I was happy to discover a comment left by a recent patient of mine.

Gina was referred by a friend, and I helped her retrieve a lost file. It was great meeting her and seeing her artwork. She is very talented, and I hope to see her work online one of these days when she has time to make a website.

Here’s what Gina had to say…

i seriously cannot thank you enough for finding my file — 8 weeks worth of notes that would be really hard to get back — almost 70 pages!!
the computer guys at school couldn’t figure it out and told me it’d cost upwards of a grand to locate my file. then joe told me you may be able to help, but i already gave up.
then you came to berkeley, gave me all this software and found my file. you are amazing, but most of all i was really touched by your kindness and attitude towards life. i hope the world is populated with more jorel’s.

~~~~

- Alpha Nerd (feed)

I officially started my Alpha Nerd project on April 7, 2009. Lately, it has been keeping me quite busy as you can tell from the less frequent blog posts.

I’ve spent some time helping random strangers and of course family and friends which I really enjoy doing. I’ve learned lots of new things and expanded my social network. As the demand for my time increases, I thought I’d make a public calendar for people to view my availability.

You can view the calendar at the following link.
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=trn997b4gqnd3p02g9n6r7qj8s%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America/Los_Angeles

~~~~

- Alpha Nerd (feed)

I was recently contacted by a friend who was requesting help with installing Windows on his Mac, so I thought I’d make the video tutorial above to show others how to do it as well.

There are many tutorials on this topic. This particular method uses VirtualBox to install Windows XP on an Intel Mac.

This tutorial also assumes that you already have a disk image of Windows XP. The exact copy of Windows used in this tutorial was pirated from here. Downloading torrents is not within the scope of this tutorial.

Reasons I like this method

• It uses free and open source software for virtualization
• It doesn’t require you to dual boot like the Boot Camp method
• You don’t need a physical installation CD
• Windows XP requires less resources to run than Vista

Like all original content that I create, this video tutorial has been set free from any copyrights.

If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. I’ll try my best to answer them.

Video Tutorial Overview

1. Install VirtualBox.
2. Create a new virtual machine.
3. Install Windows.
4. Install Guest Additions.

License

To the extent possible under law, jorel314
has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to
Video Tutorial: How to install Windows on a Mac.

~~~~

- More of my tutorials (feed)
- Arrr! Prepare to be boarded. (feed)
- Alpha Nerd (feed)
- Set Free (feed)

Last week, June 9, was the 1 year anniversary of this blog. I thought it’d be fun to post some stats and to see how my numbers compare to other people’s first year stats.

I had a total of 38,247 views this past year. My busiest day had 373 views.

Last month was my busiest month with 5,808 views.

My top referrer comes from a blog comment I left on Hack N Mod.

My most viewed post is “Tutorial: How to Crack WEP on a Mac“.

366 people viewed my blog by searching for “spoonwep”.

922 people went to download BackTrack after reading my tutorial on how to crack WEP.

As you can see from the screenshots of my stats, most of my traffic is related to cracking WEP passwords, polyphasic sleep, pirating software, and abs.

Although having my traffic increase is great, I find making connections with important people in fields that I’m interested in more important.

Anyone care to share their first year stats with me?

~~~~

- Adventures in Polyphasic Sleeping (feed)
- Arrr! Prepare to be boarded. (feed)
- Alpha Nerd (feed)
- Set Free (feed)

cc photo by Daniel Sancho

The other day, I reached a very exciting milestone for my Alpha Nerd project. I provided my computer services to a total stranger for the very first time. Previously, I only helped family, friends, and friends of friends.

One of those friends, who wanted to market Alpha Nerd, put up a craigslist ad offering my computer services. A few days later, I received an email from a woman needing such services. She recently gave her blind friend a laptop to replace his old one, but she needed someone to transfer his personal files from the old laptop to the replacement one.

Alpha Nerd to the rescue. We scheduled a time to meet at her place.

Now, some of my family were very worried about me going to a total stranger’s house. I have enough faith in humanity to not fear my fellow earth dwellers. Plus, I’m not a very good target. For one, I don’t have, nor look like I have, a lot of money. Also, I’m 6′2″ 185 pounds with a menacing beard, so I wouldn’t be surprised if people decided not to open their doors when they look through the peephole. I reassured my family that, if anything, people would be more afraid of me than I of them.

Thankfully, this particular person happily welcomed me into her home. I solved her problem within 5 minutes. Turns out, all I had to do was transfer 25 MB worth of documents to a USB flash drive. Seems like an easy task, however, she was a Mac user and didn’t want to waste her time messing around in Windows.

Since I was done so quick, I met her husband who also had a few computer questions for me. He was an activist and wanted to create a forum for local people to discuss community topics online and in person. I read one of his essays about what he envisioned, then I showed him several forum options.

Turns out he has several other projects in the works. One of them is getting local vegetable growers together. This was one that excited me the most since I would like to grow my own food hydroponically on an man made island. I gave him my contact info. Hopefully, I can attend one of his meet ups in the future to develop my green thumb.

They were a very nice couple with a friendly cat, and they even tipped me which was very generous of them. I am extremely grateful that they accepted my help.

Using my talents to help total strangers made me feel like a superhero, and I would recommend it to others who may be so bold.

~~~~

- Alpha Nerd (feed)

I was contacted over the weekend by someone who needed help installing an Apple Time Capsule. She and her girlfriend were bringing their laptops on a trip and wanted to make sure their stuff was backed up before leaving. I’ve never used a Time Capsule before, so I was looking forward to setting it up.

Here’s how to setup the Time Capsule…

1. Make note of the existing wireless network name and password. Use the same network and password when the old router is replaced with the Time Capsule. That way, no settings on any wireless internet devices have to change.
2. Disconnect old router.
3. Reset modem by power cycling.
4. Hook up Time Capsule to modem, a USB printer, and up to 3 desktops. The Time Capsule has no power button, so hook up the power last.
5. Put in the CD that Time Capsule came with to install AirPort Utility.
6. Run AirPort Utility and it will automatically detect the Time Capsule and will update it with any new firmware.
7. Give the Time Capsule a name and password. This name and password will be used so the hard drive can be mounted over the network.
8. Create a new wireless network with the same name and password from the old router you noted from step 1.
9. Enable guest network with a different name and password. Enabling a guest network will create a separate network for house guests to connect to. That way, your personal files are kept private.
10. Choose the option to connect to the internet using DHCP from your modem.
11. Choose the option to let Time Machine back up to the Time Capsule.
12. When you update the settings on the Time Capsule, the light should turn green.
13. On each wireless device, connect to the wireless network you created in step 8.
14. On each computer on the network, add the new Bonjour shared printer. Each computer needs to have the printer driver installed. Windows computers need to have Bonjour installed also.
15. On each computer on the network, mount Time Capsule’s hard drive with the password you gave in step 7.
16. On each computer on the network with Time Machine, setup automatic backups to the Time Capsule. The initial backup may take several hours.

Those were the steps I took to setup their wired network, personal wireless network, guest wireless network, wireless printing, automatic wireless backup, and wireless network attached storage (NAS).

In addition to that, I setup their AirPort Express to extend their wireless network, so they can be connected to the internet outside of their house.

Also, I taught her how to free up massive amounts of space on her laptop’s hard drive by properly archiving her iMovie projects. I showed her how to export a DV version of her completed iMovie projects and move it to the Time Capsule’s hard drive. Then she can delete the project and its raw footage from her laptop’s hard drive.

Afterwards, she treated me to lunch, gave me her old wireless router, and tipped me which were all very generous.

The Time Capsule is a very cool device. To have similar functionality, I’m considering turning an EEE Box into a server.

The video above is an example of a YouTube playlist that loops forever. It consists of 3 Jon Lajoie music videos that I never get tired of hearing. Here’s how you can have your very own looping YouTube playlist.

1. Login to YouTube. If you don’t have an account, get one here…
   http://www.youtube.com/signup
2. Go to a YouTube video that you like.
3. Click “Playlists” near the bottom of the video.
4. Make sure “[ New Playlist ]” is selected, then click “Add”.
5. Enter whatever you want for “Playlist Name” and “Description”, then click “Save Playlist Info”.
6. Go to another video that you want to add to the playlist you created and click “Playlists” again near the bottom of the video.
7. This time, make sure the name of your playlist you created earlier is selected, then click “Add”. Do this for anymore videos you want in the playlist.
8. When you’re done adding videos to the playlist, click your username at the top of the screen.
9. Click “Playlists” which is also near the top of the screen.
10. Find the name of the playlist you want to loop and click it.
11. Copy and paste the contents of “Playlist/URL (Permalink):” into the YouTube Playlist Looper at following link…
    http://ia331413.us.archive.org/3/items/YoutubePlaylistLooper/youtube_playlist_looper.html
12. After pasting the permalink into the YouTube Playlist Looper, click “submit”.
13. Your YouTube playlist should automatically start playing and start over when it reaches the end.
14. You also have the option to copy and paste the resulting code to loop your playlist on your own website.

Ta da! That’s it. Enjoy your infinite playlist.

If you are interested in how I created the YouTube Playlist Looper, read on.

First, I googled “loop youtube playlist”. The first page of results didn’t have any solutions I liked, but it did have a link to a blog post that gave me a clue on how I might be able to loop a YouTube playlist.

Here’s the blog post that mentions the 2 parameters “&loop=1″ and “&autoplay=1″ that I needed to add to a playlist’s embed code…

http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/06/play-youtube-videos-in-loop.html

To get a playlist’s embed code, I had to hover over my username in YouTube, then click “Playlists”. Then, I had to click the playlist name that I wanted to loop. Where it says “Embed:”, is the code I had to add the two parameters to.

The rest is pretty self explanatory if you understand JavaScript and view the source code of the YouTube Playlist Looper. I just had to get a user to input the ID of the playlist they wanted looped. Then, I returned the code with the 2 parameters automatically appended to the embed code that YouTube provided.

I did have some trouble with the display after hitting “submit”, but a quick trip to the javascript IRC channel helped me find my answer (see below).

As with everything I create, the YouTube Playlist Looper has been set free from any copyrights using the CC0 waiver.

—

Correspondence with temp01

#javascript@irc.freenode.net (4/11/09)
[10:42pm] jorel314: hello…
[10:44pm] jorel314: anyone care to help a javascript noob?
[10:44pm] temp01: maybe.. if the noob asks a question
[10:45pm] jorel314: I created this form that lets you loop a youtube playlist.. i was wondering how to get the results on the same page as the form..
[10:45pm] jorel314: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/154234/youtube_playlist_looper.html
[10:46pm] jorel314: right now.. when I click submit.. the form disappears when the results show…
[10:46pm] temp01: firstChild.nodeValue = document.write .. lol
[10:47pm] jorel314: i’d like the results to appear on the same page…
[10:47pm] jorel314: be gentle.. it’s my first javascript program…
[10:47pm] temp01: sorry couldnt resist
[10:47pm] jorel314: i tried innerhtml..
[10:48pm] jorel314: but i don’t think that is part of DOM…
[10:49pm] temp01: jorel314: getElementById(‘results’).innerHTML = “<h1>PREVI….”
[10:50pm] jorel314: ok.. let me try that out..
[10:50pm] temp01: 99% of what you are using.. is not part of DOM
[10:51pm] temp01: i.e. standards-compliant
[10:51pm] jorel314: i was trying to get functionality first.. then fix it up to standards..
[10:54pm] jorel314: thanks temp01, it worked! http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/154234/youtube_playlist_looper_0.2.html

~~~~

- More of my tutorials (feed)
- Alpha Nerd (feed)
- Set Free (feed)

As I mentioned, I recently created a site called “Alpha Nerd“. To show her support, my girl decided to leave me a testimonial.

I can’t necessarily call myself a computer wizard. I bought my first computer blindly, ended up spending about 3,000 for a dell which I added all these features i had no idea to use. Until one day, my computer was slow, pop-ups everywhere, to top that my McAfee virus scan thing expired so that opened up more windows for viruses.

Just by seconds on my computer, you already surprised me by putting all my pictures in a program i had no idea existed. This was the day i learned PICASA! I had most of my pictures scattered in different folders, and if i wanted to view them I’d have to open each one.

Soon after I grew an attraction to editing software for pictures and video. I wanted to get a new computer since the one i had was so outdated.

I had no idea where to start. After all the first time i bought a computer I ended up spending triple the amount i should have spent since the main reason why i bought it was to surf the web and do homework.

This time i knew i had some things in mind. I wanted something light, sleek, and could have capabilities of editing software and video. I purchased my first MACBOOK. LIke all the PC girls, i was hesitant. I refused to want to learn something new. Boy was i wrong. Once you go mac, YOU NEVER GO BACK!!!!

Using a Mac was unbelievably easy that my 3 year old daughter can use to play her online games on Nick Jr and PBS kids. I decided to go back to the computer doctor.

He set up EVERYTHING on my computer. From email, book marks, to all my music and pictures and files. Everything that was on my dell was transferred to my Mac. Even as a bonus, he created a separate account for my daughter that had tabs at the top with links to her favorite websites like DORA, Diego, and Disney.

THAT WAS TWO YEARS AGO! Til now, i’ve managed to switch to Mac Desktop. He set up my internet network, printer settings, and even my webpage for my business!!!!

All this for no cost! NO COST AT ALL. Who does that these days. To repay my gratitude I’ve referred customers to him who have also shared my enthusiasm in their newly awaken computers.

I’d have to say that hands down, without you… i’d be lost technically in this world. Jorel, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU..for your continuous support in all my computer problems, for your time and effort you put into personalizing my tools in order to attain my goals!!!! You truly have a GIFT and it’s amazing how many people you’ve helped.

I am in debt to you!

I’ve been enjoying helping out my friends and family with their technical hurdles. I recently created a site called “Alpha Nerd” to offer the same free services to the public.

If you know anyone who might be interested, feel free to send them this link…

http://alphanerd.dyndns.info

cc photo by Mirko Macari

A friend of mine brought me his brother’s laptop. His brother just got home from the hospital after a stroke and couldn’t remember the password. I never tried retrieving a forgotten password before, so I jumped at the opportunity.

The laptop was a Dell Latitude D630 running Windows XP. I used Google to do a little research on Windows XP password recovery, and a method using Ophcrack was popular.

I downloaded the open source Ophcrack live CD from here…
http://ophcrack.sourceforge.net/download.php?type=livecd

I burned the live CD to a disc, and booted the laptop from it. Ophcrack started up, and there was a display error. No text was showing up in the desktop environment.

During startup, there was an option to choose “Ophcrack Graphic VESA mode”. I restarted using that option instead, and everything looked fine this time. The thing that I thought was really cool is that I didn’t have to press anything for Ophcrack to start cracking the Windows XP password. It just started doing it automatically, and after 9 minutes, I had the password for the administrator account. Also, it told me two other limited accounts on there had no passwords.

So, I tried logging in to the Windows XP administrator account using the password Ophcrack gave me, and it worked! Then, I was able to change my friend’s bro’s limited account to an administrator one.

Needless to say, I’ve added Ophcrack to my arsenal of live CD’s which also include SystemRescueCD and BackTrack.

—

- Alpha Mesh