Time to slay. Vampires of the world beware!

Buffybot ,'Dirty Girls'


Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


omnis_audis - Apr 28, 2008 9:47:02 am PDT #5926 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir

I really need to learn to not check Woot! unless I am prepared to buy. Today they have a Magellan GPS for $189. I have long wanted a portable GPS. Today will, sadly, not be the day I get one.
:: whistles innocently ::

WHAT? I really hated having to load maps anytime I went out of the LA basin on my lil handheld GPS. (Can you say Moorpark gig! Oy vey)

It's what the stimulus check is for, right? Lets see... Tires $400, GPS, $194. That leaves $6 to put towards savings. It IS the American way!


Gudanov - Apr 28, 2008 9:58:20 am PDT #5927 of 25501
Coding and Sleeping

I hope it helps, configuring samba is a real pain. I never want to set things up the way the GUI tools want me to. There needs to be a GUI tool to set up samba for the home user, yeah I know my configuration is insecure, I know that it will make network admins cry, but it's my own little private network and I don't care.


§ ita § - Apr 28, 2008 10:01:39 am PDT #5928 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

You wouldn't have any tips for me on the samba user front would you ( ita "Buffistechnology 3: "Press Some Buttons, See What Happens."" Apr 26, 2008 12:07:35 pm PDT)? I'd like to set up machine accounts for my other computers so I can give them default shares for their backups. It's overkill, I know, but I feel that I've let my sysadmin skills decay to most nothing, and I want some of them back.


Gudanov - Apr 28, 2008 10:20:52 am PDT #5929 of 25501
Coding and Sleeping

To set up a samba machine, do I need a samba user of the same name? To set up a samba user, do I need a Linux user of the same name? Can I forgo passwords on many of these?

Do you want to deal with users and passwords at all? If not, you need to use 'share' level access instead of 'user' level access. That is the part that makes network admins cry.

And now a directory layout question--how do you guys organize your Linux file structure? I mean, if you have files that you want to share across machines (like .avis, or something), do you stay under the /home directory? I'm probably going to drop a /shared under the root and work from there, but I'm curious.

I use a directory (/storage in my case) under root for my MythBox that shares images, audio, and video.


§ ita § - Apr 28, 2008 10:28:47 am PDT #5930 of 25501
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

Do you want to deal with users and passwords at all?

I had a passing idea that I'd have users with home shares, but that's strictly for the learning curve, since it's pretty much just me on the network. Honestly, manually picking the share the PC backs up to versus the one the laptop backs up to isn't unworkable workflow--I just thought it would be tidy and worth learning the automatic way.


Sean K - Apr 28, 2008 1:09:19 pm PDT #5931 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

So, the next purchase I'm probably going to make (aside from upgrading the memory modules) is a laptop cooling pad. I was looking at some in Best Buy today, but they were all 10" pads that looked too small to be really effective for my 17" laptop.

Anybody got any recs?


Sean K - Apr 28, 2008 1:18:47 pm PDT #5932 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Also, I downloaded a handy computer metrics dashboard widget that includes temperature readings for several parts of the computer. It's terribly useful, but it leaves me wondering what the normal/ideal operating ranges for those values are supposed to be, and at what point I should sleep/shut down the computer for a while to let it cool off.

In general, I've been extremely conservative, and closing the cover to walk away at regular intervals, but if I'm going to base my decisions off of hard data, I'd like to be able to understand what I'm reading.


Gris - Apr 28, 2008 1:22:00 pm PDT #5933 of 25501
Hey. New board.

Sean, before trying something complicated, check out using Fan Control to modify when and how the fans come on. I've found that playing with the values can help keep a Macbook (Pro) a lot cooler.


omnis_audis - Apr 28, 2008 1:44:28 pm PDT #5934 of 25501
omnis, pursue. That's an order from a shy woman who can use M-16. - Shir

Sean, I have a basic laptop stand. No cooling fans. I think it was $10 when I ordered it thru macmall eons ago (it's a G4 iBook). Does the trick nice. I think it's mostly about getting some airflow in around it. Also, and I'm sure the hivemind will correct me, if you are at home and walking away, put it to sleep with the lid open, so heat can dissipate up. I've heard closing the lid traps some heat in. Again, these could be all different with the new line. Also, what Gris says.


Sean K - Apr 28, 2008 1:58:12 pm PDT #5935 of 25501
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty

Okay I have installed Fan Control (possibly twice), but now I can't find it -- in applications or anywhere.