It's News to Me

Some might say I'm easily pleased, and I'd find myself hard pressed to disagree. Take a look at this video first ...

Okay, let's acknowledge that this isn't yet perfect. I'll grant you that. However, it is the first record of the fact that I can connect my Win XP computer (a Sony Vaio machine) to my Linux computer (a Dell Dimension 4100 machine) running Ubuntu 6.06. In the future, I may add audio content to this, but for now, it illustrates that I've been able to connect to my Linux machine from my Windows XP machine, and I've been able to record what I see there.

Think of it as «first contact.» Later we'll work out the details of communication. For now, we've proved there is an intelligence on the other side of the dimension we are seeking to cross. I'm delighted with the results so far.

And I must give credit to my son, Mike, for the insight that permitted me to make this connection. Here's an email I sent him earlier this evening:

Just wanted to congratulate you on your wisdom.

When I mentioned to you at lunch that I had connected to my Windows XP
machine from my Linux machine using VNC but that I still couldn't
figure out the IP address of the Linux machine on my network, you
asked «Doesn't it have caller ID?»

That question was inspired.

The answer is that, although it doesn't have caller ID, it does have a
log of the transaction, called winvnc.log. When I checked that, sure
enough, it identified the fact that the connection had come from
192.168.2.102 (the IP address of the Linux computer on my network).

So you helped me answer my question about what that IP address for my
Linux machine is, and in the process you have assured your place as a
beneficiary in my will. And what's more, you have saved a couple
of poor souls like Daryl Houston and Shannon Kamer the chore of having
to hold my hand to find out the answer to this question.

In the words of the Guiness Stout commercial, BRILLIANT!

Thanks for your help