Category Archives: Sufficiently Advanced Technology

For a long time the home network was fine. Then yesterday nothing would print. The problem seems to be the print server. I've proved that the printer cable from the print server to the printer works. The printer self-tests fine. I've tried two different cables from the Netgear PS111W print server to the Linksys BEFW11S4. The print server also has a wireless card in it (free if you mail in the coupon, but it took six months to turn up), so even if the cable were bad, it should work.

None of the computers on the network see the printer any more. After I reset the print server to the factory defaults, the administration software was able to tell it was there…sort of. Although it comes up as the sole item on the list of print servers when I do a survey, and I was even able to rename the print server from the default name to 'P2', the configuration software was initially unable to do any other sort of configuration, or even to read the settings. Yet the config settings are there: I can get the print server to print them out to the server.

In desperation, I read the manual and downloaded the binary file to re-flash the firmware. The manual does not list the error message I get from the administration software. But it does have instructions on how to configure the print server via FTP. I try that (I know the IP number because that's on the printout when you dump the config file). The print server will not respond to FTP—I get a 10060 (timeout) error. I can force my win98se computer to “find” the printer on the network if I give it the name, but I can't get it to install a new printer to that name (or take existing printers back online) because the printer installation system thinks the printer is not found or offline. I bet Linux users don't have these problems.

Having downloaded the firmware flash binary, I look for instructions on how to apply it. There are none in the manual, and none in any evident place on the support page .

Basically, the print server is not responding to tcp/ip requests. Maybe flashing the firmware would help, maybe it's hardware. I think it's just out of warranty, so it may be planned obsolescence. I've spent about three hours debugging this, and I didn't fix it. I've emailed my story to tech support, and if they don't have useful ideas, then I suppose I give up and buy a new print server.

I think I know a fair amount about computers, and usually feel proud that I can debug most of the domestic problems that come up on MS products, PC hardware issues, and the home network. But this experience makes me wonder: was this knowledge helpful here? If the right answer is, buy a new print server, a complete tech ignoramus could have reached that conclusion much more quickly….

Using the Right Bait to Catch a Comet describes Aerogel—super light weight, least dense material, hard to see straight, yet a great insulator and hard to crush. It sounds cool. I want some.

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Lie detector specs soon available to all points to the more serious if nevertheless slightly vaporwarious Lie-detector glasses offer peek at future of security.

A U.S. company using technology developed in Israel is pitching a lie detector small enough to fit in the eyeglasses of law enforcement officers, and its inventors say it can tell whether a passenger is a terrorist by analyzing his answer to that simple question in real-time.

The technology, developed by mathematician Amir Lieberman at Nemesysco in Zuran, Israel, for military, insurance claim and law enforcement use, is being repackaged and retargeted for personal and corporate applications by V Entertainment (New York).

“Our products were originally for law enforcement use — we get all our technology from Nemesys-co — but we need more development time [for that application],” said Dave Watson, chief operating officer of parent V LLC. “So we decided to come out sooner with consumer versions at CES.”

The company showed plain sunglasses outfitted with the technology at the 2004 International CES in Las Vegas earlier this month. The system used green, yellow and red color codes to indicate a “true,” “maybe” or “false” response. At its CES booth, V Entertainment analyzed the voices of celebrities like Michael Jackson to determine whether they were lying.

Besides lie detection, Watson said, the technology “can also measure for other emotions like anxiety, fear or even love.”

I won’t actually believe in such a device until it is tangible and subject to serious double-blind testing. But it is delicious to imagine how useful a pair of lie-detector specs would be for, say, watching the State of the Union. Or candidate debates. (Imagine a meter running in a box under the speaker on TV…). Or diplomacy.

Of course, I’m prepared to believe that, to the (greater or lesser) extent he thought about it, Ronald Reagan believed everything he said. And I suspect Jimmy Carter tried hard to tell the truth. But they were unusual.

The Inquirer, a fairly reliable source, says that PCs to change radically in 2004. While USB, SATA drives, Ethernet and probably SCSI won't change, just about everything else you plug into a motherboard will, plus the motherboard itself and even the power supply. Oh yes, the case may need to change too.

Sure there are real technical reasons for all these changes, but is it just a coincidence that PC and component sales are flagging a bit as people find their old hardware is Good Enough? Plus, that all of the old (i.e. current) kit — except those USB devices — will be completely incompatible with the new standards, new pin configurations, and new slots?

Worse, I was sorta thinking that it would be time to replace the 400Mhz win98se desktop machine I do most of my work on some time this year. But I'm getting a little tired of the bleeding edge on hardware, and I'm not that likely to want to get version 1.0 of a new motherboard configuration. But buy the last of the old, and it's stable, but also orphaned before its time…

Driven by huge losses, Lego is going back to the basic product (spotted at Slashdot). The market gets a lot of criticism, but in this parent's view anyway on this one the market has spoken and it's right.

Lego toys that are designed to let you make a particular structure, like say a Star Wars craft, are basically horrible. They sound like a great idea, and the kids clamor for them, but they are expensive and have limited play value. First, although there's a great dog-on-its-hind-legs quality about the finished product, the assembly is usually too complicated for younger kids. Second, the result is fragile and anyone who tries to play with it finds it falls apart in their hand. Third, you can't take it apart and mix it with anything — you'll never be able to put it back together again without that one critical weird piece you can no longer find. Fourth, there aren't as many other things you can make with the set as you'd expect given the high (licence-fee-driven?) price.

Despite all this, at least in our area it's been remarkably difficult over the last six years to find large collections of just generic lego to make, say houses and garages even though there's much much more play in those. It would be really nice if that changes… Although there will still be stiff competiton in our household from the number one toy: Playmobil. (Well, number one non-electronic toy anyway.)