I’ve gotten used to using linux until I was forced to switch back to Windows because of the school campus network validation processes. What If I wanted to use (CLI) command line interface like I did in linux? I really can’t with the MS-DOS tool. MS-DOS is old and is really crippled in Windows XP, one reason is because XP is really Windows NT.

Well I wanted to find a solution so I can use linux CLI commands on Windows, browse directories, etc. Microsoft was already on it, formally called Monad, it’s now called PowerShell. It looks just like MS-DOS but has the advance features of linux or unix based CLI shells. Vista is suppose to have it!

Interested? You can grab PowerShell here and the quick start guide here!

I’m about to introduce you a neat website I found from Digg. A website that has a the police records of all the incidents filed by Walmarts across the nation. Since I’ve been to Stony Brook, I’ve visited Walmart here at Center Reach quite frequently. Walmart, by statistics is 400% more dangerous than the compared giant Target.

Crimes such as purse snatching, car thefts, armed robberies, assaults to shootings has been on the rise at Walmart locations. So I might have to give up that $2 Capri-Sun drinks and Kellogg’s Rice Crispies all together. At the Walmart I go to, there’s been 449 reports filed costing $34,797 in tax payers cash!

Want to know how much money crimes at your local Walmart is costing tax payers? Find out here!

For those of you who thought the weather will never get cold a few weeks ago were dead wrong. Holy shit! I went out with a friend to pick up a pizza delivery yesterday, while walking pass the RA’s door, a note written on a dry-erase board said, “warning, windchill 0 degrees”, he wasn’t lying. It was brick outside!

This morning, waking up was a bitch, classes on a Friday morning in 10 degree weather and on top of that it was windy. The trip to the book store after class was a killer, my friend and I talked about how the school’s Roth pond was frozen with a 1 inch thick ice sheet. I’m about to take a walk on it!! Watch me fall in haha! This weekend SUCKS!

Cold Weather Music:
[audio:http://litstudies.org/changetheworld.mp3]

Stony Brook’s “ResNet“ or residential network is a hassle to setup at the beginning of the semester. There were a lot more problems this semester compared to my first semester here. During my first semester, setup was a little confusing, I had to scan my computer for an anti-virus program and it checked Windows Update to see if I had all of Microsoft’s patches, and that was it, it registered.

However, this semester, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer came out and ResNet made that a requirement in order to register your computer. Upgrading wasn’t a difficult process but it was very time consuming. I tried installing it for my friend and it took 3 tries to finally get it right. Another thing is the Anti-Virus program, I had to install their Symantec’s Anti-Virus client edition. My anti-virus program did not want to update in order to meet ResNet’s requirements, then my Windows Defender was outdated but ResNet did not let it update.

If you’re having problems updating, the best solution is to uninstall your anti-virus program, or Defender in my case and reinstall it with the updates.

Overall, I think it’s unnecessary to update such things as your browser, If someone were to use Unix on ResNet, they would have to get it manually registered through the DoIT. Basically, this is only a Windows/Mac campus, I switch from SuSE to Windows.

Today I got a chance to upgrade to the new WordPress 2.1. I had a little problem in the begining with the upgrade but soon fixed that. I also made a sucessful switch to the new hosting service too. Some of you may be still seeing the old site, but obviously if you are reading this, then you’re seeing the new one.

There are a lot of visual improvements in the backend admin panel for the WordPress so I’m working on brining the improvements that WordPress 2.1 provides to the frontend of my website this weekend but yeah, like I said, the backend has a lot more “awaiting” options. Most of the plugins are working.

The new host seems to be good, by reading the reviews, I shouldn’t have any problems. Well, thats it for now! I gotta go play with my friends Nintendo Wii.

Since I moved to the new host a couple of months ago, I’ve been getting problems where my users have told me that my site doesn’t display. At times, I couldn’t submit articles to Digg and stuff. I thought it was strange because I see it fine. I couldn’t access my own website at Stony Brook!, so I soon discovered that it was a nameserver problem where the secondary nameserver wasn’t resolving. I tried contacting my host, and they said my email was bouncing, that was another problem. So I’m switching to ResellerZoom. They have been around for a long time and I hope to get better hosting from them. I’ll update with a review about how I think their service rates compared to others I’ve used in the past.

The nameserver should change within 24 hours so expect some downtime between now and then.

I had a good time home but now it’s time to get outta here. To Stony Brook I go! I had the worst goodbye ever from someone I will miss dearly.

I’ll miss the NYC Big Apple feeling, won’t be coming back for a month or so. Feel free to come visit me, y’all know EOP does it big! LOL! Riding limos and hittin’ up parties. So, yeah, it’s time to get back to work for me. I’ll miss the family too, thats for everything.

So far, I’ve packed my bags and will meet a friend up tomorrow so we can take the LIRR together. By 2:00PM tomorrow, I should be there. The first thing I’m gonna do there is chill with the gang before work actually starts Monday.

This will be my last post here before I leave, so good night world!

This might be old news to some of you but it’s actually really funny how Leah Kauffman’s music career start off. She created a satire to SNL’s “My Dick In A Box” music video. Bam! she was a hit, radio stations across the nation were playing her song. Her music video was seen over 3 million times just on YouTube alone. Besides, I think shes a cute.

She then went on to sell her video prop, the infamous “Box” with a door on eBay for $1,525, all the money is going to charity. Heres the eBay link!

See Her Music Video:

[flashvideo width="320" height="240" filename="http://litstudies.org/boxinabox.flv" returnpage="http://www.tonycai.com/2007/01/20/leah-kauffman-my-box-in-a-box/" /]

Listen To Her MP3:

[audio:http://litstudies.org/boxinabox.mp3]

You can download her mp3 if you use an RSS reader.

I found a “loophole” around never using your cellphone minutes again PLUS you can call most of the world [international] for FREE. This method will work for your T-Mobile myFaves plans. This might work for the meantime but T-Mobile might disable this “Hack” if they find out or this gets popular!

So check this out, I posted an entry last week about calling select countries for free. Well, theoretically, if you add that free international calling number as one of your myFaves number, you can get unlimited free calls to anywhere in the US and to most other countries! This does not come without hassle though, you have to jot down numbers or remember them to use this service.

Three (3) Easy Steps For Setup:

1. Have a T-Mobile myFaves Plan, they start at $39.99.
2. Add 712-858-8094 to your myFaves Plan. You can add 5 numbers.
3. Call the number and listen and dial any number you want to call.

It’s that easy to do! This method is a hassle but can help when you have no minutes!

For a list of countries you can call for free, see my previous post here!

I was browsing around the net looking for interesting things to blog about and I stumbled upon this website which allowed me to create this cool Dummies book cover.

“How To Become Tony Cai”, I know you guys just can’t wait to dig your nose into this one. LOL! You’ll never know, it may one day be available! I’ll be glad to autographs, haha.

At Smoke420, you can create this and many other customizable graphics. Ideal for your MySpace or website! You know what I always wanted? A Cambell’s Chicken Noodle Soup can that I can customize. I’m a big fan of Andy Warhol!

You can customize your own Dummies book cover here!