Archive for November 2009

Build a Mechanical Computer

Build Your Own Digicomp Mechanical Computer! tells about a plastic mechanical computer from the 1960s. It offered three bits of tabletop computing, back in an age where corded telephones were considered high-tech. According the article Digicomp started a bunch of kids on a career in computers. Now a member of “Friends of Digicomp” Yahoo Group

Default Password List

Default Password List has saved the day several times when working with different network equipment. When the instructions are missing or the information on default passwords is very well hidden within the documentation, the Default Password List will give you the password information you quickly.

Failed Office Pranks

Practical jokes do not always go well. Sometimes the most innocent jokes have the most tragic consequences. 8 Innocent Office Pranks That Went Horribly Wrong web page shows you eight videos of office pranks that did not work as expected.

Making of Space Chair Ad

John Huntington’s Entertainment Technology Blog has an interesting posting Toshiba’s Very Cool “Space Chair”Ad. It consists mainly of two videos. The first video shows the cool Toshiba TV ad. The second video is the “Making of” video. It tells how the ad was made using several high definition cameras rigged to a big weather balloon

Academia vs. Business

xkcd webcomic has today a funny comic about difference between academia research and business. Check out that Academia vs. Business strip yourself on the comic web page (the comic strip picture is too big to fit to the layout of this blog so I could not add it nicely here).

Passive Ethernet Tap

Construction and Use of a Passive Ethernet Tap article provides straightforward instructions on how to construct and use a passive Ethernet tap. It allows you to monitor Ethernet traffic on with any hub or switch and any operating system. A passive Ethernet tap is useful when installing an intrusion detection system (IDS) sensor or when

Fading Usenet Newsgroups

Usenet Newsgroups have been great over the past almost twenty years for me. I am finding less and less good posting and always more and more spamming. I fear that we are witnessing the death-rattle of the terminally. The problem is not Usenet newsgroups. Thousands of them are thriving quite nicely today just as they

Computers at the International Space Station

The International Space Station (ISS) isn’t just an orbiting laboratory, spaceship testing-ground and multinational geek-fest — it’s also the world’s highest (250 miles) and fastest (17,500mph) computer network. Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS) allow constant radio communications in the S- and Ku-band, while UHF signals are used to talk with the Space Shuttle and