Feb
5
2010
So up until yesterday I have been using my laptop (with Boxee Media Center installed) connected to my TV via HDMI for watching my movies. This was a pain in the butt if say my mom wanted to watch a movie but I needed my laptop for work (aka play games). So set out to find a way to for my mom to watch her movies an I can still use my laptop. The result a laptop (other laptop) server.
I could have put together a bunch of parts from old broken down systems that I have sitting in the basement to make a cheap tower server that would be loud and take up a bunch of space. But that was just the problem. I don’t have much space for it and my parents would complain about the noise, trust me I have tried. Then there would be the issue of network wires to get to the server.
I remembered that I had a old laptop that nobody would use. In fact it was so old it wouldn’t be the effort to sell. Just clean it up with a new OS and install some software, it was perfect.
Now it is small, it is quiet, it has WiFi and built in battery backup. I can store this thing almost anywhere. Under or behind a couch, under a bed, behind the TV, strapped to the underside of a table behind your current computer. The options go on and on.
My Setup
- Old acer laptop that took 5 minutes to load Windows
- External 320 GB HDD
- xubuntu
- wine
- utorrent (with web gui enabled)
- PS3 media server (because I have a PS3 connected to my TV)
- SSH
I hid mine behind the couch and also decided to put the rest of the network gear there so I can free up some space on my desk.
My hidden network
Continue reading
no comments | tags: acer, boxee, couch, fail, idea, laptop, linux, media, movies, ps3, server, ssh, torrent, tower, update, utorrent, wifi, wine, xubuntu
Mar
28
2009
As everyone knows April 1st is the pranksters day known as April Fools Day. April Fools Day can be quite fun. The joy of putting a fake spider on your co-workers desk, who happens to have Arachnophobia. But you need to be careful for yourself on this day of lols, mostly due to computer pranks also. April Fools is a dangerous day for computer users as it is one of the top days in the year when computer viruses are releases.
But what can you do to prevent this? Here are my top five tips:
5. Be aware of what pages you are viewing. Try not to go to any websites that you have not been to before.
4. Know who you communicate with. When using an instant messenger or checking email don’t open any links or files unless it relates to the discussed topic at hand. The person who your talking to may already have a virus that spams his/her contact list.
3. Keep updated! Check that all of your software is up to date, most updates are security fixes to prevent problems.
2. Get Protection! Make sure you have anti-virus software and that its up to date. If you don’t have any anti-virus software? Here is a free one. Just wants you to register once a year.
1. Abstinence. You can’t get infected if the computer is not on.
That’s it. Spread this around to help everyone to stay computer safe this April 1st.
no comments | tags: april1st, email, instant messageing, internet, protection, update, virus, warning
Jan
2
2009
Ever wanted to have a Diablo II LAN party? Never had the patience to install it on all of your friends computers? Want to play Diablo II from any computer in your house and still have your same character? This is the solution to all of your problems. This how to will guide you through installing Diablo II on a network computer, setup sharing, and setup the other computers in your house to play.
Read all steps before starting!
Step 1: Install
The first thing you will need to do is install Diablo II on the computer you want to be host.
You will need to use your Diablo II CDs and perform a full install. Just follow the on screen steps to install. Now you will need to update Diablo II, go the the
Blizzard patch page and download the original patch for windows. Run the patch and follow the steps. You will now need to copy a file from the
play disc in order to play without the CD. Copy D2MUSIC.MPQ to the Diablo II folder.
Note: Do not install any expansions.
Note2: If you are installing on vista you may want to install in C:/Diablo II/ rather then the default location as this may cause restrictions.
Step 2: Setup Sharing
You will now need to share the Diablo II folder with the network. To do this go to the folder and Right click it and click properties. Now depending on what OS you have the sharing process may vary so try your best to share the folder will full permissions allowed for everyone. It is best to share the folder as “Diablo II” without quotes.
Step 3: Setting up your other computers
The first thing you need to do is edit the computer registry to allow for network play. To do this open Notepad and copy the following information changing every instance of {SERVER} to the name of the computer that Diablo II is installed. For me this is bens-office.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Blizzard Entertainment\Diablo II]
“InstallPath”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\”
“Program”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\Diablo II.exe”
“Save Path”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\save\\”
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Blizzard Entertainment\Diablo II]
“InstallPath”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\”
“Program”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\Diablo II.exe”
“Save Path”=”\\\\{SERVER}\\Diablo II\\save\\”
Save this file to the Diablo II directory as “REG FIX.reg” without quotes.
Go on to the computer that you want to play Diablo II on. Open My Network Places and view all computers on the network. Connect to the computer with Diablo II and open the share folder Diablo II. Run the file “REG FIX.reg” and right click drag the “diablo II.exe” file to your desktop and click create shortcut. You can rename the file to something more appealing. Now you should run the video test so you get the best performance from the game. Just run “D2VidTst.exe” in the Diablo II folder and follow the steps.
Finished
Now you are done. Repeat step 3 on all of the computers you want to play Diablo II on, you don’t need to recreate the registry file as the settings should be the same on all computers.
Extras
If you want to copy your existing character to the new Diablo II open your current installation folder (most likely C:\Program Files\Diablo II\) and open the folder called save. Copy the file {character name}.d2s replacing {character name} with the name of your character, for example “ben.d2s”. The other files are not required so don’t copy them. Paste the files in the new locations saved folder, example \\d2server\Diablo II\ save\.
4 comments | tags: blizzard, diablo, diablo 2, diablo II, fun, game, hack, How To, network, no cd, nocd, patch, play, server, share, update
