unemphatic order

Wasting money

2011-11-20T00:57:00.001-08:00

I should clarify; in my eyes, I'm not wasting money but considering the economy some would definitely call it a waste: I'm investing cash on my home network.

It started off as a simple task; stream media from my computer to my laptop. Initially, I figured I'd go the cheap route and get a wireless N router: no thought, just run out and get wireless N.

What I ended up getting was a single band router with a 100Mb switch. Needless to say, the little improvements I found were quickly tainted by new problems. It was a situation described simply: I rushed into a purchase and didn't get what I needed.

Fast forward a year and a half and now I'm ready to tackle the problem again. Unfortunately, I didn't internalize much of my last experience: all I remembered was that it didn't work like I had hoped.

So now, I figured I wanted something that was top of the line. I was looking at the sleek Asus routers but the limited speed on the 5Ghz frequency bugged me. That and the fact that reports said their new router was on the way that corrected these issues.

A visit to Fry's helped me realize the Netgear N900 accomplished everything I was looking for. Again though, I didn't assess my present network so I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the speeds at all.

Playing around with the router, I found out that my cables didn't even support 1Gb transfer speeds. That bothered me mainly because I had recently purchased a bunch of ethernet cables. Turns out I had bought Cat5 cables. On top of that, my laptop's wireless card didn't even support the 5Ghz frequency so technically I had nothing that would even be running on the wireless N band which I had found out the year before with the other router but had forgotten. Anyway, I ended up spending 60 on new. Cat6e cables, 40 on a wireless card for the laptop and eventually I'll be needing a 1Gb switch as well which will run in the 100s. So, excluding time, I'm already at 300 spent with nothing notably awesome.

I will say though that it was cool installing the card into the laptop. I had to install an antenna myself. I've already clocked double the speed on the laptop, maxing out at 100Mb, the maximum transfer speed my computer can manage with Cat5. Also, I would have never realized I was using older cables had I not had the N900.

Though the ultimate goal had been to be able to stream movies from my computer to a wireless laptop without jitters, it's now evolved into having a topnotch network so if I need to transfer anything, it'll be blazing fast. Lol, now that I think about it, the N900 probably doesn't have USB3 so there's one lingering bottleneck I hadn't considered. Either way this thing goes, it's been a great learning experience.

Abandonment issues

2011-09-27T01:39:00.001-07:00

Everyone eventually feels the sting of being abandoned by someone they love for the first time. Mine came at the hand of my own dad during his futile pursuit for "happiness". Suffice it to say he got more than he bargained for.

One thing is certain, until I was directly confronted with this, I never once imagined the level of selfishness needed for someone to do such a thing let alone their affects. You could imagine my surprise when someone nonchalantly summed up the feeling of resentment whom I believe hasn't gone through what I have. I thought either the person has gone through some sort of abandonment or is very in tune with the emotions of others.

The first thought is what interests me. Could a person experience such hatred for selfishness simply through relationships? The answer should jump out at you as a yes: any emotional arousal is still a valid experience no matter how trivial their affects would seem to an outsider. This wasn't an obvious conclusion for me. My personal bias kept me from recognizing it as what the sentence was; a brief intimate moment into their life. I have to remember to keep this in mind more often. There's nothing worse than opening up to someone and having them take your emotions lightly.

60h Banana Fast

2011-03-11T22:38:00.001-08:00

So far so good. I've got too much energy for my own good. It must have been all the exercise I had done a few days ago. Either way, I'm shocked at how well I feel although I only ate a few bananas and drank little water. I do feel like eating but not because I'm hungry. The idea of eating is appealing but to be clear, I've eaten a total of 6 bananas in 2 days and have yet to hear a stomach grumble. Makes me wonder...

32h Banana Fast :P

2011-03-10T16:15:00.000-08:00

So, the second my girlfriend came in, I got the feeling that she wouldn't be very supportive so I decided to switch to the banada fast.

After Activity - 25h

2011-03-10T12:16:00.000-08:00

I walked to the Pete's Market today and came back with two bags of groceries and a gallon of milk. I'm not getting that shaking feeling I normally get, though, I feel a lingering remnant of it. I hope that I gain some energy back.

Fast 18h

2011-03-10T09:09:00.001-08:00

It was hard to get to sleep. I didn't feel hungry but I couldn't sleep. As of right now, I'm pretty hungry but I don't have much a desire to eat. Hope I don't become irritable.

Urine: Yellow
Breath: Worse than usual

Water Fast - 6h In

2011-03-09T20:41:00.001-08:00

So, I've decided to go on a fast. I'm not sure whether I will go ahead with the full water fast or go with the banana fast but what I do know is that 6 hours into it is already proving to suck. I can't imagine how it'd feel to be actually starving... I don't know anyone who has.

If I decide to bail on the water fast and do a banana fast, than my banana fast started yesterday at 11p, or 1d. We'll see how this goes.

Tidying up a rug

2010-10-29T12:51:00.001-07:00

So a good friend of mine gave/lent me a rug. I should mention I've never owned a rug and my parents never owned a rugged (well late into the divorce, anyway). Keeping a rug clean without the help of a vacuum made me wonder how I'd go about doing it. What's most worrisome is that I'm the type of person that learns from their mistakes which applied to my leather couch meant allowing it to fall into ruin.

Anyway, I initially avoided using my broom to clean the rug since it's tips were shredded; I imagined it would be abrasive and give it a fuzzy look. Although, I still think this may be the case, the rug eventually needed to be tidied up so I grabbed the broom anyway.

Without thought, I started at the edges but soon realized I had to work double this way. So I stopped, applied common sense, and decided to start from the middle and work to the edges. After a few seconds, I realized that 3 sweeps for roughly each square foot was enough to get the majority of crap off the surface.

After this systemic approach, I finished in no time and the rug looked great. I plan on taking it out in the spring and beating the crap out of it with a tennis racket. I'll post an update if the rug starts looking like crap.

SquareUp dongle arrived!

2010-10-29T12:50:00.002-07:00

Initial testing was promising. Now to test ppl's reactions to it.

New Curiosity

2010-10-20T12:34:00.000-07:00

So Apple had a keynote today. Unlike their last keynote, this one wasn't a direct response to competition. They took this opportunity to show the world how they are evolving their flagship OS to survive the rise of their mobile products. It was great to see and experience. I'm glad I watched it as I believe it will motivate the programming world and challenge them to built a newer, better programs with usability in mind.

Figs

2010-08-05T09:51:00.000-07:00

Told the old man I was interested in trying figs and he found me some. They're actually pretty good. This just stands as a little reminder that "The best time for Figs is November through January". Because I know I'll forget.

eBooks

2010-07-30T10:00:00.000-07:00

I've been open to giving them a shot for a while but now that I've dipped my toes into the Amazon Kindle market place I've realized how nice it is. Gone is the daunting page numbers; replaced with percentages. It's much nicer, more modern.

The one thing I do miss is the feeling of a chapter and being able to flip back and forth as I wish. That hasn't been easy to replicate in my experience with eBooks. Maybe I should start using bookmarks more often when I feel lost or confused.

WilbyQ

2010-07-21T14:30:00.000-07:00

WilbyQ is going to take off soon. I'm going to begin advertising in the Northwest suburbs. Here goes nothing!

Google CL still lacks some features

2010-06-22T15:34:00.001-07:00

Still, I think it's pretty cool. (via terminal)

Game Gripper

2010-04-30T14:00:00.001-07:00

When I first saw Game Gripper, I knew I'd like it but I didn't think I'd love it! It arrived this morning and at first glance it wasn't what I thought it'd be. You see, it's made out of rubber. I had this expectation that it'd be an attachment that would click on; it'd be made of some kind of hard plastic. But rubber holds in place well so it works.

The design is pretty good too. When you place it over the phone, you'll notice that it's flush on the top and bottom. The sides stick out a bit and don't hug the Droid's body perfectly but it's a necessary evil: how else would you attach it?

The first game I tried out was my absolute favorite game on the Genesis: The original X-Men. In about 10 minutes, I was already in Mojo's level with Nightcrawler, of course. The controls are perfect although the pad did slip from time to time. Either way, it doesn't matter, it's still a great experience.

But as with everything in life, I did find one flaw and that's with the button scheme. I don't understand why he choose to add 4 buttons in the middle. At no point while playing X-Men did I feel the urge to go hunting for them. But what saddens me the most is that Street Fighter will not be playable with these controls. SNK games will be great if Neo-Geo Pocket is ever released but Capcom fans are in for a disappointment. I really wish the designer would have would have looked more into the traditional Sega button scheme. On the bright side, there are tons of other games you can play to relive those childhood memories so don't this oversight keep you from buying one.

Grade: A+

Note to Droid Users: This is a must have!

OSX - Substituted Fonts Issue

2010-04-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

So a few days ago, some of my fonts were substituted for another font. I probably wouldn't have noticed the problem if it hadn't been for the fact that the font was hideous and properly called "ugly font". I should mention that researching the problem online didn't guide me to a reasonable solution. Maybe it was my inability to articulate the problem since I didn't know what was actually wrong but every guide I was finding tried to sell me or have me download some font app.

Anyway, I was able to figure out the font's name by looking through my fonts. I placed the font folder on the Dock and quickly scanned the fonts using the grid view. I've found this easy to find the font I'm looking for doing this rather than use the Font Book application. Equipped with the fonts name, I opened Font Book and searched for "Ugly Font". I quickly found the font along with a warning message. It prompted me to use the "Resolve Duplicates" tool to correct duplication issues my font system is facing. Using help, it directed me to the option; Edit > Resolve Duplicates. I quickly realized that "Select duplicated fonts" was only selecting one font at a time and resolving these fonts would take forever. So a quick solution I found was to choose "All Fonts" from Collection, then literally selected all fonts using Apple key + a, then again click edit and choose "Select duplicated fonts". This time around, it will narrow your selection to all the fonts that need to be resolved. Finally, click "Resolve Duplicates" and your system should now be fixed.

To see the fix, simply restart the application you're using or just restart the computer.

Water Fasting

2010-03-04T20:35:00.001-08:00

So, I recently began reading "The Fasting Cure" by Upton Sinclair, a enlightened Bernarr MacFadden disciple, filled with stories that appeal to the desperately ill. It's about water fasting and for some reason, it convinced me.

Water fasting is the act of drinking nothing but water. No food is to be ingested. The fast, once gone for more than 3 days, begins to cleanse the organs and purge the body of disease and infection. Once the body switches to this "survival" is when true fasting begins.

I believe in the notion of a "survival" mode is triggered in the absence of food. It's intriguing and and simply mind blowing to think that the body can adjust so quickly. Unfortunately, I work so my aim isn't as far reaching as water fasting practitioners would set for themselves but this is my first time so I think I can slide.

The recover period should take only 2 days of a low cal diet after which I'll switch to a high nutrient milk diet, although, I'm betting I'll be switching to juice if the milk upsets me as it usually does.

~~Anyway, today I've jumped from wanting to fast to actually fasting. I'll start on midnight and hope for the best.~~

*Edit* I decided that I was rushing into the fast without properly preparing for it nor the diet that would follow. I'm falling back on my April plan and will continue to post more information on fasting in this post.

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Re: Top 10 Reasons Why Mac Sucks

2010-02-16T07:31:00.000-08:00

Over at collegetimes.us, they had a post on the Top 10 Reasons Why Mac Sucks. Below the are the original statements from collegetimes.us in bold followed by my response. If you were thinking of buying a Mac or PC, these answer might help you weed out some of the bullshit "facts" there are out there on the Mac. And for the record, the concept of Windows on a computer started at Xerox.

1. The one and only business model for Apple is narcissism. Narcissism, maybe true, but if this were the case the Mac would have less features out of the box but that's not true. Out of the box, you have real compilers and a full blown development environment without even having to go on the internet.

2. Macs are ridiculously overpriced. Macs also have high resale value.

3. Macs regularly ignore mainstream industry trends. Apple has been renown for it's proprietary nature just like Sony. The only difference is that recently, Apple as began licensing it's proprietary I/O.

4. Mac OS X is merely a locked down version of open-source Linux. If you consider a locked down interface "locked down" than you're right but considering you can do just about anything without an interface this point is moot. But even then, Apple support macros, something Windows hasn't.

5. There is no right-f*cking-click! There is a right click noob.

6. The Dock, and general screen layout, is retarded. (Followed by 8 bulletpoints) All weak points:

⁃ Look at the Calendar icon
⁃ If you married the Dock and (Program) Expose you'd have the Win7 taskbar. Minimize isn't necessary because of Expose and you can visual see what's minimized on the right.
⁃ X closes the window, not the application. Command + Q is you want to (q)it. This coming from the user that presses alt + F4…
⁃ It's Command + Tab and Command + tilde on OSX.
⁃ Maximize is a little weird, it only maximizes as much as is required. I suppose this is because it's trying to stay true to the windows concept but it does help for multitasking as does Growl.
⁃ You can hit space bar to preview them easier and at least OSX can open 100 windows without crashing.
⁃ This is probably why Macs come with high resolutions and don't allow you to fully maximize windows easily.
⁃ etc? Again, weak points.

7. “It just… doesn’t work.” Macs do freeze, they're not perfect, but it's usually due to poorly written code (Firefox) or processor intensive apps (Virtual machines). I have yet to encounter a virus.

8. Software and hardware options for Mac are lame, or slim at best. Mail does the job and does it well; iPhoto, meh, I use Picasa; rather use VLC than Quicktime. Dictionary rocks, notes is cool, iCal is great with Google Caldendar, iTunes… nvm, Xcode is cool, Terminal is great, TextEdit is sweet, iChat does the job, and lastly, I prefer Google Contacts over Address Book. As for 3rd party apps, I feel that the desktop era of 100+ apps is coming to an end. I only use simple apps for most of my tasks and while I do many of them on the PC, that's only because I don't want to relearn how to do it on Mac. But I do use Coda for web dev and Xcode for some programming tasks. But lately I've been using Vi so go figure :P

9. Gaming, and graphics in general, suck on Macs. Gaming on non-consoles is dying in general. All you damn PC pirates are destroying the industry.

10. Macs are not flexible or customizable. Macros and special functions exist that allow minor customizations. The Mac interface is pretty efficient once you learn how to use it and beautiful right from the beginning. I'm sure that's the reason no apps for customizing the Dock exist.

LibXML, LibXSLT and Windows

2010-01-27T10:01:00.000-08:00

If you're working on any other OS and used to things just working, you'll be rudely reminded why you're not using Windows when you try and install modules using CPAN. I had no luck doing anything on the first try.

When I tried using CPAN, I realized I needed to install a C compiler.
perl -MCPAN -e shell

Fine, done. Then I tried using CPAN to install Mechanize. Worked, great! Next, LibXML.
*screech!

Lots of errors with this module. A few google searches later I found out about PPM, the Perl Package Manager. It's CPAN with a GUI! No luck using it at first. Googled some more and found I had to add a few repositories:
ppm repo add http://www.bribes.org/perl/ppm
ppm repo add http://trouchelle.com/ppm10/
ppm repo add http://cpan.uwinnipeg.ca/PPMPackages/10xx/

Probably more than I needed but whatever. I used the GUI to find what I needed and...
done.

Hope this was helpful.

Netflix PS3 Custom Cover Art

2009-12-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

Over the next couple of days, I'll be posting cover art for the Netflix disc on the PS3 for the internet to judge. I'm open to suggestions and templates. In fact, that's why I'm posting this to begin with; I'm hoping people stumbling on this post will add comments and suggestions, get the ball rolling if you will.

At the moment, I don't have an internet connection at home but it'll be up by Saturday. I've already started on this so if you're reading this, please bookmark this page and check back next week for a preview.

Here's a great example:
From www.thecoverproject.ne

Too bad the creator was sloppy with the little details.

Dropping MyBrute.com

2009-11-09T11:06:00.000-08:00

A few old Facebook friends turned me onto MyBrute, a goofy, totally random fighting game that last only a few seconds long and is totally random. The main problem I had with it was that it took way to long to gain levels.

Anyway, I tried it again after dropping it for a month or two and I noticed that you can't rewatch matches anymore! I had always enjoyed rewatching them, some matches came down to the wire. I'm not totally sure if this was a fluke or a new trend but either way, I'm done with MyBrute. Goodbye MyBrute! I'd like to say it was fun but it was more annoying than anything else.

Review - The Motorola Droid w/ Android 2.0

2009-11-08T16:16:00.000-08:00

First, some specs:

- Carrier: Verizon
- Available: October 30th 2009
- Networks: CDMA dual band (800/1900 MHz); CDMA2000 1xRTT/1xEV-DO rev.0/1xEV-DO rev.A
- Display: 3.7-inch screen with 854×480 (16:9 widescreen) capacitive touchscreen
- Camera: 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash and video recording
- Operating system: Google Android 2.0 OS
- Input: QWERTY keyboard, touchscreen
- CPU: 600 MHz ARM Cortex A8 Processor
- Memory: 256 MB RAM / 512 MB ROM
- Memory card: microSD/microSDHC
- Connectivity: GPS, Wi-Fi, 3.5mm HeadPhone Jack
- Misc: AMR-NB/WB, MP3, PCM / WAV, AAC, AAC +, eAAC +, WMA
- Media: MPEG-4, H263, H264, WMV
- Form factor:
- Battery: 1400mAh Li-ion
- Talk Time: 420 minutes
- Standby Time: 450 hours
- Dimensions: 60.00 x 115.80 x 13.70 mm
- Weight: 169g

citation

A lot of hype and a few questionable commercials later, the Motorola Droid for the Verizon network has been released. To my dismay, I do not receive a strong reception in the rear half of my apartment. Both Sprint and my former carrier, T-Mobile, have great reception here. So right away, that was a downer. But, aside from that, the new features Android 2.0 brings are great. The Droid's headliners are Google Navigation and it's overall speed.

Google Maps had been, for quite a while, not considered a true competitor to standalone GPS units. With Google Navigation, this all changes. Turn-by-turn direction has been dead on so far and it's beautiful. Although, I've yet to test it exhaustively, my first glimpse of it in action showed a lot of promise.

Also, many have touted the Android OS as a multitasking beast but the G1 proved to be slow. That said, it was by no means perfect but it was good enough handset to gain a strong following of users and developers. The second generation Android phone, the Droid, on the other hand, handles anything you through at it with ease. Although, not considered the successor to the G1, it's related to the G1. These loose ties between new phone models and successors makes me if Apple might be regretting being the sole manufacturer and distributor of the iPhone.

With all the Android phones out there, it's up to the consumer to decide which one is best for them. With Apple, the consumer needs to decide if now is good time to buy or, if another newer version is around the corner, wait. This tends to create mixed emotions when people buy Apple's latest and greatest only to find out the following morning that what's they've bought has already been made obsolete.

In closing, the Droid has definitely won my approval, hands down. I'm just waiting to get my hands on some accessories now so I can complete the Droid experience.

MP4 Movie Metadata Editor

2009-11-06T09:28:00.000-08:00

I'm not a fan of having to backup media files into iTunes just so that I can edit metadata. So I did a quick Google search for a OS X app. MetaX surfaced, and it doeds precisely what I'm looking for.

It utilizes user generated metadata that's stored @tagChimp.com. Although, it doesn't seem popular, I can definitely see myself using it. The world would benefit :)

TreKing - CTA/PACE Tracking App for Google - a review

2009-10-13T06:54:00.000-07:00

Google Application of the month is TreKing, a Chicago public transportation app that you will quickly assimilated into your life. With live bus tracking times and the ability to routes and track destinations times, your hefty commute times will never be the same.

A recent move of mine coupled with car engine problems has made me public transportation junkie. And with all my doctors in the 'burbs, this app couldn't have come at a better time. I've been able to make all my appointments on time then get back to work with little to no disruption to my schedule. It beats driving in city traffic and dealing with parking. And best of all, I've been able to finally tame the dreaded Pace bus routes and schedules.

One thing worth noting when adding routes is its best to use the app with a computer nearby. The apps route finder doesn't have the most efficient input method; a much more convenient one would have been to use the phones address book directly, but built-in address book support has yet to be implemented. Also, Pace bus maps and schedules are all in PDF format. With the Androids lack of PDF support, TreKing users are doing themselves a disservice by not double checking their routes. So, until Google adds native PDF support to Andriod, it's best use a browser when saving routes.

Mattress Cleaning Tips from SterileMattress @answers.yahoo.com

2009-09-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

The last thing you ever want to do is "wet" the mattress including the use of steam cleaning!

Clean the mattress the same way people have been doing from 5993 B.C. up to about 1965 A.D. (about 8,000 years).

First, tote the mattress outdoors, early in the morning when the weather is expected to be sunny all day. Prop it up on one side against a tree, fence, or the house. Now beat the living crap out of both sides (the top and bottom of the mattress) with a baseball bat, tennis racket, 2x4, big stick, 9-iron, or whatever you can get your hands on. If you're sensitive to dust then wear a particle mask.

When beating the mattress, you are actually knocking out the accumulated shed human skin cells, dust mite exoskeletons, dust mite feces, pet dander, and a host of other micro-organisms, whether dead or still alive.

Once you're satisfied that you have beat out all the contaminants, use the sun's natural cleansing ability (UVA and UVB light waves). Allow the mattress to catch as much of the rising sun as possible...one side (topside) in the morning and the other (bottom side) in the afternoon as the sun sets. Check to make sure there are no automatic sprinkler heads fixin' to go off and soak your mattress.

If you happen to be living in an area of heavy pollen, or if the neighborhood cat decides to sunbathe on the topside ...it would be wise to beat both sides again before bringing indoors.

This method has sufficed for centuries but there is one more thing you can, and should do, and it's not Febreze. Get a natural live enzyme cleaner available from a local health food store. If concentrated, mix with water as the label describes for disinfecting surfaces. If the label has different mix ratios for different purposes, use the minimum ratio. You will only need 6-8 ounces (mixed) for a queen-sized mattress. After mixing, pour the contents into a misting (spray/pump type) bottle and VERY LIGHTLY, mist all 6 surfaces (top/bottom, 4 sides). If a misted area is not "dry to the touch" within 5 minutes...you have misted too heavily. Lighten up! The water is only used as a propellant and to evenly distribute the live enzymes. The water begins to evaporate immediately leaving the enzymes to continue the work you have started. Enzymes will eat whatever microbials remain in your mattress and will continue to eat away and thwart whatever microbials attempt to re-colonize within your mattress. Each time you change the bed linens, apply the enzyme cleaner.

If you do have odors in the mattress, I suggest you buy a plastic mattress bag (2 mils thick) from a local box company (check yellow pages). These mattress bags are commonly used by furniture movers and cost less than $5. Sprinkle the mattress with baking soda, seal up the bag, and then vacuum up the baking soda 24 hours later. Vacuum it outdoors if possible.

If you have stains...whatever you use (depending on the cause of the stain) always work from the outside perimeter of the stain towards the center of the stain. This will keep the stain from spreading over an even larger area. For common stain removal tips visit:

http://www.sterilmattress.com/mattress_s…

It's a good idea to vacuum the mattress BUT...provided only that you have a vacuum that is HEPA-rated (not just one that uses HEPA-rated filters). Even the top ranked (according to Consumer Reports) vacuum cleaners equipped with HEPA filters failed an independent 3rd party investigation. Each time they were "powered on" the scientifically calibrated air particle meter shot skywards.

You have asked a great question...seems people have forgotten the healthy benefit of sleeping on hygienic mattresses and pillows. The average mattress hosts approximately 2 million dust mites. Dust mites are not bad themselves but they poop 20 to 30 times each night (they're nocturnal)...so that's an accumulation of 40 to 60 million fecal pellets, in your mattress, night after night, after night. It's these fecal pellets that contain the potent and unhealthy allergen called guanine. Guanine is produced in the dust mite's digestive tract and is then excreted. The fecal pellets are about 15 microns in size but then dry up and become powdery...thus even smaller in size. These particles become airborne each time you fluff your pillow, or roll over in bed (average is 50 to 60 times per night), and are easily inhaled while you sleep. The protein "guanine" breaks down and kills living tissue. When inhaled, the protein attaches to the healthy cells lining your lung walls and suffocates them.

Obviously, your best option is to hire a professional mattress cleaner who has all the right tools and knowledge to clean not just your mattress from the garage...but all of your mattresses and pillows. Unfortunately, there are extremely few persons performing this service in the U.S. If you happen to live in Europe, Australia, the Pacific Rim, or SE Asia...you will find many performing the service.

Entourage

2009-09-21T03:06:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure what's gotten my riled up enough to post about Entourage but I it's seems to have grown on me. The long drawn out escapades of the rich and beautiful have taken a toll on me. The life on regulars seem a lot more interesting. So, if you're only view on Entourage was large and glamorous, maybe it's time to give it another shot.

Snow Leopard - A Not So Friendly OS Update

2009-08-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

I was one of those people that pre-ordered Snow Leopard mostly on part of it's low price. I was surprised when it actually arrived on the day it was released. It really did feel nice to order something online and actually get it on the release date.

The packaging was what I've come to expect from Apple; a little white box with a colorful new features brochure and the actual disc. I popped it in and started the upgrade installation. I didn't clock how long it took but it was speedy, I'll tell you that.

When it loaded, I noticed a few of my apps weren't working. I thought, "No biggie." I'd probably just fix the problems as I came across them. This was on Saturday.

When I got to work today, I had a call that required a reliable RDC and both CoRD and TeamViewer are not ideal applications for that. So, I tried booting up my Parallels 3.0 virtual machine and wouldn't you know, it was one of the incompatible programs. I spent an hour downloading the new version of Parallels and converting my virtual machine to one that was compatible with Parallels 4.0.

Now, I don't want to start a rant on Parallels and how it's so slow on Snow Leopard but this newer version just isn't on par with the 3.0. I've read about two major issues, one being smart mount and the other being the native indexing that XP does. Although running the index manually as mentioned on their forums does help, it still ran no where near the speed 3.0 ran at. So, I dropped it entirely for VMware. I've heard great things about it for years now but Parallels worked so well, I never found the need or desire to replace it. So, maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

A few other apps that stopped working was an older version of Little Snitch and iStats.

Autosnap for XP

2009-08-27T15:33:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 adds a few neat features that make doing work a lot more intuitive. Have you ever needed to use two applications at the same time? You probably re-sized both of the windows and placed them side by side. Well, Windows 7 lets you do these by using Windows shortcut keys or by dragging your application window to the border of the screen. Now, thanks to TrueTransparency, Windows XP users can share the experience.

Here's and example of what I'm talking about...

Check out the video below for a better picture on how TrueTransparency can help your work better and faster.

TrueTransparency - Download Here

Being Thorough @ Work

2009-08-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

Internal e-mail from boss:

If you were in the office late the night before...include that in the note. Better yet, while in the office late the night before send something like:

It's after 7PM and I'm just finishing up XX YYY files for MTG. I'll be working from home tomorrow from 8AM-10AM and will be in the office by 11AM.

My original e-mail:
I'll be working from home until 10a so I should be in around 11a.

Regards,
Luis

If you have a salary job, than this might be common sense to you. I guess there must be transparency at all time internally so that ppl know you're on top of things. Basically, I did not tell my boss I worked until 7p, so he asked around and my co-worker that stayed with me must have told him. So, the lesson here is to be thorough.

Dynamic DNS

2009-08-03T20:41:00.000-07:00

Call me ignorant for being a computer science major and not knowing a thing about how DNS (Domain Name System) records work, but today, one of my favorite torrent sites gave me a quick lesson on how it is key to the internet browsing experience.

As I mentioned, EZTV.it has been down for the past few months, but today, it's splash page claimed that it was up and running even though I had the page I was viewing was being on the downed server. They explained that the page was being displayed because my ISP had not yet updated their DNS records. My internet service provider is also my DNS provider and it doesn't update it's records often (a DNS record is the mapping of an IP address to a domain name). Anyway, they described a quick solution on how to point your router to a DDNS (Dynamic DNS) server.

The steps were pretty straight forward for most routers but since mine used open-source firmware, it took a bit longer and a few more steps to setup. After making the changes to my router settings and creating an OpenDNS account (optional) I made sure to use a special command one my router that would prevent a user on my network from overriding the current DNS provider with one of their choice (DD-WRT instructions here).

Below is the settings page for your OpenDNS account:

What followed simply amazed me since what I had just setup was big brother at it's finest.

Not a single social networking sites worked nor did most of the blog sites I usually visit. It was a complete lock down in parallel to all we experienced in high school and the simple command that was two lines long prevented any circumvention of this system. It's internet loving people worst fear! And it's free!

But in the end, the DDNS directed me to the correct webpage. The splash page was gone. So parents, porn-hating people and censor freaks, if you want to lock down your network, DDNS is the key.

The G1 as a PMP Device

2009-08-03T07:07:00.000-07:00

For starters, the G1 is a great phone. The keyboard is useful, the on screen keyboard is decent, phone reception with T-Mobile is great as would be expected, and the ability to use Google Voice is just amazing (See previous post). But I digress, this post started when I woke up this morning wanting to see a show I had missed.

I started off by downloading latest episode of Entourage after which I thought it'd be a good idea to watch it on the train. I downloaded the necessary software and before I knew it, I had converted the video file into G1 compatible MP4 (Tutorial here).

On the train, the sound was pretty decent although not loud enough to combat the rails. Anyway, I started getting a few looks since I wasn't using any headphones so I decided to buy an adapter using the G1 browser. This is where the it really fails to impress me. It took me a little less time to buy the adapter off of Amazon than it took me to download, convert and load the episode of Entourage onto the G1. Some may say that browsing the web on your phone is a privilege and not a feature and I agree to an extent but it's the $25 price tag on this privilege that bothers me. $25 is a premium rate. There's a lot you can get for $25 a month so I expect to get decent performance out of it.

But in all fairness, I never expected much from 3G to begin with. I'm well aware that 3G didn't live out a calender year in Japan before being replaced with 4G. So, I'm not that disappointed, but I digress again! My point is that PMP device's have been mastered and I've come to expect a near flawless experience when it comes to viewing my multimedia content on devices. The G1 doesn't fail in this department.

One thing to note is that shopping on the iPhone is significantly simpler and faster. The next thing I'm going to try is make an RDC connection and just make the purchase from my home computer. It's probably not the most secure thing to do but it'll probably be smoother than using the browser. My theory is that there is a time and place for everything. The time is always right and if your not in the right place, use your device to get there.

If any reader has experience using VNC Connect, shot me an email or comment with your experience.

Using Google Voice on the G1

2009-07-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

I've finally gotten around the Google Voice and let me tell you that *this* guy is impressed. The application for the G1 is simple and works. It does everything you'd expect. The online Google Voice interface is pretty simple as well. It didn't take me very long to navigate all of the features. I could easily imagine myself spending hours setting up personal voice mails for friends, family and co-workers. Just setting up groups seems a bit daunting although the added benefit of grouping contacts would provide personalized greetings, redirection to voicemail, and simple mass SMS. As of yet, I haven't exhausted all Google Voice has to offer and I'm sure there are a few features I'm still in the dark about but here are a few bullet points to cut your teeth on.

*Pros
Fav 5 + Google Voice = Free incoming and outgoing calls
Free unlimited texts
Single number to rule all phones
Ability to switch phones in mid-call *first attempt failed
Visual Voicemail + automatic transcription

*Cons
Three way calling
Call waiting
No number porting (slated for end of 2009)

Although I haven't fully tested three way calls, I did a few issues with one call I made. It is a bit of an outlier: I was talking to me dad as he was driving across the country. So, maybe it could have been an issue with cellular towers. So, the first two cons might not be cons at all. For now I won't strike them out; they'll be there for reference.

*Update: I've added a Call Me button on the right that'll connect you directly with my voicemail. Feel free to test it out.

H1N1

2009-04-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's hard to really try and comprehend the situation I find myself in. I'm travelling in Puebla, Mexico. It's about 3-4 hours away from Mexico City, where people have been wearing masks since we arrived. Upon arrival, curiousity ran through all of us as we wondered why people were wearing surgical masks. A cab driver told us that it was simply a precation for people in the food serving industry, but as soon found out, we were in the middle of an influenza outbreak and people were dying.

To be honest, I still haven't come to terms with it. To my credit, I've at least had an interest in deadly flu outbreaks for a long time. It'll probably do me some good. I've read about how certain towns survived the deadly 1908? American influenza outbreak with hardly any cases of infection. One of the keys is to contantly wash your hands and be mindful of what you touch, including yourself. It sounds simple enough but there are some people that just can't control themselves, let alone their complusive actions.

Anyway, we've travelled to a few cities since the outbreak began. We knew the risks but did so anyway -- in public transportation. I really wanted to grab a mask early on but the naivity kept me from doing so. Unfortunately, masks are now sold out nearly everywhere and I worry about our commute to the airport.

It really is funny. You'd think that in the face of an influenza flu outbreak that people would grow up and start taking precautions. Not the case with me, and not the case with most people in this city, Chipilo. I'm glad that it hasn't had much of a negative affect on our vacation but I realize the responsibility I have to myself, my family and my country to come home healthy. I think that's the most important thing I'm going to get out of this ordeal.

The Current Flow

2009-04-06T00:28:00.001-07:00

Lately, I haven't been writing or keeping track of certain aspects of my life as much as I had planned to. I'm currently maintaining two personal blogs that haven't been kept up to date. I, also, haven't joined a gym like I had wanted to due to budgeting constraints.

I have, at least, made good use of my new Sony Reader. I've picked up Bram Stokers Dracula. Cool read, although its not without it's dry spells. And I've confirmed what I've known all along; I'm a lousy reader. Jokes aside, I have actually kept up with the reader as I propositioned myself and it's currently stocked with enough manga to keep me busy for months. So, of all the things I've wanted to keep up with, it's mostly been with the Reader.

Later this month, I'll be going to Mexico with the love of my life, and our D90. I hope to actually have some pictures to post on my Picasa page. I'll keep Flickr professional so it'll remain empty unless we do some sightseeing.

Masamune Shirow - Ghost in the Shell

2009-03-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

A cybernetic future with humans and robots coexisting is a concept that will inevitably be realized. Masamune Shirow is one of Japan's leading manga writers that forgo the concept and strive to make it a reality in the minds and imagination of fans of the concept. His two main works are Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell and I'm looking to squelch my interest in Shirow's work.

To those interested, you can find his books on Amazon, links below:
Ghost in the Shell, Volume 1
Ghost in the Shell, Volume 1.5
Ghost in the Shell, Volume 2

I'll share my thoughts and interpretations as I read more of Shirow's work.

Wii Modification Woes

2009-03-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

MadWorld came in today, but I can't play it because it requires what lots of newly released games require, an update. Having had modified my Wii's firmware, I understand that upgrading the Wii's firmware can cause irreversible damage to it. I'm also aware that it could do nothing, but I'm taking any risks. I'll just have to wait patiently with the other WiiBrew chumps until the new firmware (3.5) has been fully tested and stamped with WiiBrew's seal of approval. Until then, GAH! :(

Buying the Sony PRS-700BC

2009-03-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

So, contrary to one of my last posts, the SonyCard promotion for $200 off a single $349+ purchase does not apply to anything outside SonyStyle.com or Sony stores. Even though their wording was a bit vague, I'm not upset, since these things happen with offers that are too good to be true.

If you've read my last post, you would know that I was robbed recently. I won't do into details about the incident since you can read about it here, but I wasn't paying much attention to my surroundings. I was reading manga with my PSP with it's picture viewer. It allows you to quickly zoom and pane images; a great feature not without it's flaws. Constant zooming and panning is an arduous task. But enough of that, the point is I wanted to read on the go, that's why I was carrying my PSP in the first place. So with the SonyCard plan not working out as anticipated, I've decided to get an e-reader.

If anyone reading this has an e-reader, whether it be Sony, Amazon or Panasonic brand, please share your experiences with them. I'm interested on hearing what you all think of it even though I've already committed myself to Sony.

Robbed on the CTA

2009-03-18T07:47:00.000-07:00

The other night, I was robbed on the CTA Green Line train just as it was leaving the Laramie stop. I was naively using my PSP very openly while I had 3 black dudes hovered around me. The train had plenty of open seats so this should have flagged me to be more careful, but black kids are always on their feet roaming from cart to cart that I didn't anything of it. Given I had seen that one had taken notice of my PSP but I could not imagine they would actually snatch it from my hands. When it happened, the kid ran off and I immediately sprung up to pursue him but stopped before stepping foot on the platform when I noticed the stop we were at and remembered I was carrying a laptop worth much more than the PSP. It wasn't worth the risk if the other two boys we're anticipating me to give chase.

When I got to the Harlem stop, I drove to the CPD on Madison near Central. There, I only became more dissappointed at the lack of effort the officer that helped put into filling out the report. When he read it back to me, it read very well but it took nearly an hour during which I had to endure his demeanor. I wish I had walked up to the female officer instead, she seemed to actually want to work.

I drove to the train station after my report to get some more information. When I arrived, a young girl was in the CTA help booth, red eyed. She had also been robbed by someone fitting the same description I had given. I left feeling substantially worse about my well being while riding the train.

Fortunely for me, I hardly use my PSP. I'll miss it because I love electronics and because it was a gift from my girlfriend but aside form those reasons of many others. (Although, reading comics on it was pretty nice) What anyone reading this should take from my story is that if whatever you are carrying can't be securely fastened to your body, you shouldn't be bring it with you on the train. And as for filling out police reports, all you're doing as adding yourself as a statistic that Mayor Daley might eventually get around to seeing. Don't expect to get any feeling of comfort by doing so, on the contrary, I feel even more powerless than ever. And be more aware of your surroundings. The Green Line Laramie stop has no cameras so it's the ideal location to pull off a robbery.

Be aware and be safe you guys.

***update***

I received a follow-up call from the CPD this afternoon. It seems they take CTA crimes seriously and like to learn from every report. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to provide many additional details but I'd like to take back what I said about feeling helpless. They were looking for details like which cart I was in, where the robber ran and if he was violent. It's part of a constant effort of being up-to-date with criminal behaviors to better serve the public. So now, a full 24 hours after the whole ordeal, I feel that by simply having filed a police report, CPD police are a little bit more aware of growing crime on the CTA trains. I hope to see more undercover officers riding the trains.

For Lack of Better Goals...

2009-03-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

...I'll be learning to do a cartwheel with one hand. Took me a few months to learn a regular cartwheel but with the help of youtube and after hours at the office, I should be able to achieve this minor victory.

Oh, now while I'm on the topic of health and fitness, I may be joining a gym soon. Sony has a promotion going on until tomorrow where new members get 45 days to spend $350 on a single receipt. Considering XSport's 1 year membership costs $520 minus the $200, you're looking at $21 a month. That's a steal for a wildly popular gym that's open 24/7. Sorry to the people that would have liked to get on this deal but couldn't because of the timing of my post but keep in mind that this has been going on a lot lately with Sony. So, chances are they'll have another one just in time for summer, although probably not $200. That's $50 more than they were offering around Christmas.

Economy

2009-03-10T23:56:00.000-07:00

So, most of you have heard about job loses rising throughout the US. I get the feeling that those in the unemployment environment will fail to find work before their benefits run out. What does that mean to you? It means the worst has yet to come. Although most people are holding on to a fine thread when it comes their financial security, many have not been able to concrete themselves. Whether that means to spend less, save more, or find work, their problems are going to affect everyone's life.

Just how securities collapsed, people will collapse. When securities failed and the bailed out fleshed out, the people that caused this; that had not paid their mortgages were not affected the slightest. Their eviction likely meant a handful of rent free months and time to look for a place to rent. That's all well and good; this was the norm, but the institutions that had been affected would now unemphatically tighten their belts.

To those that could not afford to make payments on mortgages, or had re-financed, or lost their job, savings must be a low priority. With the unemployment at an all time high and with so many people still not forced out of their comfort zone, I fear people are not properly prepared for job loss or loss of unemployment benefits.

Aside from savings, violence will soon become an issue. Having never been a victim of a crime, I have this general assumption that many people have been willing to live in bad neighborhoods. With crime levels at all time lows, although obviously on the rise, people generally feel safe. Crime will get worse and will get out of hand to the point that it will affect society in a more mainstream way. Whether that be by way of more abandoned buildings, general lose of safety anywhere, public protests or general defiance of government, it does not matter. We will see it.

After years of positive growth, were due for something bad. When you get a sense of the greed and ignorance behind a lot of the recent growth, it makes me think we're due something I'd view along the lines of hell.

*After writing this, I've realized that this is extremely negative and probably accurately reflects my recent attitude, I'd like to make clear my message for the writing: Love your family and your neighbors, share advice and stories with them, save as much as you can and if possible, help those around you get out of debt. Mind your actions, mind your words, and enjoy your time with those you love.

Navy Pier IMAX

2009-03-05T07:16:00.000-08:00

So, I ordered tickets to Watchmen for the opening show tonight at midnight but due to a shoddy online purchase, I have canceled my card. Now, I'm trying to contact them but the number on their website is utterly useless. I received this number from a polite woman at the Navy Pier administrative offices.

Online #: 312 595-5629
Administrative #: 312 595-5999

*Update: All you need is your confirmation number. :P

Pre-Ordering Games on Amazon

2009-03-02T13:49:00.000-08:00

If you're pre-ordering games at Amazon, remember that if you choose Super Saver Shipping you're running the risk of delaying your ship date by 3 to 5 business days. Amazon tries to bundle your package with others to minimize shipping costs and pass the savings on to you.

So, if you're impatient, don't be frogal. Pay the additional shipping costs and enjoy your sooner rather than later.

*note: I'll be getting my copy of Killzone 2 on Saturday, a full week after initial release. I saved $15 on the total cost of the game so I guess it was worth it, although, I'd really like to get my hands on it. I found this out about talking to a lady in India talking via a string and cup. Make your life easier and have your order number at hand. If you can't prepare it ahead of time, maybe you shouldn't be calling at that time in the first place.

Halo Wars Tournament

2009-02-28T09:50:00.000-08:00

Little known fact is that Gamestop's around the country are having little Halo Wars tournaments. Winner takes home a limited edition copy of the game. Considering I've been a fan of the RTS genre since the Warcraft II, I feel confident coming out on top. But I'd like to share a little story with you guys. Last week, Gamestop was holding a Street Fighter IV tournament. I was doing fairly decent until this beast, 4 footer claiming to be 12 years young handed my ass to me on a silver plater. He played Ken and we all know how Ken can be. As a matter of fact, I've got a handful of excuses for losing to that shrimp but I'll save them and admit it was a hilarious, yet slightly humiliating moment in my life. Oh well. Let's hope he doesn't show up today to hand me seconds.

:D

*update - I lost in the first round to some dude that's played it a few more times than me. Oh well.

Repulsive Things

2009-02-27T09:04:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, some of my friends and I had this morbid interest in death videos. I'm sure some of you might be familiar with this. Back in the 90's, before the internet was common in American households and AOL wasn't considered noobish, ads for death videos would casually come across tv screens at all hours of the day selling mainstream faces of death videos. I was a pre-teen then and I had already a sense of what was mainstream and what was casual. A local Hollywood Videos, by Irving Park and Milwuakee's 6 corners, had an extensive collection.

When we watched it, we would laugh, we would cringe but what we wouldn't do was feel guilty. I visited some of these old friends of mine a few years ago at which time still garnered their macabre video collection. I looked away at times, although I wasn't as replused as my Muslim friend that had made the visit possible. I wonder if it was religion or something personal that made him react that way but I digress.

I came across a death site recently, jj.am, and browsing it's horror section is just a disturbing ordeal. Some of the images have descriptions that attempt to tell a story but for the most part, it's only death.

I've come to detest this sort of thing. I'm glad my conscience has prevented me from getting a kick out of random death. It's just depressing. But the worst part is it makes me feel that we are alone.

R.I.P. Liongames.com

2009-02-18T13:12:00.001-08:00

Liongames.com was an online game retailer that specialize in selling new and used games. I bought from them once, early in their online existence, and felt completely satisfied in their level of customer service. They've recently halted their online site even though the decision was made sometime last year. Here's an email from the owner Tony in case you've never shopped with them. It's insightful and warm, surprising to come from someone having to put an end to a dream.

Hello Luis,

I wanted to inform everyone that I will be closing the website. This decision was made well over a year ago but I had too many orders on file at the time and I didn’t want people to think that I was running away with their money. GTA4 kept getting pushed forward and ended up getting released late April of 2008. I let the site limp along so people wouldn’t worry about getting their product. Every single customer that paid me for an order got filled. I refunded a few customers for orders that I received this week. Not a single person will have a financial loss due to me closing the website.

I started Liongames in December 2006. My goal was to produce a nice place for gamers to purchase games for the 360, Wii and PS3. I wanted to sell new and used games at great prices. I figured by selling new games at cost and even at $8.00 per copy loss I would attract enough people to the website to buy used games. I viewed the loss on new games as an advertising expense to get the site going. I needed to sell about 100 used games a week at a $10 profit. In turn I would reinvest at least 50% of that money back into discounts on new games. The problem was I never got remotely close to selling 100 used games a week, therefore I couldn’t continue to sell new games at a loss.
I then tried the Roaring Discount Card which would allow members to buy games at my cost for a $25.00 upfront fee. My theory there was if I could sell enough cards I would build in a $25.00 profit per year for each customer and my customers would then be able to buy all the games they wanted at my cost. Once again I was hoping to sell at least 1000 of these cards and only sold a few handfuls.

After that promotion I realized the site wouldn’t ever get to the point of making money and I needed to spend my time on different projects in my life. 2008 also turned out to be a year where family members needed some of mine and my wife’s time due to health reasons. That also meant less time to devote to the website that was not performing.

Another difficult task for me was keeping up the changes on the website. The street date for games change very often. The used game values changed daily, and this fact made it nearly impossible for me to keep up with the trade in values. I did end up overpaying for a number of used games.

Another problem I faced was the fact that I couldn’t get my games on street date. There were a few exceptions where I did get my games before street date. The gaming studios were afraid to ship retailers like myself games early because they were afraid of street date violations. Instead they ship the games early to mass merchants who regularly broke street date. That was kind of ironic to me. Basically my distributor didn’t get most of the games until street date, and I was a 2 day ship from him. At the beginning I considered never touching the product and letting my distributor just ship everything from their warehouse. The problem was that if the product wasn’t shipped UPS, which was very expensive, then it would take to long for my customers to get the games. I learned early that it was better for me to get the games two days after street date and mail them myself, then it was to drop ship everything 2 days earlier. That created a lot of extra work, but this way my customers were able to get the games pretty quickly, especially if they chose priority mail.

These were just a few of the problems that I faced trying to run a good and efficient website.

In the end, even though I lost money, and I pretty proud and happy with the way Liongames turned out. I felt I offered customers great deals as well as unmatched customer service. My used games were second to none. I was tough with trade ins, so my customers got used games in fantastic condition. The other thing I did which was no one else did was to let my customers know the exact condition of the game before they made the purchase. My customer knew if the game was scratched, or missing the directions, or box upfront. That is just one example of how strongly I felt about making Liongames the best place to buy games on the net. I felt I accomplished that hands down in 2007. My customers were able to buy Halo 3, Bioshock for $39.99 and GTA4 for only $42.99. The deals were so good I had to work hard to convince people they were real. I had a lot of fun doing this. I posted on many message boards and communicated and met a ton of nice people.

Liongames made not have made money but I really did enjoy meeting the people from all across the country. I met so many nice people who helped talk me up. I had a few very loyal customers who I hoped enjoyed working with me as much I as enjoyed working with them. I want to thank each and every one of my customers who put faith in me and my website. Your confidence and trust meant a lot to me. I can surely rest comfortably when thinking about Liongames because it was fun and successful in many ways. I was touched by many people over the course of a few years, and hopefully I was able to make a small impression on a few on you. I plan on keeping my customers email addresses in case I ever venture into another web project of any kind. The Liongames website will go off the net within a few weeks. This means I won’t have access to the email addresses either. If anyone needs to get a hold of me for any reason after a few weeks you may do so at my regular email address which is also my paypal address of mrlucky200abc@yahoo.com Please feel free to contact me.

I would also like to make clear that the current economy had nothing to do with the website closing. I would say it is just a very tough business model to make work. I have no regrets and I am happy that I gave it a shot. For that it was a positive part of my life and hopefully a positive part of my customers lives. Until our paths cross again, I would like to ask everyone one final time to pick someone in your life and do something nice for them this week. It will surely bring you Joy. Have a great day everyone!

With true appreciation,
Tony

See you Tony, good luck with future ventures.

Fond Memories

2009-02-16T07:36:00.000-08:00

One of the first "nextgen" games I had the pleasure of playing was Street Fighter 2 on the SNES. I should add that my first nextgen experience was with the Sega Genesis, but in all honesty, I never quite enjoyed playing. The only games I can recall playing are Lion King, Sonic games, XMEN, and Cyborg Justice. So yeah... it wasn't quite the same experience I had with my SNES.

I grew up on the NES, so it's only natural that I lean more towards a Nintendo console. Anyway, I had never played a fighting game. Having an older brother, he was a major influence on the purchase. I was quite the cheap bastard with Chun Li. Only person that could really counter me was Beto, an older kid on the block. Good times.

flower: The Game

2009-02-12T22:00:00.000-08:00

flower is the newest PSN exclusive released on the PS3. As a flower peddle flowing through the air, you grow in size and the game quickly shows its charisma. As the level progresses, the landscape comes to life. It's controls, revolving around the SIXAXIS, defy expectations with their rock-solid responsiveness and it music is a gem adding a therapeutic element to the experience: it's the most mature, most revolutionary title to land on the PS3.

thatgamecompany cusping aside, a more critical stance makes it hard to deny similarities to the classic game, Snake. You know, it's the only fun game that came with your non-qwerty phone back in the 90's. Even still, flowers elegant design, crisp visuals and solid controls make it a worthwhile experience.

Review: The Life Changing Wii Fit

2009-02-04T06:56:00.001-08:00

I'm sure you've heard about the Wii Fit. It's still topping the charts in most country's top 10 lists. The games premise is obvious: to got you into shape. But one that I hadn't expected was corrective posture and balancing exercises.

I got the Wii fit as a Christmas present. Back when I was in high school, I'd constantly push myself everyday to get the most out of my daily exercises. I found that it gave me an edge over other students when endurance and strength exercises we're involved. It was my being, my mantra; to try my best. So, I imagined the Wii Fit putting me into some kind of schedule so that I'd pick up where I left of in high school and get my physique back into shape.

My first impressions of the Wii Fit was that this was entirely possible. The strength exercises were everything I expected. After the first 1/2 hour of my session, I really thought this would get me back into the routine of working out in the morning. But, that's also when I tried the yoga section of the first time.

You see, the Wii Fit doesn't just give you all the exercises it want. You have to earn them by trying out the other exercises and games. At first glance, I thought that this was going to be a gimmick, a way to squeeze a minute or two of playing time into your Wii Fit sessions. That might even be the case, but for me, it shed light on a whole new way of exercising: yoga.

I've never had correct posture. I don't know why. Maybe I needed to feel the edge of a rule like so many other had to go through in Catholic school, or maybe I should have been smacked a few times at the dinner table. The fact is, I'm a sloucher and when it's cold, I cuddle my shoulders in. When I walk, I'm very tense and yada yada yada. I have a lot of flaws when it comes to standing up. Using the Wii Fit, I was able to actually see my imperfections in front of me. It was the ability to correct my imbalance. My body responded accordingly. I feel lively like I did back in high school and I can stretch much further than I ever could before.

Even though I don't log that many sessions on the Wii Fit, I catch myself doing this exercises on my living room floor, at work on my lunch break, or at night for no good reason than to give my body that good feeling again. It really is an amazing machine and I look forward to using it more often.

The Larrea Curse

2009-01-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to wonder why I react the way I do. Given every opportunity to stray from the well beaten path, I reluctantly fall back into place. Maybe a daily dose of awareness mixed with a teaspoon of artificial sweetener will do the trick. Here's to change!

Life and Death

2009-01-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

A loved one's mother isn't doing so well. I'm usually voluble about how a persons lifestyle directs their health all the while placing blame the sufferee. I think that's all well and good in theory but in practice, partisanship needs to be left aside and communal love needs to be expressed; shame and self loathing never shows a productive side. That's why I'm going to stop distancing myself from this situation and instead embrace it and treat it as a give and take experience.

I wish my girlfriend's mother a quick recovery. The surgery that she may undergo isn't pretty. It'll be painful and keep her away from her home and family for possibly months. It's one of those ordeals you would not wish on your worst enemy.

May the powers that Be grant me the will power to stay focused and caring but more importantly, grant Martha the will of perseverance.

FTP7 is a bitch

2008-12-22T06:14:00.001-08:00

Here at work we're using GoGrid and their Win2k8 server images don't come equiped with FTP7. I found this out after running into some trouble with FTP6. I looked at some IIS7 sites and some mentioned FTP7 so I thought I'd use that instead.

I started off not knowing much about FTP servers in general but I assumed it'd be easy. To be honest, I think I was a port forward away from getting FTP6 to work before I bailed on it. But that's old news.

A few things to keep in mind: FTP servers come in two flavors, Active and Passive. From what I can tell, Active is a straight forward approach with two TCP ports being forwarded, Port 21 for the initial connection and Port 20 for data communications. Passive's data communications uses a range of ports. If you look up the IPv4 and IPv6 ports with netsh, it should make clear which you're using. You use another netsh command to forward the dynamic port range.

commands:
netsh int ipv4 show dynamicport tcp
netsh int ipv6 show dynamicport tcp

forward port range command:
netsh advfirewall set global StatefulFtp enable

You also have to assign permissions. This part is straight forward and well documented. The tricky part that goes along with permissions is the folder structure. You have to create a 'localuser' directory in 'ftproot' and the user's name in 'localuser'. If you don't do that, you'll get some kind of 'home not resolved' when you try and log in with a client side ftp application.

After understanding all these concepts, it made sense that the system would work and it did.

*Type of FTP
*Choose authentication type
*Create directory structure if necessary
*Forward necessary ports

And that's really it. If a reader out there thinks I should take a deeper look at FTP servers, than please leave a comment. I've got a lot to learn and some experience to gain.

Economic Woes

2008-12-15T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm a subscriber to NPR's Economy podcast. I just finished listening to it and its tone was slightly more depressing than usual. It's segment on the new job environment, full of professionals battling for the same jobs was what bothered me. Although this is nothing new, the twist was the type of job that's on the table: seasonal positions. I don't usually imagine my collegial peers on the sales floor when stopping in Best Buy. But if it was the case that they'd be working there, I'd assume they'd be working for some extra money, trying to make a little ends meat, but according to NPR, that term doesn't apply. They're working there to make a living, competing with other seasonal workers.

Ever since my mother was laid off, I haven't felt secure about my future. Recent talks had always involved plans of me moving out and going to live with my girlfriend someplace in the city. I currently live out in the West Suburbs. But the more I thinking about it, the worse of an idea becomes. This was the plan, leave home and pay someone else money that could be going towards my family's well being. Although the perk is I'd be living somewhere of choosing as opposed to necessity, the sentiment is this is not the right time. I move like that, at this point in time would be selfish.

But, is now the right time? I suppose this is the age old question people in my position have asked themselves. I'd be willing to bet most people aren't at the age of 25 so maybe it is time that's driving my motivation.

SF2 HD REMIX - PS3 FIX

2008-12-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

Initially, Street Fight 2 HD Remix seemed flawed with the number of disconnects I was coming across. So, considering I love SF2 I set out to find a solution.

I'm an avid gamer, I know about the NAT issues plaguing Halo 3 so I thought this might be caused by something similar. The solution for that is well documented and as soon as I get home, I'll add a few links that will walk you through this, but for now, know that a solution exists.

It turns out that the PS3 also has a NAT Type that needs to configured. After setting up your wireless connection on the PS3, you're shown a screen with your network name and the encryption type your using. But it also includes your NAT Type number. In my case, I had NAT Type 2, which requires you to forward port 443. After I forwarded that port, I only had a single disconnect in about 20 matches.

Google "PS3 nat type 443" w/o quotes and you'll probably find the walkthrough. My problem could also be that I'm using DD-WRT firmware on my Linksys router which shows TX errors, but that's for another post.