IT Tips and How To's

Troubleshooting TechNotes Cisco Router 2800 Series

2010-07-08T14:11:00.001-07:00

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps5854/prod_tech_notes_list.html

NetSurveyor :: 802.11 (WiFi) Network Discovery / Scanner Tool

2010-06-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

NetSurveyor :: 802.11 (WiFi) Network Discovery / Scanner Tool

http://www.performancewifi.net/performance-wifi/main/NetSurveyor.htm

NetSurveyor is an 802.11 (WiFi) network discovery tool and, as such, its goal in life is to gather information about nearby wireless access points in real time and display it in a useful way. Similar in purpose to NetStumbler, it includes many more features. The data is displayed using a variety of different diagnostic views and charts. Data can be recorded for extended periods and played-back at a later date/time. Also, reports can be generated in Adobe PDF format. Applications forNetSurveyor include the following:

During the installation of a wireless network, as an aid in verifying the network is properly configured and antennas are positioned at locations to achieve efficient transmission / reception -- that is, for use in verifying WiFi coverage and maximizing beacon signal strength
Trouble-shooting an existing network or wireless environment that is performing poorly
Reporting the presence of Wi-Fi networks and local access points and the signal strengths of their beacons
Conducting wireless site surveys where the installer is interested in learning about the coverage of a new or existing access point, roaming capability, presence of RF interference or “dead spots”, and optimum location of access points, their antennas and client stations
In a secure business environment, for use in detecting the presence of rogue access points
As a learning tool to help understand the relationship between access points (BSSIDs), wireless networks (SSIDs), and client stations (STAs)

NetSurveyor is a diagnostic tool that falls under the category of WiFi Scanners or 802.11 Network Discovery Tools. The best known in this category is NetStumbler (http://www.netstumbler.com/). A discovery tool reports the Service Set Identifier (SSID) for each wireless network it detects, along with the channel used by the access point (AP) servicing that network. The way this works is that roughly every 100 mSec an AP sends an “I’m here” beacon – and the discovery tool (running on your laptop and using its 802.11 wireless adapter, also known as a station or STA) picks-up that beacon and adds the SSID to its list of known wireless networks. In addition, the discovery tool reports the RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indication) for each AP, which is roughly an indication of how close the AP is to your current location (i.e. how close it is to the client STA). Just to be clear, the RSSI reflects the strength of the beacon as received by the STA – it is not an indication of performance.

NetSurveyor distinguishes itself from other tools in its category in the following ways:

It’s free.
In addition to the grid that repeatedly updates information about each access point, there are 6 graphical, diagnostic views: (1) Timecourse of Beacon Qualities For Each Access Point, (2) Differential Display of Beacon Qualities for Each Access Point , (3) Usage of Each of the 802.11 b/g Channels, (4) Timecourse of the Usage of Each of the 802.11 b/g Channels, (5) Heatmap / Waterfall Chart of the 802.11 b/g Channels and (6) Channel Spectrogram of the 802.11 b/g Channels. The more (and different) ways you have at looking at data then the greater the chance something will catch your eye that you might otherwise miss if only a single type of chart were used.
Generates reports in Adobe PDF format that include the list of access points and their properties along with images of each of the 6 diagnostic charts.
Powerful and innovative logging and recording capability. Other products, if they even offer a recording/playback feature, usually follow the “tape recorder” paradigm. NetSurveyor is integrated with NetPlayer (an application we use for displaying recorded data files). NetPlayer is unique in that it shows you all the recorded data – that is, you do not press a ‘play’ button and then forced to watch minutes or hours of data scroll by in the hope that some unusual event will catch your eye. NetPlayer’s unique approach makes reviewing recorded data a snap.
If your laptop or PC has multiple wireless adapters installed – not a problem. When NetSurveyor launches it detects each of these and asks you to choose which one to use for that session.
Supports most all wireless adapters – that is, those that are installed with an NDIS 5.x driver (or later). This would include wireless adapters running on Windows 2000, XP and Vista.
Can be run in ‘Demo’ mode – so, even if you don’t have a wireless adapter attached to your desktop or laptop machine you can still experiment with the application to see whether it suits your needs.

The Complete Guide to Picking Up Girls On Facebook

2010-05-04T06:34:00.001-07:00

The Complete Guide to Picking Up Girls On Facebook

By Justin Hartfield

This mini-Ebook is part of a series exclusively available

to the Quintessential Man Newsletter subscribers. If you

dug this Ebook, youʼll love my main site:

First, a note on why Facebook is awesome for gaming women:

I'm often asked where I find high quality women, because it seems like most of

the smart, loyal chicks who have anything going for them are not at the local pub

getting wasted and hooking up with strangers on a Thursday night. Trust me, I

agree and I feel your pain.

One of the answers to this eternal question, (besides old staples like Starbucks,

book stores and dog parks) is Facebook.

Simply, Facebook is the best wingman you'll ever have. I've gotten more girls via

Facebook in the past three months than I ever had in three years of going to bars

and clubs.

Here's why Facebook is such a good tool for pick-up artists like yourself:

First of all, nearly every girl you want to date is on Facebook, so the selection is

practically unlimited. In fact, there’s way more diversity on Facebook than at the

local disco.

Second, most women love Facebook and check their profiles

at least

once a day

hoping that guy of their dreams has sent them a charming private message (not

a poke).

The third advantage is that there's little risk of hurt feelings because it’s much

easier to deal with digital rejection via Facebook than it is real life.

Forth, on Facebook you have the ability prescript your questions and answers so

that you can get a girl in bed without the difficulties associated with being

spontaneous, funny and attractive to a stranger in real life.

The focus of this guide is on the girls who

aren't

out at bars or clubs. If you want

those girls, by all means, go to bars and clubs and meet them. But, this guide is

more focused on trying to get that super awesome, high quality chick (think

brains and tits) that is worthy enough to be long-term girlfriend material.

So without further ado, here's how I’ve managed to pull at least one new date a

week all through Facebook:

Step 1) Get Your Facebook Profile Right

The goal of your profile is to not have anything that would potentially turn off the

women you're trying to get with. This means your profile should highlight the best

parts of your personality and minimize the worst. You're not trying to come off as

the cheesy, pushy player at the club (which

can

work at the club, just not online).

Instead, think of it as playing hard to get -- you're so cool you don't even care

whether your profile makes you seem like badass or a loser. (Oh the irony,

right?)

Your profile should present some of your best, unique qualities- how many

profiles of guys have you seen where its just a long advertisement for their

favorite school's football program? Don't be like those dudes, instead express

yourself uniquely in your own voice. Really list your favorite books, movies, music

and quotes. Don't mail it home, the more you put the better (as it gives you more

chances to click with girls who share the same interests). Just keep it under 15

titles for each field.

Basic Profile Stuff:

Your "Relationship Status" must be set to "Single". Avoid the "It's

Complicated" status at all costs, no girl wants to deal with a crazy-ex.

Your "Looking For" should be set to "Friendship". Setting it to "Random

Play" only can work at getting the sluttier chicks, but if you want to hook up with

quality women, and Facebook is really good at this, then simply set this field to

"Friendship" and be done with it.

Your "About Me" field should have some humor in it. It should convey the

sense that you don't take yourself too seriously but at the same time being true to

yourself. Never put yourself down in any public forum, Facebook included.

Resist the temptation to put in things like sex, women, beer pong, thongs, weed,

etc as they all come off as cheesy in their own ways. The frat boys who do this

aren't getting laid via Facebook, I promise. Be sure though to put in a few

intriguing entries, like meditation, poetry, tai chi, psychology, dancing etc -- things

that are unique (and true) about yourself. Its good to once in a while show a

woman that you're deeper than just sports, beer, and sex. This is especially true

for the kinds of girls we are after. See the list of most popular female subjects on

Page 15 of this document for more ideas.

Don't list your cellphone number, it looks desperate and is a major mistake by

most men. Instead, only give your AIM or Gmail account name (if you have one,

if not leave out all contact information altogether). Even consider restricting

access to your profile to only those who are your friends.

Photos- Make sure you're having fun and smiling in most of your photos. Nobody

wants to hang out with the guy who's always somber and depressed. Pictures of

you and your Mom and siblings work great too. Also baby pictures. Women love

baby pictures, so be sure to have at least one up there (you can even use

one as your profile picture for a while if you're so bold). Pictures like these

will generate many comments and wall posts from women and are absolute gold

to have on your profile page. Also pictures of you and your friends from when you

were children work wonders at generating massive amounts of views to your

profile.

Feel free to tastefully decorate your profile with Facebook apps and banners --

just be sure you don't turn your Facebook profile into a MySpace page.

Remember that Facebook isn't just used for picking up girls. For example your

Mom probably uses it to check up on you. Employers also use it to get a scoop

on a potential employee before they're hired, so make sure there's nothing on

your profile that's questionable in content (pictures of you doing a keg-stand,

passed out with your shirt off and a dick drawn on your face, or packing the bong

come to mind). In the same vein you should try to avoid expressions like *MOB*

(Money Over Bitches) or other clichéd and potentially offensive sayings and

acronyms. This is huge turn off to most women.

Generally, your profile picture should be you doing something that you

love to do the most. Women are drawn to men of action. So if you like hockey,

there should be a picture of you playing hockey. If you like cars, put a picture of

yourself at the autocross track. If you like partying, put a picture of yourself

partying with friends. A profile picture of you in action, doing what you love to do,

is crucial to establish the fact you have other interests besides bedding beautiful

women.

Step 2) Make Friends

In order to gain the "social proof" of being the coolest mother****** in your

network, you have to have lot's of people posting on your wall, preferably hot

girls. For this method to work effectively it’s a must that you have at least some

girls writing on your wall every week or so. Remember that perception is often

just as good as reality, as in the case of Facebook.

Now you're probably thinking, no shit Sherlock, of course I want hot girls posting

on my wall! How the hell do I get them to do that?

Good question:

First, you gotta befriend as many people as possible so you have as large a

network as possible. When you meet someone new, in real life, find them on

Facebook that same night and send a friend request. This is how you build a

network of a couple thousand people in just a few weeks.

In order to be successful at gaming women on Facebook, you have to constantly

be seeking out more friends in real life. Remain diligent in this effort, and the

rewards will pay off in spades a month or two later, trust me.

Trying to game complete strangers is almost always a waste of time and hardly

ever worth the massive sustained effort it takes. That's why is much easier to be

the cool guy with a large network of gorgeous babes than it is the player who's

burned all his bridges by hitting on every girl in his network. Don't get numbers

anymore, get names (which is way easier). Don't seek to pick-up girls, seek to

become their Facebook friends. Why?

Allow me to explain this point via example. Say, you're in the super market and

you're standing in front of the apples in the produce section. Next to you just

happens to be a ridiculously attractive woman. The conversation goes like this:

Hero:

[turning your head but not your body toward the target]

Do you know how

you're supposed to tell if an apple is ripe or not? I'm standing here squeezing

apples but I have no idea if I want the squishy ones of the firm ones. Do you

know??

Her:

[laugh]

Ummmm. I really don't have any idea.

Hero: Great we're both picking out apples and we have absolutely

no idea

what

the hell we're doing.

[pause]

I think we should just take a bite out of a couple of

them to test for quality.

Her:

[laugh]

Okay, you first.

(This is a shit-test because she's wondering if you really have the balls to go

through with your joke and actually bite the apple).

Hero:

[taking a huge bite out of an apple and nodding]

This is one awesome

apple! Here you have some

[trying to give her the bitten apple]

Her:

[laughs for real this time]

That's okay, thanks. I don’t want your already

bitten apple.

Hero:

[more serious than before]

So are you an apple lover too?

Her:

[if she's at all interested in you, she'll agree and start talking here]

Oh yeah, I

love apples. My grandmother used to have one every day. In fact... [this goes

one for a minute or three]

Hero: That's awesome! I want to meet your grandma but unfortunately, I gotta jet.

What's your name?

Her: Sarah

Hero: Are you on Facebook, Sarah?

[before she can answer]

Of course you're on

Facebook, what self-respecting girl isn't on Facebook?? What's your last name?

[as you enter it into your phone]

Don’t worry I'm not going to poke you everyday

for the next three months.

She'll be eagerly anticipating your friend request tonight I assure you.

So you just made a potential girlfriend but even more importantly a new

Facebook friend. Here's the next step:

Send her a friend request with a cute confirmation message (ala, You met Sarah

“determining the best kind of apples for her grandmother”). Then do nothing for a

couple days. If she hasn't shown any interest in you already (via a Wall Post or

Poke) then simply leave her a wall post hoping that she's been finding good

apples lately (or whatever you were talking about in your last conversation).

She'll probably return the favor. After a couple weeks of back and forth like this,

you have two win/win options:

1) If you think you're not in the dreaded "friends zone" and you have really taking

a shining for this girl, casually invite her out to a bar (or whatever you feel

comfortable with) on the following weekend. Say you’re meeting up with some

friends at a popular local bar and she should come down or otherwise you’re

going to label her a Facebook stalker. Ask for her number so that you can text

her the details later.

The goal of chatting on Facebook is to eventually get the girls the number and

talk to her (or text her) over the phone. This step is necessary because most

women are reluctant to see a guy in real life if they’ve only really corresponded

via the internet. This is a necessary psychological boundary you have to

overcome. If you need help with your phone game I’ve included a chapter at the

end of this PDF called “Phone Game 101” take straight from my other, more

complete system entitled, The Badass Guide to Women, Money and Energy

available at http://www.badassification.com/.

2) If you think you're in the "friends zone" or you’re just not interested, don't worry

because this is the fun part. Simply dig through her pictures and find all of her hot

friends. Pick your favorite one. In a private message ask, "Is your friend [name]

single? I saw a couple of pictures of her in one of your albums and I think she's

gorgeous and has a great sense of style." If you get anything besides "she's

married" as a response, ask her if she can show her gorgeous friend your profile

page sometime, to see if she thinks you're someone she might be into. At this

point, if this girl likes you, she's going to do everything she can to hook her friend

up with you. I want to retract the statement I made earlier- Facebook isn't the

best wingman, a woman is the best wingman.

So to recap, let’s review exactly how the system works:

1) Your objective is to balloon your number of friends by

a. Befriending friends of friends that you’ve already met.

b. Befriending any and every woman you spoke to during that day

2) Once you’ve established a rapport (which usually takes anytime between

one week to several months) with your new Facebook female friends,

casually ask if one of their attractive friends is single.

3) If she is, ask your new Facebook female friend to show her your profile to

see if she’d think you guys would click.

4) If your profile is tight, then she’s going to be all-but forced to agree to a

date.

5) At this point you just start dancing because you’ve realized that you

scored a date with a ridiculous hot chick

personally pimped out to you

by a

Facebook girl you met two weeks ago. I’m convinced there is no higher

purpose for technology.

This is the only way I pick-up girls now fellas, and its so easy it almost makes me

feel guilty!

One of my favorite things in the world to do is to log onto a girlfriend's Facebook

account (with them present, no hax0ring involved I promise) and just see the

private messages they've received from random dudes trying to score with them.

Its just really funny to me to see a) how much women actually do get hit on online

(hot chicks get hit on at least a couple times a week) and b) just how low the bar

is when it comes to internet game.

Here's some real life examples that I've copied and pasted verbatim out of one

girls inbox over the course of a single month:

"HEY GURL WUTS YOUR #???"

"LOOKING HOT HONEY. WHATS YOUR NUMBER, I WANT TO TALK TO U?"

"Wanna come to party in Hollywood tonight? Its gonna be bangin and yr friend

Linda will b there i think"

"I think you're really hawt :D and I wanted to talk to u :-P here’s my number XXX-

XXXX call me :) :0"

This stuff is weak and will never, ever work. Unless you’re a seasoned pick up

artist, you’ll almost always come across as creepy by going the direct route.

That's why I recommend making friends first then getting them to hit on girls

for you. Let somebody else hype you up to that hot girl you have your eyes on,

it’s about 1,000% easier than the Mystery Method and requires no memorization.

A word on the poke-

Years ago, when Facebook was less popular than it is day, poking was a

common practice used by guys in order to gauge the interest of a chick. Now it’s

considered kind of pathetic and lame. Please note this change over time. It

makes total sense -- girls want to be swept off their feet, not poked to death. So

the poke is rarely a good idea, especially if you’re trying to

initiate

the

conversation.

Now say you’ve established somewhat of a rapport with a girl online, but you

haven’t talked to them in about a week because you were busy making new

Facebook friends in real life or what-have-you, its sometimes a good idea to

throw them a poke just to let them know you’re still interested in them. You’d be

amazed at how many girls give up on a guy forever just because he was silent

for a fee weeks.

Facebook is the a worldwide female gossip network-

Know that Facebook is a popular conversation topic among women, and that if

you poke a girl on Facebook her friends are probably going to know about it

within 24 hours. So this information cuts two ways. It’s terrible for you if you come

across as some fakeass rico suave player trying too hard to be the man. But its

great if you have a loyal army of hot girls

trying to set you up with their equally

attractive friends.

Step 3) Initiating the Conversation

More ways to strike up a conversation on Facebook with a stranger if you

absolutely have to:

A complement about a girl's taste in music or film usually works well. Say you just

befriended a "friend of a friend" on Facebook who you think is quite attractive. A

couple days after your friend request has been accepted, write a wall post on her

profile that says something to the effect of, "Hey you're into [insert band X]? I

didn't know [mutual friend's name] was cool enough to know TWO people that

like [band X]!"

“Dude wasn’t [movie title] dope! Nobody likes that movie. In

fact, I wanted to give you props as the first girl I ever to be bold enough to put

that on their Facebook profile. :P”.

Start your own "elite" invitation only Facebook groups. For example, say you and

this girl you're trying to game both really like the old TV show,

Fraggle Rock

. You

can make a small elite Facebook group called, "Friends of Sprocket" or

"Sprocket's Dream Team" or something equally silly (Sprocket was the name of

the Dog on the show) and invite her to join. Sharing something that you both

enjoy plus the fact that its “by invitation only” is a great way to strength the bond

between you before you actually get her number. Use this one often.

Common Female Buzzwords / Things That Almost Universally All Young

Women Like To Do And Talk About:

Some of the following keywords should be in your interests as they have a high

opportunity coincide with that Facebook hottie you have your eyes on.

Travel

Art, esp photography

Relationships

Live events (concerts, theaters)

Books

Fitness, esp running

Pets

Fashion

Celebrities

Songs from the 80s

Weddings

Royalty

Cooking

Phone Game 101 (from the Badassification.com System)

Talking on the phone to a strange woman you met at the bar the night before can

be awkward. Your primary goal is to make the conversation as light and fun as

possible. Your secondary goal is to secure a date. Here are some tips to guide

you along the way:

- Call the night after you get the number. The three day rule was invented by

someone who never got laid.

- Bring up something you were talking about the last time you met. If you met her

at the produce section of the supermarket, talk about how you just found the

perfect watermelon or ask her how to tell if a cantaloupe is ripe or not since you

just bought a bad one, or ask her if she's ever eaten something at the

supermarket before she paid for it, etc.

- Have something witty to stay right off the bat. You need to break the ice again.

Just because she liked you enough to give you her number when she was three

drinks deep at Sharkeyz Bar doesn't mean she: a) is single b) actually likes you

(maybe she just wanted to give you her number so you would leave) c) will agree

to a date if you don't keep the conversation interesting on the phone.

- Keep it short, no longer than 15 minutes: "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'm

swamped today."

- Don't leave voicemails. Its hard to not come off sounding needy or insecure on

a voicemail unless your Inner Game is very solid (or you've been in sales for a

while). For now, hang up when you get her machine and call back later. I like

calling between 8 - 9 PM on a weekend or on a Sunday afternoon.

- If a roommate picks up, try talking to them and finding out something about

them (connect with them). It's a lot easier for you to secure a date if her

roommates like you.

- Always assume

she remembers you. When she answers the phone, simply say,

"Hey [name], this is [your name]." Wait for her response. If there's a long pause

or if she asks you who you are, say "You don't remember me? I saved your life

from that pack of ninjas last night!" Don't tell her who you are, make her

remember.

- Be standing, smiling and walking when you're on the phone. It boosts your

energy and she will be able to pick up on your good vibe from the other end of

the receiver.

- Leave on a high note if you can. As soon as you set up the date you should

excuse yourself and hang up.

- Always be the first to say goodbye and the first to hang up.

- Don't be discouraged if she gave you a fake number, it happens even to the

most seasoned of Players.

- At least at first, I recommend pre-scripting bullet points of what you want to say

during the phone conversation. It eliminates those awkward pauses on the

phone.

- You only call to set up dates. You don't call her just to say "what's up." In order

for her to hear your voice she has to see you. That means no calls or texts in-

between. Don't take calls or texts from her either (especially if she's a textaholic

or at all needy). This quashes attachment (read: dependency) in both parties and

leads to a freer, healthier, and more independent relationship.

- Good phone game is an art in-and-of itself, and for some it can be even more

difficult to master than meeting women in real life. If this is the case for you, I

recommend getting both her phone number and e-mail address when you initially

get her contact information. Send a couple e-mails back and forth first before you

make your initial call. Your conversation will go much smoother and your

chances of getting a date will increase exponentially just because you've already

established a baseline of comfort and trust.

Here's a template e-mail you can use after you get an e-mail address:

**************************************

Hey [Name],

(if she has an e-mail address like CutiePrincessDancer84, make

sure to address it to that

name mockingly)

It was good meeting you last night! You were very cool, especially considering

you had toilet paper stuck to your shoe the whole night... JUST KIDDING (I think

it was paper towel).

Anyway, I gotta jet in a couple minutes but I wanted to let you know I was

thinking about our conversation

[insert previous conversation topic here]

about

finding the best produce in the supermarket and [since I'm a nerd like that] I

found an awesome website that has a legend for picking the best piece of fruit!

Here's the URL. You'll never have to eat an unripened melon again.

You can thank me by bringing a fresh fruit salad over to my work, :-P

Hope all is well with you.

[Your name]

This mini-Ebook is part of a series exclusively available

to the Quintessential Man Newsletter subscribers. If you

dug this Ebook, youʼll love my main site:

http://www.QuintessentialMan.com/

Testing Network Faults Connection

2010-03-20T06:01:00.000-07:00

Testing Network Faults Connection

1. Introduction
2. Testing Your Network
3. Using the command line
4. Ping - "Can my data reach the destination?"
5. Traceroute - "How does my data reach its destination?"
6. DNS Lookup - "Is my data going to the right address?"
7. Netstat - "What's my computer connecting to?"
8. Telnet - "Can I connect to it?"
9. Netshell - "One-stop network check"

1. Introduction

There are many possible causes of connection problems. This guide will show how you can investigate problems using some simple tools that come with most versions of Windows. To use all of the tools though, you will need Windows XP.

2. Testing your network

The tools in this guide can be accessed from the command prompt. While this can look a little intimidating, it is simple to use with a little bit of know-how.

Connection Settings
This guide assumes that you have checked and confirmed that your connection settings are correct. Broadband customers should first check our General Broadband Setup Guide.

Does your PC have a network connection?
Check the sockets. Most sockets have a connection light.

The light is on when a connection is detected.
The light flashes when data is passing through the connection.

Check your network settings

Click Start.
Click Settings.
Click Network Connections.
Check the status of your network connection. If your connection is broken, your connection icon will show a small red cross.
Right click on your connection icon.
Select Status to view details.
If your connection is broken, click on Repair to attempt to reconnect.

If your connection is still broken, you need to check your network settings. Read our Guide to Guide to Broadband Networking.

3. Using the command line (DOS prompt)

To use the network tools described in this article you need to open a command line window. Command line looks like the old DOS environment, and is used through typed commands rather than with a graphical interface.

To open command line:

Click Start.
Click Run (or press the r key).
Type "cmd" into the 'Run' window.
Click Return.

Although you can run these tools by typing them directly into the Run prompt, as soon as the command has finished, the window will close which will stop you from seeing the results.
Always open a command line window first before starting the tool.

Saving results to notepad
If you need to send results of your tests to the support team for further investigation, you can do so by copying them from the command line window, into notepad or another text editor.

To copy test results

Right Click on the title bar of the command line window.

Click Edit.
Click Select All.
Click Enter.
Paste into notepad.
Save the notepad file to your hard drive.

Many tools will allow you to output the results to a text file instead of on the screen. To do this, type on the command line " [tool] > c:\test_results.txt".
For example - netstat > c:\netstat_results.txt
Then view the file using a text editor.

Which command line tools should I use?

I can connect but cannot view websites.
Ping - Trace route - DNS Lookup - Telnet

I can browse websites but cannot connect to email.
Ping - Trace route - Telnet

I have an intermittent connection problem.
Ping - Netstat - Netshell
(see our guide to Intermittent Connection Faults)

I think I have a virus problem on my system.
Netstat - DNS Lookup
(see our guide to Internet Security)

4. Ping - "Can my data reach you?"

Ping sends packets of data to another computer and measures how long it takes to get there. Ping results can tell you that -

You are connected.
Your connect is responsive (low latency).
Your connection is consistent (not dropping out).

To use Ping

In the command line window, type
"ping [destination address]".
Click Enter and watch for the results.

In the above example, note how Ping turns the web address "www.google.com" into the corresponding IP address 64.233.183.99
Ping sends four packets and gives you an Average for the time it takes for the ping to make the round - in the above example it is 27 milliseconds.

Ping responses

Response	Explanation
Ping request could not find host...	Check your destination address.
Reply from...	Destination is responding.
Request timed out...	Destination not responding.

Continuous Ping
Ping sends four packets of data, which isn't very good at showing problems that are intermittent. A continuous Ping can be useful if you think there might be a problem with cables, as you can see exactly when connection problems are occurring.

To use Continuous Ping

In the command line window type
"ping [destination address] -t".
Click Enter and watch for the results.
when you want to end the ping press Control and C together.

Pathping (Windows XP / Windows 2003 Server/ Vista)
Is an enhanced form of ping that provides some of the information you would gain from using the trace route tool. It is most useful for identifying where a connection problems is occurring.

1) In the command line window type "pathping [address]"
for example "pathping www.bbc.co.uk".

2) View the first set of results - which is a list of servers that your ping data travels through to reach the destination address. Each server that is passed through on the route is known as a hop.

You will see the message "Computing Statistics for 250 seconds..." Pathping is now monitoring data through each of the servers, looking to see if any of them are responding slowly, or intermittently. The longer the route to the destination, the more time will be required for the test.

Once complete, you'll see a table that shows if any of the servers are dropping packets of data. If a server is faulty or overloaded you might see a high percentage of lost packets.

Watch our video tutorial -
Running A Ping Or Tracert to Diagnose Problems

5. Traceroute - "How does my data reach its destination?"

Trace route shows you the route your data packets are taking to reach a destination system. Trace route results can show -

Problems with the system you are trying to connect to.
Problems with the network between you and the destination system.
Problems with your own network setup (Firewall or router problems).

Trace route Responses

Response	Explanation
Unable to resolve target system ...	Check your destination address.
Trace complete	Trace route worked
Request timed out...	Destination not responding.
Destination network unreachable	Indicates a network problem

Destination network unreachable - this means that a device that the you are sending data to is not responding, it my down, or there might be a network fault. This type of problem is usually outside PlusNet's control.

6. DNS Lookup - "Is my computer data going to the right place?"

DNS (Domain Name System) turns your user-friendly web addresses into the numerical IP addresses that are used by computer systems. If you have a working connection, but can't view popular websites like BBC or Google, then faulty DNS settings may be the cause.

Flush DNS Cache
The first thing you should do is remove the saved DNS information in your computer, this may now be out of date.

To Flush your DNS Cache

In the command line window, type "ipconfig /flushdns"
Click Enter.
Watch for the flush to complete with the message. "Successfully flushed the DNS Resolver Cache."
Retest to see if you can browse popular websites.

DNS lookups
You can test to see if your DNS is working properly by doing a DNS lookup, using the command line tool nslookup.

To do a DNS Lookup

In the command line window, type
"nslookup [Website Address]"
for example "nslookup www.bbc.co.uk"
Click Enter.
Check the results to see if an (IP) address is found that corresponds with the name of the website address. If your DNS is not working properly, nslookup won't be able to return an IP address.

7. Netstat - "what's my computer connecting to?"

Netstat tells you what your computer is connected. This makes if useful for seeing if your computer is connected to servers that you don't know about. If you suspect that your computer is infected with "Spyware" or certain types of virus Netstat may help you find them out.

To run Netstat

In the command line window, type "netstat -a"
Click Enter
View the list of connections on your PC.

Different programs and processes may connect to remote computers. In most cases there is nothing to worry about. The two things to look for are the numbers after the colon (port numbers), and the Foreign Addresses. Ports are the doorways that different computer programs use to send data over a network. For example, browser traffic uses Port 80, email uses ports 25 and port 110. View a full list of official port numbers

If you are worried that your system has been infected with a trojan, or similar virus, you may be able to spot the connection it uses. The port numbers that are associated with Spyware and Trojans are changing all the time - its always best to make sure you have updated anti-virus and firewall software running on your computer.

Foreign addresses are the systems that are connected to your computer that appear to be remote. While it can be hard to know what to look for, one solution is to run netstat while no programs are running and save the results to compare later.

8. Telnet - "Can I connect to it?"

Telnet is a program that allows you to access and use other computers remotely. It has lots of uses for testing problems because it can let you manually test Internet services as if you were a browser or email program. You can then see if a problem you have is due to the service or your computer setup.

You can use telnet to confirm that a service like email is accepting connections.

A telnet client is included with most versions of Windows, though in Windows Vista it has to be added as follows:

Click Start > Control Panel > Programs, and then Turn Windows Features on or off. In the list, scroll down and select Telnet Client. Click OK to start the installation.

A better telnet program, called Putty is available to download for free - Download Putty telnet client.

Problem receiving email - test your mailbox

In the command line window type
"telnet mail.plus.net 110"
Click Enter.
You should be connected to the mailserver - you should see the response "+OK Hello there" which confirms the mailserver is OK.
Type 'user [username]' where [username ] is your account mailbox username.
Click Enter.
You should see a message "+OK Password required".
Type "pass , for example, if your password is pa55w0rd you should type pass pa55w0rd.
Click Enter.
You will see the message "+OK Logged in". You are now in your mailbox and can be sure your email account details are correct, and that the mail server is responding to connections.

If you're normal mail program is unable to connection, you should consider checking that your settings are correct, or reinstalling the program.

Problem sending email - test you access to our mail relay server

In the command line window type
"telnet relay.plus.net 25".
Click Enter.
You should see a response that begins "220" which indicates that you have successfully connected to the mail relay server. If you don't get a response that beings with "220" then either the relay server is not responding, or port 25 is being blocked.

9. Netshell - "One-stop network check"

Netshell is a tool that allows you to check that Windows is properly setup for networking. It can test many different aspects of your network connection, depending on what you have got setup on your system.

To use Netshell

In the command line window, type "netsh diag gui".
Click Enter.
A Network Diagnostics Window will open.
Click Scan your system to begin testing, or Set scanning options to change which things you want Netshell to test.

http://www.plus.net/support/broadband/troubleshooting/testing_faults.shtml

Uplink Port Definition

2010-03-17T12:49:00.001-07:00

Uplink Port Definition

An uplink port is a special port (i.e., connector) on a network switch or hub that reverses the transmit and receive circuits of any twisted paircable connected to it. It is also referred to as an MDI (medium dependent interface) port.

Uplink ports eliminate the need for crossover cables. A crossover cable is identical to a conventional twisted pair copper wire patch cable (also called straight-through cable) except that the wires on the cable are crossed over so that the receive signal pins on the RJ-45 connector on one end are connected to the transmit signal pins on the RJ-45 connector on the other end. Its purpose is to allow the direct connection of two like devices (i.e., two hubs, two switches or two computers).

An uplink port is required for linking two like devices directly with a standard patch cable because the wire pairs would be connected transmit-to-transmit and receive-to-receive, and thus the devices would not be able to communicate with each other.

When connecting two like devices, the uplink port on only one of them is used. If the uplink ports on both are connected with straight-through cable, the result is the same as using two conventional ports, and thus the devices would be unable to communicate.

Some network devices have switches that allow the user to select the mode of operation for the uplink ports. For example, in the case of a small network in which it is not necessary to connect two hubs, such switch enables a port to be used to connect an additional computer.

An uplink port superficially resembles any other port on a hub or switch. However, it is typically labeled as such.

Cannot extract due to CRC Error in WinRar FIX

2010-01-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

Cannot extract due to CRC Error in WinRar FIX

Noticed quite a few gripes about not being able 2 extract Klowns avi's.
Heres the workaround, for those who haven't figured it out yet.

To extract the file which is said to be 'corrupt' by winrar when the process completes do this:
1. Hit 'extract to' option, and chose destination.
2. Check the 'keep broken files' option under miscellaneous
3. Hit ok. Even though it still gives you the 'CRC file corrupted error', it wont delete the file as a result.

[/url]

The file is labeled corrupt because some information about the file is lost during the downloading process. And even though u can retry the download, it may likely still be labeled corrupt. For those of you who use the VLC player, (media player that plays ANY music/video file) you can play the .avi while it is still compressed in winrar. Jus open the rar file with it, and it'll play the file flawlessly. (told u it plays EVERYTHING) Check out VLC player here if u have trouble playing files on any other media player. IE Windows Media Player. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Heres a pic of what to check.

Default Linux Rescan SCSI bus to add / remove a SCSI device without rebooting server

2010-01-12T18:23:00.000-08:00

Default Linux Rescan SCSI bus to add / remove a SCSI device without rebooting server
For fc host:
Code:

echo "1" > /sys/class/fc_host/host#/issue_lip

For other scsi attached storage:
Code:

echo "- - -" > /sys/class/scsi_host/host#/scan

To add a single device:
Code:

echo "scsi add-single-device " > /proc/scsi/scsi

Replace HBTL and # with actual values as per your setup.

Private IP Address Ranges

2010-01-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

          Private IP Address Ranges    

Provide IP Addresses are reserved arranges that are guarantee for internal use only.

This allows any network admin assign these address depending on network topology, size of network and desired design method.

Private IP addresses are split into clases, while there are more than 3 classes some used for testing, milterary etc.

The main class groups are
Class A: IP Range - 10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255
Class B: IP Range - 172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255
Class C: IP Range - 192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255

The rules are Class A, 10 identifies the network part and 0.0.0 indicates the host part so we can have 16,777,214 usuable hosts we cannot use 1.1.1 or 255.255.255

Class B, 172.x identifies the network part and 0.0 indicates the host part so we can have 65,534 usuable hosts remember we cannot use 1.1 or 255.255

Class C, 192.168.x indentifies the network part and 0 indicates the host part, so we can have 254 usuable IP's

How to Make Cough Syrup

2010-01-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:

Whole lemon juice

honey

Whiskey

1cm Ginger (thinly sliced)

hot water

Instructions"

Mix whole lemon juice with honey (sweeten to your taste), sliced ginger and 50 mL whiskey into a coffee cup. Add hot water to the cough syrup for a thinner consistency. Add more whisky if u wish, do not exceed more than 1/2 the coffee cup.

The Distributed File System Configuration Server 2003

2010-01-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

This document will explain what the distrubuted file system is and how to set it up in Windows 2003. After having read it you will have a general idea of why it is used and why you might want to consider making use of it in your organization.

Introduction

The Distributed File System is used to build a hierarchical view of multiple file servers and shares on the network. Instead of having to think of a specific machine name for each set of files, the user will only have to remember one name; which will be the 'key' to a list of shares found on multiple servers on the network. Think of it as the home of all file shares with links that point to one or more servers that actually host those shares. DFS has the capability of routing a client to the closest available file server by using Active Directory site metrics. It can also be installed on a cluster for even better performance and reliability. Medium to large sized organizations are most likely to benefit from the use of DFS - for smaller companies it is simply not worth setting up since an ordinary file server would be just fine.

Understanding the DFS Terminology
It is important to understand the new concepts that are part of DFS. Below is an definition of each of them.

Dfs root: You can think of this as a share that is visible on the network, and in this share you can have additional files and folders.

Dfs link: A link is another share somewhere on the network that goes under the root. When a user opens this link they will be redirected to a shared folder.

Dfs target (or replica): This can be referred to as either a root or a link. If you have two identical shares, normally stored on different servers, you can group them together as Dfs Targets under the same link.

The image below shows the actual folder structure of what the user sees when using DFS and load balancing.

Figure 1: The actual folder structure of DFS and load balancing

Windows 2003 offers a revamped version of the Distributed File System found in Windows 2000, which has been improved to better performance and add additional fault tolerance, load balancing and reduced use of network bandwidth. It also comes with a powerful set of command-line scripting tools which can be used to make administrative backup and restoration tasks of the DFS namespaces easier. The client windows operating system consists of a DFS client which provides additional features as well as caching.

Setting Up and Configuring DFS

The Distributed File System console is installed by default with Windows 2003 and can be found in the administrative tools folder. To open, press Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Distributed File System or in the Control Panel, open the Administrative Tools folder and click on the Distributed File System icon. This will open the management console where all the configuration takes place.

The first thing you need to do is create a root. To do this, right click the node and select New Root.
Press next on the first window to be brought to the screen where you will have to make the choice of creating either a stand alone or domain root. A domain root will publish itself in Active Directory and supports replication, whereas a stand alone root does not. If you have an AD Domain Controller set up on your machine, I recommend choosing the domain root.

Note: The root would be the top level of the hierarchy. It is the main Active Directory container that holds Dfs links to shared folders in a domain. Windows 2003 allows your server to have more than one root - which wasn't the case in Windows 2000.

The next screen is the one where you have to select which trusted domains will be hosted. Since I only have one domain in my network, only domain.com is visible.

Once this is done you have to select a server on that domain - in my example it is netserv. The FQDN (Fully Qualified Domain Name) of this host server is netserv.domain.com.

Figure 2: inputting the host server name

The following screen allows you to specify the root name of your primary DFS root. You should give it something which will accurately define the contents of that share.
In my example I have called this root "Company" - which would be a real name of an ogranization. You can change this to anything you want. You might wish to have a root called "Documents" - which would clearly state that one can expect to find anything related or specific to documents, and documentation in that root.

Figure 3: entering the dfs root name

You will now have to select the location of a folder in which all the files will be stored.

Figure 4: selecting the root share

Tip: for added security, when selecting a folder, try to choose one that is located on a partition other than that of the operating system.

Your DFS root is now configured and visible in the configuration console. Right click the root target and press Status to check if it is online or not.
A green check mark verifies that everything is working properly and that the node is online, whereas a red X means that there is a problem.

To add a new link, right click the root for which you want the link to be created, and select New Link.
In the "New Link" screen, enter a name and path for the link and click OK. Repeat this for as many links as you need to create.

Figure 5: creating a new link

Links are visible right under the node. Below is a screenshot displaying the three links I have created for the COMPANY root.

Figure 6: dfs root and three links in the DFS mmc console

Publishing the root in Active Directory

By publishing dfs roots in AD as volume objects, network users will be able to search for shares more easily and administration can be delegated.

To do this right click the desired dfs root, select Properties and go to the Publish tab. Enter the appropriate details in each box and press OK.
In the keywords section you can specify certain words that will help locate the dfs root when it is being searched for.

Figure 7: publish tab in the dfs properties window

The dfs root will now be published in Active Directory.

File Replication Services

There are two types of replication:

* Automatic - which is only available for Domain DFS
* Manual - which is available for stand alone DFS and requires all files to be replicated manually.

The four ways in which replication can be achieved between two or more servers are:

- Ring
- Hub and Spoke
- Mesh
- Custom

The first three refer to network topologies and the last allows you to specify an advanced method of replication, which can be tuned to your needs.

The advantages and disadvantages of replication are as follows:

Advantages - client caching, integration with IIS, easy to administer and setup.

Disadvantages - limited configuration options, there is no method of programmatically initiating a replication session.

Source:

[1] http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Windows2003-Distributed-File-System.html

Convert Mac to Unix - Or ^M to CR

2009-12-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

Convert Mac to Unix - Or ^M to CR

To use awk to convert a Mac OS file to Unix, at the Unix prompt, enter:

  awk '{ gsub("\r", "\n"); print $0;}' macfile.txt > unixfile.txt

To convert a Unix file to Mac OS using

awk

, at the command line, enter:

  awk '{ gsub("\n", "\r"); print $0;}' unixfile.txt > macfile.txt

How to uninstall Mac OS X .pkg packages

2009-12-22T20:02:00.000-08:00

How to uninstall Mac OS X .pkg packages
By SHARNINDER | Published: OCTOBER 29, 2009

Most applications on OS X are distributed using either a .DMG disk image file or a .pkg installer. Installing using a DMG is the easiest. Just drag the application from the mounted image to the Applications folder and you’re done.

The .pkg installer, on the other hand, works like a traditional installer. Double click the program, go through a couple of steps using a Wizard and the application is installed. Unlike other operating systems, though, Apple doesn’t provide a simple method to uninstall applications.

In the case of a DMG based install, all you have to do is drag the application from the Applications folder into the Trash and it’s gone. A pkg based installer, on the other hand, doesn’t offer any such luxuries. The user depends on the developer to provide an uninstaller for their application, which is often not the case.

So, how do you uninstall applications installed using a .pkg installer ?

Well, the truth is other than using third party applications to handle uninstallation there really is no way … unless … you know which files are installed by the installer in the first place.

Since, there is no registry to take care of on Mac OS X, you only need to delete all files belonging to a particular application to remove all traces of the app.

OS X keeps track of all installed packages using receipts stored in the /Library/Receipts folder. Launch the Terminal application and list the contents of the Receipts folder using the ‘ls -al’ command.

Suppose, I want to find out the list of files installed by the Mobile_Connect_Drv_App.pkg installer.

Use the cd command to browse into the above mentioned folder.

cd /Library/Receipts/Mobile_Connect_Drv_App.pkg/Contents

The file that we’re interested in is Archive.bom. BOM stands for bill of materials and this is the file which contains the list of all the files installed by the pkg installer.

To read the Archive.bom file, we need to use the lsbom utility.

lsbom -pf Archive.bom | less

The -pf options tells lsbom to only display the file names.

Now, you can just go ahead and delete all the files that lsbom lists. That should get rid of the package for good !

Expect - run rup on a named host

2009-12-16T11:32:00.001-08:00

#!/usr/bin/expect

log_user 0

send "Which host do you want to rup? "
expect {
\n {set host [string trim $expect_out(buffer)]}
timeout {puts "\nNot fast enough"; exit}
}

spawn rup $host
expect {
"\n" {
puts -nonewline $expect_out(buffer)
flush stdout
exp_continue
}
eof {
puts "done"
}
}

2009-12-16T10:44:00.000-08:00

How to install kismet on MacBook, Mac OS X 10.5.6 Leopard

How to installed and run kismet.

cd /tmp
svn co https://www.kismetwireless.net/code/svn/trunk kismet-devel
cd kismet-devel
./configure
sudo make install
Edit kismet config file like: sudo vim /opt/local/etc/kismet.conf and change the following two lines:
a.) suiduser=Your_Username_For_Mac
b.) source=darwin,en1,airport_extreme
Run kismet and enjoy! sudo kismet

Compiling & Installing nmap for OS X

2009-12-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Go To

http://nmap.org/download.html

Download

Latest development Nmap release tarball: nmap-5.10BETA1.tar.bz2 (or gzip compressed)
Latest stable Nmap release tarball: nmap-5.00.tar.bz2 (or gzip compressed)

bzip2 -cd nmap-5.10BETA1.tar.bz2 | tar xvf - cd nmap-5.10BETA1 ./configure make sudo make install

md5 checksum on os x

2009-12-13T05:02:00.000-08:00

#!/bin/sh
#######################################
# find the md5 checksum of some file by name
# syntax: get_md5
# by jrc 7/2002
#######################################
mypgm=$1
if [ "$1" = "" ]; then
echo "No defaults"
echo "--------------------------------------"
echo "syntax: get_md5 "
echo "--------------------------------------"

else
openssl md5 $1
fi

Handle Too-Long Command Lines with xargs

2009-12-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Handle Too-Long Command Lines with xargs

xargs is one of those UNIX utilities that seems pretty useless when you first hear about it -- but turns into one of the handiest tools you can have.

xargs reads a group of arguments from its standard input, then runs a UNIX command with that group of arguments. It keeps reading arguments and running the command until it runs out of arguments. The shell's backquotes do the same kind of thing, but they give all the arguments to the command at once. This can give you aToo many arguments error.

Here are a couple of examples:

If you want to print most of the files in a large directory, put the output of ls into a file. Edit the file to leave just the filenames you want printed. Give the file toxargs' standard input:
```
 % ls > allfiles.tmp % vi allfiles.tmp % xargs lpr <> 
```
What did that do? With lines like these in allfiles.tmp:
```
 % cat allfiles.tmp afile application    ... yoyotest zapme 
```
xargs ran one or more lpr commands, each with a group of arguments, until it had read every word in the file:
```
 lpr afile application ...    ... lpr ... yoyotest zapme 
```
The standard output of xargs is the standard output of the commands it runs. So, if you'd created allfiles.tmp above but you wanted to format the files with pr first, you could type:
```
 % xargs pr <> 
```
Then xargs would run all of these pr commands. The shell would pipe their standard outputs to a single lpr command. Actually, the shell is piping the standard output of xargs. As I said above, xargs sends the standard output of commands it runs to its own standard output:
```
 pr afile application ...    ... pr ... yoyotest zapme 
```
In this next example, find gets a list of all files in the directory tree. Next, we use xargs to read those filenames and run grep - l to find which files contain the word "WARNING". Next, we pipe that to a setup with pr and lpr, like the one in the previous example:
```
 % find . -type f -print | xargs grep -l WARNING | xargs pr | lpr 
```
"Huh?" you might say. Just take that step by step. The output of find is a list of filenames, like ./afile ./bfile ... ./adir/zfileand so on. The first xargs gives those filenames to one or more grep - l commands:
```
 grep -l WARNING ./afile ./bfile ...    ... grep -l WARNING ./adir/zfile ... 
```
The standard output of all those greps is a (shortened) list of filenames that match. That's piped to another xargs - it runs prcommands with the filenames that grep found.
UNIX is weird and wonderful!
Sometimes you don't want xargs to run its command with as many arguments as it can fit on the command line. The - n option sets the maximum number of arguments xargs will give to each command. Another handy option, - p, prompts you before running each command.
Here's a directory full of files with errors (whose names end with .bad) and corrected versions (named .fixed). I use ls to give the list of files to xargs; it reads two filenames at once, then asks whether I want to run diff - c to compare those two files. It keeps prompting me and running diff - c until it runs out of file pairs:
```
 % ls chap1.bad chap1.fixed chap2.bad chap2.fixed     ... chap9.bad chap9.fixed % ls | xargs -p -n2 diff -c diff -c chap1.bad chap1.fixed ?...y    ...... diff -c chap2.bad chap2.fixed ?...n diff -c chap3.bad chap3.fixed ?...y    ......     ... 
```

As tomorrow's article explains, xargs can have trouble if an argument has white space inside a word. Luckily, the GNU xargs solves the problem.

Source : http://linuxdevcenter.com/pub/a/linux/lpt/09_21.html

OS X Backup File to Volume

2009-12-06T15:57:00.000-08:00

ditto -rsrc /full/path/to/source/folder `date "+/Volumes/BKVOL/%y.%m.%d/"`