zigbee???
in [Design]
|
From: Joerg on 17 May 2010 14:40 D Yuniskis wrote: > Hi Joerg, > > Joerg wrote: >>>>> (this can often be a bit tricky to do as you'll want it to >>>>> have the same IP as the original box which means having >>>>> both of them "on line" while you are configuring the second >>>>> will cause problems) >>>> >>>> Most DSL is dynamic IP anyhow. It's also good practice to switch the >>> >>> Only applies to *your* IP! You'd have to run DDNS internally >>> (not supported by all devices) if you wanted to, for example, >>> assign static IP's to each of the nodes within your house/domain. >>> >>> E.g., my lasers are "Curly", "Larry" and "Moe" at 10.0.1.51/52/53. >>> My bastion host sits at 10.0.1.99. My hosts are... >> >> More than one host? Wow, your electrity provider must love you. > > Yes, it is a "point of contention", here. :< Running > any of the servers is a real b*tch -- I think there's just > a regular desktop PC in there -- along with a 2KW resistor > wired across the mains! :< > > Most of the time, my electric needs are probably *below* the > typical PC user (on an hourly basis) as I use X Terminals > for much of my software development (the applications -- the > *clients* -- running on the basion host -- which is running > *anyway*). > > But, when a server is running, the electric meter gets a > good workout! :< > > I am currently (as we speak) tearing down one of the servers > in favor of a desktop machine -- more MIPS, fewer BTUs. But, > that means the server runs while I am pulling things off it... > > This must get done before it gets much warmer! (We've, so > far, managed to avoid turning on the ACbrrr... but that won't > continue to be the case with this pig running all day!) > >>> You can get around this by using "hosts" files (which is a >>> maintenance headache) *or* force everything to deal with >>> SMB/windows style names/protocols <frown> >> >> It's all automatic over here. Plug it in, wait ... works. > > Then how do you reference a particular printer/computer? > I don't know all the details because I just let the mfg's software figure that out. I believe it's DHCP. Essentially you plug them in and after a few seconds the printers are being recognized. Once after some sort of power glitch I had to repair the Brother MFC and that included removing power from the backup battery in there. Meaning all its settings were gone. Still, after a few seconds, tada, it showed up. I guess that's the only working method anyhow if you want to use more than one from the same model on the same LAN. Similar with the router that has a LPT port. You need to load a driver onto all PC that want to use that feature, done. Now they all show up in the printer selection and you just pick the one you want. But I didn't give them names like you did :-) >>> And, you have to trust the DSL modem/router to be "well >>> behaved" and have *your* interests at heart (often not so >>> with modems supplied by TPC). As TLambert would say: >>> "Never trust an operating system you don't have sources for" >> >> Ok, maybe, but I am not a programmer and I must use Windows because >> nothing else will efficiently run all the SW I need for business. Oh, >> and it cannot be a Windows newer than XP because they broke legacy >> support after that. > > Yup. I use Windows (2KS and XP) for anything that needs > "expensive tools" (CAD, PCB, DTP, etc.) and NetBSD & Solaris > for everything else. Since the "everything else" tends to > take far more time than any of the other activities (i.e., > I can design and layout a board in 10% of the time that it > will take to write the firmware *for* that board!), I spend > most of my time away from Windows. > > OTOH, I spend more *maintenance* time on the Windows machines > than any other! :< Hmm, not here. It just works. The only time I needed to really deal with Windows was a re-install. That was after the HD of a laptop croaked with a loud grounding noise. Surprisingly the re-install took less than 30 minutes and most of that unattended. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: D Yuniskis on 17 May 2010 15:21 Hi Joerg, Joerg wrote: >>>> You can get around this by using "hosts" files (which is a >>>> maintenance headache) *or* force everything to deal with >>>> SMB/windows style names/protocols <frown> >>> >>> It's all automatic over here. Plug it in, wait ... works. >> >> Then how do you reference a particular printer/computer? > > I don't know all the details because I just let the mfg's software > figure that out. I believe it's DHCP. Essentially you plug them in and > after a few seconds the printers are being recognized. Once after some But how do you *reference* them? I.e., how do you "pick" which printer you want to talk to? (since their names/addresses aren't "constant") > sort of power glitch I had to repair the Brother MFC and that included > removing power from the backup battery in there. Meaning all its > settings were gone. Still, after a few seconds, tada, it showed up. I > guess that's the only working method anyhow if you want to use more than > one from the same model on the same LAN. > > Similar with the router that has a LPT port. You need to load a driver > onto all PC that want to use that feature, done. > > Now they all show up in the printer selection and you just pick the one > you want. But I didn't give them names like you did :-) I'm still unsure how you know which printer you are talking to. :< My UN*X and Sun boxes need (want) name/IP addresses. So, if I let the devices take their IP addresses from a DHCP server, then *I* don't know what they are from one boot to the next... >> Yup. I use Windows (2KS and XP) for anything that needs >> "expensive tools" (CAD, PCB, DTP, etc.) and NetBSD & Solaris >> for everything else. Since the "everything else" tends to >> take far more time than any of the other activities (i.e., >> I can design and layout a board in 10% of the time that it >> will take to write the firmware *for* that board!), I spend >> most of my time away from Windows. >> >> OTOH, I spend more *maintenance* time on the Windows machines >> than any other! :< > > Hmm, not here. It just works. The only time I needed to really deal with > Windows was a re-install. That was after the HD of a laptop croaked with > a loud grounding noise. Surprisingly the re-install took less than 30 > minutes and most of that unattended. For reinstalls, image your drive with Clonezilla (or it's ilk). This has been a lifesaver for me when trying to restore a munged system (usually the result of upgrading something and belatedly discovering that the update screwed up something else, etc.) A lot of my time is spent managing disk space. I don't like big drives -- preferring, instead, multiple spindles (70 - 140G per spindle). So, if I install something and "C:" fills up, I have to move something off to another spindle, etc. And, if that "something" was referenced anyplace (shortcuts, MRU lists, etc.) then there is some cost "fixing" those references. By contrast, the UN*X boxen let me move things freely and don't rely on as many "references" as Windows does.
From: Joerg on 17 May 2010 15:36 D Yuniskis wrote: > Hi Joerg, > > Joerg wrote: >> D Yuniskis wrote: >>> Hi Joerg, >>> >>> Ah, I don't sit at my desk uninterrupted. There's always something >>> to do in the yard, something in the garage, etc. I "get up" >>> more to "give myself a distraction" ("the mind sees clearest >>> just after shifting its attention") than to give myself >>> *exercise* (or "physical relief"). It seems the best way >>> to get everything done without getting burnt out on *any* of >>> it. >> >> During the week I can rarely do that. The only breaks I get is walking >> our dogs, like an hour ago before the rain hit. That's the upside of >> being self-employed, I can catch up on the work tomorrow night when >> the "Dancing with the Stars" results show plays (I only watch the >> dances on Mondays but not that show). > > I do most of my "work" in the evening/overnight. Cooler. > Quieter. The "dark" is "calming". During the days, I do "chores" > (anything that isn't "work"), catch up on email, downloads, > dig out stumps, cut down trees, etc. (things that are a bit > harder to do after sundown). > > Nights have always been my (documented!) "best time" so this > works out well for me. Neighbors get upset if my light > *isn't* on at night! :> ("Is Don out of town?") > I can't do that, mostly because I have to interact with client engineers over several time zones. [...] >> He he, tell me about it. This weekend I fixed backyard stairs. The >> stringer bottoms had rotted out. Of course this is a high traffic area >> and the only way for the dogs to reach their "powder room". And old >> Rottie needs to go every 2-3 hours or there could be an inhouse mess. >> So that required planning like I was repairing a busy highway. Before >> doing anything I had to prep a box to put in some mock steps. Which >> then the Shepherd didn't trust ... > > Yeah, in my case, I'd get the rise and tread dimensions backwards > even after measuring twice! :< ("measure twice, cut once") > I had no choice there but to cut and add strips because you can't get 2"*10" in redwood any longer. > You might want to consider putting a metal footing under the > stringers to keep them out of the elements (a bit) *and* prevent > vermin from getting up into them from below (termites, carpenter > ants, etc) > I put them on concrete and gave them a good dose of stain. The previous ones have lasted around 20 years and weren't even redwood. I looked at metal stringers at Home Depot but they looked a bit too flimsy for my taste. Plus they dropped the first step already which I couldn't do. No idea why they did that, in particular because that makes the vertical strips and the bolts would show. >>>>>> That's the bane of all ink printers. Plus the ink dries up way too >>>>>> fast in the hot summers out here. >>>>> >>>>> Ah, the *advantage* to the phasers is they use *solid* ink. >>>>> No "drying up" to worry about. OTOH, the inkjets are always >>>>> a cause for worry: "When was the last time I used them? >>>>> Should I run a quick page just to keep things 'moist'?" >>>>> (they are all epsons so the printheads, once clogged, are >>>>> a real nuisance) >>>> >>>> I had a Dell color printer go dry on me. So I retired it to the >>>> closet, just as a backup in which case I'd quickly buy a BW >>>> cartridge at CostCo or someplace. And get some Pecorino cheese and >>>> beer while there :-) >>> >>> Do the Dells use the HP style printheads? (i.e., ink tank *and* >>> printhead in a single, disposable assembly?) Or, the Epson >>> approach (printhead part of printer, ink tank replaceable)? >> >> It's both in the disposable. Which I actually prefer because in a >> low-use environment and hot summers both will crud up and that gets >> expensive. > > Thats why I so like the solid ink machines. Supplies "keep" > for-damn-near-ever! So the printer adds water when it wants to print? -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 17 May 2010 15:48 D Yuniskis wrote: > Hi Joerg, > > Joerg wrote: >>>>> You can get around this by using "hosts" files (which is a >>>>> maintenance headache) *or* force everything to deal with >>>>> SMB/windows style names/protocols <frown> >>>> >>>> It's all automatic over here. Plug it in, wait ... works. >>> >>> Then how do you reference a particular printer/computer? >> >> I don't know all the details because I just let the mfg's software >> figure that out. I believe it's DHCP. Essentially you plug them in and >> after a few seconds the printers are being recognized. Once after some > > But how do you *reference* them? I.e., how do you "pick" > which printer you want to talk to? (since their names/addresses > aren't "constant") > They are mapped to always the same names. One is always "HP Laser 5L", the other is always "Brother MFC7820N" and so on. That's how they show up in the print menu on any program. >> sort of power glitch I had to repair the Brother MFC and that included >> removing power from the backup battery in there. Meaning all its >> settings were gone. Still, after a few seconds, tada, it showed up. I >> guess that's the only working method anyhow if you want to use more >> than one from the same model on the same LAN. >> >> Similar with the router that has a LPT port. You need to load a driver >> onto all PC that want to use that feature, done. >> >> Now they all show up in the printer selection and you just pick the >> one you want. But I didn't give them names like you did :-) > > I'm still unsure how you know which printer you are talking to. :< > My UN*X and Sun boxes need (want) name/IP addresses. So, if I let > the devices take their IP addresses from a DHCP server, then > *I* don't know what they are from one boot to the next... > Maybe Windows is better in that respect :-) It never fails, since years, I see the correct printer names and not IP addresses. Always. >>> Yup. I use Windows (2KS and XP) for anything that needs >>> "expensive tools" (CAD, PCB, DTP, etc.) and NetBSD & Solaris >>> for everything else. Since the "everything else" tends to >>> take far more time than any of the other activities (i.e., >>> I can design and layout a board in 10% of the time that it >>> will take to write the firmware *for* that board!), I spend >>> most of my time away from Windows. >>> >>> OTOH, I spend more *maintenance* time on the Windows machines >>> than any other! :< >> >> Hmm, not here. It just works. The only time I needed to really deal >> with Windows was a re-install. That was after the HD of a laptop >> croaked with a loud grounding noise. Surprisingly the re-install took >> less than 30 minutes and most of that unattended. > > For reinstalls, image your drive with Clonezilla (or it's ilk). > This has been a lifesaver for me when trying to restore a > munged system (usually the result of upgrading something and > belatedly discovering that the update screwed up something > else, etc.) > > A lot of my time is spent managing disk space. I don't like > big drives -- preferring, instead, multiple spindles (70 - 140G > per spindle). So, if I install something and "C:" fills up, > I have to move something off to another spindle, etc. > > And, if that "something" was referenced anyplace (shortcuts, > MRU lists, etc.) then there is some cost "fixing" those > references. > > By contrast, the UN*X boxen let me move things freely and > don't rely on as many "references" as Windows does. True. Although when this incident happened it wasn't really a big deal to re-install stuff. Most of that ran in the background while I was doing some design on another computer. In hindsight I was glad I didn't mirror because Dell had furnished some new and truly better drivers for this machine. For example, now it could display movie files in fast realtime. I need this for DICOM. IOW afterwards I had a laptop that was better and more valuable than when I bought it new. All for a new $60 (and much bigger) hard drive and the modest effort of a re-install. -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
From: Joerg on 17 May 2010 16:07
Michael A. Terrell wrote: > D Yuniskis wrote: >> Hi Michael, >> >> Michael A. Terrell wrote: [...] >>> If I can scrape up the $100 before they others are gone, I'd prefer a >>> newer and faster server that draws less power. :) >> Why? :> Is there a reason you *need* a "server" instead of >> a regular desktop machine? I.e., I only run my servers >> because I want long term reliability (power supplies and >> spindles). Most of my regular work I do on consumer >> grade machines. Servers tend to get reliability at the >> expense of noise and size. :< > > > The server can go into a closet with the other network hardware, > cable modem and netwoerk switch hardware. It free up desk space where I > work on computers, as well. ... And makes your electric meter really spin up :-) [...] -- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM. |