Bin Toolkit: Introduction

My binary toolkit was built because I use many windows machines, and they never had the same programs available. The toolkit would contain programs ready to run, so I wouldnt have to install them on each computer. I would simply copy the toolkit over and have my whole environment ready to go. And if I was using a computer that wasnt mine, I could still run the applications straight from the usb key.

I’ve been maintaining this toolkit for about a year now, and its almost at 200mb now. I’ll be posting all the components in the toolkit in future posts. Stay tuned!

Zapps Potato Chips Review

I was recently introduced to Zapps potato chips by Steve. He told me that their jalapeno chips are awesome, and since I’m addicted to jalapeno chips, I had to get some. I ended up buying a box of 16 bags; a mix of jalapeno, original, and bbq.
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When the package arrived, six out of the sixteen bags were popped open because of air pressure. I notified them about the shipping problem, and they shipped me six ‘replacement’ bags! I have to say that their customer service rocks.

So out of the three flavors, I enjoyed the jalapeno the most. I’m sure that I will purchase the jalapeno and original flavors again, but not sure about the bbq one. The bbq flavor wasn’t unique enough for me… it tasted like any other kettle type bbq chip.

USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter Review

I’ve been wanting a USB adapter that could make any SATA, PATA, or ATAPI device available to my computer without any enclosure. This type of device is handy because you dont need to open up the computer. You wouldn’t even need to reboot the machine because the device would be considered removable. But up until recently, this adapter wasnt available. Enter NewerTech with their ‘USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter’ that came out a few months ago. I had to have one (or two), so I looked online, and eventually purchased them from Other World Computing @ $24.95 a piece.

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There are two sides for PATA and ATAPI connections. One is for 2.5″ drives, and the other is for 3.5″ or 5.25″ drives. On the smaller end, there is the SATA connector. The included power brick has a 4 pin connector that plugs straight into the device. If you need a SATA power connector, there is an adapter included as well. The power brick also has a small cable that plugs into the USB adapter to supply more power when connecting laptop drives.

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I am quite happy with the device, and I’ve been using it ever since I got it. I do wonder if there is a long term effect when leaving a hard drive on, not in a case, all exposed, all the time.

How to Stop Receiving Credit Card Offers

I finally got tired of getting credit card offers, so I looked into stopping them. According to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) of 1970 as amended in 1996, the four major credit bureaus have the right to sell your information to companies that want to offer you a credit card. Fortunately, the amendment also stipulated that credit bureaus must provide a way for consumers to have their names excluded from pre-approval lists. This process is out lined here. I initially tried 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688), but the system is very annoying and slow. So I went to OptOutPrescreen.com and was done in under a minute.

LinuxWorld SWAG Guide – Day 2

I wasn’t planning on going back to LinuxWorld, but a co-worker dragged me back because she didn’t get as much SWAG as I did yesterday.

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The ‘Take the sh out of IT’ shirt is from Splunk. I made a comment to them about the recent publishing of AOL customer search records; the guys laughed and said they had nothing to do with it. The red box contains a nice set of chopsticks and chopstick holders. This was from the AsiaLinux booth. The ‘die hackers, die.’ shirt is another hilarious one I got today, but I dont remember which booth it was from.

LinuxWorld SWAG Guide

Its that time of year again… LinuxWorld in SF’s Moscone Center. And we all know what that means right? Its time to get out the loot bag for SWAG (Stuff We All Get)! Now that doesnt mean I went just for the SWAG, I did talk to various developers about their products.
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9 shirts, 2 caps… not bad. The quality on Oracle‘s ’10’ cap is very nice.
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I’m surprised I didn’t come home with a lot of pens… I guess I’m finally passing the free pen phase. Lenovo had a kiosk at Novell‘s huge booth and they were giving out a penguin am/fm radio. If you sit through EMCs talk you can get a mini four port usb hub…but its only USB 1.1 so its absolutely useless. Syncsort is giving out lil hand puppets, but if you ask nicely they will give you a 128mb usb key.

I was hoping to go over everything I got today, but I’m really tired from all the walking and talking. Hopefully you got an idea of whats available at the expo.