Many SEOs suggest that the first thing you should do is to get your site listed in DMOZ to help boot your page rank. There are just as many SEOs who claim that getting your site listed in DMOZ is worthless. Strangely there are many sites listed in the DMOZ that should have never been approved. There are broken links, links that redirect to different site, and sites that looks like crap.

On this misadventure during the Christmas break I had been vacationing in Niagara Falls, Ontario with my young family. On the last day of our vacation we decided to cross the Rainbow bridge to the US and do some shopping. I programmed the GPS with the destination address for the Fashion Outlet Mall in Niagara Falls, NY, USA. This mall was located at 1900 Military Rd. I followed the directions in the GPS and got to the mall smoothly. After a day of shopping at the outlet mall, we then decided to head over to Target at 7414 Niagara Falls Boulevard
Niagara Falls, NY, because my 3 years old child wanted a stuff toy dog which we could not find at the mall. The GPS lead us to Target without a glitch.

The misadventure started when we decided to return home. I selected my home address from the favorite’s folder in the GPS. Home was in Markham, Ontario, Canada. Since the GPS had a history of being very accurate and reliable I followed the directions on the screen. Strangely the voice prompted directions was not audible anymore on the return trip. I continued to follow the directions on the Garmin screen.

We got off I90 and proceeded to drive into the country roads. After over an hour of driving and not seeing any town in the horizon, I sensed that we were lost, because the trip back to the bridge to Canada should have not taken over 30 minutes. I stopped the vehicle on the side of the road and reprogrammed the GPS with the address of the hotel we stayed at in Niagara Falls, Ontario. I was hoping that the GPS may have better luck finding a destination closer to where we were, after all that is where we had started from in the morning.

It was dark and I continued to follow the directions from the GPS, we must have driven for more that an hour on country roads. My heart sank when we passed Darien Lake State Park, I knew Darien lake was nowhere close to the Canadian border. Soon as I saw a gas station I stopped and asked for directions. The attendant was very helpful, he informed me that I was headed in the direction opposite from Canada. He also told me that he frequently gets Canadian travelers stopping to ask for directions because their GPS lead them his way.

Well, we make a U turn and followed the directions given to me by the gas station attendant. It was late at night and my kids were hungry and cranky. I was speeding in the dark trying to get to the Interstate, next thing I know I was stopped on the side of the road being handed over a speeding ticket. Before the officer left I asked him for direction back to the border.

Well we made it back to Niagara Falls, NY but the bridge to Canada was jammed with traffic. After sitting at the same intersection for over 40 minutes we decided to pull over and spend the night at the Days Inn on Main St. This was one old and dirty hotel, but that is a story for another time.

What is strange is that there was no indication that there was anything wrong with the GPS. I wonder where we would have ended up if I had continued to follow the directions from the Garmin GPS, perhaps on the news.

Since arriving safely back home using my own biological gps, I have been testing the Gramin. It seems to work like just fine. But the misadventure in New York state has left a big doubt in my mind.

I tried to call Garmin technical support after the holidays but I did not want to wait in the queue for over 30 minutes. I then decided to submit the issue online. I completed the online form as detailed as possible then clicked on submit, but got an error message right away. I thought that perhaps it may be something the firewall was blocking at work. I decided to submit the issue from my home Windows XP computer but received the same error. I then moved over to my Fedora Linux server and tried to submit the case, no such luck again.

I sent an email to the Webmaster at Garmin.com explaining that there was a problem with their website. When I did not receive any response back the next day and confirming that the online submission was still not working. I then forwarded the email Media Relation at Garmin. After I did that I received a response from technical support.

The case is currently still open, so far I have been given the run around. Tech support insists that I update the software from version 4.60 to 4.80, then maybe it will rectify the problem. I have refused to do that and insisted that my case be escalated to engineering.

I will post the exchange of emails between me and Garmin technical support in a later article.

Google street view captures burning van. Click on image for large view.

Google street view finally launched in Canada few weeks ago. I had sighted the streetview camera car on Highway 407 some months before and trailed it. Here is the link to photos of the streetview car, http://www.gamescheat.ca/2009/06/google-maps-street-view-car-in-toronto-ontario/.

The Google street view camera captured everything that it came across, including this picture of a burning van parked on a residential driveway. Google has since tried to remove the image, but you can still get a glimpse of it if you know where to find it. Looking at the image of the burning van there is no indication that the driver of the street view car attempted to stop and assist in anyways. It is obvious that the driver sped by the burning van, it is impossible to not have seen huge orange flames and smoke leaping from the van.

If you want to find this image on Google street view, then here is the address, 40 Robinglade Road, Toronto, ON. If you see a black image (with the message that the image has been removed) then scroll the the right and you will be able to see the side view of the house and burning van.

The type of coaxial (coax) TV cable in the house is RG59. This is an old standard TV cable installed before the cable companies offered digital or satellite signals. RG59 is good for analog TV signals, the previous owners of the home did not have a digital receiver and were content with the limited analog channels. But my household has a bigger requirement for TV channels. In order to get all the channels we needed and to take advantage of the VIP package, I had no choice but to order the digital receiver. If you are not already aware then this may be news to you, in the year 2011 it will be mandatory for all TV signals to be transmitted in digital frequencies in Canada. This rule is already effective in USA.

Initially after the Rogers technician installed my digital receiver all channels worked. But days later I noticed some of the digital channels started freezing at first and then eventually blacked out. RG59 coax was the reason for the black screen. Because the RG59 cable is unable to transmit high frequency signals, it is only good for analog not digital channels.

I had no choice but to run new RG6 cables from the Rogers demarcation in the basement to the family room. To do this I had to purchase a 3 ft long flexible drill bit from Home Depot. I must say that it was no easy task., I made two unsuccessful attempt at drilling a hole through the inside of a wall to the basement before I got it right the third time. I then installed two RG6 coax and one CAT5e cable drops from the basement to the family room. After I terminated the coax able I was able to watch all digital channels interruption free. The extra coax is for my Satellite dish which I will put up someday, the CAT5e cable is for my Wii console that I may want to connect to the internet.

The RG59 cable is 20 AWG thick, while the RG6 is 18 AWG (American wire gage). If you put the two cable side by side you will notice that RG6 is much thicker. The AWG measurement is misleading, the lower the number the thicker the cable is.

Dell Lattitude Z on Wireless Charging Dock

Dell is launching a new laptop Lattitude Z which is capable of charging the battery wirelessly. All you have to do is to place the laptop on top of the charging dock and the battery charges through induction. This means there is no connectivity between the dock and the laptop. Dell claims that it will take the same amount of time to fully charge the battery as it would if the laptop was plugged in.

Dell Lattitude Z Charging Dock

Inductive charging has been around for sometime, it is not new. My Philips electric tooth brush charges through induction. The advantage of inductive charging is that there is no danger of electrocution, all electrical elements are sealed. Which is why the electric tooth brush can be wet when you put it on the charging dock.

Do not confuse Dell’s wireless charging laptop with the technology used by WildCharge as they are not the same. WildCharge makes wireless chargers for PDA’s such as Blackberry, IPhone, and cell phone. Although they are both wireless, the technology used in WildCharge is conductive charging. This means that there are electrical elements that are in contact between the PDA and the charging pad. Any moisture on the pad may likely cause short circuit.

WildCharge Wireless Charger

WildCharge Adapter, notice the 4 electrical connectors on the bottom

I will list and explain the steps to configure SNMP on Cisco MDS 900 series Multilayer Fabric switch using the CLI.

Logon to the cisco swith CLI console. You use telnet over the network or via a serial cable connected to the console port.

Enter the configuration mode with the config t command.
cisco# config t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.

This step is not necessary to configure SNMP, but while you are in the configuration mode you might as well create an administrative username for youself.
cisco(config)# username myadminid password topsecret role network-admin

Configure the remote snmp server IP address, using SNMP version 2c, with a SNMP community name of monitor-me. You can get this information from the administrator who is responsible for the management server, if that is not you.
cisco(config)# snmp-server host 168.10.10.11 version 2c monitor-me

Define the SNMP community name.
cisco(config)# snmp community monitor-me

Exit the configuration mode.
cisco(config)# exit

Save the changes.
cisco# copy running-config startup-config

Now configure the Cisco MDS 9000 switch on the network monitoring server. This is the server that has the IP address of 168.10.10.11.

I quickly pulled out my new Blackberry Bold, it was not easy entering the password and manouvering the screen to the camera function, while I was doing 125 km. I had to speed up to keep up with the google streets view car and managed to get a few shots before I had to exit on Yonge St.

I wish I had a better camera, the pics are not very clear.

The rental shuttle bus was parked in it’s usual place, I boarded the bus.  The bus was full this time there was no vacant seat.  This time I rented a silver Monte Carlo and got the GPS for an extra $10/day.  Budget recently started offering the GPS,  I figured I would try it.  It is a portable model that mounts onto the windshield with a suction cup.  The suction is very secure as it has a lever when turned, increases the suction.  The model of the GPS is a Garmin StreetPilot c550.  I entered my destination address using the touch screen and then hit go.  The system is pretty intuitive and easy to use.  I headed out from the rental parking structure, the screen message indicated that the GPS was initiating contact with the satellite and calibrating my current location.  After a couple minutes the voice from the unit activated and began giving me directions.  I was very pleasantly surprised with the accuracy of the directions.  I was able to get onto the freeway I10 using a route I had never been before.  I did not have to watch the screen because the voice was clear and audible, although I could not help but look at the on screen map every now and then.  The map was accurate and clear as well.

Without the GPS the trip would have taken me slightly longer as I would have to drive slowly while reading the directions.  The GPS gave me confidence I had never felt when in a new unfamiliar city.  I decided to explore Phoenix since I had a day to kill and I did not have a meeting until tomorrow.  I drove around the city turning into neighborhoods and exploring.  When it was time to head to the hotel I simply selected the last entered address which was saved in memory and hit go. The voice from the GPS guided me back onto the main road and back to the hotel.  I truly love this technology and would definitely get one for my wife who has a hard time remembering roads and reading maps.

Subject: Re: Question for item #300112884260 – TRY FIRST BEFORE BUYING – CISCO 2501 ROUTER

From: “Sheila Austin” sheilaa_austin@yahoo.com

Date: Sat, May 19, 2007 8:06 am

To: andrew@cupidpost.com

Hi Andrew, Thanks for the reply email, I am not buying the items that you listed but I’m interested in buying

PA-MC-STM-1SMI WS-X4516-10-GEWS-X4448-GB-SFPCSS11501 CISCO 3845Cisco 3825cisco 7301 or 7304cisco escon channelUBR-NPE-G1 WS-X4418-GBASA5510 OR ASA5520 PIX 515E4OC12X/POS-I-SC-B CISCO 2800 SERIESCISCO 6509-EWS-C3550-12G7200VXR with NPE-G1 or aloneWS-SUP-720-3B PA-MC-STM-1SMIWS-C3550-24EMIWS-X6704-10GECSS11503-ACNM-CUEPA-4C-ENPE 400CISCO multichannel T3 cards. Cisco 2ds3+ serial cards PA-MC-8TE1+ UBR-MC28UAS535-DFC-60NPPA-MC-T3WS-SVC-FWM-1-K9NPE-G1WS-X6548-GE-TXWS-X6748-GE-TXWS-C3560G-48-PS-SWS-C3750G-24TS-1U WS-C3560G-48PS-EWS-C3750G-24TS-EWS-C3750G-24TS-SuBr7246VXR ESR-PRE2PA-MC-2T3+WS-C2970G-24TS-EWS-X4448-GB-RJ45WS-X4548-GB-RJ45VWS-C3750G-24TS-S1MWS-X6548V-GE-TXUBR-MC14CWS-SUP720-3BXLWS-C3560G-48TS-SPA-MCX-8TE1+PA-2T3+PA-T3+WS-X6516A-GBICWS-C3750G-12S-SNM-1T3/E3WS-X4516OC48X/POS-SR-SC2950G-24-EI new in box onlyUBR10-MC5X20U-DVWIC, VIC CARDS

in small or in large quantity, let me know what you can get.

Thanks Sheila

Ready for the edge of your seat? Check out tonight’s top picks on Yahoo! TV.

Some the useful commands allowed in user mode are, show version, show flash, show memory etc.  The show version command provides the most useful information to the buyer, below is the result of show version on my router.

Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software
IOS ™ 3000 Software (IGS-D-L), Version 11.1(11), RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
Copyright (c) 1986-1997 by cisco Systems, Inc.
Compiled Mon 21-Apr-97 16:53 by dschwart
Image text-base: 0x030283BC, data-base: 0×00001000ROM: System Bootstrap, Version 5.2(8a), RELEASE SOFTWARE
ROM: 3000 Bootstrap Software (IGS-RXBOOT), Version 10.2(8a), RELEASE SOFTWARE (f
c1)Router uptime is 0 minutes
System restarted by power-on
System image file is “flash:igs-d-l.111-11″, booted via flashcisco 2500 (68030) processor (revision L) with 6144K/2048K bytes of memory.
Processor board ID 03071967, with hardware revision 00000000
Bridging software.
X.25 software, Version 2.0, NET2, BFE and GOSIP compliant.
1 Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 interface.
2 Serial network interfaces.
32K bytes of non-volatile configuration memory.
8192K bytes of processor board System flash (Read ONLY)