Running BT HomeHub 5 with Apple Airport Extreme

A technical post today. I seem to remember that one of the very early uses for blogging was as a sort of technical diary, and that's why I drop occasional posts about technical setups into the flow.

I've already mentioned that I'm now using a BT-installed Home Hub 5, which introduced a couple of challenges to the previous setup. The most obvious was that the master phone socket wasn't the one in the office. It was another one downstairs and close to the front door.

BT's Infinity 2 is actually FTTC VDSL (Fibre to the cabinet, Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line) - which means it is still delivering the 'last mile' over copper wires.

The change to a filtered master socket meant that the router now needed to be closer to that socket rather than upstairs in the office, which would have needed a, say, 30 metre ethernet cable run along walls etc. The same style police that administer Christmas Tree inspections would have embargoed stapling that to the walls.

So, was the HomeHub wi-fi signal powerful enough to be used alone? Short answer, No. It would work 'downstairs' in the general neighbourhood of the phone line, but didn't reach to the upper floor well enough.

Finding the signal strength
I use the Mac's own wifi tool to check the signal strengths. Simply 'Option-Click' on the wifi signal in the top bar on a Mac and another little App called Wireless Diagnostics starts up.

Go to it's menu list, select Scan, and it will fire up the wifi network scanner. Jolly useful on a laptop for some quick signal strength checking.

The utility will give suggestions about the best wifi channels but, importantly, will also give the signal strengths, specified as RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator).

As a guide anything better than -70db is good, although feeble signals will be as poor as -90db. Remember a 10db drop is ten times weaker. The screenshot above is an anonymised replica of part of my indoor scan, which has even more channels listed in the full version, created by overspill from neighbours etc.

I scrolled down to find the BT Hub's own wi-fi signal hovering at -70db (borderline) and -83db (intermittent) when upstairs in the office. Not good enough for reliable service.

Adding the Airport Extremes
I have some Airport Extremes and Time Capsules, so I thought I'd use them to create a stronger wifi signal. I also decided to keep the HomeHub 5 wi-fi signal separate as a kind of backup, especially when setting it up.

The biggest single lesson I remember from using Airport Extremes and Time Capsules is to reset them before creating a new network. Push a paperclip into the reset for about 15 seconds and sure enough we'e back on factory wifi settings (data on the time capsules is preserved, however).

1) Create a network master
I selected an Airport Extreme to have as the master. I connected it to the router via an Ethernet cable, into one of the LAN connectors (i.e. not the WAN connector). This would extend the router's capability into the Airport Extreme.

Then access the Airport Extreme via its temporary wifi network (something like 'Airport Extreme ab123'). It'll ask how you want to configure it, and I followed the step by step guide, which set it up as a master, with its IP address allocated by the BT HomeHub Router. This is important, because I'm using the router as the main DHCP server for the whole network.

2) Extend the network
Then it was a case of plugging in the other Airport Extremes where they were required and performing a similar operation, connect via temporary wifi, follow the configuration instructions but set them up as 'extend network' instead of 'create network'.

3) Measure the difference
The wi-fi signal difference was incredible. In the office it jumped from a best of borderline -70db to -23db, which is generally classified as exceptional. Even on the generally weaker 5Ghz signal jumped from -87db to -33db (also classed as exceptional).


Simplified version of the final configuration
Schematically the configuration is:

Home Hub 5, including DHCP and its own wi-fi
[ethernet connection to]
Airport Extreme 1, set as Create wifi Network - (lounge/dowstairs) nothing else ethernet attached. Used for laptops etc.
[airgap]
Airport Extreme 2, set as Extend wifi Network - (office/upstairs) also includes ethernet attached wired 1Gb ethernet 24 way switch
[airgap]
Airport Extreme 3, set as Extend wifi Network - (entertainment) includes TV related things like Sky+ and Onkyo sound system

There's a few additional airport expresses and apple TVs sprinkled around, but they are set up as 'join' to the main wifi. Everything gets its IP address nominally from the BT HomeHub.

As a useful tip to reduce latency, I added the DNS server addresses to the Extremes and hard coded their IP addresses, as served from the DHCP in the BT HomeHub.

I seem to now have the place bathed in high performance wifi, as well as a 24-way gigabit switch for the office and its various bits and pieces.

Excuse me if I glow a bit from all the Gigahertz.

In which I bung a heap of extra SSD into my MacBook Air

My day-to-day laptop is a MacBook Air, which I've had since 2010. For crunchier Mac processing I use an iMac and all my main files etc. are all backed up to the rashbre LAN. The amount of storage used in the MacBook Air has casually crept up over the years and although I'll probably replace it one day with a MacBook Pro, now isn't the right time based upon what is anticipated from Apple in the next twist of their product cycle.

Instead, I thought I'd try a simple update to the existing machine, moving it from 256Gb storage to 960Gb (about a terabyte). That should keep the machine current for a lot longer, well past when the predicted 12 inch Airs appear and MacBooks go extra long on battery life.

Apple advise that Airs are preconfigured and can't be changed. I must admit I was expecting to find that things had been soldered inside, but actually the SSD is slotted in.

I soon found a couple of places to get replacement SSDs and ordered one to see what would happen. My machine is quite an old generation although cosmetically it looks almost identical to the sleekest modern ones. This update would make the innards about twice the capacity of the latest Apple machine and well-capable of all its regular tasks.

So what to do? I used a Transcend memory kit. It's well packaged, includes all the tools, an enclosure for the old SSD and is boxed in a manner similar to Apple's own products. I should mention that the shape/configuration of the SSD is specific to the individual MacBook model and needs to be carefully selected. There's also very simplified instructions included and a youtube installation video (which I haven't watched).

The box includes the two screwdrivers for the back of the MacBook Air case and for the internal SSD. Weirdly I'd never really looked at the back of the case to spot the 8 or so screws needing removal.

Before I started to dismantle the machine, I made a copy of its existing disk to the new SSD. I used Carbon Copy Cloner for this, instead if the recommended Disk Utility. That's mainly because CCC handles any errors along the way whereas the Apple-supplied Disk Utility just stops. I then had a cloned copy of the original disk.

I decided to boot the still unopened MacBook Air from the clone attached to USB to check everything had worked. Reboot the machine with the Option key held down, select the USB-attached SSD and yes - it worked. I was moderately surprised that it was a relatively quick boot considering it was across the USB connected drive.

Then to open the case. I arranged the removed screws in a square copying the shape of the MacBook - to ensure I put them back in the right places.

Inside, the vast majority of the MacBook Air is taken up with battery. The processor, memory and SSD are a strip along the top quarter of the innards.

Carefully removing the single screw hooding in the SSD, I swapped in the new one and reassembled everything.

Then a reboot, holding down the Option+R so I could reset the startup disk to the new one.

And Yes- everything works.

Total time - 10 minutes to read instructions and assemble the initial SSD in to a small enclosure. A couple of hours to clone the disk. Ten minutes to test the replacement clone. Fifteen minutes to replace the SSD and reconfigure.

My old free space was around 50Gb. The new free space is around 830Gb. The new speed of the disk is fine. It's slower than a modern machine, partly because of the slower electronics of the 2010 version of the MacBook Air (3Gbit bus being used with 6Gbit SSD) but it is still respectably fast for its expected use.

Even more technical bit, stop here if it is already starting to read like Martian

There's a facility on SSDs called TRIM which is an adjunct to the garbage collection of deleted data. SSDs work differently from hard disks. Some say to switch on TRIM, although with Apple's latest Yosemite OS/X, it is disabled for third party SSDs. Part of the kernel extension signing to prevent rogue changes to OS/X's most sensitive components.

I decided I don't care and won't use TRIM. There is anyway a small utility called TRIM enabler, which can get around the Yosemite restriction, and I do have a copy which I could use for a short time if TRIM recovery was ever needed. Pragmatically, I don't think use of TRIM is really an issue though. I've so much more space than I'm likely to need on this machine that running with/without TRIM is rather academic. Purist tekkies may disagree, but I'll take a slow 2-3 per cent degradation over a few years in preference to twiddling around with the inner protection layers of OS/X.

So all in all, a good and simple upgrade for the MacBook Air.

a clean machine

The iMac is back to full functionality using a modernised and streamlined selection of software. I could have simply run a restore from Time Capsule, but I'm glad I decided to clean up instead.

When I first started using Macs (quite a few years ago), I originally decided to see how far I could get with just the base software (e.g. OS/X, iLife and eventually iWork). It was a good plan although I did allow myself to add a few very basic utility items (mainly the Yellow Mug programs and a flickr uploader).

Then I added a few other Apple programs (Aperture for working with photos, Logic Pro for music mixing and Final Cut Studio for video)

Oh, and the inevitable Photoshop.

Aside from a few plugins from the likes of iZotope (music related) and Nik (Photo related) and that's it. The data (photos, music, videos, documents, spreadsheets etc.) are all stored elsewhere and are separately backed up.

So this cleanup has allowed me to revert to that streamlined format and I can now see how well it still works.

I suspect I now have fewer programs on the iMac than on my iPhone.

you've got the kind of nerve i like

As part of the 'fixing the iMac' project, I decided to clean up the iTunes library by de-duplicating some of the excess tunes. I think it's a factor of the number of devices that get plugged into the Mac and sometimes upload their tracks to the main list.

A side effect was that the next time the iPod in the car was plugged in, it wanted to be reset to the new library. Fair enough, it would be far more convenient to listen to the Decemberists without 20 copies of 'Eli the Barrowboy' popping up during the play sequence.

I left the rebuild to run overnight and plugged the iPod back into the car today. Just one thing I hadn't expected. My old default "won't offend anyone" Norah Jones startup was replaced by an intense nosebleed inducing Hed Kandi mashup when the iPod first boots.

It doesn't look good at traffic lights playing filthy disco and bomb blast bass lines as a default selection.

I've decided to go with something far more mellow by the delightful Tiny Ruins instead. The video version above is a live acoustic guitar take of the piano and double bass version on the album. It's one of those albums to play all through with a quiet glass of wine.

There's another chain reaction from the iMac incident - I've noticed the number of sundry disk drives that have sprouted and should really be rationalised. Worryingly, I can remember eventually getting to the first Terabyte of data but nowadays that seems to be a minimum increment (gulp).

neither piety nor wit

The march of technology continues in the workplace. We had the Nokia cellphone, then the Blackberry and more recently the iPhone. Now we see the iPad increasing its corporate presence.

It started as a travel adjunct which would be used to view movie clips, then became part of the PowerPoint presenter's toolkit but more recently is becoming a note-taking aid.

There's plenty of new discussions about the choice of stylus and I'm starting to see handwritten notes being forwarded.

It will probably still take some time to mature and of course a short note will eat up even more storage and bandwidth.

But I suppose I'd better get one of those styli now, because just writing with a finger somehow looks wrong.

apple talk

I see that Apple has announced a bunch of new things at their conference. Some were fairly predictable, but I think it's interesting in terms of the changes that will affect the ways we use computers over the next few years.

I'll ignore the speed and capacity increases on some of the laptops, but the new Macbook Pro is moving closer towards the MacBook Air form factor. A high resolution screen (2880 by 1800), solid state disk and no DVD. My Air (1.35kg) is about a year old, but if the new Pro (2kg) had been available it might have been a tough choice.

Then there's the addition of allegedly usable speech dictation. I've been pleasantly surprised with the speech on the iPad, although it beams the speech to the cloud where Nuance processes it, which makes it still a slightly disjointed operation. It's pretty accurate though, as you can see with this spoken blog entry.

The underpinning for the speech is Siri, which is already on iPhones and will go to Macs. It seems to be part of the integration of the messaging and notification environment too, one view everywhere, which already works pretty well.

It looks as if Siri will also be making its way into cars for sat-nav and similar. My car already has voice recognition for sat-nav and phone dialling in any case, but I can't ask it 'Are we nearly there yet?' which I suppose Siri will support (in fairness, my car already tells me this both in distance and time)
The interesting thing will be whether the new "Eyes Free" for cars is fully integrated or whether it will be a separate device plug in like the iPod/iPhone. I see that about half a dozen car makers (e.g. BMW, Mercedes, GM, Honda, Audi, Toyota) are adding a Siri button to the steering wheel. It's still important for the sat-nav console to not become a source of distraction so I guess Angry Birds is out of the question.

Another related concept is streamed traffic congestion data - which is an idea that has been around for years- and is where the sat-navs in cars can send in data from their GPS that provides communal road status updates. Nowadays it'll be called crowd sourcing or similar and presumably part of the new mapping offered by Apple.

I noticed my car in the USA was Microsoft Sync enabled, complete with a Setup and a rather ominous Reset button. I guess we'll also get the war of Google vs Apple vs Microsoft as part of the battle for mapping. There's a whole load of new 3D imaging and so on, but I must admit I usually revert to basic 'North Up 2D' mapping when I'm in the car, except if I want to show off 3D pictures of London buildings to passengers.

I guess its different on a computer and I sometimes replay bike routes that I've ridden and GPS'd using google maps. (My Garmin Edge 800 is great for that)

Then there's the new Mountain Lion OS/X and iOS 6 releases for Macs, iPads and iPhones which I'm sure I'll use. The iOS has a few features that I've already had on my Blackberry over the years like - 'Do Not Disturb' (i.e. in a meeting), 'Reply with Message' (i.e. I can't talk right now but here's a standard courtesy text) and similar.

We also see FaceTime over cellular although my corporate world still uses MS Lync for ad-hoc conference calls and sometimes Skype, so it will be interesting to see how pervasive this becomes.

There's also some catchup items for OS/X like TV screen mirroring (at last) and hooray finally Aperture and iPhoto get the same database for their photographs. There's plenty of other new detail features, but the basic way to drive the system remains the same so the new stuff is sort of optional for usage.

I suppose these changes are part of the definitions for the next generation of computers.

• Speech enabled
• Very high resolution screens
• Very lightweight form factor
• End of spinning hard drives for laptops
• Always connected - even when 'power napping'
• Cloud dependent for certain functions
• No more DVDs
• No more ethernet plugs
• Not announced, but they should have an option for non-reflective screens

I can't see this being the end for desktop machines though. There's still a different feeling sitting at a desktop system (e.g. iMac) compared with a laptop. But maybe the next iMac should also include a video in from a laptop?

beta testing the future

I've been reading some of the commentary about the Apple iPad over the last few days. First speculation about it, then quasi leaked pictures, then product announcements and then people giving it a kicking. I'll admit the branding was perhaps a little suspect, but that's an amusing blip.

I usually refrain from blogging more than minor discussion on information technology, but I don't really count iPad in the IT domain. Its a game changer, like the OS/X based Mac, iPod and iTunes were.

Before I used a mac at all, I was fully reared on Windows. I could proudly install device drivers, edit the registry and knew the secret commands to bypass the complex updates when the old Windows image had mysteriously failed during an 'upgrade'.

Then, somewhere in the pre-Vista era I bought my first Mac.

It just worked. I didn't even need any extra software for ages, apart from the brilliant Yellow Mug utilities. I realised I could spend time editing video, writing, attempting bad music, categorising photographs and similar without also having to spend almost equivalent time mending things.

Consequently, as other PCs around rashbre central collapsed, they transitioned to Mac. When I've subsequently updated them with new versions of OS/X, the machines get faster, or use less resources. Even my oldest pre-Intel Mac laptop machine was fully capable of editing video 'out of the box'. It still works.

Apple seems to understand how to build infrastructure. Maybe its partly locked down, but it stops people tinkering around the edges, unbolting important structural elements, which is a malaise of some parts of the Windows world.

I don't need 100 variations of a word processor. I just need one that works and doesn't get in the way.

As an example, I guess I'm like many people using Windows Excel in a commercial environment.

How we all loved the changes to the interface with the last cosmetic update. Let's hide the print functionality, let's move all of the formatting around. Let's make it more difficult to insert blocks of copied columns or rows. Let's make saving become a multiple choice test, where every option seems to remove or reformat something.

I don't think I'm being reactionary here, I'm all for progress. I embrace progress, but progress should move things forward.

My current queries include: Why does my brand new work Windows laptop freak out at least twice a day when I use it with a mouse? Why does Excel forget that its just loaded a new spreadsheet unless I minimise and maximise it? Why does it still refuse to link to the latest high speed wi-fi when I use it at home?

If this was an old hacked image I might understand it, but this is a two month old machine running a standard image. I know it's not just me though, because colleagues complain of similar phenomena.

The problem is that we all got used to it. Either learning to fix it or knowing someone who could do all the clever stuff. A sort of technician.

Possibly these same technicians make the first pronouncements about the new technology. The new iPad doesn't multi task. It only has 64GB of storage, the OS won't support Flash. It doesn't have camera.

C'mon.

They miss the point about what I call 'quiet technology'. Like the Apple slogan, 'it just works'. I don't want to have to fiddle about with printer drivers, IEEE 802.11n 54Mb wi-fi configurations and remembering the context switching key combination for when a background program fails.

Nah.

Quiet technology should be a gateway to what you really want to do. To read articles, to write to someone, to watch a television show, to listen to music. I suspect the portability of a compact personal black slate that just works will provide another game changing moment.

We'd better get used to it.

software slew slakes slated iSlate speculation

A slew of new Apple updates hit my computer this week. The Bonjour update is the intriguing one, if it includes something to support a new Apple iSlate/iPad communing with Macs and iPhone screens.

We'll have to wait a week or two to see whether a maximised iPhone emerges and whether 3D gesture support gets included, although some of the Apple patents are rather recent.

If the guys that designed the Newton had a finger in the works of a new design, then anyone looking for hints or gestures could start with the chordic manipulation of a multi touch surface.

Conspiratorially, someone has just shut down the gesture guide site for the pre-Apple technology. If you didn't know, it would be difficult to spot that it had ever existed, were it not for the power of cache. It could make magazines look quite different.

Maybe there's a new 'go large' iPhone with iReader software. Maybe it has 3D gesture support. And something to stop it from getting scratched when its in a bag.

So, keep taking the tablets and maybe reading the new style magazines...

Link the tablet technology and the gesture interfaces together to start to see the bubble of uncertainty for the traditional media world.

Colour, mixed media, interactive, gesture based, customisable wireless distribution, channel linked. An iTunes style distribution of content. IS-Interactive Slate. iPad to differentiate from Windows?

Then I found the little song to the tune of American Pie, which summarises the media 2010 turmoil in a ten minute slide show.

I'll need to get a bigger battery charger. Oh, and more bandwidth.

iSlate

We received some secret samples of the still in development handheld graphically enabled PDA with built in memory, text and reader support. They appeared from within innovative packaging akin to tinsel covered crackers. Along with a supply of apples and peppermints, we took them for a test run today.

There were a few teething troubles, mainly because of the ability to fold the device, and then to find new lines appearing in the text.

This would be okay for a mystery novel, but less so for a more factual account. It may rekindle writing ideas for some, but we wondered if a more permanent form of memory might be better, perhaps supplied in larger quantities. We hear the code name for these under development memory units is 'Pages'.

the wall to wall is calling

Another time capsule arrived today from Apple and seems to be working.

That's one dead and gone, one dead to return to the Apple Store and one dead and replaced. Maybe I should have switched technologies? Actually, I do separately back up my photos and music to another RAID5 system, but that's a manual process.

The idea of the time capsule is pretty good. The device to be backed up knows when the time capsule is accessible and quietly backs up everything that has changed, more or less continuously. Its a great model because its completely 'hands off'.

When it works.

time capsule overheating fix

Stop apple time capsule overheating. Lay old disk drive on top rear of case as heat sink. Inelegant but practical.

bah gum, there wern' 'arf an explosion

I seem rather unlucky with these Time Capsule dedicated backup devices. The new one that arrived yesterday has also failed. It was maybe half way through backing up an iMac, when it suddenly stopped working and the little indicator light went out. I've re-plugged it since but to no avail.

Its a trifle embarrassing, because this is actually the third one that has died. When the first one (pictured) went wrong, I put it down to bad luck. I'd had it less than two years and was a bit miffed that the backup device lasted such a short time, but it was out of warranty so I didn't think there was much I could do.

Then a couple of weeks ago another one failed in the same way. Dead except for the little lights for ethernet which momentarily flash when I plug in the mains cable. Again, its around 18 months old.

This third new one was in the middle of backing up 600 Gigabytes from one computer when it expired. Its a 2 Terabyte unit and is supposed to have a 'server grade disk' inside it.

Its pretty obvious to me that all three have suffered from power supply faults. I actually had the latest one plugged into an anti surge power adapter as well, so I've done what I can to protect it. I noticed it ran rather hot, so I'm guessing heat + electronics=fried apple.

I called Apple about the latest one and they are sending a replacement. I asked if they'd had this happen before, but was told by the technical guy that he'd never heard of anything like it.

Of course, I couldn't resist a quick google and was surprised when the Time Capsule Memorial Register popped up.



Along with the very handy link to the BBC's summary of UK Consumer Protection Law and the six year 'fitness for purpose' rule. I'll see how I get on at the Apple Store with the other dead one.

scrolling through websites like album covers with Safari 4

The new version of the Apple web browser Safari has quietly installed itself on this machine. It has some fun features like the ability to scroll through web sites in much the same way as iTunes album covers.

It's quite a useful visual way to go back through history to an old web page when the name isn't too obvious. There's also a star trek multi display mode which provides around 12 top sites which can be easily selected.

My partial screenshot captures a few examples.

one of my time capsules has croaked

It's slightly annoying to discover that the time capsule I use to back up one of my computers has converted itself into a white brick.

I don't solely rely upon the device as a backup but I still consider the device to have been a relatively recent addition to the environment (albeit outside of warranty), probably with a main purpose to outlive the system it is backing up.

Anyway, after varied attempts to revive it, I pinged it apart and retrieved the 'Hitachi Deskstar' terabyte disk from inside it. I diagnostically tried it without the disk but not even the network lights would come on at the back of the unit.

Something rather terminal has happened inside of it. I feel a "dear Apple" email is needed.

bagging a bug bag for face faceoff

I keep a reusable bag in the car boot for when I'm buying a few groceries or similar. I should estimate I've bought around ten of the bags at different times, but they seem to disappear of their own accord, long before they've worn out. So today I bought yet another one to restock the car. It also gave me an excuse to experiment with Apple's new iPhoto face recognition software.

I noticed that iPhoto lets you access an Aperture library, which is where I keep my photos stored. I grabbed 2-3 folders of maybe 100 pictures with a few consistent faces, taught the names to iPhoto and it then ran through the pictures getting the names mainly right. It missed a few but didn't guess any incorrectly.

Hmm, I thought, maybe it uses shapes and dates. So I then tried it with the ladybird on the shopping bag. I taught it the name and showed it 4 almost identical photos of the ladybird. It didn't have a clue. So it seem that the Face recognition isn't going to be fooled too easily with alien shapes.

My next experiment will be with the new ironic film soundtrack loops available in Garageband.

paparazzi enabled

T'internet ground to a halt for a while today whilst various services streamed updates from San Francisco about the new guitar and piano tuition available from GarageBand '09 and similar features.

One function that caught my eye is the new iPhoto software with face recognition technology.

Not just the little squares like those that appear in many compact cameras, but the addition of identification of the individual. Useful for family photo albums, and interesting when linked with the new place recognition and auto-uploads to facebook and flickr.

The uploaded pictures can be auto-tagged with who and where. It could bring a whole new dimension to the Facebookery of late night pub crawls and similar.

wheely silly

The icicles by the door this morning were an early sign of how frozen my fingers would be by the time I reached work.

Of course, typing on a keyboard is quite a challenge with iced fingers, but luckily I was testing one of those MacBook Wheels which have dispensed with tiresome keyboards completely.

The next version is also removing the display screen.

The absinthe arrived by airmail

repair laptop missing or loose key on keyboard

The entry, which was originally for a Thinkpad but works for other laptop keyboards is here

84.71

Yup, the plan worked. My three year old Powerbook now has a new drive. It was 80GB, its now 160Gb, with more than half free. I copied everything to the new drive using Carbon Copy Clone (2-3 hours, overnight). I then re-booted from the external clone (hold down option key during boot). It still looked like my computer. I tried safari, mail and then Final Cut Studio. All of them worked and still found my files.

So power down, remove battery, unscrew case, flap up the keyboard and track pad, unscrew and wiggle out the disk. Swap them over. Re-assemble, cross fingers. And after 30 minutes, normal service resumed but with more space.

A three year old PC could be limping at this point, but this Mac still runs like new and is ready to edit HD video.

little box holds Powerbook's old drive

tags technorati : rashbre dismantle powerbook apple mac disk replace

maximum exposure

I was reading Maximum Bob's adventures after he added a snake picture to his site which created a stir of extra hits a couple of days ago.

"Johanna Cardona!", I thought, "I'd better Skype a few myspace and facebook friends in case they've had similar experiences on google when talking about Ron Paul, Galilea Montijo from Big Brother in Mexico or any UK soccer WAG scandals and gossip.

I suppose my previous posts about Paris Hilton, Britney Spears and even the occasional references I make to YouTube inadvertantly add to search hits of dreamhost viewers everywhere. But then I noticed the "skype down" message and as I don't have an iPhone, blogging about it became the solution.

tags technorati : noelia eviction scandal video snake facebook youtube ron paul johanna cardona galilea montijo utube gerry skype down technorati google microsoft apple paris hilton myspace britney spears dreamhost iphone