Tim Perry's - Altered States of Consciousness.

Testing a youtube video post

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 09:33:38 -0500

The reason for owning a PS3

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 10:12:02 -0500

Warning! Some of the video content contains graphical violence that may offend some.

Video Game - E3 2009 - G4 Web Exclusive

The evolution of communication.

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:35:45 -0500

When Twitter was in its prime and everyone was arguing its usefulness, I specifically remember someone asking me, "well if Twitter is so great, then what's next?" And for the life of me, I couldn't answer that question. It's as if I was looking down a narrow tube of thought and I couldn't get out. I wasn't seeing the big picture. Then I realized that's it's never been about Twitter's usefulness. It's about how we communicate, period. Twitter, like it's predecessors (email, AIM, Myspace, Facebook,) is nothing more than the evolution of communication. Then along came Google Wave.

As communication evolves throughout time, some things make huge impacts on society and some are just blips on the radar. Google Wave is no blip. Google has found a way to take, not only real-time communication, but real-time collaboration to anyone, anywhere in the world. Head on over to Google's site which gives a nice description on what Google wave is all about. If you've got a little over an hour to kill then check out the video below.

Blog-a-day FAIL

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:10:49 -0500

Don't you love it when you call people out for a challenge and you forget to show up to it? Yea, yesterday I initiated a "blog-a-day" challenge for the month of June and I've already missed day #1. My bad. After reading some other blog posts, it seems I'm already being vilified for doing so.

So what to blog about? I was thinking about discussing/ranting about my abusive neighboring coworker but she might retaliate so I'll hold off... for now. I've got an entire month. In all seriousness though it's tough being forced to think critically. And yes, I am fully aware that I am the one forcing myself to do so and I have no one to blame but me.

So, let us begin the challenge.

Twitter humor

Fri, 01 May 2009 10:03:40 -0500

I'd like to give credit to Allan Gyorke for showing me this at the B.S. Breakfast.

Beware the ides of Vista and iPv6

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:35:55 -0500

About two week ago I upgraded from Windows XP Media Center over to Vista in an effort to set up a wireless media streaming server. The Vista box is sitting in my HOME office running PS3 Media server and Playon Media Server (for the Hulu & Youtube content.) Both these apps allow me to stream all my multimedia to my PS3 in my living room. However, a few days after installing Vista my entire networking connection went haywire. By haywire I mean, both my LAN and Wireless connections kept randomly dropping out. My first thought was that my router finally bit the big one (<---gee can I write that here?) So, I replaced my router (DIR-655) with hopes that it was just a hardware issue. After hooking up my new router (DIR-628) I still kept receiving the same error which now had me worried. I was concerned that it might be my PC's networking port and I may end up having to buy a new motherboard having to somehow sneak a purchase from Newegg without my wife knowing many details. So, while reading Newegg's reviews etc. online about new motherboards and Vista I stumbled across, what ended up being the solution. It seems that Vista IPv6 does NOT like home networks. So before buying a new motherboard, I decided to hold off and see if disabling IPv6 fixed my issue.

Since I am not much of a window fan I had to do a bit of research on how to go about disabling it. I ran across this PDF giving pretty basic step-by-step instructions on how to go about disabling Vista's IPv6. *Please note that the url asks for a username and password before viewing the PDF. Just hit cancel. It will load properly.

After clicking a few checkboxes, viola! my home network was back in business. Sometimes the simplest solution is the right solution. It's called buy a Mac.

Revisiting blogging

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:09:45 -0500

So, I took a reprieve from blogging the past two weeks to see what, if any, impact it has had on me. While I must admit, I do miss blogging, I am still stuck on things to "blog about."

Essentially, there are three topics I am passionate enough blog about. The first topic is fighting for the little guy. Throughout my day I see so many injustices, backstabbing and blatant unfairness that I want to stand up and scream it from the mountain top, but alas certain situations keep me from doing so. Second topic I've pondered about writing personal reflections about life and spirituality. well, we all know how far that will get you. If you say something that someone takes out of context or you post something that seems critical of others well then, you're screwed. Finally, I end up with the only safe topic to blog about... technology. So that being said, hopefully, I can warm the hearts of all my readers with my posts. Next on the list... IPv6 and Vista

I couldn't resist

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 15:49:57 -0500

Blog a day challenge

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 06:50:00 -0500

Good morning.

So we are coming up on the end of the month and I must say i have really enjoyed the blog-a-day challenge. I'll admit I've missed a few days, but I've learned a number of things. The first one is that I am really starting to enjoy blogging. I could get lost in it. The second, is personally knowing what to blog about. My blogging format and style is ever-changing. I'm figuring out the rules, so-to-speak. Finally, I need to learn to blog in the morning. It seems more people are likely to read your blog post if you post earlier in the day.

Anyone up for a blog-a-day challenge in March? We have 31 days! Yes We Can!

One possible future for OS X.

Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:50:00 -0500

This latest installment of Safari touts some pretty interesting new features and it looks like Apple has found a a way to incorporate the Cover Flow into it (even if it is a tweaked version.)

[Could this actually be the way we will navigate OSX in the future?]

Imagine the image above taking up the whole screen in front of you, but instead of reaching for your mouse you touch your screen and drag the window. Lets face it, we're being groomed for this. Steve Jobs didn't want a floppy drive in the 1st Mac and they snuck it in during production. A few decades later he killed the floppy. Now, he's after the mouse.

The picture seems to becoming clearer and clearer as Apple has now added Cover Flow to the Finder, iTunes, iPhoto and now Safari's interface. With these added UI tweaks and the high demand for "touch-screen-anything" you can almost see what Mac OS 10.8 will look like. A sleek multi touch device that is navigated solely by using the Cover Flow interface. One can only assume.

Safari 4 First Impression

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 10:07:27 -0500

Safari 4 was just released moments ago and I can now speak candidly about it's performance. First off, the speed of the new webkit seems superior to Safari 3. But lets get right down to the main differences.

#1. Tabs are at the top now. As you can see in the image below tabs are no longer under the main address bar. Ok, NOT COOL. Quit switching UIs around on things we use every day. It's a small, but notable annoyance.

#2. Top Sites. When you first install Safari you are greeted with a slick intro movie followed but your most visited sites page (see below.) I see where they are going with this. I am not sure if I like it or not. I love the design and usefulness of the page, but what would be icing on the cake is to control this web UI using my Macbooks trackpad. Unfortunately, I can't test it out until I get home.

Currently trying out the - Smart Search Field. Reminds me of semantic-searching. I am liking this feature a lot.

Yea, this tabs on top feature has got to go.

My thoughts on the Kindle 2 revisited.

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 11:56:40 -0500

Earlier last week, I had posted my opinion on the Kindle 2. Well tonight on the Daily Show (it's 11:56pm) Jon Stewert had Jeff Bezos on promoting the Kindle2. I love minor forms of validation, even if it is from a cable tv talkshow humorist.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jeff Bezos

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

Streaming to your PS3.. getting closer..

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 13:34:00 -0500

So in an earlier post I was discussing setting up my office PC to stream all my media files to my PS3. After a number of bandwidth and encoding tweaks, I still couldn't get my videos to stream to stop stuttering. Thinking it just wasn't going to work properly, I broke down and installed a 250GB drive in my PS3. I figured I would just scrap the whole streaming idea and just copy my videos directly to my PS3's hard disk. Until I stumbled across these two little gems.

This first one is a FREE PS3 media streamer called ironically, ps3mediaserver. ps3mediaserver is a DLNA/UPnP JAVA client that streams and trans-codes all your videos to the PS3 on the fly and might I add, it does it very well.

The second application that i use along with the ps3mediaserver app. is called PlayOn.
"PlayOn software is a DLNA/UPnP media server and browser that pulls RSS feeds from content providers, and presents them to DLNA-compliant networked media devices. In plain English, this means you can use your game console or networked television to access content from providers like HULU, Youtube and NetFlix. The PC software pulls in the media streams, in the same way as your web browser, and then sends them directly over your home network to your device, even converting their formats on the fly to make sure the devices can play them. Simple as that."

With these two applications running on my PC, I now have full access to all my video content as well as HULU, Youtube and NetFlix. Setup was a breeze and took me under 15 minutes to complete. The only real downside to this setup is the PlayOn Software isn't free and there isn't a Mac client. So after my 21-day free trial period expires, I will have had some experience finding out what this application is able to do.

For the gamers.. Adding a new hard drive to your PS3

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:15:28 -0500

With all the buzz surrounding the dawn of educational gaming, I figured I would take the tto create a step by step tutorial on how to replace the tiny 40GB hard drive in your PS3 to something a bit more substantial. I am adding a 250GB in this tutorial. If you're in the market to upgrade check out newegg.com.

Before you get started make sure you back up your saved game data and all your movies, music and photos. Remember, you'll be starting over with an empty drive, so BACK UP!!!

Now on to the fun stuff! You will need the following: A Sony PS3, 1 small philips head screw driver, one small flat head screw driver and an SATA (2.5 inch) hard drive.

Next, shut down and disconnect your PS3 and place it on a sturdy surface. Next, you're going to want to turn the PS3 on its side as seen below. Once on it's side use the small flat head screw driver and pry up the small door located in the photo below.

In the next step we can see three screws, one of which is blue. Use your small philips head screw driver and unscrew the one blue screw located in the middle. Once you remove the blue screw flip up the metal lever and pull back. See picture below.

Notice in this next picture the small gap towards the back.

Next, now that the drive is unlocked from its bay, you can gently pull up on the metal tab and slide your drive out.

Once the drive is complete out of the PS3 you will notice 4 small screws around the metal casing that's securing the drive. Use your small philips head screw drive to remove all four (4) screws. BE SURE TO NOTE THE HARD DRIVES ORIENTATION TO THE METAL CASING. This is important when you swap drives.

Once the 4 screws are removed set the old hard drive aside and put your new drive back in the metal casing positioned exactly like your old one was. After than, screw the four (4) screws back in, securing the metal casing around your new drive, exactly like your old one. Once done gently line up your drive with the PS3 and slowly slide it back into place.

Once the drive is all the way down, slide the drive forward to lock it back in place. Once locked in place do not forget to screw in the blue screw (circled below.)

Finally, replace the black plastic cover.

Viola! Your new drive is installed. Now go plug in your PS3 and restore all your setting from your backup! Enjoy!

Back in the saddle...

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:17:02 -0500

I've missed the one post a day challenge for my third day total. How sad, but I refuse to give up. I had been so caught up in taking care of my wife, blogging was the last thing on my mind. (and yes, I just used that as my excuse. :P) All joking aside, I totally dropped the ball.

I've been noticing a lot of tweets regarding 12seconds.tv and that got me thinking, "why not video blog?" So, when I gather enough confidence to start vlogging, I feel it should hopefully make for and interesting experiment.