Tech Tip Daily

Of all of my most frustrating problems, this one is in the top 5.  On numerous occasions, I’ve started my computer for the day only to show “local only” for my connectivity.  I would try the usual troubleshooting steps, such as refreshing my IP address, ending up empty handed.  Upon closer inspection, I would find my default gateway to have two entries; the first of these was ‘0.0.0.0′, and the second being my true default gateway (my router).  The quick solution to this was to open a command prompt window (Start Menu -> type ‘CMD’ and hit enter in the ‘Start Search’ window.  Typing ‘route delete 0.0.0.0′ would remove the faulty gateway.  Despite the quick solution, it never fully resolved the problem.

One day, I had enough.  I spent some time researching to find out exactly what the problem was.  Come to find out, it’s an error in Vista with the IPv6 protocol.  The solution is to disable IPv6 functionality in Vista, which in most circumstances isn’t too much of a problem as IPv6 isn’t widespread (of course, solving a problem by disabling functionality never seems like a valid solution to me).

To disable IPv6 in Vista:

1. Open Network Connections from the Control Panel
2. Right-click on your active, Local Area Connection and select ‘Properties’
3. Un-check “Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6)”, “Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper I/O Driver”, and “Link-Layer Topology Discovery Responder” in the list.  Click OK
4. Restart the computer

Hopefully that fixes your problem.

That’s all!  Thanks, and happy computing!

Today’s link pick isn’t so much a link as it is an application.  But because this piece of software has a website, it qualifies.  Regardless, it’s pretty slick.  I’ve decided to share Pidgin with everyone today.  What is pidgin?  I’m so glad you asked.

How many of us have a number of friends on different instant messaging networks?  Some are on AIM, others on ICQ, maybe Yahoo!, MSN, or even Google Talk.  Previously, If we want to stay in touch, we had to have each instant messaging application running on our machine.  With pidgin, you run a single piece of software (did I mention it’s lightweight and easy to use?) and add your credentials for each of the services.  Then, you can add buddies from each network to be displayed in a single, unified buddy list.  The software is absolutely seamless and works great.  Each client’s capability is almost exactly reproduced in pidgin, even with the option for mail notification.  Best of all, it’s free.  No more ads with AIM, no more bloatware with Yahoo, download pidgin and stay connected with ease.

Pidgin works with the following IM services:

• AIM
• Bonjour
• Gadu-Gadu
• Google Talk
• Groupwise
• ICQ
• IRC
• MSN
• MySpaceIM
• QQ
• SILC
• SIMPLE
• Sametime
• XMPP
• Yahoo!
• Zephyr

Download Pidgin:

• http://pidgin.im/

Pidgin does require Windows or any Unix based platform, but there are workarounds to get it to work on OS X.  Try searching google for instructions.  As an alternative, try Adium for the Mac.

That’s all!  Thanks, and happy computing!

I’ve not always been the biggest fan of reading.  I’d much rather watch the cinematic version of anything than take the time to skim the pages.  However, I’ve been known to become an instant fan of almost anything that’s free.  Fortunately, there’s an online resource that exists for the sole purpose of digitizing literature and making it as freely available as possible in many different formats.

Created in 1971 by Michael Hart, Project Gutenberg is the oldest digital library.  The majority of the books are public domain, meaning they can be freely distributed without any royalties or copyright fees.  Often times, “public domain” casts a shadow of inferiority on an item bearing its description.  But in this case, such titles as Moby Dick, Hamlet, and The Iliad, amongst many others.  Aside from being free and unabridged, these titles are digitized, which means the original text has been converted into word processing for easy adaptation, modification (heaven forbid), and even tools like OCRs (optical character recognition).

Link:

http://www.gutenberg.org

You can even offer a donation to the team for all of the hard work they’ve accomplished.  Do yourself (and your intellect) a favor and visit Project Gutenberg.  Your brain will thank you.

That’s all!  Thanks, and happy computing!