Home Network - Home FTP Server and/or Windows Network

It all started with me wanting to have a backup for my podcasts. My iTunes folder in ThinkPad was growing in excess of 20GB and I was in no mood to get rid of my podcasts and photo albums. I treasure them. I contemplated on getting an external hard disk but then toyed with a different option. There was lot of space (~250 GB) sitting around on my second laptop and obviously I'd want to use that. But I wanted that space to be a live drive accessible on my ThinkPad. And that's when my networking instincts took over me. And I should admit I almost made big weather out of it.

I was rather lazy to go with the least effective yet the most direct method of transferring files using an USB drive. It is a pain to transfer files (podcasts and pictures in my case) on a regular basis to the archive on the other computer. It was then I tried out the networking features in the 'highly acclaimed' Vista. It was not bad after all. The only catch is to turn the Network Discovery and File Sharing ON (Link opens in a new page). My other laptop was completely accessible and I could transfer all I wanted. There was still something missing. Speed.

Transferring multiple files in the background isn't a big deal especially with these dual cores but, choosing the folders and locations all the time is again a pain. That's when FTP came handy. I shortlisted some FTP servers from Sourceforge. FileZilla, Serv-U, WinFTP and CrossFTP were among the best I found. FileZilla is easily the best in the pack (and free) but for some reason, I was not able to get it working with a FileZilla client. The server was working fine but due to router and firewall issues, FileZilla client wasn't able to connect to the server. Serv-U and CrossFTP are free as well. CrossFTP is web-based application and is pretty good. For some reason I wasn't convinced entirely to have my files transferred through a web application. I used WinFTP for sometime. It is not free and that's the only bad part. The features are extremely good. I used it for 30 days and then was locked out of the interface. I have since used Serv-U. It is a pretty decent application with no features comprised. It is free in the sense after the trial period, only single user connection can be enabled which works for me. So, this home FTP setup worked best for me. And I chose to go with FileZilla client. Among its positives, simplicity stands out. I use SmartFTP and WinSCP at work and so, wasn't tempted to use those.

In the end, having a home FTP server setup made things really easy for me. Easy to keep my files organized and made my archiving process lot more efficient. I found these two links at Lifehacker very useful. Link 1: Serv-U. Link 2: FileZilla. 

Blog from Polska

This one straight from Poland.

Same time last week, I was at one of the most hip and happening places on this planet - Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. Now, I am at the other extreme. A serene, beautiful and historically prominent one. Krakow, Poland.

It was a blessing in disguise that I had this aviation conference at Poland. The timing couldn't get any better. I was very busy at work and was waiting for a good vacation or just a break. And then came along Krakow. And almost instantly, I was in love with Krakow. Amazing weather in this time of the year. Great crowds and legacy. We went to a salt mine yesterday. That was the oldest mine in the world. And it was nothing short of extraordinary.

You can never express how much a break like this means to you. Away from work and pressure. Nothing can reconcile it. Not money, Not work. The conference I went too also turned out to be very informative. So, overall it has been a pleasant trip and at a special time.

Puzzle 2: Who shouts first?

4 criminals are caught and are to be punished. The Judge allows them to be freed if they can solve a puzzle. If they do not, they will be hanged. They agreed.


Click here if this image is not visible. It opens in a new window.

The 4 criminals are lined up on some steps (shown in picture). They are all facing in the same direction. A wall separates the fourth man from the other three.

So to summarize:-
Man 1 can see men 2 and 3.
Man 2 can see man 3.
Man 3 can see none of the others.
Man 4 can see none of the others.

The criminals are wearing hats. They are told that there are two white hats and two black hats. The men initially don't know what color hat they are wearing. They are told to shout out the color of the hat that they are wearing as soon as they know for certain what color it is.

They are not allowed to turn round or move.
They are not allowed to talk to each other.
They are not allowed to take their hats off.

Who is the first person to shout out and why?

Check out the solution here.