuity malts, and very mild hop character, with that alcohol warming. I felt like the chocolates and sweet cream was skimped on the taste because it was all in the scent. Room for improvement, but definitely on the right track.

Mouthfeel: Light body. clean finish. Slight coffee noted on a burp. Unfortunately I was hoping for a silky creamy thickness on the palate of this brew. This ends up being the only real disappointing character of the beer.

Drinkability: It seems to carry the warming effect of the style very well, and though it comes slightly shy on some of the flavor and palate, it is a very drinkable brew. Cheers!

The Marks

Appearance: 4.0 (20%)

Smell: 4.0 (20%)

Taste: 3.5 (40%)

Mouthfeel: 2.5 (10%)

Drinkability: 4.5 (10%)

OVERALL = 3.7 (Solid B)

View Full Album

Just testing the Windows Live Writer, part of the Windows Live Tools on Microsoft Windows 7.

And…. I’ll make an edit and add this:

1. 64-bit Operating System, DirectX 10/11

   Yeah, it was available in Windows XP – and it SUCKED. Yeah, it was also available in Vista – but it was the first of its kind and carried the burden of being Vista. There is a very smooth implementation of 64-bit in Windows 7, my programs seem to be a bit more responsive from the get-go and I’m able to switch tasks a lot quicker even when my taskbar is LOADED with running programs. Also the move to an operating system that now supports the DirectX 10 cards I’ve had for a couple years (and DirectX 11 cards I can upgrade to) is an instant value-add.

2. Live Taskbar Previews

   They kinda had this working in the Vista Business version I have running on one of my computers at the house, but it seemed like it was more of a freeze-frame shot of what was happening in the window. With Windows 7, so far, everything is LIVE. I like being able to mouse-over the windows explorer taskbar item and see how my data copy/restore is coming along while using StumbleUpon in Firefox, and listening to Pandora Radio in an IE8 window.

3. “Snap” Windows, and Aero Shake (or the Magic Eraser)

   A feature that I’ve used A LOT while restoring backups from various locations to other various locations. Drag a windows explorer window to the side of the screen and it “snaps” to take up half of the desktop. Open a second window and “snap” it to the other side of the desktop. Then I just drag folders across to the other. I don’t have to open both windows and right click one of them and “arrange vertically” anymore. Nor do I have to hope that I didn’t have another window hiding behind one of them. You can also “snap” a window to maximize it, but I don’t find it anymore useful than clicking the maximize button. There’s also a feature that you can use a window to “steal the show” as I’ll call it. If you shake the window (while it isn’t maximized) like a magic eraser, it will minimize all windows behind it leaving it alone on top of the desktop. To return everything the way it was before the magic eraser, just repeat the motion.

4. “Libraries”

   This is going to get a lot of use out of me. I noticed this feature when I started copying “My Pictures” to the documents folder. Windows 7 knew what that folder was traditionally used for and it decided to drop it into one of the default Picture library folders. Had I not wanted Windows 7 to do this, I could have copied the folder to my big partition and added the directory to the Pictures Library. This feature works exactly like the iTunes “watch folders” for you iTunes users. Another way to look at this for any System Admins out there is that this is like adding more aliases to a virtual directory. For me, it allows my file structure disorganization to be in a central location. By default Windows has a Documents, Pictures, Music, and Videos Library set up. I haven’t gotten to the point of seeing if I can create my own Libraries yet, but I’m loving the possibilities this leaves for me.

5. Gadgets

   I know you’ve seen these in Vista too.. but they were on that annoying, dreadful Sidebar. They’ve removed the idea of the sidebar as a dock for gadgets, and instead let them float free on the desktop. I only wish they copied MacOSX’s “widgets” a little closer, I don’t like that the gadgets are always on or always off – I like the “on demand” way Apple puts them in their OS. Currently, I’m running a Calendar, Weather, Oil Price, and various system stats widgets.

6. Search

   Call it a Spotlight ripoff, or a Quicksilver knock-off, but it’s something we have in Windows too now. This is something Vista has (and is notably my favorite feature of Vista), and it would have been stupid for Microsoft to not bring it to Windows 7. They’ve improved it in Windows 7 to include the ability to search libraries, external hard drives, and even Networked PCs. I use it as my “Run…” box more often than anything.

7. Taskbar

   I mentioned Live Preview earlier, but Pin and Jump Lists take the taskbar a bit further. The “Pin” feature makes the traditional Windows Taskbar operate a lot more like the MacOSX “Dock”, something people have been faking with external applications for awhile now (search for ObjectDock by Stardock for an example of one such program). You can pin a running item by right clicking it on the Taskbar and selecting the “Pin To” option, or if it isn’t running by right-clicking the link in the Start Menu and doing the same. On top of the “Pin” feature, the pinned item also has “Jump Lists” or a menu that works very similar to the Recent Documents of Windows XP with a mix of the old Alt+Tab functionality.  Jump Lists are also available via the Start Menu in any programs that show up there.

Other Things I’m Looking Forward To

• I’m looking forward to playing with a network priority feature I came across yesterday (and it was apparently available in Vista). Simply put, I have set my Wireless card to allow my wired connection priority. It’s probably a lot more useful for a Laptop or Netbook user.
• I’m really looking forward to trying out the new concept of a “HomeGroup”. It seems to take on the idea that network sharing should be simple – as it should be for the typical user. Microsoft seems to be getting back in touch with the average user.
• There is another feature that I might take advantage of on newer computer hardware (more and faster RAM, Faster Processor, better GPUs) and that’s the built-in Windows XP virtualization. I think that it makes the move almost a no-brainer for those tied to some programs that won’t run in Vista/Win7.

I’m sure I’ll have more to speak on what I’ve loved about Windows 7 in my article explaining the workarounds for the upgrade bug, but to those of you out there already on Windows 7 with me what are your thoughts so far?

Disclaimer: I do not claim any ownership of Microsoft or Apple products, graphics, icons, or publications mentioned in this article. All such productions are credited to their respective owners.

For the most part we followed the itinerary I outlined in the “Planning for a Backpacking Trip” post. Though, because we purposely didn’t take watches or cell phones we didn’t exactly stick to a schedule which meant we had to cut a couple of the bigger hikes out of the day(s). Part of it may have also been due to the literal downpour we received on Friday evening and Saturday morning. We’ll go back later one or two weekends to finish up the Cloudland Canyon trails.

With the successful trip, I’m going to be planning a “car camping” trip for sometime in Mid-December or Early/Mid-January so more of my friends can come along, and enjoy some better camp-cuisine. I’ll have a couple of posts related to that coming up soon enough.

View the full post for the pics from this weekend.

Mark’s Flickr Set

Nathan’s Flickr Set

From BeerAdvocate: “The Bitter style came from brewers who wanted to differentiate these ales from other mild brews, enter pale malts and more hops. Most are gold to copper in colour and are light bodied. Low carbonation. Alcohol should be low and not perceived. Hop bitterness is moderate to assertive. Most have a fruitiness in the aroma and flavor, diacetyl can also be present. These are traditionally served cask conditioned, but many breweries have bottled versions.”

I don’t think he has a name for it yet, but that doesn’t matter… Lets just cut to the chase, shall we?

The Review (Drinking Notes)

Appearance (20%) – A steady rush of carb bubbles allowing a consistent 1-finger off-white head to top a cloudy copper body. If this were filtered it would probably receive the best marks for appearance I’ve given in awhile.

Smell (20%) – Noticable sweet fruity hops on the pour smells like a pear or a mild apple, the pale malts and some roasted notes are picked up on a closer sniff.

Taste (40%) – A quick striking citrusy character hides quickly behind the toasty buttery mid. A delicious wooded fruity flavor finishes it out.

Mouthfeel (10%) – The buttery toasted flavors tend to stick to the palate, rather than the pale malts or bitter hops. It burps as a light wood. Reminds me of Autumn when the leaves are changing and you can taste the sweet dryness in the air, before it gets too cold.

Drinkability (10%) – Very enjoyable, and probably the best brew yet to come out of StubbornMan’s home brewery. It had a lot of character, nice flavor variation over the range of 40-50 degrees in temperature. If he had to repeat it, I’d probably recommend adding a bit more of the citrusy hops to it so that taste lingers a bit longer than the first swish around the mouth.

The Scores

All categories are given a rating on a scale of 0 to 5; where 5 is Excellent, 4 is Good, 3 is Average, 2 is Poor, and 1 is Terrible. Beer is rated based on the style and particular tastes of the reviewer.

Appearance – 4.5/5.0

Smell – 3.5/5.0

Taste – 3.75/5.0

Mouthfeel – 3.5/5.0

Drinkability – 4.5/5

TOTAL = 3.90 (B+)