http://www.alanlok.com the place where I rave and rant about all my tech toys... and bore my friends with my camera :) Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:28:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Came across TekSavvy during my search for high speed internet, and ended up with getting their home phone service. I am a cheapskate, so I had to calculate the costs of switching from Bell to TekSavvy. Cost of a basic Bell phone line: $29.32 $22.95, plus $2.80 for touchtone, $0.19 for 911, ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/12/01/save-money-on-your-local-home-phone-service/ I thought I share with the world my adventures in mobile broadband. Ingredients: Linksys WRT54G3G router - you won't find one in Canada, so start your search on eBay. Don't worry about the which network it belongs to... 3G PC Card datacard - I decided to pick up an Option Wireless GT Ultra ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/11/15/adventures-in-mobile-broadband-ie-wrt54g3g-with-a-3g-datacard/ [gallery]As a mobile gadget guy, I was interested in the iPhone alternative and trying to find a phone that defines me as "me". It was cool when I was carrying the iPhone 2G in Toronto since no one had one, but now it's just so common to see someone ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/08/29/palm-pre-a-bit-premature/ Just came across from a post on N97Fanatics.com [caption id="attachment_29" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="CityMan 450, the ultimate N97 protection"][/caption] I want one of these... well, maybe not. http://www.alanlok.com/2009/08/19/my-new-case-for-the-nokia-n97/ I have been told that I have failed to post pictures in a timely manner... so in my sleep-deprived state, I deliver you two sets of wedding pictures. [nggallery id=2]Kim and Scott's wedding [nggallery id=1]Rebecca and Richard's wedding http://www.alanlok.com/2009/08/13/weddings-and-more-weddings/ I was just looking through a security audit of some sites, and half of the complaints include "the ability for people to know your underlying technology". For those who are using Apache 1.3 or above (and using a distro that has configuration files in /etc/httpd/conf.d), you will find this solution ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/07/23/locking-down-apache-web-server/ One of the great joys of being a gadget guy is to shamelessly spend money on shinny new gadgets... so out of a whim (and impulse), I search high and low to find my beloved Nokia N97 and sourced it from a store in Mississauga. Here are my first impressions: The ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/07/05/nokia-n97-you-are-finally-here/ If you don't know me, I love my smart phones.  My first smart phone was the Nokia 3650, a Symbian-based smart phone in 2003.  When TV shows and magazine articles started to talk about taking pictures and videos, listening the MP3s on the phone in 2006 (and made it sound ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/01/10/smart-phones-they-are-finally-popular-in-north-america/ This may sound like a rant, but there's a silver lining to my tale:A year ago I experienced a persistent cylinder misfire on my poor 1998 A6 2.8, and so I go to my trusted mechanic friend at a VW dealership and got the advice to buy new spark wires ... http://www.alanlok.com/2009/01/10/dealership-repair-shops-trust-them-if-you-like-to-donate-money-to-the-rich-re-solution-to-passeta6-28-cylinder-misfire/ If you are a Rogers customer, you might have noticed in the past day that when you typed in a wrong website URL (or any domain name), it claims the site exists and gives you Rogers-Yahoo sponsored advertising.  See an example here: http://this-domain-does-not-exist.ever Brings you to: http://www20.search.rogers.com/search?qo=this-domain-does-not-exist.ever&rn=X-AtJja2sy6ndMo Shame on you Rogers! Breaking RFC and ... http://www.alanlok.com/2008/07/28/rogers-making-money-from-user-typing-mistakes-aka-breaking-dns-behaviour-shame-on-you/