Media players

DLINK DSM-750: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/29803/81/

Netgear EVA8000: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/content/view/29797/81/

Alternatives to Apple iTV: http://www.pvrwire.com/2006/11/30/alternatives-to-the-apple-itv/

apt-get update warnings

Of late on my debian installed nslu2 whenever I tried #apt-get update, I’d get the following public key warnings:

Fetched 2040B in 19s (105B/s)
Reading package lists… Done
W: There are no public key available for the following key IDs:
A70DAF536070D3A1
W: There are no public key available for the following key IDs:
A70DAF536070D3A1
W: You may want to run apt-get update to correct these problems

I found the solution at http://blog.kovyrin.net/2006/11/28/debian-problem-apt-get-update/

The solution is to try

#apt-key update

Apparently this didn’t work. Then I tried

#apt-get install debian-archive-keyring

This worked fine. There is more info at http://www.debian-administration.org/users/dkg/weblog/11

technical presentation tips

Nice tips about doing a technical presentation: http://weblogs.asp.net/jgalloway/archive/2006/12/05/tips-for-a-technical-presentation.aspx

printing POSTNET bar code on envelopes

The ZIP code is often translated into a barcode called Postnet that is printed on the mailpiece to make it easier for automated machines to sort

Here’s how to print POSTNET bar code using MSWORD.

Here’s a sample

This is the address shown in the text with the Postnet bar code for the 5-digit ZIP Code 55416

Real estate: When is a good time to buy?

Some interesting comments from Gavin Noronha on haloscan.

I often wondered what the anecdotal signs were that pessimism was at its peak in the housing market and I have come up with these

1. Follow the professionals: If the builders who have completed condominiums find they cannot sell and instead rent them out as apartments it is a good time to buy
2. Sellers resign to getting lower prices: If many sellers are getting lower prices than they paid for their homes prices have reached their bottom. In 1995 about 30% of sellers in California sold homes for lower prices than they bought them
3. Real Estate agents are pessimistic: A friend who bought a home in the mid-nineties in the Bay Area said that realtors predicted that prices would only rise 1%-2% a year.
4. The mortgage payment-rent ratio is close to 1: is A relative who bought a small home in San Jose slightly larger in size than the apartment she was renting in the mid-nineties said the mortgage payment was about 25% more than her rent.
5. There are forced sellers in the market: Foreclosures were at a peak in California around 1995-1996.

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