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Recently, the AngryNetworker and I were having a conversation about Linux on Facebook and I wanted to share my thoughts on the subject. The conversation centered on Ubuntu’s frequency of major releases. The AngryNetworker had this to say:

isn’t it ridiculous that every month or so theres some new major release of ubuntu. Now they are pushing out Kubuntu. this is why linux is has such a hard time really breaking into production environments….

I had to correct him, and I’ll drop some science on you all, just in case you don’t know: Ubuntu releases major desktop versions about six months and Kubuntu follows a short while after. Also, here’s some more info for you all to marinate on: The Ubuntu release version numbers are based on the release dates and not actual versions, i.e.: Ubuntu 7.10 was release on October 2007 - it’s not the seventh release… If you’re interested, you can read more on Ubuntu’s Release Schedule.

With this knowledge, I have to pose the question: Isn’t it a good thing that there is a major Operating System revision that is released so often? I think it pushes the coding envelope instead of having OS delayed four years and missing every major promised feature (I’m looking at you Vista). Just look at Apple: Every major release is a vast improvement on its predecessor. Ubuntu is following this dynamic: Each bi-annual release receives UI and feature improvements. I don’t want to pick in Microsoft here, but it feels like they took a hard look at XP and removed everything that was great about it, slapped on a GUI that is resource intensive (which forces hardware upgrades and degrades usability) and called it Vista.

Before Vista, I was one of Microsoft’s biggest fans (that fact that 90% of my articles are on Windows is a testament to that) and now, the more I use Linux, the less I like XP. I think Linux has a long way to go, but the fact that both Apple and Microsoft are targeting the high end PC market leaves a huge gap in the low- and mid-markets which are perfect for OS’s like Ubuntu and gOS (I realize that these are both Debian derived, but they’re the distro’s I’ve had the most experience with).

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I’ve written about my love of batch files many times and one of my favorite tricks is shutting down a computer via the command line. In this tutorial, I will show you how to shut down multiple computers, which already connected to your network, via a batch file. This particular batch file will feature a loop that calls our shut down routine as needed!

More Information

Batch files are executed line by line, from top to bottom. By using labels, we will make the program jump around a bit. This will allow us to set a variable, call central command, then reset the variable and call the central command again. By doing this, we are only creating one variable – regardless of how many computers we have - we will just reuse that single variable. Less is more people! This method creates smaller, cleaner code: We don’t need separate variables for each computer; we just reset that variable as we need! Also, it’s important to note that each computer will use the same shutdown routine.

Before we start, you will need to make sure that you know the name of each network computer and can access it. To find out the computer’s name, walk to each machine and hit the Windows Key+Pause/Break key and click on the Computer Name tab. Look for the value under “Full computer name:”. Once you know the name of each computer connected to the network (that you’d like to remotely shut down), the easiest way to see if you can access them is with the command prompt: Go to your machine (the one that will be running the command file, not the networked machines), hit the Windows Key+R, and type:
\\{computer name}
For example, if the networked computer’s name is “274D”, you would enter:
\\274D
If the computer’s shared directory is displayed, then you’re connected! If you get an error, then you need to check connectivity settings and those are beyond the scope of this article.

Creating The File

Open Notepad and save the file, on your Desktop, as “Network Shutdown.bat” (or “I love ham”, it’s your choice ). Make sure you set the “Save as type” drop down to “All files”.

Listing Each Computer

Right-click your newly created batch file and click Edit (double-clicking it will launch the file). We need to list all of our computers in blocks. Each block be composed of three lines of code: We will set a variable with the network computer’s name, call the loop and then create a new label with that computer’s name:
set varcomputer=274D
goto loop
:274D
Let me explain what each line means:

1. set varcomputer=274D
   By using the “set” command, we are creating a variable called “varcomputer”, we then set the variable. In this case, with the value “274D”
2. goto loop
   We are telling the program to go to the label named “loop”, which we will create in a few steps.
3. :274D
   This label has the value of the computer in this block. The loop below will tell the program to go to this label, then the program will continue on the next line (line by line, remember?!).

Create a block for each computer that you’d like to shutdown:
set varcomputer=274D
goto loop
:274D

set varcomputer=322A
goto loop
:322A

set varcomputer=bobs_pc
goto loop
:bobs_pc
Notice that we are reusing the varcomputer variable. After you’ve listed each computer, write the “exit” command. This will tell the computer that we are all done and it may close the progam:
exit

Creating The Loop

The loop will consist of four parts: a label, some information for the user, the actual shutdown command and the return for the loop:
:loop
echo Shutting down %varcomputer%.
shutdown -s -m \\%varcomputer% -t 600 -c "The computer is shutting down. Please save your work."
goto %varcomputer%

Again, let’s break down each section:
1. :loop
   This is the entrance for the loop. The second line of each computer block is sent to this label.
2. echo Shutting down %varcomputer%.
   This is the information that is returned to the user who runs the program; it reads the current value of the “varcomputer”. This information will not be displayed on the networked machine.
3. shutdown -s -m \\%varcomputer% -t 600 -c "The computer is shutting down. Please save all of your work."
   This is the shutdown command. It contains a few a few parts. For detailed information on each switch, please read Windows Tip: Shutdown Your Computer With The Command Prompt
4. goto %varcomputer%
   This is the return for the loop. The program reads the current value of the “varcomputer” variable, returns to the final line of the current block and continues to the next block. By using the goto command, we are telling the program to return to a label – one that we’ve set with the “varcomputer” variable.

The Finished Product

Now that we are armed with this knowledge, we can put it all together – but before we do, let’s add a few finishing touches. At the beginning of your file, add this:
@Echo off
This will hide all commands from the user’s view and will only display comments (that are preceded by “echo”). Also, you’ll notice there are a few lines that are started with “rem”. These are internal comments that are not processed by the program. I’ve peppered the file with a couple for you to marinate on.

Your batch file should look like this:
@Echo off
cd\
Echo Saman=Program
REM ****************************
REM * Program Variables *
REM ****************************

set varcomputer=274D
goto loop
:274D

set varcomputer=322A
goto loop
:322A

set varcomputer=bobs_pc
goto loop
:bobs_pc

Exit

REM ****************************
REM * Program *
REM ****************************

:loop
echo Shutting down %varcomputer%.
shutdown -s -m \\%varcomputer% -t 600 -c “The computer is shutting down. Please save your work.”
goto %varcomputer%

Cancel The Shut Down

You can cancel a shut down that is in progess with the following line. This line cannot be run through the network! You have to walk to each machine and run the command either from the command prompt or the Run dialog, or Windows Key+R:
Shutdown -a

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There I was sitting in Honolulu thinking to myself that it was about time to pick up a decent digital camera.  I’ve always enjoyed photography and own a nice 35mm SLR, but I hadn’t joined the digital world yet because I didn’t want to “downgrade” my camera (I can’t afford one of those fancy Digital SLR camera’s yet)  But I’m in Hawaii….You can’t run around without a digital camera there, so it was time to bite the bullet and pick up a simple point and shoot digital camera.  Now I’ve always despised phone cameras, the quality is terrible and you can barely make out faces.  I try and avoid using mine as much as possible.  So during the lunch break, I was out with Saman and guys at the mall, and like everytime Saman and I go anywhere near an Apple store, we stopped in to see the new toys.  This was the first time I’d ever actually held the iPhone in my hands and played with it.  And sure enough within a day or two I picked one up and justified the purchase by claiming it was my camera.

The Camera was one of the first things that impressed me with this new wonder toy.  With a two megapixel digital camera, the quality is actually good enough to use for some real pictures.  (Now don’t get me wrong, I’d still take a 7 or 8 megapixel camera any day of the week, but 2 is enough to actually get some decent 5×7 prints from)  The greatest feature of this little marvel camera, happens to be that it IS a phone camera, I find that I always have a good camera with me now and can take pictures of things that I would otherwise have missed out on.

On the bad side, the camera does have a few limitations and issues.  1) No Movies, still frames only…I personally don’t take many movies anyway so it wasn’t a big set back. 2) Self portraits are pretty much not happening.  The soft button that you use to take the picture is in a great location when you’re looking at your target, but when trying to take your own picture, it’s nearly impossible to actually press that button and hold the camera pointed at you at the same time. 3) No zoom, at all, period.  You have to frame the picture by where you stand, 9 times out of 10 you can deal with it, but every once in a while, it would be really nice to be able to zoom in or out a touch.

Other features that I love about the iPhone:

1) Google maps.  It’s so nice to have a mobile reference when walking around the streets of cities that I don’t really know.  Downside is that there is no GPS.  The locate me feature is nice, but leaves you wanting a bit more.

2) Contact management.  Something I think everyone forgets about the iPhone, the contact management system syncs great with Address Book on your mac, and is incredibly complete.  I can call, text, email all from my iPhone, I can also store address information, Instant messaging screen names, notes, and even a photo all in the same address book that I sync between my iPhone and computer.  The downside here is that you are missing a couple of key features, like being able to organize the groups directly on the iPhone, currently I have to organize groups on my computer.  And also being able to assign ringtones to groups…key feature, I can’t believe it’s not around yet.

3) iPod on your phone, got to love it.  Now I’m never without my tunes.  Too bad they don’t have the 160gb model yet….

4) Slide to Unlock..  I love bar phones, I’ve never particularly cared for flip phones, but the one problem I’ve always had, is accidental dialing even when I lock my phone.  The iPhone is the first phone that I’ve never had a problem with.  I’ve only had an accidental dial once, and that’s because I didn’t lock my phone before putting it back in my pocket.

Overall I love my iPhone, but there are a few things that really do need to be fixed/added/improved before the device will really live up to it’s potential, but in the mean time I haven’t found anything else that can even compare with the feature set and simple interface that the iPhone currently offers.  Personally I’m going to be really excited to see the 2nd generation of the iPhone..maybe iPhone Air?

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I recently Stumbled Upon a great Futurama Wiki and I love feel in love with the site! Futurama is one of my favorite shows and this wiki has a wealth of information about Fry, Leela, Bender and everything else in the Futurama Universe!

As if I don’t have enough to do in my life, I became a user and started adding content to help expand the site (view my contributions to the Futurama wiki). I just started watching the show from the beginning again and have made a lot of additions!

The site is named after The Infosphere which “is a massive biological memory bank created by the Brain Spawn to catalog all the information in the universe” and that is the aim of the site as well, to collect as much information about one of the smartest, funniest and greatest shows of all time. If you are a fan, I suggest you visit and help out!

See you on the ‘Sphere!

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Today was the last day of CES and I was finally able to walk some of the show floor - I say “some” because it’s so massive. I had intended on doing a lot of pictures and reviews, just like CES 2007, but being sick doesn’t help - and I forgot to bring my camera to Las Vegas

On top of that, Stephen Fung added me to the guest list for his party and I just wasn’t well enough to go! Oh well, maybe next year…

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