still learning

Any experience certainly can be educational, and thus within the scope of lifelong learning, but can we make any distinctions at all? [Annoyed Librarian]

“Scientia potentia est { knowledge is power}”
– Francis Bacon, Meditationes Sacrae (1597)

Educated people certainly do make distinctions. The more you know about a subject, the more you realize both how much there is to know, and how little most people know. And the more you know about a lot of subjects, the more you realize how empty of intellectual content most people’s learning is. If we’re talking about the good of the commonwealth, we’re talking about forming educated and critical citizens. [Annoyed Librarian]

GHOST boot disks for HP dc7800

The HP dc7800 replaces the dc7700 as our SOE desktop for this year. The dc7800 uses the Integrated Intel 82566DM Gigabit Network Connection, and we need to update to the Intel® 8256x v12.3 drivers to make sure that our boot tools work well with this model. This driver is also backwards compatible to our other machines will also boot from this boot disk.

Although I had discussed this change with many people via the dc7700 boot disk pages we had not proved the drivers for ourself as our initial evaluation machine was a pre-production model, our first delivery of production machines has arrived and we were able to put the theory into practice We are still using Ghost v8.3 and this driver has tested well for all of our boot tools (Floppy, USB, CD, Server/Console)

If you already have a working dc7700 boot set you can grab the drivers for the Intel® 8256x Ethernet Controllers via the Intel website. Grab the DOS drivers and update the e1000.DOS file.

The Ghost boot disk wizard builds a 2 disk set, I have set this set up with IBMDOS (PC DOS) and to useDHCP for IP allocation. (To make the machines statically mapped for IP’s create a populated A:\GHOST\WATTCP.CFG file)

To make it possible to distribute these disk images, I have stripped the ghost.exe file (a:\ghost\ghost.exe) from disk 2. You will need to add your licensed ghost.exe onto this disk after you create the disk from the image.

As I have mentioned before, I keep sets of my boot disks stored as IMG files created with RawWrite for Windows, this makes it a lot easier when it comes to modifying and distributing boot sets. You will need to use RawWrite for Windows, or a similar tool to unpack the images.

I have put some zipped copies of the IMG files up on MediaFire [Tags: ghost dc7800 visibleprocrastinations]. Unpack the zip files to get access to the IMG file.
dc7800-dhcp-both.zip (190 KB) (@MediaFire)

cheers

Previously:
GHOST boot disks for HP dc7700
GHOST boot disks for HP dc7700 (II)
GHOST boot disks for HP dc7700 (III)

This weeks links (2008-01-29)

The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2007
I decided to start putting together various “Best Of” lists for this year, and am starting out with my picks for the best Web 2.0 applications for education. I’m taking the broader view for this list, so I think these sites are the best ones for students across the board — not just for ESL/EFL students.

1. Tumblr
2. Bookr
3. VoiceThread
4. Show Beyond
5. Daft Doggy
6. Community Walk
7. One True Media
8. Fleck
9. ESL Video
10. CircaVie
11. CLEAR + SMILE
12. Footnote
13. Sketchcast
14. Vi.sualize.us

The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2007 [Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day…]

[Resolved]

Now this is how you reolve a Campus Networking Problem

The FAIL Blog
This is a site for sharing all things that FAIL with the world.
http://failblog.wordpress.com/

TAG Cloud
Create your own tag cloud from any text to visualize word frequency.
http://tagcrowd.com/

LEGO brick turns 50!
LEGO bricks are up for their 50th birthday

The 50th birthday of the LEGO brick is in January 2008 and there is plenty to celebrate. Children all over the world have played with LEGO bricks for the past 50 years, and LEGO is still right at the top of many wish lists – just as it always has been.

LEGO Brick Timeline: 50 Years of Building Frenzy and Curiosities [Gizmodo]

Mozilla turns 10

Happy birthday to Mozilla!

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (January 22, 1998) — Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) today announced bold plans to make the source code for the next generation of its highly popular Netscape Communicator client software available for free licensing on the Internet. The company plans to post the source code beginning with the first Netscape Communicator 5.0 developer release, expected by the end of the first quarter of 1998. This aggressive move will enable Netscape to harness the creative power of thousands of programmers on the Internet by incorporating their best enhancements into future versions of Netscape’s software. This strategy is designed to accelerate development and free distribution by Netscape of future high-quality versions of Netscape Communicator to business customers and individuals, further seeding the market for Netscape’s enterprise solutions and Netcenter business. [1]

“By making our source code available to the Internet community, Netscape can expand its client software leadership by integrating the best enhancements from a broad array of developers,” said Marc Andreessen, executive vice president of products for Netscape. “This Netscape team will be dedicated to assisting developers in the development of the source code, building a community that addresses markets and needs we can’t address on our own and allowing our customers to reap the benefits through access to superior products.” [2]

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (March 11, 1998) — Netscape Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: NSCP) today announced the Netscape Client Customization Kit (CCK), a powerful new set of tools that will provide Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), and Internet Content Providers a new mechanism for customizing Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator client software. As an integral part of the Netscape Unlimited Distribution program, announced in conjunction with Netscape’s decision to make its client software available free, the CCK can be licensed directly from Netscape free of charge, allowing companies to customize and freely redistribute the world’s most popular Internet client software to their customers. The Netscape CCK operates on Windows 95, Windows NT, and Macintosh PowerPC systems, allowing customized versions of Netscape client software to be created for these platforms, as well as Windows 3.1 users. [3]

[1] NETSCAPE ANNOUNCES PLANS TO MAKE NEXT-GENERATION COMMUNICATOR SOURCE CODE AVAILABLE FREE ON THE NET (1998-Jan-22) [Netscape]
[2] NETSCAPE ANNOUNCES MOZILLA.ORG, A DEDICATED TEAM AND WEB SITE SUPPORTING DEVELOPMENT OF FREE CLIENT SOURCE CODE (1998-Feb-23) [Netscape]
[3] NETSCAPE DELIVERS FREE CLIENT CUSTOMIZATION KIT FOR ISPS, OEMS AND INTERNET CONTENT PROVIDERS WORLDWIDE (1998-Mar-11) [Netscape]
[4] Ten years of Mozilla (2008-Jan-22) [MozillaLinks]

Winamp 5.52

Secunia Research has discovered two vulnerabilities in Winamp, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user’s system. [1]

The solution? Update to WinAmp 5.52

What’s New in Winamp 5.52?
* A Completely Redesigned Interface, including Album Art
* Multiple device support, including iPods
* Access and Share Your Music and Videos with Winamp Remote
* Play and Playlist the Best Music on the Web with Media Monitor
* Get Artist & Concert News, Videos & more with Smart Search
* Enjoy Dynamic Song Recommendations
* Experience MP3 Surround Sound Support
* Access to Thousands of Online Radio Stations, Videos and More!
* 50 FREE MP3 Music Downloads compliments of eMusic’s 2-week Trial
* Auto-Tagger provides automatic updates to file information
* Control Winamp From Your Browser with the Winamp Toolbar

[1] Winamp Ultravox Streaming Metadata Parsing Buffer Overflows [Secunia]

IE7 forced updated on 2008-Feb-12

If you do not wish to auto-update to IE you will need to take action;

On February 12, 2008 Microsoft will release the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability update to Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) marked as an Update Rollup package. Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update is a complete installation package that will upgrade machines running Internet Explorer 6 to Windows Internet Explorer 7. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 940767 contains more information on the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update. [1]

If you have configured WSUS to “auto-approve” Update Rollup packages (this is not the default configuration), Windows Internet Explorer 7 will be automatically approved for installation after February 12, 2008 and consequently, you may want to take the actions below to manage how and when this update is installed. [1]

As MS suggest there are multiple security reasons that make the upgrade to IE7 a good idea, you will need to weigh this up against how many of your custom applications will break with the upgrade.

[1] Windows Internet Explorer 7 to be distributed via WSUS February 12, 2008; May require administrator action to manage the rollout (2008-Jan-11) [MS]
[2] Description of the Windows Internet Explorer 7 Installation and Availability Update (2007-Oct-31) [MS]
[3] Microsoft warns businesses of impending autoupdate to IE7 [InfoWorld]
[4] Microsoft warns of IE7 automatic update [vnunet]

This weeks links (2008-01-21)

Webware 100
It worked before, so we’re doing it again: Today Webware is launching its second Webware 100 Awards, honoring the people’s choice for the best Web 2.0 apps and services.
www.webware.com

2008 Tour Down Under starts tonight

The Tour Down Under is the first stop in World Cycling after being granted UCI ProTour status – the first race outside of Europe to be given this ranking.

Disappointingly there is no dedicated TV coverage

Sun 20-Jan-2008 Down Under Classic Glenelg
Mon 21-Jan-2008 Rest Day
Tue 22-Jan-2008 Stage 1 Mawson Lakes to Angaston
Wed 23-Jan-2008 Stage 2 Stirling to Hahndorf
Thu 24-Jan-2008 Stage 3 Unley to Victor Harbor
Fri 25-Jan-2008 Stage 4 Mannum to Strathalbyn
Sat 26-Jan-2008 Stage 5 Willunga to Willunga
Sun 27-Jan-2008 Stage 6 Adelaide City Council Street Circuit

Cycling News have live updates and stages & results information.

[1] http://www.tourdownunder.com.au/2008/
[2] 10th Tour Down Under – ProT [CyclingNews]

Lost Island time

Lost Island : Curse of the Mask

An amazing adventure into the heart of the Lost Island, a wild jungle with extraordinary aquatic animals, beautiful waterfalls and spooky caves.

The kids decided that rather than bed rest to recover from my bout with the lurgy, that what I really needed was a visit to the The Lost Island at the Melbourne Aquarium.

We are now investigating turning the Lost Island into a gaming table for our pulp characters

QuickTime 7.4 released

QuickTime for Windows is now available. QuickTime 7.4 is an extremely important release which fixes numerous bugs and critical security issues as well as provides increased compatibility with the latest version of Internet Explorer. QuickTime 7.4 also includes a brand new video codec [H.264] which provides stunning quality at amazingly low data rates. This update is highly recommended for all QuickTimeusers. — QuicKTime Auto Update Message.

Apple have release QuickTime 7.4. This version fixes a number of issues – Fixed are: CVE-2008-0031, CVE-2008-0032, CVE-2008-0033 and CVE-2008-0036. You can update via Apple Software Update or grab the download.

[1] About QuickTime 7.4 [Apple]
[2] Apple releases QuickTime 7.4 with security fixes (2008-JAN-15) [SANS]
[3] About the security content of QuickTime 7.4 (2008-JAN-11) [Apple]