OpenDNS is a great system, and I have found that they have added a great new feature: Adult Filtering. It does a great job, I’m really happy that they have added this feature. It works pretty good, I haven’t found a site that is it lets through…
2 words…freaking AWESOME! Last week I my cable modem went out, and let’s just say it was a bad situation. So I order a XiNCOM Twin WAN from NewEgg, it arrived and I hooked it up. The biggest feature is it has 2 WAN ports for 2 seperate broadband connections, and it internally runs something (I suspect HSRP)…anyway, if one provider fails, then the other takes over. So, there is no downtime on your lan. Pretty slick.
Yesterday, from about 11am to about 3pm Time Warner decided to do maintenance on the cable modem infrastructure. I figure that they probably figured out with the “least” used time was, and did it then. Not so go. I am VERY reliant on having a fast stable internet connection, in fact I didn’t know how much I needed one until yesterday. However, I *also* learned that I need to have a stable one as well. So I took a look at the options (it’s a short list); T-1.
I can get a T-1 straight from the DC at a pretty reasonable rate. However, it still is pricy, and Teresa and I aren’t too fond of spending that much money. That being said we both see the need for that kind of connectivity. Teresa asked if there was a way to have a “backup” connection. Sure enough, there was, at a very reasonable price. I found the Twin WAN router from Xincom, this may be the perfect solution. It got some good reviews at NewEgg. Plus, it was very reasonable, and having a cable modem + DSL should provide a VERY stable connection. If not…off to T-1 land.
Once I get it, I will post my review on it.
I love my Mac, every computer I own is a Mac. However, my one complain is the lack of a really good mac email client. I think Mail.app, while its getting better, isn’t getting better fast enough. I’ve played with Thunderbird, and the new 2.0 beta is looking a lot better, but again, I have issues with it (e.g. you can’t use Address Book with it).
Well, now it seems that there is a new app on the block called Correo, while it is only a 0.1 release, it shows a lot of promise, and I am looking forward to watching it grow.
As I talked in my introduction post about backups, one of the most important things in backups is automation, that is, your backups should need no intervention from you. That way, your backups will always run whether you remember that or not. There are several programs for a mac that will do this, here is my quick reviews of a few that I have tried.
As a mac user, we get treated as second rate ‘netizens, with the biggest issue that we (or at least me and alex) face is syncing multiple computers. The information is more or less out there, but it’s hard to find. So, here is how I do it, it’s not perfect, and there is more to go, but it’s a good start.
You know…Dell switches are starting to piss me off. Here are my issues:
1. No NTP…wtf, there is no NTP support, I have to set the time on every switch manually.
2. Web based interface sucks. People…support more than just IE.
3. Security problems.
[Update]: For the technologically challenged people: NTP
iTunes 6 just launched, and the new video iPod (a new iMac too, but I’m a PowerMac kinda guy). Very cool. Now I just need an Airport express for Video.
I must say the new iMac is very cool too.
Exciting day!!!
[update] Well, it’s cool. But, the selection of TV shows sucks, and there are no movies to speak of. I know they will be adding more, but it was just sad 
In line at the grand opening at the Apple store in Austin, TX.
Nothing much to report…
Michael’s crawling around…people are talking Mac things…mostly corporate things.
Some guy has a funny shirt…
“Use mac for productivity
Use linux for delelopment
Palm for mobility
Windows for solitare”…heh 
Well, I’ve never been one for an RSS reader. I’ve tried a few, some are okay…others, there is no way I would pay for them. However, I think I’m going to be out $20 soon. I think that PulpFiction is VERY cool. I’m going to play with it a little more, but if I’m still using it by next Saturday it will be $20 well spent.
I have noticed a problem when loading Alex King’s blog (or any WordPress blog) is that the author is “Unknown”. I’m not sure if that is PulpFiction or WordPress. I’ll post more about this after some checking.