Author: Jason Dunn

Installing SqueezeCenter on an HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server

I’d been fighting with getting my Logitech Squeezebox Duet set up after migrating to a new Windows Home Server – an HP MediaSmart EX485 to be precise – for the past few hours. I finally got it working, and here’s the solution: the SqueezeCenter software assumes that it can function on port 9000, but because the HP MediaSmart server has the Twonky Media server software installed, it can’t – because the Twonky software uses port 9001. So you have to change the SqueezeCenter software to use port 9001 (or whatever port you wish). The problem? You can’t change the port number using the software without first getting the software to load. Yeah, exactly.

So the first thing you need to do is remote desktop into the HP MediaSmart server and browse to the following folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SqueezeCenter\prefs

Inside that folder, you’ll find the Server.prefs file. Do a find and look for port 9000 and change it to port 9001. Save the file. [thanks to Anoop at Logitech for help with this part]

Then exit and re-start the SqueezeCenter software. It still won’t work though – that was the last piece of the puzzle I had to work though – you need to go into the Firewall on the HP MediaSmart (Control Panel > Windows Firewall) and add port 9001. Once that’s been added, you should be able to use the SqueezeCenter software via another PC – the browser that ships on Windows Home Server (which is really Windows Server 2003) sucks and doesn’t allow the SqueezeCenter software to work. On a desktop or laptop PC point your browser to the IP address of your server, and port 9001. It might look something like this: http://192.168.1.125:9001.

Once the firewall is opened to port 9001, you should be able to connect the remote to the music source – your HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server.

Whew. It’s been a while since I’ve had to hack at something this hard to get it to work – I was wondering if I still had my geek chops. Looks like I do. 😉

An Original Star Wars Toy They Never Released

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I know this shouldn’t make me laugh (poor Owen and Beru!) but I had a laughing fit when saw this on someone’s Flickr account…so awful, but so funny when you consider the marketing machine of Star Wars in the ’70s where they released action figures for every guy in a costume who had even a split second of on-screen time. Remember all those robots from the Jawa sandcrawler? My cousin had all of them – and there were a lot to be had! But they never made Uncle Lars and Aunt Beru action figures in this particular incarnation…

Interviewed About Netbooks on CTV National News

On Friday afternoon I was interviewed by Janet Dirks, the Alberta Bureau Chief for CTV National News. The topic? Netbooks! One of my favourite things to talk about lately, netbooks have been raging through the tech world for about a year, and they’ve finally gotten so big that the mainstream press has taken notice. Unlike the previous TV interview, this wasn’t a story about me, so I’m the tech expert weighing in with a few quotes. It’s hard to convey accurate information in a few short quotes though – netbooks are fast enough for what they’re designed for (Internet tasks) but slower at things like photo editing, video editing, etc.

It was a fun experience all in all – I love talking about technology – but I was sure nervous leading up to it, so maybe it was good that I only had a couple of hours notice. Less time to stress out! I wonder how many times I’ll have to be on TV before I’m not a bundle of frazzled nerves beforehand…

Oh yeah – check out the sweet computer hardware from the ’90s shown at the 2:04 mark. CTV needs some updated B-roll footage I think! 😉

I’m Having a Son!

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On Thursday Ashley went for her second ultrasound, and we were told some very exciting news we’ve been anxious to hear: we’re having a baby boy! Ashley, and pretty much everyone else, was sure it was going to be a girl, but I had a hunch it was going to be a boy. We’re very excited about this news, and I’m already thinking about which superhero I’ll dress the little guy up in first. 😉

Eric Lafforgue Photography

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Eric Lafforgue is a very talented photographer who has travelled the world and taken some amazing photos – his site is worth checking out! His portrait work is especially impressive – I wish I had the type of “photographic courage” required to walk up to strangers and ask to take their picture.

Psst…Amazon, HD-DVD Lost the War!

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I was buzzing around Amazon.ca this morning, doing some ordering, and came across the listing of Transformers in HD-DVD format for an amazing $34.95 CAD. HD-DVD is dead and buried – boy am I glad I only bought six HD-DVD movies – and the discs still being sold in that format should be priced at bargain-basement rates if they hope to sell them. Amazon doesn’t seem to agree.

Fox News “Red Eye” Show Insults Canadian Military Sacrifice

I heard about this commentary on the Fox News “Red Eye” show early this morning on the radio, and I’ve been stewing about it all day. I know, I know, they’re just a bunch of idiots trying to be “funny” – but as someone who married into a family with a military history, I take this personally beyond simply being Canadian. I have a cousin who has served two tours in Afghanistan, and thankfully she’s come back safe and whole both times. Below is what I emailed to Fox News ([email protected]) – it pretty much sums up what I feel about this subject.

As a Canadian, I’m used to having my country poked fun at – and most of the time, I laugh right along with the joke. Friends can do that with each other, and there are no better friends amongst the nations of the world than Canada and the United States of America. We share a common culture, and many common values.

But…

To poke fun at our active soldiers, fighting alongside your soldiers – arguably in the more dangerous parts of Afghanistan than your own troops are fighting in – crosses the line from humour to insulting attacks. Let’s not forget that the single biggest reason that the Canadian Army is in Afghanistan is because the your country was attacked on 9/11. 116 of my fellow Canadians have died, with many more hundreds wounded, fighting against the groups that attacked your country. To mock their sacrifice is deplorable and reprehensible.

This type of “comedy” is on-par with the worst type of racism, and I expect Fox News to treat this matter with the utmost seriousness.

Jason Dunn
in Canada

I sent a variation of it to Greg Gutfeld (the host), and Monica Crowley. Bill Schulz only has Twitter as a communications method so I couldn’t send that message to him – instead I opted for a Twit that suggested he belittle the American soldiers fighting alongside the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan and see what happened. I’ve noticed that the people with the biggest mouths tend to be the biggest cowards. The last panelist, Doug Benson, has his MySpace profile locked down to only receive messages from people on his friends list, so I opted to send him a simple Twit that informed him I was Canadian, and that I thought he sucked.

I should point out that, unlike some of the 10,000+ YouTube comments on that video above, I in no way take the opinions of these four people to represent those of Americans in general. Amongst 303 million people, you’re going to have some nutjobs. The question is, how do so many of them end up in the media? 😉

From Warm to Snow in the Blink of an Eye

As residents here say “If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes and it will change.” On Saturday, it was bright, sunny, and quite warm at 10.5 Celsius(50.9 Fahrenheit). All the snow in my back yard was melted, and the streets were slushy with melting snow. Sunday I woke up to this:

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Above: Our driveway is buried somewhere underneath all that.

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Above: 45 minutes later, Ashley and I finished clearing the driveway off.

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Above: The pile of snow that my neighbour and I contribute to. I suspect it won’t melt until August. 😉