Tech on Tour » Alex Costa

VOIP client for iPod Touch

Alex Costa — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:21:16 +0000

Truphone is a VOIP client that can save you money on your mobile phone calls. Using Truphone over WiFi (WIreless) connectivity your iPhone can make phone calls to landline and mobile numbers. The BBC technology website comments that the Truphone developers plan to implement the ability to also receive phone calls on iPhones. Wi-Fi calls to other connected Truphone users are completely free of charge.

Truphone is available for a few different devices, the iPod Touch, the iPhone, Nokia and Blackberry. Other devices like LG, Sumsung and so on are on the list for future availability. You can register your interest in having the Truphone on your mobile device on their website - http://truphone.com/devices .

ipod touch, voip, wireless, mobile, wireless

Thinkpad T60 wireless not working after windows update

Alex Costa — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:28:20 +0000

The wireless card Intel Pro 3945ABG on a Thinkpad T60 stopped working after the latest Windows XP Update. It showed as “working properly” in my hardware profile but neither the Windows Network Tool or the IBM / Intel Network Manager could pick it up and the Fn+F5 combination couldn’d switch the wireless back on. If you are a techy you know what to do next…. reinstall the device. Here are the steps if you need it.

1 – Go to START>ControlPanel>System
2 – Click on the “Hardware” tab then “Device Manager”
3 – Click on “Network Adapters” (to expand it) and then select the Wireless card (in my case the Intel Pro 3945ABG)
4 – Right Click on the wireless card and select uninstall from the pop-up menu.
5 – After uninstalling click on Action>Scan for Harware Changes and your device will be found and reinstalled
6 – Restart your computer and it should all work.

Intel Pro 3945ABG, Thinkpad, Windows update, T60, Wireless

MM_XSLTransform Error

Alex Costa — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:44:28 +0000

MM_XSLTransform error.
[RSS URL] is not a valid XML document.
Non-static method DOMDocument::loadXML() should not be called statically,
assuming $this from incompatible context in file

I recently came across this error and took me a lot of searching to find out the right fix for it. Here is where you can find the fix.

http://groups.google.com/group/macromedia.dreamweaver.appdev/browse_thread/thread/832446ccb50569f3

MM_XSLTransform Error, rss feed error, XSLT

Windows XP Error Reboot loop

Alex Costa — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:06:25 +0000

Got this error a couple of times already on Windows XP. The system goes through the startup and then shows a blue screen for 1/2 second and reboots. I’ve then been to a few forums in order to get it fixed so I decided, for personal reasons to post here the route that worked for me.

First: Stop the “Reboot on system failure”
– Start the computer and press F8 just before the windows screen appears (just after POST)
– Press F8 again to get more startup options (if only one option is shown – read screen for instructions)
– Select the option “Disable Reboot on System Failure”
– System will then try to boot and halt on the blue screen of death, which contains your error message

ERROR c0000128 – Registry Error
– My error was related to a Software entry on the Registry, to fix it I followed the instructions on the Miscrosoft Support website. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307545

xp error c0000128, xp error loop, windows XP, XP blueverror screen

Free Vista and Sharepoint compatibility help by Microsoft

Alex Costa — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:41:50 +0000

Free, unlimited installation and compatibility support has been made available for all worldwide customers using Windows Vista SP1 until March 18, 2009. Telephone support is available worldwide. Chat and Email support is available in US and Canada only. Why mention this on a SharePoint blog?? Well, if you are having any compatibility issues with Vista and SharePoint, now is your chance to call up the vendor (Microsoft that is) and talk it out for FREE!

Here is the link for more information:

http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx?rdpath=1&prid=11274&gprid=500921

Source: SharePoint Solutions Blog

USB Modem on Linux (mobile broadband)

Alex Costa — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:10:47 +0000

I have just acquired a 3 Skypephone in the UK and am looking for a way of using its broadband internet capabilities on my Linux OS. Unfortunately, and as usual, the connectivity is only available for Windows so I was looking for some clever way of connecting. I then came across this solution in a random forum. The project is called USB_ModeSwitch it’s well documented and easy to install. It works on a range of Mobile phones and Mobile Broadband dongles.

I’ve had a little issue installing it on Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron but it seems more like that I made the system unatable before I attempted to install.

For download and instructions please visit http://www.draisberghof.de/usb_modeswitch/

OpenSuse Linux 11.0

Alex Costa — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:12:56 +0000

openSuse 11.0 was released this month and from user’s feedback it seems to be a good update of this distro by Novell. I’ve been using Suse Linux for a while now and it’s a very robust Linux distribution, strong on the server side but also on the desktop side.

This new version comes with more than 200 new features, 3D implementation with Compiz, NetworkManager 7 and a redesigned installer. If you are new to Linux give it a try by downloading a Live CD (bootable) and try it without having to install anything on your computer.

To read the the full blog post go to http://news.opensuse.org/2008/06/19/announcing-opensuse-110-gm/

To download the 11.0 release of openSuse go to http://software.opensuse.org/Technorati Tags: opensuse, linux, novell, open source

Blog backup with Gmail

Alex Costa — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:04:23 +0000

If you have a small site or a blog and want to create regular backups, you could use your Gmail account for that, but lets say it starts to clog up your inbox or even worse it starts to use up your storage space. A friend of mine does it brilliantly. A filter (rule) on Gmail will delete the email with the backup on arrival and it then gets stored in your Bin therefore not using your inbox space and storage capability while keeping it accessible for 30 days. If your site is updated daily you could even have a daily backup.

In a nutshell here is how you do it.

Setup a backup cronjob on your CPanel - send backup to you Gmail account
on Gmail, go to Settings > Filters
create a new filter From: – to know it you need to check the backup email you’ve just received from the cronjob.
on the next step select the options “Skip the Inbox” and “Delete it”
select also “apply to # conversations below” – it will apply the filter (rule) to any existing backup you already have in your inbox

Technorati Tags: backup, gmail, blog, online storage

Lenovo X300 vs MacBook Air – Part 2

Alex Costa — Mon, 26 May 2008 15:45:18 +0000

A while back I wrote about the new Lenovo X300 being a good competitor to the worshiped MacBook Air. Well I found this advert on youtube, it’s probably not as funny as the “I’m a Mac I’m a PC” ads from Apple but it does show that the X300 got it right where Apple got it wrong.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnOCUkbix0

PPTP VPN client on Linux SLED10 and Debian

Alex Costa — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:34:56 +0000

Connecting my SLED10 (Suse Linu Enterprise Desktop) to my office’s Windows VPN was something of a struggle, I had to try several different methods just because PPTP didn’t come installed by default on my Gnome NetworkManager.

To make it work you need to install the following:

On Suse Linux (Using Gnome)

1 – Use the Software Management, search for VPNC, PPTP, SMPPD, NetworkManager and install them all

2 – Then download the NetworkManager-pptp from software.opensuse.org – you can select the desired version of the OS.

3 – Restart the NetworkManager and then create your PPTP VPN Tunel

Using KDE

1 – Use YAST, search for VPNC, PPTP, SMPPD, KVPNC and install them all

2 – Run KVPNC and create a profile in order to connect

On Debian based distros (Debian, Ubuntu, Kurumin)

Using Gnome

1 – sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome network-manager-pptp

2 – launch or restart the Network Manager

Using KDE

1 – apt-get install KVPNC

2 – launch KVPNC and create a profile in order to connect

If you have problems connecting, check your firewall, I had problems specially with Firestarter on my Kurumin Linux (Debian based Brazilian distro)

Technorati Tags: vpn, pptp, linux, networking, kvpnc