So I have a printer at home that I want to network. Being the smart guy that I am, I think “I’ll by a print server”. Having heard good things about Hawking Tech’s products (particularly in terms of price), I thought I’d pick up a USB print server from Hawking Tech. So I go over to Computer Alley on State St. and pick up a Hawking HPS1U USB Print server for $65.00.
I get it home, unpack it, look at the simple docs, cable it up, and try to set it up. I install the config utility, run it, and it can’t find the print server on the network. I power cycle it, try again. No dice. I swap out cables, same result. I look at the docs some more, and try some other stuff. I ping the broadcast address on my network and see what shows up in the ARP table. I see a new device, and try to connect to it. I can ping it, but I can’t connect to the HTTP server that is supposed to be running on the thing. I also try putting a static ARP entry in my system’s ARP table and connecting to it that way (which is what is suggested for non-Windows systems). Again, I can ping the thing, but I can’t actually access it in a useful way (ICMP conversations are rarely interesting — “Are you there?”, “Yes, I’m here.” — “Still there?”, “Yes, I’m here.” — And so on…)
After a bit of cursing, I conclude that the unit must be defective. I look for help on the Hawking Technology web site. There is none. There certainly isn’t a support number that I can find.
So I take the thing back to Computer Alley to get an exchange. They happily give me a new one, apologize for the problems, and take the old one back.
I bring the new one home. Unpack, cable it, etc. Same results. Troubleshoot. Same results. I look at the docs some more, and apparently the thing is also supposed to have a TFTP server on it. So I grab the TFTP client for my Fedora Core 2 box (surprisingly not installed by default), and try to TFTP to the thing to configure it. Again, no luck. The thing responds to ICMP packets, but no other packets. I even tried connecting via crossover cable to the thing just to make sure it wasn’t my LAN switch or something wacky like that. Still no dice. The damn thing just doesn’t work.
Now I can accept having a unit go out the door DOA. Sometimes it happens. But TWO units? Both were in unopened OEM packaging. The boxes were in good condition, and didn’t appear to have suffered in transit. But both simply don’t work.
Looking online, I see that folks have had mixed results. At least one other person reported the same thing I did — the unit just didn’t work out of the box.
I’m not at all impressed with Hawking. I think I’ll avoid their products in the future, and look for vendors like D-Link, Belkin, and LinkSys for stuff like this.
This is the first novel from Susanna Clarke, but I hope it won’t be her last.
The book is probably typically categorized as fantasy, but reads more as historical fiction. Clarke has done an amazing job of world-building here, in a distinct way. Unlike Rowling, who concocts a magical society that exists parallel to our own (and takes some pains to make those connections), Clarke instead rewrites English history and inserts an old tradition of magic and magical research that interweaves with historical events both large and small. She doesn’t try to connect this world with our own, and in an indirect way asserts that this world is our own. The result is enjoyable and engrossing.
The story, set in the early 19th centry, focuses on the two title characters: Mr. Norrell, a fussy older gentleman who comes out of obscurity to reclaim respectability for English magic, which has been out of fashion and practice for centuries. Norrell comes to London where he quickly establishes himself as the preeminent (perhaps only) actual (versus theoretical) magician in all of England, and goes about performing services for the English government, particularly in support of the war with Napoleon and France. Things go swimmingly until a new magician appears, Johnathan Strange, who quickly becomes Norrell’s pupil. The story revolves around their relationship and the conflict that appears between Norrell and Strange’s competing visions for what English magic should be all about.
Norrell’s vision is rationalistic and perhaps scientific, and Norrell rejects the wild fairy magic of the Raven King, a hugely important historical figure whose activities and history undergird the background of the novel. Strange is drawn to the Raven King and this wilder, uncontrolled approach to magic, and soon he and Norrell are drawn into a conflict that is exacerbated by the machinations of those in the drawing-room society around them.
The novel is frequently and often humorously footnoted with references to authors, books (both magical and mundane), and events that create the historical backdrop for the action in the book. The book is large and complex (800 pages), and sometimes the pacing is slowed by the meticulous attention to detail that Clarke has for her subjects and society. But the novel overall is quite successful, and an enjoyable and rewarding read.
I decided to migrate my blog software from MovableType to WordPress. I did this both for practical reasons (I forgot to backup my MT database before I migrated my site to my new server) and technical ones (MT is written in Perl and is a pain in the butt to deal with and install, and WordPress is written in PHP installs easily and is simple to deal with).
Because I didn’t have my database backed up, I couldn’t easily import my old blog entries here, so I copied the stuff that I liked into WordPress by hand. The older stuff is archived at http://www.briansp.com/blog.old/.
So far I have found WordPress to be very easy to use and featureful.
I’ve been to a marvelous party
with Noona, and Nana, and Nell.
It was in the fresh air,
and we came as we were,
and we stayed as we were,
which was hell.
Poor Lulu got fried on Chianti,
and talked about esprit de corps.
I knew the excitement was bound to begin,
when Laura got blind on Dubonney and gin,
and scratched her veneer with a Cartier pin.
I couldn’t have liked it more.
- Noel Coward