Archive for the ‘Product Reviews’ Category

Misc Systems Administration Notes and Things to Look for When Evaluating Systems

Wednesday, May 27th, 2015

2015-05-27 Last Updated

The list below is not in any particular order nor is it exhaustive. I add items as they come to mind.

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Yawcam Notes, Review

Sunday, July 29th, 2012

2012-07-29 Initial Post

I played around with this back in January 2012 with version 0.3.7, using it with a Logitech QuickCam Deluxe for Notebooks model V-UBV49.

Basically I wanted to set up a video surveillance system and this seemed to be one of the better free programs for doing such. It has some nice features for a free program, but it needs some work. I ended up getting a camera with built-in motion detection--see my post on that at http://sysadmin-e.com/x10-airsight-clones.

Here are some misc notes I made about Yawcam. This isn't very extensive and I'm just posting it for my own reference.

  • C:\Users\%username%\.yawcam\
  • You can define an area for motion detection. The area is based on the current frame, so if you move the camera, you need to reselect the area.
  • You can add an overlay to the capture (such as text with the date and time).
  • It has a scheduling feature.
  • Too much sun washes out the motion detection area (not the software's fault).
  • It temporarily saves motion activated images to C:\Users\%username%\.yawcam\motion even if you specified another location. The images there get deleted after clearing/deleting the events from the Window menu --> Motion Detection --> Motion Events tab.

Upgrade Dell OptiPlex 745 Small Form Factor To Home Theater PC

Saturday, December 3rd, 2011

2011-12-05 Updated

2011-12-03 Initial Post

I was able to get an older Dell OptiPlex 745 Small Form Factor desktop computer from work. Its ship date is May 2007, so it's almost five years old. I wanted the black, SFF design so I could put it next to my TV stand to replace the larger, silver-colored desktop mini-tower I had as my home theater PC (HTPC).

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Canon PIXMA MX350, Short Review and Notes on TCP/IP Network Ports

Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010

2011-02-05 Updated

2010-11-03 Initial Post

I set up my new Canon PIXMA MX350 today. So far, I really like it overall. But two things that I don't like are: 1) It's HUGE compared to my old HP Officejet 5610 All-In-One, and 2) It has a vertical paper tray in the back. I won't go into more detail because the main purpose of this post is to note some information about the network part of the device.

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Disaster-proof External Hard Drive – ioSafe Solo

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

2010-04-29 Initial Post

I've never had the need for something like this, so didn't even know that a product like this existed for consumers. The specs and reviews look decent. The only big issue I see from the specs is that the interface is USB 2.0, which is SLOW. It'd take several hours (probably most of a day) to back up 1 TB over USB 2.0. I haven't checked to see if there are similar products that have a faster interface.

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