If you’re using Dropbox and have a .EDU address you need to head over to:

https://www.dropbox.com/edu

Once you log in and verify your .EDU any of your previous referrals will be doubled (500MB), as well as any future referrals.

If you are not already using Dropbox you should be. Take a look at our previous article : “Staying Sane with Multiple PC’s”.  It’s a great way to utilize the cloud to access and store your personal files. After you install Dropbox you will have a folder that you can organize your files in that is accessible on any browser or computer. A great way to get organized in the new year.

Did you get a new Airport Express for christmas? Would you like to jam to some Pandora on your Apple TV? Want to use your i-Pod touch or i-Phone for a speaker for your music collection? Airfoil is for you!

Airfoil takes your audio from your Mac or Pc and streams it to various devices on your network. Rogue Amoeba (developer of Airfoil) also has several applications that will allow your to turn your regular devices into speakers for Airfoil (Mac, Windows, Linux, IOS) as well as hardware devices such as the Apple TV and the Airport Express.

“Play any audio across your network to a whole host of devices, all in sync!”

Airfoil sends audio to remote speakers including iOS devices, other computers, and hardware devices like the Apple TV and AirPort Express. Airfoil for Mac gives you any audio, everywhere.” (From the Airfoil page)

What is great about this software is how it just works. To get started, download the software for Mac or PC from there website , install the software and you are ready to go. Available devices will show up in a list, here you can control what devices will receive the stream. You can choose single devices or all of them and your media will be streamed across the network in sync.

Audio:Airfoil works with several different audio services that are available online such as Pandora, Last.fm, and Spotify. The software also works with another “Rogue Amoeba” software title, Pulsar which pulls your XM and Sirius streams into a local application. The streaming does not stop on the web, any application that is on your computer that has sound can also be hijacked i.e. Quicktime, i-Tunes, and VLC. Another nice feature is the streaming of Metadata to IOS devices such as the Apple TV. Now you will have all of the information about the sound that is being played displayed on the device.

Video: Video at this time is not streamed to devices but the audio from devices is. There is a built in Airfoil Video Player that will play content and make sure that the audio stays in sync. You are also able to pull in the audio from sites like HULU and Netflix and play the sound through your Apple TV which in my case is connected to my surround sound system and the quality is not to bad. Airfoil also works with any Flash or Silverlight video so you can watch failblog in all of its glory and have great sound as well.

There are a few other utilities that I use in conjunction with Airfoil in order to enjoy different content and they are definitely worth a look:

Miro – is an application that brings together thousands of shows from all over the web. i.e. Hulu, Youtube.

PandoraJam – Pulls your Pandora stream into a local application on the Mac.

Perian – a free, open source QuickTimecomponent that adds native support for many popular video formats.
Remote (IOS) – Controls your i-Tunes from your IOS device such as the i-Pad, i-Pod Touch, i-Phone.

Hulu Desktop- Brings Hulu to yourdesktop for Windows and Mac.

If you have any other cool apps let us know!

Until Next Time

Carpe Noctum

In one of my buildings, we have an older NAS on the network that one of our remote sites pulls data from. The model is a Snap! Server by Quantum. None of the shares will mount in Windows 7 (Pro).What we have to do is change the Authentication so it accepts the logon information of the Snap! Server.

1. Go to the run command (Press the windows key + R) and enter “gpedit.msc” and we will now be in the Group Policy Editor.
2. Navigate to: “Computer Configuration” -> “Windows Settings” -> “Security Settings” -> “Local Policies” -> “Security Options”
3. Scroll through the list and find “Network Security: LAN Manager Auth. Level”
4. Change this setting to “Send LM & NTLM Responses”
5. Click Apply
6. Click OK
7. Restart Host

Your shares should now be able to be mounted within windows 7.

Until Next Time.

“Carpe Noctum”

TJ

I know, I know, Who is going to have a wireless card even close to there data center? The answer, no one. But you may find yourself wanting to create, test, and verify VHD’s while on the road or away from the server. Hyper-V does not natively support using Wireless Cards as they are un-likely to be used in production environments, that said it is still possible.

There are three different types of virtual networks that we can utilize in Hyper-V .External which binds a physical interface to the connection to the machine can access a physical network. Internal which will create a Virtual network adapter that you use to communicate between the machines on the server and the physical machine itself. The final one which is Private which creates a network that only the machines that you select can communicate on the virtual network.

The connection type that we will be using is the “Internal” type of connection. Like I stated earlier this connection creates a network interface on the physical computer so it can communicate with the virtual machine.

Go into Hyper-V Virtual Network Manager and create a new network. We will call it STG.

Now go into “Network Connections” (Control Panel –> Network and Internet –> Network and Sharing Center –> Change Adapter Settings )

Select the virtual adapter that was created and the wireless adapter and right click “Add to Bridge” You will now see a Network bridge that displays both networks IE STG and DadderN (Home Network).

Now set the IP settings to your default gateway and other network settings.

Now you will have given outside network access to your virtual switch and you will be able to navigate outside of your lan.

If you have any problems feel free to email me at tj{at}smalltowngeeks{dot}net

TJ

As the final days of summer break wind down for many entering College in the fall, both parents and students are looking for the perfect laptop that is going to carry them through their studies (and all of those important videogames and iTunes downloads professor-assigned documents and downloads).

So needless to say, I’ve talked to a fair share of both students and parents, and want to help anyone else out with a few tips.

1. Apple or Microsoft?

When you talk to a fan of either brand, they’ll immediately tell you that their preferred system is the best – I personally use both, having a MacBook Pro and a Dell Latitude E6400.  What you need to keep in mind when choosing Mac or PC is the intended use.  If you are graphics-intensive; either by design or by photo or video editing, then a Mac is an easy choice – it is also what I consider a best-fit for those in the Liberal Arts study track, providing a reliable machine that needs minimal maintenance and allows you to get the maximum amount of work done.  However, if you are math or engineering oriented, then a PC may be the best machine for you – sometimes proprietary software just works better on a PC than it does on windows via mac.  Cost makes the biggest difference when comparing these two common operating systems – Mac machines can be twice as expensive up-front.

However, when looking at costs, look at longevity as well – Mac machines can stay current for three times as long as any windows-based hardware – dividing that cost out over a longer period makes the Mac just as affordable.

2. Battery Life?

While most people assume that all laptops are created equal in this regard, very little is more important to a College student than how long they can go on their laptop without plugging in to charge.  When considering sitting through both indoor and outdoor classes, study sessions, or even working outside – battery life always factors in.  Most consumer laptops sold through Bestbuy and other vendors like RadioShack/ The SHACK and Walmart all ship with a standard battery that is good for about 3 hours with VERY light usage – this usually means with the wireless card switched off and the screen so dim that you can barely read it.  Solution?  Look for laptops with available extended batteries, like Dell’s Latitude series (orderable with a 9-cell 4 or 5 hour heavy use battery), Apple’s MacBook Pro line – with between 7 and 8 hours of battery life between charges, or an HP with an optional ‘extended battery’.

3. Brains (Processor)

With so many different configurations of computers out there, and all of the software available, how do you decide what ‘brain’ the computer needs?  Well, for starters, stick with an Intel or AMD dual-core processor (AMD uses X2 and Intel calls them Core Duo).  The better processors?  Probably Intel’s Centrino line of laptop-optimized processors.

Avoid Celeron processors like the plague. Just do it.

4. What about RAM?

Well, RAM allows you to multitask on your computer, so the more RAM you have, the more you can do and the faster you can do it.  As of today, I wouldn’t settle for less that 4GB of RAM in any laptop that I buy (for value, you could live with 2 or 3GB, but you’ll prefer the 4, trust me.

5. Storage?

When looking at laptops and storage capacities, remember what important tv, movie, and music files that college students need to store today.  My rule of thumb is that you should estimate your current needs by looking at your current laptop, and then double it.  Right now the maximum capacity of a laptop hard drive is about 500GB, so reasonably expect to get a laptop with NO LESS than a 250GB drive.

Consider this – a TV show downloaded from iTunes is 1/2 of a Gigabyte in Standard Definition, 1GB in High-Def.  Movies can vary from 2-6GB in size, depending on Standard or High Definition versions).  there are about 160 iTunes songs to 1GB of storage as well (based on 6MB per song in DRM-Free format)

Any other questions?  Feel free to email me at ryanminnick@smalltowngeeks.net