Entropy by Marc Liyanage has been updated since the last time I tried to get a real PHP for my Mac and I am happy to report that it now is designed for 10.5!  All hail the non-chopped down version Apple should have put out in the first place.  Now I again have the option of running things like Drupal on a Mac platform natively.

Adobe does not offer a 64-bit version of Flash yet so to get Pandor's gadget to work Sidebar must run in 32-bit mode. To do this, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run and edit SideBar, changing it to C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe /autoRun. After that Windows will run the Sidebar.exe in Program Files (x86) instead of the 64-bit one.

UPDATE: There seems to now be a shortcut on the desktop for installing to disk.  Just open Konsole and enter ./install.sh.



Download your copy from Remote-Exploit.org.

So, you want to run OpenVPN or VMware on Windows 7 or Vista?  Get ready to use Regedit.  To make these work as they should you need to go to hklm:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E972-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and look in the entries (there are about 17 of them) below it.  Look for a driverdesc that has vmware or TAP-Win in it.  In those that do, right click and create a new DWord.  Make its name *NdisDeviceType with a value of 1.  Beyond that, the normal setup instructions work great.  I used the OpenVPN Quickstart on Windows 7 x64 Enterprise with no problem.  One note though, if it is your server like mine is then be sure to change %ProgramFiles% in the server config file to the actual path since OpenVPN runs under Program Files (x86).

The reason you have to make these edits is in the way Windows 7 and Vista handle networking and is all explained at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb201634.aspx  OpenVPN's special interface and VMnet1 & VMnet8 are not actually connecting to a traditional network and therein lies the problem.

This is a computer called a SheevaPlug that plugs into wall outlet!  It is as powerful as many desktop PC's and is designed to run network services like websites, email, and VPN. Best of all, it is only $99 at Globalscale Technologies, Inc.  Thanks to Linux Journal for showing this to me in their magazine.


 

Development of our questions seemed straight forward.  We analysed the video of our focus group and then decieded what the two main topics were that we needed to address.  From there it was just a matter of formulating questions that that would get us the information needed to solve the problems.  Getting to those questions was not the easiest thing in the world but it was not too bad either. 

I finally decided to finish leveling my original WoW toon named Namdrof.  He is up to level 71 now and has acquired the biggest dagger I have ever seen... Keleseth's Blade of Evocation (click on my name and check out it's 3D model).  This thing is larger than a lot of one-handed swords!

This week I have been tasked with the following:

Which sampling procedure will you actually use for the project?  Why?

If money were no object and you were conducting the semester project as a "real" marketing research firm, which sampling procedure would you use?  Why?

Our group is doing research about the sales of Ramen Noodles. I am fairly certain that we will be doing convenience sampling due to no budget and being located on and around a college campus.

If money were not an issue I think I would want to initially use probability sampling that would then lead to snowball sampling.  It seems to me that this would cover the most people while also aiding in targeting the people who actually are important to the survey's successful collection of relevant data.

Hello again.  Today I will be taking on another assignment:

1. Complete the questionnaire found at the following link: http://www.westga.edu/~cbrown/Rsh/Bad_Quest

2. In your blog, discuss at least three things that are wrong with the questionnaire. Note: I'm looking for structural errors such as problems with question wording, directions, scales, etc. rather than question relevance.

The first thing I noticed wrong was that the first question uses "you" while two and three use "I" and "my" respectively.  Also, the format of question three is a little confusing to me... how exactly should I go about giving my answer?  Question five assumes you do not like your car since there is no "not applicable" option.  Lastly, question eight does not provide an other option for majors that do not fit in the listed options (like mine).  Oh, and there is also the problem of an online survey that cannot be answered online (a flat web page).

Now time to go look at some classmates' posts and give a litte feedback.

I signed up for NPD and immediately got my first survey.  As requested, it was on video games.  Towards the end it morphed into asking about my shopping habits.  I will edit this post once I am able to take a couple of more surveys... but that timeframe is dependant on them sending me more.

To start things off, here is the assignment that this post will be in reference to:

In your blog, discuss what services these firms provide to companies, and the benefits to consumers who sign up to participate.

• http://www.greenfieldonline.com/
• http://www.surveyspot.com/
• http://www.npdor.com/
• http://www.e-rewards.com/
• http://www.zoompanel.com/
  

Now that we have that out of the way let's dive into the first company, Greenfield Online.  There isn't really a lot of info unless you join the site.  They claim to be the "number one online survey community" and say that "Because of our global focus on quality practices, companies trust the results of our surveys and pay more attention to your opinions."  Lastly, if you click on thier About Us link they also say that they "serve the needs of more than 300 marketing research firms" which sounds kinda impressive.

On to the next company, SurveySpot.  SurveySpot has a slighly catchier site (IMO) and boldly promotes that they offer their members rewards for taking surveys.  There was also a familiar link in the lower left that set me at ease about this company... it is the BBB logo.  When I clicked it a new window opended with the following informaiton:

Survey Sampling International meets all BBBOnLine participation and Better Business Bureau accreditation standards and is authorized to display the BBB Accredited Business seal.

•This business has been operating since 09/15/1977
•This business was accredited by BBB on 06/23/2003
•This business was approved as meeting BBBOnLine standards on 07/07/2003

Enough about SurveySpot... let's move on and look at NPD Online Research.  Let's just start with a quote from thier site:

The NPD Group provides consumer and retail information and insights for a wide range of industries. We’ve been at it since 1967, and we’re considered the gold standard for market research in each industry we track. More than 1,400 manufacturers and retailers rely on NPD information to help them make successful business decisions.

Their site has a plethera of information available, much more than any other site so far.  Like the others, they offer rewards for taking some of thier surveys.  Unlike the others, they actually tell you the industries they cover on their About NPD page.  Another unique thing I noticed was a link for info for parents under which was this statement: "NPD Online Research welcomes teen members, too!  If there’s a teen in your household, read on for details." 

e-Rewards Opinion Panel has an entirely different approach.  Membership is by invitation only from a sponsor... no signing up for this one.  They have their Member Agreement listed prominently and it contains a WALL of text.  On that page they have logos from several well-known companies like Blockbuster and Pizza Hut and Borders.  Also, they too are part of the BBB.

Now for the last company.  ZoomPanel has a very simple but effective website.  They seem to be geared quite differently than the others, though I can't put my finger on why I think this.  One thing that stood out was that they mention "in home tests" on their About Us page.

Now comes the hard part... I have to decide which one to try out for the next part of this assignment... look for the results here.  Until then...

This may well be one of the most touching and simultaneously sad videos I have seen.  The song gives me chills every time I hear it.



I found this at http://www.bigandrich.com/node/419.

I have decided that I am after a Swift Warstrider.  This one may take a bit longer since I need a total of 90 Marks of Honor to get it.

YAY! I have now accomplished the achievement Frostwolf Howler.  Now on to getting some of the other PVP mounts for Aldork plus getting another set of BoA Shoulders from Wintergrasp.

So, I was in the Basin the other day and came across something that looks like a hatch.  When I moused over it I saw some odd looking numbers in the tool tip and do not have a clue what it is I actually ran across.  I am hoping maybe one of you know what this is.

Yes, the look has changed... but it is still me :) I am working to get everything converted to the new layout and to get all the links working... please bear with me.

Right now I have a lot of free time on my hands so I am working on getting some things in WoW that I have wanted for a while and working on leveling some new toons. One such item is the Horn of Frostwolf Howler for my main. I am about half way there now and hope to (maybe) have it this week... we shall see.

I saw this video and felt the need to share it in as many places as I could since I liked it so much...

So, lets dive into some of the deep details of having your own multisite moodle.   First, lets layout some ground work for how I have my site setup so that you will understand why things are done the way they are.  

Yay for another breakthrough!  I have now figured out how to automate the creation of additional Moodle sites in a multi-site setup.  To do this, I will have a "site" that is used as a template for all future sites.  Once this template site is setup and configured to my liking I will then use the methods outlined on the official Moodle documentation site for Migrating a Complete Moodle site - Method 2... with one exception: I will perform these steps via a script.  The script will:

I have had a breakthrough in managing multiple Moodle sites on the same server. I have figured out how to have a single install of Moodle with a single config.php file in it run multiple sites... this will make patching much easier! I will post more details after further testing... but I already have two sites running with this setup!

This evening I wanted to tell you all about a super easy way to start your own website. If you have access to a decent computer that you want to dedicate to running a website then TurnKey Linux is for you. To quote their site,

TurnKey Linux is a new open source project that aims to develop high quality software appliances that are easy to use, easy to deploy, and free.

In a nutshell, we believe everything that can be easy, should be easy!

Packaging a solution as a software appliance can be incredibly useful because it allows you to leverage guru integration skills to build ready to use systems (I.e., turn key solutions) that just work out of the box with little to no setup.

Drupal is an awesome web application that does most of the work of managing a website for you. In their words

Drupal is a free software package that allows an individual or a community of users to easily publish, manage and organize a wide variety of content on a website.

Now for the really good part... TurnKey Linux offers a downloadable CD that has Drupal already setup for you. Literally, all you have to do is

1. Download and burn the CD
2. Put it in the computer you want to make a web server
3. Boot it up
4. Choose the install option
5. Answer a couple of questions
6. Power off the computer
7. Remove the CD and power up your new server

Has this perked your intrest? If so, or if you just want to see an example of a site running on this setup, check out http://www.wgretc.org

Here is one that is for college age students. If you are not on a slow connection, click the HQ link on the video once it starts.

Watching this video may make you think differently about technology and education at the K-12 level... I hope you enjoy it.

As the title suggests, I am passionate about technology and education... particularly in the way that it relates to K-12 education. Too many schools are uninformed about all the options that are available to them today. No longer do you have to follow the party line and only use products that cost huge ammounts of money. There is an entire world out there called FOSS. FOSS stands for Free and Open Source Software. In the realm of education, the first two tools that can benifite educators are Moodle and TeacherTube. I am not going to go into detail about these now as they will be topics of future posts... just sufice it to say that there are a multitude of ways in which these tools can support, facilitate, and enhance an educational environment.