Last month I finally decided to install Endian as our office firewall. For the last 4 years, we've been dependent on our hardworking Netgear home router to serve our needs. This year however, we've had some difficulties in our glue-on networking infrastructure: slow VPN, lack of bandwidth management, employees browsing unproductively and excessively during work hours, intermittent connections, and frequently dropped wireless connection.
We've found the latter to be due to a faulty wireless router. The intermittent connection was frequent with our previous internet service provider, and also after brownout occurs. I'll see on the next brownout if it will still be a problem. For the rest, I'm hoping the firewall will help.
20100904
UDP not available in Sun Wireless Broadband
I wanted to give our warehouse an internet connection so that they can access our company enterprise inventory system through VPN or other secure remote means. So I went to test Sun Wireless Broadband under Linux just to see if the connection will be a good fit for our warehouse.
Internet browsing, and email works smoothly. However, when I tried OpenVPN which uses UDP, I couldn't connect. It looks like Sun does not allow UDP traffic through their service. I'll wager UDP wouldn't work with Smartbro or Globe either. Fortunately, remote NX connection over TCP works just fine.
I'll have to think it over whether to set our VPN connection to use TCP instead and live with it.
Internet browsing, and email works smoothly. However, when I tried OpenVPN which uses UDP, I couldn't connect. It looks like Sun does not allow UDP traffic through their service. I'll wager UDP wouldn't work with Smartbro or Globe either. Fortunately, remote NX connection over TCP works just fine.
I'll have to think it over whether to set our VPN connection to use TCP instead and live with it.
20100812
Sun Wireless Broadband using Ubuntu 10.04
Last year, I hoped to evaluate several mobile broadband internet services for our warehouse internet needs. We can't justify DSL because a business DSL package is too expensive for a low bandwidth internet requirement just so our warehouse manager can send emails and instant messages to our office. Besides, we're not entirely sure we'll be staying in the same warehouse for a year or more.
Today I got the chance to try Sun Wireless Broadband. The modem I got to try was Huawei E1550. Initial installation was not providing stable connections. I had to create a udev rules for the usb mode switching. But I just couldn't connect. I thought I needed to google some more. Searches for "sun ubuntu huawei e1550" brought me to the same non-working solutions for Lucid until I got here and here.
It was simpler than I thought. As detailed in the above blogs, I just installed two packages: linux-backports-modules-headers-lucid-generic and usb-modeswitch, set the appropriate APN and put authentication to PAP, and I was set.
The appropriate APN depends on your broadband package:
- fbband for post-paid < 1000php
- minternet for pre-paid
- mbband for the post-paid > 1200 php
Connection was not bad. You're assigned a private IP address so you can't set up a server with this connection, but it's ideal for the occasional internet needs.
Today I got the chance to try Sun Wireless Broadband. The modem I got to try was Huawei E1550. Initial installation was not providing stable connections. I had to create a udev rules for the usb mode switching. But I just couldn't connect. I thought I needed to google some more. Searches for "sun ubuntu huawei e1550" brought me to the same non-working solutions for Lucid until I got here and here.
It was simpler than I thought. As detailed in the above blogs, I just installed two packages: linux-backports-modules-headers-lucid-generic and usb-modeswitch, set the appropriate APN and put authentication to PAP, and I was set.
The appropriate APN depends on your broadband package:
- fbband for post-paid < 1000php
- minternet for pre-paid
- mbband for the post-paid > 1200 php
Connection was not bad. You're assigned a private IP address so you can't set up a server with this connection, but it's ideal for the occasional internet needs.
20100706
Acer 4530 Sound Problem
I bought an Acer 4530 almost two years ago. It's now phased out in the market, but it's not really much less powerful than the eMachines D640 I'm now using.
The laptop wasn't bad at all, except for its rather outdated look and its laconic speakers which left much to desire. At full volume, I could barely hear audio, and watching movies was almost unbearable without earphones. I thought I broke the speakers further by using VLC player to get the volume cranked above the default max in Ubuntu. Something just popped and then it just stopped making sounds.
The laptop wasn't bad at all, except for its rather outdated look and its laconic speakers which left much to desire. At full volume, I could barely hear audio, and watching movies was almost unbearable without earphones. I thought I broke the speakers further by using VLC player to get the volume cranked above the default max in Ubuntu. Something just popped and then it just stopped making sounds.
20100704
eMachines D640
Our office laptop budget for the past 3 years have hovered around PHP 23000 to 27000. That's a fairly entry level price, but we're primarily business users not into heavy graphics or video work. Our newest purchase is an eMachines D640 which can be found for PHP 23 - 25K at retail.
Technical specs are:
CPU: AMD Athlon II P320 (Dual-core 2.1Ghz, 1MB L2 Cache, 25W TDP)
Chipset: AMD M880G
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Hard Disk: 250GB
Display: 14" HD 1366 x 768
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250
Touchpad: Supports Multi-touch
Ethernet: Broadcom BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless: Broadcom 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Optical Drive: DVD Writer
Memory Card Reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, XD
Webcam: 1.2 Megapixel
Weight: 2.2 kg (4.85 lbs)
For our operating system, we use Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions. Installation of Ubuntu 10.04 AMD64 went smoothly. However, on boot up, there seems to be a steady video frequency bug that makes the display quite a strain to the eyes. Ubuntu will automatically suggest the installation of AMD's non-open source video driver, which doesn't have the video problem, but leads to an annoying but otherwise harmless boot splash bug. Boot time ranges between 16.87 to 17.87 seconds.
Ubuntu will also offer a Broadcom device driver for the wireless device. After installation, wireless seems to work fine. However, the wireless activation function key is somewhat confusing. Fn + F3 is the documented shortcut for the wireless. Fn + F3 however controls both Wifi and Bluetooth. If both Wifi and Bluetooth are initially turned off, pressing the shortcut key follows the following sequence:
There is one glaring problem with the keyboard however. There are no indicator lights for Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock. It's the first time I've encountered a keyboard without those, and it caught me bad already trying to enter some password on a website without knowing Caps Lock was activated.
As for keyboard durability, I can't really say much at this point. It doesn't feel the sturdiest that I've used, but it's not so bad compared to a lot more budget laptops I've tried before from MSI and ECS.
The touch pad features Multi-touch. But it's not supported by Ubuntu out of the box so I am unable to test it. I've gotten used to the vertical scroll edge function of a lot of touch pads, but it doesn't work properly with this laptop -- I can use it to scroll down, but not up.
The laptop features both HDMI and VGA output so we can still connect this easily with our VGA only projectors.
If you're into sound recording, a minus point is the lack of a Line In connection. I used to connect my piano to the computer through the Line In connection, but I might not be able to do that with this laptop. I haven't yet tried connecting through the MIC connection.
I tested the webcam using Cheese and it works out of the box.
Summary
Among laptops available at its price range of 23 - 25k, I've found its feature and performance set to be the best value so far.
Pros:
1. For the price, very well-rounded specs
2. Well designed Keyboard
3. Still has VGA out
Cons:
1. No Line Out connection
2. Scroll Edge of touch pad doesn't work in Ubuntu
3. Open source video driver from Ubuntu 10.04 does not work
Technical specs are:
CPU: AMD Athlon II P320 (Dual-core 2.1Ghz, 1MB L2 Cache, 25W TDP)
Chipset: AMD M880G
RAM: 2GB DDR3
Hard Disk: 250GB
Display: 14" HD 1366 x 768
Graphics: ATI Mobility Radeon HD4250
Touchpad: Supports Multi-touch
Ethernet: Broadcom BCM57780 Gigabit Ethernet
Wireless: Broadcom 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Optical Drive: DVD Writer
Memory Card Reader: SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, XD
Webcam: 1.2 Megapixel
Weight: 2.2 kg (4.85 lbs)
For our operating system, we use Ubuntu, one of the most popular Linux distributions. Installation of Ubuntu 10.04 AMD64 went smoothly. However, on boot up, there seems to be a steady video frequency bug that makes the display quite a strain to the eyes. Ubuntu will automatically suggest the installation of AMD's non-open source video driver, which doesn't have the video problem, but leads to an annoying but otherwise harmless boot splash bug. Boot time ranges between 16.87 to 17.87 seconds.
Ubuntu will also offer a Broadcom device driver for the wireless device. After installation, wireless seems to work fine. However, the wireless activation function key is somewhat confusing. Fn + F3 is the documented shortcut for the wireless. Fn + F3 however controls both Wifi and Bluetooth. If both Wifi and Bluetooth are initially turned off, pressing the shortcut key follows the following sequence:
- Activates Bluetooth
- Activates Wifi and Turns off Bluetooth
- Both Wifi and Bluetooth are activated
- Both Wifi and Bluetooth are deactivated
There is one glaring problem with the keyboard however. There are no indicator lights for Caps Lock, Num Lock and Scroll Lock. It's the first time I've encountered a keyboard without those, and it caught me bad already trying to enter some password on a website without knowing Caps Lock was activated.
As for keyboard durability, I can't really say much at this point. It doesn't feel the sturdiest that I've used, but it's not so bad compared to a lot more budget laptops I've tried before from MSI and ECS.
The touch pad features Multi-touch. But it's not supported by Ubuntu out of the box so I am unable to test it. I've gotten used to the vertical scroll edge function of a lot of touch pads, but it doesn't work properly with this laptop -- I can use it to scroll down, but not up.
The laptop features both HDMI and VGA output so we can still connect this easily with our VGA only projectors.
If you're into sound recording, a minus point is the lack of a Line In connection. I used to connect my piano to the computer through the Line In connection, but I might not be able to do that with this laptop. I haven't yet tried connecting through the MIC connection.
I tested the webcam using Cheese and it works out of the box.
Summary
Among laptops available at its price range of 23 - 25k, I've found its feature and performance set to be the best value so far.
Pros:
1. For the price, very well-rounded specs
2. Well designed Keyboard
3. Still has VGA out
Cons:
1. No Line Out connection
2. Scroll Edge of touch pad doesn't work in Ubuntu
3. Open source video driver from Ubuntu 10.04 does not work
20100428
Businessware
Businessware is what we call our in-house "enterprise" software system in Amici Water Systems. I'm still actually planning to change the name as the name seems pretty common. However, it's been running since the 3rd quarter of 2003. Like all living software, it has gone through constant overhauls and changes, lots of refactoring and feature bloats, and a to-do list that's getting longer than shorter.
At the start of our software production run, I think our company was composed of just 5 persons -- our manager, me, a sales assistant, and 2 service technicians. I was the IT guy managing the hardware and software of one computer, developing our database and software system, and encoding our records.
Businessware was developed using Delphi for the front end, with MySQL as the database server. Cross platform was a major concern during early development, but that was partially mitigated due to success using WINE under Linux to run the software. (I am still hoping to make the system PostgreSQL compatible.)
Fast forward to now, our company now has over 30 employees, more than half of which use our system concurrently. Our software system is now in use in over 20 different locations around the Philippines, by our group of companies in particular, but also by friends' businesses.
One major challenge I had with development is the customization I had to do to satisfy varied work flows and requirements of different trading companies. We're all still running on one source tree to simplify updates and share development costs. I've been somewhat successful generalizing program features so that they can be adapted to different company policies. This entailed a lot of switches and features that are not applicable to all companies.
Another challenge was our company migration to Linux. While I still develop using a Windows machine, our group of companies' major platform is now Linux. Furthermore, some of my friends are now using Vista and Windows 7. The different platforms available complicated software testing and distribution. (It doesn't help that I don't have a Vista or Windows 7 OS to test on.) Testing might be simplified a little through the use of virtual machines. Part of the distribution problem was solved through a fairly new auto-updating system.
The biggest challenge however is revenue. I mentioned that friends are using the software. That's not really a good source of revenue. I haven't actually commercialized the system, or try to sell it outside. But I realize the need for revenue to support the software. Software with lots of users require constant support. Development, documentation needs manpower and more licenses.
After almost 7 years of production run, I'm still the only programmer of our system. In fact, I am the whole IT team of a company now with more than 20 computers in an office, managing the hardware and our network, managing our databases, websites, fax, email, IM, VPN and other services. That doesn't bode well for redundancy and resiliency. I guess it's high time to manage estates. Revenues and businesses have never been my forte. But it comes to that, sooner or later.
At the start of our software production run, I think our company was composed of just 5 persons -- our manager, me, a sales assistant, and 2 service technicians. I was the IT guy managing the hardware and software of one computer, developing our database and software system, and encoding our records.
Businessware was developed using Delphi for the front end, with MySQL as the database server. Cross platform was a major concern during early development, but that was partially mitigated due to success using WINE under Linux to run the software. (I am still hoping to make the system PostgreSQL compatible.)
Fast forward to now, our company now has over 30 employees, more than half of which use our system concurrently. Our software system is now in use in over 20 different locations around the Philippines, by our group of companies in particular, but also by friends' businesses.
One major challenge I had with development is the customization I had to do to satisfy varied work flows and requirements of different trading companies. We're all still running on one source tree to simplify updates and share development costs. I've been somewhat successful generalizing program features so that they can be adapted to different company policies. This entailed a lot of switches and features that are not applicable to all companies.
Another challenge was our company migration to Linux. While I still develop using a Windows machine, our group of companies' major platform is now Linux. Furthermore, some of my friends are now using Vista and Windows 7. The different platforms available complicated software testing and distribution. (It doesn't help that I don't have a Vista or Windows 7 OS to test on.) Testing might be simplified a little through the use of virtual machines. Part of the distribution problem was solved through a fairly new auto-updating system.
The biggest challenge however is revenue. I mentioned that friends are using the software. That's not really a good source of revenue. I haven't actually commercialized the system, or try to sell it outside. But I realize the need for revenue to support the software. Software with lots of users require constant support. Development, documentation needs manpower and more licenses.
After almost 7 years of production run, I'm still the only programmer of our system. In fact, I am the whole IT team of a company now with more than 20 computers in an office, managing the hardware and our network, managing our databases, websites, fax, email, IM, VPN and other services. That doesn't bode well for redundancy and resiliency. I guess it's high time to manage estates. Revenues and businesses have never been my forte. But it comes to that, sooner or later.
20100321
Worldbex 2010
This afternoon, I was at Worldbex 2010. I think it's the most popular among a number of construction exhibits here in the Philippines. I wasn't looking for anything in particular, as I've gone to the previous worldbex already. A lot of the exhibitors are the same as last year's, and last last year's, etc. However a company advertising CAD software did make me pause and ask questions. I usually don't ask questions but we use CAD in our office, and am looking for alternatives to an aging Windows+Inventor workstation already. They were selling ZWCAD. Haven't heard of it before, so I asked my most important question, "which OS does it support?"
"Any", says the lady, "but we recommend Windows XP or 7."
"How about Linux", I asked.
Pause. It doesn't seem a lot of people ask that question. So she passed me to a techie looking guy.
"Ah, no..." and that was the end of it.
"Any", says the lady, "but we recommend Windows XP or 7."
"How about Linux", I asked.
Pause. It doesn't seem a lot of people ask that question. So she passed me to a techie looking guy.
"Ah, no..." and that was the end of it.
20100310
Graphics File Formats for Advertising in the Philippines
From 2005 to 2007, I used to do a lot of not-so-good graphics design for our company -- making logos, t-shirts, tarps, posters, sign boards, calling cards, ID cards, brochures and our company catalog. I've used different open source software for most of those designs: Inkscape, OpenOffice.org, GIMP, Scribus, Blender. Since then, I've more or less passed the torch to a more gifted graphics designer. Nevertheless, the problems I've encountered from the start are still the problems after all this years. Rampant software piracy.
The graphics and publishing companies around town only know Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop. Rampant piracy has made it so inexpensive to own these high-priced, proprietary software that they've become everywhere. Schools and universities teach these software. Churches have them. And they expect students to communicate with them using the expensive file formats of these software. Freelancing graphic artists have their PCs loaded with whole suites of Corel and Adobe software. To have business with the small or big print shops who will not afford these professional software, you need to send them PSDs, CDRs and AI files. When I forward my graphic files to these shops, usually in PDF, JPG or PNG formats, I thus only get suboptimal outputs.
I await the days when XCF, SVG, PDF are the norms. That will come not when GIMP, Inkscape, OpenOffice.org and Linux have better color management. I think we'll have to wait for the success of BSA, the RIAA of software, to eradicate software piracy. Unfortunately, I don't think BSA is looking forward to too much success either.
The graphics and publishing companies around town only know Corel Draw, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop. Rampant piracy has made it so inexpensive to own these high-priced, proprietary software that they've become everywhere. Schools and universities teach these software. Churches have them. And they expect students to communicate with them using the expensive file formats of these software. Freelancing graphic artists have their PCs loaded with whole suites of Corel and Adobe software. To have business with the small or big print shops who will not afford these professional software, you need to send them PSDs, CDRs and AI files. When I forward my graphic files to these shops, usually in PDF, JPG or PNG formats, I thus only get suboptimal outputs.
I await the days when XCF, SVG, PDF are the norms. That will come not when GIMP, Inkscape, OpenOffice.org and Linux have better color management. I think we'll have to wait for the success of BSA, the RIAA of software, to eradicate software piracy. Unfortunately, I don't think BSA is looking forward to too much success either.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)