Adding a sensor to the PRTG network monitor is the most basic task and it’s super simple.

Once you have PRTG correctly installed, you’ll want to go and connect to it through the web interface. After logging in, it’s a simple case of going to Sensors and Add Sensor

Since PRTG will automatically add the server it is installed on as a device, select “Add sensor to an existing device” and then “Probe Device” and hit Continue. You will now be presented with the huge list of available sensors: pick the one you want, click continue a couple of times and you’re done!

A sensor can be added to a map to make it really easy to view the data from it. Notifications can then be set up to alert you via email, text, etc. if a sensor enters a ‘Warning’ or ‘Down’/Error state.

I often get asked how I stream video and how I include the IRC topic and chat in the stream. It’s all quite simple really, but relies on a Mac app called CamTwist. If you’re using Windows, I’ve heard it’s possible by using Superwebcam and Manycam at the same time, but a better idea would be to invest in WebcamMax. Anyway, getting back to how I do it…

First of all, I use a Canon MD 205, connected to my Mac mini via Firewire, and an electret condenser mic, plugged into a mixer, which is then also connected to my Mac mini. The video feed from the camera goes into CamTwist, which can add effects to the video. The first effect I add is a couple of black boxes, which are slightly transparent. I then add the RSS effect, which takes the RSS feed with the IRC topic in and puts it into the video. I’ve done a tutorial in the past explaining how I get the IRC topic into an RSS feed. You can find it at http://jakewright.net/2009/10/irc-topic-to-rss-feed-via-mirc/.

The other effect I add is a picture-in-picture desktop overlay, which captures part of my desktop. This particular part of my desktop runs Colloquy, which is an IRC client for OS X -- this of course is how the chat is put into the video. The chat is an IRC channel -- both that, and the client you see on the live page are provided by GeekShed.

The video, with the effects, and the audio are then fed into Ustream which broadcasts the video over the internet. The Ustream player can then be embedded in a website.

And that’s pretty much it. That’s all it takes to push out my live video stream with the topic and the chat incorporated. You can of course come along, watch the live stream and, more importantly, join the chat and become a member of our community at http://live.jakewright.net!

I’m sure you have some kind of network set up in your home, or maybe you manage a network somewhere else. Many networks today have a server on them, or maybe more than one. Perhaps you manage multiple servers around the world. Wouldn’t it be great if you could monitor all of them from one place?

PRTG is a great piece of software which will let you set up ’sensors’. The freeware edition will allow you to set up 10 sensors each monitoring a different part of a Windows Server operating system (you can upgrade to 20 sensors by linking to the Paessler website). Some examples include bandwidth, hard drive space, virtual machine status (Hyper-V) and specific process status. I use the process monitoring probe to check whether mIRC is running. If it isn’t, I instantly get an email from the software alerting me. I could configure it to alert me in various other ways too.

It’s an awesome tool which allows you to monitor all sorts from multiple servers and show the status of each sensor in a way to suite you. I’ve seen this software used to show all of the sensors which are ‘down’ (i.e. show all of the problems), on all of their servers, on a big monitor in a companies main office.

I’ve been using the Dell U2410 24″ monitor for a few weeks, and although I’m no monitor expert, I shall attempt to review it from an average users point of view.

Firstly, the design. It’s quite simple and basic; it looks professional if not slightly boring. The monitor is mostly black with the leg and the dell badge being exceptions as they are both silver. The leg, however, usually appears to be grey because the screen itself casts a shadow over it.

The U2410 has loads of extra features including plenty of ergonomic options. As well as tilting back and forward, the screen moves up and down, left to right and can rotate into portrait mode. The monitor never actually locks into place, though, and this makes it hard to move. Pushing the side, for example, just causes the whole base to slide around, and trying to adjust the height of the monitor is awkward as it needs a lot of pressure to move, but once it starts, it slides straight past the precise position you were wanting. The fact that it has these options, however, rules out the negative aspects in my opinion.

Another cool feature the monitor has is a 4 port USB hub and built in card reader. You can find two USB ports in the side of the monitor and two more in the bottom. Perfect for quickly connecting things to your computer, but, even though the USB devices stay connected while the monitor is off, when you turn it on, all of the USB devices get disconnected from the computer for a few seconds. This makes it impossible to connect hard drives, for example, because you could damage the data by having it disconnected without first unmounting the volume.

Ever wished you could connect more than one device to your monitor? The Dell u2410 has 7 inputs: VGA, 2xDVI, DisplayPort, HDMI, Component and Composite.

The On-Screen-Display on this monitor is the best I’ve ever seen. The buttons are touch sensitive, making it really easy to navigate through the advanced OSD, letting you configure every aspect of the monitor.

The colours on the monitor are fantastic and text is clear and easy to read. Whites seem to have a very small pink tint, however, but without another monitor (which is more than likely the one with the incorrect colour) to compare it against it looks fine. The resolution is 1920x1200 and the dynamic contrast ratio is a crazy 80,000:1, so the specs of this thing are great and the performance certainly matches. Using an H-IPS panel, the viewing angle is much better than anything a TN panel is capable of.

Overall, this is a splendid monitor. I bought it refurbished for £345 from eBay and it was definitely worth the money, but I wouldn’t have paid anymore for it.

If you use mIRC as either your IRC client or for an IRC bot, then you’re likely collecting log files from each channel you’re in. With mIRC Stats you can turn those log files into visual stats and have them automatically uploaded to your website via FTP. You can see an example of the results over at http://stats.jakewright.net.

Since my last tour of my desk, I’ve had numerous requests for an updated version. I feel now, however, that my desk has changed substantially since May 2009, so this is simply a new ‘Tour of a Geeks Desk”. Enjoy.

Remote Desktop Connection and Virtual Network Computing are both ways of connecting to, and remotely controlling a computer. Essentially, they do the same thing, but there are differences between them.

Remote Desktop
RDC Client is built into Windows and available for OS X
Remote Desktop (server) is built into most versions of Windows
RDP treats each connection as a new session
Number of connections is limited, often only one person can connect at once (and that logs of the user who is physically logged onto the machine)
RDP is faster than VNC because it sends data rather than ‘images’.

VNC
Available for free for most operating systems
Server built into OS X as ‘Screen Sharing’
VNC shows you exactly what the remote monitor would show and connects to the current session rather than starting a new one
VNC allows more connections but they all see the same thing
VNC is slower than RDP.

Neither are 100% secure, so if that’s your issue, I’d go with another solution.

The Good:
Space saving;
Looks good;
Convenient;
“Does what it says on the tin”.

The Bad:
Requires 2 USB ports (this could be good, though);
Case isn’t very protective.

The Rating: 4/5

One of my external hard drives is the Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drive which, so far, has been a very nice hard drive. So, I decided to purchase the dock, to make it look a little nicer, and make it easier to connect and disconnect. The dock also happens to come with a nice little case, perfect for carrying the hard drive anywhere.

Firstly, the dock. There’s not much to say about it, as it doesn’t add any features to the hard drive, but essentially, just puts a piece of plastic in between the two ends of the USB cable. The design of the dock is quite simple, but matches that of the hard drive quite well. Although the hard drive is held in place by some plastic, and the little USB connector in the bottom, it’s held up quite well, and feels sturdy and safe when pushed (gently, of course).

Strangely, the hard drive along uses only one USB port, without the option to use two, but the dock “requires” two USB ports, even though it’s not using any extra power. I believe one, however, is for data, while the other is for power. I just find it strange that the hard drive comes with a cable needing only one port, and works fine. Anyway, using two can only be a good thing, in terms of reliability and performance.

It’s very light, and doesn’t grip the desk very well, but this isn’t an issue as long as you don’t nudge it while it’s on, which isn’t a good idea at all!

The case is black, and very basic, but better than nothing if you need to transport your hard drive.

Overall, it’s a simple product, but available for a very low price making it a good addition to the already brilliant Seagate FreeAgent Go.

I bet you have a lot of media on your computer. Media can be in a variety of forms, such as photos, music, video, etc. Often, however, it is only on our computers, because, often, is is difficult, or impossible, to get all, if any, of our media onto our portable devices. The solution is to actually stream media from a computer, over the internet, to another device which is unable to store it all, for whatever reason.

Orb is a free program that lets you do just that! It allows you to stream a variety of media (including photos, videos and music) to a variety of devices (including mobile phones, game consoles, other computers, etc.) from either a Mac or a PC. If you have a TV tuner in your computer, you can even stream live TV to another device, like an iPod Touch, or iPhone. You can also access all of your media via the orb web interface, from any device which can browse the web.

Orb is very easy to set up, and a very impressive and useful piece of software. If you already have a computer than runs 24/7, why not install Orb so your media is accessible anywhere?

I managed to get the FreeAgent Go HDD for free from Swagbucks.com and so far, I’ve been very impressed with it. I have the Titanium Silver, 250GB edition, but it comes in a range of other colours and capacities, too.

Usually, I go for cheap, desktop, external hard drives, so I was surprised to see how small this is! It’s very slim and very light as well. I love the design of this hard drive. It has a slightly glossy surface with a brushed aluminium effect, and a white strip around the sides. The front curves down to make it look even better.

One innovative feature I like about the FreeAgent Go is the way it lets you know when it’s on and when it’s being accessed. The small holes, which are also well designed, on the top, light up with a nice warm, white glow, and when the hard drive is being written to, they slowly fade in and out. This is a much better way of indicating that it’s getting written to than just having a flashing light on the front.

Unfortunately, the only interface the HDD comes with is USB 2.0, and the spindle speed is slower than most hard drives on the market. I haven’t noticed particularly slow transfer speeds, though, and the hard drive is powered by USB, meaning less cable clutter, and a cleaner design on the product.

You can purchase an optional dock, which is sold separately, if you want an easier way to connect it to your computer while saving space. I’ll be getting one, so expect a review of that particular accessory soon.

Overall, I think this is a great hard drive. It may be more expensive than other external hard drives of the same capacity, but for a small, light device, with a great design, I don’t think the price is too bad (but like I said, I got it for free anyway, thanks to everyone who signed up to SwagBucks using my referral link).

If you want one of these hard drives, but don’t think you’ll ever get enough Swag Bucks, you can buy them from Amazon!