Difference between original WildBlue and Exede [explained]

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Recently I had some people ask me what the differences are between the original WildBlue and Exede satellite internet plans. The answer: They utilize different satellites and offer vastly different speeds and usage experiences. Exede utilizes ViaSat-1, the most capable commercial communications satellite in existence Launched October 19, 2011 aboard a Proton rocket, it is the world’s highest capacity communications satellite with a total capacity in excess of 140 Gbit/s, more than all the satellites covering North America combined, at the time

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What is GoDaddy extended auto renew?

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It is a service they offer to renew your domain on an annual basis, even if you have a multi-year registration. Example: You register a domain name on July 2nd 2012 for 5 years. Your domain expiration date would be July 2nd 2017. With regular auto renew, your domain would renew on July 2nd 2017 for another 5 years. With extended auto renew, your domain name would renew after one year, on July 2nd 2013 and would be extended by

Read more Ask J.D., tech tips

Use your e-reader as a display for your computer

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Over at Pocketables (one of my fav tech sites) they posted a nice little article asking Why are ereaders still stand-alone only devices? It is a valid question and if the Pebble watch is any indication, there is a lot of pent up demand for ultra-long lived devices using e-ink displays. If Pocketable’s premise was e-ink is good for a lot more than just reading books, and that the current ereaders should do more… then this along those lines, here

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Shipping container modular ceiling installation [video]

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[please scroll down for the video] Samantha and I are considering shipping container (ISBU) construction for our garage and possibly our new house. We currently have an 8’x20′ container that we mounted our solar (PV) panels on top of and inside we have our batteries, inverter, etc.  We also use it as a simple storage container. But when taking the container concept beyond storage/utility into a more advanced structure, there are some issues. One problem with building with ISBUs is

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Off the grid solar system maintenance

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This morning I performed a couple simple maintenance tasks for our off-the-grid solar system: Washing the solar panels This is actually optional maintenance, as you don’t have to wash your panels. However, keeping solar panels clean and free of dust etc. can appreciably boost your power output. After washing the panels (it has been pretty dry and dusty lately) I had about 10% more electricity being generated. Woot! Adding distilled water to the batteries Flooded lead acid* batteries periodically require distilled

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Two WordPress plugins for database driven sites

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Here are two plugin I am evaluating for use on a user-generated-content website: WordPress › Formidable Forms « WordPress Pluginshttp://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/formidable/Quickly and easily build forms with a simple drag-and-drop interface and in-place editing. There are dozens of form-building plugins out there to create forms, but most are… WordPress › AZIndex « WordPress Pluginshttp://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/azindex/screenshots/Stylish Indexes for your WordPress Blog. Create alphabetical indexes of your posts, with headings, subheadings, and descriptions, based on post title, Download Version 0.8.1 Both have some very cool

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mysql error 1130 host is not allowed to connect to this mysql server

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Question from Steve. Hello, I installed XAMPP on my Window sLaptop and then tried to access it via Navicat from my Desktop as root I get this error: mysql error number 1130 host STEVE-DESKTOP is not allowed to connect to this mysql server Can you please help me? Answer from JD. Sure Steve, I am happy to help! Your issue is caused by there being insufficient permissions in the MySQL users table, specifically your desktop machine does not have permissions

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