Consumed Consumer . org

Maybe you have run into your current webhost limitations or you discovered that running your own server is cheaper than whatever piecemeal services a dedicated provider might sell you. Or maybe you want to run a service that is either not offered or too expensive for your requirements. Or you consider a VPS an essential part of a mobile lifestyle. Either way, we shall quickly review how to accomplish that.

Having recently purchased a new Flipper Zero together with a Wi-Fi Dev module and a Video Game (Raspberry Pi) module, I'm writing an updated guide on how to make the best use of these devices.

I have recently unearthed a computer I haven't touched in a while and together with it the problems that frustrated me initially. Not only that the problems did not go away, but now the computer seems to suffer abandonment issues. This is a multiboot machine and it seems that the CD-ROM / DVD burner is identified by all OSs but it is unusable in only one of them. I'm showing you how to fix this problem.

I recently bit the bullet and tried to set up my PAP with a VOIP service with my Cisco / Linksys PAP2T. Here's how it went.

There was a time when having a “media center” involved building an HTPC, which was a difficult project to undertake, wrought with frustrations and hardware/software incompatibilities. OTA HDTV came along and many felt left behind just when they had gotten things working. Some experimented with Popcorn while others played with NZBs/NNTP/Usenet downloads. After all these years, one media interface has emerged dominant: XBMC / Boxi / Kodi.

Speedtest - how fast are you? : I clocked 2 short of 60 WPM, which is not bad on a laptop keyboard :)

Now that we recovered passwords and we're in, it's time to do a little clean up of this older Win XP / BT5r1 box.

Unlike softphones , discussed in the first instalment of our beginner’s guide to VOIP , hardware solutions enable you to use the regular phone(s) you are presumably accustomed to use. There are three major solutions that could enable your home phone line to be routed over the Internet.

For a long time I’ve been toying with the idea of running a TOR relay for my own privacy reasons and to give back to the community as well. Though my router and NAS (and possibly even my WD Live box) have enough chutzpah to run it, I prefer to use a very old computer instead for reasons of separation (security). For a while, I even considered buying a Raspberry Pi or some other similar cheap gizmo, then I remember I have a bunch of old computers I've never used..

A problem with my (micro) SD card unmounting itself (the famous “unexpectedly removed” error) pushed me to finally backup, root and fully move my apps to the SD card.  

A while back (2006, most likely), I purchased several D-link Vonage locked ATAs, with the intention to try VOIP. They were cheap ($9.99) and figured that if I find that I do not like Vonage, I will unlock them somehow and use them with another provider. Though I have decided that I do not like Vonage, I was unable to unlock and abandoned the project. Now that I have a working VOIP setup, I decided to give unlocking one more try .

I recently went to the trouble of installing Metasploit Framework (MSF) on a few devices (Android smartphone, Windows laptop, Kali on multiboot), with various degrees of success. My experiences may be helpful for others attempting the same, as well as for me, so that I can finish it later.

After our salute dedicated to Microsoft Windows 7 milestone, it is only natural to repeat our welcome to Windows 8 RTM and answer the burning question “where can I get the ISO?” .

I have a laptop that allows me to swap my DVD drive (which I don't use much) for a second hard drive in RAID. I'm looking at buying a drive in the $100-200 range to complement my existing SATA drive.

I once stayed at a hostel that had terrible Internet connectivity. This contrasted harshly with the superior customer service provided by the staff and the otherwise modern, cutting edge amenities. Let’s see how this problem could be solved.

I recently had to play a bit with a new installation of Ubuntu and again, old unnerving ghosts came back to haunt me. Since these ghosts have a habit of tormenting indiscriminately, I am sharing my solutions with you.

Continuing my SSD saga with windows installation. For what is worth, I have original Windows licenses with COA for all the new computers and laptops I purchased plus I even purchased and additional Windows license from DigitalRiver, as a student, for about $39. Unfortunately, that license was supposed to be for Windows Professional, as I ordered and was instead for Windows Home, which although at the same price point, lacked important functionality. I tried to contact the reseller to get the problem rectified but that was not possible (no response). Needless to say, I’m not as happy as one could be.

After wasting time and intense frustration, I have decided that waiting for videos of photos to upload to online services is not something I want to do from my laptop. I shall thus explore alternatives..

As we shift our home to using more and more Internet services such as VOIP , it becomes necessary to replace the existing router, which is usually not able to handle well multiple connection and QoS. We are looking at the current alternatives on the market.

Now that we know what VOIP is and the hardware and the provider have been chosen, what's left is to do some finer configuration of our service and start VOIP-ing!