2006
Online paid library with Safari Books Online
25/10/06 Filed in: Books
So it has now been two months since I have been a paying client of the Safari Books Online library and overall I have been a happy client.
They have a wide selection of technical books for online reading. Although they have various subscriptions I use the $20 a month to read up to 10 books per month. For $30 you can read up to 20 books and for $40 those with too much time on their hands can read as much as they like.
Personally I was only able to get through one 650 page book in a month though I did browse 3-4 others for some quick information. The 10 books max is enough for me.
Reading the books is not difficult but you must be online because each time you turn the page you need to go back to their website. With some books there is the possibility to download PDF versions of a chapter in exchange for a token (they give you 5 of these free per month with the option to buy more). I have only tried this once but it was such low quality I could barely make out the screenshot graphics and the text formatting was horrendous.
Aside from the PDF problems, there are many good features... searching for content in and through multiple books, ability to leave bookmarks to remember where you were, hide the navigation bar for full screen reading, and the possibility to zoom a page to whatever is comfortable.
So, at the end of the day its cheaper than buying the book but if I do like the book I can usually buy it from them at a good discount.
They have a wide selection of technical books for online reading. Although they have various subscriptions I use the $20 a month to read up to 10 books per month. For $30 you can read up to 20 books and for $40 those with too much time on their hands can read as much as they like.
Personally I was only able to get through one 650 page book in a month though I did browse 3-4 others for some quick information. The 10 books max is enough for me.
Reading the books is not difficult but you must be online because each time you turn the page you need to go back to their website. With some books there is the possibility to download PDF versions of a chapter in exchange for a token (they give you 5 of these free per month with the option to buy more). I have only tried this once but it was such low quality I could barely make out the screenshot graphics and the text formatting was horrendous.
Aside from the PDF problems, there are many good features... searching for content in and through multiple books, ability to leave bookmarks to remember where you were, hide the navigation bar for full screen reading, and the possibility to zoom a page to whatever is comfortable.
So, at the end of the day its cheaper than buying the book but if I do like the book I can usually buy it from them at a good discount.
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Airport Express extends a wireless network
22/10/06 Filed in: Apple
Problem, one of my desktop systems has a bad wireless card and I want to skimp on buying a new wireless card. Available tools, my Trendnet 411BRP wireless bridge and an Airport Express from Apple. Eventually both worked but with a few quirks.
It seemed an easy fix, the Airport Express has an Ethernet interface and I could just make it a client of the main Trendnet Access Point and connect the Ethernet cable to the desktop's unused Ethernet interface. The little difficulties started soon afterwards.
It appears that the Airport Express disables the Ethernet interface whenever it is a client of another Access Point. However, it could be activated if it was EXTENDING an existing network. Normally extending the network is just to make the signal stronger because the two wireless devices work together using pretty much the same configuration.
Apple's instruction manual only mentioned this working with other Apple products but since it used a process called WDS (Wireless Distribution System) which the Trendnet device also supported I figured it would be worth a try.
After hooking everything up, the extension was not working but I could talk with the Airport Express device. On the Airport side I received an error saying that Channel Autodetection could not run with WDS. Okay, I set the actual channel of the Trendnet Access Point without any problem.
Fortunately the Apple side of things was pretty well documented. So I already knew I needed WDS to work to reach the Ethernet and now I had to pick the channel. I was getting worried about the Trendnet device because it's documented support for WDS was all of two lines of text in the manual saying it supported it. Since the Apple portion was at least funtioning I thought it time to look at the Trendnet side.
Sure enough, a hidden nugget of information surfaced. Although my device had next to nothing written about it and WDS, a TEW 450APB was clearly stated as NOT supporting WPA encryption over WDS links. I was using WPA on both sides. After reconfiguring everything for 128bit WEP in place of WPA, all worked fine.
So in summary:
A lot of work to avoid buying a new network card. On th plus side, nNow my Airport Express not only extends the coverage of my wireless network but its Ethernet port shares the remote Internet connection with my desktop computer.
It seemed an easy fix, the Airport Express has an Ethernet interface and I could just make it a client of the main Trendnet Access Point and connect the Ethernet cable to the desktop's unused Ethernet interface. The little difficulties started soon afterwards.
It appears that the Airport Express disables the Ethernet interface whenever it is a client of another Access Point. However, it could be activated if it was EXTENDING an existing network. Normally extending the network is just to make the signal stronger because the two wireless devices work together using pretty much the same configuration.
Apple's instruction manual only mentioned this working with other Apple products but since it used a process called WDS (Wireless Distribution System) which the Trendnet device also supported I figured it would be worth a try.
After hooking everything up, the extension was not working but I could talk with the Airport Express device. On the Airport side I received an error saying that Channel Autodetection could not run with WDS. Okay, I set the actual channel of the Trendnet Access Point without any problem.
Fortunately the Apple side of things was pretty well documented. So I already knew I needed WDS to work to reach the Ethernet and now I had to pick the channel. I was getting worried about the Trendnet device because it's documented support for WDS was all of two lines of text in the manual saying it supported it. Since the Apple portion was at least funtioning I thought it time to look at the Trendnet side.
Sure enough, a hidden nugget of information surfaced. Although my device had next to nothing written about it and WDS, a TEW 450APB was clearly stated as NOT supporting WPA encryption over WDS links. I was using WPA on both sides. After reconfiguring everything for 128bit WEP in place of WPA, all worked fine.
So in summary:
- Apple Airport Express will deactivate its Ethernet port if it is used as a client to an Access Point
- The Airport Express network extension feature can work with non-Apple products
- When making a WDS wireless extension make sure that the radio channel be manually configured as the same channel on both wireless devices (and possibly the SSID are configured to be the same too which the Apple manual said should be the case and so that is what I am using in my working setup)
- Some versions of Trendnet products (my 411BRP for example) do not support WPA over WDS extension links
A lot of work to avoid buying a new network card. On th plus side, nNow my Airport Express not only extends the coverage of my wireless network but its Ethernet port shares the remote Internet connection with my desktop computer.
Joys of WebDAV with Windows XP
18/09/06 Filed in: Microsoft
If all of a sudden your network folders/ WebDAV accounts have stopped working after an SP2 upgrade to your Windows software it is actually a new "feature" from Microsoft. In SP2, all webdav accounts now require https secured connections by default (previously http only was the default). Unfortunately you do not receive an error message, the only symptom is that your login fails over and over.
WebDAV extends the HTTP protocol to allow users to publish, lock, and manage files on the Web site like a remote hard disk. This makes filesharing very easy as you are using HTTP traffic. In many ways it is considered the evolution of FTP.
Fortunately there are a few solutions.
Another Microsoft problem is from a recent service pack update from Microsoft that limits the number of attributes per XML element to 32. More information on that fix can be found here (KB888164).
To make matters worse, there seem to be about 30 different versions of the WebDAV libraries floating about, changing based on the Windows software that you use. This site has a good list of the different versions and problems related to each of them.
Anyways, at least the WebDAV client still works but it is not quite as easy to use as could be expected.
WebDAV extends the HTTP protocol to allow users to publish, lock, and manage files on the Web site like a remote hard disk. This makes filesharing very easy as you are using HTTP traffic. In many ways it is considered the evolution of FTP.
Fortunately there are a few solutions.
- add ":80" to the end of the domain name like "http://mysite.com:80" (assuming the webdavservice is on port 80). This tells webdav to use the old http login instead of requiring https.
- make a registry change to enable the old Authentication as described here (KB841215)
- install SSL security on the WebDAV site (which is really not a bad idea.)
Another Microsoft problem is from a recent service pack update from Microsoft that limits the number of attributes per XML element to 32. More information on that fix can be found here (KB888164).
To make matters worse, there seem to be about 30 different versions of the WebDAV libraries floating about, changing based on the Windows software that you use. This site has a good list of the different versions and problems related to each of them.
Anyways, at least the WebDAV client still works but it is not quite as easy to use as could be expected.
Making a family tree chart of everyone
18/08/06 Filed in: Graphics
I really thought this would be no big deal and that any software I used (currently Legacy 6) would allow me to make a chart of everyone in my family tree, even those distant cousins. Apparently that is not the case. You can pick someone and see their descendents or ancestors but you normally cannot pick more than one person and rarely can you see everyone.
Legacy sells a $40 add-in software to allow you to see a chart of everyone (more than the cost of the Legacy Family Tree software). However I have found at least 2 softwares that can do this. Family Tree Maker 2006 and Genbox. Oh, and I just heard that Family Historian can do this too though I have not tried their demo.
Since Family Tree Maker does not have a demo and seems to be associated with Ancestry.com (with whom I had a bad customer experience and later were the subject of a legal class action from others feeling the same way) I tried Genbox. Although it looks good and there were loads of configuration options, I do not know if I would want it as my main geneology storehouse.
That being said their "Everyone" chart was wonderful and they even had a convergent chart where you could pick from 2 or more people and chart where the family lines converge. Even better, the charts can be edited before printing by simply dragging people boxes around on the screen!
To make either work if you already have a geneology program, simply export your family tree to the generic Gedcom format and then reimport it into either of these 2 programs. Since Genbox has a 30 day demo anyone can quickly try it out to see if it meets their needs. And that either program is still cheaper than the single add-on by Legacy.
Legacy sells a $40 add-in software to allow you to see a chart of everyone (more than the cost of the Legacy Family Tree software). However I have found at least 2 softwares that can do this. Family Tree Maker 2006 and Genbox. Oh, and I just heard that Family Historian can do this too though I have not tried their demo.
Since Family Tree Maker does not have a demo and seems to be associated with Ancestry.com (with whom I had a bad customer experience and later were the subject of a legal class action from others feeling the same way) I tried Genbox. Although it looks good and there were loads of configuration options, I do not know if I would want it as my main geneology storehouse.
That being said their "Everyone" chart was wonderful and they even had a convergent chart where you could pick from 2 or more people and chart where the family lines converge. Even better, the charts can be edited before printing by simply dragging people boxes around on the screen!
To make either work if you already have a geneology program, simply export your family tree to the generic Gedcom format and then reimport it into either of these 2 programs. Since Genbox has a 30 day demo anyone can quickly try it out to see if it meets their needs. And that either program is still cheaper than the single add-on by Legacy.
Installing vmware tools into Ubuntu guest
17/08/06
If you are using VMware to install multiple operating systems on your Windows XP machine like me you may have had some problems installing the VMware tools into the latest Ubuntu (6.06.1). I am using the 5.5.2 version of VMware but still the installation was not very smooth.
Here is what I did after a fresh install of Ubuntu from the Desktop CD and booting the newly installed Ubuntu system. Of course all of the commands are using the Terminal console.
Note, if step 3 gives you an error like "Couldn't find package linux-headers-2.6.15-26-386" then you can use your Ubuntu Desktop CD to install those linux-headers.
Finally everything should work.  At least it did for me.  That last problem with the headers caused me some heartache until I found the solution here.
Here is what I did after a fresh install of Ubuntu from the Desktop CD and booting the newly installed Ubuntu system. Of course all of the commands are using the Terminal console.
- sudo apt-get update
- sudo apt-get install gcc-4.0
- sudo apt-get install linux-headers-$(uname -r)
- in the VMware VM menu select Install VMware Tools
- extract VMwareTools-5.5.2-29772.tar.gz to the desktop (just right click on the file icon and choose "Extract to..."
- sudo ./Desktop/vmwaware/tools-distrib/vmware-install.pl
- I just selected all of the defaults to the many questions and using the newly installed gcc and linux-headers, the script built some additional support binaries.
- at the end it will ask you to choose your screen resolution
- the last step is to restart the graphic environment to use the VMware Tool enhancements. /etc/init.d/gdm restart should work.
Note, if step 3 gives you an error like "Couldn't find package linux-headers-2.6.15-26-386" then you can use your Ubuntu Desktop CD to install those linux-headers.
- quit the vmware installer
- close any open package managers like Synaptic or the Update Manager
- insert your Ubuntu CD
- you should receive a dialog box asking if you want to start the package manager, choose yes
- search for and install the "linux-headers-2.6.15-26-386" (in this case you are installing it from the CD instead of from the Internet.
- rerun the vmware installer.
Finally everything should work.  At least it did for me.  That last problem with the headers caused me some heartache until I found the solution here.
D-Link is for Dead Link
16/08/06 Filed in: Wireless
I recently purchases an Airplus G DWL-G122 wireless USB adapter for my XP Pro machine and boy does that thing loose the connection a lot. It does not matter if the signal strengh is good or low, it just drops it for no good reason. I have a Dell laptop not far from it that has NEVER dropped the signal to the access point (and the D-Link device is closer to the AP!).
Admittedly, it was the cheapest adapter for sale at Fust but I really thought it would be usable. It even had an extra cable to put the receiver closer to the AP and it is now sitting at chest level, around the corner from the AP. So unless my head is putting off a large amount of radio waves (possible) I cannot think of any other interference.
An unhappy customer.
Admittedly, it was the cheapest adapter for sale at Fust but I really thought it would be usable. It even had an extra cable to put the receiver closer to the AP and it is now sitting at chest level, around the corner from the AP. So unless my head is putting off a large amount of radio waves (possible) I cannot think of any other interference.
An unhappy customer.
Free HDRI images
12/08/06 Filed in: Graphics
Now that I am finally getting into my Vue 5 Esprit package I found that there were not many HDR (otherwise known as High Dynamic Range Imaging) images included. This great 3d rendering option can really enhance the lighting in a rendered 3d scene but it needs those fancy HDR images to work right.
Below is a list of websites that I found offering free HDR images, ideal for testing those new lighting effects.
Once you've downloaded the images that you want you can use them in Vue 5 by going to the Atmosphere Editor and choosing the Environment Mapping Model. Then, under the effects tab you can double click on the big black square to load either an existing HDR image from Vue's install or to browse your hard drive to find other HDR images (i.e. the ones you downloaded.) Oh, and after you accept the image Vue will ask you if you want to "automatically setup your scene for image based lighting?" and you should choose yes.
Add a nice metal sphere to your scene and see what things look like
Below is a list of websites that I found offering free HDR images, ideal for testing those new lighting effects.
- http://hdri.3dweave.com/
- http://www.hdrimaps.com/downloads.html
- http://www.evermotion.org/index.php?unfold_exclusive=84&unfold=exclusive
- http://debevec.org/Probes/
- http://www.shademaster.nl/
- http://www.3dvalley.com/textures.shtml
- http://www.aversis.be/extra_hdri/00.htm
- http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/10152791/
Once you've downloaded the images that you want you can use them in Vue 5 by going to the Atmosphere Editor and choosing the Environment Mapping Model. Then, under the effects tab you can double click on the big black square to load either an existing HDR image from Vue's install or to browse your hard drive to find other HDR images (i.e. the ones you downloaded.) Oh, and after you accept the image Vue will ask you if you want to "automatically setup your scene for image based lighting?" and you should choose yes.
Add a nice metal sphere to your scene and see what things look like
Using Linux for Vue network rendering
10/08/06 Filed in: Graphics
I have run 4.22 Rendercows of the 3d software Vue Esprit using Wine on knoppix. I saved the Rendercows on USB pen drives and just boot the systems off of a Knoppix CD. The computers don't even have hard drives... just memory, CDROM and the oh so tasty CPU. This should make for cheapy rendercows.
You should be able to boot those additional render cows using only the pen drive (if the motherboard supports it) or off of PXE bootable ethernet cards (ideal if the motherboard has these built-in). For under a grand you would be able to build an ok x4 RenderCowBarn (well I guess adding power supplies and cooling might make it a little more than a grand.)
You should be able to boot those additional render cows using only the pen drive (if the motherboard supports it) or off of PXE bootable ethernet cards (ideal if the motherboard has these built-in). For under a grand you would be able to build an ok x4 RenderCowBarn (well I guess adding power supplies and cooling might make it a little more than a grand.)
Vue 5 Esprit network rendering
09/08/06 Filed in: Graphics
I use the Vue 5 Esprit software for making 3d graphic images and animations. There is an add-on for network rendering that, when it works, drastically cuts the rendering time. Below are some of my tests using it over a wireless network.
Below are the test runs of rendercows (Vue's networking client) using the included 4Seasons.vue sample animation file set for 391 frames and 160x120 preview rendering.
So this would seem to say the following things
That being said I do not find the rendercows in Vue 5 very network friendly or stable. For instance the status would be irregular: stopping an unused rendercow would always give an alert saying that it was in the process of rendering, from the main Vue 5 machine, some clients were not showing their idle status correctly, rebooting one of my rendercow clients caused the Vue 5 program to quit without warning, client manager only shows names of connected devices, not IP or port numbers used, no simple network check to see if the remote computer is available (they just appear magically if they were previously used, no pre-existing list of the expected rendercows.)
Since the network rendering is sold in packs of 5 I can run one additional rendercow. When I get the chance I will have that one be on the other side of a VPN network.
- A1/A2 3Ghz hyperthreading machine (simulated 2 processor)
- B 1.7 Ghz Pentium
- C 2Ghz Celeron
Below are the test runs of rendercows (Vue's networking client) using the included 4Seasons.vue sample animation file set for 391 frames and 160x120 preview rendering.
17m25s - no network rendering on machine A
25m57s - Machine A with one rendercow running
8m13s - Machine A & B running rendercows
7m42s - Machine A running x2 rendercows and Machine B as well
4m25s - Machine A running x2 rendercows and Machines B & C as well
So this would seem to say the following things
- If you do not have additional machines, you are better off not using rendercow
- The rendercow seems to make good use of the hyperthreading already but there was still a small gain in speed when running x2 rendercows on a hyperthreading machine.
- Even on a low speed network (yes it is a wireless 802.11g but actual signal strength probably is not allowing me more than 20mbps) benefits can be significant.
That being said I do not find the rendercows in Vue 5 very network friendly or stable. For instance the status would be irregular: stopping an unused rendercow would always give an alert saying that it was in the process of rendering, from the main Vue 5 machine, some clients were not showing their idle status correctly, rebooting one of my rendercow clients caused the Vue 5 program to quit without warning, client manager only shows names of connected devices, not IP or port numbers used, no simple network check to see if the remote computer is available (they just appear magically if they were previously used, no pre-existing list of the expected rendercows.)
Since the network rendering is sold in packs of 5 I can run one additional rendercow. When I get the chance I will have that one be on the other side of a VPN network.
Looking for a design shop like CafePress
06/08/06 Filed in: Graphics
I have been wanting to take a look at some of the online design shops for making some customized items but I am having difficulties in tracking down the right company to work with.
There are so many customer comments on: customer services, final quality, shipping time/costs, retaining copyrights, setup fees and such that it is evidently becoming a work in progress.
Here are a list of the final shops that seem to be pretty well known.
I'll post more as soon as I decide which one to go with, at least for starters.
There are so many customer comments on: customer services, final quality, shipping time/costs, retaining copyrights, setup fees and such that it is evidently becoming a work in progress.
Here are a list of the final shops that seem to be pretty well known.
- CafePress (service issues, quality concerns & shipping time/cost)
- Spreadshirt (only one with a European center)
- Corporate Casuals
- CustomInk
- Zazzle (possibly signing away image rights)
- Embroidery Superstore
- Queensboro Shirt Company (Cheap embroidery setup)
I'll post more as soon as I decide which one to go with, at least for starters.
Skype trying to release video on MacOSX
03/08/06 Filed in: Apple
Skype has at last released a MacOSX version with "Video Preview" as they call it or "Video Chat" as others call it. We have been waiting for this integration since we have lots of networking issues with the integrated MacOSX iChat and would like to do video chat between Windows and MacOSX (as easily as possible).
However, while we were able to receive the video fine on the Mac platform, each time we tried to activate our Logitech camera in the MacOSX Skype, the whole program crashed in a puff of smoke. Here is the link to try it yourself. HERE .
However, while we were able to receive the video fine on the Mac platform, each time we tried to activate our Logitech camera in the MacOSX Skype, the whole program crashed in a puff of smoke. Here is the link to try it yourself. HERE .
Experiences with KLM Switzerland
10/06/06 Filed in: Consumer
It seemed at every corner KLM has found a way to tag on extra charges to their flyers. Already you have to pay .50 a minute just to talk with a reservation agent and after walking through their callcenter electronic guide for a few minutes, 2 out of 4 times I got through to an agent who simply hung up on me.
Fortunately I had looked on their website first to get an idea of what was available. I really liked their presentation showing what days would offer you what price. However, after finding the flight that I wanted, the English speaker who answered said that I could only take the higher priced flights. I explained that I could also clearly see the higher priced route he was offering but that I wanted the cheaper connection. He insisted that anything cheaper was an "Internet Special" and that I should buy it over the Internet if it looked cheaper there.
Calling back again, but this time choosing the French speaker I arrived at a nice lady who offered at first the same price as the German/ English speaker fellow. However when I told her I wanted another connection she asked which flights I wanted and proceeded to make the reservation without a problem, for a nice 60CHF reservation fee. There was no "Internet Special", apparently the fellow was new on the job or somesuch.
So, if you find a great price online but still feel more comfortable speaking to a person, simply print out what you want and ask specifically for the flights numbers as you saw on the Internet. Even better, if you go right to the Zurich or Geneva airport and pay directly, you can save the 60CHF phone reservation fee (and the 15+CHF for the numerous calls).
That seemed to be the end of it but on returning to Geneva I unhappily found that my suitcase had a wheel ripped off and so I had to drag it to the train and up the hills of Neuchatel. The airport claims office said that I should take the luggage to a repair specialist and get a repair quote from them, then I could contact KLM about paying for it. Ugh, I am sure that I will again have to pay 50cents a minute to talk about my claim as well.
So, as an end to the story, although KLM might have the cheapest online tickets for many connections, add a good 10% to the ticket price to get the real cost.
Fortunately I had looked on their website first to get an idea of what was available. I really liked their presentation showing what days would offer you what price. However, after finding the flight that I wanted, the English speaker who answered said that I could only take the higher priced flights. I explained that I could also clearly see the higher priced route he was offering but that I wanted the cheaper connection. He insisted that anything cheaper was an "Internet Special" and that I should buy it over the Internet if it looked cheaper there.
Calling back again, but this time choosing the French speaker I arrived at a nice lady who offered at first the same price as the German/ English speaker fellow. However when I told her I wanted another connection she asked which flights I wanted and proceeded to make the reservation without a problem, for a nice 60CHF reservation fee. There was no "Internet Special", apparently the fellow was new on the job or somesuch.
So, if you find a great price online but still feel more comfortable speaking to a person, simply print out what you want and ask specifically for the flights numbers as you saw on the Internet. Even better, if you go right to the Zurich or Geneva airport and pay directly, you can save the 60CHF phone reservation fee (and the 15+CHF for the numerous calls).
That seemed to be the end of it but on returning to Geneva I unhappily found that my suitcase had a wheel ripped off and so I had to drag it to the train and up the hills of Neuchatel. The airport claims office said that I should take the luggage to a repair specialist and get a repair quote from them, then I could contact KLM about paying for it. Ugh, I am sure that I will again have to pay 50cents a minute to talk about my claim as well.
So, as an end to the story, although KLM might have the cheapest online tickets for many connections, add a good 10% to the ticket price to get the real cost.
Joys of PayPal
08/06/06 Filed in: Consumer
Hmm, I thought that upgrading to a Business Account would only be a good thing but now I see that all received moneys will generate fees for PayPal. Previously, with a Personal account you could receive up to $500 free (though not from debit/ credit cards) which was a nice way to transfer money among friends and family.
Once your account has become Business level however those previously free transfers now get a 2.9% fee added on them. PayPal did offer a workaround: if I wanted I could make a new Personal account along with the business account. Personally, I think they should notify you clearly when a previously free service becomes a fee based service but I guess that is how they keep in business.
Once your account has become Business level however those previously free transfers now get a 2.9% fee added on them. PayPal did offer a workaround: if I wanted I could make a new Personal account along with the business account. Personally, I think they should notify you clearly when a previously free service becomes a fee based service but I guess that is how they keep in business.
New Skype Beta (v2.5) sends SMS!
05/05/06
Wow, I was just checking out the Skype web page and saw there was an option to send SMS messages to cell phones. It is only about 10 cents (US) too and at least for the 2 I sent they went fine. The user sees the sender as being your skype name and the messages are outgoing only, incoming is not yet supported.
Optionally, you can "authenticate" your own cell phone number so that instead of your skype name, the SMS receiver would receive your actual cell phone number. This would allow them to simply click reply to send a message back to you.
Here is the webpage to get the latest beta (for Windows only):
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/skype25beta.html
Optionally, you can "authenticate" your own cell phone number so that instead of your skype name, the SMS receiver would receive your actual cell phone number. This would allow them to simply click reply to send a message back to you.
Here is the webpage to get the latest beta (for Windows only):
http://www.skype.com/download/skype/windows/skype25beta.html
Skype video with DV Camera
23/04/06
Apparently not every DV video camera will work directly with Skype. Why would you want to... higher video resolution and low-light detection than a cheap webcamera. Unfortunately our Sony MV450i seems to be one of those cameras. Even though other software can see the DV output Skype was not able to.
Fortunately, Skype forums had the answer. Either of 2 free softwares will allow Skype to see the DV video stream.
Once either of these is installed you can link it to your camera and then tell skyp to use "virtual" cameras that have the same name as the software that you are using.
Of the 2, Split cam seemed to show the biggest image, Trackrcam crashed if I tried to make the image too close to fullsize.
Also, at least for me, the camera mode of our Sony Camera would time-out if let unused for too long (a few minutes). This of course can cause a problem when the video just drops out. Our solution is to be sure that the DV camera does not have a video tape inside. Then, for some reason, the timeout seems to be much longer.
Fortunately, Skype forums had the answer. Either of 2 free softwares will allow Skype to see the DV video stream.
Once either of these is installed you can link it to your camera and then tell skyp to use "virtual" cameras that have the same name as the software that you are using.
Of the 2, Split cam seemed to show the biggest image, Trackrcam crashed if I tried to make the image too close to fullsize.
Also, at least for me, the camera mode of our Sony Camera would time-out if let unused for too long (a few minutes). This of course can cause a problem when the video just drops out. Our solution is to be sure that the DV camera does not have a video tape inside. Then, for some reason, the timeout seems to be much longer.
Realbasic programming
22/04/06
Well I have finally bitten the bullet and got the Realbasic programming Rapid IDE. I liked the multi-platform potential (even though slashdot.com is talking about MacOSX offering native Windows XP apps one day soon) and the larger .exe files were not a big problem.
Aside from crashing (blipping out of existance) now and then it has indeed allowed me to rapidly come up with some nice stuff.
Not having seen .net I do like the IDE interface though it is a bit expensive to use SSL and I can only upgrade for 6 months before paying more money to get newer updates.
For now I am bouncing off the forums and the 2 manuals to try to get the little things that I need and overall people are friendly and I am finding solutions. Below are some of the free essentials that I found while learning to make my first program.
Most of these came from RBGarage which has a great list of useful modules and add-ons for Realbasic.
The only down side so far is that much of the examples seem to have a mac focus and I am more interested in getting a Windows program running.
Aside from crashing (blipping out of existance) now and then it has indeed allowed me to rapidly come up with some nice stuff.
Not having seen .net I do like the IDE interface though it is a bit expensive to use SSL and I can only upgrade for 6 months before paying more money to get newer updates.
For now I am bouncing off the forums and the 2 manuals to try to get the little things that I need and overall people are friendly and I am finding solutions. Below are some of the free essentials that I found while learning to make my first program.
- Windows Functionality Suite
- XMLPreferences (even though the download is .sit and so needs Stuffits file expander)
- Utool
- String Utilities
- and the document Update Yourself at RBLibrary
- ChartPart
- TrayApp & Toast plugins from Control-D
- and of course going through all of the examples.
Most of these came from RBGarage which has a great list of useful modules and add-ons for Realbasic.
The only down side so far is that much of the examples seem to have a mac focus and I am more interested in getting a Windows program running.
Voyage Linux on my Soekris 4501
15/04/06 Filed in: Linux
I finally found a few hours free to load a Debian Linux system onto a compact flash card. I chose voyage-linux for its customization options and rw filesystem. It was a little easier than I had expected since I was able to load the voyage install iso through vmware directly into a Compact Flash Card using and IDE adaptor. From there I just followed the voyage instructions.
After that, it was simply a matter of configuring the prism and atheros wifi cards as clients to my network and running apt-get update. I've added in a few other useful softwares such as quagga, nano-tiny, ntpdate, iptraf, wavemon, iperf, whois, wondershaper, mc.
I wanted to also install ntop but I am having problems getting it to run in the ro environment. I just need to get Captive Portal working now, and maybe look at the mesh version. Every so often I run out of memory when I try to use dselect but using mainly apt-get works great.
After that, it was simply a matter of configuring the prism and atheros wifi cards as clients to my network and running apt-get update. I've added in a few other useful softwares such as quagga, nano-tiny, ntpdate, iptraf, wavemon, iperf, whois, wondershaper, mc.
I wanted to also install ntop but I am having problems getting it to run in the ro environment. I just need to get Captive Portal working now, and maybe look at the mesh version. Every so often I run out of memory when I try to use dselect but using mainly apt-get works great.
Moving XP Pro to a new motherboard/CPU
10/04/06 Filed in: Microsoft
Since I have a 478 socket motherboard, upgrading to a 3GHz was just as expensive as getting a new 775 socket motherboard and a 3GHz processor. Well, that was an easy sell for the sales guy. However, as soon as I'd swapped out all of the components I found that my good and stable XP PRO system was just rebooting and rebooting and rebooting.
I tried adding and removing cards/ memory/ BIOS motherboard BIOS upgrade but nothing was fixing this and I was getting worried that I would need to reinstall all of my Windows XP operating system. Fortunately I found that there is special Repair Install feature of Windows XP that allows me to reconfigure the system for the new board while saving my previous software configurations.
However, this meant loading up the original XP CD and waiting about 30 minutes for everything to finish. Finally I would need to reactivate the Windows installation.
Part of the problem was that I was using a SATA boot drive and the first Windows XP install CD's do not support this. This means that to do anything with my Windows XP CD I need to have a floppy drive holding the SATA drivers. These drivers are motherboard specific and should be on the CDROM that came with your new motherboard. For my new ASUS board they were under the RAID driver directory and ASUS even had a utility to make the floppy.
In the end I had a restored running system but I could not run any other updates and the system seemed to have a lot of problems. I finally just reinstalled it all and did all of the SP1 & SP2 updates. It might have been a problem with me adding a domain name where none existed before but if the sales person sells you on the new board be ready with a lot of transfer time.
Maybe make a nice backup to, while you are at it. Acronis True Image Home is not bad (though my backup seemed to have become corrupted for one of the 2 computers I backed up... so I guess 50% success is better than nothing.
Instructions for the Microsoft Repair Install itself are HERE:
I tried adding and removing cards/ memory/ BIOS motherboard BIOS upgrade but nothing was fixing this and I was getting worried that I would need to reinstall all of my Windows XP operating system. Fortunately I found that there is special Repair Install feature of Windows XP that allows me to reconfigure the system for the new board while saving my previous software configurations.
However, this meant loading up the original XP CD and waiting about 30 minutes for everything to finish. Finally I would need to reactivate the Windows installation.
Part of the problem was that I was using a SATA boot drive and the first Windows XP install CD's do not support this. This means that to do anything with my Windows XP CD I need to have a floppy drive holding the SATA drivers. These drivers are motherboard specific and should be on the CDROM that came with your new motherboard. For my new ASUS board they were under the RAID driver directory and ASUS even had a utility to make the floppy.
In the end I had a restored running system but I could not run any other updates and the system seemed to have a lot of problems. I finally just reinstalled it all and did all of the SP1 & SP2 updates. It might have been a problem with me adding a domain name where none existed before but if the sales person sells you on the new board be ready with a lot of transfer time.
Maybe make a nice backup to, while you are at it. Acronis True Image Home is not bad (though my backup seemed to have become corrupted for one of the 2 computers I backed up... so I guess 50% success is better than nothing.
Instructions for the Microsoft Repair Install itself are HERE:
George R.R. Martin's neverending story
08/03/06 Filed in: Books
If you have not heard of the multi-book saga by Mr. Martin it is a long epic story about the political battles of a medieval fantasy kingdom. The characters do draw your interest the and the story is intriguing, with no holds barred plot development.
I am sure a quick browse through the Internet or Amazon will show you loads of reason this is a great book. However, certain aspects of the story telling have really left me fatigued in reading this saga.
NEVERENDING
First, there is the simple fact that the books never end. Each book has so many open questions and developments that you never feel that you have finished anything. In fact, I stopped after book 3 after seeing unanswered questions from book 1 still running and again seeing that the story just never seemed to move.
I had the impression that all of the books could have been written at once and then were cut up by the publishers (which is probably not the case but it feels like it.)
CHAPTER TITLES
Next, every chapter has the name of the narrating character as the title. No numbers, no summary, just the name. This has caused problems in a few ways. One, if you loose your place in the book and know only that you were going to start a chapter titled Ned, there are quite a few to choose from. Already I have jumped ahead accidentally from this.
The chapters also give you indications on who is alive in a saga where people do die. I like to be suprised but if someone like my daughter is flipping through pages it is hard not to miss a large black title that says "Samwell".
All of this builds up to an ongoing frustration to look back at a reference. Many plot lines are tied to old events and I like to look back and reread an event to see the connection. With Mr. Martin's stories that is nearly impossible as the chapters have no reference other than the Ned chapter that was after a Jon chapter.
FUTURE CHAPTER INCLUDED
At the end of the first book there was a preview included from the second book which was actually a cut down version of the actual chapter in about the middle of the next book. Personally I found it confusing to add it, it did not fit in with the end of the first book in a "continuing" sort of way. Already having seen the first book not really ending itself, this extra stuff from the middle of the next book was even more unfulfilling.
When I finally came across that chapter in the second book I ended up finding myself re-reading some already not-so exciting chapter. In fact the "preview" was not even a complete chapter. Either that or it was heavily appended too later.
What was added in the second book's final version of this chapter was a bunch of useless sexual descriptions to fill out the "preview". I can just see an editor sprinkling in their quota sexual stories to supposedly meet the readers needs? I really do not see how this helped me buy book 2.
BREAKING UP BOOK 3 INTO 2 PARTS
Maybe in the US this does not cause a problem but I was in Switzerland trying to buy the first half of book 3 and the commercial booksellers could not order the book because they could not understand the naming system. Maybe it was badly listed in their computers but I tried multiple stores and no one could figure it out. I finally had to supply the ISBN number myself.
To be fair, I was going to buy the french version so that I could keep reading and the french version was broken into 9 parts. I got hopefully lost trying to figure out where I was within the french translated series.
However, after all of this critiquing, I am now on book 4 (book 3 part 2) and will finish it but I really do not have much excitement to go on. I have a bunch of his books now that I cannot really recommend to friends since it is so long to get anywhere (book 1,807pgs, book 2 708pgs, book 3-pt1 603pgs, book 3-pt2 579). Finally in the second half of book 3 some questions were answered/ plot lines closed from about 2000 pages previously.
So, if you are looking to get lost in a well described medieval world and be suprised with some unexpected turn of events, this saga might be for you. Even more so if you like to sit and read a whole lot at a fairly fast pace. You could get the first 3 books and settle into a nice mountain cabin for a week or two.
You will get lost however and if you find yourself approaching the end of a book and wondering how things will close themselves up... well, they probably will not be closed by the time you finish and you might need to go 1 or 2 books further to see that issue resolved.
And, to top it off, after nearly 2,500 pages it is still the fall season in the story. I can't say it is all the authors fault and in fact I place more blame on the publishers for releasing the books in this way. Maybe this is the new way to sell books but definitley not more (well I did get the first 4) to me.
I am sure a quick browse through the Internet or Amazon will show you loads of reason this is a great book. However, certain aspects of the story telling have really left me fatigued in reading this saga.
NEVERENDING
First, there is the simple fact that the books never end. Each book has so many open questions and developments that you never feel that you have finished anything. In fact, I stopped after book 3 after seeing unanswered questions from book 1 still running and again seeing that the story just never seemed to move.
I had the impression that all of the books could have been written at once and then were cut up by the publishers (which is probably not the case but it feels like it.)
CHAPTER TITLES
Next, every chapter has the name of the narrating character as the title. No numbers, no summary, just the name. This has caused problems in a few ways. One, if you loose your place in the book and know only that you were going to start a chapter titled Ned, there are quite a few to choose from. Already I have jumped ahead accidentally from this.
The chapters also give you indications on who is alive in a saga where people do die. I like to be suprised but if someone like my daughter is flipping through pages it is hard not to miss a large black title that says "Samwell".
All of this builds up to an ongoing frustration to look back at a reference. Many plot lines are tied to old events and I like to look back and reread an event to see the connection. With Mr. Martin's stories that is nearly impossible as the chapters have no reference other than the Ned chapter that was after a Jon chapter.
FUTURE CHAPTER INCLUDED
At the end of the first book there was a preview included from the second book which was actually a cut down version of the actual chapter in about the middle of the next book. Personally I found it confusing to add it, it did not fit in with the end of the first book in a "continuing" sort of way. Already having seen the first book not really ending itself, this extra stuff from the middle of the next book was even more unfulfilling.
When I finally came across that chapter in the second book I ended up finding myself re-reading some already not-so exciting chapter. In fact the "preview" was not even a complete chapter. Either that or it was heavily appended too later.
What was added in the second book's final version of this chapter was a bunch of useless sexual descriptions to fill out the "preview". I can just see an editor sprinkling in their quota sexual stories to supposedly meet the readers needs? I really do not see how this helped me buy book 2.
BREAKING UP BOOK 3 INTO 2 PARTS
Maybe in the US this does not cause a problem but I was in Switzerland trying to buy the first half of book 3 and the commercial booksellers could not order the book because they could not understand the naming system. Maybe it was badly listed in their computers but I tried multiple stores and no one could figure it out. I finally had to supply the ISBN number myself.
To be fair, I was going to buy the french version so that I could keep reading and the french version was broken into 9 parts. I got hopefully lost trying to figure out where I was within the french translated series.
However, after all of this critiquing, I am now on book 4 (book 3 part 2) and will finish it but I really do not have much excitement to go on. I have a bunch of his books now that I cannot really recommend to friends since it is so long to get anywhere (book 1,807pgs, book 2 708pgs, book 3-pt1 603pgs, book 3-pt2 579). Finally in the second half of book 3 some questions were answered/ plot lines closed from about 2000 pages previously.
So, if you are looking to get lost in a well described medieval world and be suprised with some unexpected turn of events, this saga might be for you. Even more so if you like to sit and read a whole lot at a fairly fast pace. You could get the first 3 books and settle into a nice mountain cabin for a week or two.
You will get lost however and if you find yourself approaching the end of a book and wondering how things will close themselves up... well, they probably will not be closed by the time you finish and you might need to go 1 or 2 books further to see that issue resolved.
And, to top it off, after nearly 2,500 pages it is still the fall season in the story. I can't say it is all the authors fault and in fact I place more blame on the publishers for releasing the books in this way. Maybe this is the new way to sell books but definitley not more (well I did get the first 4) to me.
Lightscribe label problems with TDK media
03/03/06
Well, since I couldn't find anymore Vebatim lightscribe media I thought I would try the TDK lightscribe CDRs that I found in its place. It looked the same but my Surething 4.x software would not accept it for labeling at all.
The first error would always say that the disk was not a lightscribe disk, and the second error would simply say internal error from the software.
I have a HP 640i DVD Writer with firmware CS30. I was stumped... I read forums, asked Google but ntohing was making the problem go away. I did dig up a couple of Verbatim disks and they would burn just fine but nothing doing for the TDK.
Finally I thought to try reflashing the DVD drive with a different 640C firmware (it is confusing that there are multiple versions of firmware bearing similar names). This firmware said it was JS04 for the 640i revision C drive.
Anyways, I loaded it in, rebooted the computer and suddenly Surething says I have a blank lightscribe disk waiting to be printed on. Very strange but it worked for me. The only side effect so far is that after the normal 30 minutes to burn my label to the CD, the lightscribe label on the CDR comes out much lighter than it ever did when using the CS30 firmware. I guess the solution is not 100% final. Using Verbatim lightscribe disks does not have this problem, under CS30 or the newer JS04 firmware.
The first error would always say that the disk was not a lightscribe disk, and the second error would simply say internal error from the software.
I have a HP 640i DVD Writer with firmware CS30. I was stumped... I read forums, asked Google but ntohing was making the problem go away. I did dig up a couple of Verbatim disks and they would burn just fine but nothing doing for the TDK.
Finally I thought to try reflashing the DVD drive with a different 640C firmware (it is confusing that there are multiple versions of firmware bearing similar names). This firmware said it was JS04 for the 640i revision C drive.
Anyways, I loaded it in, rebooted the computer and suddenly Surething says I have a blank lightscribe disk waiting to be printed on. Very strange but it worked for me. The only side effect so far is that after the normal 30 minutes to burn my label to the CD, the lightscribe label on the CDR comes out much lighter than it ever did when using the CS30 firmware. I guess the solution is not 100% final. Using Verbatim lightscribe disks does not have this problem, under CS30 or the newer JS04 firmware.
An easy way to find your computer files
28/02/06
Often I've lost files here or there across different disk drives.  It is a pain to organize everything perfectly and using the search feature of Windows is not always that easy.  Well, a friend showed me the Google Desktop from http://desktop.google.com/.
I was impressed how easy it was to use and integrate into the Windows toolbar.  Now just by typing a few letters or words from a document I am presented with a list of documents to click on.  I think that this is particularly ideal for people who don't keep up to date with the latest computer technologies... it is very simple.
The installation requires indexing your documents (which can take a lot of time) but it sure seems to work a lot smoother than the integrated Microsoft search engine.  Additionally you can tell the Google Desktop to index only certain types of documents to make it even faster.
I was impressed how easy it was to use and integrate into the Windows toolbar.  Now just by typing a few letters or words from a document I am presented with a list of documents to click on.  I think that this is particularly ideal for people who don't keep up to date with the latest computer technologies... it is very simple.
The installation requires indexing your documents (which can take a lot of time) but it sure seems to work a lot smoother than the integrated Microsoft search engine.  Additionally you can tell the Google Desktop to index only certain types of documents to make it even faster.
Auto login to a user account on Windows XP
28/02/06 Filed in: Microsoft
You can configure Windows XP to automate the logon process if your computer is not part of a domain. This is great if you want the computer to always boot to a defult account but still leave the other accounts active.
This feature allows other users to start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use, but can pose a security risk.
This tip and more is taken right from the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/default.mspx
- Click Start, click Run, and type control userpasswords2.
- Clear the Users must enter a username and password to use this computer check box.
- Click Apply.
- Enter the user name and password you wish to automatically log on with, and then click OK.
- Click OK again and you're all done.
This feature allows other users to start your computer and use the account that you establish to automatically log on. Enabling auto logon makes your computer more convenient to use, but can pose a security risk.
This tip and more is taken right from the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/learnmore/tips/default.mspx
LCD panel fuzziness solved
24/01/06 Filed in: Consumer
Well, I just got a small acer fp553 15" LCD screen for a Windows server and was suprised to see vertical lines of fuzziness when I first powered it up. At first I thought it was a warped screen or some plastic covering but no, every so often their were simply lines of fuzzy characters. Before I packed it up and went back to the store I thought I would play with the Windows settings and sure enough, changing the monitor frequency from 60Hz to 70 or 75Hz cleared it up. I have no idea why this is but it saved a trip back to the store
Quick 3d model tutorials
13/01/06 Filed in: Graphics
While looking for a convertor for VRML2 to anything useful (including textures) I came across Nendo at http://www.izware.com/nendo/.  While it did not import my VRML as advertised I chanced upon their howto section and suddenly was immersed in a very good tutorial on making a 3d airplane from a cube.
Very clean and easy to follow.  There's about 20 other tutorials and if they are anything like the first then they are well worth it.  The program is commercial for $49 but the tutorials can be seen in the free demo version. Well worth the looking at for a newbie to 3d models.
Very clean and easy to follow.  There's about 20 other tutorials and if they are anything like the first then they are well worth it.  The program is commercial for $49 but the tutorials can be seen in the free demo version. Well worth the looking at for a newbie to 3d models.
Printing to small photo paper
09/01/06 Filed in: Microsoft
So, my father-in-law wanted to print the photos that we emailed him on his inkjet photo printer. I was stuck trying to explain to my father-in-law how to change the printer configuration so that he could print to 4x6 inch paper instead of a full page. It was just becoming complex using the Windows Photo Printing Wizard.
Finally it came to me that I could simply create a second printer configuration in Windows that by default would use the 4x6 paper size. Then I simply named it something like HP photo SMALL".
That worked great since he could pick the "SMALL" printer for the little photos and the other one was renamed "BIG" for anything else. Hope the simple solution helps someone else.
Finally it came to me that I could simply create a second printer configuration in Windows that by default would use the 4x6 paper size. Then I simply named it something like HP photo SMALL".
That worked great since he could pick the "SMALL" printer for the little photos and the other one was renamed "BIG" for anything else. Hope the simple solution helps someone else.
In Paris With Baby
03/01/06 Filed in: Travel
Well, we decided to spend Christmas with family in Paris last year and collected some small points to recommend to other families spending time in Paris. Pretty much the whole experience revolved about having a baby stroller with us.
In most cases bringing a very small stroller would have made everything easier, ours was built for the mountains.
METRO
Fortunately some of the Metro stations had escalators but in almost every case there were stairs to climb and with a stroller that is not soo easy. Escalators are definitely not my preferred solution for moving a stroller but with a little bit of work and a nice hand strap it can be done. We recommend anyways 2 adults... just in case, one in front and one in back.
So, if you are going to take the metro make sure there are at least 2 adults or be ready to be late arriving as you ask someone to help. There are elevators but we could not find any that worked.
TAXIS
Imagining how difficult the Metro could be we also brought a car seat with us. The taxis are quite friendly about baby car seats (at least our taxis were). This is not too suprising since they arrive with the clock ticking so the longer it takes you to set things up the more they make. Our baby seat could easily fit with any seatbelts so that was easy and it saved a lot of hassle getting from the Lyon train station to/ from the hotel.
TICKETS
We had previously tried to get into the Orsay Museum on our last visit but even without a visit the lines were too long. I finally headed out early one morning to wait for tickets to be sure that we could quickly get in (it was cold!) That actually worked very well. Some places also allow you to reserve tickets in advance. Be sure to check or stand a good 1-2 hours outside.
STAY IN THE LATIN QUARTER
Well, we were going to do this regardless of having a baby with us or not. It really helped though since we could easily get out to eat or walk around where we wanted... Notre Dame, Odeon, and just the Latin Quarter in general. The places might be a little more expensive but being able to quickly hop out for a meal at any time was great, especially for a short stay. We stayed at Hôtel du Levant *** but there were easily another 4 hotels in the area.
ASK ABOUT STROLLER ACCESS
We were unhappily suprised that the hotel elevator was so small. There was no way to fit the stroller into it. Fortunately they did have easy access to a storage place on the ground floor but that was pretty small. We luckily arrived when there were not many other guests so there was room for us but it would not have taken to many other visitors to fill up even that space. Also, having the stroller downstairs meant always being blocked by other visitors whenever we came and went. A tiny stroller would have been perfect and we almost went for getting one... if it had not been so cold (our big one had a lot of wind protection and warm stuff).
DISCOUNT BABY TRAIN SEAT
When we made our reservations to get to Paris we by chance discovered that there were discounted seat prices for babies. It was a very good thing... the TGV is not known for being space friendly and the extra seat really made for lower stress. And the baby car seat fit in well so our little one had a nice place to sleep/ play.
Additionally, the TGV train to Paris typically has a semi-closed compartment for each 2nd class train car. Those were great... seats 11,12, 13, 14 I think. Not only were we right at the door to unload everything, we were facing each other and so had extra floor space, and the glass doors, while opening for everyone passing through, made the trip much more relaxing.
Without the above mentioned space be prepared to be among the first on the train so that you can try to store your luggage and stroller before everyone else gets to the limited space. Pay attention what is happening in the winter. The stop before ours on the way home had the doors frozen shut and people had to walk back a few train cars to get out. That would have been quite difficult with luggage and stroller. Luckily our stop got out on the other side of the train but even then the conductor was in such a hurry to be on time that he rushed us out, throwing my wifes hat and coat out before her to be sure she got out quickly. Very friendly indeed.
BRING WHAT YOU NEED
Yes it is Paris but is shopping for baby stuff what you want to do? If you are taking a taxi just fill your bags. We used the minifridge of the hotel room to keep any baby food in and getting hot water was not too difficult. We had also a small thermos that held the baby bottle so we could always ask for hot water anywhere to make a bottle.
If you do need to travel lite, be sure to ask the Hotel if there is a grocery store nearby. The only thing we really did not pack up with was water, it was just too heavy and well worth a visit to a grocery store whereever it might be.
BRING PATIENCE
There will probably be lots of suprises, mainly around your hotel so just be patient unless you want to waste your time. For example our hotel Hôtel du Levant while being ideally located, also had a lot of little suprises.
Our rooms could not regulate the heat... but at least they were hot. So, we left the windows open whenever we left and had to put on our coats downstairs. Also, they have a light saving system where you leave the key in a socket to activate the lights. This can be annoying if one person wants to go to town and the other wants to stay with the baby in the room (i.e. no lights). When we explained this they did say we could get a second light only key on request.
An unhappy suprise was to find out that this system would not allow you to turn off some of the lights in the room.. some were always on. Their solution was to take out the key which would kill all power to the room. Well, with a little baby, total darkness does not work either. Finally we just removed the main lightbulbs at night and left a dimmer single light on.
Another suprise was that they did not have any baby chairs for the included morning breakfast. Instead they had horribly open metal chairs (where we say an unhappy child fall through when leaning back). They also refused to allow us to bring in the baby stroller since that might scratch their precious wooden floors. Fortunately we had grandparents with us and they could take turns holding the baby while we ate. However, in general restaurants were fine bringing in our bulky stroller.
So there you go. We only had a few days and griped here and there but heck, we were in the middle of the Latin Quarter and it was Paris. It was still fun but patience was the key.
In most cases bringing a very small stroller would have made everything easier, ours was built for the mountains.
- the Metro/ Subway is not baby friendly
- bring a baby seat for taxis
- get museum reservation tickets or have someone wait early in the morning
- stay in the Latin Quarter for quick access to restaurant
- make sure the hotel elevator can fit your stroller or that they can store it easily
- if you arrive by train check on getting a discounted baby seat reservation
- bring whatever you need with you
- bring a lot of patience
METRO
Fortunately some of the Metro stations had escalators but in almost every case there were stairs to climb and with a stroller that is not soo easy. Escalators are definitely not my preferred solution for moving a stroller but with a little bit of work and a nice hand strap it can be done. We recommend anyways 2 adults... just in case, one in front and one in back.
So, if you are going to take the metro make sure there are at least 2 adults or be ready to be late arriving as you ask someone to help. There are elevators but we could not find any that worked.
TAXIS
Imagining how difficult the Metro could be we also brought a car seat with us. The taxis are quite friendly about baby car seats (at least our taxis were). This is not too suprising since they arrive with the clock ticking so the longer it takes you to set things up the more they make. Our baby seat could easily fit with any seatbelts so that was easy and it saved a lot of hassle getting from the Lyon train station to/ from the hotel.
TICKETS
We had previously tried to get into the Orsay Museum on our last visit but even without a visit the lines were too long. I finally headed out early one morning to wait for tickets to be sure that we could quickly get in (it was cold!) That actually worked very well. Some places also allow you to reserve tickets in advance. Be sure to check or stand a good 1-2 hours outside.
STAY IN THE LATIN QUARTER
Well, we were going to do this regardless of having a baby with us or not. It really helped though since we could easily get out to eat or walk around where we wanted... Notre Dame, Odeon, and just the Latin Quarter in general. The places might be a little more expensive but being able to quickly hop out for a meal at any time was great, especially for a short stay. We stayed at Hôtel du Levant *** but there were easily another 4 hotels in the area.
ASK ABOUT STROLLER ACCESS
We were unhappily suprised that the hotel elevator was so small. There was no way to fit the stroller into it. Fortunately they did have easy access to a storage place on the ground floor but that was pretty small. We luckily arrived when there were not many other guests so there was room for us but it would not have taken to many other visitors to fill up even that space. Also, having the stroller downstairs meant always being blocked by other visitors whenever we came and went. A tiny stroller would have been perfect and we almost went for getting one... if it had not been so cold (our big one had a lot of wind protection and warm stuff).
DISCOUNT BABY TRAIN SEAT
When we made our reservations to get to Paris we by chance discovered that there were discounted seat prices for babies. It was a very good thing... the TGV is not known for being space friendly and the extra seat really made for lower stress. And the baby car seat fit in well so our little one had a nice place to sleep/ play.
Additionally, the TGV train to Paris typically has a semi-closed compartment for each 2nd class train car. Those were great... seats 11,12, 13, 14 I think. Not only were we right at the door to unload everything, we were facing each other and so had extra floor space, and the glass doors, while opening for everyone passing through, made the trip much more relaxing.
Without the above mentioned space be prepared to be among the first on the train so that you can try to store your luggage and stroller before everyone else gets to the limited space. Pay attention what is happening in the winter. The stop before ours on the way home had the doors frozen shut and people had to walk back a few train cars to get out. That would have been quite difficult with luggage and stroller. Luckily our stop got out on the other side of the train but even then the conductor was in such a hurry to be on time that he rushed us out, throwing my wifes hat and coat out before her to be sure she got out quickly. Very friendly indeed.
BRING WHAT YOU NEED
Yes it is Paris but is shopping for baby stuff what you want to do? If you are taking a taxi just fill your bags. We used the minifridge of the hotel room to keep any baby food in and getting hot water was not too difficult. We had also a small thermos that held the baby bottle so we could always ask for hot water anywhere to make a bottle.
If you do need to travel lite, be sure to ask the Hotel if there is a grocery store nearby. The only thing we really did not pack up with was water, it was just too heavy and well worth a visit to a grocery store whereever it might be.
BRING PATIENCE
There will probably be lots of suprises, mainly around your hotel so just be patient unless you want to waste your time. For example our hotel Hôtel du Levant while being ideally located, also had a lot of little suprises.
Our rooms could not regulate the heat... but at least they were hot. So, we left the windows open whenever we left and had to put on our coats downstairs. Also, they have a light saving system where you leave the key in a socket to activate the lights. This can be annoying if one person wants to go to town and the other wants to stay with the baby in the room (i.e. no lights). When we explained this they did say we could get a second light only key on request.
An unhappy suprise was to find out that this system would not allow you to turn off some of the lights in the room.. some were always on. Their solution was to take out the key which would kill all power to the room. Well, with a little baby, total darkness does not work either. Finally we just removed the main lightbulbs at night and left a dimmer single light on.
Another suprise was that they did not have any baby chairs for the included morning breakfast. Instead they had horribly open metal chairs (where we say an unhappy child fall through when leaning back). They also refused to allow us to bring in the baby stroller since that might scratch their precious wooden floors. Fortunately we had grandparents with us and they could take turns holding the baby while we ate. However, in general restaurants were fine bringing in our bulky stroller.
So there you go. We only had a few days and griped here and there but heck, we were in the middle of the Latin Quarter and it was Paris. It was still fun but patience was the key.