Daily Cup of Tech

One of the complaints that I often hear from people is that modern technology looks too…well…modern! All the plastic and digital readouts are often too much for someone who is more akin to wood and cloth. So, this week’s Make It Monday project is a walks you through taking a modern wireless router and turning it into your latest family heirloom!

Instructables member radiorental walks you through creating a wireless home router with analogue utilization meter. Translated into English, he basically takes an everyday router from your local electronic shop, dismantles it, adds some electronics and a tachometer, builds a nice wooden box for it, and, presto!, instant aesthetic technology!

I’m going to warn you right up front. This is not a simple cut-and-paste type of project. If you want to make this project happen, you are going to have to be willing to get your hands a bit dirty. Make sure you are comfortable with basic networking, soldering, electronic circuitry, and carpentry. But, if you can check all of these off, you just might have the skills required to complete a very cool project.

For those of you interested, here is a quick video of the project in action as it is being tested:

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/04/09/antique-wireless-router/trackback/

I’ve actually got a major beef with this week’s Tech Blog of the Week, Thoughts from the Sidelines! They have so much cool stuff that if I were to buy everything that I wanted from their site, I’d have no money left for other, less important necessities in life like food and shelter.

Thoughts from the Sidelines focuses strongly on gadgets and emerging technologies. This is where you will see things like the Instant Mini Plastic Snap Apart Toolkit, Truly Massive MasterPlex 30D LCD Display, Motorised Pool Lounger, Trio Alpha and Duo Beta Personal Submersibles, and Personal Rocket Belt.

It is really easy to get caught in this blog and wile away a few hours dreaming of all the amazing things that you can do with these gadgets. There is so much cool stuff.

Another really great feature of this blog that I have never seen before (although I’m sure someone has done it) is the browse by image option. Between each post are a series of random images representing other posts in the blog. This is a great way of getting people to spend more time on your website and an awesome idea, especially for someone like me who is more visually oriented (Oooh! Look! Something shiny!)

Vital Links

• Website: http://nexus404.com/Blog/
• Post Feed: http://nexus404.com/Blog/feed/
• Comment Feed: http://nexus404.com/Blog/comments/feed/
• Browse By Image Page: http://nexus404.com/Blog/image-browse/

If you would like to have your blog considered for the Tech Blog of the Week, feel free to submit it and you may also find your self highlighted.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/04/08/tech-blog-of-the-week-thoughts-from-the-sidelines/trackback/

Smtp Mailer That Supports Html And Attachments. - AutoIt Forums:

#Include<file.au3>
Global $oMyError = ObjEvent(“AutoIt.Error”, “MyErrFunc”)
;##################################
; Include
;##################################
#Include<file.au3>
;##################################
; Variables
;##################################
$s_SmtpServer = “MailServer”              ; address for the smtp-server to use - REQUIRED
$s_FromName = “Name”                      ; name from who the email was sent
$s_FromAddress = “your@Email.Address.com” ;  address from where the mail should come
$s_ToAddress = “your@Email.Address.com”   ; destination address of the email - REQUIRED
$s_Subject = “Userinfo”                   ; subject from the email - can be anything you want it to be
$as_Body = “”                             ; the messagebody from the mail - can be left blank but then you get a blank mail
$s_AttachFiles = “”                       ; the file you want to attach- leave blank if not needed
$s_CcAddress = “CCadress1@test.com”       ; address for cc - leave blank if not needed
$s_BccAddress = “BCCadress1@test.com”     ; address for bcc - leave blank if not needed
$s_Username = “******”                    ; username for the account used from where the mail gets sent - REQUIRED
$s_Password = “********”                  ; password for the account used from where the mail gets sent - REQUIRED
$IPPort = 25                              ; port used for sending the mail
$ssl = 0                                  ; enables/disables secure socket layer sending - put to 1 if using httpS
;~ $IPPort=465                            ; GMAIL port used for sending the mail
;~ $ssl=1                                 ; GMAILenables/disables secure socket layer sending - put to 1 if using httpS

;##################################
; Script
;##################################
Global $oMyRet[2]
Global $oMyError = ObjEvent(“AutoIt.Error”, “MyErrFunc”)
$rc = _INetSmtpMailCom($s_SmtpServer, $s_FromName, $s_FromAddress, $s_ToAddress, $s_Subject, $as_Body, $s_AttachFiles, $s_CcAddress, $s_BccAddress, $s_Username, $s_Password, $IPPort, $ssl)
If @error Then
    MsgBox(0, “Error sending message”, “Error code:” & @error & “  Description:” & $rc)
EndIf
;

Func _INetSmtpMailCom($s_SmtpServer, $s_FromName, $s_FromAddress, $s_ToAddress, $s_Subject = “”, $as_Body = “”, $s_AttachFiles = “”, $s_CcAddress = “”, $s_BccAddress = “”, $s_Username = “”, $s_Password = “”,$IPPort=25, $ssl=0)
    $objEmail = ObjCreate(“CDO.Message”)
    $objEmail.From = ‘”‘ & $s_FromName & ‘” <’ & $s_FromAddress & ‘>’
    $objEmail.To = $s_ToAddress
    Local $i_Error = 0
    Local $i_Error_desciption = “”
    If $s_CcAddress <> “” Then $objEmail.Cc = $s_CcAddress
    If $s_BccAddress <> “” Then $objEmail.Bcc = $s_BccAddress
    $objEmail.Subject = $s_Subject
    If StringInStr($as_Body,“<”) and StringInStr($as_Body,“>”) Then
        $objEmail.HTMLBody = $as_Body
    Else
        $objEmail.Textbody = $as_Body & @CRLF
    EndIf
    If $s_AttachFiles <> “” Then
        Local $S_Files2Attach = StringSplit($s_AttachFiles, “;”)
        For $x = 1 To $S_Files2Attach[0]
            $S_Files2Attach[$x] = _PathFull ($S_Files2Attach[$x])
            If FileExists($S_Files2Attach[$x]) Then
                $objEmail.AddAttachment ($S_Files2Attach[$x])
            Else
                $i_Error_desciption = $i_Error_desciption & @lf & ‘File not found to attach: ‘ & $S_Files2Attach[$x]
                SetError(1)
                return 0
            EndIf
        Next
    EndIf
    $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusing”) = 2
    $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserver”) = $s_SmtpServer
    $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpserverport”) = $IPPort
;Authenticated SMTP
    If $s_Username <> “” Then
        $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpauthenticate”) = 1
        $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendusername”) = $s_Username
        $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/sendpassword”) = $s_Password
    EndIf
    If $Ssl Then
        $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Item (“http://schemas.microsoft.com/cdo/configuration/smtpusessl”) = True
    EndIf
;Update settings
    $objEmail.Configuration.Fields.Update
; Sent the Message
    $objEmail.Send
    if @error then
        SetError(2)
        return $oMyRet[1]
    EndIf
EndFunc ;==>_INetSmtpMailCom
;
;
; Com Error Handler
Func MyErrFunc()
    $HexNumber = Hex($oMyError.number, 8)
    $oMyRet[0] = $HexNumber
    $oMyRet[1] = StringStripWS($oMyError.description,3)
    ConsoleWrite(“### COM Error !  Number: “ & $HexNumber & “   ScriptLine: “ & $oMyError.scriptline & “   Description:” & $oMyRet[1] & @LF)
    SetError(1); something to check for when this function returns
    Return
EndFunc ;==>MyErrFunc 

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/04/07/advanced-smtp-mailer/trackback/

It appears that I have been neglecting a very important segment of our readership, the OS Xers in the crown. Especially in the department of portable applications. Todd points this out to me in an e-mail:

Hi. I’m pretty much a Windows power user kind of guy and really love all of your articles dealing with Windows. However, due to the nature of my profession (photography), I’m forced to use Mac machines during the day, which is no big deal really; there are things that I like and dislike about both platforms.

My question is, can you point me - and possibly others - to any resources for loading a USB drive with utilities for use on a Mac? Specifically web browsing and email clients. I love the Portable Apps site and haven’t been able to find such a site with Mac stuff.

Thanks.

Todd

Well, Todd, that’s a pretty tall order but I think I can be of some help. Here is a list of portable OS X applications that I have found:

Read the rest of the story…

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/04/06/portable-osx-applications/trackback/

The Dilbert Blog

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/04/05/dilbert-blog/trackback/