You may find you get the following problem when trying to stream music to multiple speakers. Streaming to either local computer OR your airport express works, but when you try to stream both, you get an error message that looks like this:
“An error occurred while connecting to the remote speaker ’speaker_name’. An unknown error occurred (-3256).”
This is most likely caused by a firewall issue. If you’re running Tiger, then there’s a fix here. If, however, you’re running Leopard, then it’s a little different:
1. Open System Preferences
2. Click Security
3. Click Firewall
4. Either:
a. “Allow all incoming connections” - but I don’t recommend this, so
b. “Set access for specific services and applications”. Click the + symbol, then find iTunes in your Applications folder. Then set its permission to Allow incoming connections.
You should now be able to stream to multiple sets of speakers. Whilst you’re playing about in the firewall settings, click Advanced and enable the stealth mode, which seems to be off by default. You should also check that logging is enabled, as it’s possible that the change to your firewall settings will interfere with other applications you have installed.
If you already own a D-Link G604T wireless router, then you can upgrade it to the G624T model, simply by flashing the firmware. The 624 firmware has many more configurable options, including much improved support for ADSL2+. Here’s what to do.
Read the rest of this entry »
A recent post on HackADay on what to do with an old laptop got me thinking. I have an old laptop (a Sony VAIO FX804) which was pretty much sat on a shelf doing nothing and turning it into a digital picture frame to display some of my photos seemed like a good use for it. I’m by no means an electronics whiz, but this seemed like something I was capable. The steps involved are pretty straightforward - get the laptop set up to function as you would like (some sort of slideshow, configured to either run off a hard drive or via an Internet connection) and nothing much else. Then dismantle the laptop so that the screen is frontmost and then somehow jig the rest of the machine behind it, perhaps in some sort of softbox. I’m good at dismantling stuff, although perhaps not so great at undismantling stuff, but what the heck - I had nothing to lose.
Read the rest of this entry »
I really like WordPress and I’ve been using it for many years from the pre v1 days, I believe. It has certainly grown massively since there, and now boasts the most impressive feature-set of all the online diary platforms. But, as with most software systems, as popularity increases, so does its vulnerability to attacks from unsavoury hacker types. It’s a widely covered phenomenon in the Windows vs Mac debate - Mac OSX is largely more secure because there are far fewer malicious attacks out there - for the simple reason that Windows is a more valuable target since there are many more users of it. (OK, this ignores the fact that the UNIX platform is natively more secure - but there is more to be gained in attacking Windows systems.) The increasing use of WordPress has resulted in an increasing number of security exploits. The WordPress folks are normally quick to close, patch and fix these holes, but I’ve always found the upgrade process, in spite of the infamous 5 step install / upgrade, to be a little arduous - backup existing install, deactivate plugins, download latest source, unzip, upload new source remembering not to overwrite your wp-content folder which contains plugins and themes, perform upgrade, reactivate plugins and cross your fingers. My experience has generally been fine - there has been only a few occasions when it’s gone titsup. But nevertheless, it’s a time-consuming process, especially the having to upload wp-content stuff separately. And there was a point recently, leading up to the 2.5 release, and then shortly after, where there was a spate of releases. When you’re managing 5 separate installs of the WordPress software, it invariably becomes a half-to-full day chore, rather than a quick update.
Well fortunately, there now’s something you can do about it. As of 2.5, all plugins have the ability to check for and update themselves requiring little more than your FTP credentials. And the WordPress automatic update plugin will keep your WordPress install bang up-to-date as well. I’ve tried it on a 2.5 install, as well as a 2.3.3 install, and, moreorless, the experience has been great. The “step by step” upgrade got a bit confused when trying to reactivate some of my plugins, but using the fully automatic mode worked like a dream. The plugin is certainly a bit rough around the edges - the templating and presentation is as disorganised and ungainly as CPanel, not to mention many many typos and grammatical errors, but if you’re not bothered about that, then there is now no reason to not keep your WP fully up-to-date.
Bootnote: I actually started this post about 2 weeks ago, before the automatic upgrade plugin had been released. So fortunately it was saved from being an all-out “WP stop releasing so many updates you bastards” to a “here’s a handy plugin that will keep your WP life more pleasurable.” Hurrah for that.
The looooong-awaited sequel to one of the best video games ever, Grand Theft Auto 3, has finally hit the stores. And with such an anticipated and massively-hyped release, expect some serious press coverage and the usual airing of the “games are so violent my kids stabbed me in the eye and stole my money” stories and the anti-fun patrol out in full force.
And right on cue - there has already been one incident of GTA IV attributed violence - and this was before they’d even bought and played it.
But can GTA IV really go one better than the infamous Hot Coffee mod? Well, if this video snippet of GTA IV gameplay is anything to go by, then the answer would be a resounding “hell yes.”
That ought to have the repressed masses lathered up in to a raging fury in no time.
UPDATE: Following this post, I decided to go out and buy it. Why not. AND DAMN - it’s awesome. It’s got some bugs (it caused the XBOX to lock up a couple of times) but generally speaking, it’s unbelievable. It now comes with an online multiplayer mode (kept separate from your actual game progress) - you can perform missions with other people, have death matches or just use the “free” mode, which does what it says on the tin. I’m quite sure that a lot of GTA owners love it for the simple fact that you can just meander about, shooting, stealing and generally just be a bit of a ponce - and now you can do it online with lots of other similar ponces. Magic.