Mike McArthur's Tome of Ultimate Wisdom

The Chump Button (Why your favorite financial calculator is missing something)

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:01:58 -0700

Recently, while I was clicking around and watching my meager investments shrivel in the wake of the recession, it occurred to me that certain features of Google Finance (or the lack thereof) annoy the heck out of me. This came as a shock to me, but shouldn't have. I have been using Google Finance (abbreviated hereafter as GF) since it was introduced in 2006, and the frustration has been building long enough for me to complain about it.

More whining behind the "Read More" link...

1. The chart scale does not start at zero.

This makes a $3.00 dip in a $300.00 stock look very much like a $3.00 dip in a $30.00 stock. The little cartoon book How to Lie with Statistics has been around since 1954, and explains this sort of thing quite well. I can't believe that nobody at Google (or Yahoo) has read it.

(Corrected) 2. The portfolio feature does not allow you to graph the aggregate performance
of your portfolio over time.

To Google's credit, they actually fixed this some time after I started writing this article. (and put aside for months and months before picking it up again)

and now for the big one:

3. There is no easy way to meaningfully adjust for inflation in Google Finance.

Investing without accounting for inflation is like trying to fly without considering the effects of gravity.

The Consumer Price Index tables are available (for free) on the web from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It is a simple matter, using a spreadsheet or a web-based "inflation calculator", to adjust the value of a savings account, stock portfolio, or salary history for the cumulative effects of inflation. This is nothing new to anyone who slept through Econ 101 in college, and is plain-vanilla basic math.

So... why isn't there an "Adjust this for CPI" button prominently featured on Google Finance, and every other financial site on the web? You can compare your stocks against the Dow or the S&P 500, to see if you are "beating the market" easily enough in GF -- why should it be hard to see if you are beating inflation?

This the "Chump Button" in the title of this rant -- as in "Click here to find out if you are a Chump" by getting nominal "gains" that are less than the rate of inflation, and then paying taxes on those gains.

Ideally, the Chump Button should also allow using an alternate means of inflation, such as the (more realistic, and more pessimistic) alternate CPI produced by John Williams of Shadow Government Statistics.

Another way to calculate the gain or loss in the purchasing power of an investment is to calculate its value in terms of a common commodity. (ounces of gold, gallons of gas, barrels of oil, etc...). The problem is that GF does not track commodity prices. One can use GLD, SLV, USO, or one of the other commodity-based ETFs as a proxy for your commodity-of-choice -- but it would be much easier if you could compare against standard spot prices.

4. How about an "After Taxes" button?

that will estimate how much you would net (after capital gains, IRA/401K penalties, income taxes, etc...) if you cashed out an investment today. This one is a bit trickier (because different investment accounts are taxed according to different rules), but Google should have the horsepower to do it.

...

New Toy from Cisco -- the 2960S

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 22:36:16 -0700

It is almost impossible to buy a laptop with a serial port these days. I have bitter memories of the first serial-free notebooks coming out, (typically with Windows Vista installed) and winding up in the hands of eager young technicians. There were several conversations like this:

Me: Ok, we will need to get into the console of the router. Plug the Cisco DB-9 to RJ-45 console cable into the console port on the router, connect the DB-9 end to your PC, and fire up HyperTerminal.

Rent-a-Tech: Ummm... I don't have a DB-9 port on my PC.

Me: Then you will need a USB-to-serial adapter. Do you have one?

Rent-a-Tech: No.

Me: Then go get one.

(2-4 hours later)

Rent-a-Tech: OK, I have the USB-to-serial adapter and it is plugged into the console port on the router.

Me: Start up HyperTerminal, or your favorite terminal program.

Rent-a-Tech: I can't find Hyperterminal. I just got this laptop yesterday and it is running Vista.

Me: Do you have PuTTy? We can use that.

Rent-a-Tech: What is PuTTy?

Me: It is a free SSH client and terminal program, you can download it at
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html

Rent-a-Tech: I can't get to that website. The network is down out here.

Me: (By this point, I am curled up under my desk, whimpering.)

I also need to mention somewhere that Vista didn't have a Telnet client installed by default, making it the most useless operating system ever for configuring a router -- no telnet, no SSH client, and no serial terminal program.

Anyhow, Cisco must have heard the wailing and gnashing of teeth. I briefly had my hands on a shiny new Cisco switch with a built-in USB-to-Serial adapter, the 2960S.

More (and pics) behind the "read more" link.

Even more new stuff to take out of the box and play with, if only for a short time -- A customer wanted a 48-port GigaBit POE switch, and we ordered a WS-C2960S-48FPS-L for them. I noticed some new (for me, anyway) features during the brief time I was configuring it for the customer.

Here are some pictures of the front and back of the 2960S, seen here on top of the comparable 3500yl-48G-PWR (J8693A) from HP. It looks very much like a typical Cisco 29xx switch, albeit one with a lot of ports, POE, and 4 SFP slots. If you've seen one, you've seen 'em all.

But what is that in the upper right-hand corner? The console port is on the front... and a mini-USB?

Oulined in blue, you can see the RJ-45 console port, and the mini-USB port. There are "arrow" LEDs to indicate which is active (only one can be in use at any time).

There is also a FastEthernet port specifically for out-of-band management. It is very nice of Cisco to put all that on the front of the switch, so you don't have to crawl behind a rack to find it.

I plugged my Mandriva laptop into the mini-USB port, and it did recognize it as a serial device. Unfortuately, I did not have enough time to make it work properly with Minicom. I configured the switch with the RJ-45 console port and sent it to the customer.

The next time we get one of these in, I intend to do some more experiments with it.

...

HP ProCurve Switches -- Endorsed by Matt Davy, so they must be good!

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:01:25 -0700

One thing I love about my job, and networking-in-general is the thrill of opening shiny new boxes of stuff that nobody else in the company has seen before and trying to make it work. It is kind of like Christmas morning, complete with "batteries not included" and "insert Tab A into Slot B."

We recently had some HP ProCurve switches sent to us for evaluation (here at the place-where-Mike-works), and I thought they were pretty cool.

I was even more impressed by who they chose as a spokesperson:

http://www.procurve.com/case-studies/IndianaUniversity.htm

That's Matt Davy, former ANS co-worker, currently Chief Network Architect at Indiana University, singing the praises of the ProCurve product line.

More behind the "read more" link

We do lots of Cisco VOIP here, so the acid test has been connecting a PC to the switch via a Cisco phone, with the PC on the data VLAN and the phone on the voice VLAN. It actually worked on the HP switch without being overly complicated (something I can't say for any other non-Cisco switch I have tested).

On a real-live Cisco switch, the phones learn which is the "voice" VLAN from the switch via CDP. The HP switch appears to use non-proprietary LLDP to make this happen. It worked beautifully on Cisco 79xx-series phones that I tested. On the Cisco 524G phones, I actually had to turn off CDP on the phone to get it to work.

The switches in the picture are, from top to bottom:


2520G-8-PoE (J9298A) - An 8-port GigaBit POE switch
2610-24-PWR (J9087A) - A 24-port POE switch
3500yl-48G-PWR (J8693A) - A 48-port GigaBit POE switch

I especially liked the 8-port switch as a desktop switch. It was quiet, fanless, and didn't get excessively hot. (unlike the Cisco CE520, which you can use for grilling hotdogs)

All the switches had a useable CLI, accessible by telnet, SSH, or serial console. The 48-port switch had a DB-9 serial connector on the back, while the 8- and 24-port switches had Cisco-type RJ45 console connectors on them.

Configuration was rather straightforward and IOS-like, with the exception that port-to-VLAN mapping is defined mostly in the VLAN stanzas of the config, rather than on the ports. Below is a sample config from the 8-port switch. VLAN 100 is the data VLAN, while VLAN 200 is the voice VLAN.

sh run
Running configuration:

; J9298A Configuration Editor; Created on release #J.14.01

hostname "ProCurve Switch 2520G-8-PoE"
vlan 1
   name "default"
   untagged 9-10
   ip address dhcp-bootp
   no untagged 1-8
   exit
vlan 100
   name "DATA"
   untagged 1-8
   ip address 10.100.10.252 255.255.255.0
   tagged 9-10
   exit

vlan 200
   name "VOICE"
   tagged 1-10
   voice
   no ip address
   exit

ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.100.10.1
snmp-server community "public" Unrestricted
snmp-server host 10.100.10.156 "public"
snmp-server host 10.100.10.170 "public"
password manager
...

Example CME SIP Trunk configuration for Bandwidth.com

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:05:14 -0700

I recently helped a friend move his Cisco 2811 from analog lines to a SIP trunk through Bandwidth.com.

This was my first time dealing with a VOIP trunk that I didn't control both ends of, and my first time dealing with Bandwidth.com. I didn't think it would be all that difficult -- After all, I can't be their first customer to use Cisco gear, and there's bound to be lots of examples of how to do this that I can just Google up... right?

Well, it turns out that there wasn't much information available. There was much more trial-and-error involved than I anticipated.

Below the "read more" link is the result of that trial-and-error, for anyone stuck in the same situation.

Bandwidth.com's support forums have only a single thread about getting their service to work with Cisco Call Manager Express. It also features a rather intimidating disclaimer:

Note: Bandwidth.com does not provide support for these configurations and they are not guaranteed to work. The above config is also very old and possibly out of date. It would be best to contact the PBX vendor - Cisco - for help with getting this to work with the bandwidth.com service.

Bandwidth.com wasn't kidding about not helping to configure your router. Their tech support people were polite and knew plenty about SIP, but the only Cisco specific information I was able to get out of them was a link to that forum thread.

The suggested remedy of contacting Cisco for help was also a non-starter, as the maintenance contract on the router we were using was long expired.

And now for a disclaimer of my own: The configuration below worked for me, but may not be correct or complete for your application. IP addresses and phone numbers have been changed to protect the innocent. This information is worth exactly what you paid for it, and I do not intend to provide free tech support for it or even answer any questions about it.

First define some voice service parameters. The "no supplementary-service sip" commands are necessary to get transfers, call-forwarding, and voicemail to work with Bandwidth.com.

!
voice service voip
allow-connections sip to sip
no supplementary-service sip moved-temporarily
no supplementary-service sip refer
fax protocol cisco
sip
bind control source-interface FastEthernet0/1
bind media source-interface FastEthernet0/1
!
!

Define codecs to negotiate. Calls to some area codes did not work until I added the g729br8 codec.
!
voice class codec 1
codec preference 1 g711ulaw
codec preference 2 g729r8
codec preference 3 g711alaw
codec preference 4 g729br8
!
!
!

Rule 2 translates outbound calls before they are sent to the SIP trunk. The local area code is 906.
!
voice translation-rule 2
rule 1 /^9(.......)$/ /+1906/
rule 2 /^9(..........)$/ /+11/
rule 3 /^9(.*)$/ /+1/
rule 4 /^9(...........)$/ /+1/
rule 5 /^9011(.*)$/ /+1/

Rule 3 translates inbound SIP calls to local 3-digit extensions. Ext 380 is the CUE AutoAttendant, 400 is an extension or hunt group.
!
voice translation-rule 3
rule 1 /+19065551212/ /380/
rule 2 /+19065551213/ /400/
rule 3 /+19065551214/ /400/
rule 4 /+18005551212/ /380/

Apply the translation rules to translation profiles
!
voice translation-profile SIP-IN
translate called 3
!
voice translation-profile SIPCALL
translate called 2
!

You are going to need a transcoder, so define dspfarm services
!
voice-card 0
dspfarm
dsp services dspfarm
!
!
!

There is nothing special about the interfaces. For simplicity, I am not showing any NAT.

192.168.10.1 is the local LAN

192.168.10.2 is the Cisco Unity Express (CUE) voicemail

10.10.100.88 is the "outside" WAN interface that connects to Bandwidth.com
!
interface FastEthernet0/0
description $FW_INSIDE$$ETH-LAN$$INTF-INFO-FE 0/0$
ip address 192.168.10.1 255.255.255.0
no ip redirects
no ip unreachables
ip virtual-reassembly
duplex auto
speed auto
!
interface Service-Engine0/0
ip unnumbered FastEthernet0/0
no ip redirects
no ip unreachables
ip flow ingress
service-module ip address 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.0
service-module ip default-gateway 192.168.10.1
!
!
interface FastEthernet0/1
ip address 10.10.100.88 255.255.255.0
ip access-group WAN-SIP in
ip verify unicast reverse-path
no ip redirects
no ip unreachables
no ip proxy-arp
ip virtual-reassembly
duplex auto
speed auto
no cdp enable
service-policy output SDM-Pol-Ethernet1
!
Some basic static routes
ip route 0.0.0.0 0.0.0.0 10.10.100.1
ip route 192.168.10.2 255.255.255.255 Service-Engine0/0
!
!

A simple WAN access-list that allows SIP connections from the Bandwidth.com peers, and RTP (UDP >1024)

The RTP traffic can come from anywhere, not just from the SIP peers.
!
ip access-list extended WAN-SIP
permit tcp host 216.82.224.202 host 10.10.100.88 range 5060 5061
permit tcp host 216.82.225.202 host 10.10.100.88 range 5060 5061
permit udp host 216.82.224.202 host 10.10.100.88 range 5060 5061
permit udp host 216.82.225.202 host 10.10.100.88 range 5060 5061
permit ip host 75.151.219.185 host 10.10.100.88
deny   tcp any any eq telnet
deny   tcp any any eq 22
permit udp any host 10.10.100.88 gt 1024
deny   ip any any log
!

Define SCCP
!
sccp local FastEthernet0/0
sccp ccm 192.168.10.1 identifier 1 priority 1 version 3.1
sccp
!

Here is where the transcoder is bound to SCCP

!
sccp ccm group 1
associate ccm 1 priority 1
associate profile 1 register XCODER

And here is the transcoder definition. The 4 codecs here worked for me.
!
dspfarm profile 1 transcode
codec g711ulaw
codec g711alaw
codec g729abr8
codec g729r8
maximum sessions 8
associate application SCCP
!

Dial-peer for all the CUE extensions
!
dial-peer voice 380 voip
destination-pattern 38.
b2bua
session protocol sipv2
session target ipv4:192.168.10.2
dtmf-relay rtp-nte
codec g711ulaw
no vad
!

Two dial-peers for outgoing SIP calls. One for each SIP peer IP address.
!

dial-peer voice 101 voip
description ** Outgoing call to SIP trunk **
translation-profile outgoing SIPCALL
destination-pattern 9.T
voice-class codec 1
voice-class sip dtmf-relay force rtp-nte
session protocol sipv2
session target ipv4:216.82.224.202
dtmf-relay rtp-nte
ip qos dscp cs5 media
ip qos dscp cs4 signaling
clid network-number 9065551212
no vad
!

dial-peer voice 102 voip
description ** Outgoing call to SIP trunk **
translation-profile outgoing SIPCALL
destination-pattern 9.T
voice-class codec 1
voice-class sip dtmf-relay force rtp-nte
session protocol sipv2
session target ipv4:216.82.225.202
dtmf-relay rtp-nte
ip qos dscp cs5 media
ip qos dscp cs4 signaling
clid network-number 9065551212
no vad
!

Two dial-peers for incoming SIP calls. One for each peer address.

!
dial-peer voice 201 voip
description ** Incoming call from SIP Trunk ***
translation-profile incoming SIP-IN
b2bua
voice-class codec 1
voice-class sip dtmf-relay force rtp-nte
session protocol sipv2
session target ipv4:216.82.224.202
incoming called-number .%
dtmf-relay rtp-nte
ip qos dscp cs5 media
ip qos dscp cs4 signaling
no vad
!
dial-peer voice 202 voip
description ** Incoming call from SIP Trunk ***
translation-profile incoming SIP-IN
b2bua
voice-class codec 1
voice-class sip dtmf-relay force rtp-nte
session protocol sipv2
session target ipv4:216.82.225.202
incoming called-number .%
dtmf-relay rtp-nte
ip qos dscp cs5 media
ip qos dscp cs4 signaling
no vad
!

Add the lines below to your "telephony-service" config to make the transcoder work.
!
telephony-service
sdspfarm units 1
sdspfarm transcode sessions 8
sdspfarm tag 1 XCODER ...

RANCID - Not nearly as bad as as the name suggests

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 22:58:24 -0700

I was setting up a TACACS+ server on a Linux box, when I stumbled across RANCID -- an Open-Source configuration archive tool for Cisco and Juniper routers (and a few other devices).

One of the first things I posted when I started this site was a "Walk" script for Cisco routers and switches, written in Expect. I have used variations of this script for years to archive router configurations, and I have seen similar scripts (written by better programmers than myself, and used in-house) that use Perl scripts and back-end databases to process the output, track changes, and graph significant "show tech" information.

Rancid does everything that my little script does, does it faster, and stores the results in CVS. You can use web tools like ViewVC, CVSWeb, and CVSGraph to visualize and track changes to the router configurations instead of having to do manual diffs.

Right now, I am running Rancid in parallel with my home-grown Expect scripts. I will probably transition to Rancid completely once I have all the CVS tools setup the way I want them.

I found this Debian HowTo on installing TACACS, RANCID and CVSWeb to be a good starting point for setting up this kind of system. ...

A good start for 2010

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 12:54:24 -0700

Getting something "done" from your resolutions on the first working day of the year is a pretty good way to start. Of course, it would be more impressive if said "resolution" wasn't nearly 3 years old....

On Monday, 1/4/2010, I passed the BCMSN test. I now have only the ISCW test to pass before I earn the CCNP title.

However, what *really* brightened my day was when I got home (to the house formerly known as "the place where cell phone signals go to die") and found that my AT&T phone had 4 bars of 3G coverage. There had been some tower work in the area over the holidays, but I didn't dare hope for 3G. ...

A pleasant surprise from Mandriva

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:09:10 -0700

'Tis the season for new operating systems, with the recent release of Windows 7 and Ubuntu Karmic Koala.... and now Mandriva.

Last week, the Mandriva update tool alerted me that there was a new version of Mandriva available (2010.0) and asked me to click on the button to upgrade.

Usually, I upgrade OSes by downloading the ISO, burning to DVD, backing up "everything", and installing from the DVD. Experience has made me paranoid. On that day, however, I was feeling lazy and curious, so I actually pushed the automagical upgrade button.

A few hours later, the shiny new Mandriva OS was running on my Compaq CQ60-206US notebook... and everything worked!

So far, my general impression is that the new Mandriva 2010 works well and is a significant improvement over the 2009 builds. ...

If you work in IT, you need one of these things - the Kill-A-Watt meter

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 22:25:34 -0700

A colleague recently called me to ask about a server he was planning to install. The box had dual power supplies, and he wanted to know if would draw an equal amount of AC current for each power supply, or if one PS would supply the machine and the other one would be in a "backup" state, ready to take over if the primary failed.

I didn't know diddly-squat about the make and model of server he was contemplating, and I was unwilling to waste precious minutes of my life Googling for that information -- but I told him what I do in his situation: Go get two Kill-A-Watt P4400 power meters and plug one into each power supply.

If you work in IT, or in any job that depends on electrical devices, you will eventually need something like this. I'm kind of surprised at how many IT professionals I meet who don't know that such devices exist and are inexpensive.

The Kill-A-Watt says my laptop is using 54 watts of power.

The P4400 meter is available online and at hardware stores for $20-30 US. It measures instantaneous power in watts, cumulative power in KWH, current, voltage, frequency, and power-factor. It is useful for choosing a proper size UPS and estimating runtime, figuring out what a device is costing you in electricity, finding out if dirty power is causing problems with your network gear, finding heavily loaded circuits before you start blowing breakers, and lots of other things.

It isn't the "perfect" power meter, but it gets the job done, cheap. Some of its limitations:

Only works with standard (15-amp) plugs.
Does not keep maximum/mimimum/peak data. (which would be really useful for measuring the start-up load of an air conditioner or refrigerator)
No graphing or data-export function.
Does not keep data if the power goes off.

One clever person has published a "Tweet A Watt" mod, which makes a standard Kill-A-Watt wirelessly monitorable and provides graphing and Twitter functionality. It looks like fun, but i haven't tried it yet.

...

New and Improved Everything!

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 21:37:57 -0700

MikeMcArthur.Net still looks like the same old site, but I just finished migrating it from my old hosting service to GoDaddy. In the process, I upgraded to a new version of GeekLog, and did a few other tweaks.

There has been an avalanche of newness in my life recently. The catalyst for it all is that it was finally my turn to be laid off from SkyTel, where I had been working since 2000. This meant getting a new cell phone, laptop, and Internet connection to replace things that were previously company-provided. I have also updated my resume, and will be posting it to the site soon.... in the hope of getting a new job, or at least some more freelance work.

My New, Improved phone number is now (601)XXX-XXXX (update 5/27/10 -- even newer phone number is now (601)460-0115 ) for those that need it.

...

My spiffy new wrist watch - Casio's FTW100D-7V

Sun, 25 May 2008 00:55:51 -0700

I am not what most people would call a "watch collector." I usually have one watch at any given time, and replace it when it dies.

I recently upgraded to a Casio FTW100D-7V that I bought from XcelWatches.com for a very reasonable $49.99 (shipped). So far, I am very happy with it.

This could more properly be called a review of two watches. My initial impressions of the new Casio FTW100D-7V, and my 9+ year torture-test of the Casio FT-200 that it is replacing. Click the "read more" link to see the rest.

Helpful Hint -- before shelling out for a watch, or any piece of technology for that matter, it is always a good idea to download and read the owners manual. Casio's watch manuals are available in PDF form on their watch support page. The manuals are organized by "Module" (movement) number, as the same movement is often used in several watch models (with different cases, bands, etc.). The FT200 uses module 1879, and the FTW100D-7V uses module 2628.

The Casio FT-200

My last watch was a Casio FT-200 that I received as a gift around 1998. I had been lusting for a G-Shock (to replace the DW5200 that I had worn in high school and college) at the time, but I was quickly won over by the geeky astronomical features of the FT-200. It also didn't look like I was wearing a brick on my wrist - which I think is what she-who-gave-it-to-me liked about it. I didn't start to get watch envy again until Casio came out with the Solar Atomic G-Shocks a few years later.

Here is my FT-200 after nearly a decade on my wrist. It still works, although it is showing its age. Here is a link to a nice shiny new FT-200 (in Brazil) for comparison.

I went through several bands and batteries during the time I have had this watch. The resin band has always been the first thing to go on the watches I've had - even on the supposedly indestructible G-shock. Sunshine and oxygen just attack the plastic until it gets brittle and deteriorates. The watch takes a standard CR2016 battery, and is easy to replace by removing the 4 small screws that hold the stainless-steel back onto the body of the watch. Batteries typically lasted a little less than 2 years, although I didn't keep any detailed records.

The crystal has only minor scratches on it, as it was protected by the raised bezel area around the face of the watch. That area is polished smooth from years of wear, and the original silver finish has given way to the greyish-beige plastic underneath. IIRC, the silver finish wore away rather quickly in all the high spots. The "Forester" logo at twelve o'clock has been worn away completely. Fortunately, the button labels were better protected, and are still legible.

The most recent battle scar on this watch is a literal one. The light button took a direct hit during a paintball game, and cracked. The button still functions, although it is not as easy to press, and the waterproofing has held up while doing dishes and showering since then.

Astronomical Features

The most obvious "special" feature on the FT-200 is the moon phase indicator, and (up to four) fish-shaped icons on the watch face. The fish icons correlate to times of increased fish and wildlife activity according to Solunar Tables. Personally, I found that the times I go fishing or hunting are determined by my work schedule, and/or the local game laws. Trying to schedule around the sun and moon just complicated things for me.

I did use the moon phase indicator, however. Knowing the moon phase helps one figure out if the night will be pitch dark (new moon) well-lit (full moon), or somewhere in between before planning an outdoor activity at night. The moon phase is also useful information for the diehard NetHack player.

My favorite special feature of the FT-200, and the one I was least willing to give up in a watch upgrade, is sunrise/sunset time. Having solunar table information on my wrist was only marginally useful, but knowing when I needed to wake up in order to get in the woods before sunup (or how much longer I had until dark) was very handy indeed.

The FT-200 can calculate solunar data, moon phase, and sunrise/sunset time for arbitrary dates. Current Casio watches with all these features include the PAS400 and the AMW700

The Casio FT100D-7V

Dealing with the band

The folks at XCelwatches were quick. I ordered the new watch on a Thursday, and it arrived on the following Monday. The only thing standing between me and near-instant gratification was the stainless-steel band. The band was too large for my scrawny little wrists. I wound up paying a jeweler to remove 4 links from it when none of the blunt instruments I had at my disposal proved worthy of the job. If I had known I would need one, I would have bought a watch band tool and done the job myself.

The links on the stainless steel band are held together by tapered pins, and those pins are held in place by tiny rings (which would otherwise be called "roll pins" except that they are short, and meant to go around the outside of an even narrower solid pin). The links are marked with a small arrow, which shows the proper direction for knocking the tapered pins out.

Don't lose those tiny rings! (or "roll pins") The tapered pins will not stay in place without them, as the lady at the jewelry store found out when the watch band spontaneusly disassembled as she was placing it on my wrist.

It has been ages since I last had a watch with a steel band, and I wasn't sure I would like it. It turns out that I do like it. Despite the fact that it makes the watch heavier, it looks very good and should last longer than the rubber/resin bands I was used to.

Features

The FTW100D-7V occupies a unique niche in Casio's current lineup. Casio only makes a handful of "Forester" models, as opposed to a wide variety of G-Shock variants. The FTW100D-7V is the only Solar/Atomic watch I could find that had Sunrise/Sunset time, without stepping up to the more expensive Pathfinder series. It is the lowest price Solar/Atomic Casio watch that I could find. (at the time of this writing, the Solar/Atomic G-Shocks seem to start in the $80 range).

In addition to the sun-powered/self-setting goodness, the watch has 5 alarms (one of which has a "snooze button"), World Time (which I set to GMT for convenience in deciphering log files), a Time Recording feature that allows me to "timestamp" up to 30 events, a stopwatch (of course) and a "Bearing" mode.

Getting your bearings

That "Bearing" mode requires some explanation. Some advertisements even call it a "Bearing sensor" -- but this watch does not have a digital compass. It is more like the Boy Scout trick of finding North with an analog watch. "Bearing mode" calculates the position of the sun relative to true north. Read the number from the face of the watch, then line up the (tiny and difficult to read) degree markings around the face of the watch. The big "N" on the non-moveable steel bezel will then be pointing toward true (not magnetic) North.

This is clever, but probably the least-likely-to-be-useful feature on this watch. If the nice folks at Casio really wanted to add a feature that didn't require any extra LCD screen elements, they should have added a countdown timer.

The Watch that takes care of itself

Working around NTP-synchronized computers has spoiled me. Likewise with the new "Atomic" alarm clocks that have replaced all the clocks in my house. I now expect clocks and computers to tell me what time it is, and not the other way around. The old FT-200 was rated to be accurate to +/- 20 seconds per month, which was very good in the days when setting my watch involved calling 555-1212 and listening for "At the tone, the time will be..." . But +20 seconds per month (my old watch was consistently fast) meant noticing that my watch was out of sync, and re-setting it every 2 weeks or so.

The FTW100 automatically sets itself every night, and the time on my watch now matches the time on my clocks, computers and routers - period. Here in Mississippi, if I try to do a "manual sync" during the daytime, it usually fails -- but the watch has consistently synchronized itself to WWVB every night since I received it.

Sunlight is abundant in Mississippi, too. After I initially charged the watch by setting it in the sun for a few hours, the battery indicator has not gone below "high" during weeks of normal use. It might be too early to tell, but I'm looking forward to going a long time before I have to change the battery. ...