I’m ordering one…

Are you?  What are you doing with yours?

I have the need for a universal home server that doesn’t need horsepower, but it does need RAM and connectivity.  I need a print server, file server, BitTorrent client/server, Apple AirPrint server, and more.  I’m going to see if I can build one the size of a deck of cards instead of using that old P4 in my garage…

Shane

About a year ago, Ross had The Sharper Image’s Literati eBook for $50.  I couldn’t pass it up, even though I already had a Kindle 3, iPhone 4, etc.  Fast forward to today, and my gadget fund is a little too low for the year-old color eBook I really want.  Yes, I know, my 3-year old daughter has a Nook Color and I could just use hers – but I want my own!  I digress…

Aside from some build quality, and usability, and battery life issues with the Literati eBook, my biggest frustration is that it takes a proprietary charger — even though it has a mini-USB connector.  The USB connector is for syncing only.  And as a career Product Manager, I think it’s fair for me to be critical here and say that I don’t know what kind of brain-dead Product Manager allows a modern eBook to be released with a USB port and a proprietary power connector…  Ok, well, brain-dead is harsh.  To be fair, the Literati draws 1.5A which does exceed the USB spec (500mA) but it will charge using a Kindle, iPad/iPod/Nook/iPhone charger – anything that puts out an Amp or more should be ok.  I wouldn’t recommend plugging it in to charge from your PC unless it has one of the new high-Amperage USB ports (and drivers if you’re using Windows).

BUT, the good news is that we can fix it with:

• about 10 minutes of your precious time
• a 1-1.5″ length of stranded wire, each end stripped and tinned with solder
• 3-4″ length of solder (who doesn’t just carry the spool around?)
• soldering iron
• precision wire cutters
• electrical tape (aka. “black tape”)
• a jeweler’s Phillips screwdriver
• fingernails (or a flat-blade screwdriver, spudger, or other such tool – but if you use those, you will scratch it)
• (optionally) – an AC to DC charger for an eBook (Kindle/Nook), iPad, iPhone, etc.

Note: Attempting this modification should be done at your own risk and by those skilled enough to use dangerous conveniences like electricity and tools such as soldering irons and wire cutters.

Step 1:

Place the Literati face-down and upside-down on something soft.

Step 2:

Using your fingernail (or if you MUST, a tool – see where I scratched mine with the blade of a screwdriver?) slide the white plastic rear panel down toward you (as illustrated by the arrows).

Step 3:

Now, remove two tiny Phillips screws (indicted by arrows).

Step 4:

Using your fingernail, slide the gray rear panel down toward you (as illustrated by the arrows).

Step 5:

Now, you should have the back covers off your Literati with the innards exposed.

Step 6:

Peel back the existing black tape down toward the top of the device (it’s upside-down, remember?).  This will expose the USB and DC Power Jack daughter-board.

Step 7:

Now, using the wire cutters, cut the wire on the far right of the gray ribbon cable (marked with an “X” below) and I folded it back – way far back to get it out of the way.  Then, take your pre-tinned length of wire and solder it between the first and last solder pad on the USB and DC Power daughter-board (connecting what would have been the first and last wire of the gray ribbon cable).

Step 8:

Cover with a piece of electrical tape.

Step 9:

Re-assemble the device in reverse.  Slide on the gray back and screw the two small Phillips screws in to secure it.  Then slide on the white plastic back.

Conclusion:

Cross your fingers!  It should charge now charge from USB!  I obtained a Barnes and Noble Nook power adapter for cheap ($3) at Cargo Largo and used a mini-USB cable I had on-hand.

Not plugged in yet – see the battery level?

Plugged in now…

Now, with the Nook charger pictured above, the Literati is charging from mini-USB!

You should be all done!  Let me know if you have any questions or problems.  Should be a 10-minute fix…  It took me more time to document it for this blog post!

Shane

My first computers were an AT&T 3B1 and an Atari 520ST (with GEM Desktop GUI) which were amazing for the time.  After that, I actually went backwards into history with the acquisition of a TRS-80 Model 16B running TRS-DOS.  After that, I moved on to a TRS-80 Model 2000 (T2K) running MS-DOS 2.xx and later CP/M and Mac OS thrown in for the hell of it before sticking with a “modern” MS-DOS.  We’re talking the MS-DOS 5.0 era (please don’t get me started on OS/2…)…  DOS 6.0 was a nightmare with “DoubleSpace” and was such a memory hog with those bells and whistles that I remember relying on QEMM (Quarterdeck Extended Memory Manager) and eliminating TSR’s so I could play Sim City!

Command line is the heart of Linux/UNIX and, amazingly, many IT professionals I encounter aren’t familiar with Windows Command Line or PowerShell Commands.

I say all this because I recently moved to a 64GB SSD boot drive (clean Windows 7 Enterprise install) and wanted to re-purpose my old 1TB RAID-1 array for storage purposes without reformatting.  The Windows GUI and “security” made if very difficult to get rid of all those pesky Windows system files, hidden files, hibernation(?) files, etc.  I found the command line to be the easiest way.

C: was now my SSD with the fresh Windows install and D: was my old start-up drive.  With that in mind, here’s what I did for the Windows directory specifically:

1. Start-> cmd (right-click, “Run as Administrator”)

2. Enter the following command to take ownership of the files:

takeown /F D:\Windows\* /R /A

2. Adjust permissions/access control:

cacls D:\Windows\*.* /T /grant administrators:F

3. Delete:

rmdir /S /Q D:\Windows\

Good luck!

Shane

My System: AMD Phenom II x6 3.2GHz, 16GB RAM, 64GB SSD Boot Drive, 1TB RAID 1 Storage Drive.  I had just completed a fresh installation of Windows 7 Enterprise (x64) and tried installing iTunes 10.5.3.3 (64-bit).  Went to Apple and downloaded and installed the iTunes 64-bit application without problem.

Upon initial (and subsequent) execution of iTunes, no songs would play and I kept getting the most annoying pop-up that “A duplicate filename was specified.”  I couldn’t even sync my library with iTunes Match (of which I am a very satisfied subscriber).

The solution?  Close iTunes and locate the application in Explorer or in your Start Menu and right-click and “Run as Administrator.”  That fixed it for me!

To prevent the problem from ocurring again, right click on your iTunes icon and click on Properties:

Now, click on the Compatibility tab:

Finally, tick the checkbox for “Run this program as an administrator” under “Privilege Level” then click “Apply” and then “Ok“:

You shouldn’t have any further issues!  Best of luck to you.

Shane

Talk about going down a rabbit hole!  Do you ever look something up online and look at the clock and realize that it’s been two or more hours and you are now researching something completely different?  Am I the only one who starts off with a Google Search of what happened to Screech from Saved by the Bell and end up on Wikipedia’s page of how scratch and sniff stickers work?

My wife and I were having a conversation about something random – interracial marriages – due to this article on CNN.  Somehow, she found this article listing the “supposedly rare” combination of famous white man and black women.  I mean, I’ve heard so many reasons for the rarity of this combination – from white men feeling too threatened to black girls being too demanding but I think that’s all bull.  BUT, before this blog post turns into a TOTALLY different discussion, the point is that her article mentioned that Peter Norton (of Norton Utilities fame – you know, Norton Anti-Virus, various Microsoft Press books) is married to a black woman.  Not shocking, I know, but something I didn’t know before.  So, I pulled up his Wikipedia article and it shows his first book’s cover photo:

Now, you remember Norton Utilities, right?

Now, here we go down the rabbit hole!  See his folded arms?  What got me was that according to Wikipedia (via the trademark listings at Symantec), “Norton’s crossed-arm pose … is a U.S. registered trademark.”  You’ve got to be kidding me!

So, does this photo of my daughter violate Symantec’s trademark?  Should I hire an attorney now, or wait for the cease and desist letters?

I had no idea one could strike a pose — then trademark it.  Did you know this?  Does anyone know if there has to be any context?  Ridiculous.

Shane