Hack Of The Day: The Best & Cheapest Dictation Setup

So, you're still using microcassettes for dictation and you feel voice recognition isn't reliable enough to switch your entire dictation strategy to Dragon dictation? Problem is your microcassette player or recorder is dying and replacing or upgrading your whole dictation setup at work looks more expensive than buying Mac Pros for everyone. Digital dictation devices are, indeed, extremely expensive and impractical at best with the need to connect them via USB to a base station to send files.

The Most Detailed iCloud Review Ever

As I have been using iCloud for two weeks, this post aims at addressing the most commonly asked questions with regard to this latest addition to Apple technology. Granted, most of Apple products don't require a detailed manual as they usually "just work". In iCloud case, I believe that, although it works beautifully, it requires a lot more explaining that what can be found at www.apple.com/icloud

First of all, the user has to keep in mind that "iCloud" refers to many different things:

The Complete Noob Guide To Installing DD-WRT & 12vpn On An Asus RT-N16 router

Installing a VPN service can be challenging for many of us but the advantages of using a VPN service are well worth the pain it causes to make things work. First of all, using a VPN service makes your internet more secure than it already is by tunneling all traffic through an encrypted channel to the location of your VPN provider. From there, the traffic will be redirected to its intended destination. You will hence be free of geolocation restrictions and should you use your VPN service on a wifi hotspot your data will be safe.

So, let's assume you bought an Asus RT-N16 router (one of the most powerful yet moderately priced router out there) and want to configure your home network to use 12vpn. Make sure before and after every firmware upgrade that you reset your router using the 30-30-30 sequence (press the wps button for 30 secs while router is on, keep pressing and unplug it for 30 secs, keep pressing after plugging it back for another 30 secs). Now, here is my step-by-step guide:

1. Make sure you download all the necessary firmwares mentioned in step 1 before your connect your router to your computer through an Ethernet cable (as you will then lose Internet connectivity) on one of the 4 LAN ports.

2. Go to this blog and follow the instructions on how to flash the factory firmware with a different one. Instead of using the Tomato firmware, use the initial dd-wrt firmware located here (Otherwise go to: http://www.dd-wrt.com then Router Database then type Asus & choose Asus RT N-16 & Image for Initial Flashing). After following the steps in order to install this firmware, you should install the last firmware through the dd-wrt web interface (by logging in to http://192.168.1.1 and going to administration). Here is the location of the latest firmware: choose the "dd-wrt.v24-15962_NEWD-2_K2.6_mega.bin" firmware. Once you're done with that, you will need to login again to the newly flashed firmware administration web interface (http://192.168.1.1).

3. Start by disabling the firewall by changing the router password and going to Security->Firewall->Firewall Protection->SPI Firewall: Disable

Save and Apply.

4. Disable Wifi as it is activated and open by default

Save and Apply.

5. Configure LAN like this (don't update the WAN configuration yet):

Router IP:

Local IP Address: 192.168.0.210

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway: 192.168.0.1 (This is your DSL or Cable router address, change it accordingly)

Local DNS: 0.0.0.0

DHCP Server: Disable

Save and Apply.

In this example, I'm using 192.168.0.210 as the url to access the router assuming your DSL or Cable router address can by accessed at http://192.168.0.1. In case your DSL or Cable router has a 192.168.1.1 address in order to access it then you should change all 192.168.0.xxx addresses in my configuration example to 192.168.1.xxx addresses.

I'm using a xxx.xxx.xxx.210 address assuming it is not already taken by another device on your home network. It can basically be any non already used address but if you have a DHCP server running I suggest an address close to xxx.xxx.xxx.200 to make sure it won't be attributed by the router to another device.

6. Disconnect the router from your computer and connect it through Ethernet on one of its LAN ports to your DSL or Cable Router. You will now be able to access the configuration of your dd-wrt router through your home network by entering http://192.168.0.210 in your browser.

7. Configure WAN as in the last screen capture.

WAN Connection type: Static IP

Wan IP Address: 192.168.0.200 (not the same address than 192.168.0.210)

Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0

Gateway: 192.168.0.1 ((This is your DSL or Cable router address, change it accordingly)

Static DNS 1: 8.8.8.8 (Google DNS for better performance)

Static DNS 2: 8.8.4.4 (Google DNS for better performance)

Static DNS 3: 0.0.0.0

STP: Disable

Save and Apply.

8. Go to the Services tab and OpenVPN:

Start OpenVPN Client: Enable

Server IP/Name:     CHECK 12vpn.com to choose the server you want to use

Port: 1194

Tunnel Protocol: UDP

Tunnel Device: TUN

Encryption Cipher: Blowfish CBC

Hash Algorithm: SHA1

Use LZO Compression: Enable

nsCertType verification: ticked

Advanced Options: Enable

Enable NAT: Enable

Bridge Tap to br0: Disable

TUN MTU Setting: 1500

Mss-Fix/Fragment accross the tunnel: 1300

TLS Cipher: OFF

TLS Auth Key: Leave Blank (other configurations might require ta.key)

Additional Config: Leave Blank

CA Cert: copy & paste ca-vpnservices.cer

Public Client Cert: copy & paste vpnxxxxx.crt2.pem

Public Client Key: copy & paste vpnxxxxx.key2.pem

(For certificates copy & paste between BEGIN and END)

9. Connect an additional Ethernet cable from your DSL or cable router to the WAN port of your Asus router

10. Configure any of your home computers, consoles or Apple TVs like this in order to use the VPN connection:

Static IP

ip : 192.168.0.2xx  (use an unused address for each device)

subnet mask : 255.255.255.0

gateway router address : 192.168.0.210  (this is the Asus router address)

DNS address : 192.168.0.210 (sometimes 8.8.8.8 might work better notably with an Apple TV)

11. If you don't want to use the DD-WRT VPN then configure your computers to use the DHCP server (automatic default configuration) from your DSL or Cable router and your connection will be exactly the same it was without any VPN service or Asus router. You can also switch back and forth according to your needs.

12. You might want to automatically reboot the router everyday to ensure continuous connectivity.

The added beauty of 12vpn is that they allow simultaneous connections from your home router and an iDevice (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) using IPSEC/L2TP. This means you can be connected at home and also from a wifi hotspot or 3G connection on your iDevice. The configuration on an iDevice is straightforward by following the steps mentioned on the 12vpn website.

Voila! Enjoy it!

The Future Of Apple

As Apple is about to release iOS 4.2 to the general public, rumors are spreading as to what the next iPhone might be about. Most rumors were, until now, about the implementation of CDMA technology but it seems that the next iPhone might also integrate an RFID chip and/or some kind of proximity field technology. This is rumored to allow users to make any Mac their own by creating a proximity link between any Mac and their iPhone. The former would, then use whatever settings are saved on the iPhone or the MobileMe account of the user to allow them to use this computer as their own. If MobileMe users had the ability to sync all their info to the clouds, this could, indeed, become reality. Let's not forget that Apple heavily invested not so long ago in a server farm and let's not forget Steve Jobs' comment to SugarSync CEO during a conference "Yeah, I know you guys" and this would all make sense.

By using this technology, every iDevice owner would have the ability to use any Apple computer as their own, using their settings, files and apps that are stored in the clouds (a major leap forward compared to the poor cloud storage possibilities of MobileMe at this time). All their info would be backed up online making the process of regular and boring hard drive backups history.

The new iPhone is also supposed to be used as a payment device. Since it can already unlock cars using the new BMW app, why not bring it even more into the future by allowing it to open building and apartment doors?

There you have it, the iDevice will be at the center of everyone's lives, rendering wallets, keys and money as we know them obsolete.

I have already contacted a locksmith to get rid of my front door lock, as I will be using my iPhone to open the door from now on (and while I wait for this functionality to be implemented, I will camp in the streets outside my apartment building). The next thing that Apple should implement is a way, in case one loses their iDevice or it is stolen, to wipe it off remotely even if it does not have a network connection or if it is off. This would quite easy to implement through the use of a time machine that could bring the user back to the date & time their iDevice left their possession. It would then be easy to wipe it off and even prevent it from being stolen.

When Apple completes this, my friend Steve (whom I've never met) will become the ruler of the world and the universe and we will all live by his rules! Can't wait for that to happen!