Sometimes I need to find out what the public IP address of a particular machine is. If I have access to a web browser on that machine I just hope over to a service such as http://www.whatismyip.com or myip.dk to find this information. However, on a remote Linux server it is not practical to use the web browser method. So, instead, I use the following hack.

I enter the following line into a Linux command line:

# curl -s myip.dk | grep '"Box"' | egrep -o '[0-9.]+'
122.172.9.222

Pretty useful stuff this. If you need to use this command often it might be a good idea to create a script with the command so that you need not have to remember it. Create a new file using your favorite text editor. Enter the following lines:

#!/bin/bash
curl -s myip.dk | grep '"Box"' | egrep -o ‘[0-9.]+'

Now save the file as something like /usr/bin/myipaddress. Grant it executable privileges like this:

# chmod +x /usr/bin/myipaddress

Now you have a script that you can access from anywhere on your computer by running myipaddress in the command line. It will output your current public IP address. This can be quite useful if you use things like IP-based authentication, or if you use a dynamic DNS service.

Although the above example should work most of the time, there might be times when the service that gives you your public IP address is down or has changed the format with which they display the data, thus breaking the script. Here’s a backup method in case the command shown earlier does not work for you. It used the service http://www.formyip.com/.

# links -dump http://www.formyip.com/ | awk "/IP is/{print $NF}"

You could also use this with lynx:

# lynx -dump http://www.formyip.com/ | awk "/IP is/{print $NF}"

Again, feel free to enter this command into a script like I showed you earlier. It will make using the command a breeze.

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This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to set up everything in Windows XP to allow you to connect to an office (or other) VPN server.

The very concept behind a Virtual Private Network is to allow a remote user network access just as if it were local to the private network. This means a VPN does not only consist of being able to connect to the network, however being able to connect securely plays a vital role as well. A VPN is the current standard for providing access as well as security. In order to accomplish its purpose, a VPN must emulate a direct network connection. This means it must provide both the same level of access and the same level of security. Basically I like to think of a VPN as a way to “piggy back” over the Internet to create secure connections.

Currently Windows XP provides a certain level of security by using Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) or Layer Two Tunneling Protocol (L2TP). They are both considered tunneling protocols –because they create a “virtual tunnel” by applying much needed encryption.

If you wish to create a VPN with windows XP, then you’ve come to the right place.

Here are some steps to follow on how to set one up:

1) On the computer that is running Windows XP, confirm that the connection to the Internet is configured correctly and is active. You can simply do this by trying to browse the internet.

2) Click Start, then click Control Panel, locate and double click on the Network Connections Icon

3) Then Click on New Connection Wizard.

4) Once in the New Connection Wizard, Click Next.

5) Click Connect to the network at my workplace.

6) Then Click Next, and choose the Virtual Private Network connection.

7) Click Next, Type a host name, IP or any other description you would like to appear in the Network Connections area. You can change this later if you want.

8 ) Click Next, and select Do Not Dial Initial Connection.

9) Click Next and type a host name, IP or any other description you would like to appear in the Network Connections area. You can change this later if you want.

10) Click Next and choose whether you want your VPN connection only available to you or to anyone who logs onto the computer.

11) Click Next. You are just about done, if there are any, the rest of the screens just verify your connection. Click to select the Add a shortcut to this connection to my desktop check box if you want one, if not, then leave it unchecked and click finish.

12) You are now done making your connection, but by default, it may try to connect. You can either try the connection now if you know its valid, if not, then just close it down for now.

13) Now that you have your XP VPN client all set up and ready, the next step is to attempt a connection to the Remote Access or VPN server set up at the corporate office. To use the connection follow these simple steps. To open the client again, go back to the Network Connections dialog box.

I. Once you are in the Network Connection dialog box, double-click, or right click and select ‘Connect’ from the menu – this will initiate the connection to the corporate office.

II. Type your user name and password, and then click Connect. Properties bring you back to what we just discussed in this article, all the global settings for the VPN client you are using.

III. To disconnect from a VPN connection, right-click the icon for the connection, and then click Disconnect”

Summary:

In this article we covered the basics and uses of building a Virtual Private Network connection using Windows XP. This is very handy when you have a VPN device but don’t have the ‘client’ that may come with it. If the VPN Server doesn’t use highly proprietary protocols, then you can use the XP client to connect with. In a future article I will get into the nuts and bolts of both IPSec and more detail on how to configure the advanced options in the Security tab of this client.

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Home Networking 101

After writing more than a dozen of these tutorials and installing and removing so many different applications, I thought to myself, there has got to be a faster way. WiFi is far faster than Bluetooth and far more convenient than digging for a USB data cable. I have a computer running Linux, I have a wireless network, and the N95 connects via WiFi so why not just run Apache on my computer and point the N95 at a directory on the computer?

I’m writing this tutorial using Fedora 9, but these instructions should be easily adaptable to just about any Linux distribution. Also, you can install Apache in Windows or OS X, and follow along with the steps in this tutorial.

1. These instructions are almost completely command line based. First, check if you already have Apache installed. There’s a chance you might already have it. For RedHat, Fedora and other RPM based Linux distributions:

   [user@radon ~]# rpm -q httpd
   httpd-2.2.9-1.fc9.i386

   If you don’t, it’s as simple as the following:

   [user@radon ~]# sudo yum install httpd
   Loaded plugins: changelog, downloadonly, fastestmirror, list-data, merge-conf,
   : presto, refresh-packagekit
   Setting up and reading Presto delta metadata
   No Presto metadata available for atrpms
   No Presto metadata available for google
   No Presto metadata available for fedora
   No Presto metadata available for adobe-linux-i386
   No Presto metadata available for updates-newkey
   No Presto metadata available for updates
   Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
   * fedora: mirror.hmc.edu
   * updates-newkey: mirror.hmc.edu
   * updates: mirror.hmc.edu
   Finished
   Setting up Install Process
   Parsing package install arguments
   Resolving Dependencies
   –> Running transaction check
   —> Package httpd.i386 0:2.2.9-1.fc9 set to be updated
   –> Finished Dependency Resolution

   Dependencies Resolved

   ==================================================
   Package Arch Version Repository Size
   ==================================================
   httpd i386 2.2.9-1.fc9 updates-newkey 975 k

   Transaction Summary
   ==================================================
   Install 1 Package(s)
   Update 0 Package(s)
   Remove 0 Package(s)

   Total download size: 975 k
   Is this ok [y/N]: y
   Downloading Packages:
   Downloading DeltaRPMs:
   Rebuilding rpms from deltarpms
   httpd-2.2.9-1.fc9.i386.rpm | 975 kB 00:24
   Running rpm_check_debug
   Running Transaction Test
   Finished Transaction Test
   Transaction Test Succeeded
   Running Transaction
   Installing : httpd [1/1]

   Installed: httpd.i386 0:2.2.9-1.fc9
   Complete!

   If your output looks slightly different that the above, don’t worry. I have a few extra repositories enabled as well as a few extra yum plugins. The important part is the line that says: Installed: httpd.i386 0:2.2.9-1.fc9.

2. Start Apache:

   [user@radon ~]$ sudo /sbin/service httpd start
   Starting httpd: [ OK ]

3. Now test that it works. Open a browser and visit http://127.0.0.1/ You should see something similar to the following:


click to enlarge

4. Lets find out the IP Address of the computer. We’ll need this when we connect from the phone.

   [user@radon ~]$ /sbin/ifconfig wlan0
   wlan0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr AA:BB:CC:DD:EE:FF
   inet addr:192.168.20.2 Bcast:192.168.20.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
   UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
   RX packets:206616 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
   TX packets:161635 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0
   collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000
   RX bytes:251797632 (240.1 MiB) TX bytes:24504623 (23.3 MiB)

   Note the second line of the output where it says inet addr. Our IP Address is 192.168.20.4.

   On your phone, choose Menu -> Web. Make sure you choose the correct Access Point, the name of your wireless network. Now, choose Options -> Go To Web Address and enter the IP Address you discovered above. You should see the Apache Test Page on your phone’s browser.

 
 


5. The default installation of Apache on Fedora 9 expects you to put your web pages in /var/www/html. I decided to create a separate directory at /home/shared and make that accessible via the web. The following commands create the directory, then change its ownership to my user name, then create a symbolic link to the new directory below the default web root.

   [user@radon ~]$ sudo mkdir /home/shared
   [user@radon ~]$ sudo chown user: /home/shared
   [user@radon ~]$ sudo ln -s /home/shared/ /var/www/html/shared

   Now visit http://127.0.0.1/shared/ in your browser and you should see an empty directory similar to the following:


click to enlarge

6. Now visit http://192.168.20.4/shared on your phone, substituting the IP Address of your computer.

 

7. Ok, now that the phone can see your shared directory, copy some installation files into it and choose Options -> Navigations Options -> Reload.

 


8. Simple click on one of the files and you are prompted to install it. I find this way a whole lot faster than installing applications via USB or Bluetooth.
9. If you are paying attention to the above screenshots, you will notice that the installation files I am using in this example are actually the Apache installation files. Yes, you can run Apache on your N95. Watch for my upcoming tutorial on how to run Apache on the N95.

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This tutorial will guide you through turning your Nokia N95 into a WiFi (wireless) access point. No more tethering via USB or Bluetooth. Using JoikuSpot Light, a totally free utility that works well as long as you only need to use HTTP and HTTPS protocols, you’ll be up and surfing in no time. You’ll have to go with JoikuSpot Premium if you need POP3, SMTP, etc.

Warning: You probably only want to do this if you have a decent data plan. Using 3G data can result in a very large bill, particularly if you live in Canada.

1. You’ll have to use your computer to visit the JoikuSpot Light product page, where you will select your phone model, then click Download. Save the JoikuSpot Light installation file to a directory on your hard drive, then install it on your phone. See my recent tutorials on installing software on your N95 via USB or installing software on your N95 via Bluetooth.
2. For your convenience I have included a Mobile Code below. You may find you have limited success in using your mobile browser to download JoikuSpot Light due to the web site layout.



3. Now that you have JoikuSpot Light installed, you can find it by selecting Menu -> Applications > JoikuSpot.



4. Next you are prompted to allow sharing your internet connection with other devices.



5. Select No. We want to change some settings first. You will end up at the JoikuSpot main screen.



6. In the default configuration, JoikuSpot does not use any sort of encryption. You will want to change this. Select Options -> Settings.



7. This is where we can make changes to things like the Network Name, the default Access Point to use, and the Encryption options. Scroll down to Encryption and select Options -> Change.

 

8. Unfortunately WPA is not an option. You can only choose WEP Open or WEP Shared. At least WEP is marginally better than no encryption at all and will stop others from connecting to your network accidentally.
9. Lets try WEP Open.

   

10. Now scroll down and set the encryption key type, the length, and the key itself. In this example I chose to use a 128 bit ASCII key.



11. Notice that a random key was generated automatically. Lets change this to something easier to remember. Scroll down to Encryption Key and select Options -> Change. In this example I changed the key to NokiaN95Rocks.

 

12. Now select Back to go back to the main JoikuSpot screen, then choose Options -> Start to start sharing.



13. You will be prompted to allow sharing your internet connection. Select Yes.



14. Now select your 3G access point.



15. JoikuSpot starts and your N95 is now acting as a WiFi Access Point.

 

16. Press the Right toggle to see the status of the connection. Scroll down one page to see the Encryption Key being used. This is the key that you will enter on your computer when you connect to your phones shared connection.

 

17. Now set the phone down and go over to the computer. On the computer, select Connect To A Network and you should see your JoikuSpot access point listed. You may have to click the refresh button.


click to enlarge

18. Select your JoikuSpot access point and click Connect. You will be prompted to enter the same encryption key as you entered on your phone.


click to enlarge


click to enlarge

19. Assuming you entered the key correctly, you should successfully connect. In this example I chose to save this network connection for future use.


click to enlarge


click to enlarge

20. You should now notice that the Network Connection icon in your system tray indicates Local Access Only.



21. Not to worry. Open up a browser, preferably Firefox, and you will see an advertisement for JoikuSpot Premium.


click to enlarge

22. You can safely ignore this advertisement and just click the Home icon in Firefox. You are now on the Internet.


click to enlarge

23. It may take a little while for Windows to notice that your wireless connection has changed from Local Only to Local and Internet.



24. If you look at the screen on your N95, you should see your computer listed on the Clients tab in JoikuSpot.



25. Enjoy surfing, but don’t forget to shut down JoikuSpot when you’re finished. Select Options -> Stop.

 

26. JoikuSpot is no longer sharing your 3G internet.

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PuTTY is a free Telnet and SSH client for Win32 and Unix platforms available at the PuTTY home page. Luckily PuTTY has also been ported to Symbian OS and can be obtained at http://s2putty.sourceforge.net. This tutorial will guide you through the steps to install and use PuTTY on your N95.

Here are the steps I took to install the latest version at the time of writing on my N95 8GB:

1. Download the zip file from here and extract it somewhere on your hard drive. Remember this location.
2. Since I have a Bluetooth adapter for my laptop, I decided to send the PuTTY installation file to the phone via Bluetooth rather than dig up a USB cable and copy the file over that way. If you can’t transfer the installation file via Bluetooth, copy the file to your phones mass storage via USB and run the file using Menu -> Tools -> File Manager. Press the Right toggle to navigate to the mass storage, then locate the folder you copied the installation file to.
3. I now had a message in my Inbox containing putty_s60v3_1.5beta1.sisx. If you transferred the installation file to your phone via USB, skip this step.



4. Opening the message produced the following screen:



5. Choose Yes, then choose Continue.



6. I chose to install PuTTY in the Phone Memory.



7. Next I got the standard warning about this application accessing the network. Just choose Continue.



8. At the copyright and disclaimer screen, also choose Continue.



9. Now PuTTY is installed. You can find it by choosing Menu -> Applications -> putty.



10. Now that it’s installed, you want to actually do something useful like logging in to a remote system. Select Options -> Connect.



11. Enter the remote host name or IP address.



12. Next you should be presented with a list of access points. I selected the ESSIS of the nearest WiFi access point.



13. It might take a little while to connect to the remote server.



14. Since you are using PuTTY on your N95 for the first time, you need to accept the hosts key by selecting Yes.



15. Enter your user name and select OK.



16. Enter your password and select OK.



17. Now you should be at the familiar shell prompt.



18. Try entering a command like ps



19. In order to send special characters like Control or Carriage Return, select Options -> Send.



20. You are now presented with a few choices. Toggle over to Enter and press Select.



21. I like to log out just by hitting Ctrl-D. Press Options -> Send, then choose Control+… and press Select.



22. From the menu, choose Ctrl-D and press Select.



23. You are now logged out.

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Previously I’ve shown you how to monitor your bandwidth using applications you install on your PC/Mac (Windows | OS X). The method I outline in this very brief tutorial uses the DD-WRT firmware. Instead of capturing your uploads and downloads on each computer, which works very well if you live in a single-computer household, this method monitors your usage at the router level. So there’s no need to install software on each PC/Mac and then walk around with a calculator to add it all up.

1. First up, install the DD-WRT firmware. Make sure you have a supported device. Then check to see if there’s a tutorial that explains how to install DD-WRT on your device. If you have a Linksys WRT54G v8, I’ve created a very detailed tutorial with screenshots for every step.
2. Once you have the DD-WRT firmware installed, visit the control panel and select Status -> WAN.

   
   click to enlarge

3. Scroll down to the Traffic by Month section. Here you’ll find the total incoming (download) and outgoing (upload) bandwidth, by month.


click to enlarge

4. That’s it!

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This tutorial will walk you every step of the way through flashing your Linksys WRT54G (version 8) router to use the DD-WRT firmware.

According to Wikipedia, the Linksys WRT54G v8.0 is “currently one of the most commonly available (routers) at US retail establishments, such as Best Buy and Target”. Due to hardware limitations, the 8.x versions (8.0, 8.1 and 8.2) are only able to run the “micro” version of the DD-WRT firmware (you can find a firmware version feature comparison chart here). Even so, the micro version of the DD-WRT firmware provides dozens of features, many of which are not available with the default Linksys firmware.

This walkthrough is based on the WRT54G v8.x tutorial on the DD-WRT wiki. The biggest difference between this one and the one on the DD-WRT wiki is that I’ve elaborated a bit, and provided screenshots for each step.

Please make sure you understand each step before you complete this tutorial. If you’re unsure of anything, please leave a comment and I’ll respond as soon as I can. It is possible to brick (render the router unusable) your device if done incorrectly.

1. You’ll need to use a wired (not wireless) computer to flash your WRT54G with the DD-WRT firmware. Make sure that computer (doesn’t matter if it’s a Mac or PC running Windows or Linux) is plugged in to Port 1 of your router. Unplug all other devices from the router – you can leave the WAN port plugged in to your cable/DSL modem.
2. Download the files vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin and dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to the computer you’re going to use to flash your WRT54G (the one plugged in to Port 1 of your router).
3. You’ll need to set your computer to use the following static IP settings:

   IP Address: 192.168.1.100
   Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
   Gateway: 192.168.1.1


OS X Static IP Settings


Windows Static IP Settings

4. Unplug the power cord from the WRT54G. Push the Reset button (see image below) while plugging the power cord back in, and hold down the button for about 20 seconds. Use a pencil or ball-point pen to push and hold the Reset button – it’s a bit recessed and very difficult to push and hold with your finger or fingernail.


click to enlarge

5. Open your browser and enter the address http://192.168.1.1. Use a browser other than Firefox, as issues have been reported with Firefox not being able to flash the device properly. I’ve used Safari and Internet Explorer and both had no problems.

   You’ll be presented with a Management Mode Firmware Upgrade page. Click the Choose File button.


click to enlarge

6. Navigate to the vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin file, select it, and close Choose (or Open if you’re using IE).


click to enlarge

7. Make sure that vxworkskillerGv8-v3.bin is listed on the Management Mode Firmware Upgrade page, and click the Apply button.


click to enlarge

8. Wait for at least two minutes before you go any further. After the 2 minutes is up, if you notice a dialog asking you to reboot the router, do so by unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in again. If you don’t get a message telling you to reboot the router, wait another 3-4 minutes and then reboot the router.


click to enlarge

9. You should be able to ping 192.168.1.1 (in Linux or OS X open a Terminal and type ping 192.168.1.1. In Windows open a Command Prompt by clicking Start, selecting Run enter cmd and then type ping 192.168.1.1). If the router doesn’t reply you probably haven’t set your network settings correctly (step #3 above).


click to enlarge

10. Now it’s time to flash the WRT54G with the DD-WRT firmware. To do so, enter the appropriate command for your Operating System:

    Windows: (note: Vista users will need to install tftp first) enter tftp -i 192.168.1.1 put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin from the Command Prompt. Make sure that the dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin file is in the same folder that you’re using the Command Prompt from. For example, if you downloaded dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to your Desktop, make sure the Command Prompt reads C:\Documents and Settings\your-user-name\Desktop> – where your-user-name is your Windows user name.

    Linux: enter tftp -m octet 192.168.1.1 -c put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin at your shell/terminal. Note: if you get the the message error code 3 while trying to flash it, try atftp. The aftp command is: atftp –option “mode octet” –verbose -p -l dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin 192.168.1.1

    OS X: enter tftp -e 192.168.1.1 From the tftp> prompt enter put dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin

    Make sure that the dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin file is in the same folder that you’re using the Terminal from. For example, if you downloaded dd-wrt.v24_micro_generic.bin to your Downloads folder, make sure you’re using the Terminal prompt from /Users/your-user-name/Downloads – where your-user-name is your Mac user name.


click to enlarge

11. The file will be transferred and automatically installed. Once this is done, DD-WRT will automatically boot. After about a minute, you can browse DD-WRT on your router at http://192.168.1.1.


click to enlarge

12. If you browse away from the main page, you’ll be prompted for a user name and password. The default user name is: root and the default password is: admin. To change the user name and/or password (a very good idea!!) – select the Administration tab and then the Management tab. Enter your new user name and/or password in the spaces provided, and click the Save button at the bottom of the screen.


click to enlarge

13. When you navigate away from the Management tab, you’ll be prompted to enter your user name and password again. Enter your new user name and/or password to continue.

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Using the free (and beta) app Shadow, you can keep multiple items in your clipboard and bring them back for reusing. More than that, you can even share your clipboard across your network. Keep reading for an overview..

From the Shadow web site -

Shadow is the brand new clipboard utility for Mac OS X. Clipboard managers have come and gone on the Mac, but Shadow brings a new concept – Copy on one Mac, paste on another! Using Apple’s Bonjour technology, a super-fast multithreaded server, and a wickedly simple interface, Shadow will change how you use your Mac workgroup. Shadow also provides a multi-item clipboard for each Mac it’s installed on. If that was not enough, you can add more clipboards if you want, name them whatever you want and store all your clippings in your own categories. You can then decide if you want to share a particular clipboard. If you want to share it with some people, but not others, you can password protect them too! So, even if you only have one Mac on your network, you could still find Shadow invaluable.

1. Head over to the Shadow public beta page and download it. Unzip the file, and drag Shadow.app to your Applications folder. Launch it from there.



2. The main Shadow window will appear. The left pane keeps track of your clipboards (you have have more than one, so you can share one or more and keep one or more private). The right pane displays the contents of the selected clipboard. Before you go to far, click the “pencil” button to set your Sharing preferences.


click to enlarge

3. The default clipboard (System Clipboard) can’t be renamed. But it can be shared. If you’d like to set a password (probably a good idea if you use public WiFi very often) – this is the place to do it.


click to enlarge

4. Now when you copy things – text, files, etc, they’ll be available for reusing via Shadow. You’ll notice in the screenshot below that I have the a character copied to my clipboard. That’s because as soon as I launched Shadow, the a key stopped responding. Once I quit, I was able to use it again. After re-starting it, the a key worked and so did Shadow. Remember, it’s beta software.

   To re-use an item in your clipboard, select it and hit return. Shadow will disappear, and that item will be loaded into your clipboard and ready to paste.


click to enlarge

5. To set a hotkey and adjust other settings, select the Shadow icon in your menu, and Preferences… from the drop-down list.



6. Click inside the HotKey pane and enter the keyboard combo you want to use to activate Shadow.


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7. The UI tab allows you to disable hiding after selecting an item in your Shadow clipboard, and to change the highlight color.


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8. The Advanced tab allows you to set a limit for the number of items in your clipboard history.


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This tutorial will guide you every step of the way through installing and setting up Jinzora, a very robust streaming media server – in OS X.

From the Jinzora site -

Jinzora is the ultimate web based media streaming and management system. Streaming your media with Jinzora gives you quick and easy access to your online music and video collection from any device with a web browser. Enjoy your media from your PC, notebook, PDA, Smart Phone, Xbox, PS3 or Wii.

Jinzora supports the following formats – Audio: AAC, M4A, Midi, MP3, MP4, Ogg Vorbis, RM and WMA. Audio (Transcoded): Flac, MPC, WAV, WMA Lossless, WV and SHN. Video: AVI, WMV, MPEG and MOV.

If you’d like to install Jinzora in Windows, Lifehacker has you covered.

1. Before you install Jinzora, you’ll need to install and setup MAMP (Mac, Apache, MySQL and PHP). Fortunately we have you covered with a tutorial on doing just that in OS X.
2. Head over to the Jinzora download page and download the Linux version (yes, the Linux version). Extract the files to your Document Root (if you’re using MAMP, the default will be /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/).
3. Open a Terminal, navigate to /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2/ and enter the following 4 commands:
   

   chmod 777 settings.php
   chmod 777 jukebox/settings.php
   chmod 777 -R temp
   chmod 777 -R data



4. To start the browser based installation, navigate to index.php in the jinzora2 directory. Again, if you’re using MAMP with the default settings, this will be http://localhost:8888/jinzora2/index.php. Review the info provided on this page, and select your Language: from the drop down list.


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5. Jinzora will run a check to make sure that your server (Mac) meets the minimum requirements. It will also check for Optional Packages. Some of these won’t be found – don’t worry about it. If the Recommended Settings show up as “red”, you’ll need to edit your php.ini file (found in /Applications/MAMP/conf/php5/php.ini – if you’re using MAMP in the default installation location).

   Open php.ini in a text editor, and scroll to the line:

   memory_limit = 8M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (8MB)

   change it to:

   memory_limit = 64M ; Maximum amount of memory a script may consume (64MB)

   Now look for the line:

   max_execution_time = 30 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

   and change it to:

   max_execution_time = 300 ; Maximum execution time of each script, in seconds

   Save the file. Click Proceed to License to continue.


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6. Review the license (yeah right), place a check in the box labeled I Agree to the license terms and click Proceed to Install Type.


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7. For the Installation Type: select Standalone (the default). For the Jukebox Mode: select Streaming Only. Click to Proceed to Main Settings.


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8. Here you’ll need to specify a number of settings. The Main Settings are all straight forward. The Frontend: and Style: can be changed later, so don’t stress too much over your selections.


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9. The Import Settings are very important. Hover your cursor over the Data Structure: drop-down list and a detailed explanation of the options will be displayed.


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10. I opted for Tag Data as my Data Structure, because I have spent a lot of time tagging my music, but my folder organization is terrible. Again, hover your cursor over the Media Layout: drop-down list for a detailed explanation of the choices.


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11. I opted for Artist as my Media Layout, but you of course can select the method that works best for you. Click Proceed to Backend Setup when you’ve made all your selections.


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12. Now you’ll need to specify the info for your database. Your database username and password can be found in your MAMP setup if you’re unsure what they are. Give your database a name (jinzora2, jinzora or something descriptive is a good idea), select MySQL as the Database Type, and unless you’ve already created the database manually, select True from the Create Database: drop-down. Click Continue with Backend Install.


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13. Assuming everything was successful, click Proceed to Import Media.


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14. Now it’s time to add your media. Navigate to the top level folder you want to add, and click Analyze. As you’ll note from the screenshot below, I only added some of my music collection (I created a temp folder and moved some albums into it). This was for screenshot purposes only. It can take quite a while to add a large media collection, and you can always add additional folders later.



15. Once completed, click Proceed.



16. You can add more media, or continue with the rest of the setup. When you’re done adding media, click Proceed to Save Config.


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17. If everything was successful, click Proceed to Launch Jinzora.


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18. Now you’ll be asked if you want to share anonymous stats. I’m a nice guy, so I opted to do just that.


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19. Click Launch Jinzora.


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20. Now sign in to Jinzora with the user name and password you specified way back in step #8.



21. At this point you may receive an error message about your installation not being secure. Move the /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2/install folder to somewhere else on your hard drive. Do not delete the install folder, as you’ll need it if you want to add more media folders in the future.

    Refresh the page after you’ve moved the install folder…


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22. and the admin interface to Jinzora will appear, with all of your media loaded.


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23. On another computer (or Smartphone etc) load the URL http://ip-of-your-mac:8888/jinzora2

    If your Mac and the “other computer” are on the same local network, the Jinzora login page will appear. If the other computer isn’t on the same network, you’ll need to make sure that port 8888 (the default MAMP web server port) is open/allowed through your firewall. If your Mac is behind a router, check PortForward.com for instructions on forwarding ports on your router.

    After you’ve signed in to Jinzora, click the Play button next to one of your albums/artists/songs. That album/artist/song will start to stream.


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Windows Mobile interface


Streaming to Windows Media Player Mobile

Advanced

To stream certain file types (flac, shn etc), you’ll need to install some additional software. Open settings.php in a text editor (found in /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/jinzora2) and scroll to the // Resampling section.

Change $allow_resample = "false"; to $allow_resample = "true";

Look for the lines:

$path_to_lame = "/usr/local/bin/lame";
$path_to_flac = "/usr/local/bin/flac";

and install flac and lame to those locations. Repeat for each format you want to stream.

If you’re only streaming files across your local network, you can skip the above steps, as Jinzora will ignore resampling requests for local networks. But make sure your internal networks IP addresses are included in the line:

$no_resample_subnets = “(192\.168\..*\..*)|(127\..*\..*\..*)”;

eg. if you use 10. as your internal network IP range, add |(10\..*\..*\..*)”

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Related Articles at Simple Help:

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How to install and setup Apache, MySQL and PHP in Windows

This tutorial will guide you through the process of setting up Macfusion. After installing Macfuse (easy) and then Macfusion (even easier), you’ll be able to mount a remote FTP or SSH host as a local drive. This allows you to access, read/view, write/edit and transfer files to and from your local hard drive to the remote one – as if it was local as well. Keep reading for the complete walk-through.

1. First up, download MacFUSE from Google. The installation is pretty straight forward – mostly you’ll just click next a bunch of times. Once it’s installed, download Macfusion. To install it, just unzip the file and drag the app to your Applications folder.

   Launch it from there.



2. You’ll likely be notified that the macfusion agent process has not started. If you’d like it to start each time you sign in, place a check in the Start agent automatically on login box. Either way, click the Start button.



3. You’ll be presented with a rather plain Macfusion window. Lets start by adding a FTP site to mount as a local drive. Click the small + (plus symbol) in the bottom left corner. Select FTPFS from the drop-down list.


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4. Give your “FTP drive” a descriptive name in the top field, and then enter the appropriate information in each of the additional fields. The Path: refers to the location you’d like to have mounted once you connect. For example, when you FTP to your host and successfully login, you’re “placed” into a specific folder (usually something like /home/your-user-name/). If you’d like to specify a different location, do so in the Path: field.

   Click the Macfusion tab for a few more options.



5. From here you can change the Mount Point: – if you’d rather have the drive show up in your Documents folder, you would enter something like /Users/your-user-name/Documents/. This tutorial assumes you’re using the default (which means leave it blank). If you’d like to give the volume a name other than the default (which is the host name), enter it in the Volume Name: field.

   When you’re done making any changes, click OK



6. You’ll be prompted to allow Macfusion to store your login details in the keychain. Click Always Allow (unless you have reason not to – in which case click Allow.



7. Now click Mount back in the main Macfusion Window. You may be prompted to allow the items in the keychain again.



8. The status will change from (Unmounted) to (Mounted)



9. Open a Finder window, and you’ll see your FTP host mounted as a local drive in the DEVICES list. You can browse it as you would any other local drive.


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10. You can read/view, write and edit files as if they were on your Mac.


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11. To add a SSH drive the process is very similar. Select the + (plus sign) and then SSHFS from the drop-down list.


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12. Again, enter the appropriate info in the spaces provided. Click the SSH Advanced tab when you’re done.



13. From here you can change the SSH port if your host uses one other than 22. You can also select to Enable Compression (I didn’t) or de-select Follow Symbolic Links (I didn’t – it’s useful). When you’re done, click the Macfusion tab.



14. From here you can change the Mount Point: the same way you can with FTPFS, or give your volume a name other than the default (which again will be the host). Click OK when you’re done.



15. You’ll go through the Always Allow keychain process again, and then after clicking Mount, your SSH host will be mounted as a local drive.



16. Now each time you launch Macfusion your sites will be saved, and you can quickly connect to them by clicking the Mount button.

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How to format and mount a USB hard drive in Linux
How to extract (or access) the contents of an .iso file in Windows
How to remotely access your MySQL in a secure manner
How to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop in Windows XP
How to mount a remote filesystem in Ubuntu

This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to access your OS X files and folders from Windows Vista.

1. First you’ll need to enable File Sharing in OS X. Click the “Apple button” from the main menu, and select System Preferences… from the drop-down list. In the Internet & Network section, click the Sharing icon.



2. Place a check in the File Sharing box, then click the Options… button.


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3. Now place a check in the box labeled Share files and folders using SMB. Finally, place a check in the box next to the user name (account) you want to connect to your Mac with.


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4. You’ll be prompted to enter the password for the user name you want to connect to your Mac with. Enter it now.



5. Now click Done and close the System Preferences window.


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6. In Vista, click the Start button and select Network. If your Mac is listed, skip down to step #9.

   If you get a yellow “bar” telling you that File Sharing is disabled, click that bar.


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7. Select Turn on network discovery and file sharing.



8. Now you’ll be prompted with a window asking if you want to turn on Network discover and file sharing for all public networks, or just “private” network (like the computers in your home network). In all likelihood you’ll want to select No, make the network I am connected to a private network, but if you know for certain you want discovery and file sharing enabled for public network, select it.


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9. And now all of the computers – including your Mac – will be listed. Double-click the icon that for your Mac.



10. In the User name: field enter your user name in the format:

    Your-Mac-Name\Your-User-Name

    “Your-Mac-Name” is the name of the icon you just double-clicked. And yes, it is case sensitive. Your user name is your OS X user name – which can be found in the Accounts section of your System Preferences. Then enter your password in the Password: field.



11. Now you can access all of your OS X files and folders from Vista!


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Related Articles at Simple Help:

How to allow a program through the Windows Vista Firewall
How to create a custom Control Panel for Windows Vista
Screenshot Simulation: Windows Vista TCP/IP Properties
How to easily tweak Windows Vista
How to display file extensions in Windows Vista

Using the free (but ad-sponsored) software Hotspot Shield you can create a connection via a virtual private network (VPN) to “trick” Hulu into thinking your PC/Mac is in the United States. Continue reading for a walkthrough on using Hotspot Shield.

1. Hotspot Shield runs on the following operating systems:

   * Windows Vista
   * Windows XP
   * Windows 2000
   * Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)
   * Mac OS X (10.4 Tiger)

   So assuming you have one of those, proceed to the Hotspot Shield download page.

2. Save the file to your desktop, and when the download has completed, run the setup file (OS X users will just have to drag Hotspot Shield to their Applications folder).
3. Now run Hotspot Shield. Windows users will notice a small red icon in the system tray. OS X users will see a red icon in the menu bar.



4. Your browser will pop up a new window/tab and you’ll be prompted to click a Run Hotspot Shield button. Give it a click.



5. The page will refresh and you should see a small square with the status being displayed.



6. Once connected, the red icon will turn green, and the web page will once again redirect. This time to a sponsor/advertiser. You can close that window/tab now.



7. Now visit hulu.com. You’ll notice a “tab” across the top of the web page – this is how Hotspot Shield makes money – an ad will be displayed at the top of each site you visit, unless it’s a secure site (https). You can close the ad banner by clicking the red Close X.



8. And now enjoy watching Hulu videos! As long as you remain connected to the Hotspot Shield service, Hulu (and all other web pages) will think that your PC/Mac is connected to the Internet in the US.

   
   click to enlarge

9. To quit Hotspot Shield, right-click the system tray icon and select Quit. OS X users click the red Hotspot Icon in the menu bar and select Quit.
   

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   Related Articles at Simple Help:

   An introduction to Miro
   How to view live updates in a file under Linux
   How to backup your Windows Live Contacts
   How to watch YouTube videos in the Ubuntu Media Player
   Dashboard Widget: Facebook Watch
   
   
   ]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/24/how-to-watch-hulu-videos-if-you-live-outside-the-us/feed/ 16 http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/20/how-to-connect-to-a-windows-xp-computer-from-windows-vista/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/20/how-to-connect-to-a-windows-xp-computer-from-windows-vista/#comments Tue, 20 May 2008 12:00:21 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/20/how-to-connect-to-a-windows-xp-computer-from-windows-vista/

   This tutorial will guide you through the steps required to access any shared files, folders or printers you may have set up on Windows XP, from Windows Vista.

   A bit of background, from this Vista TechCenter article -

   Network Map uses a discovery protocol called Link-Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) in order to query the other devices on the network to determine how the network is organized. Computers that are running Windows Vista include the software components that implement the LLTD protocol. For network computers that are running Windows XP to appear on the map, they must have a discovery protocol enabled that can respond to the mapping computer’s requests.

   1. First up – on your computer running XP, download and install the Link Layer Topology Discovery (LLTD) Responder. If that link doesn’t work (it might not for very long, as it’s a direct link to the exe and Microsoft wants you to go through “Genuine Validation” – use this one.

      Click Run when prompted.

   
   click to enlarge

   2. You’ll have to click Next a couple of times, but that’s about it. What you’re not told, is that you have to reboot before it will work. So restart your XP PC after the installation is done.

   
   click to enlarge

   3. Now on your computer running Vista, open the Network item from the Start menu. If your XP computer doesn’t show up, have no fear. Enter \\your-xp-ip-address in the address bar and hit enter. If you need help figuring out the IP address your XP computer is using, see this tutorial on determining your IP address in XP.

   

   4. And now any of the shared folders or printers on your XP computer will be displayed.

   
   click to enlarge

   5. Double-click a shared folder to access its contents.

   
   click to enlarge

   6. You can create a shortcut to the shared XP folder by dragging it to your sidebar.

   

   7. Right-click the new entry in your sidebar and select Properties. From the General tab you can rename the folder. Alternately you can just select Rename from the right-click menu.

   
   click to enlarge

   8. Now the sidebar shortcut will display a more suitable name.

   

   9. If you’d prefer to have the shared folder show up as a drive, right-click that folder and select Map Network Drive…

   

   10. Choose the letter you’d like this drive to appear as (in the screenshot below I opted for F:). If you’d like the shared folder to be set as a drive each time your Vista PC starts, make sure Reconnect at login is selected. Click Finish when you’re done.

   
   click to enlarge

   11. And now your shared folder will appear as its own drive.

   
   click to enlarge

   12. To rename the drive, right-click it and select Rename.

   

   13. That’s it – you’re done!

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   Related Articles at Simple Help:

   Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (Beta) Now Available
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   How to install fonts in Windows XP and Vista
   Screenshot Simulation: Windows Vista TCP/IP Properties
   How to install the OS X Leopard skin on your Windows Mobile Smartphones
   
   
   ]]> http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/20/how-to-connect-to-a-windows-xp-computer-from-windows-vista/feed/ 21 http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/05/how-to-control-winamp-from-your-iphone-ipod-touch-or-web-browser/ http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/05/how-to-control-winamp-from-your-iphone-ipod-touch-or-web-browser/#comments Mon, 05 May 2008 12:00:18 +0000 Ross McKillop http://www.simplehelp.net/2008/05/05/how-to-control-winamp-from-your-iphone-ipod-touch-or-web-browser/

   This tutorial will guide you through setting up and using WWWinamp, a Windows web server-like application that allows remote control of Winamp via any web browser. If you run a media server in your house and want to be able to control what’s playing in Winamp without having to go to that server, this is the program for you.

   1. To get started, download and install WWWinamp. It might go without saying, but I’ll do it anyway, you will of course need to have Winamp installed as well. The installation of WWWinamp is very straight forward – you’ll mostly click “next” a bunch of times.
   2. Once the install has finished, you’ll need to edit the config file. To do so, click Start -> All Programs -> WWWinamp -> WWWinamp Configuration.

   
   click to enlarge

   3. Scroll down to the port: section of the file. Select a port to use to run WWWinamp on. The default is 80, but I prefer to use 8090. Whatever you choose, make sure it isn’t one that conflicts with another program running on your PC.

   
   click to enlarge

   4. In the AccessLoginPassword: section you can specify a user name and password so that only you can access WWWinamp. If you’re only going to control Winamp from a device in your house (and your PC is connected to a router), you can skip using a user/pass entirely. This tutorial assumes that your PC is behind a router. If you do want to password protect access to WWWinamp, use the format:

      AccessLoginPassword:username:password

   
   click to enlarge

   5. Similar to the previous step, you can set a user name and password to the admin section of WWWinamp. And again, if you’re behind a router and don’t plan on accessing Winamp from outside of your own network, you can skip adding a user/pass. If you do want to password protect the admin section, use the format:

      AdminLoginPassword:username:password

   
   click to enlarge

   6. Now scroll down to the DBPath section. It’s here that you’ll tell WWWinamp where your audio files are stored. Use a semicolon to separate different folders. For example, I keep my music two folders – C:\mp3 and the “My Music” folder, which is C:\Documents and Settings\my-user-name-\My Documents\My Music\. So my DPPath looks like this:

      DBPath:C:\mp3;C:\Documents and Settings\my-user-name-\My Documents\My Music\

   
   click to enlarge

   7. Now save the config file by selecting File -> Save.

   

   8. Launch WWWinamp by clicking Start -> All Programs -> WWWinamp -> WWWinamp Server Start.

   
   click to enlarge

   9. If a firewall window pops up, make sure to click Unblock.

   

   10. The WWWinamp server window will appear. Assuming all went well, it will end with “entering server loop”. If there’s an error, read it carefully and go back to the config file to correct any mistakes.

   
   click to enlarge

   11. Test out WWWinamp by entering http://localhost:port in a web browser on the same PC that WWWinamp is running on. Remember, the port you’ll enter is the one you specified back in step 3. If you opted to specify a user name and password, you’ll need to enter them here.

   

   12. You should be presented with a window similar to the one below. Click on Show all to display your MP3s.

   
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   13. Click on a song to have it start playing in Winamp.

   
   click to enlarge

   14. If Winamp isn’t running, WWWinamp will tell you.

   
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   15. To start Winamp, add /admin to the end of the URL to enter the admin section of WWWinamp. So your URL will look something like: http://localhost:port/admin. Now click the Try starting Winamp link.

   
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   16. That should launch Winamp and the song you previously selected will start playing.

   
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   17. From the /admin section you can also jump to songs in the queue, remove songs from the queue, etc.

   
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   18. To access WWWinamp from your iPhone, iPod Touch or other Internet connected device, enter the IP address of the PC running WWWinamp (don’t forget :port) in its web browser. Now you can control Winamp remotely.

   Accessing WWWinamp thorough an iPod Touch.

   
   click to enlarge

   
   click to enlarge

   Accessing WWWinamp through Opera mobile.

   

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   How to take screenshots of your iPhone or iPod Touch screen
   
   
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   This tutorial will guide you in installing, setting up and using AnalogX Netstat Live (which is free) to monitor your Internet usage (uploads and downloads). As a number of ISP’s are now disconnecting customers for using “too much” bandwidth (this one in particular), knowing exactly how much you’ve downloaded (or uploaded) in a given month can be very helpful. Note: the OS X version of this tutorial can be found here.

   1. Download and install AnalogX Netstat Live. The installation is very straight forward – you’ll mostly just click ‘next’ and ‘ok’ a few times. Launch it by clicking Start -> All Programs -> AnalogX -> Netstat Live -> Netstat Live.

   

   2. Right-click anywhere in the Analog X Netstat Live window. Select Configure from the pop-up window

   

   3. By default a number of the features are disabled. Click the Disabled button for the following items: Auto Minimize, Auto Start and Close Minimizes. Each one should now be set to Enabled.

   

   4. By enabling these features, Analog X Netstat Live will launch each time Windows starts up, but automatically minimize to your System Tray. Also, if you open it from the tray (to check and see what your usage currently is) you can click the X button and it won’t actually close Netstat Live, rather it will be minimized back to your System Tray. This is important as Netstat Live must always be running, otherwise your uploads/downloads won’t be accurately tracked.

   

   5. You can also disable some of the ‘other’ things that NetStat Live monitors. Right-click in the main window, select Statistics and review the items that are monitored. You will very likely want to keep Local Machine, Incoming Data, Incoming Totals, Outgoing Data and Outgoing Totals enabled. The Remote Machine, System Threads and CPU Usage can all be disabled.

   

   6. Now you can track your Internet bandwidth (upload and downloads) usage. The current monthly total is displayed, along with the previous monthly total and “total since your last reboot”.

   

   7. If you live in a multiple-computer household, all sharing the same Internet connection, make sure to install AnalogX Netstat Live on each PC (running Windows) so that you can total them up to get your ‘true’ upload and download stats.

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   Related Articles at Simple Help:

   How to monitor your Internet bandwidth usage in OS X, redux
   How to use the DD-WRT firmware to monitor your bandwidth
   How to monitor your Internet bandwidth usage in OS X
   How to use the Task Manager to monitor and/or speed up your PC
   How to test your Internet connection speed
   
   
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