Connecting the Wii

Anyone know how to get a Wii online with a D-Link WBR-2310 router?

I manage to find the access point and connect almost immediately, but the update bar fills up to 1-10% and then the Wii hits me with an error code 32004 (sometimes 32002). Every time I try, I get one of these two. I followed all the recommended settings on the Nintendo support page for the 2310, I have the latest firmware, and yes, I changed the channel to 1 or 11, and still cannot download the update. And no update, no Internet connection.

It can’t be a signal strength issue — the distance is about six feet, clear line of sight between the Wii and the antenna.

Do I throw the router back in the box and return it to the store, or is there some hope? I don’t seem to be alone with this issue, but my Google-Fu fails me when trying to find an actual fix.

Vulcan Engine

Aviation Week has a showcase about DARPA’s new Vulcan engine, a “constant volume combustion” (CVC) engine capable of powering a hypersonic vehicle from rest to Mach 4-plus. That would be useful both for space launchers and for fast travel (NY to Tokyo in two hours? Oh yeah).

The flight demonstrator looks pretty badass too, so that’s a plus.

LEGO Death Star

I was born twenty years too soon: do want!

That’s going to be a collector’s item…

Making Oil?

So much about the Peak Oil crisis: a company in Silicon Valley is using genetically-modified bacteria to convert biowaste into a sludge similar to crude oil.

And, for once, it doesn’t look like a snake oil scheme (‘scuse the pun).

New NASA Space Suit

NASA has apparently settled on a supplier for their planned new universal space suit. I’m guessing the board of directors of Hamilton, which has been doing the NASA suits since forever, is pretty pissed right now.

Bonus: cool space walk pictures (see them while you can, it’s looks like a private server).

Reality Shattering

This Transformers video is so wrong it wraps around the universe and comes right back at you. I won’t say more so that it hits you as hard as it hit me.

Planets, Planets Everywhere!

They’ve managed to spot some new planets, this time not much bigger than Earth itself (well, compared to the gas giants they’ve been observing so far). How long until we have the equipment in place to spot New Earth, and what are we going to do about it once the first spectrograms come in?

Bugs, Mister Rico!

The Starship Troopers movie franchise finally gets the powered armors of the book. Only three movies too late, guys.

LEGO Gear Krieg

Now why didn’t I see this sort of thing when I was still at DP9? The Early was one of my favorite GK walker designs, too. Now, if they could do a Uller along with instructions and parts list…

*Connection Issues*

The hosting server is having some issues, which prevented me from using Movable Type to update the blog. Rather than make a mess of things by hand coding, I’m putting the posts in a queue for later.

In the meantime, my intrepid IT department — i.e., my friend Stephane — is setting up a new host. We should be transferring the site by early July, which hopefully will solve all these problems. It’s going to be a little more expensive, though, so if you see an ad that intrigues you, by all means help out and click.

We’ll have new posts online soon enough — thanks for sticking around!

Fusion Power

The latest prototype of the concept fusion powerplant invented by the late physicist Robert Bussard (yes, the one who also invented the concept of the fusion ramship) is beginning test runs. I hope it works.