Category Archives: Systems

Ubuntu 11.10 and VirtualBox

While working with VirtualBox in Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot), I was unable to install the VirtualBox Guest Additions. It seems this is not installed with the default installation package. VirtualBox will give you a dialog to download the ISO file but the URL is not valid for the ISO.

After some quick Googling I found the download. Ubuntu installs version 4.1.2 of VirtualBox…

http://download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/4.1.2/

My first MacOS Lion Bug

Well, it didn’t take very long.  My first bug is as such, changing the desktop picture on one desktop does not change it for all of the desktops.  (In Mission Control)  However, change desktops and then try to change the desktop picture again and in the System Preferences it will show you that you already changed the picture.  You must change it to something else and then back again.

Why the iPhone 4 on Verizon is not interesting

imageVerizon and Apple announced today that the iPhone will be available to Verizon customers in February.  From my perspective, if you are an AT&T customer it may be best to wait before switching.  The Verizon iPhone (vPhone…) will be using the CDMA network, not Verizon’s new LTE network.  This means that the device will still be on a 3G network.  Some may say that this network is still faster than the AT&T 3G network, that may be so, however these are my concerns.

CDMA does not allow for simultaneous voice and data traffic.  This means no web browsing while you are on the phone, including getting new email alerts.

Apple announces new iPhone equipment in June, at least that has been the trend.  If you switch now, you may be locked into a device that will be top of the line for 3-4 months until the iPhone 5 is available.

The big plus is that an included Verizon app is included to turn the phone into a hotspot (read: without having to jailbreak).  This is exciting EXCEPT if you get a phone call.  Then it is good by data connection.

Thanks for trying Verizon.  I’ll stick with my AT&T service.  I can count on one hand the number of dropped calls in the past year.

Infra has changed hands once again

The product formally known as Ionix Service Manager, formally known as Infra has been moved to VMWare and is now known as VMWare Service Manager. Since the move, there seems to be new material on the website referencing version 9. I know that this version has been talked about by EMC for a while so I am curious if it will really come out.

In other news, Microsoft has granted me access to System Center Service Manager. I am going to dig into that product to see how it compares. If it accomplishes 80% of what Infra accomplished, I may be sold.

Mac Airport Utility

I needed a quick way to check the type of connection I had running. After a quick Google, I found that the MacOS has the utility, it just needs to be tweaked a little.

Open terminal and create a link to the utility.

sudo ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/Current/Resources/airport /usr/sbin/airport

Now that the utility is available, run airport -I for all of your wireless information.