reviews

Buffalo WZR-HP-G300N wireless router

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Last month I spotted a Fatwallet deal for the Buffalo WZR-HR-G300N gigabit wireless N router ($60 from Amazon with free Prime shipping) that I couldn’t pass up. I didn’t have any wireless N clients and wasn’t having any real problems with my four year-old Buffalo WHR-HP-G54 wireless router (running DD-WRT), but hey, cheap new tech, right?

Back in 2009 I had jumped on a similar deal and snagged a Buffalo WHR-G300N wireless N router for $35. After getting it all set up with DD-WRT, though, I discovered that with the lack of external antennas and no high-power radio the wireless signal wasn’t strong enough to cover my entire house like the WHR-HP-G54 was currently doing. Since I had effectively voided the warranty by flashing DD-WRT onto the router, I kept it for use as a switch in my office (and am still using it today, in fact).

I was hoping that the three antennas (two external, one internal) and high-power radio in the WZR-HR-G300N would do the job of replacing my WHR-HP-G54 plus give me a gigabit switch in the computer closet. I was also excited because Buffalo now included their own branded version of DD-WRT (they call it the “professional” firmware) on the router, so no more voided warranty issues!

Things never go as planned, though.

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ZoneMinder

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Last summer, my mini-tech project was installing some wireless internet cameras inside and outside the house so I could keep tabs on things while I was away. For the past year I’d just been using the built-in features of each of the cameras (motion detection, e-mail alerts, etc.) which was hit-or-miss since each manufacturer offered different features, some better implemented than others, and none of them perfect.

This setup was fine, but I wanted to be able to better manage the system and maybe even store more history of events (or “live” video) without having it be all e-mail messages with static image attachments. That’s what prompted me to search for open source camera management software, and I that’s how I found ZoneMinder.

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WIJFR: The Once and Future King

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The whole world knows and loves this book. It is the magical epic of King Arthur and his shining Camelot; of Merlin and Owl and Guinevere; of beasts who talk and men who fly, of wizardry and war. It is the book of all things lost and wonderful and sad. It is the fantasy masterpiece by which all others are judged.

As a slight change to my regular WIJFR posts, this one should be WIAFR (What I Almost Finished Reading).

It’d been a while since my daughter and I had read a book together so back in Mid-May we started “The Once and Future King” by T. H. White.

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Cars 2

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This afternoon we caught a matinee showing of Pixar’s latest film, “Cars 2.”

My random thoughts (as usual, no spoilers):

  • there were some great “cameos” like Sig Hansen and the Northwestern from “Deadliest Catch” as Crabby, and Bruce Campbell as American spy-car Rod “Torque” Redline (an obvious nod to Campbell’s character Sam Axe on “Burn Notice“).
  • in Radiator Springs, the movie playing at the drive-in is “The Incrediblemobiles”
  • I noticed one of the advertisements along the racetrack was for “Lassityre” (presumably a reference to Pixar’s Chief Creative Office, John Lasseter)
  • in Paris, I though I saw the restaurant from Ratatouille

Of course, there are a ton of easter eggs that I missed … those are just the ones I noticed and remembered.

As for the movie itself? Well … it was okay. It hasn’t been getting great reviews and I can kinda understand why. Unlike the Toy Story sequels, “Cars 2” doesn’t feel, well … original, and lacks the emotional power of Pixar’s previous films (think about the incinerator scene in “Toy Story 3” or the first 10 minutes of “Up” for example). It’s just a James Bond/Jason Bourne spy-thriller story with the Cars characters. There’s also way too much of Mater and probably more guns and explosions than “The Incredibles.”

Don’t get me wrong … I enjoyed it. The car references and jokes were funny, and there was certainly a lot of action. It was a good movie, but I expect great movies from Pixar. Even the new Toy Story short before the film didn’t seem to have that Pixar magic that the shorts usually posses. I guess it just seems like it’s now too easy for them to just crank out “new” stuff by re-using their “old” stuff.

I saw a poster for “Brave” (the next film) in the theater … hopefully that one re-captures the spirit of Pixar’s previous works when it comes out next year.

 

Amazon Kindle (2nd gen)

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Back in May I spotted a woot! deal for Amazon’s second-generation Kindle e-reader and jumped on it, not for myself (I do my reading on my iOS devices), but as an end-of-the-school-year present for my daughter. We gave it to her on the last day of school in celebration of her straight As report card and she freaked. Her best friend had gotten a Nook for her birthday and she’d been asking for an e-reader ever since. She loves to read (we find open books scattered all over the house face down), so being able to put a bunch of books on a tiny device she can take with her anywhere was an appealing idea.

This was the first time I’d laid hands on, and actually used, a Kindle! Hard to believe, given my fondness for gadgets, but I’ve been reading books on small LCD screens since my Palm/iPAQ days so I never felt the need for a dedicated e-book reader.

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WIJFR: The Hunger Games

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In a not-too-distant future, the United States of America has collapsed, weakened by drought, fire, famine, and war, to be replaced by Panem, a country divided into the Capitol and 12 districts. Each year, two young representatives from each district are selected by lottery to participate in The Hunger Games. Part entertainment, part brutal intimidation of the subjugated districts, the televised games are broadcasted throughout Panem as the 24 participants are forced to eliminate their competitors, literally, with all citizens required to watch. When 16-year-old Katniss’s young sister, Prim, is selected as the mining district’s female representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male counterpart, Peeta, the son of the town baker who seems to have all the fighting skills of a lump of bread dough, will be pitted against bigger, stronger representatives who have trained for this their whole lives.

During our recent family vacation road trip, we all “read” (listened to) the audiobook version of Suzanne Collins’ “The Hunger Games.” We spent almost 68 hours in the car, so we had no trouble getting through all 11 hours of it.

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WIJFR: The Girl Who Played with Fire

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Mikael Blomkvist, crusading publisher of the magazine Millennium, has decided to run a story that will expose an extensive sex trafficking operation. On the eve of its publication, the two reporters responsible for the article are murdered, and the fingerprints found on the murder weapon belong to his friend, the troubled genius hacker Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist, convinced of Salander’s innocence, plunges into an investigation. Meanwhile, Salander herself is drawn into a murderous game of cat and mouse, which forces her to face her dark past.

Moving on to the second book of Steig Larsson’s Millenium trilogy, I’ve finished “The Girl Who Played with Fire.”

“Fire” picks up about a year after the events in “Dragon Tattoo” and we learn that hacker Lisbeth Salander has been traveling the world (anonymously of course) using her recently acquired wealth. Back in Sweden, Millenium editor/journalist Mikael Blomkvist has spent the past year dealing with the aftermath of the Wennerström affair and also searching for Salander who, for all practical purposes, has completely disappeared without explanation.

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WIJFR: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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Mikael Blomkvist, a once-respected financial journalist, watches his professional life rapidly crumble around him. Prospects appear bleak until an unexpected (and unsettling) offer to resurrect his name is extended by an old-school titan of Swedish industry. The catch – and there’s always a catch – is that Blomkvist must first spend a year researching a mysterious disappearance that has remained unsolved for nearly four decades. With few other options, he accepts and enlists the help of investigator Lisbeth Salander, a misunderstood genius with a cache of authority issues.

Today I finished reading “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Larsson, the first book of his Millennium series.

Recently disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist is approached by industrialist Henrik Vanger to write a book about the Vanger Family history in return for information that can clear his name. The book is just a cover story (pardon the pun) for Henrik’s ulterior motive for Blomkvist: solve the mystery of his niece’s disappearance over 40 years ago.

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