Paul McCormack's Blog

UK domain name

Paul McCormack — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:17:27 +0000

I am looking to offload paulmccormack.co.uk as I no longer need the domain name. If you are interested in purchasing it for a reasonable fee then please get in touch via the contacts page. I am not looking to make excessive profits from the domain so feel free to make me a fair offer.

Park Life

Paul McCormack — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 05:50:39 +0000

Just taken Miranda and Fenella to a local park whilst Debs was having a massage. Took a few vids and a couple of photos with my phone, then had a play with Windows Live Movie Maker. Here is the result on my SkyDrive.

CloudBerry backup for Windows Home Server

Paul McCormack — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:41:11 +0000

As I am currently experiencing my second hard disk failure in as many weeks, I have decided that “just” having duplicate disks in my Windows Home Server is no longer sufficient protection against data loss. Given that this computer holds all of our family photographs, the consequences of a theft, fire, lightening strike or even just both disks failing at the same time does not bear thinking about.

Thankfully, the good folks at CloudBerry have a product for Windows Home Server that works as a simple addin to the server console and will automagically backup all of the data that I specify onto your favourite cloud-based storage service. There is even a free license for bloggers

How to fix Daewoo error H6

Paul McCormack — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 23:15:38 +0000

Hopefully this post will assist others that may be getting an error H6 on their Daewoo washing machine. Mine is model DWD-F1021 but it may also apply to many others, including 1022/1023/F1221/1222/1223 which share the same instruction manual.

A quick Bing Search for daewoo washing h6 showed a number of options, including blocked pipe or broken heater. The drainage pipe and pump were OK and a quick test of a cold wash went through without error, so that suggested that it was related to the heater.

I popped the back panel off the washer and sure enough, one of the wires for the heater had come loose. It was a simple push-on connecter so the fix was simple.

Not sure how much an engineer call-out would have been – cheaper than a new washing machine no doubt, but still very expensive. The best news though was that Miranda gave me a sticker of a tiger as a reward which I am now sporting on the back of my hand. Happy days!

Scorpions Alive

Paul McCormack — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 06:54:26 +0000

What a shock I got last weekend when I moved the patio umbrella. Underneath the paving stone was a small scorpion! I had no idea that there were scorpions in the Sydney area. I knew that they lived in the outback but this is a bit close for comfort!

Bye bye Linux

Paul McCormack — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 10:01:04 +0000

The time has come for me to wave farewell to my Linux servers and make the switch to a Microsoft-based home. I have switched my email over to Microsoft Exchange Online, web sites to WordPress and Gallery to Windows Skydrive. This should mean that I no longer need to spend hours (or days) working late into the night fixing a problem or updating security patches.

I am now running Windows Home Server and Windows XP Media Centre on the same old hardware. Ideally, I would by running Windows 7 on the media PC, but it seems that the hardware is a bit too old to cope. Looks like there will be a few late nights after all!

I’ve quit Facebook

Paul McCormack — Mon, 31 May 2010 10:09:06 +0000

Just to let you know that I have quit Facebook. If you want to get in touch, please email me if you know my address or use the contact form on this web site.

I will still be posting updates and photos on this web site and also on Humblebee, but I won’t be able to see your updates or anything else that you may post on Facebook.

I am looking forward to the freedom of not feeling compelled to check Facebook every day and wondering who they’ve sold my personal information to today.

Firefox Personas

Paul McCormack — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:45:47 +0000

I have just created a Firefox Persona using my favourite photo of Miranda. It was remarkably easy! If you want to have a look or try it out, just click here.

Miniature V8’s

Paul McCormack — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:55:50 +0000

Quick photo of the V8 practice as viewed from my office window at Sydney Olympic Park. You may notice that I have miniaturised the action!

Monitoring Asterisk Peers with Munin

Paul McCormack — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 23:59:59 +0000

I have just uploaded a modified script to the Munin Exchange web site to allow Munin to monitor the number of online and offline SIP Peers.

I hope you find it useful.