Moving the Vonage Box?

We changed our phone service to Vonage and so far it been working well with one exception. Since getting Vonage, I can no longer remotely access my computers (Screen Sharing and File Transfer) from the outside. I think it has to do with the router’s location to the Vonage box.

Right now our setup is like this:

Cable Modem --> Vonage box --> Router --> computer 1
                                      --> computer 2
                                      --> computer 3

I think I need to set up this way so the Cable Modem goes directly to the Router like this:

Cable Modem --> Router --> Vonage box
                       --> computer 1
                       --> computer 2
                       --> computer 3

Sounds simple enough, but I think I may have to set up some port forwarding in the router and some other trickery to set it up this way.

I haven’t actually tried to reconfigure the set up, but I’ll try it soon.

Here are some other articles I found and will will read through once I have time:

Vonage Degrades Internet Access
Advanced Installation with Port Forwarding

Tumblrize

I just installed a new WordPress plugin called Tumblrize, which “automatically crossposts to your Tumblr blog when you publish a post on your WordPress blog.”

This is a test post to see if it works.

Here’s a photo to see if that gets crossposted:

Coleus 'Chaotic Rose'

Free Twitter Icons…

Cute Twitter Icon by Mirjami ManninenI wanted to jazz up my Twitter feed posts, so I searched online for some free twitter icons that I can use. Here are several that caught my eye:

Continue reading

Eye-Fi Pro X2

When I purchased my Canon EOS 60D. I just splurged and decided to get a new Eye-Fi card with it. It’s a bit pricey, but I thought it would be worth it, because it automatically uploads the photos from my camera to my computer once it detects our WiFi network (and any other WiFi network I set the card up with).

Eye-Fi Pro X2

It also geotags the photos, although I’m not sure how accurate it is. So far the geotagging info has been pretty accurate.

In addition to all that, the Eye-Fi software can upload the photos to various sharing site. In my case, the photos are uploaded to a private folder on my Flickr account.

MacBook Hard Drive Replacement…

I have a spare 500GB SATA hard drive that I’m not using, so I decided to replace the 250GB internal hard drive. I bought the 500GB hard drive a while back to try to fix my old Mac mini, but I never got it to work again, so I gave up.

For reference, I’m using the article “Simple Hard Drive Cloning/Backup with Carbon Copy Cloner” for step by step directions:

First step was to get a 2.5″ Hard Drive Enclosure so I can clone my existing MacBook internal hard drive to the new one. I got a cheap Vantec NexStar TX 2.5-Inch SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure from Amazon for under $10. Once I got this in the mail. I installed the new 500GB drive into it, plugged it into my MacBook and formatted it.

Cloning Todipoli Hard Drive

Next, I download the Carbon Copy Cloner app to clone my existing drive onto the new one.

After more than 3 hours of copying files over, I shut down the MacBook, opened the back panel and unscrewed the internal hard drive. I then swtiched it with the new drive… powered it on… and it booted up with everything pretty much the same. The only big difference was that I have way more hard drive space.

Available Space

Now, I’ll keep the original hard drive (in the USB hard drive enclosure) for a couple months, just in case something goes wrong with the new drive.

Canon EOS 60D…

A few weeks I discovered a new Canon EOS DSLR—the Canon EOS 60D—with an articulating screen, which I’ve been waiting for!!! It was rumored back in January 2010, and was released in late August, but I just hear about it a few weeks ago (where have I been?).canon60d
Screenshot taken from Canon’s site.

I went to Best Buy to check it out and it is much bigger than my existing Canon Rebel XSi… I was hoping Canon would have a Rebel with an articulating screen, but I guess they never did release one.

After seeing the 60D I wanted to get it, but I didn’t want to make an impulse buy. So I’ve been doing research and reading reviews and I decided that I’m going for it… I ordered some Amazon Gift Cards from Wells Fargo Gift Card Mall (so I’ll get 3x the points) to cover the cost and I’m just waiting for those in the mail to place my Amazon order.

I was initally just going to get the 60D with the kit lens (18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS UD Standard Zoom Lens) which is currently $1,267. But I’ve also wanted a f/2.8 lens for a while now and had the Tamron AF 28-75mm f/2.8 SP XR ZL Di LD Aspherical (IF) on my Wish List. So I may just get the 60D body only for $1,100 + the Tamron for $499… Hmm, a $332 difference. I’ll have to think about this…

On a side note. As I was looking for Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 reviews on YouTube, I discovered a photographer’s channel that has a lot of good tips. Check out Dom Bower’s Channel and Dom Bower Photo’s Channel on YouTube. He also has a blog.

Strange iPhone 4 Sounds

Listen to my iPhone 4 making strange sounds

Pirate World Record + iPhone 4 Coming…

Vallejo breaks the Guinness Book of World Records for the most costumed pirates in one place at one time. Yarr! :: j.mp/9gG2Xp

Just got an email from Apple telling me that I’m getting my iPhone 4 earlier on the morning of the 23rd instead of the 24th… Whohoo!!!