British mosses and liverworts – A field guide

If you are interested in mosses, liverworts, and such plants, you for sure need to look at this website:

http://www.bbsfieldguide.org.uk/

Better still, go ahead and buy the book, for £25 including shipping.

http://rbg-web2.rbge.org.uk/bbs/Activities/Field_Guide_order.htm

The blurb says:

Our islands’ mosses and liverworts have long been neglected, so there is scope for anyone to make a valuable contribution to our understanding of their occurrence, distribution and ecology. Yet the want of a field-guide to mosses and liverworts has for many years hindered the spread of interest in British field-bryology. A team of expert bryologists, under the aegis of the British Bryological Society,  has now produced the only modern field guide to mosses and liverworts of Britain and Ireland, enabling you to identify many of these with a hand lens in the field.

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Configure Sun Ray to work with Windows DHCP Server

A How To guide for setting options 49/66 in a Solaris or Windows DHCP service.

(http://blogs.sun.com/ThinkThin/entry/configuring_dhcp_options_49_and)

There are several ways in which a Sun Ray DTU can ‘find’ a Sun Ray server to connect to. One of these ways is to set option 49 or 66 in your DHCP service. These DHCP options are part of the set of fields returned in response to a client DHCP request, along with the other basic settings you are more familiar with, including IP address for the client, DNS, Domain, gateway/router, etc.

For more detail on all the methods a Sun Ray DTU uses to find a Sun Ray server, review some of the other entries in the Think Thin blog (http://blogs.sun.com/ThinkThin), and check out the Sun Ray documentation at http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/coll/1230.3

Note – Option 66 is a string field, and can accept a hostname or IP address (single).

If you use a hostname, you must make sure that the DHCP response to the Sun Ray DTU includes a domain name and a list of DNS servers, so that the DTU can resolve the hostname.

On a Sun DHCP service

Using DHCP Manager

# Start DHCP Manager

/usr/sadm/admin/bin/dhcpmgr &
# Click Macros tab
# Make sure the default macro is highlighted
# Click Edit menu, and from there click Properties.
# Click ‘Select’ button next to Option Name field.
# To set the option you want, follow the appropriate step :
To set Option 49, click on Option Name – XDispMgr
(Description – X Window System display managers)
To set option 66, click on Option Name – TFTPsrvN
(Description – TFTP server name), and then click OK button.
# Enter your IP address (Sun Ray Server for Option 49, Sun Ray Firmware Server for Option 6#, or a space separated list of IP addresses in the Option Value field (49 only.  Option 66 must be a single entry)
# Click the Add button to the right of the Select button.
# Make sure the check box for ‘Notify DHCP server of change’ has a check in it, otherwise click the box to put a check in it.
# Click the OK button to accept the changes.

Using CLI dhtadm

# As root, run dhtadm based on the following examples, where macroname is the name of the macro you want to add Option 49/66 to, and ipaddress/list is the IP address (Sun Ray Server for Option 49, Sun Ray Firmware Server for Option 6# you want to use, or a space seperated list of IP addresses :

dhtadm -M -m macroname -e “TFTPsrvN=ipaddress/list”
example of Option 49
dhtadm -M -m sunray1 -e “XDispMgr=10.47.52.189″
example of Option 66
dhtadm -M -m sunray1 -e “TFTPsrvN=10.47.52.189″
# Stop the DHCP service
/etc/init.d/dhcp stop
#  Start the DHCP service
/etc/init.d/dhcp start
Note – The hostname is likely to be used as the macroname you will want to add the options to. Use dhtadm -P to get a list of all current macros to verify the macroname.

On a Windows (2000, 2003 EE) DHCP service

Using the GUI DHCP admin tool

# Run the DHCP administration tool by clicking Start, Administrative Tools, DHCP
# Click the + next to the server you want to add the options to.
# Click on the Server Options folder
# Click the Action menu item, and then click Configure Options…
# Make sure the General tab is the one you are working on.
# Scroll through the Available Options list
# Click on the check box next to 049 X Windows System Display
# Fill in the IP address field.
# Click the Add button to add the IP address to the list.
# Repeat steps 7 and 8 if you have a list of IP addresses
# Click on the check box next to 066 Boot Server Host Name.
# Fill in the String value field with a single IP address or a hostname.
# Click the OK button to accept and apply both Options.

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British Airways staff want to strike but also want the job perks?

So British Airways staff want to strike but also want to retain the job perks that come with their occupation? :)

What do they actually think they are? So they strike, almost cripple the company, but want to retain their free flights and discounts of up to 90% depending on service?

Obviously the company, that lost money with the strike, will try to recoup all or most of the money, and the best way to do it is to scrap the strikers flight allowances. And the best is that it isn’t witten on their contracts that they are to have the perks, so much easier to take away.

What Willie Walsh should do is to sack the lot, sack them all, and give their jobs to people that actually want to work, there are lots of them around.

That would teach them…

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Use of Aquarium Hanging Planters in the UK!

Many of you might have seen Riparium Supply shop @ http://ripariumsupply.com/store.html.

The idea is fantastic, as allow you to have emmersed plants on a normal tank if you so wish, just check what can be done on this blog (http://hydrophytesblog.com).

It took me a while to track who in the UK would sell hanging boxes, and after a while I managed to track a company that would do it, actually they may be the ones that supply Riparium, as this is made on the USA. Check them out on http://www.blisshome.co.uk/product.asp?product=966.

I ordered 10 units, it came at £36 including posting. They are slighly bigger, but will do the job, and as they have larger holes on the front it is perfect to use with clayballs, as nutrients will flow in and out thru the roots.

This is what I have:

I will set up two or three on my tank and then see what happens, but at least we have a way to get the kit in the UK without having to import it ourselves.

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Very cheap T5 Luminaire

I have purchased last week a T5 Aquarium Fish Tank Overhead Light 4 x 39w 100cm  from Ebay, from allpondsolutions1.
http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/All-Pond-Solutions__W0QQ_armrsZ1
The support given to me prior to the purchase was just amazing, I asked all sort of questions and got the replies very accurately and very quickly, there was no pressure to buy, and the seller actually offered to change the lights originally sent out for something that would suit me better.
The leg supports are made of lightweight but hard plastic, and the hood is made from some sort of composite material, very light and resistant.
There is perpex cover that slide out to protect the lights, and the luminaire has two switches, controlling each a set of two lamps.
For the price of £144 including shipping, this is a very good bargain, especially as the unit has a 12 month warranty.
Pics below:

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How to get a “Sun X2100 M2″ server, configured with SATA drives, to work with VMWare ESX 3.5!

To get a “Sun X2100 M2″ server, configured with SATA drives, to work with VMWare ESX 3.5, perform
the following steps:

(1) Install ESX 3.5 off the CD (or via KickStart) as you normally would (i.e. as if SATA controllers were fully
supported). This approach works because the kernel/ramdisk image pair used during the install phase are
derived from Red Hat’s Anaconda installer, and thus support for most SATA controllers are available at
ESX 3.5 install time.

(2) When the installation is complete and you initiate the reboot, select the “Service Console only
(troubleshooting mode)” menu option to boot from. That too, uses a kernel/ramdisk pair that supports
SATA controllers/drives, and will allow the mounting of the ESX 3.5 root filesystem, which we need to access
in order to tweak a configuration file (to get ESX 3.5 to recognize the Sun X2100 M2 SATA drives at
*boot time*). So… Once booted to that mode, perform the following post-install steps (manually or, if
using kickstart, programmatically with a finish script):

root# cp /etc/vmware/pciid/sata_nv.xml /etc/vmware/pciid/sata_nv.xml.FCS
root# vi /etc/vmware/pciid/sata_nv.xml

Insert the following stanza in between the last and XML tags at the bottom
of the file:

===========================
<device id=”037f”>
<vmware label=”scsi”>
<driver>sata_nv</driver>
</vmware>
<name>MCP55Pro SATA Controller</name>
</device>
===========================

root# esxcfg-pciid

root# reboot

(3) Boot to ESX 3.5 as normal. It will work.

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Aquatic plant forums

Haven’t posted updates on the blog for a while, not due to lack of interest, but because I have been busy with some forums that I have joined.

As times passes I am more and more into aquatic plants, and I have joined a couple of forums that will help me with the step learning process that is taking good care of aquatic plants.

One of the forums I been hanging around at is UKAPS (UK Aquatic Plant Society – www.ukaps.org). The site is wholly directed to the care and keep of Aquatic Plants in the UK, it has close to 4000 members, and the help they give to newcomers is very good.

Have also been trading on it, bought and sold a couple of plants I got, bought a Arcadia Series 3 vapor lamp and a unbreakable heater. Cheaper than ebay.

On UKAPS there are a number of big names of the Aquatic Plant scene, such as Tom Barr, George Farmer and many others. George is a regular contributor to PFK magazine.

This brings me to the second forum I joined, The Barr Report, which for me is like a university on Aquatic Plants. The forum is at www.barrreport.com, and there is a fee to see some of the areas, but at just over £50 for a lifetime subscription, one gets a wealth of information. Not a forum for the faint hearted, or a newbie, but a lot of my questions have been answered by reading other posts.

A forum that is just starting is the London Fish Keeping Club (www.lfkc.co.uk), it had a rough start, but now with new administrator, new moderators and a new domain and hosting package it is very promising.

I have happily contributed to 50% of the purchase of the site, and with Paulo Leal as admin and Ricky Lam as moderator I am sure that the site will be one to follow.

LFKC deals mostly with fish keeping, as the name suggests, but it has also sections on invertebrates, plants and a swap/sale section.

Last but not least, I am also a member of Aquatic Plants South Africa (www.apsa.co.za). With 619 members and growing everyday, the forum is full of information, and quite surprisingly so, as although I have been going to Cape Town for over 10 years now, I have yet to see a decent aquarium shop, so I wonder where the members get their plants and fish from.

South Africa is not an easy country to import plants, fish and shrimp to, so it a credit to the members of APSA how they manage to keep their tanks so well stocked.

If you want to learn more about plants, and how to keep them in a good condition have a look at the forums I have listed, and for sure you will not regret it.

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Cherry Red Shrimps

A year ago I purchased 4 shrimps, cherry red, at the ADC (Aquatic Design Centre).

They breed more than guppies…

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Aviso PROSEGUR – Assaltos em casa

De: DirGeral 
Enviada:
terça-feira, 14 de Abril de 2009 13:14
Assunto:
Aviso PROSEGUR – Assaltos em casa – nova técnica – IMPORTANTE !
Assaltos em casa – nova técnica

Cautela:
Um grupo organizado está a enviar pelo correio uma carta com papel timbrado da TV CABO,
onde consta que a empresa está a modernizar a sua tecnologia e que será necessária
a substituição de equipamentos dentro da casa do assinante.

Eles dão o número do telefone de um colaborador, por intermédio do qual deve ser feita a marcação para a realização do serviço.
Ou seja, se o assinante não conhece o golpe e não telefona para a TV CABO para saber se isto é verdade,
o golpe (assalto) é praticado com hora marcada.
As próprias vítimas marcam o dia em que as suas casas podem ser assaltadas!!!
Sugiro que passem esta mensagem aos vossos amigos, tenham eles TV CABO
ou outro qualquer serviço de TV por assinatura, para que eles, também, passem esta informação de interesse.
Cumprimentos.

Luís Filipe Martinho
Director Comercial
Activa.jpg Centro Atendimento 1.jpg
Pela Sua Segurança
Av. de Berna, 54, 1º,
1050-043 Lisboa
Tel.: (+351) 21 790 9900
Fax: (+351) 21 790 9999

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Central London Aquarists Society – January 2010 meeting

Went yesterday to the Central London Aquarists Society (http://clas.plastic-creep.net) monthly meeting, and was pleasantly surprised.

I am not one for meetings, and actually struggle to meet new people, but I thought that it would be a good idea to meet other aquarists in London, to exchange ideas, learn new things, and see new ways to keep fish.

The meeting was at Ricky’s home, near Victoria. As the CLAS is rather new, there still isn’t that many members, so at the meeting there were only five of us; Erick, Cristina and her boyfriend, me and Ricky.

We took biscuits, Ricky provided the tea and coffee, and we even took items to share and exchange.

I took a large Amazon Sword, it had grown too large for my Rio 125, a bottle full of shrimp, as I just got too many, and even took a sample of hanging planters. Not as nice as the ones that Riparium Supply sells, but they do the job, at least until Riparium Supply starts selling his own on the UK.

I learnt a lot about Discus and mosses, as Ricky seems to have enough experience on those, and a new way to use Coco coir, as plant substrate, Cristina’s idea may just be perfect for small tanks, or semi emerged setups.

Ricky was a great host, and he was kind enough to share some of his baby Vallisneria and extra moss.

If you are in London, and like aquariums then please go to http://clas.plastic-creep.net and join the forum, you will not regret it.

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