Noteboek
Just a notebook… or… ?
Mysterious new mail icon in system tray
A new mail notification that occurs on the system tray looking like this:
Nothing will happen when you hover the mouse over it or clicking on it. It is hard to understand which software this icon belongs to.
The answer is Vodafone Mobile Connect which is a software used to connect with 3G mobile networks as well as WLAN/Wifi networks using built in devices in your computer. It is being shipped with HP Compaq laptop computers for example.
The icon indicates that you have new unread SMS messages in your mobile device. To read the SMS click on the red Vodafone Mobile Connect icon in the system tray. You can see a bit of the red icon in the right edge of the picture above. Then choose “Show” and then “SMS” in the Vodafone Mobile Connect software.
Shutdown Windows Vista via Remote desktop
When you connect to a host running Microsoft Vista remote via Remote Desktop, the Shut down button is replaced by Disconnect.
To shutdown the host remote click on Windows Security just above the normal place for the shutdown/logout/disconnect buttons. This will bring up the standard screeen for switching user, task manager etc. At the right a red button is visible and under this the Shut down option is accessible.
How does Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) work?
By the introduction of Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) it is now possible to register domain names on the Internet, containing regional characters, like for example www.räksmörgås.se.This is possible for a number of the Top Level Domains (TLD), like .se and .nu.
Read more
Mac-adress lookup tool
When troubleshooting networks, when there is an IP-address conflict for example, it is sometimes useful to lookup the vendor of the mac-addresses. This way you can identify the brand of the conflicting host.
A tool for doing this is found here. It contains information about both ethernet and bluetooth manufacturers.
VirtueMart installation problem (Joomla!)
If the installation of VirtueMart version 1.1.3 for Joomla! 1.5.10 fails, a manual installation is needed. The error message says that some critical components of VirtueMart are missing. In addition to the following instructions, read the VirtueMart installation manual.
- Download the VirtueMart Manual Installation package for Joomla! 1.5 from VirtueMart website.
- Unzip the contents of the archive to a folder.
- Upload the subfolders and contents using ftp to the web server running Joomla! according to instructions in the VirtueMart installation manual.
- Use a ftp program or login using a shell to change permissions of the catalog administrator/components/com_virtuemart to 777.
- Change the permssions of the file administrator/components/com_virtuemart/virtuemart.cfg-dist.php to 666.
- Go to http://www.yoursite.tld/administrator/index2.php?option=com_virtuemart and perform database installation according to instructions in the VirtueMart installation manual.
- Follow the VirtueMart installation manual for the rest of the installation process.
Ubuntu eee: Intermittent DNS problems with Windows Vista Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
When connecting an Asus EeePC 900/901 running Ubuntu eee 8.04 (‘Easy Peasy‘) to the Internet through a Windows Vista machine running Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) and you are experiencing intermittent DNS-problems, the problem can be related to IPv6 being enabled but there is no IPv6 Internet connection (only IPv4). In Firefox there is a DNS-error displayed, but hitting reload one or more times will bring up the desired web page. Internet access can also be experienced as slow or sluggish.
The problem can be that IPv6 is enabled in both the Windows Vista and the Ubuntu machine but there is no IPv6 Internet connection. The problem can be resolved by disabling IPv6 in Windows Vista running ICS. You can of course solve it by disabling IPv6 in the Ubuntu machine but then you have to disable it in every client inte network using the ICS, so it is more efficient to disable it in the Windows Vista running the ICS.
Instructions how to disable IPv6 in Windows Vista is found here. Don’t forget to enable it once you hook up your Windows Vista machine into an IPv6 enabled Internet connection 
Ubuntu eee: Youtube video problem
In Ubuntu eee 8.04 for Asus EeePC 900/901 (‘Easy Peasy‘) there is a problem when trying to look at Youtube videos. Almost all videos gives a message saying that it is not currently available.
The problem is the flash player included in the Ubuntu eee installation. To resolve the problem:
- Try do uninstall ‘flashplugin-nonfreebeta’ using the Synaptics package manager.
- Go to http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer, download and install the latest flash player for Ubuntu 8.04.
- Restart Firefox.
WordPress blog: Problem with uploaded images
In WordPress blog software version 2.7.1 there is a problem after a default install when uploading images. The images are stored in the ‘wp-content’ folder but referred to with ‘wp-content/uploads’ path. The result is that uploaded images can’t be used in blog articles.
To resolve this problem, click on Settings, then Miscellenous. Note that the media path is ‘wp-content’ but the note at the right says that default is ‘wp-content/uploads’. Just click the ‘Save Changes’ button and the problem will be resolved.
There seems to be some default reference to ‘wp-content/uploads’ in the distribution of WordPress, but the settings are set to just ‘wp-content’.
Ubuntu eee: Asus EeePC 900/901 WLAN against DLINK DI-624+ router problem
When using Ubuntu eee 8.04 (‘Easy Peasy‘) on an ASUS Eee PC 900/901 and you try to connect to a DLINK DI-624+ wireless broadband router with WEP security enabled, the network manager in Ubuntu eee keeps displaying a dialog asking for the WEP pass phrase, even though is entered correctly.
The problem is the “Super G mode” in the DLINK DI-624+. Just disable it and the EeePC will be able to connect.