Best Case for Best Buy Tablet (Cheapest DigiLand DS7 Android Tablet)

Now that Best Buy is selling their great value DigiLand DS7 tablet for just $39 on Black Friday someone asked me what the best case for it is.

This UniGrip case looks like it is perfect to me; it is a super cheap case for a super cheap tablet. Why spend more than the price of the tablet just to get a case. This isn't an iPad and so this case would be ideal:

This DigiLand DS7 Android tablet is an amazing value with Bluetooth and GPS both built-in, and even a built-in FM radio tuner too!

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Biggest 1080p TV for 28.7 Wide Entertainment Center

Someone asked me what the biggest TV that would fit into a 28.7 inch wide entertainment center was.

It's a very tight fit but there are a few 32 inch 1080p TVs that will fit within that small space. The TV with the safest bet seems to be the 31.5 inch Phillips 32PFL5708/F7 with dimensions of 28.6 x 7.1 x 19 inches:

If you want to risk the even tighter fitting 32 inch options then the VIZIO M321i-A2 seems to have a very thin bezel with even smaller dimensions of just 28.6 x 7.5 x 18.8 inches. The VIZIO is actually slightly cheaper than the Phillips and has more features too:

Have fun with whichever TV you choose!

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Smallest Virtual Machine Home Host Server for OpenVZ, LXC, VServer, BSD Jails

Someone asked me what the smallest virtual machine home host server is.

If you're using containerized virtualization, as I described in my previous answer here (Cheapest Virtual Machine Host Server), then you do not need to worry about using a CPU that includes hardware virtualization features like VT-x or AMD-V. If you're just needing container-based virtualization like OpenVZ, LXC, VServer or BSD Jails then you can use a very small PC indeed. How small? How about Gumstix small...

Small enough for you?

Details about how to set up OpenVZ on this tiny PC can be found here. Details about how to run LXC on ARM can be found here

Of course, if you want, you can do the same with a slightly larger, but much more practical, Raspberry Pi too.

If you need x86, but still need low power and no moving parts, then the DMP EBOX PCs are really interesting.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Best Flushable Cat Litter

Someone asked me what the best flushable cat litter is.

I really dislike scooping the cat litter but a couple of years ago we ran across a brand of flushable cat litter which dramatically improved the chore. Unlike the litter we had previously used this one is made out of discarded corn kernel cores and so you don't have to throw it in the trash when it's used; you can flush it or compost it instead. So it's environmentally friendly for multiple reasons. Appropriately, it's called World's Best Cat Litter and it's probably the first time that such a grandiose product name is actually telling the truth:

Once we started using it we immediately noticed a drop in the smell and it's much less dusty than normal cat litter when it's being scooped too.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Cheapest Virtual Machine Host Home Server for Proxmox, KVM, OpenVZ

Someone asked me what the cheapest virtual machine host home server PC is, and what virtual machine hosting software to use.

Anyone who knows me knows that I REALLY like to save money!

When it comes to virtual machines, there's basically 3 types in order of fastest to slowest and least flexible to most flexible:

1 - Ones which run on the same kernel as the host operating system (Containerized virtualization, e.g. OpenVZ)
2 - Ones which run on their own isolated virtual hardware that rely on the host hardware's virtualization features (Hardware assisted virtualization, e.g. KVM)
3 - Ones which run on their own isolated virtual hardware that do not require host hardware virtualization features (Hardware virtualization, e.g. QEMU)

Containerized virtualization is very very fast, the guest virtual machines run basically as fast as the host PC. The only problem is that the guest runs in the same kernel as the host operating system, which means that a BSD container guest can only run on a BSD host OS and a Linux container guest can only run on a Linux host OS; however, on they run very fast and use very little resources.

Hardware assisted virtualization can run any guest operating system on the host PC, provided that the guest operating system runs on the host CPU. The problem is that it depends upon the host CPU providing virtualization features, many CPUs do but some do not.

Hardware virtualization can run any guest operating system on the host PC, even ones that use a completely different type of CPU. The problem is that this total system virtualization entirely in software is slower.

If you just want to run x86 CPU virtual machines on your desktop PC then you would probably want to use a virtual machine host application like VirtualBox, Parallels, or MS Virtual PC. Those applications provide a convenient GUI to launch and configure your desktop operating system based virtual machines, however, you will likely want to host your server operating system based virtual machines on a dedicated server so they can continue to run even while your desktop PC is not; this is where software like Proxmox comes in.

Proxmox makes it REALLY easy to manage hundreds of server operating system based virtual machines using both containerized OpenVZ and hardware assisted KVM. You would typically use OpenVZ to host Linux virtual machines, because it's faster and less resource demanding than KVM, and you would use KVM for non-Linux virtual machines. Proxmox has all the enterprise features that you need including live backups and live migrations, both for OpenVZ and for KVM, and high availability clustering all for the great price of... completely 100% free.

Now that the software is handled, let's answer the original question; what's the cheapest virtual machine host server PC?

If you're only needing containerized virtualization for OpenVZ containerized virtual machines then you do not need your CPU to include hardware assisted virtualization features, i.e. VT-x for Intel or AMD-V for AMD. If, however, you need hardware assisted virtualization for KVM virtual machines then you will need to choose a server which has hardware assisted virtualization built-in.

The cheapest PC that I've seen recently that fits this requirement is the Zotac ZBOX-ID18_U which is available for less than $100:

This mini PC has an Intel Celeron 1007U CPU which only uses 17 watts of electricity; not only is the PC cheap to buy but it is also cheap to run. Despite this though, it has hardware assisted virtualization and can also support up to 16GB of RAM. So this makes for a very capable low powered virtual machine host ideal for running many non-CPU-bound virtual machine guests, i.e. ones that don't depend on having a very powerful fast CPU.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Safe Rodent Bait

Someone asked me if there's a rodent bait that is safe to use around domestic animals including dogs and cats.

It looks like Rode-trol may be the solution:

"Manufactured from All-Natural and Environmentally-Safe Products! Rode-trol®, Ro-Con™ and Ro-cide™ are made from all natural, food-grade, corn byproducts. Finely milled and pelleted; molasses and corn oil concentrate are then added as an attractant."

Available from here:

http://www.benedaniels.com/rodetrol.htm

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Marriage License With Error Legal?

Someone asked me if a marriage license with an error, e.g. their husband's birth date indicating that he was only 7 years old, is legally valid.

If you want to get the error corrected then there should be no problem with filing a new marriage license and the cost is minimal.

If you are trying to escape a marriage using a technicality then I recommend that you talk to a lawyer, which I am not.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Cicada Killer Wasp Sting Danger

Someone asked if Cicada Killer Wasps ever sting or bite people and if they are a danger to people or pets.

Apparently the Cicada Killer rarely stings unless they are disturbed. Although males are aggressive and territorial they have no sting. Females are difficult to provoke, but may sting if provoked. The sting descriptions range from mild, and dissipating within an hour, to medium, and persisting for a week; most information that I've found seems to imply the the sting is relatively minor.

However, note that sting allergies may make the situation potentially very serious. Our Great Dane was stung on the face a couple of times and his entire body became covered in lumps within minutes. Anti-histamine, in this case benadryl, was administered orally immediately, to good effect, and we monitored him to ensure that he didn't require an emergency trip to the vet. It would be nice to be able to say that he learned from his mistake but alas no, there were several re-matches and I think he lost every time.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Do Toads Hibernate in Garages?

Someone asked me if their pet toad will hibernate if kept in a garage during the cold winter months.

If the garage is uninsulated and unheated then the temperature in the garage will be quite close to the outside temperature, although it would be a bit warmer, and so the toad will probably go into hibernation. Just ensure that it has plenty of food before hibernation time so it can make it through the winter and provide appropriate foliage for the toad to hide itself under.

If the toad came from a pet shop then they can probably provide you with some great tips on how to look after it, how to house it, and what to feed it . If it's a local wild toad then the best thing to do is to set it free where it will do what comes naturally. It would be much better to create a wild toad habitat in the yard/garden where you can see them in their natural setting, not in a glass bowl.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Katydid versus Cicada

Someone asked what the difference between Katydids and Cicadas is. A Katydid is in the same general family (Tettigoniidae) as grasshoppers, crickets, and locusts. A Cicada is in an entirely different family (Cicadoidea).

Here are some pictures of Katydids:

Katydids in google images
Katydids in Flickr

Here are some pictures of Cicadas:

Cicadas in google images
Cicadas in Flickr

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Red and Black Beafeater Uniform

Someone asked me what the purpose of the red Beafeater, Yeoman Warder, uniforms is as opposed to the black uniform. They also wondered why Beafeaters carry an axe and what their duties are.

The red ceremonial uniform is reserved for special/official occasions and the black undress uniform is the everyday version.

The Yeoman Warders carry a pike, a long spear, the Chief Warder carries a staff topped with a silver model of the white tower, and the Yeoman Gaoler carries a ceremonial battle axe. The weapons are traditional but probably effective if need be, but they also carry handguns. The Foot Guards, with their bearskin hats, provide the serious firepower in the form of SA80 machine guns.

The Beafeaters used to guard the prison, i.e. the Tower of London, but now mostly act as guides and care for the ravens.

The Tower of London is certainly a fascinating step back into history and well worth a visit.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Music Bad for the Mind

Someone asked me if music is bad for your mind; like anything else, it depends ;-)

The creators of the Baby Einstein and Little Einsteins obviously believe that music is very beneficial to the brain and there was an article in Scientific American that was referenced by wikipedia that claims significantly beneficial brain differences caused by music, although there is an opposing side that may disagree.

I'm pretty certain of music's effect on myself; certain types of music definitely induce altered brain states that may well be therapeutic and literally give me goose bumps when I hear them. No one style is better than another, it's all personal preference, some may like classical, some my like trance, and some may like something in between.

What do you think, is music bad for your mind?

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

OpenOffice boolean if function

Someone asked me how they would use boolean statements in OpenOffice's Spreadsheet application, Calc.

In my previous example showing how to calculate the number of days between 2 dates I set cells A1 and B1 to be dates and set C1 to be a formula that used the "DAYS" function to calculate the number of days between the two dates.

If you wanted to only output the calculation if A1 and B1 were greater than zero and output 0 otherwise you could use the "IF" and "AND" functions as follows:

=IF(AND(A1>0;B1>0);DAYS(A1;B1);0)

The "IF" function takes three parameters:

1st - a boolean test, in this case "AND(A1>0;B1>0)"
2nd - a value to output if the test evaluates to TRUE, in this case "DAYS(A1;B1)"
3rd - a value to output if the test evaluates to FALSE, in this case "0"

Spreadsheets are really quite versatile. It's surprising just how much they can do.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

OpenOffice Calculate Days Between

Someone asked me how they could calculate the number of days between two dates using OpenOffice's Spreadsheet application, Calc.

The answer is to use the "DAYS" function.

Type a date in cell A1, set the format of the cell to be a date, type another date in cell B1, set that cells format to also be a date, then enter the following in cell C1:

=DAYS(A1;B1)

Cell C1 will now contain a number signifying the number of days between the two dates.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Fast Velcro Costume Change

Someone just asked me how do performers make a clothes change so quickly on stage?

Simple answer; Velcro.

All those buttons are just for show, underneath it's just Velcro.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Periodic Cyclic Cicadas

Someone just asked me a few more cicada questions:

1. What year will the cyclical cicada occur here in Illinois?

2. Do both the annual and the cyclical occur at the same time?

3. If the cyclical cicada egg takes 13/17 years to become a larva and
emerge, how long is the annual underground? Is it a year?

The answers are:

1. Broods III, XIII, XIX, and XXIII will emerge in 2014, 2007, 2011, and 2015 respectively.

2. The annual and periodic cicadas may coexist at the same time.

3. The annual cicada exists underground between 1 and 7 years.

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Smallest MythTV Frontend

Someone asked me if I knew of a really small, tiny, PC that could be used as a MythTV frontend. The eBox III 3800 has an 800mhz CPU and 256MB RAM so it should be adequate for a standard definition mythfrontend PC. It can boot from the LAN using PXE, which is great for a frontend, so the lack of hard drive shouldn't be an issue.

You don't get much smaller than that, or do you?

If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Right Justified Everything

Someone just asked me what they are doing that sometimes causes all their text in MS Notepad to become right justified and, more importantly, how do they change it back to being left justified?

What's actually happening is windows is being told, by certain hotkeys being pressed, to switch from the typical Western left-to-right text orientation to a right-to-left text orientation used in Arabic and Hebrew.

The shortcut keys that are doing this switch are:

CTRL + RightShift - right-to-left orientation

and

CTRL + LeftShift - left-to-right orientation

If you forget the key combination to switch back after you accidently get into right-to-left orientation don't worry. If you close the application down and restart it'll be back to the normal left-to-right orientation that you're familiar with.

There is a huge number of windows shortcuts and I agree that it can be very frustrating to accidently perform one and not know how to get back to the original state that you were in. If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Dead Toad Hibernation

Someone asked me if it was normal for their pet toad to curl up and remain completely still at the onset of winter. "Is the toad dead?"

Most likely not. Most toads hibernate in the winter and will often appear to be dead only to reanimate in the spring as the weather warms up. The best thing to do is to leave the toad alone and see what happens, hopefully your pet will awaken refreshed and rejuvenated after its 4 month siesta.

Do you have a pet toad which hibernates?

Before getting a pet it's a really good idea to do your research. It's a terrible shame to have all the best intentions in the world but still cause harm through a lack of understanding for an animal's needs. If you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com

Lost Window

Someone asked me if I knew how they could find a window which they'd lost in Windows XP. What happened was that they had been using their laptop in dual screen mode and then went to another location where they only had a single screen. When they ran one particular application it restored its window to the second, now non-existent, screen. Consequently, the window was not visible.

The solution is to move the application back to the visible screen and then remember not to move it to the second screen in the future. This is a bug in the application since 99% of applications check to confirm that they are restoring their windows to valid coordinates before restoring.

What you need to do is this:

1) Press <ALT><TAB> to select the invisible application

2) Press <ALT><SPACE> to select the application's menu

3) Press M to select the Move menu item

4) Use the arrow keys to move the application's window back to the screen where it'll be visible.

The direction which you need to move the application's window depends upon how you set up your secondary screen. Generally the secondary screen is to the right of the primary screen and, in that case, you would simply move the invisible application window to the left using the arrow key in order to see it with the primary screen.

Multiple screened computing is very productive, I'd say that two 15" screens are better than a single 21" even though the single 21" has more pixels, if you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com