Archive for the 'Random' Category

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I’m A Sucker For Steampunk…

Published on October 29, 2007 in Hacks and Random. 0 Comments

So I was just hangin’ out at work today preparing for the annual Omniture Halloween bash when this slick bit of Steampunk goodness unexpectedly arrived in my inbox courtesy of my good buddy Andy.

“What is it?” you may ask.

Well, let me tell you. It’s the most essential piece of equipment for any 19th century time traveler. Behold the Steampunk Flux Capacitor! This unique piece was apparently part of some nerds Halloween costume last year. And although he doesn’t have any pictures of the complete costume posted, you can only imagine how sweet it must have been by looking at the rest of pictures in this set.

It’s just unfortunate that I don’t posses the necessary set of skillz to create masterpieces such as this. I suppose I’ll just have to continue admiring the work of others.

The Sad State of Smartphone Software

Published on October 17, 2007 in Gadgets, Random and Software. 0 Comments

I was going through my blogs today and stumbled on a note from the guys at Smartphone Thoughts. I like these guys, but again, it was a plug for a piece of software they hadn’t tried, in the vein of “looks kinda neat – anyone try it?”. This brought me over to the best-seller list on their site, where the current top dog is a clock program. Yeah, a freaking clock program.

<rant>
So what’s going on here? We’ve got a reasonably powerful device with web connectivity, and a clock is the best we can come up? Surely the other top sellers will be better. Let’s see; we’ve got a mediocre home screen customizer with really tiny Windows 95-style graphics. There’s CorePlayer, which is decent, but it used to be free (back when it was still TCPMP). There’s a tweaking app which makes tweaks to the registry for you and may have some other useful features. Next is a notes management app, and then ANOTHER STUPID CLOCK.

I can’t put money down for this stuff, especially when I see some very nice free apps on the market. Google Maps is very well executed. Windows Live Search is very functional and simple to use. Yahoo! Go is a pretty good piece of software, too; a little slow, but it’s a beta still. These are all free.

Where are the professional, useful applications? Where are the real developers hiding?

What about all the wonderful Web 2.0 (forgive me) web apps available? I’m talking about Google Docs, Mint.com, and similar. Where are useful apps like those in a portable format? So far the only strides have been online versions of Gmail and Google Reader ( and a few others). Where is the creativity? Where’s a blog tool that supports WordPress? Where’s an IM tool that works? Where’s a real replacement for Microsoft Reader (MobiPocket really sucks)? Nah, we don’t need that; we need a ringtone manager or seven different weather apps.
</rant>

Here’s my point, in case I haven’t hammered it in enough. Before developing another alarm clock or home screen plugin, step back and see what would REALLY be cool. Until then, I suppose we could always take our agendas to the eXtreme.

Oh, come on now – Red Ring of Death strikes

Published on October 11, 2007 in Consoles and Random. 0 Comments

So it’s an open secret that Microsoft sort of ganked the first-gen Xbox 360. Rudeboy and I were in the local Toys R Us on a lunch break, and wandered over the sad, sad video game section. Even sadder than them having no new PSP slims was the sight of a damaged Xbox 360, proudly showing us the trademark red ring through the shop’s display. Not gonna sell a lot of Xboxes that way, are you, guys?

This dude is exactly right

Published on October 9, 2007 in Random and Tunes. 1 Comment

And I hope he makes a lot of money for Yahoo!, too. Take a look at this article. Basically, he’s saying “no” to any more DRM nonsense from the stupid music unions, which can only mean good things for those of us who like music and the gadgets that play it.

He also has some thoughts about context. A lot of people listen to music and don’t really think about what’s behind it, and that’s fine. But there are a lot of us who want more; we might want to know why Bono thinks it’s stupid to play “One” at a wedding. Guys may not know that Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young were all former members of other decent bands: the Byrds, the Hollies, Buffalo Springfield. And it’s even more important to have a local context; my wife and I played “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” at our wedding; if someone is listening to that track, and they’re a friend on Last.fm, they might be amused to see that context.

So there’s the content, and the context, and the next gen of music on the web will hopefully give us more of both.

Zarch’s Network Closet

Published on October 2, 2007 in Computers, Random and Software. 0 Comments

I took the opportunity to upgrade my Smoothwall to the new version 3 last night, and took some pictures of my “network closet”. I think this serves as an example of how NOT to EVER treat the heart of your home’s connectivity. My network closet is currently just an area of my unfinished basement with a little table set up to hold everything. There’s a big, ancient, 3Com switch, a smaller gigabit switch, my cable modem, my trusty Asus wireless AP, and the router for my VoIP service. Note the huge power strip on the floor, right next to my water heater.

So last night’s project brought up a unique case of jury-rigging. The little Compaq thing I’m using for the Smoothwall used a laptop CD drive, which has gone bad. The power connector wasn’t a standard Molex, and I could not find a splitter anywhere. My power supply supplies have suffered severe losses, so I couldn’t do a dual power supply thing. Luckily, I found a fix.

In my rummaging, I turned up an unused USB-IDE hard drive case. I stole the power from that and plugged the IDE in from the Smoothwall box, and was able to make the upgrade from there. Ugly, but workable.

So how’s Smoothwall 3? It’s a decent upgrade, actually. I wouldn’t run and upgrade if you’ve got a good system going, but the built-in QoS should help when I’m trying to torrent and make a phone call at the same time, and there are many more configuration options right in the GUI. I’d say consider it if you’re needing a little extra bandwidth management or switching from a store-bought router/firewall.

My Mind Is Boggled…

Published on September 18, 2007 in Geek Fun and Random. 0 Comments

Stumbled on this video today… it makes my head hurt. It’s a dumbed down version of multi-dimensional theory, but it’s still difficult to wrap your head around.

Robert Jordan: Thanks and Rest Peacefully

Published on September 16, 2007 in Audiobooks and Random. 0 Comments

Some of you may have been aware that fantasy author Robert Jordan has been suffering from a fatal illness. He died today at about 2:45 PM Eastern, leaving his major work, the Wheel of Time, unfinished. As a fan for nearly two decades now, I just wanted to say thanks and send out my condolences to his family and the whole WoT community.

Those interested can see the original post here. For those who’ve never started the series, books are available here.

These aren’t the pants you’re looking for.

Published on August 19, 2007 in Geek Fun and Random. 0 Comments

This list is kinda old, but I just stumbled on it again today and couldn’t help but laugh all the way though it. For those of you not familiar with this list, the basic idea is that many lines in Star Wars are much funnier if you replace some word within the line with the word “pants”. I’m pretty sure this list is much funnier if you’re a Star Wars fan, but I can’t really provide a non-Star-Wars-fan point a view so… who knows. As a Star Wars fan though, it’s pretty dang hilarious. Here are a few examples…

“I find your lack of pants disturbing.”

“A disturbance in the pants. I have not felt this since near my old master…”

“Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your pants.”

“Look at the size of those pants!”

Anyway… check out the whole list of 278 Star Wars “pants” quotes here.

Canadian Geek Squad Is Amazing!

Published on August 7, 2007 in Geek Fun and Random. 0 Comments

There are a few things about Canadians that make them just a little different than those of us to their direct south. There’s socialized healthcare, the welcoming attitude they seem to have for those of a more… “French” nature as well as those fantastic mounted police just to name a few. But one thing you can always count on being the same is the Best Buy Geek Squad. Or can you… new evidence would suggest that the Canadian Geek Squad may be leaving their poor American counterparts in the dust.

It seems that when you attempt to purchase a Wii from Best Buy Canada, they also suggest that you allow them to install MS Office 2007 on it for you for only $99.99. I personally think that the 360 would be a better choice if you were planning to run Office on a console, but what do I know? Wii powerpoint presentations ftw!!1! (removes the need for the lazer pointer)

Click for full size

I guess we can either take this as evidence of Canada’s technical superiority and begin preparing for an invasion from the north or else we can just sit back and laugh at the fact that the Geek Squad is retarded with no respect to geographic location. I just hope they actually ride around town seated backwards on horses like they do in my imagination. Dudley Do-Right’s got nothin on the Geek Squad.

Minesweeper: The Movie

Published on August 6, 2007 in Game Movies and Random. 0 Comments

I don’t really have a problem with movies based on games. I just have an issue with movies based on games that totally blow. Unfortunately, that one qualification means that I loathe most game movies. I admit that there have been a couple over the years that I’ve enjoyed (I won’t mention which ones to save myself from your ridicule) but for the most part, they pretty much all suck. That being said, I think I can get excited about the most recent game movie to be announced. Minesweeper looks like it could be a real box-office winner.

Favorite line: “WHY ARE THESE MINES EVEN HERE?!!!”