1Passwd on the iPhone

For those of you who use 1Passwd - and especially for those of you who don't - check out Dave Teare's (1Passwd co-author) interview on MacApper.

If you are an iPhone user you will want to read this!

Cisco Tip: Setting Switch Port to Auto/Auto

If you want to change a hard-coded switch port back to its default setting of auto/auto (speed/duplex), set the port speed to auto. On a CatOS switch, duplex can either be coded as full or half, not auto.

Also, on 10/100-Mbps Fast Ethernet ports, you cannot change the duplex mode manually if the port speed is set to auto.

Cisco Tip: Clearing Switch Port Names

One of the most important points to remember when configuring switch ports is to configure port names. To do so, you use the set port name mod/port [port_name] command.

If your intention is to clear the port name, for example if you are disabling the port, you would still use the set port name command. However, the point to remember is that you would not enter anything after the mod/port.

Also, please remember when configuring your port names that they must be fewer than 21 characters.

Cisco Tip: disable command

I think it would be fair to say that just about everyone working with Cisco routers and switches is familiar with the enable command; indeed, you can't configure anything without being in privileged mode. But, did you know there is also a disable command? While you may never have a need to use it, it is good to know it exists and what it does.

If you are in enable (privileged) mode on a switch, entering the disable command will put you back in normal mode:

Console> (enable) disable
Console>


If you enter the disable command on a router, it will exit you from privileged EXEC mode and return you to user EXEC mode, or to a lower privilege level:

Router# disable
Router>


TAKE NOTE: the prompt changes on both the router and switch when you enter and exit enable mode.

Mac Tip: Who is Darwin?

Not who, what. Darwin is the BSD environment that sits underneath the Mac OS. And, amazingly, all of that power and beauty is at your grasp with the Terminal application.

To get your party started, go to /Applications/Utilities and launch Terminal.

To get you started, type uptime at the command prompt; the command, I believe, is self-explanatory.

If not, try using the man command (e.g. man uptime)

Text Editor for Cisco Config Files

If you configure a lot of routers and switches, you know that your saving grace is the "copy and paste." Indeed, without the good old CTRL-C and CTRL-V it would take hours, if not days, to configure all the lines of code on some of the devices I have come across - and I am talking just the ACLs!

While straight copying and pasting, for the most part, works on routers and switches, you always want to make sure you don't have any blanks in the text you are pasting. To achieve that, you need a good text editor. Or, you can go one step further and get a great one like NoteTab Pro!

NoteTab Pro has so many features that for me to try and enumerate them would do a huge disservice. Instead, I will tell you about some of my favorites. First, NoteTab Pro is a tabbed text editor, which means you can open as many config files as the memory in your system will allow. In addition, when you call up the "find" window to search for text, you are able to switch among the different tabs and perform your "find" in each one of them.

Of course, as with many good text editors, you have line numbers. Also, any time you make a change to one of your open tabs, a little disk icon appears on the tab letting you know that that tab needs to be saved.

Going back to my point about removing blanks in your copying and pasting, NoteTab Pro allows you both to trim out the blanks and, my favorite feature in the last couple of weeks, eliminate spaces between text!

As you can see, I can't say enough about NoteTab Pro. I use it daily in my work and couldn't get by without it!

The Tech Center

These days, it is hard enough to keep up with what day it is, let alone what is happening in the world of tech. So, I was quite happy to learn about The Tech Center.

Very well written and informative. Ever heard of Memjet? If not, head on over to The Tech Center.

Cisco Tip: Mismatch - password unchanged

For those of you working with 6500 switches, the message Mismatch - password unchanged may not be unfamiliar to you. Indeed, when you employ the set password and set enablepass commands to change the login and privileged level passwords, respectively, you are prompted to enter the old password and then the new password twice. The passwords you enter, however, are not displayed back to the screen; hence, the reason for entering the new password twice (for verification).

The message Mismatch - password unchanged is an indication that there is a mismatch somewhere.

When changing your password - especially your enable password - make sure you type very slowly so that the old password you enter matches what is configured on your switch. Also, make sure you type in both new passwords exactly the same way.

A little patience here can save a lot of headaches later - believe me!

Tech Gadget Blog

If you want to keep up with the latest in cell phones, PDAs and smartphones, you should check out Tech Gadget Blog. You get easy-to-read Technical Details for many of today's popular devices.

Check it out!

iPhone: Buyer's Remorse - Not!

After seeing the iPhone's debut on June 29, it was hard, initially, to believe that the device itself would live up to all of the hype. Or, to believe that all of the build-up for the iPhone since January was nothing more than hyperbole. A survey of 200 iPhone users, however, says otherwise.

35% of those surveyed paid an average of $167 to break their existing wireless contracts in order to sign up with AT&T. Further, 90% of those surveyed are "extremely" or "very" satisfied with their phone.

So far so good Apple!

Can the Helio Ocean Turn the Tide on the iPhone?

I have been pondering over whether or not to renew my cell phone contract for some time. Admittedly, the release of the iPhone was one reason I had delayed doing so; however, as I have explained in previous posts, I had no intention of purchasing one once I learned Apple had committed solely to AT&T. While the ubiquity of the Blackberry is at a bothersome level (when you have to walk behind people every day who can't look up for one minute, you will know what I mean!), to RIM's credit, all of the major carriers sell their devices (though perhaps not the same models).

There are a handful of competitors to the iPhone, but one - the Helio Ocean - is a truly stylish, sleek and unique device. Helio is a joint venture between SK Telecom (a Korean cell phone maker) and Earthlink. Helio provides both the phone and the service (they use Sprint's 3G EV-DO network).

The Helio Ocean has a lot of great features, many of which are NOT in the iPhone. But, what stands it apart from its competitors is its dual-sliding keyboard. When you hold the phone vertically, you make use of its numeric keypad for phone calls. However, when you hold the phone horizontally, you now have a full QWERTY keyboard for e-mail and instant messaging.

I have read there are less than 100,000 Helio subscribers. So, it seems to me this is truly a word-of-mouth issue. Indeed, anyone taking a look at this phone, especially compared to the iPhone, is going to see how much more they are getting. And for HALF the price!

Best Screen Cleaner for your Mac

These days, we spend countless hours in front of screens - right or wrong - so, they might as well be clean! The best product I have come across for my Mac (also works on LCDs) is OmniCleanz from Radtech. If you are a reader of my blog, you will know that I am a HUGE FAN of Radtech's products and, indeed, wrote a post about their great bluetooth mouse, the BT500, back in March.

If you care anything about your Mac, you will want to head over to Radtech right now and pick up one of their excellent ScreenSavrz along, of course, with a bottle of OmniCleanz!

The June 2007 issue of Macworld has a nice article about cleaning your Mac screen and they recommend OmniCleanz as well as give kudos to its excellent polishing cloth.

Great Blog Metrics for your Blog

If you have a blog or a thinking about starting a blog, you will most certainly want to know who's been visiting your blog and for how long - what they call metrics. Back in March, I wrote a post about a great product for your blog called Performancing Metrics. As this product is of such tremendous value, and has improved substantially since my post, I thought a second post was in order.

All it takes is a couple of lines of code on your blog and - shazam! - you will have a wealth of information about your visitors at your fingertips: IP addresses, browser type, OS, URL, page title, time and date and a whole boat load of other goodies.

Check it out!

iPhone: Ed Baig's iPhone Review and Follow-Up

The iPhone has been out almost a week and has received pretty good reviews across the board. Ed Baig of USA Today, who gave one of those positive reviews, has written a nice article touching on some of the "issues on the table" still to be addressed for the iPhone.

Cisco Tip: What's My IP Address?

It is always helpful to know the IP addresses in use on your routers and L3 devices. A quick way to see all of the configured IP addresses is with the command show ip interface brief.

1Passwd 2.4.7 Released (Leopard Support)

If you didn't already have plenty of reasons to upgrade to Leopard when it comes out in October, here's one more: 1Passwd support. Indeed, version 2.4.7 of this great product supports Mac OS 10.5.

iPhone: Hype or Hyperbole?

Whether you believe the iPhone is hype or hyperbole, Apple has been steaming this pot for the past 6 months in anticipation of June 29. Apple provided the iPhone to only 4 technology columnists for review:

Walt Mossberg - The Wall Street Journal
David Pogue - The New York Times
Edward Baig - USA Today
Steven Levy - Newsweek

Now, however, the real reviews begin, as the iPhone is in the hands of the general public. Once users get their iPhones activated, and there have been reports of issues with this, we will know whether $599 was money well spent.

I spent a good deal of time watching the coverage of the iPhone on TV and it amazed me to see people dropping, in most cases, $1200 on 2 iPhones and then walking out of the store with arms raised like Joe Montana after The Catch.

Regarding iPhone TV coverage, kudos to CNBC's On The Money and, especially, Melissa Francis. Not only did OTM provide the first LIVE iPhone review (with Ed Baig of USA Today), but they were on the scene during the launch in Chicago. Indeed, smart to broadcast from Chicago (CST) and allow regular OTM viewers to watch the iPhone launch live. No wonder they are tops at what they do.