Tactical-Tech

Tactical-Tech: Tech-Notes

Breaking it down, Barney style!

ESX install onto M65 Problem

21 January 2013

This is probably not a problem that is going to effect much more than .00001% of anyone in the IT community, but it did affect me and successfully killed about 30 hours of my life in troubleshooting. Lucky me. These are just some quick technotes mainly consisting of workarounds rather than real solutions.

Task: Install ESX 3.5 on a Dell M65, 32 bit laptop.

Problem 1: ESX Image will not install initially due to the following error:

Installation Operation Failed!
(ommited)
Unable to find a supported device to write the VMWare ESX Server 3i 3.5.0 image to.
(The rest ommited)

Expandable Multi-Shapes in Visio with Hesco Barriers

06 January 2013

Hesco barriers are steel baskets with fabric in them that we fill with dirt overseas to create thick, protective walls. They are a very common feature on any site, and it would be nice to have a shape that distinctly looks like a Hesco barrier on the camps site diagram. Today I'm going to show you how to make that. Because its an individual cell that is usually never alone, I'm going to make a continuous shape or a multiple shape to accomplish this task.

What that means is that as I expand the individual Hesco, it becomes two side by side, then three, four, etc. eventually to make a full length Hesco wall. If you ever worked with Visio floor plans, you may recall a shape called Multi-Urinal or Multi-sink that has this ability. In abstract, what we are going to do is create a bunch of identical shapes, uniquely ID each one of them, and use formulas to determine their placement. We will also use a formula to hide/ unhide each shape in the group depending on how wide the group is expanded out to.

Free Visio Stencils

24 December 2012

Merry Christmas everyone! This Christmas, I give you the greatest gift of all! Free Visio stencils! These stencils are custom made for the Army IT guy and are primarily used in floor plans, site physical layouts, and I even have some stuff for rack diagrams. Take a look below, feel free to download and redistribute what you want.

Online Suppliers

07 December 2012

Nothing brings a wider smile to a child's face than waking up on Christmas morning to a stocking full of VGA cables, 66 punch down blades, and BNC adapters! OK, maybe not. But, just in time for the Christmas shopping season, I have compiled a list of my top suppliers that I use to get the best prices on cables, tools and general computer accessories. These are the first websites that I go to when resupplying my shop or procuring equipment for a project. Most of these just give you the best prices on common cables. Honestly, that gold plated "Extreme" resolution coaxial cable that cost $40 at radio shack is going to give you the same quality picture as one that cost $2.50 online. Others just provide specialized products that aren't always easy to find online.

So, when you finally get that Google TV box that you've always wanted since a couple weeks ago, and you realize that you need an HDMI to RCA adapter with a 6 ft component cable to reach the back of your CRT Magnavox, you'll be equipped with the best and cheapest resources on the web.

Fried Turkey How-to and AAR

24 November 2012

Fried turkey taste like bacon flavored turkey. No kidding, once you've tasted fried turkey, you'll probably never care to eat a baked turkey again. This is my second year frying a turkey. Most of what I learned last year I forgot this year, and to make matters worse, I lost the instruction manual for my turkey fryer. However, these notes and AARs will likely help me remember what I need to do to make a fried turkey for next year and improve on the process. I decided to post so you (the reader) can have a consolidated fried turkey how to.