GeekNights Monday - Routers

MrPeriod

Tonight on GeekNights, Rym saves a dead hard drive with one of the oldest tricks in the book, rumors are going around about an Apple watch interface (in light of the recent Pebble shipments forthcoming and talk of Corning Willow Glass), professors and educators seem to be very quick to reject technology in the classroom, and we answer whether or not you can erase yourself from the Internet.

Don't forget we have both GeekNights Presents and many of our convention lectures up on Youtube! And submit your panels, workshops, presentations, and lectures to ConnectiCon 2013!

• Dynamic Typography
• Printed lower receiver fires six shots
• GitS:SAC 2nd Gig Opening

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donniedarko

The original video is here
they made a better one here

http://defensedistributed.com/

Churba

Also, keep in mind that 5.7X28 FN is a pistol round. Same as used by the famous Five-seveN pistol.

Bronzdragon

Also, keep in mind that 5.7X28 FN is a pistol round. Same as used by the famous Five-seveN pistol.

It was (as far as I know) designed to be a PDW round, which lies between assault and pistol rounds. They make a handgun (the Five-seveN) to go with their P90 PDW, which was the flagship for their round.

Mac24601

I am an educator who works with lots of people who hate tech. Worse is I teach English literature, so there is "Nothing better than a book, and I never want to read an e-book" attitudes everywhere I look. I wish I had an answer for why my profession hates anything new, but I have a very small theory. We like libraries. That is it, we love them, we love old books and the smell. We love the silence of it and like our temple.

That being stated, I do most of my teaching with the aid of tech.

Apreche

I am an educator who works with lots of people who hate tech. Worse is I teach English literature, so there is "Nothing better than a book, and I never want to read an e-book" attitudes everywhere I look. I wish I had an answer for why my profession hates anything new, but I have a very small theory. We like libraries. That is it, we love them, we love old books and the smell. We love the silence of it and like our temple.

That being stated, I do most of my teaching with the aid of tech.

I also like libraries. There is no reason you can't have old books and smell while also having the smell of ozone from new computers. Goes quite well together.

Churba

Also, keep in mind that 5.7X28 FN is a pistol round. Same as used by the famous Five-seveN pistol.

It was (as far as I know) designed to be a PDW round, which lies between assault and pistol rounds. They make a handgun (the Five-seveN) to go with their P90 PDW, which was the flagship for their round.

Never understood that thinking, honestly. Your pistol, often, is your backup, your sidearm. The gun you use while you're obtaining or otherwise bringing back into service your real gun. Why would you chamber your larger weapon and your side arm in the same caliber? If your main gun is still operational, why are you using your pistol? If your main gun isn't operational, it's going to be due to malfunction or running out of ammo, and if you've run out of magazines, and you're carrying a sidearm and a PDW in the same caliber, then surely at the least you want both your identical caliber guns to have a similar feed system - but no, the P90 has those weird perpendicular magazines with a built-in spiral feed ramp, and the Five seven has a more traditional pistol magazine. The only benefit that you're getting is that if your P90 has a critical failure that you can't fix, you have more rounds at your disposal for your sidearm - after you extract them from the P90 mags and load them into and empty Five seven mags you have.

I get that they're both excellent weapons, I get that the round has excellent performance in range, accuracy, and - to borrow a euphemism I find rather darkly amusing - terminal performance. They were designed, apparently, to compliment each other, but for the life of me I can't figure out why. I don't doubt there's some reason for it, but as of yet, it is entirely a mystery to me.

I also like libraries. There is no reason you can't have old books and smell while also having the smell of ozone from new computers. Goes quite well together.

It really rather does. And to think that E-books and paper books are mutually exclusive is idiocy - both have their uses, benefits and downsides, both have their purpose. Why people insist on one or the other is beyond me entirely.

Mac24601

I am an educator who works with lots of people who hate tech. Worse is I teach English literature, so there is "Nothing better than a book, and I never want to read an e-book" attitudes everywhere I look. I wish I had an answer for why my profession hates anything new, but I have a very small theory. We like libraries. That is it, we love them, we love old books and the smell. We love the silence of it and like our temple.

That being stated, I do most of my teaching with the aid of tech.

I also like libraries. There is no reason you can't have old books and smell while also having the smell of ozone from new computers. Goes quite well together.

I agree. I love both, but until the older teachers and professors die, it will be this way.

Dragonmaster Lou

I agree. I love both, but until the older teachers and professors die, it will be this way.

Depends on the teacher. Age by itself isn't always an indicator of unfriendliness towards technology. My mother-in-law is a teacher and in her 50s and she has no problem with tech in general. While not a "techie," she's certainly comfortable with using it in her day to day life: paying bills, email, using Quicken to balance her checkbook, etc. She also has no problem, in theory, with using it in the classroom. Her main problem with tech at school is that most of the tech they use at school is utter crap. I know all too well how bad it is from my own experiences in trying to help her with it. For example, their browser-based gradebook software only works with Windows. It's not even a case of only working with IE: Firefox on Windows works fine, but Firefox on Mac doesn't. I weep to think of what kind of shitty-ass web programming lies behind that bizarre incompatibility.

trogdor9

And to think that E-books and paper books are mutually exclusive is idiocy - both have their uses, benefits and downsides, both have their purpose. Why people insist on one or the other is beyond me entirely.

I can't stand paper books. They're heavy and they take up space. The only thing I can't do with an ebook is lend it to friends, but that problem is easily solved by not having any friends.

Mac24601

Her main problem with tech at school is that most of the tech they use at school is utter crap. I know all too well how bad it is from my own experiences in trying to help her with it. For example, their browser-based gradebook software only works with Windows. It's not even a case of only working with IE: Firefox on Windows works fine, but Firefox on Mac doesn't. I weep to think of what kind of shitty-ass web programming lies behind that bizarre incompatibility.

I agree. The fact that everything is windows based but some of the applications work on iOS so that is one thing. However, the main issue with tech in the classroom is if you are good with tech you are now the tech bitch. That sucks, so you go in the closet.

Bronzdragon

Never understood that thinking, honestly.

Because it's cheaper for the military to order a lot of one type of bullet than it is to order some of two types of bullet. They weren't designed for soldiers, but for militaries.

Dragonmaster Lou

I agree. The fact that everything is windows based but some of the applications work on iOS so that is one thing. However, the main issue with tech in the classroom is if you are good with tech you are now the tech bitch. That sucks, so you go in the closet.

That is very true as well. My mother-in-law, just because she has some competence in tech, has sorta become the tech bitch at her school. She even teaches some of the tech classes to her students, despite her actual specialty being nutrition and home economics, because she has some tech skills. This is one of many reasons why she's looking forward to finally retiring at the end of this school year.

I've mentioned to her that when my kid[s] start school, I would love to at least volunteer some time to help the school's IT issues out. However, she basically said that even though I have the knowledge and the background, the bureaucracy would never listen to me and instead will prefer to listen to the bottom-of-the-barrel IT staff they currently have in addition to whatever silicon snake oil the slick-dressed educational IT consultants they bring in say to use.

Mac24601

That is so true. Getting in the door is so hard, while in college I would get some networking jobs at a school only because I knew someone.

Dazzle369

"mu' fuckin cucumbers"

johndis

I think one thing that makes teachers reject technology is that it has a historical and current reputation of just being a big pain in the ass. Shit that doesn't work right, or is so complicated that it requires separate professional development to use effectively can be a hurdle for a teacher, and the annoyance of overcoming that hurdle outweighs the benefit for them.

Mobile tech is so nice and easy to use tho, and hopefully it gets adopted more and more, cause there's no real hurdles to using an iPad, except if you break the damn thing. But I think that history and current use of Windows desktops, projectors, Smart boards, and other clunky crap tainted the opinions of a lot of teachers.

A teacher who rejects to using a Windows XP desktop in their class can have a point, but a teacher who refuses to even consider an iPad is a damn jackass.

johndis

Also I would love to personally bankrupt/dissolve SMART Technologies.

Mac24601

Mobile tech is great, but expensive. I am at a school where every child does not get a book. So the tech I use is to help the kids understand the info better.

Also I agree SMART should die.

Belliger

Never understood that thinking, honestly.

Because it's cheaper for the military to order a lot of one type of bullet than it is to order some of two types of bullet. They weren't designed for soldiers, but for militaries.

The ordering large shipments of one type of ammo is true. But that is not the only advantage. Anyone who had the chance to fire a five-seven can tell you it has almost no recoil. Which is a huge advantage in itself. I would imagine the P90 also has negligible recoil. They are both specialized weapons for a specialized use. The P90 lends itself more to a SWAT team or special forces then it does to general infantry. I don't think it was designed to be shipped out with a company of soldiers to Iraq.

johndis

I've heard of school districts doing complete textbook replacement programs with iPads and having it come out to the same amount and sometimes actually less, even with repair costs. I honestly don't get logically how that's possible, but I don't know much about textbook costs. I hear they're absurd though.

Of course, every district is wildly different, so the examples I've heard might just be smaller districts or something. I work in a pretty affluent district, so an iPad program for students would be a dumb move compared to a Bring Your Own Device thing. But if it's just for teachers, then yeah it's just a big expense that seemingly wastes all the other money that's already been "invested" in desktop based classroom tech.

chaosof99

I knew about MC Router before because she often works (or used to work) with Beefy and Shael Riley (e.g. the song "GP" by Beefy which you can listen to for free here), as well as several Rhyme Torrents compilations, but not really a big fan of hers.

Victor Frost

I'm looking to replace my home router. The medialink something-or-another (the highest rated router on amazon) is crapping out. Suggestions? I'm looking for something with high functionality, possibly with the ability to put DD-WRT on it.

Dragonmaster Lou

If you can put DD-WRT on it, then the base functionality of the router really doesn't matter all that much, so long as it can run DD-WRT. I'd suggest hitting up the DD-WRT web page and browsing their compatibility list and picking something from there.

Question for Rym: Admittedly, this is partly because I'm being lazy and not wanting to check for myself, but what functionality is missing from the FiOS router (which I also happen to have) that you need/want enough to have to install a second router behind it?

Apreche

I'm not a fan of DD-WRT. Yes, it adds a ton of cool features to a router that it didn't ship with. But in my experience the home router didn't have those features because it couldn't handle them. Home routers have very little RAM and CPU. If you try to tell them to do all these fancy things, they'll get really slow. If you are slowing down your Internet, well fuck it. There is also a risk of bricking the router, however uncommon.

If you really do need the fancy features, and you can afford it, just buy a fancier router. I have a WNDR3700. It was more expensive than other routers, but worth it. I never have to reset it or mess with it. It is super reliable, unlike the WRT-54G I used to have. It also has way more features than I would ever use. One I do use is the ability to have a guest wireless network that lets visitors to my apartment have Internet, but not connect to my other computers.

I don't think the model I have is still the best one today, but some Newegg/Amazon research should reveal the best choices.

Dragonmaster Lou

Just did a quick search on the WNDR3700 and it's only about $100 on Amazon. That's not that bad as I remember when even the cheap routers were well over $100. As it is, it looks like the going rate for a basic router is about $50 on NewEgg, which surprised me as it's been a while since I bought a new router. Still, if I can get a pretty kickass router for $100, it's worth it to me given how flaky "cheap" (when over $100 was still "cheap") routers have been in my experience. At one time, I think you had to pay between $300-$500 to get a non-crappy router, and that was a bit more than I was willing to spend.

If you did go with the DD-WRT thing, I'd either do it with a used router you got cheap or at least wait until after the warranty ran out on your own router (so you don't void it if it croaks of its own accord).

johndis

Apple Airport

Apreche

Apple Airport

Actually not a bad choice, especially if you have lots of Apple stuff. The Time Capsule is also a good choice. For $300 it's a 2TB NAS and a pretty good router and a print server. I don't know why they don't also integrate AppleTV into it.

George Patches

Man, I really need to setup Open VPN on my router.

Gundampilotspaz

Is there any benefit to having a stand alone NAS if your router supports a USB hard drive?

Apreche

Is there any benefit to having a stand alone NAS if your router supports a USB hard drive?

A NAS can hold a lot more stuff. Also, a NAS like mine has some sort of RAID situation going on that protects against data loss if a drive crashes. NAS's do a lot of stuff that a USB stick does not do. If you don't need those things, then fuck it.

Gundampilotspaz

Is there any benefit to having a stand alone NAS if your router supports a USB hard drive?

A NAS can hold a lot more stuff. Also, a NAS like mine has some sort of RAID situation going on that protects against data loss if a drive crashes. NAS's do a lot of stuff that a USB stick does not do. If you don't need those things, then fuck it.

I wasn't think a USB stick, I was thinking of something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU3S2-ProBox-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1360769986&sr=8-4&keywords=drobo

And then sharing it on the network my using my routers USB port as opposed to spending $300 more on a standalone NAS.