For router netgear wgt624
http://kbserver.netgear.com/products/WGT624.asp
use the following JTAG tool to bring it back from the dead
http://openwince.sourceforge.net/jtag/
and here is the serial and JTAG pinout on the main board of the router
http://wiki.openwrt.org/OpenWrtDocs/Hardware/Netgear/WGT624
you should also be able to use a cell phone data cable to make a serial connection to the router(internal console port) or
use a max232 chip your self.
Benjamin Sølberg Network
I have recently bought a x-one (AOpen) media center with great success……
Actually not really. But it worked great the first couple of days but when I tried to add a old VCR to the channel list, it went bad. I did many channels rescans but I ended with a bad list of non-functional TV channels.
I gave up and went to google for help..
As usually it (google) didn’t let me down and I found the utility I was looking for:
I am happy to present “The MCE Reset Utility” (among others, take a look yourself)
http://www.salloway.org.uk/MediaCenter/util/index.htm#config2
You can choose between Full, Application or TV reset.
And I did TV reset with limited success but when I did a Full reset every thing started to work again.
Success!
Benjamin Sølberg Google, Microsoft
If, you like me, has an ipod with a cap limit (=all iPods sold in the EU) then you can remove it by using the following program:
http://www.randgruppe.info/ipod/iMod_new_12-05.rar
Note: Cap limit is a function that limits the amount of sound that you ipod can send to your earphones. This is done to protect your ears. But in my case, while driving my car I have to turn my car stereo up to where it starts to chop the sound, especially while hearing podcasts.
W A R N I N G !
In any case, cap limit or not, you should be aware of ear-damage.
Remember: you only got this two ones.
If you can’t heare with them anymore - the ipod is worthless!
Do not turn the ipod louder than needed!
More info @ http://www.randgruppe.info/ipod/
Benjamin Sølberg ipod / iPhone
If you are
- on a budget
- new to java or any other programming language
- just want a book in a electronic form
- wants to explorer EJB 3.0
- thinking in Java
then boy do I have good news for you!
Many tech books can be found free of charge at http://www.techbooksforfree.com/
If you are into Java or just wants to take a glance at it,
I suggest the following eBooks:
The Java Language Specification, Third Edition
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/jls/download/langspec-3.0.pdf
Thinking in Java, 3rd Edition
http://www.mindviewinc.com/downloads/TIJ-3rd-edition4.0.zip
Thinking in Java, 4th Edition (only first 7 chapters are free)
http://www.mindviewinc.com/TIJ4/BookSampleDownload.php
Happy reading.
Benjamin Sølberg Java
If you are in the need of free mp3 files they can be found many places on the net.
If you have a passion for Commodore 64 music then you really NEED to take a look at this site:
http://remix.kwed.org
You can find tons of original Commodore 64 SID tunes, but more importantly you can find your favourite game or demo music in modern remixed versions. This is what http://remix.kwed.org is all about.
Here is a little collection of high quality remixes:
Have fun !!
Benjamin Sølberg Commodore 64, Retro
I have been looking for a good and cheap hard disk recorder for home use for a while now and I finally found one that I liked.
I usually never buy a complete PC system but pieces them together myself, just for the fun. Also finding the right piece at the cheapest price has become a small obsession. But sometimes, just sometimes I surprise myself.
Today was the day! I’ve just bought a Windows XP Media Center 2005 Edition X-One PC, fully equipped and bran new. I actually only wanted a hard disk recorder but the price for such a device with a decent size of hard disk was quite close to the Media Center box itself. If I added a cool looking box, an mp3 player, a decent DivX player, image viewer and an extra windows XP machine at the price of nothing then the price was just right. I know that a Media Center is nothing more than a XP with a TV Tuner, and the Media Center application on top. But for once, Microsoft actually did create something that actually looks nice and seems to work. I was very impressed with the IR keyboard layout and the IR remote control, both seems to do the trick. The only bad thing so far is the IBM style mouse build into the keyboard. You have to push it down in order to make it work. I guess this is because of power consumptions issues. The “Pause” function works instantly when watching TV and it is so cool. If the phone rings or the kids needs a slap (no I would never do that) then I just click Pause as I would do with any real DVD or VCR. I know that this is standard functionality on a hard disk recorder, but getting this and a PC at the same time just thrills me. The TV Tuner seems to be a bit on the cheap side, or I just might be the MPEG2 compressions that sucks as I am able to detect missing pixels between JPEG blocks.
If you want to see the Media Center I just bought then click below.
http://www.xone.dk/
I am in no way affiliated with X-One or intentionally any other company regarding the x-one media center PC.
Price tag: 5500 DKK including 250GB HD, 1 GB RAM, 3GHz Dual Core, 1 TV Tuner, 7.1Ch Audio, DVD+-R dual layer and so on.
All in all I will give it 8 out of 10 stars at a first glance.
Benjamin Sølberg Microsoft
I have, like many others used the Singleton pattern many times. Each time, again like many others, I have been annoyed of the synchronized getInstance() method when using lazy instantiation. I then came across the Double Checked Locking (short: DCL) method that handles exactly that by amazing simplicity. It worked! But it is broken. To really understand why, you should take a look at the Java Memory Model (short: JMM) and the JSR133 that fixes it. The problem is basically caused by the JVM being able to do byte reordering as I understand it. This changes the execution flow of instructions. Many people has written about the DCL problem but few using the DCL code has encountered a real problem, never the less you shouldn’t use it prior to version 5 of Java. This is because the JSR 133 wasn’t part of the JVM until then.
Now to the good news: DCL does work in Java 5.
Yes, from version 5 it can work. The only thing you have to do is to make the instance field volatile. Unofficially this should also work in Java 1.4 but I haven’t found any real evidence.
Should I use DCL ?
In my opinion no, and I’ll tell you why
DCL will still be questioned by many
Synchronization has gotten a lot cheaper.
You can’t be sure your JVM is Java 5 (forget class versions)
Of cause, all this isn’t a issue if you didn’t do lazy instantiation.
JSR133
http://www.jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=133
Fixing the Java Memory Model, Part 1
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/library/j-jtp02244.html
Fixing the Java Memory Model, Part 2
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-jtp03304/
JSR 133 (Java Memory Model) FAQ
http://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/memoryModel/jsr-133-faq.html
The JSR-133 Cookbook for Compiler Writers
http://gee.cs.oswego.edu/dl/jmm/cookbook.html
Double-checked locking and the Singleton pattern
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/java/library/j-dcl.html
The (old) Java Memory Model is Fatally Flawed
http://www.cs.umd.edu/~pugh/java/broken.pdf
Benjamin Sølberg Java
As you might know, having a column with NULL values degrades your chances on a well performing oracle database when using the “IS NULL” in the WHERE clause of your SQL. This is because “IS NULL” isn’t a value but actually just “undefined”, and thereby you can’t create a database index on that value.
But no more!
The solution is to use FBI or Function Based Indexes. This can be archived using the NVL function in both the WHERE clause and in the index creation.
See more here:
http://www.dba-oracle.com/oracle_tips_null_idx.htm
Benjamin Sølberg Oracle
I recently found my 25 years old and “very original” Christmas present in an old drawer in the basement. I embarrassing remembered that I only learnt to do the two first layers on the cube and never the last, and far more difficult. And as a respect to my now dead and dear grandpa, which originally gave me the cube and spend hours with me trying solving it, I decided to pick up the long and forgotten cube and solve it once for all. I did a quick survey on the net and found literally tons of websites devoted to Rubik’s cube. I even found a guy who build them him self! Now after just one night, picking up from where I left, I got the last layer done. And no I didn’t cheat. But the “turning corner” thing really gave me a hard time. But take a look for your self at the links below and go and twist that cube!
Official Web site:
http://www.rubiks.com/
Speed cubing (do it in less than 20 sec):
http://www.ws.binghamton.edu/fridrich/cube.html
http://www.rubiks.dk/
You Cube 
(Or solve it yourself)
http://jeays.net/rubiks.htm
http://www.rubiks.dk/terning.doc (Danish version)
http://lar5.com/cube/
New stickers for your waren out cube:
http://www.lubethecube.net/index.htm
Google Videos on Speed Cubing:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=speed+cubing
Homebuild cubes:
http://www.speedcubing.com/ton/
Have fun (as you might had those many years ago)!
Benjamin Sølberg Retro, Toys
If you thought Tamagotchi were ludicrously compelling, wait until you feast your eyes upon the crazy characters that inhabit Cube World. And no, that’s not a new superstore that sells boxes; it’s an interactive place where pixellated stick people live, play and pester each other.
Have you ever seen a greater desktop toy than this ?
Stick them together and see them interact as you would never have expected.
Priced around $35 in a box of two.
Benjamin Sølberg Toys