• IBM Thinkpad
• Cingular Aircard 875 (note, this is really a Sierra card)
• Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 (updated system as of 20080510)

The first step was to make sure the drivers were being loaded into the system correctly when the hardware was inserted. The simple way to do this is tail the message log.

sudo tail -f /var/log/messages

Upon inserting the card, I saw that the card was recognized and that the device was assigned some ttyUSB device nodes.

Upon inserting card…

May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.462393] sierra 5-1:1.0: Sierra USB modem (3 port) converter detected
May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.463909] usb 5-1: Sierra USB modem (3 port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0
May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.464288] usb 5-1: Sierra USB modem (3 port) converter now attached to ttyUSB1
May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.464599] usb 5-1: Sierra USB modem (3 port) converter now attached to ttyUSB2
May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.464833] usbcore: registered new interface driver sierra
May 10 10:00:49 spicy kernel: [ 688.464839] /build/buildd/linux-2.6.24/drivers/usb/serial/sierra.c: USB Driver for Sierra Wireless USB modems: v.1.2.5b

Make sure that you see the lines similar to “usb 5-1: Sierra USB modem (3 port) converter now attached to ttyUSB0”. This tells you that you will be able to use device ttyUSB0 to make your connection.

Now, this is the point where I could have used some of the config files in the previous post but I wanted to focus on using the GUI configuration tools.

So, click on the Network Manager applet and select “Manual Configuration”. Once this appears on your screen, click the “Unlock” button and authenticate.

Select the “Point to Point” connection and then click on the “Properties” button.

On the general tab, enter the following information:

• Connection Type: Serial Modem
• Phone Number: *99***1#
• Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
• Password: cingular1

On the modem tab, enter the following information:

• Modem port: /dev/ttyUSB0

On the options tab, select the following check boxes:

• Set modem as default route to Internet
• Use the Internet service providers nameservers

Click the “OK” button. Your ppp connection is now configured. You can close the “Network Settings” window. Now, logout of your gnome session. The key here is to restart the Network Manager applet so that it recognizes the new ppp connection.

Once you log back in, click on the Network Manager applet and select the “Dial Up Connections” option and then”Connect to ppp0 via Modem”. This will start you Cingular connection and you should be good to go.

Notes:

• You can monitor the connection progress by having a terminal widow open and executing the following command: ’sudo tail -f /var/log/messages’
• Firefox may think that it is working offline when you first start the application. Click on ‘File’ → ‘Work Offline’ to make sure the option is not set. I was then able to browse with no problems.

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This has been a great experience reconnecting with old friends. It has also given me the opportunity to perform once again. My sister, who plays in the mello line, found these clips on the Internet. The audio is pretty rough. Enjoy!

Part 1

Part 2

PS, I am working on a Westshoremen tribute website. I am looking for any photographs or personal stories that you would like to share. Feel free to contact me.

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First Course (choice of one)

• Crab Bisque
• House Salad
• Ceasar Salad

Entree (choice of one)

• Pan Roasted Chicken Marsala
• 10oz Top Sirloin
• Five Spice Chicken Penne Pasta
• Salmon Buerre Blanc
• 4oz Petit Filet and BBQ Shrimp

Dessert (choice of one)

• Creme Brulee
• Chocolate Velvet Cake

I had the Crab Bisque, 10oz Top Sirloin, and Creme Brulee (in my opinion, the perfect desert). Dinner was outstanding! I would highly recommend J Gilbert’s Wood Fired Steaks. Check out the restaurant on Sunday afternoon for great specials.

Now onto the wine! We had a selection of 4 wines for the evening. Steve was gracious enough to bring in a bottle of Jones Family Vineyard Cab ‘98 (Calistoga, CA). This was made by Heidi Barrett. This lead into an interesting conversation about cult wines and finding good values. The wine itself was excellent. Very complex flavors and a beautiful color.

The next up was Fess Parker Pinot Noir (Santa Barbara, CA). This was another complex wine. Lots of cherry, cola, and berry. I could have used a little less tannin. This one is a buy for me to cellar for a while to see if the tannin will mellow out.

Wynns Coonawarra Estate Cab was mixed in here somewhere. Unfortunately, I must have been involved in a conversation because my notes on this wine are missing.

There was a white on the menu, Caymus Conundrum. To me this is the swiss army of white wines. It pairs well with everything and seems to appeal to every pallet. This is a blend of 11 different white wine grapes. The exact proportions are unknown. You can read more about this wine on the Conundrum Wines web site.

It looks like the group will be getting together again in March at J Gilbert’s. If you are interested in coming to dinner, please stop by the Meetup website and register for the event.

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This is the Central Ohio Bacchus Society group. More information on the Bacchus Society can be found on their home page.

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• Santa Margherita - Prosecco di Valdobbiadene
• Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin - Brut
• Saint Hilaire

The first up was the Santa Margherita. Since this is our favorite Pinot Grigio, we decided to give their Prosecco a chance. Overall, it was very good with a fair amount of citrus flavor. I did not get the apple character at all. The aroma’s and flavors became more noticeable as the Prosecco warmed. According to reviews I found on the web, this was rated an 84.

The next one up was the Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin. This was another sparkler we had not had. Unlike the other two, this is a real Champagne as opposed to a sparkling wine. I would have to say, this one made me take pause. The delicate flavors and the almost creamy texture made my wife and reconsider this as a replacement for our stand-by favorite of Moet White Star. According to the tasting notes from Wine Spectator, “A rich, creamy style, with toast, lemon, gingerbread and nut flavors mingling together. This has intensity, yet it’s beautifully balanced, with a lingering gingery aftertaste.” I tried to see if I could match up what I was tasting to this description. The only thing I got was “GOOD!” I think a better description is,”Clicquot’s signature brut non-vintage is loved the world over for its crisp, full flavors, consistent quality and celebratory yellow label. This classically-styled, dry Champagne is a blend of two-thirds black grapes (Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier) for body, balanced with one-third Chardonnay for elegance. It has a fine persistent sparkle and golden Champagne color. Its complex nose of apple, citrus and caramel is followed by full flavors with elegance, crispness and a slightly spicy finish.” Wine Spectator rating is a 91. Once we finished the bottle, this has taken our number one spot on the sparkler list for my wife and I.

Once we finished the Veuve, there was no way either of us were willing to take on Saint Hilaire. Sounds like a good one for New Years Day!

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Open the Finder preference window and uncheck the box “Hard disks” in the “Show these items on the Desktop:”

This will hide all of the drives on your system. To create a link to your Mac hard drive, we will create a symbolic link on your desktop to the mounted volume location. This is much simpler than that sounded.

Fire up the terminal and enter the following command…

ln -s /Volumes/Leopard ~/Desktop/Leopard

Of course, you should change “Leopard” to the name of your hard drive. If you have spaces in your hard drive name, include the operands in single quotes. For example…

ln -s '/Volumes/My Computer' '~/Desktop/My Computer'

This is a per user setting.

Many thanks to Zoomie on InsanelyMac for the idea!

http://tinyurl.com/yqpzl2

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http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1198385&stqc=true

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5677911

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