Intel VT Virtualization

If you have never heard of virtualization, then I highly recommend that you get yourself familiarize with it, at least conceptually. Basically with virtualization, you can run different copies of the same version of Windows or different versions of Windows on the same physical machines. These "guest" Windows are isolated from each other to some extend. This enables a lot of possibilities. Actually, you can run guest operating systems that are not Windows. You can run Linux and other exotic systems on the same physical machine. Think about this, you only have to buy one physical machine to run half a dozen copies of Windows simultaneously. It's like having multiple physical computers in your room.

Needless to say, because the computer runs multiple copies of Windows at the same time, this computer needs to have a bit of beefy CPU, lots a memory, and last but not least the type of virtualization technologies that the CPU supports.

Assuming that the host physical PC has an Intel CPU. At the very least, this CPU has to support VT-x. There are a few other members of the VT family. They are VT-x, VT-i, VT-d, and VT-c. Below is a brief introduction of what these are and what they can do for you in terms of your using virtualization.

https://www.thomas-krenn.com/en/wiki/Overview_of_the_Intel_VT_Virtualization_Features  

Synology Disk Station Manager 5.2

Synology, my favorite NAS provider, has released its latest version of the DSM 5.2 out of beta. As expected, this release comes with new features and updated old ones. Below is a list of these things.

https://miketabor.com/synology-dsm-5-2-exits-beta-goes-gold/

VLC for iOS

The VLC video player is a very popular free program that seems to be able to play any video files you throw at it. Considering what it can do, it's a meager 22MB download for the Windows version. iTunes is much bigger but cannot play many file formats which is basically what people really want from a video playing program.

While its Windows and Mac versions have been around for a long time, its iOS version is still relatively new. In fact, it seems to run afoul with Apple's App Store policy often resulting in its being yanked off from the store. If you have a network storage server at home, odds are it offers SMB as the primary download protocol because SMB is supported by Windows and Mac OSX. Unfortunately, VLC for iOS still does not support SMB as of March 2015 so that you can stream video files from the NAS to the iPhone and iPad. The good news is the VLC people promise that they will make VLC for iOS support SMB. Their initial work on this is 6 months ago based on the discussion on the VLC forum. Once VLC for iOS supports SMB, it will be a major software development for the iOS in general because Apple seems to want you consume media files via streaming from the Internet and not from your local file server. This is why Netflix and the likes have been available on the iOS for a long time.

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ios.html

With that said, you can always download media files from the NAS into the iPhone or iPad via FTP. Then you would simply play them locally. As said, VLC for iOS can play a lot of file formats, negating the necessity to re-encode the video file to a iOS friendly format such as M4V.

Creates a Custom Windows Recovery Partition

Many Windows PCs come with a recovery partition built in, but it contains the image file of Windows exactly the way it comes with. This includes all the usual bloatware like programs that you will never use or inferior programs that will expire in 30 days. This is very annoying because the whole point of a recovery partition is to bring back Windows to its perfect state, exactly the way you like it. This is achievable if you create your own recovery partition. A free program called AOMEI OneKey Recovery makes this possible.

You will run this backup program and create the recovery image that is stored on a separate partition on the same drive as the C partition or on an external harddrive before you start using the computer, before it starts to accumulate the bad stuff as time goes by. Basically, the program will clone your C drive in its current state.

http://www.backup-utility.com/onekey-recovery.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gukKC7SsA8I

Microsoft Office on Your iPhones and iPads

Did you know that Microsoft gives away for free (yes, free as in free air) its Office suite that includes Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint for the iOS 7 or higher?

 Both iPad and iPhone users can now access and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents on their iPhones as well as their iPads. You can now use this Outlook app to access your Outlook.com email address or any email accounts that offer IMAP support without using the mobile browser on your device.

If you are interested in the development of Microsoft Office on the Mac including on the iOS, you should visit this webpage once in a while.

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/mac-software/microsoft-office-mac-2015-release-date-rumours-new-outlook-3456798/

Internet Explorer version 9, 10, 11 Offline Installers

Offline installers for older versions of Internet Explorer are notoriously hard to find on Microsoft website because Microsoft wants you to use the latest version of the program. These installers can be found on non-Microsoft websites but given how integrated Internet Explorer is into Windows, it's not a good idea to install the program that does not come from the Microsoft website.

If you are a technician, you should download these installers now and save them on your computers before Microsoft takes them down. Windows 7 comes with IE 8 so there is no need to get the offline installer for IE 8. If you are not using Windows 7, you will find it hard to get any technician willing to fix the computer for you.

x86 means 32bit version. x64 means 64bit version.


http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/3/B/C3BF2EF4-E764-430C-BDCE-479F2142FC81/IE9-Windows7-x86-enu.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/1/6/C167B427-722E-4665-9A40-A37BC5222B0A/IE9-Windows7-x64-enu.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/A/C/8AC7C482-BC74-492E-B978-7ED04900CEDE/IE10-Windows6.1-x86-en-us.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/E/0/CE0AB8AE-E6B7-43F7-9290-F8EB0EA54FB5/IE10-Windows6.1-x64-en-us.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/2/F/92FC119C-3BCD-476C-B425-038A39625558/IE11-Windows6.1-x86-en-us.exe

http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/1/7/7179A150-F2D2-4502-9D70-4B59EA148EAA/IE11-Windows6.1-x64-en-us.exe

DS vs WDS vs Mesh

The Internet connection starts with the Internet Service Provider or ISP. This is the company that you pay at regular intervals to get your Internet connection. Popular ISPs include Comcast, ATT, Cox, Earthlink, Sonic, and Time Warner. The Internet signal comes into your home and connects with a wire to the modem. Usually, the ISP provides the modem either free of charge or on a rental basis. This is the extend of your ISP's involvement. After this, it is your responsibility to provide your own distribution of this Internet connection by means of routers and access points. Think of the router as a splitter that enables more than one computer to use the same Internet connection. The access points are boxes that relay the Internet signal with wifi signals so that end devices like smart phones and laptops can join the network and get to the Internet without being tethered to the router with a network cable.

A collection of routers and access points that make up your local network is a distribution system. There are different types of distribution systems that can be setup according to your needs and what is possible. Each has advantages and disadvantages. If cost is not an issue and it's possible to run network wires through the coverage areas, the best setup is mesh wired distribution system. You will understand why this is after you have read what is below.

The most basic is the wired distribution system. As seen in the graphic, all of the access points are connected to the router with its own dedicated network cable. The incoming Internet signal to all of the APs is via this wired connection. This enables the APs to relay a very good signal. If possible, this is how your local network should be setup to ensure that your wifi devices get the best Internet signal. If you have a bunch of wireless routers that you want to act as APs, you need to turn off the routing function in them or else you will have one mess of a network. In general, there should only be one device that acts as a router in a network.

A variation of the wired distribution system is one where each of the APs has two network jacks. Therefore as seen in the picture, AP1 gets its Internet signal from the router and then relays this signal to AP2 with a network cable. AP2 then does the same with AP3. This daisy chain of network connection looks different than the previous wired distribution system physically, but functionally, each AP still provides great Internet signal.

Sometimes it is not possible to run a network cable between each AP. Therefore the relay signal has to be over the air. When this is done, we have a wireless distribution system as seen in the graphic below. The dotted lines represent the wireless communication between the APs. You also see that AP1 only communicates with AP2 and not AP3. AP3 only communicates with AP2 and as such indirectly communicates with AP1. Setting up a WDS is a bit more complicated because each AP has to be programmed to only accept the incoming signal from its upsteam AP. Therefore, AP2 can only accept the signal from AP1, and AP 3 can only accept the signal from AP2. This means if AP2 is offline, AP3 will not get any Internet signal, resulting in computers in the range of AP3 not getting any Internet access. Moreover, the Internet speed is cut in half as the signal is relayed. This means any computers getting their Internet from AP2 only get half of the speed compared to if they get it from AP1. This also means any computers getting the Internet from AP3 get 1/4 the original speed coming out of the router. This is why WDS should only be setup no more than 5 APs. If AP6 is needed, it should get its incoming signal via a network cable either from the router or from one of the APs much closer to the router in this chain.

WDS has no redundancy in the participating APs. This means when one AP fails, the distribution system is broken. The offline AP has to be replaced or fixed before all the down the line APs can get the signal. In a mesh WDS network, all APs communicate with each other in a non-daisy chain way. When one AP goes down, another will take over its role as long as the replacement is within range of the source signal. In a sense, a mesh network can self heal. For a mesh network to be effective, you need to pepper APs in strategic locations to maximize overlapping signals. This is why a mesh WDS network is more robust, but it is also more expensive because you need to deploy more APs. There can also be a mesh network where all the APs are connected to the router with a network cable. When an AP is offline, the flow of the Internet signal is rerouted. For example, if AP2 is offline, AP1 will communicate with AP3 via their wireless connection. While the Internet connection is maintained, the computers connected to AP3 still have their Internet speed cut in half. This self healing only works if the signal from AP1 is strong enough to reach AP3. This is why in a mesh network, the APs are placed in strategic spots to maximize this rerouting when one or more APs fail. In a sense, the Internet itself is the largest mesh network of all networks. The Internet does not shut down when one or a few Internet routers fail.

Of course, you can mix and match these network setups. You can have a WDS at one part of the network and a mesh one at another part as long as the IP addressing scheme does not create any conflict, that is, as long as data knows where to flow to reach its destination, the mixed network would be fine. Basically,mesh is used at locations where there is a high demand for wireless access. The APs in such an area also have higher horse power to handle more simultaneous connections. 

There are other variables to consider in addition to the topology. The processing power of the APs, the frequency they use, and how to handle the backhaul are just a few. In a WDS, usually the backhaul, the communications between the APs, are handled with the 5GHz frequency because of that frequency's higher throughput compared to the 2.4GHz. Distribution systems are complex networking schemes but with good understanding and good planning, they can be made to work even in the most demanding of situations like large coverage areas or high data usage demands.  

If you like to play around with mesh wireless network without having to pay too much money, then Open-Mesh is the best solution. You can get an access point from them as little as $75. It used to sell an even cheaper model, so you can probably find these on some retailer who still has this cheaper model in stock. Unfortunately, as of this writing, these APs, even the high end models, do not support features like scheduling and auto-RF. Scheduling is when you program the APs to turn on and off their signal at a certain time of the day or day of the week. Auto-RF lets you choose what channel to transmit or the APs choose it for you based on the channel that has the least interference. Currently, these Open-Mesh APs are stuck at channel 5 for the 2.4GHz and 144 for the 5GHz. Open-mesh tech support told me that these two features are in the works and should be available by the end of the year. It would be hard press for anyone to say that these 2 features are not important. They are important to have a cleaner signal and stronger security. 

Synology Media Services with Apple TV

Synology NAS is friendly to playing multimedia to your various devices such as Roku, XBox, PlayStation, and AppleTV. However with the AppleTV, because Apple's refusal to join the industry standard DLNA ecosystem instead running its own proprietary protocol Airplay, you need an intermediary device to play media files stored on the Synology NAS onto the TV to which the AppleTV is attached.

Below is an article that explains in detail on how this is done.

http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/87489-setting-up-synology-nas-media-services-with-apple-tv

One thing to be aware though. Because the Synology disk station manager (DMS), the operating system that runs the NAS hardware, supports Airplay, once the video has played, the NAS communicates directly with the AppleTV. In other words, the iOS DS Video app only acts as the initial connection between the NAS and the AppleTV. Once that is done, the DS Video app and the iDevice can be moved away from the connection or even turned off and the video file still plays.

I wish Apple would allow the AppleTV the ability to browse SMB shares such as those on the Synology NAS. This would make life a lot easier for people who own AppleTV and Synology NAS. Incidentally, Apple desktop operating systems version 10.8 or higher supports the network share protocol SMB and SMB2 by default. Its proprietary older protocol AFP is still supported+
, but you have to explicitly key that in when connecting to network shares. As such, why Apple cannot simply include this SMB support in AppleTV? One reason is Apple wants you to access media files that are on the Internet exclusively. SMB access is accessing these files locally within your home network. In other words, if the media files are stored in the cloud, you are only in possession of the files as long as you pay for their storage on a subscription. You would stream them to your devices as needed. No storage of any files locally on servers such as the Synology NAS which you purchase once and use as long as the hardware lasts. According to Apple, even with media files that you created such as home videos of your kid's birthday party should be stored in the cloud, preferably in your iCloud drive to which Apple gives you the initial 5GB of storage for free.

Simple Scanning Program

If you just want a simple scanning program to create scans from your scanner, then I recommend this.

http://naps2.sourceforge.net/

It can scan from both TWAIN and WIA scanners. These are just protocols used by scanners to communicate with the computer. TWAIN is older of the two and can be fond in both Mac and Windows PCs. WIA stands for Windows Image Acquisition. As the name implies, it is a Windows-centric protocol and therefore only found in PCs. There are other scanning protocols used by the specific scanners that are found in the driver for the scanners. This is why many scanners come with software; without this software, the computer cannot make the scans. If you have a scanner whose driver is installed just fine on your computer, but for some unknown and annoying reason, your scanning program of choice, one that does not come from the scanner manufacturer for the specific scanner, cannot detect the scanner. In short, Windows says that the scanner is detected and displayed correctly in Device Manager but when you open the Paint or Paint.NET program to tell it to scan, the scan from a device option is gray out. Most likely, the scanner is of the TWAIN variety that Paint no longer understands because it prefers to use the WIA driver model found in Windows Vista, Seven, and Eight.

This is where the NAPS2 program can help. It understands both TWAIN and WIA scanners. I was trying to scan from a Canon DR-4010c without success. Windows 7 detects and recognizes the scanner just fine, but Paint and Paint.NET refuse to scan from it. The NAPS2 program does it with simplicity and perfection.

It is a very small program, but it can do most features that a typical person wants from the scans. It does not support previews where you can adjust the scanning area. This means if the paper in question is not the typical 8.5" and 11" size, the resulting scan will have this large white frame around the document. This not a deal breaker because you can always use the Paint program to crop it afterwards. I would use Paint.NET program to crop it and (through a export to PDF plugin), save the scanned file as a PDF.

If the paper document is 8.5" and 11" or large enough to be these dimensions, then you can use NAPS2 itself to scan and save the file as PDF directly. If the scanner supports duplex, NAPS2 can do that too and save multiple scans as a single multi-page PDF. It can also save the PDF file as a single page that displays both sides of the paper document side by side aka folio. This is done if you want the PDF to be printed out on paper that can fold vertically like a birthday card.

One unexpected bonus from my testing is the PDF files this program creates are substantially smaller than those from other scanning programs. I am not sure why. I compared  the resolutions of the resulting PDF files and could not detect any degradation when zoomed in.   

SVG Files

There are two kinds of graphics: vector and bitmap. Bitmaps are based on the pixel. This means a bitmap image has a defined resolution. This means if you zoom into a bitmap image, eventually you will see the individual pixels that make up the image and the image under high zoom will appear blocky or pixelated.

A vector image is determined by mathematical equations and not by pixels. Therefore, the image can be zoomed in at any magnification and is still smooth. There is no pixelation because there are no pixels to reveal under high magnifications.

An svg file is a type of vector file. It is designed to be displayed by all modern web browsers. The advantage of an svg image file is it is very small in size. In fact, calling it a file is not even correct. Calling an svg file a file is like calling the letters in this paragraph a file. Basically an svg "file" consists of nothing more than a bunch of texts telling the browser how to "draw" an image on-the-fly. Imagine your telling the web browser to display an svg rendition of a circle. The svg code is basically a glorified equation for a circle which is as seen on the left.

Incidentally, the image on the left is a bitmap image. If you zoom in, you will see all of the static pixels or building blocks that make up the image.

If the browser supports svg, then it will display a picture of a circle. In fact, it will display a picture of a perfect circle. When you zoom into this svg circle image, the curve never shows pixelation.

Test this out with the two images on the left. At first glance, they look exactly the same. However, when you zoom in by telling your web browser to zoom in, you will see which one of them is a bitmap image and which is a vector image. As said, a vector image that is rendered in a web browser is an svg file.

In case you are curious what is the actual svg equations that would cause the web browser to render this image, just look at the HTML code that creates this post. Look for a tag that says SVG. You will see all kinds of weird texts and numbers. This is a much more complex version of the simple circle equation.

More info on vector vs bit map can be found here:
http://packetrider.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-free-browser-based-vector-creator.html

Peer to Peer Airplay

If you have a TV connected to an AppleTV and an iPhone, iPad, or a Mac computer, you can use the built-in Airplay feature to have the TV display exactly what is displayed on the iPhone or iPad. In short, what you see on the iDevice (a generic name for any portable device that runs iOS), you can see on the TV.

There are 2 ways to setup this projection: Infrastructure and Ad-hoc.

Infrastructure is when both the AppleTV and iDevice are connected through a middleman such as a wireless router. This means all Airplay traffic between the AppleTV and iDevice go through the centralized controller that is the router. While this certainly makes setting up easier and consistent, it does require an extra piece of hardware and the speed decreases because of the connection between the AppleTV and iDevice is indirect. There is also a slight performance degradation as well if you plan to project a video, resulting in some stuttering. Therefore, if you plan to stream videos that are already stored locally on the iDevice, then an ad-hoc or peer to peer connection is recommended.

The article below from Apple explains in technical details what is happening during a peer to peer Airplay connection between an AppleTV and an iOS portable device.

http://help.apple.com/deployment/ios/#/apd8fc751f59

Basically, for peer to peer Airplay to work, you need to have the required hardware. On the AppleTV end, it has to be a 3rd generation rev A Model A1469 or later with AppleTV software 7.0. On the iDevice end, it has to be a model made in 2012 or later with iOS 8. If you want to use a Mac computer instead of an iOS 8 device, then the requirement is a Mac computer made in 2012 or later with OS X Yosemite version 10.10.

Basically the AppleTV and iDevice use Bluetooth to make the initial connection. After that, wifi is used to do the actual mirroring. This means the iDevice cannot connect to another wifi signal that has Internet access. Therefore, if you want to play a video from the iDevice and have it be seen on the TV, then this video must be stored locally on the iDevice. If the device is a Mac computer running Yosemite, this is not a problem in terms of simultaneous Internet access because the computer has both wifi and wired connection. The wired connection is used for the Internet connection while the wifi one is used for the Airplay.

If you must use an iOS8 device and still need Internet access at the same time, then you have to use a physical adapter such as one below. Then it's no longer Airplay but just a wired connection to the TV directly bypassing the AppleTV altogether. This wired connection obviously removes the benefit of mobility of the iDevice. It has to stay fixed next to the TV.

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD826ZM/A/lightning-digital-av-adapter

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MD098ZM/A/apple-digital-av-adapter

Incidentally, the Lightning or 30-pin female connector on this adapter is used to charge the iDevice while it is being used to project the video. This is recommended if the video is played for hours so there is a drain in battery power on the iDevice.

For those technically minded, the wifi channel used during mirroring is 149 in the 5 GHz band and channel 6 in the 2.4 GHz band. Given that video streaming takes up a lot of bandwidth, during the streaming, any other wifi devices that use these frequency will see a major degradation in their usage. This is not a problem because if you have the required hardware listed to do this peer to peer connection, then the AppleTV and iDevice will be using the 5GHz band to do the transmission instead of the 2.4GHz. The fact that there are 8 non-overlapping channels (compared to 3 channels for the 2.4GHz) to choose from for the 5GHz band, interference with other wifi devices in the area is minimal.

Good Review Website

With so many websites out there that help you choose the best tech or non-tech products and the plethora of products available themselves, it's maddening to find the right product for your needs and price points. There is a website called The Wire Cutter that not only does its own in-house product testing, but their editors dig through other product review websites to get a consensus. This hive mind approach ensures that you are not taken by the bias reviews of one particular site.

http://thewirecutter.com/

I have bought products recommended by this site and so far, the items have lived up to their reputation.

VoIP Service That Is Google Voice Compatible

Basically, it enables your run-of-the-mill analog telephone to call out and receiving calls using a free Google Voice number. Other than the device itself, once hooked into a Google voice number, all calls made and received within the US is free just like Google Voice itself. However, if you want added services, you have to pay Obitalk a small fee.

http://www.obitalk.com/obinet/

Band Steering

In a typical wifi access point (AP) that can do both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz at the same time, your wireless client such as a laptop or smart phone can either connect to one band or the other, but not to both at the same time. In other words, as a start, you can associate the client to the 2.4GHz band with its corresponding WPA password. The client will remember this association so that the next time this 2.4 GHz SSID is in range, the association will automatically re-establish. You do not need to put in the password again. Then you will tell the client to associate to the 5GHz band and go through the same routine. Now, your client remembers and caches the log in credentials for both SSIDs for future encounters.

Your client device will see both SSIDs. If you name the two signals with the same SSID, this SSID will appear twice on the detected list. This "duplication" only serves to confuse you. Therefore for dual band APs, you should give each band a unique name that will tell you that one is 2.4GHz and the other is 5GHz. Examples being MyNetwork24 and MyNetwork5.

If you want to switch over from one band to the other, you have to do this manually. Certain high end APs have a feature called band steering. Basically, the AP will associate with the client at 2.4GHz first but when it detects too much congestion at this band, the AP will automatically tell the client to switch over to that of 5GHz. As you recall, the client already has the passwords cached for both bands. You do not need to do the switch manually and certainly not having to enter the password every time. Therefore band steering is a convenient way to get the best of both worlds.

The least expensive AP that I can find so far that has this feature is Engenius EAP600. At about $150, it's more expensive than the other dual band APs that can be found at half the cost, but with band steering, it's worth the extra cost in my opinion. Another access point that does band steering that also can participate in mesh networking is one made by Open-Mesh. The cheapest model is the MR600 that goes for $175.

Imagine you are in the same room as this EAP600 enjoying the faster speed of the 5GHz signal, but as you walk away, this 5GHz signal gets weaker because of its shorter wavelength nature. Eventually, the association to the 5GHz is terminated. However because of band steering, the client device will automatically jump to the 2.4GHz band and maintain the network connection. The 2.4GHz signal has longer range and less susceptible to blockage, but it is prone to interference from co-existing 2.4GHz signals. The 2.4GHz signal also has longer wavelength so less data can piggyback on its waves. Therefore, the data transmission speed of the 2.4GHz is perceived to be slower (and it is). Conversely, when you walk back into the room, the reverse will happen. The client device will re-associate with the 5GHz band to give the data speed a boost.

Below is m info on how to set band steering with a cluster of APs that support it. The video does not use EAP600 as example so I am not sure if EAP600 can be used in these clustering. EAP600 is categorized as an enterprise AP so it should be able to be managed as such.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbiYJYFSAb0

General info on band steering itself
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGmfPwbs2Jg

Introduction to Open-Mesh Access Points
http://youtu.be/1YOoT3NxgYg

Revert to the Old Avatar Switching in Chrome

With the latest version of the Chrome browser, Google made a change that is an annoyance. When you look at the upper right corner of the browser, you will see a button that is the name of your current Chrome user profile. It is there even if Chrome only has one profile. For people like me who use multiple user profiles, it is even more annoying having to do 3 clicks now to switch between profiles. The old way of doing the switch is simple: Click on the avatar, a dropdown menu shows up with all the profiles visible. Then it's a simple matter of clicking on the profile you like to use. That's it.

Now with the latest change, this process requires 3 clicks which is not that bad in itself, but if you switch profiles a lot, this becomes a big annoyance because it is not necessary to require 3 clicks to get the job done. Luckily, you can go to the location bar in Chrome, type in chrome://flags

Then do a text search for any appearance of "avatar". Go to this entry and make this setting Disabled. The user switching process is reverted to the old way.