The Smorgasbord

We move computers around quite a bit in our house, and we sure have the gamut here. I have been using a Ubuntu Linux workstation in my office for about 5 years now. Downstairs in the living room we’ve had Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Vista, some NetTop PC’s, a Macbook, an iPad or two floating around, and a dual boot laptop. For some reason, we always seen to have problems with our wireless adapters for wifi in the house – we that is, we seem to go through a lot of them. Probably because they’re usually USB and often go between PC’s.

So I put together a new PC today with Ubuntu – and having gone through the whole drawer of wifi adapters, I found a broken Wireless G and 2 broken Wireless N, and one broken laptop wifi card. If I want to get this box online without an ethernet cable I have to use an adapter. Most of the bookmarks I had on file for supported Ubuntu hardware were outdated. One thing I should say is that if you use Ubuntu Linux – always make the official Ubuntu Forums your first stop for tech support. One trip there, and in about 30 seconds I found that there’s an Official Supported Wireless Network section of Ubuntu Help.

There’s a complete list of supported wireless cards for Ubuntu there (both new and old). I’m not a networking expert by any means, but I do know that for best use you don’t want to get a wifi adapter that uses ndiswrapper if you can help it (because it actually uses a Windows wrapper). What you want is a wireless adapter that has native support IN UBUNTU for the wireless chipset.

So, having perused the list myself, here is my recommendation. You’d be surprised how cheap you can get some of this stuff on eBay used, secondhand, and refurb.

My #1 choice for best wireless N adapter for Ubuntu Linux is the D-Link DWA-160 Dual Band “extreme N” wifi adapter. It’s USB, with native chipset support, and should work out of the box! Guess what – if you search hard enough you should be able to get one for around $30 used!

D-LINK DWA-160 XTREME N dual band USB adapter. WORKS WITH ALL POPULAR ROUTERS.
	USD 20.00 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 22:59:33
D-Link Xtreme N DUO Dualband Draft 802.11n USB Adapter DWA160
	USD 25.85 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 00:47:35
D-Link DWA-160 Xtreme N Duo USB Adapter Omnidirectional IEEE 802.11bg WPA WPA2
	USD 68.32 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-13 22:14:06
D-LINK DWA-160 DUAL BAND XTREME N WIRELESS USB NO RESERVE FREE SHIPPING!!!
	USD 1.11 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 03:00:54
NEW D-LINK DWA-160 XTREME N DUO USB ADAPTER XP/VISTA
	USD / 55.26 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 15:08:47
D-Link DWA-160 300Mbps Duo Band Wireless N USB Adapter
	USD 24.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 23:27:59
DLINK DWA-160 XTREME N USB CONVERTER OMNIDIRECTIONAL
	USD / 56.26 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 05:58:06
D-LINK DWA-160 XTREME N DUAL BAND USB ADAPTER WIFI 11N
	USD 53.81 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 13:48:27
D-Link DWA-160 300Mbps Xtreme N Duo Band Wireless USB Adapter
	USD 15.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 03:41:37
NEW D-LINK DWA-160 EXTREME N DUO USB W/USB DOCK ADAPTER
	USD 66.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-13 17:10:55

The new price for the DWA-160 used is about $47:

Are there other supported cards? Yes, plenty – but I wanted one that had been listed as working in 2011 with native chipset support (for a reasonable price), and this was the best one. Also, for my needs on this project I wanted a wifi N USB adapter for Linux because if I dump this box I don’t want to open it to get the PCI card out, and I want an adapter that will work on a desktop, laptop, whatever we have. I’m glad we found this – it works well for us on this system.

Need external storage that’s extremely portable? I’ve wished for an external hard drive enclosure that’s wireless, and my wireless hard drive review guide will show you the in’s and out’s of what’s currently available!

This post of part of The Smorgasbord Tech Reviews series!

*Update* – this is a repost from the archives with new info, since wireless hard drives are more affordable and cheaper than ever nowadays…

I’ve blogged a lot off an on about making your home entertainment network more user friend, and the gadgets that can help you get it done. Yesterday we were talking at home about the value of maybe getting a big external hard drive and hooking it up (wired) to one PC so the entire household could store their media on it. We’d maybe start it off with one big USB 2.0 external 500GB disk. You can get one new for around $120 less than $50 now online. I’ve written about the wireless USB hub and how you could connect multiple external hard drives or enclosures that way, and I’ve also posted about the value of a good network storage drive. But now they’re coming out with wireless hard drives that may start to change all of that…

What is a Wireless Hard Drive?

You have to be very careful when you’re shopping for a wireless hard drive, because devices that may appear to do the same thing may not. There are many, many flavors that may do many many different things – pay attention to what your needs are, the price, and value for the money. I’m going to show you some different kinds of wireless hard drives and enclosures:

The Iomega 33349 StorCenter has 1 Terabyte (1,000 GB) 2 or 4 Terabyte (2-4,000 GB) of storage and is a “Network Storage Device” – meaning you can plug it into your router or switch on your home or business network for everyone to share (without having it hooked to one dedicated computer). The StorCenter is “wireless” as well as wired, so all laptops and mobile devices can access it. Imagine having one device that could be accessed by PC’s, laptops, cell phones, PDA, iPhone, iTouch, or even your PSP or other mobile devices. There’s a price to be paid for all this technology, and around $200 (as of this writing).

You can get the latest price by following these links.

Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 – 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black)

Iomega StorCenter ix2-200 – 2 TB Network Attached Storage 34481 (Black)

iomega 35430 StorCenter ix2-200 -AS IS (No Hard Drives)
	USD / 10.50 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 20:38:12
New Iomega 4TB StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage, Cloud Edition 35430 LOOK
	USD 349.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 13:48:20
Iomega StorCenter ix4-200d 8TB 4 x 2TB Network Storage Cloud Edition 35439 LOOK
	USD 849.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 13:53:10
Iomega 34678 StorCenter ix12-300r Drive Expansion Pack 8TB Serial ATA Hard Drive
	USD 1159.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 01:48:46
Iomega 34657 StorCenter ix12-300r Network StorageServer
	USD 4125.94 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 04:27:22
Iomega 34657 StorCenter ix12-300r Network StorageServer
	USD 4125.94 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 04:26:11
Iomega 34678 StorCenter ix12-300r Drive Expansion Pack 8TB Serial ATA Hard Drive
	USD 1159.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 07:39:07
Iomega 35427 StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage Server
	USD 331.93 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 02:10:23
Iomega 35427 StorCenter ix2-200 Network Storage Server
	USD 331.93 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 02:08:24
*** Iomega StorCenter NAS Network Hard Drive 1TB - GREAT CONDITION ***
	USD 199.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 00:35:45

You have some products that proclaim to be a “Wireless Media Player” like the MG-M2TVD and MG-M2TVDW Media Players by Mediagate. This is just fancy hard drive enclosure – since the device comes sans hard drive. It does proclaim so pretty boasty features, like the ability to stream HD video via wireless up to 1920 x 1080p. It’s got all kinds of fancy connections, like L/R stereo out, and composite, component, and S-video out. This particular unit can stream video from an internal hard drive or a PC on the network and even has a remote control. So you can see that this unit (as a wireless hard drive) is very different in that it can be a set-top box OR a media gateway to access (from networked PC’s). *update* the features of these are a bit different now, but they are still “media player” devices where you plugin external drives…

Follow these links to find more out about this device:

Noah Company MediaGate MG-M2TVDW Network Wireless N HD Media Player HDMI Full 1080P with DTS 2.0 Digital Audio Out (Piano Black)

Noah Company MediaGate MG-M2TVD Digital Media Player HDMI Full 1080P with DTS 2.0 Digital Audio Out (Black)

You might be interested in an Asus Wireless Storage Router which has an internal 250GB hard drive. It has a USB connector so you can connect other (wired) storage devices to it for sharing, and it even has the ability to download files from the Internet when your PC is turned off. The specs say you can download up to 7 bitTorrent files or 10 FTP/HTTP files simultaneously. For what it does, this wireless hard drive is a pretty good at half the price (and storage) as the StorCenter. You can get the wireless storage router through these links:

Wireless Storage Router

Asus RT-N16 Gigabit Wireless Router w/ Storage & Server
	USD 94.90 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 05:01:13

If you a have a hard drive lying around, you might be able to stick in a wireless hard drive enclosure box and put it on your network (wirelessly) that way. You can get one pretty reasonably, but the two I found were only for 2.5″ drives. I hope we see more (and a 3.5″ version) on eBay soon:

3.5" IDE Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure IDE USB 2.0 Black nice Supports Windows
	USD 13.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 02:28:42
[KW] USB3.0 External HDD Enclosure Case SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Interface NA201U Plus
	USD 41.30 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 08:02:14
[KW] USB3.0 External HDD Enclosure Case not include HDD SuperSpeed 3.0 Interface
	USD 42.79 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 08:32:26
2.5'' Laptop ATA Hard Drive USB External Enclosure/Case
	USD 5.39 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 19:08:58
[KW] USB3.0 External HDD Enclosure Case SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Interface SATA I/II
	USD 35.90 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 09:02:01
3.5 SATA Serial ATA HDD Hard Drive Disk Case Enclosure
	USD 16.70 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 06:56:47
2.5" SATA LAPTOP HARD DRIVE to USB 2.0 EXTERNAL ADAPTER CONVERTER ENCLOSURE KIT
	USD 8.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 09:16:33
[KW]USB3.0 External HDD Enclosure Case 2.5" SATA I/II hard drive USB1.0 1.1 2.0
	USD 37.97 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 09:32:12
USB 2.0 2.5" SATA HARD DISK DRIVE CASE Enclosure Red
	USD 4.19 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 07:19:16
IOMEGA ENCLOSURE 2.5" SATA LAPTOP HARD DRIVE HDD to USB 2.0 EXTERNAL ADAPTER KIT
	USD 8.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 09:50:36

You can actually make any external hard drive enclosure wireless by using the Linksys Storage Link for USB Disk Drives. Just like many other devices Linksys makes to connect computer hardware to your home or business network, they make a Storage Link that will connect any 2 USB storage devices to your wireless local network. The thing that’s always sucked about external hard drives is that they have to be attached to a physical computer via USB to work, and then you have to access them through that computer on the network. If that computer is turned off or locked up – you can’t access those drives. With a Linksys Storage Link, you can put up to 2 USB storage devices on your network independant of all your PC’s. Just plug it into your router or hub (or switch) to work. Oh – you can even stick a flash memory stick or drive into one of the USB slots to share it on the network as well. This is not only great for file sharing, but an easy way to connect with many mobile devices!

Linksys Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives NSLU2

LINKSYS WRT350N WIRELESS-N GIGABIT ROUTER WITH STORAGE LINK - MINT
	USD / 19.99 (1 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 21:52:39
Linksys Cisco WRT350N 4 Port Gigabit Wireless N Router with Storage Link
	USD 114.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 23:27:13
Cisco Linksys Network Storage Link - Model NSLU2 for USB 2.0 Disk Drives
	USD 25.49 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 22:20:43
AC power adapter Linksys Network Storage Link NSLU2
	USD 9.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-10 03:06:38
Linksys WRT350N 270 Mbps 4-Port Gigabit Wireless N Router + STORAGE LINK
	USD 1.04 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 04:39:45
Linksys NSLU2 Network Storage Link NAS
	USD 30.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 20:30:27
Linksys NSLU2 -- Network Storage Link
	USD 14.50 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 20:38:21
AC Power Charger For Network Storage Linksys Link NSLU2
	USD 7.59 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 15:05:53
LINKSYS WRT350N - WIRELESS ROUTER WITH STORAGE LINK, XLNT
	USD 19.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 21:26:05

Wireless Hard Drive Auctions

Products and listings change on eBay all the time, so here’s the lastest auctions for “wireless hard drive” on eBay right now!

dj system karaoke hard drive cavs 203g usb wireless mics pa club professional cd
	USD / 2178.70 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 07:12:35
Clickfree C2N 1 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive Wireless Backup
	USD 184.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-13 22:00:37
Kingston Wi-Drive 16GB - Wireless USB External Hard Drive for all iPad iPhone
	USD 71.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 07:16:26
Clickfree C2N 1 TB USB 3.0 Hard Drive Wireless Backup
	USD / 167.80 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 22:46:21
iMac G5 17 FPD 1.8 GHz 512 MB RAM 80 GB HARD DRIVE COMBO DR WIRELESS WARRANTY
	USD / 124.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-08 21:17:53
Apple Time Capsule 1 TB Wireless Router with Hard Drive (MB277LL/A A1254)
	USD / 134.50 (20 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 00:51:24
HP Pavilion DV7 4000 Series 4065DX Hard Drive Memory RAM Wifi Wireless Cover
	USD 29.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 20:50:28
Apple Time Capsule 500gb Hard Drive + Wireless N Router
	USD / 66.00 (7 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 04:02:01
Hp Pavilion Dv5 dv5-1125nr Hard Drive + Wireless Memory Cover Door EBQT6006010
	USD 8.09 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 00:08:43
Apple MC343LL/A 1TB Time Capsule Wireless Hard Drive
	USD 152.50 (24 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-09 21:44:43

This tutorial is “How to root your HTC EVO 4G from sprint”, (and tips on rooting other cell phones too). We decided to post this since our favorite Android phones have become both the EVO and EVO Shift, and nearly every single friend and relative we know has wanted to know if we could root their cell phones as well. More people would probably do it – if they only knew how easy it was.

What is Cell Phone Rooting?

Rooting is to Android what Jailbreaking was to iOS (iPhone, iPod, iPad) devices. While they have different names, they are essential doing very similar things to your device, allow unsigned code to run. All of it sounds intimidating but really, its nothing at all!

What are the Advantages of Rooting a Cell Phone?

There are many, the first of which is that you are in TOTAL control of your phone and what’s on it! Did you ever notice that there are certain apps that you just can’t delete from your cell phone? That’s because companies PAID Sprint a fee to put them there. A rooted cell phone means that you can install custom themes, custom backgrounds, custom apps and widgets – it opens up a whole new WORLD of opportunities within your mobile phone and Android.

A rooted phone usually runs must faster than one with default software, because it’s optimized (and can be overclocked as well). They also usually have substantially loger battery life, because you obtain the ability to turn off all kinds of services when you don’t need them.

Many people root their phone to avoid paying for apps (which we do NOT recommend), because you can download nearly every app ever created for free online just by searching for the file name and saving it to your rooted phone.

What are the Disadvantages of Rooting a Cell Phone?

Rooting a cell phone is NOT illegal in any way, but mobile companies and cell phone manufacturers will tell you that there is danger in running “unsigned code”, because it could be unstable, unsafe, etc. 99% of the time it’s no more “unsafe” than installing Linux on a computer instead of Windoww. The cell companies want to stay in control of your phone, and what you can install (and what you can’t).

The real disadvantages are if you do intend to download and install illicit apps, they are “unsigned code” and you have no way to verify they are what they are without running them. In addition, if they have to interfact with a server in any way to get data, or save high scores, interact with other players – unsigned apps can’t do that. On the other hand, you can run BOTH signed and unsigned apps on a rooted phone, so the things that need interaction you could pay for. Just remember that downloading paid apps for free is the same as back in the days of Napster – it’s stealing.

DISCLAIMER: We are not responsible for broken, bricked or damaged devices, acts of God or anything else that might of caused your phone to break. This will void your warrantee but there are ways to reverse the process and restore your warrantee (just like restoring the operating system on a desktop computer). Our tutorial here is provided to you for entertainment and educational purpose only, and what you decide to do with the info is up to you – YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY!

Things you will need:

• Windows computer
• Small amount of technology knowledge
• HTC SYNC installed and working
• 1GB of free space on your SD Card
• A Full battery (this is crucial, if your battery dies will performing the root, your phone will be bricked and you just made yourself a very expensive paperweight.)
• USB Debugging enabled on your device. To achieve this Settings > Applications > Development > USB Debugging
• Your phone connect to your computer as charge only
• The AutoRoot.zip file found in this tutorial

Instructions to Root the EVO (Follow them carefully and thoroughly)

1. This will completely wipe your phone. If you want to back up your apps use Titanium Backup.
2. First extract auto root.zip into a folder that is easy to find. I tend to use the desktop or My Documents folder
3. Open the file named ‘AutoRoot.bat’ and let it run. If there is only a flashing line, close the window, right click the file and select ‘Run as Administrator’. Then open the file again. If you are still having a problem email me your question.
4. The file will continue to run. If there are any errors or it fails to complete then restart your phone and try again. Also make sure you are not actively use your phone while the process is working.
5. When it is ready it will reboot your phone into the boot loader and depending on your setup it will either enter RUU mode and automatically flash the debugging firmware or give you instructions on how to flash it from hBoot.
6. If it requires you to manually flash it, just push the power button to select “BOOTLOADER” and say yes when it asks to flash the PC36IMG.zip. It will give some errors halfway through but no worries, this is normal. Once its finished say no to rebooting and then use Vol Down to highlight recovery. Then press power to select it.
7. It will make a nand backup and then restart your phone. If it hangs on the white HTC EVO screen for more than a few minutes, do a battery pull and restart your phone. If it hangs again then you will need to run the RUU and start over.

*This will only work on hBoot version .9x

You can download the AutoRoot v2.3 file here: http://www.multi upload.com/9S4BOSZITN

Congratulations! You have successfully rooted your HTC EVO! For more information on rooting other phones, help or information on how to install custom roms, checkout http://forum.xda-developers.com. They will have tons of info and a whole community of people ready to help you.

Here’s some great deals on EVO phones in auctions ending soon:

MINT SPRINT HTC EVO 4G GPS WiFi CAMERA CELL PHONE WHITE
	USD 199.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-13 20:44:22
HTC EVO 3D $49.99 w/ New Sprint Contract 4G Android Cell Phone
	USD 0.99 (2 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 07:03:19
HTC EVO SHIFT 4G FREE with New Sprint Contract Android Cell Phone
	USD 0.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 07:14:14
Excellent Condition! HTC EVO 3D for Sprint clean esn! 4G phone!
	USD 239.97 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-12 21:36:38
MINT SPRINT HTC EVO 4G WIFI CAMERA ANDROID CELL PHONE
	USD 174.95 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 14:21:17
HTC EVO 4G A9292 - Good Condition White Sprint Cell Phone
	USD 144.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 22:09:32
HTC EVO 4G Black Sprint Smartphone Cell Phone APA9292 Good Shape
	USD 97.00 (13 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 14:45:08
HTC EVO 3D $49.99 w/ New Sprint Contract 4G Android Cell Phone
	USD 0.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 15:38:20
DAMAGED/BROKEN FOR PARTS ONLY LOT #1 PHONE CASES/CLIPS - IPHONE 3G, EVO 4G, ETC
	USD 13.00 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-11 16:30:37
HTC EVO SHIFT 4G FREE with New Sprint Contract Android Cell Phone
	USD 0.99 (0 Bid) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 15:48:16

This is a quick article on “How to remove the Firefox Popup Virus”. I hope this gets indexed in Google and helps someone. I usually tend to post things when I have a problem, do a search, and didn’t exactly find the answer right away.

Do I have a Browser Virus?

I mainly use Ubuntu Linux, but I do have Windows dual boot on my laptop, and a Windows 7 desktop for my son. We don’t have Norton Internet Security or McAfee installed on either computer. Mainly because it slows systems down, and is not necessary in our house – we’re all technically minded and haven’t had an infection in 10 years.

Over the last month something weird has happened – when we visit web sites another tab will open via popup in Firefox with some type of ad, usually with video and sound – and it seems to be triggered by certain keywords. Things like “ebay”, “amazon”, “spyware”, and other trigger keywords. You’ll go to shut down the ad tab and you always get the javascript prompt “are you sure you want to do that”.

At first I thought this was a bad “addon” or toolbar that was installed to Firefox. We do have one little one in the house, and he doesn’t yet know the difference between ads and content. There are some really sneaky, shady (and slimy) marketers that put out both toolbars and addons that “enhance” your web pages with popups, ads, and then can even contextually link content on a web page to spam sites and sales pages. Instead of “infecting” your computer, they just convince you to click and install a toolbar or Firefox Addon under the guise of “providing incredible deals” or “helping your surf faster”, or some other garbage. So if you think you have some kind of redirect or popup virus – the first thing you can check is whether you have any toolbars or addons installed in Firefox under “Tools->Addons”. Remove all addons that you don’t need, or don’t know what they are, and restart Firefox.

It’s not a Firefox Addon or Toolbar – Am I Infected?

The next thing I did was visit Housecall.Trendmicro.com. I’m not in love with Trend Micro security, but they have an online scanner you can use without installing anything. It works just as good as Norton or McAfee. I let it run, and it didn’t find any virus, trojan, rootkit, malware, spyware, adware, or other kind of infection – NOTHING!

Now I was stumped, I fully expected it to turn up something. I googled, and I googled, and I googled some more. It turns out that there are some widespread infections with the Firefox browser – and they’re all for popups or redirects. McAfee and Norton can’t find them, and they’re NOT installed through an addon or Toolbar.

The Firefox Browser Redirect Popup Virus

This Firefox browser redirect popup virus infection is usually one of the following:

- an infected Firefox profile
- an infected Firefox “hosts” file
- an infected Firefox browser cache

How do you get rid of the Firefox popup redirect virus? For me, the fix was as simple as pie. It turns out that I had an infected profile, and this is what fixed it:

1. You start Firefox in “SAFE Mode”

Look in your start menu as in the image above for the Firefox safe mode link – and click it.

2. Reset EVERYTHING in Firefox

Then check all the boxes and restart Firefox. This will dump the cache, all settings, reset the profile – and adds are (like me) once the browser is restarted your redirection and popup infection in Firefox will go away.

If you still have problems, most likely your hosts file is infected, google how to remove it, install a fresh one, and restart your computer.

Maybe I’m the last person to find out some things – but since when are they selling “Star Wars Adidas Shoes”? I saw a blog post today with Darth Vader Adidas shoes – I mean – they had the image of Darth Vader embossed right into the top of the toe! Immediately I’m like – WTF! How cool is that?!

So immediately I logon to Amazon to try and look for them, but they’re not for sale? What I did find really strange was the fact that they had other types of Star Wars shoes for sale that I had never seen. There’s the Adidas ZX 800 Star Wars Boba Fett, a Condustor Storm Trooper SW Sneaker, something called the Adidas Jogging High top Chewbacca shoe, the Metro Attitude Jabba the Hutt, and even a SL 72 Han Solo Star Wars Sneaker. Again I say WTF! How did I not know about this? They even have separate Star Wars good and evil jerseys!

Here’s what I found:

The Star Wars Vader 7 Evil Jersey (shouldn’t Vader’s number have been 6??)

The Star Wars Good Skywalker 7 Jersey

Adidas Boba Fett Shoes

Adidas Strom Trooper Sneakers (Shoes)

Adidas Star Wars Chewbacca Shoes

Han Solo Star Wars Shoes

Is one of the Han Solo shoes frozen in carbonite? LMAO…

That’s all the Star Wars shoes I could find on Amazon…so then I got to thinking – what about eBay? I searched for “star wars darth vader shoe”, and there it was!!!

The Vader shoes in the image above aren’t the only ones I found -I found more than 70 pairs in all kinds of styles!! I eventually did find the ones the Darth Vader’s image embossed in the top of the toe.

I can’t shoe them all here, so here’s some of the ebay auctions for Darth Vader Star Wars Shoes (I’m so excited!):

ADIDAS STAR WARS Stan Smith 80's Mid Hi Tops Darth Vader Shoes Size 8 NWB
	USD 9.99 (3 Bids) | Buy It Now End time: 2012-02-07 18:27:45
Adidas Star Wars US 10 Darth Vader Forum Mid Sneaker Shoe Red Black Death Stars
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I haven’t heard much about the fact that Google recently launched encrypted search. It’s pretty easy to use, all you have to do is go to https://www.google.com to encrypt searches (just add the “S” to make it secure to the http part).

What this does is encrypts your searches from prying eyes over public connections, wifi, even at work! Now, some privacy advocates still says “but google has the data” – but short of a court order nobody’s getting that! The nice thing about it is that it also doesn’t archive your searches in history, and your searches won’t appear in the “autofill” of future results on that PC either. I mean, you wouldn’t want your kids typing in “bunny” for the easter bunny – only to have your (previous) search autofill “bunny ranch sex” would you? LMAO.

Google encrypted search – you may have to use it someday!

You can dump Comcast DNS for Google Public DNS for a much faster Internet on your computer! I’ve been a staunch Comcast cable Internet subscriber for nearly a decade now. Probably because I live in a small town and there’s never been anything else here but dial up and DSL that’s much slower. We can’t get Verizon Fios high speed service (or anything else). For better of for worse, Comcast has been the fastest game in town for years (like many communities).

We doing business with “the beast” there have been lots of issues of course – going back to when Comcast would “hijack” packets when people were filesharing or using peer to peer networks, to bandwidth caps, and all kinds of other things. There have been many times when web sites would hang (or be really slow) – but when I ping them from another data center they were just fine. Lately, the thing I really don’t like is the fact that Comcast now participates in “DNS hijacking”. When you mistype a URL that doesn’t exist, instead of giving you a “not found” page – they give you targeted ads! I guess other ISP’s do it too, and it’s called “DNS Redirection Advertising“. I call it BS.

So, when google announced “google public DNS” today – I about peed myself! Everyone knows google’s data centers are fast as hell and very redundant (all over the world). They are faster, more powerful, and probably more secure than Comcast will ever be – and they don’t filter a damn thing! No ads, no BS – woohoo! You can use google’s public DNS whether you are on Windows, Ubuntu, or Mac! It’s easy and quick to make the change, google has directions on using pubic DNS here.

If you’re using Ubuntu (like me), just to go to “System -> Network Connections” and “edit” whatever connection you’re using (Wireless, Wired, etc), and then go to the “IPv4″ tab:

Just enter their public server addresses like I did:
8.8.8.8 8.8.4.4

(make sure there is a space between the 2 sets of numbers).

I have to say – I noticed an IMMEDIATE improvement and MUCH FASTER speed! I LOVE it!!!

Sidenote – if you want to continue to use Comcast DNS – they apparently a DNS Health Portal, where you can use “opt out” servers for the DNS redirection. I’m sure nearly no one knows about this (or uses it) – AND it’s STILL slower than google! Some people use Open DNS because they have filtering options – might be good for families with younger kids, or protection against malware. Me – I now prefer the lightning quick speed on Google’s Open DNS!!

46 Days. To some that means nothing, but to millions of Americans 46 Days means they had better get a move on. 46 shopping days left until Christmas seems like a lot that is until you’re buying gifts for people at Walgreens on Christmas Eve. Why not get a move on Christmas a little earlier than usual.

First off I have got the website that might just save you some of the trouble of treading through the masses of people looking for that hot Christmas item, Deal Catcher. I just recently found this site but it is a gem. It crawls the web looking for the best days from the webs greatest shopping sites. You can find deals from 1800flowers all the way to zappos. They also have coupons; all around this website could save you some serious time this holiday shopping season.

Black Friday is a longed for day for the bravest of shoppers but for most it’s dreaded. Even though the deals are fantastic you just can’t seem to drag yourself to fight over a Blu-Ray player with a 60 year old woman who thinks it plays VHS tapes. If you’re like the type I just mentioned then you may just want to skip over these next sites. First is Black Friday Ads is a great site to see adscans of the biggest and best black Friday sales. This site also has a section that showcases the ‘hottest deals’. Next we have Black Friday info is another good site for planning your black Friday escapades. They not only have all the black Friday deals and adscans but they also have deals that other places are offering leading up to black Friday.

One more deal that everyone on the web seems to be talking about is Wal-Mart’s pre-Black Friday sale. Currently the deals run from November 7th to November 13th, even though Wal-Mart has state that how long the sale last is completely dependent on how long supplies last. Right now the big ticket item is an Xbox 360 arcade which is $200 dollars but comes with a 100 dollar Wal-Mart gift card. The gift card can be used in store or on the website so you can see how lots of people are trying to get on the best deal so far this season. A few of the other deals include a Sony Blu-Ray player for 149 dollars and a HP laptop for $298 dollars.

Christmas is approaching and if you follow some of these websites and tips you could save yourself the giant headache this season gives you every year.

I’m hoping that my “Back to School Laptop Buying Guide” will be a post I can point all my friends and family to when they barrage me with questions about “what laptop should I get” for my son, daughter, friend, parent, co-worker, etc. It seems like this time of year people are always seeking advice during the “back to school” time sales – whether it’s for someone in high school, college, or even something for a gift or present later down the road. Its nearly the time that all students dread, and all parents love, back to school time! With back to school comes the need for a new laptop. So why wade through all the garbage when I can do it for you!

Obviously a student needs a light, super portable, and a power house for extensive apps! With that being said most manufacturers laptops are loaded with ad-ware, and junk files when its bought. So make sure when you do get your little electronic piece of gadget lore home you clear it of all the garbage. Now on to the guide.

Budget Laptop Review

Gateway TC7804u Price: 599.99 to 699.99

Generally speaking I wouldn’t normally recommend a gateway anything, but for the price this is one of the best ultra-portable laptops. At 5.3 pounds it a little beefy but with a large 320 gb hard drive, 2 ghz intel core 2 duo processor and 14 inch screen it makes the extra weight very bearable. It also boasts a Wireless N networking so it has great speeds from long range. It also looks very slick and sexy with a glossy black finish, beveled lid, metal trim and glowing orange media controls.

Gaming

Alienware Area-51 m15x Price: 3,249.99(Depends on configuration)
For those you want some stress free gaming time ‘between classes’ or whatever you tell your parents. In all seriousness this is the very best gaming laptop on the market. If you are serious about your gaming hobby and have the cash to shell out, you wont be disappointed with this purchase. It is pretty light for a gaming laptop at a manageable 7.1 pounds. You also get to pick the LED backlight color and even the case design. Aside from aesthetics this bad boy is a beast under the hood, packing a 15.4 inch display with a max 1080p resolution, Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 CPU running at 2.8 GHZ, Nvidia GeForce 9800M GT GPU, and even a Blu-ray burner.

[nms:Alienware Area-51 m15x,3,0,0,smorgas.alienware.m15x]

Mainstream

Dell Studio XPS 16
Its got a large 16 inch LED-Back light display, and ways in at a 6.4 pounds which is light for comparable models. 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, 3GB of RAM, and you get a 250GB hard drive and slick slot-loading DVD burner. It battery life leaves something to be desired but it makes up for it with great performance and a great price. It displays at 720p so watching HD is also great. For the money its a great price and performace make this a great buy.

Got your own favorite? Then tell us about it in the comments!

Do a quick search of “Jesus Phone” on google and you will see why its the iPhone’s nickname. Okay so the iPhone is great on its own, but you can open a whole new world of possibilities by doing a hack know as “jailbreaking.” Basically jailbreaking is a process that allows iPhone and iPod Touch users to run unofficial code on their devices bypassing Apple’s official distribution mechanism, the App Store. Once jailbroken, iPhone users are able to download many applications previously unavailable through the App Store. As of today, July 27 2009, jailbreaking is not illegal but the US Copyright Office is expected to rule on this later this year.

*As always this process is not recommended if you lack experience with electronics*
*Backup all of your data before beginning this process!*

Step 1: Download the software “redsn0w” from http://theiphoneproject.org/windows/redsn0w-win_0.7.2.zip
Step 2: Follow the software prompts.
Step 3: Plug into your PC or Mac and press the buttons it tells you to.
Step 4: Enjoy your new jailbroken iPhone!

Now that the hack is completed you should get familiar with the new app store that was installed, cydia. Its nearly identical to the old Apple App Store so it should be easy to get used to it.

Now on the good part: The Apps! First you should download Cycorder. This app allows you to record video @ 15fps in Quicktime format. This means you wont need to buy the 3GS for video because you just got it for free! Next you should download PDANet. This awesome app allows you to use your iPhone as a wireless router or a mobile modem. Basically this means you can now use your teether you iPhone to a MAC or PC connect to the internet where it would otherwise be impossible! Finally there is Discover. This app makes your iPhone accessible to every computer on your home network. This means you can add media files to your iPhone from any computer in your house! These are just a few of the great apps you can download with your jailbroken iPhone!

I have also included a video from G4′s Attack of the Show. They detail everything you can now do with your brand new Jailbroken software and they also include a video guide for installing the hack!

Enjoy the hack and make sure to post your results in the comment section!