Tongfamily Website

These big LaserJet 4250n take a long time to run out of toner and there are host of remanufactured ones. But if you want the geniune article, there are two choices, the HP 42A (Q5942A) which lists for $150 or the HP 42X (Q5942X) listing for $225 according to “HP”:http://www.shopping.hp.com/supmodel/printing_supplies/LaserJet/LaserJet%2B4250n/1

the big difference is that the 42X lasts for 20,000 pages if you can believe that while the 42A is good for 10,000. I haven’t used the knockoff toner cartridges (or ink cartridges for that matter), but at $200 a pop it just doesn’t seem that worth it.

Just doing the math, the 42X is a better deal if you plan on having the printer for a long time

Amazingly, Pricegrabber doesn’t have this, but “Newegg”:http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?submit=ENE&Configurator=InkTonerFinder&CFG=CFG004LaserJet%204250n&DEPA=0 stocks at $195 and $123 respectively for the 95A and 95X plus $8 shipping.

Verbatim makes a knockoff of the 45X for just $100 if you dare.

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this is what tends to happen with sudden shutdowns. The hard disk are cached, so you can really torque them. The fix is to run chkdsk /r from the Windows XP CD. But I can’t even keep the computer up long enough to do that, so need to wait for a new power supply

Unmountable Boot Volume

1.Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive, and then restart the computer.

Click to select any options that are required to start the computer from the CD-ROM drive if you are prompted.

2.When the “Welcome to Setup” screen appears, press R to start the Recovery Console.

3.If you have a dual-boot or multiple-boot computer, select the installation that you must access from the Recovery Console.

4.When you are prompted, type the Administrator password. If the administrator password is blank, just press ENTER.

5.At the command prompt, type chkdsk /r , and then press ENTER.

6.At the command prompt, type exit , and then press ENTER to restart your computer.

This takes a bit longer, but the system should boot back into Windows.

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If you have an unlocked cell phone or iPhone that you are bringing into China, you need to set all kinds of custom things. “Shanghai Expat”:http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/index.php?name=MDForum&file=viewtopic&p=449343 has collected all the settings in one place. How convenient:

h2. WAP

The WAP information page is :

http://www.monternet.com/moneditor/cs/wap/wapguide/

The settings you need are:
Wap Home : http://wap.monternet.com
Gateway IP : 10.0.0.172
Port: 9201

if you have GPRS:
GPRS APN : cmwap
No Username/Password needed

if not then the you use circuit switched (no modern phone uses this anymore)
CSD number is: 17266
username: wap
password: wap
Type: Modem (or simulated)

MMS
MMS setup is found here:

http://www.monternet.com/moneditor/cs/help/mms/

APN: cmwap
Server Name: http://mmsc.monternet.com
Gateway: 10.0.0.172
(some phones link this info together with the wap setup)

SMTP/POP Mail
The info can be found at

http://mail.monternet.com/

http://mail.monternet.com/free/gb/Help_QA.htm#a15

First thing you’ve got to do is register on the mail site: http://mail.monternet.com
Its all in chinese but I had GoogleTranslate in another window to translate the options Very Happy
Choose the first plan which is the free one (its the one that says 0RMB/Month (0?/?) The others may be better if you have larger email needs.

Enter your mobile number and you’ll get an SMS with a confirmation password.
Enter the confirmation password
Enter your password and a question/answer in case you loose your password.
again it ask you for the plan…

Once that’s all set up you need to setup your PDA. The instructions are here.

http://mail.monternet.com/free/gb/Help_QA.htm#a15

I assume you’ve setup your GPRS, Wap, MMS already so the relevant info for you is

Outgoing SMTP Server: smtp.17288.com Port: 25
Incoming POP3; pop.17288.com Port: 110
Username: Your Mobile Number
Password: Whatever you entered in registration

After that you should be able to send/receive mail from your phone/PDA.
The email address is YourNumber@17288.com eg 137xxxxxxx@17288.com

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I’ve heard of companies not liking modders, but wow, Apple is certainly taking it to extremes. If you have unlocked your iphone, their latest firmware 1.1.1 actually makes “bricks” or makes the phone useless if it detects it. Talk about extreme measures. They actually will make inoperable something that cost $400-600 just by a simple update. While probably not illegal, it sure is unfriendly as heck. Even Sony and Microsoft have never actually destroyed the firmware in a PSP or PC when they detect someone has used a hacked version of PSP software or a pirated copy of Windows. Well, it will be interesting to see what happens next. They have not tried to drive folks out of business yet, so sites like “modmyiphone.com”:http://modmyiphone.com are still up, but I’m sure that is just a matter of time.

Here are the instructions in case that site comes under attack:

h2. iPhone unlock Part 1 under OS X

# Take your iphone out of the box
# Make sure iTunes is off, Start /Applications/Utilities Activity monitor and kill the process iTunesHelper
# Plug the iphone into your computer
# Download iPhone 1.0.2 firmware from “Apple”:http://appldnld.apple.com.edgesuite.net/content.info.apple.com/iPhone/061-3823.20070821.vormd/iPhone1,1_1.0.2_1C28_Restore.ipsw
# Put the iPhone into restore mode by turning it off (hold down the sleep button for 5 seconds), then hold the Home and the Sleep button for 25 seconds
# Start iTunes and it will ask if you want to restore and hold the Option key down and press restore and select the iPhone 1.0.2 firmware.
# Make sure you don’t upgrade to 1.1.1!
# Download the Independence applications to your Mac. This unshackles the mac also known as jailbreaking so you can install applications on it
# Find the 1.0.2 firmware in ~/Library/iTunes/Updates and rename it to a .zip file and unzip it, point to this when you run Independence unshackling
# Now download the Apptapp installer software and it will install an application installer on your iphone
# Install Community Sources, BSD Subsystem and then OpenSSH from your iPhone’s new AppTapp button
# Download Cyberduck, a freeware ftp application for the mac, and also lockdownd and unlock.app
# Figure out the IP address of your iphone by going to Settings Wireless DHCP
# SFTP lockdownd to /usr/libexec and unlock.app to /Applications on your iPhone. The default username is root and password is dottie.
# Turn off and on the iPhone and you’ll see the Unlock application.
# Take out the SIM and run the application

Good luck!

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# At first I thought it was memory, but replaced 2x2GB sticks with 2x1GB sticks. This seemed to help for a while, but now getting lots of shutdowns.
# It even happens when running memtest from the BIOS on my DFI LanParty, so no way is this a Windows problem.
# Also replaced the CPU fan as I could see the fan speed varying a lot. Wonder if it is because of fan speed misreporting.
# Finally, thought it might be because of temperature, but it is cold now, so that isn't the problem.
# Checking the internet for google:"sudden shutdown" seems to imply it might be the power supply that's causing it. Doesn't seem like it co¨ld be a thermal issues, so off to find a good power supply.

"Anandtech":http://www.anandtech.com/casecoolingpsus/showdoc.aspx?i=3096 just reviewed the Seasonic power supplies. I've used them before and except for an early incompatibility with the X2 that has since been resolved two years ago, it works great. So it's time to buy another one I guess and try it before giving up and going all Mac

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I keep forgetting how to do this, so here are the instructions again. They are a little arcane:

# “Download”:https://www.blackberry.com/SoftwareDownload/index.jsp?client=cB5RB4aRB from the Blackberry CSL download site both the desktop manager and the 8300 Chinese input version

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Ryan has given all of us some great tips about taking the very hard to take night cityscape shots and firework shots. I’ve been reading quite a bit about these techniques, but he really has some great tips. Here they are for the next time you need to take an impressive night time display:

# Get a tripod. This is really important as these are long exposure shots. I’d recommend the Gitmo 1540 if you have the cash and a Markins Q3 Emilie as a ballhead.
# For nightshots, if you want to make the clouds fuzz and see the car and boats make a pleasing streak, but keep everything that is static in focus, then go the Aperture priority (the “A” on a Canon or Nikon) and set the f-stop to F/11 and set the ISO to 100 to get a nice long high resolution exposure. Set the exposure compensation to -0.7EV or so, but you can experiment with this to see how bright you want it. Set mirror lockup and timed delay to 2 seconds, so you can just press the button and nothing is going to move.
# For nightshots where you want to see things sharply, go to Shutter priority and set this for 1/30th of a second and F-stop to F4 or so, then crank the ISO to probably 800 at least. This should freeze the frame.
# For fireworks, set the exposure to Bulb, that is the shutter will go on for as long as you want. Set the aperture to F/11 and ISO 400. Now make sure you are in a really dark location. Put your hand in front of the lense to block the light. Click the shutter, this will open the shutter. When you see the explosion, remove your hand. The camera is now recording the image. Block again. You can do this a couple of times, so you get multiple explosions on each frame. Since in effect, your hand is the shutter, you will get multiple exposures on the same picture. NOrmally, you will need about 2 seconds or so of exposure, but it is fun to experiment!

“Bob”:http://bobsplanet.com asked me about backup as did Richard, so here’s a quick review of how to do backup.

There has been a long evolution here for me. Originally, at home I bought a tape backup that did a mammoth 5GB, but I just never used it. Then just had a big PC with lots of storage. Back then five years ago, that was a mammoth 120GB. Then drives started failing, so I just put in bigger drives on all the desktop PCs and duplicated files everywhere. That’s mainly because all the

I’ve been using the Buffalo and the Simpletech NAS for a year and 3 months respectively and I’m amazed at how well they work. Then there is “Drobo”:http://drobo.com that Bob recommended (Greylock, RRE and Sutter Hill are in the deal btw). So here are my recommendations:

h2. Simple backup for home

The other solutions work very differently, they are complete enclosed drives that include a 500GB hard drive. In general, the Simpletech adds just about $20 per drive but each appears as a separate network server. So probably the best low cost solution. “PC Magazine”:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1780731,00.asp liked it OK at $400, but now the price has really declined.

Right now “Simpletech”:http://www.simpletech.com/commercial/simpleshare/ offers a wide range at 500GB seems like the best price per bit. The main issue is the fast Ethernet at 100Mbps is pretty slow. About as fast as USB 2.0 in my experience. Right now it is $140 or so according to “Pricegrabber”:http://computers.pricegrabber.com/network-storage-devices/m/22888851/search=simpletech/sort_type=bottomline

h2. Fast NAS

If you really need speed and a couple of 500GB is OK, then “LS-500GL”:http://www.buffalotech.com/products/network-storage/linkstation/linkstation-pro/ at $280 according to “Pricegrabber”:http://buffalotech.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=22679901/zip_code=98004

It is realy the best choice if you are doing big media files. For instance, copying 40GB of a HD movie takes about 10 minutes over !Gbps Ethernet while it took me nearly an hour on a 100Mbps Ethernet to the Simplestation. It is expensive though.

h2. If your drives are more complicated and you don’t mind slowness

It is expensive at $500 without any drives, but it has some cool management features. It automatically reconfigures based on what hard drives you slam in. It is a USB 2.0 device, so it is not going to be to terrifically fast which is the big problem. I have in the past used a very fast enclosure that uses eSATA which basically runs at drive speed. So you have a choice in terms of either. “PC Magazine”:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2146002,00.asp has a good overall review but without eSATA or something faster, its hard to get super excited since these drives are slow at roughly the same speed as NAS. The big issue is how to manage storage.

It goes for $450 according to “Pricegrabber”:http://computers.pricegrabber.com/enclosures/m/39265406/search=drobo so it is a funny solution. It is very flexible and expensive since it doesn’t include hard drives.

h2. The net

There is no perfect solution yet. I would say the Drobo makes sense on the next upgrade when it gets beyond USB 2.0 to ideally both eSATA and Gigabit Ethernet for the high end.

Right now, I’d say that if you had to buy something right now, get the Simpletech if all you want is basic backup and the Buffalo if you want the a higher performance media server.

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The first of these, the Nikon 18-200 is an amazing lense. Only for digital cameras, it is the only lense that most folks are going to need most of the time. Cost is high, but the quality is very good. $800 buys a lot. Plus it is image stabilized and paired with the Nikon d40x, it is an amazing camera.

Sigma has launched a very similar lense for just $500. At least Popular Photography says it is quite nice. Just about the same specs as the Nikon, but quality varies a lot more from sample to sample, so caveat emptor. Most importantly, it comes in Nikon and Canon mounts so us Canon users have an option.

Tamron also has a 18-250 F3.5-6.3 Di II AF LD (what a name!) which Popular Photo named a “Best oBuy”:http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/4430/best-buys-lenses.html at $500 street. It has good photoquality and it is very compact. 4 inches and under a pound. Got a good “popphoto”:http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/4110/lens-test-tamron-18-250mm-f35-63-di-ii-macro.html review. They found that SQF was excellent in all focal lenths and good on distortion. Main thing it lacks is optical stabilization.
Final lenses that is way more expensive is the Canon EF 28-300MM F3.5-5.6L IS USM which costs $1500 but is a true professional lense. “Luminous Landscape”:http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/lenses/Canon-28-300.shtml so most folks won’t use it. It shipped late 2004. It has Internal Stabilization as well. It is also big and heavy at 1.6Kg so not exactly like the ultralight Nikon or Sigma. Like the Canon 100-400 which I also have it uses a push-pull for focus and that is a bit tricky to get right. Still it is a full frame lense and performance is just decent. “The-Digital-Picture.com”:http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-28-300mm-f-3.5-5.6-L-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx which does mainly Canon reviews found it to be good in quality. Main issue again is that it is so big.

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Often times I’m watching CSI or especially Cold Case and I just love the songs. Most fans have sites for this stuff, but “TuneFind”:http://tunefind.com/show/CSI seems to do the most professional job of this.

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