How many public IPs does Augusta County have?
3 minute read
September 18, 2009, 7:05 PM
So I was talking to my mother on the phone this evening, and we discussed my day, and one of the things that came up was the stuff I did on Wikipedia during my lunch break this afternoon. As it turns out, I blocked an anonymous user for two weeks for vandalism, whose IP address, 216.12.45.78, is registered to Augusta County Public Schools, which is the school district where my mother teaches, and where I went to middle school and high school.
So I just kind of threw it out there to Mom: “How many public IPs does Augusta County have?” Mom was kind of taken back by that question, since we had a little language barrier here. What’s an IP? What does IP stand for? Explaining that was a little difficult, since in the few minutes I had to explain it, I had no chance of getting Mom to understand, though if I had a little longer, I might have had a way of figuring it out.
And now I did figure out how to explain it, after the conversation, of course. Basically, imagine you’re in a neighborhood. Each apartment building has a street address. That’s your public IP address. Let’s take “123 Sesame Street”, for example. Say that 123 Sesame Street has the IP address 123.456.789.000. Then each apartment inside 123 Sesame Street has a number. Thus the behind-the-router numbering of 192.168.x.x. Thus Gordon and Susan, in one apartment are 192.168.1.101. Bob is 192.168.1.102. Bert and Ernie are 192.168.1.103. Maria and Luis are 192.168.1.104. They all access the world by walking through the halls of 123 Sesame Street, and then going through the front doors of 123 Sesame Street. The apartment is your inside IP address, the hallways are your router, and then the door is your public IP. Thus Gordon and Susan’s computer, with a local IP address of 192.168.1.101, goes through the router and accesses the Internet via the public IP 123.456.789.000.
Continue reading…Wireless Internet is now set up in my apartment…
< 1 minute read
May 22, 2007, 9:17 PM
Okay, everyone. I’m online in Silver Spring. I’ve set up a wireless network, and the Lappy is online. My real computer comes online once I get the new desk set up. That will be a breeze now that we know that everything else works.
So life is good. I can now go sit out on my balcony with the Lappy and send messages to people and surf the Internet.
Now what I’d like to know is what the heck did I need to have the cable guys over for? All they did is bring the cable box and such and hook the cables into the jack. Big whoopty-doo. They didn’t have to fiddle with anything outside. They just went in, hooked it up, and left. I could have done that myself and not have to wait around the house.
But at least it’s set up now.
Categories: Internet, Move to DC area
Cheers to Mozilla Firefox! Jeers to Internet Explorer 7 and AIM Triton
< 1 minute read
May 19, 2006, 5:08 PM
As you might be able to tell from the subject line, I tried out some new software products today.
First of all, I finally took the time to download and install the Mozilla Firefox browser application. I was quite impressed with the way Firefox operates on my computer. It has all the things that I like about IE, and isn’t afraid to look like a computer program. Plus it has tabbed browsing, which keeps things neat and tidy. I was an instant convert to Mozilla.
I also upgraded my Internet Explorer to the newest version, which was IE 7. IE 7 also offers tabbed browsing and such. However, it was so “heavy” that it slowed my computer down (my computer is eight years old), and the interface was confusing. All I have to say is that if this is the future of Internet Explorer, I’m jumping ship. I was not impressed.
Then there’s AIM Triton. Like IE, it was somewhat “heavy”, and the interface was hideous. Most of the handy features that I liked about AIM were gone, and it was pretty bad overall. It also came with AOL’s own Web browser, which was not welcome on my computer from the outset. The one nice thing about it was that it didn’t install over my old AIM, so going back to the old version was a snap. It was still there and waiting for me. So I just uninstalled AIM Triton and that was it. Sometimes there’s no program like an old program, after all.
And I’m just glad to have finally discovered Mozilla. What a lovely browser.
After three days, I am back online…
< 1 minute read
July 16, 2005, 11:22 PM
Three days of no Internet and four updates ready to go (Photo Feature, Childhood Days, Transit Center, and Journal) will drive a person completely up the wall. There’s just something about knowing that your Internet connection is down that makes you crazy. No Email. No AIM. No forums. No Web updates. Seriously, everything grinds to a halt.
Of course, it could be worse. I could be one of those people who do their Web page right on the server, and thus not have a local copy to do. I have the whole Web site right here on my computer, and that’s my “master” for the site. What you see online is simply the latest update from the master on my computer.
Still, it makes a person crazy to have all these updates ready to go and nowhere to put them. Hopefully, now that we’ve had the cable guy in to fix it, the connection will stay up. They rearranged how everything was wired together, giving the cable modem its own cable jack and somehow making it work. So I’m pleased.
Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta
Still offline, but what a productive day!
2 minute read
July 1, 2005, 4:05 PM
I’m still offline and entering this Journal entry directly into the database, but I found out from Dad what most likely caused this outage. It turns out that the storm that I was outrunning in Amherst County last night was the likely cause of our losing Internet service. According to Dad, that’s when the outage occurred – during the storm. And it seems it was more intense in Stuarts Draft than where I was. Remember that I caught a lot of heavy rain between the town of Amherst and Lovingston in Nelson County. No thunder and lightning while I was getting the rain.
So we’ll see. We’ve got a guy coming to the house tomorrow to take a look at it.
Meanwhile, I got a lot of stuff accomplished today. I paid a bill related to that surgery I had in February, and then I went to the bank to deposit a check. So that worked out well. After that, I went to Radioshack in Waynesboro to pick up an RF switch that will hopefully make my Super Nintendo come to life again (more on that in a second). Then lastly, I went to Goodwill in Waynesboro and dropped off a whole load of stuff from the closet. Nice place, and I was in and out in five minutes. Smelled like a combination of old clothes and new building, though, but such is to be expected.
Categories: Internet, Retail, Video games
What’s wrong with this picture?
2 minute read
March 3, 2005, 11:26 AM
Categories: Amusing, Internet, Stuarts Draft
Blacksburg!
2 minute read
February 16, 2005, 1:01 PM
I’m in Blacksburg today, taking photos of the BT, formally known as Blacksburg Transit. I’m also visiting my sister later on in the evening.
I’ve been really successful today with my BT photos. Only disappointment is that Blacksburg Transit doesn’t run their Flxibles in regular service anymore. They run their New Flyer low-floor buses on regular service, and only pull out the Flxes for special events. Still, I’ve done fairly well, taking a huge amount of photos of the BT’s buses that are running. I also got an interior photo of one of the buses (can’t remember the bus number offhand, but it’s in the photos). So that’s good.
Meanwhile, I recently found out that a long-time fan of mine, Rodney Anonymous, found the Web site A Little About Everything, run by a Mr. Randy N. Townley. I can see why he’d say “evil twin”, but I tend to disagree. Though it seems that the “evil” part fits. I quote from his response to Rodney Anonymous’s original message:
Categories: Internet, Schumin Web meta, Transit
“You mean they want to wear your clothes?”
2 minute read
January 29, 2005, 9:51 PM
First of all, ladies and gentlemen, WE HAVE CABLE! WE HAVE CABLE! All interested parties are now officially connected to what I have dubbed the “Schumin Wireless Network”. That means we have my computer, Dad’s computer, Mom’s laptop, and Dad’s laptop all in place on our little network. Now I don’t have to leave my room for anything. I can just IM the rest of the family.
Otherwise, today was interesting at work. They were calling for winter weather for our area, which came in the form of sleet, sleet, and more sleet. But before the sleet showed up, it was like Christmas in January in our Waynesboro Wal-Mart. Seriously. Like Christmas, with all the registers open and all the lines backed up to the clothes. Everyone was buying the usual winter weather staples – bread, milk, and eggs. One can assume that everyone makes french toast when it snows.
I also ran into a friend at work who had two women at his side – one on each arm. His comment was, “They want to get into my pants.”
We hit a milestone!
< 1 minute read
January 29, 2005, 9:34 AM
Yes, we did hit a milestone. One computer is successfully connected wirelessly for the high-speed Internet. And it’s Dad’s laptop. But it works.
For those of you who are wondering what changed without a service call, we moved the modem and router from my room to the family room. And then we tried it all using a laptop. And it works.
So now we need to figure out what’s wrong with mine. The problem I had before was that it wasn’t seeing the wireless card I put in there. So we’ll see. I’m going to fiddle around with my computer a bit after work, and see what I can come up with. Somehow, I’m going to get up and running. Then the rest shall be easy.
This is odd…
2 minute read
January 27, 2005, 11:30 AM
When I woke up this morning around 8:30, the cable Internet was working correctly. Go figure. So I started surfing around with my newfound power. Went to Oren’s Transit Page to look at his site again now that I have a high-speed connection. His site is rather cumbersome to view using the 56K connection due to the way the graphics are set to load.
However, the connection was somewhat spotty. On again, and then off again. On again, and off again. Then it went off for a long time, cutting off my view of Metro’s old Gillig Phantoms. This also dropped all my IM services. Then it came back on. Reconnect to IM. Once I got all reconnected, it dropped, which disconnected all my IM again. And we repeat.
So we can at least get data to come into the system. That’s a good sign. I called Adelphia to find out what was wrong, and it turns out they have about three modems in our area experiencing difficulty connecting… and ours is one of them. So they kept our appointment for a house call for Sunday. And I’m still writing this on dial-up.
Categories: Internet
No high-speed Internet yet…
< 1 minute read
January 26, 2005, 8:43 PM
Nope. No high-speed Internet. More 56K. Oh, boy.
Well, not yet. We have to get the cable guy over to make a house call to get it started because they say that something is wrong hardware-wise somewhere along the line. So they’re coming on Sunday to fix it and hopefully get it going.
Still, I did buy $300 worth of stuff at Wal-Mart to hook everyone up with it. About half of that equipment is opened and scattered around my room. Some of it’s hooked up. Some of it is halfway hooked up. I had to stop when we found out that a house call was needed.
All I have to say is that I’m pleased and upset all at the same time. I’m pleased because I know that it’s not a mistake on my part, and that I most likely did it correctly. But then I’m upset because I have to wait for my high-speed Internet, which I’d be hoping to write this Journal entry on this evening.
Somehow, we’ll get it all straight in the end, I’m sure.
Categories: Internet, Power Rangers
All I have to say is goodbye 56K Internet service!
2 minute read
January 25, 2005, 8:56 PM
This is the day I’ve been waiting for! Tomorrow we abandon our 56K Internet service, in favor of CABLE.
And guess who’s setting up the whole thing. You guessed it – me. I’m also doing all the shopping for it. Wednesday morning, I’m going to Adelphia’s office in Staunton, then going to the Staunton Wal-Mart to get all the equipment. I’m getting a cable modem, wireless router, PCI cards for the big computers, PCMCIA cards for the laptops, etc. And then when it’s all finished, high-speed Internet will finally have arrived.
Let me tell you… having high-speed Internet will be VERY nice. Uploads will be a breeze. No longer will uploading a major update take hours. This is going to be SO nice. I’ll also finally be able to give my Online Store the revamping that it’s so badly needed for some time.
Now I’m wealthy… yeah, sure…
< 1 minute read
September 27, 2004, 4:23 PM
I got a check regarding the Web site today from Overture, a search engine. A whole $3.89. I think I can retire now. Or not.
What’s funny about it is that I have no idea where this came from. Overture is now part of Yahoo, but Yahoo is not the source. I remember when I first joined various affiliate programs in 2000 that Yahoo was one that didn’t have an affiliate program and I noticed how strange that was. I also don’t recall what Overture’s predecessor company was. That would help a lot, since I probably registered for a predecessor’s affiliate program way back in 2000 when I did a bunch of those.
I remember that much of those affiliate programs bit the dust later on, in 2001 or so, with the so-called “dot-bomb” where all kinds of internet businesses died, and the market for online advertising took a nosedive. That was a pity. A number of the affiliate programs I was in discontinued their programs outright. Losing AltaVista’s affiliate program was particularly painful, since it was lucrative.
Still, I have a check for three bucks, which I find amusing. Must be a payment for something I had on my site at some point.
Categories: Internet
My birthday is in 24 days!
2 minute read
May 6, 2004, 3:10 AM
My birthday is in 24 days, which makes it May 30, which means that today is the 6th. If not, I got up at 4:00 for nothing.
But anyway, though, I figured out what I want for my birthday. So tell me… do you know who this is?
That was fast!
< 1 minute read
April 3, 2004, 9:37 PM
It hadn’t even been a week, and already I got my tax refund from my state taxes. Filing online certainly has its benefits. And it’s harder to screw up than the regular tax forms. So it’s a win-win!
Now all I have to do is take it to the bank to deposit it. Always a good thing. Since I’m not paying $3 for Wal-Mart to cash the check. Not happening. Easier for me to just bank-card it.
Still, I’m glad to have gotten it so fast! I could always use some extra money.
Categories: Internet