when showing your work
(this is apparently a famous cartoon)
-- via Chuck32961
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Kindle Touch vs. Kindle Fire vs. IPad
This past week, I got the Kindle Fire and the Kindle Touch in. My wife and I already both own Apple iPads to compare them to. One thing that jumps out almost immediately to me is that the Kindle Fire is to the iPad what the Mazda Miata is to an Audi A4. When price and small size matter, it’s a better choice, but only if they matter significantly more than functionality. In short: The Kindle Fire and Apple iPad appeal to different users.
To take that analogy a step further, the Kindle Touch is to the Fire what a scooter might be to that Miata. The Kindle Touch is even more limited, but it’s not only a better reader, it’s actually a good complement to people also own an Apple iPad. In the end, I think the Kindle Fire begs for a larger sibling that actually could go head to head against the iPad more evenly.
-- Rob Enderle
*** [10/5/11]
Since Amazon initially released the Kindle in 2007, it has successfully sold more than 18 million. In an attempt to further compete with Apple’s iPad and delve deeper into the tablet wars, and after much hype, last week Amazon debuted the Kindle Fire for $199.
“Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we’ve been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully integrated service for customers,” says Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “With Kindle Fire, you have instant access to all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, the convenience of Amazon Whisper-sync, our revolutionary cloud-accelerated Web browser, the speed and power of a state-of-the-art dual-core processor, a vibrant touch display with 16 million colors in high resolution, and a light 14.6-ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand all for only $199. We’re offering premium products, and we’re doing it at non-premium prices.”
The Kindle Fire is the only device that runs the Amazon Silk browser, a “split browser” architecture that accelerates the power of the mobile device hardware by running with Amazon Web Services Cloud. It has a dual-core processor and runs the latest Google Android software, so you can download apps from the Android Market. It also sports a 7-inch color touchscreen display, and you can watch videos from Amazon’s streaming Prime service and play your music from the Amazon Store.
While the Fire is smaller than the iPad’s 10-inch screen and doesn’t have a camera, it is lighter and supports Adobe Flash (a seemingly huge issue everyone keeps bringing up).
***
Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN -1.82%) were down more than 2% Monday afternoon as investors fretted about a report in the New York Times detailing a litany of woes affecting the Kindle Fire. The newspaper likened Amazon's new tablet computer to Ford's Edsel -- one of the biggest flops in the history of corporate America.
As the Times noted, the Kindle Fire is enduring a torrent of negative reviews on the company's website, of all places. This is a huge headache for Amazon, which is counting on the Fire to fuel future growth. "Slightly more than a third of the 4,500 reviewers of the Fire on Amazon have given it mixed to negative reviews, three stars or fewer," according to the newspaper.
My wife and I decided this weekend to buy an iPad. Although it is twice as expensive as the Fire, it is also twice as good. We found the Barnes & Noble (BKS +0.56%) Nook to be inferior to the Fire. Like many consumers, we are not oblivious to price. Quality, though, is important. The iPad, to many minds -- ours included -- is by far the best product.
After reading the Times story, I realized that we made the right decision. One surprising tidbit was that some people found the Kindle Fire's performance as an e-reader to worse than the original Kindle. Amazon, of course, told the Times that fixes were in the works.
The parallels to the Edsel, a car brand that flamed out during the 1950s, are hard to avoid. Like the Kindle Fire, Ford Motor's (F -1.63%) Edsel over-promised and under-delivered. The Edsel was hurt by quality problems that earned it the nickname: "Every Day Something Else Leaks." Owners of the Kindle Fire are complaining about the device's lack of an external volume control and the poor placement of the "off" switch, according to the Times.
To take that analogy a step further, the Kindle Touch is to the Fire what a scooter might be to that Miata. The Kindle Touch is even more limited, but it’s not only a better reader, it’s actually a good complement to people also own an Apple iPad. In the end, I think the Kindle Fire begs for a larger sibling that actually could go head to head against the iPad more evenly.
-- Rob Enderle
*** [10/5/11]
Since Amazon initially released the Kindle in 2007, it has successfully sold more than 18 million. In an attempt to further compete with Apple’s iPad and delve deeper into the tablet wars, and after much hype, last week Amazon debuted the Kindle Fire for $199.
“Kindle Fire brings together all of the things we’ve been working on at Amazon for over 15 years into a single, fully integrated service for customers,” says Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com founder and CEO. “With Kindle Fire, you have instant access to all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, the convenience of Amazon Whisper-sync, our revolutionary cloud-accelerated Web browser, the speed and power of a state-of-the-art dual-core processor, a vibrant touch display with 16 million colors in high resolution, and a light 14.6-ounce design that’s easy to hold with one hand all for only $199. We’re offering premium products, and we’re doing it at non-premium prices.”
The Kindle Fire is the only device that runs the Amazon Silk browser, a “split browser” architecture that accelerates the power of the mobile device hardware by running with Amazon Web Services Cloud. It has a dual-core processor and runs the latest Google Android software, so you can download apps from the Android Market. It also sports a 7-inch color touchscreen display, and you can watch videos from Amazon’s streaming Prime service and play your music from the Amazon Store.
While the Fire is smaller than the iPad’s 10-inch screen and doesn’t have a camera, it is lighter and supports Adobe Flash (a seemingly huge issue everyone keeps bringing up).
***
Shares of Amazon.com (AMZN -1.82%) were down more than 2% Monday afternoon as investors fretted about a report in the New York Times detailing a litany of woes affecting the Kindle Fire. The newspaper likened Amazon's new tablet computer to Ford's Edsel -- one of the biggest flops in the history of corporate America.
As the Times noted, the Kindle Fire is enduring a torrent of negative reviews on the company's website, of all places. This is a huge headache for Amazon, which is counting on the Fire to fuel future growth. "Slightly more than a third of the 4,500 reviewers of the Fire on Amazon have given it mixed to negative reviews, three stars or fewer," according to the newspaper.
My wife and I decided this weekend to buy an iPad. Although it is twice as expensive as the Fire, it is also twice as good. We found the Barnes & Noble (BKS +0.56%) Nook to be inferior to the Fire. Like many consumers, we are not oblivious to price. Quality, though, is important. The iPad, to many minds -- ours included -- is by far the best product.
After reading the Times story, I realized that we made the right decision. One surprising tidbit was that some people found the Kindle Fire's performance as an e-reader to worse than the original Kindle. Amazon, of course, told the Times that fixes were in the works.
The parallels to the Edsel, a car brand that flamed out during the 1950s, are hard to avoid. Like the Kindle Fire, Ford Motor's (F -1.63%) Edsel over-promised and under-delivered. The Edsel was hurt by quality problems that earned it the nickname: "Every Day Something Else Leaks." Owners of the Kindle Fire are complaining about the device's lack of an external volume control and the poor placement of the "off" switch, according to the Times.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
hacked?
got an phone call from someone asking about an email I sent them.
Only I didn't send them anything. Not on purpose anyway.
Apparently, my yahoo email has been hacked with a virus or something and send a virus email message to everybody in my contact list.
Here's what might have happened.
Although there is a possibility you were 'hacked', it is far more likely that your address was compromised by one of the powerful spam bot networks. They can also 'spoof' the addresses in the From: area to make it more likely that they will be opened. Remember all those who use the To: or CC: heading rather than BCC: for addresses? Remember all those who forward e-mails with countless addresses still in them? They open all those addresses to spammers - all it takes is one infected computer down the line somewhere! Merely changing your password will not be enough - your account has been seriously compromised, and more of this type of letter will keep happening. Deleting your Contacts list won't help - the addresses have already been harvested. You will not spread any virus unless naive people click a link or even open the mail.
And more..
Hi,somebody is sending emails to my contacts using my email address to which I haven't sent. How can this be? Have I been hacked into? I do have full internet security avg 9,could you please let me know what action to take if any as I find this quite worrying! I have changed my password so far, but that is all.
You should be worried.
I'm not sure that I'd say you've been "hacked into", but my guess is that your email account has indeed been compromised.
The big clue here is that email is being sent from you to contacts in your address book.
What more likely occurred is that your email account has been compromised - meaning that you probably have an on-line email account, free or otherwise, that someone has gained access too. By virtue of doing so they now have access not only to your email, but to your address book as well. It's all too common these days to hear of folks whose accounts have been compromised only to have all their friends get inundated with spam, threats, malicious emails or messages that try to impersonate you and scam your contacts out of money.
How this happened is difficult to say. It could be anything from a weak password that's easy to guess, to your account credentials being sniffed in an open WiFi hotspot, to your simply having shared the account information with someone you should not have.
As I've discussed before, changing your password is important, but it's not nearly enough. You also need to change any and all security related information associated with the stolen account. Why? Because the thief has access to all that too, and he can use that information to steal your account again. And again. And again.
[curse word]
Only I didn't send them anything. Not on purpose anyway.
Apparently, my yahoo email has been hacked with a virus or something and send a virus email message to everybody in my contact list.
Here's what might have happened.
Although there is a possibility you were 'hacked', it is far more likely that your address was compromised by one of the powerful spam bot networks. They can also 'spoof' the addresses in the From: area to make it more likely that they will be opened. Remember all those who use the To: or CC: heading rather than BCC: for addresses? Remember all those who forward e-mails with countless addresses still in them? They open all those addresses to spammers - all it takes is one infected computer down the line somewhere! Merely changing your password will not be enough - your account has been seriously compromised, and more of this type of letter will keep happening. Deleting your Contacts list won't help - the addresses have already been harvested. You will not spread any virus unless naive people click a link or even open the mail.
And more..
Hi,somebody is sending emails to my contacts using my email address to which I haven't sent. How can this be? Have I been hacked into? I do have full internet security avg 9,could you please let me know what action to take if any as I find this quite worrying! I have changed my password so far, but that is all.
You should be worried.
I'm not sure that I'd say you've been "hacked into", but my guess is that your email account has indeed been compromised.
The big clue here is that email is being sent from you to contacts in your address book.
What more likely occurred is that your email account has been compromised - meaning that you probably have an on-line email account, free or otherwise, that someone has gained access too. By virtue of doing so they now have access not only to your email, but to your address book as well. It's all too common these days to hear of folks whose accounts have been compromised only to have all their friends get inundated with spam, threats, malicious emails or messages that try to impersonate you and scam your contacts out of money.
How this happened is difficult to say. It could be anything from a weak password that's easy to guess, to your account credentials being sniffed in an open WiFi hotspot, to your simply having shared the account information with someone you should not have.
As I've discussed before, changing your password is important, but it's not nearly enough. You also need to change any and all security related information associated with the stolen account. Why? Because the thief has access to all that too, and he can use that information to steal your account again. And again. And again.
[curse word]
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Google+
Google finally made its move into social networking with its latest Google+.
It’s basically what many of you want Facebook to be. Or as Google describes on its blog, “We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships and your interests.” And so begins the Google+ project.
Key features are Stream, Circles, Photos and Profile. The Stream is the core part of Google+ and revolves around a Facebook-style newsfeed. Here you can add your friends from your Google Contacts into different groups called Circles. You can share updates with individual Circles or combinations of Circles. So if you posted a picture of your co-workers, you can share it just with your colleagues and not everyone (as you would have to on Facebook).
Next, the Photos section is fairly basic. It pulls the pictures saved in your Picassa Web Albums, and you also can view Photos from your Circles. From your mobile device, you can use the Instant Upload feature to have your photos and videos that you take with your phone automatically uploaded to a private album on Google+. You can then decide with whom you want to share them.
Finally, your personal Profile page replaces your standard Google Profile, and you’ll want to make sure you don’t put anything on there that you don’t want to be public knowledge since it’s searchable on the Web. In addition, the Sparks feature keeps track of your interests, so it sends you stuff it thinks you’re interested in. And Huddle turns all your “conversations” into one simple group chat (as opposed to sending text messages). Conveniently, everyone gets on the same page at once.
***
Sure, but can you play Cityville from it? Yes!
It’s basically what many of you want Facebook to be. Or as Google describes on its blog, “We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships and your interests.” And so begins the Google+ project.
Key features are Stream, Circles, Photos and Profile. The Stream is the core part of Google+ and revolves around a Facebook-style newsfeed. Here you can add your friends from your Google Contacts into different groups called Circles. You can share updates with individual Circles or combinations of Circles. So if you posted a picture of your co-workers, you can share it just with your colleagues and not everyone (as you would have to on Facebook).
Next, the Photos section is fairly basic. It pulls the pictures saved in your Picassa Web Albums, and you also can view Photos from your Circles. From your mobile device, you can use the Instant Upload feature to have your photos and videos that you take with your phone automatically uploaded to a private album on Google+. You can then decide with whom you want to share them.
Finally, your personal Profile page replaces your standard Google Profile, and you’ll want to make sure you don’t put anything on there that you don’t want to be public knowledge since it’s searchable on the Web. In addition, the Sparks feature keeps track of your interests, so it sends you stuff it thinks you’re interested in. And Huddle turns all your “conversations” into one simple group chat (as opposed to sending text messages). Conveniently, everyone gets on the same page at once.
***
Sure, but can you play Cityville from it? Yes!
Bob Jones on light bulbs
You’ve no doubt seen MidWeek columnist Jade Moon, in commercials for Hawaiian Electric, selling us on compact fluorescent (CF) bulbs because the incandescent bulbs might go out of existence in 2014, and because with CFs we’ll use less electricity.
Well, only maybe the latter. California utilities spent $550 million subsidizing CFs and discovered that electricity savings fell 73 percent short of what studies had estimated. And CFs contain mercury.
Some of us don’t like the CFs. It’s about the quality of light.
Incandescents give off “warm” light. CFs still do not. That’s because of our eyes. The natural outdoor light we see is actually our brain taking in many colors from our eyes’ receptors and giving us what we perceive as white light.
CFs give us too much blue-end light and not enough red-end. So our brains tell us the light isn’t very “warm.”
But here come LED light emitting diode bulbs. They’re on the right wave length to give us “warm,” but you’re unlikely to pay $30 per bulb. You’re set on the since-1870 technology of the incandescent light bulb.
I’m betting that new light bulbs will get better and the price will come down to about $5. Not too bad if you consider that the latest-invented LED may last 20-plus years and use little electricity.
***
Bob Jones’ “Shedding Some Light On New Bulbs” is valuable, but does need a few tweaks.
First, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs, not CFs) needn’t deliver “too much blue-end light.” The color given off by fluorescent lamps is determined by the mix of RBG (red, blue, green) phosphors. Add more red, and you’ve got warm lamps. Light color is measured by degrees Kelvin (K). Incandescent lamps deliver about 2,800K. You can buy 2,700K CFLs.
Mr. Jones didn’t mention economics. If you have 20 60-watt incandescents in your home burning an average of 1,000 hours a year, you’re paying $372 a year, based on 31 cents per kWh.
(That’s Oahu the Neighbor Islands pay much more.)
Replace the lamps with 15-watt CFLs and you can redirect $279 a year to your family. (By the way, incandescents burn at 450 degrees hot enough to cook steaks. Do we need more heat in our homes?)
Finally, most of Hawaii’s electricity is generated by oil imported largely from countries that don’t like us and are costing us many defense dollars.
If you want to be supporting your family instead of those countries, shift to CFLs or LEDs.
Well, only maybe the latter. California utilities spent $550 million subsidizing CFs and discovered that electricity savings fell 73 percent short of what studies had estimated. And CFs contain mercury.
Some of us don’t like the CFs. It’s about the quality of light.
Incandescents give off “warm” light. CFs still do not. That’s because of our eyes. The natural outdoor light we see is actually our brain taking in many colors from our eyes’ receptors and giving us what we perceive as white light.
CFs give us too much blue-end light and not enough red-end. So our brains tell us the light isn’t very “warm.”
But here come LED light emitting diode bulbs. They’re on the right wave length to give us “warm,” but you’re unlikely to pay $30 per bulb. You’re set on the since-1870 technology of the incandescent light bulb.
I’m betting that new light bulbs will get better and the price will come down to about $5. Not too bad if you consider that the latest-invented LED may last 20-plus years and use little electricity.
***
Bob Jones’ “Shedding Some Light On New Bulbs” is valuable, but does need a few tweaks.
First, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs, not CFs) needn’t deliver “too much blue-end light.” The color given off by fluorescent lamps is determined by the mix of RBG (red, blue, green) phosphors. Add more red, and you’ve got warm lamps. Light color is measured by degrees Kelvin (K). Incandescent lamps deliver about 2,800K. You can buy 2,700K CFLs.
Mr. Jones didn’t mention economics. If you have 20 60-watt incandescents in your home burning an average of 1,000 hours a year, you’re paying $372 a year, based on 31 cents per kWh.
(That’s Oahu the Neighbor Islands pay much more.)
Replace the lamps with 15-watt CFLs and you can redirect $279 a year to your family. (By the way, incandescents burn at 450 degrees hot enough to cook steaks. Do we need more heat in our homes?)
Finally, most of Hawaii’s electricity is generated by oil imported largely from countries that don’t like us and are costing us many defense dollars.
If you want to be supporting your family instead of those countries, shift to CFLs or LEDs.
Friday, November 11, 2011
6 reasons
The Guy Who's Fixing Your Computer Hates You
Pat posted this on his facebook page. What Pat is really thinking when he's fixing your computer.
Pat posted this on his facebook page. What Pat is really thinking when he's fixing your computer.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
ebay email
I recently tried to update my email address on ebay from hawaiiantel.net to gmail.com. Why because I'm transitioning to gmail online instead of hawaiiantel.net on Outlook Express. For one thing, they don't even make Outlook Express anymore. And I can read gmail from any computer.
So I'm changing my email address from xyz@hawaiiantel.net to xyz@gmail.com. But ebay didn't allow me to change it, saying your "eBay user id cannot be the same as your email address". Well my eBay user id isn't my email address, but it's the same prefix. In fact, it's the same prefix currently. I think I must have opened my account before they instituted this policy.
So the message is incorrect. It should say your "eBay user id cannot be changed to be the same prefix as your email address." (Even though it already is, in my case.)
Why? Apparently to decrease spammers. (But out of all my many online accounts, eBay is the only one with this annoyingly safe policy.)
But here's one workaround if you're changing to a gmail account:
If any of you use gmail or google apps, you can trick this.
for example, put yourusername+ebay@gmail.com
Google mail ignores everything after the plus, so the end result is that it goes to yourusername@gmail.com. Hehe.
Don't know if I'm going to try this yet though, since if I change it to gmail and change my mind, I can't change it back to hawaiiantel.net (or to any of my other email addresses which all have the same prefix.
***
[10/29/11] I guess another way to do it is to create another gmail account and have that account forward to your regular email. For now, I have decided to forward hawaiiantel's emails to my gmail account as I want to transition my regular email over to gmail.
So I'm changing my email address from xyz@hawaiiantel.net to xyz@gmail.com. But ebay didn't allow me to change it, saying your "eBay user id cannot be the same as your email address". Well my eBay user id isn't my email address, but it's the same prefix. In fact, it's the same prefix currently. I think I must have opened my account before they instituted this policy.
So the message is incorrect. It should say your "eBay user id cannot be changed to be the same prefix as your email address." (Even though it already is, in my case.)
Why? Apparently to decrease spammers. (But out of all my many online accounts, eBay is the only one with this annoyingly safe policy.)
But here's one workaround if you're changing to a gmail account:
If any of you use gmail or google apps, you can trick this.
for example, put yourusername+ebay@gmail.com
Google mail ignores everything after the plus, so the end result is that it goes to yourusername@gmail.com. Hehe.
Don't know if I'm going to try this yet though, since if I change it to gmail and change my mind, I can't change it back to hawaiiantel.net (or to any of my other email addresses which all have the same prefix.
***
[10/29/11] I guess another way to do it is to create another gmail account and have that account forward to your regular email. For now, I have decided to forward hawaiiantel's emails to my gmail account as I want to transition my regular email over to gmail.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Trash Inc.
Caught the end of this on CNBC. Looked pretty interesting.
Here's the description from their website.
Garbage. It's everywhere — even in the middle of the oceans — and it's pure gold for companies like Waste Management and Republic Services who dominate this $52 billion-a-year industry. From curbside collection by trucks costing $250,000 each, to per-ton tipping fees at landfills, there's money to be made at every point as more than half of the 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year reaches its final resting place.
At a cost of $1 million per acre to construct, operate and ultimately close in an environmentally feasible method, modern landfills are technological marvels — a far cry from the town dump that still resonates in most people's perceptions. Not only do they make money for their owners, they add millions to the economic wellbeing of the towns that house them. Technologies, such as Landfill Natural Gas and Waste To Energy, are giving garbage a second life, turning trash into power sources and helping to solve mounting problems. It's particularly important in places like Hawaii, where disposal space is an issue, and in China, where land and energy are needed and trash is plentiful.
One sure thing about the garbage business: it's always picking up.
And the program is available at the website as well.
Here's the description from their website.
Garbage. It's everywhere — even in the middle of the oceans — and it's pure gold for companies like Waste Management and Republic Services who dominate this $52 billion-a-year industry. From curbside collection by trucks costing $250,000 each, to per-ton tipping fees at landfills, there's money to be made at every point as more than half of the 250 million tons of trash created in the United States each year reaches its final resting place.
At a cost of $1 million per acre to construct, operate and ultimately close in an environmentally feasible method, modern landfills are technological marvels — a far cry from the town dump that still resonates in most people's perceptions. Not only do they make money for their owners, they add millions to the economic wellbeing of the towns that house them. Technologies, such as Landfill Natural Gas and Waste To Energy, are giving garbage a second life, turning trash into power sources and helping to solve mounting problems. It's particularly important in places like Hawaii, where disposal space is an issue, and in China, where land and energy are needed and trash is plentiful.
One sure thing about the garbage business: it's always picking up.
And the program is available at the website as well.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
internet on your TV (or TV over your internet)
I've (and you) have been bombarded by Roku ads while browsing in the last couple of weeks.
I had been considering buying a laptop to hook up to my Panasonic Plasma TV, but Roku may be the cheaper way to go.
Roku is a device that allows you to access Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and more and view the content on your TV. It's small and cheap and apparently works fairly well. However it's not the full internet (no web browser, no youtube yet). Reviews have generally been positive.
Another option is Google TV. This doesn't seem as readily available. And is available only on select Sony TVs, Sony Blu-Ray players, or via the Logitech Revue box. The Logitech Revue looks a little more clunky than the Roku but apparently allows you to access the whole internet and includes a keyboard. Here's a review. Ah, not quite everything. No Hulu. Or ABC or CBS.
Another competing device is Apple TV (see end of Roku review). Looks pretty good, but no Hulu Plus (not sure why).
[10/24/11] How about the boxee? And others!
Will these replace my subscription to my cable TV. Not for me. No ESPN is the main bugaboo. But if you just want to watch movies or TV, I could live w/o paying the $90 per month that Oceanic charges for my HD Entertainment Pack and DVR.
Maybe PlayOn will work? But apparently it streams from the internet, so it's doubtful they would stream live games. Apparently you can watch ESPN, but you have to be a Time Warner subscriber already. So what's the point?
[10/24/11] And apparently you can't watch Hulu, only Hulu Plus, on the Roku (and I assume on any of the other devices too).
[12/27/11] Tried out the Roku which was set up at Best Buy yesterday. It occassionally pauses for a significant amount of time, I assume due to internet traffic and/or buffering. But once it gets going, it's not bad. For one thing, you get free Three Stooges episodes at crackle (though I got em all now on dvd). And also kdrama (korean dramas) which are apparently normally only available as an apple app. Then I went over to Costco and saw it selling there for like 15 bucks cheaper. The Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper too. Like in the $60 range now.
[6/11/12] Here's JDoyle32's setup. He cancelled his cable in 2008.
[6/18/12] What's the difference between Roku LT and Roku HD? Not much (aside from 10 bucks).
[12/28/13] Another difference, according to erikvines, is the the LT has 256MB flash memory while the HD has 2GB. But according to wikipedia, both the LT and HD have 256 MiB.
[12/11/12] Ah, here's a difference between the Roku 2 and the older Roku boxes. The Roku 2 supports closed caption on Netflx.
[12/11/12] Ah, apparently Roku LT supports closed caption too. How about my Roku HD? maybe, since it's a "new" Roku. Nope. So there's another difference between the LT and HD.
[6/20/12] A nice review of the Roku 2 XS (which I saw at Costco for 79.99).
[10/31/12] Here's a Roku-like device (I think this was the one I saw in a Best Buy ad some months ago) called NeoTV from Netgear. One advantage: native youtube access. One disadvantage: connects only via HDMI. And currently only $39 online from Dell. Gets mixed reviews on Amazon. The Roku gets better reviews on Amazon and is the same price as from roku.com.
[11/13/12] lifehacker's guide to watching TV shows and movies on the internet (without cable)
[3/5/13] Here's another article from DailyFinance (from two years ago)
[11/28/12] Hey, gave in to the black friday frenzy and picked up a roku at Best Buy on Saturday. Good deal. It's the Roku HD, normally $59.99, but on sale for only $39.99 (plus tax).
Spent a couple of days browsing channels. And some channels are pretty quirky. It ain't live TV. There's only a few live channels. Not much in sports. It allows you to look at your facebook photos and videos on TV. No hulu, no youtube. But then I came across this channel VideoBuzz. It allows you to access your youtube videos sometimes even better than youtube. The search function brings up some playlists that I couldn't find on the youtube site (or I don't know how to find playlists on youtube). This alone probably makes this investment worthwhile as there's a lot of videos available youtube (temporarily anyway as the legality of some these are questionable). Even VideoBuzz might be of questionable legality as Google has taken away youtube access from roku before. It's kind of like a pirate NetFlix.
[12/25/12] looking up tablets, I went from this page to this page to this page to this page where I came across Aereo. What's this? It's a service in New York which allows you to watch the major network TV channels over the internet without cable or an antenna. This would seem to be the future. But they're getting hit by lawsuit after lawsuit. So maybe not.
[4/1/13] In a blow to major TV broadcasters, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that startup Aereo can continue to stream live local TV through its website and app.
Consumer groups applauded the decision because it ushers in greater flexibility in choosing TV shows without paying a hefty cable bill. However it also signals that more legal fights will likely be waged by broadcasters eager to hold on to advertising revenues and retransmission fees that cable companies pay to carry their channels.
Backed by Barry Diller's IAC Interactive, Aereo enables subscribers to stream live broadcast content from local stations - including the networks, public television and Spanish language channels - on their desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
[1/30/13] Lifehacker reviews and compares Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee, WD TV Live. [The reviewer actually likes his homebrew XBMC the best.]
And a comparison between Roku and WD TV Live (which Libert has). The main advantage of WD Live is you can play media files on a usb drive. One error, this review seems to think that roku supports youtube. [and there's this report that WD is blocking youtube videos]
[8/29/13] Disney added to Apple TV lineup. Roku has that already. But I see they previously added ESPN. So that might be reason no. 2 for Apple TV. The ability to stream (AirPlay) from your ipad or itune to TV plus ESPN.
Hmm.. Chromecast can now do that too, but no ESPN yet. Not on Roku either.
[10/12/13] which streaming device is right for you?
[2/13/14] Another article comparing the Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast. [and previously posted on my What's On Roku post: Here's a smackdown between the Chromecast, Roku 3, Apple TV. Notable is that Netflix takes longer to load on the Apple TV.]
I had been considering buying a laptop to hook up to my Panasonic Plasma TV, but Roku may be the cheaper way to go.
Roku is a device that allows you to access Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Video, and more and view the content on your TV. It's small and cheap and apparently works fairly well. However it's not the full internet (no web browser, no youtube yet). Reviews have generally been positive.
Another option is Google TV. This doesn't seem as readily available. And is available only on select Sony TVs, Sony Blu-Ray players, or via the Logitech Revue box. The Logitech Revue looks a little more clunky than the Roku but apparently allows you to access the whole internet and includes a keyboard. Here's a review. Ah, not quite everything. No Hulu. Or ABC or CBS.
Another competing device is Apple TV (see end of Roku review). Looks pretty good, but no Hulu Plus (not sure why).
[10/24/11] How about the boxee? And others!
Will these replace my subscription to my cable TV. Not for me. No ESPN is the main bugaboo. But if you just want to watch movies or TV, I could live w/o paying the $90 per month that Oceanic charges for my HD Entertainment Pack and DVR.
Maybe PlayOn will work? But apparently it streams from the internet, so it's doubtful they would stream live games. Apparently you can watch ESPN, but you have to be a Time Warner subscriber already. So what's the point?
[10/24/11] And apparently you can't watch Hulu, only Hulu Plus, on the Roku (and I assume on any of the other devices too).
[12/27/11] Tried out the Roku which was set up at Best Buy yesterday. It occassionally pauses for a significant amount of time, I assume due to internet traffic and/or buffering. But once it gets going, it's not bad. For one thing, you get free Three Stooges episodes at crackle (though I got em all now on dvd). And also kdrama (korean dramas) which are apparently normally only available as an apple app. Then I went over to Costco and saw it selling there for like 15 bucks cheaper. The Blu-Ray players are getting cheaper too. Like in the $60 range now.
[6/11/12] Here's JDoyle32's setup. He cancelled his cable in 2008.
[6/18/12] What's the difference between Roku LT and Roku HD? Not much (aside from 10 bucks).
[12/28/13] Another difference, according to erikvines, is the the LT has 256MB flash memory while the HD has 2GB. But according to wikipedia, both the LT and HD have 256 MiB.
[12/11/12] Ah, here's a difference between the Roku 2 and the older Roku boxes. The Roku 2 supports closed caption on Netflx.
[12/11/12] Ah, apparently Roku LT supports closed caption too. How about my Roku HD? maybe, since it's a "new" Roku. Nope. So there's another difference between the LT and HD.
[6/20/12] A nice review of the Roku 2 XS (which I saw at Costco for 79.99).
[10/31/12] Here's a Roku-like device (I think this was the one I saw in a Best Buy ad some months ago) called NeoTV from Netgear. One advantage: native youtube access. One disadvantage: connects only via HDMI. And currently only $39 online from Dell. Gets mixed reviews on Amazon. The Roku gets better reviews on Amazon and is the same price as from roku.com.
[11/13/12] lifehacker's guide to watching TV shows and movies on the internet (without cable)
[3/5/13] Here's another article from DailyFinance (from two years ago)
[11/28/12] Hey, gave in to the black friday frenzy and picked up a roku at Best Buy on Saturday. Good deal. It's the Roku HD, normally $59.99, but on sale for only $39.99 (plus tax).
Spent a couple of days browsing channels. And some channels are pretty quirky. It ain't live TV. There's only a few live channels. Not much in sports. It allows you to look at your facebook photos and videos on TV. No hulu, no youtube. But then I came across this channel VideoBuzz. It allows you to access your youtube videos sometimes even better than youtube. The search function brings up some playlists that I couldn't find on the youtube site (or I don't know how to find playlists on youtube). This alone probably makes this investment worthwhile as there's a lot of videos available youtube (temporarily anyway as the legality of some these are questionable). Even VideoBuzz might be of questionable legality as Google has taken away youtube access from roku before. It's kind of like a pirate NetFlix.
[12/25/12] looking up tablets, I went from this page to this page to this page to this page where I came across Aereo. What's this? It's a service in New York which allows you to watch the major network TV channels over the internet without cable or an antenna. This would seem to be the future. But they're getting hit by lawsuit after lawsuit. So maybe not.
[4/1/13] In a blow to major TV broadcasters, a federal appeals court ruled Monday that startup Aereo can continue to stream live local TV through its website and app.
Consumer groups applauded the decision because it ushers in greater flexibility in choosing TV shows without paying a hefty cable bill. However it also signals that more legal fights will likely be waged by broadcasters eager to hold on to advertising revenues and retransmission fees that cable companies pay to carry their channels.
Backed by Barry Diller's IAC Interactive, Aereo enables subscribers to stream live broadcast content from local stations - including the networks, public television and Spanish language channels - on their desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.
[1/30/13] Lifehacker reviews and compares Apple TV, Google TV, Roku, Boxee, WD TV Live. [The reviewer actually likes his homebrew XBMC the best.]
And a comparison between Roku and WD TV Live (which Libert has). The main advantage of WD Live is you can play media files on a usb drive. One error, this review seems to think that roku supports youtube. [and there's this report that WD is blocking youtube videos]
[8/29/13] Disney added to Apple TV lineup. Roku has that already. But I see they previously added ESPN. So that might be reason no. 2 for Apple TV. The ability to stream (AirPlay) from your ipad or itune to TV plus ESPN.
Hmm.. Chromecast can now do that too, but no ESPN yet. Not on Roku either.
[10/12/13] which streaming device is right for you?
[2/13/14] Another article comparing the Roku, Apple TV, Chromecast. [and previously posted on my What's On Roku post: Here's a smackdown between the Chromecast, Roku 3, Apple TV. Notable is that Netflix takes longer to load on the Apple TV.]
Thursday, October 13, 2011
hiding a page from google
I have some webpages on htohananet.com that I want to modify or remove, but hawaiiantel cut off my access to it a couple of years ago without telling me (well it was someplace on their website, but who looks there? I found out only after the fact.)
Anyway, hawaiiantel now says they no longer have access to those pages. And what's worse, couldn't direct me to anybody who does.
Anyway, the site has now been spidered by google. And google effectively says virtually anything on the web is up for grabs (except for confidential information like social security numbers).
Well, to prevent this from happening again, I want to prevent the search engines from finding some webpages when I upload them to another site.
And here's a page that tells me how.
From what I gather, all you have to do is create a robots.txt file with the following commands:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
Alternatively, you can insert this meta tag in the HEAD section of the page
***
Here's google's instructions.
Anyway, hawaiiantel now says they no longer have access to those pages. And what's worse, couldn't direct me to anybody who does.
Anyway, the site has now been spidered by google. And google effectively says virtually anything on the web is up for grabs (except for confidential information like social security numbers).
Well, to prevent this from happening again, I want to prevent the search engines from finding some webpages when I upload them to another site.
And here's a page that tells me how.
From what I gather, all you have to do is create a robots.txt file with the following commands:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /
Alternatively, you can insert this meta tag in the HEAD section of the page
***
Here's google's instructions.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Steve Jobs steps down as Apple CEO
Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple after nearly 14 years at the helm of the company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976, Apple's board of directors said in a statement after the close of trading on Wednesday. Jobs has been elected chairman of Apple's board.
The board has named Tim Cook, previously the company's chief operating officer, as Jobs' replacement as Apple's CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately, the statement said.
"Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company," said Apple director and Genentech chairman Art Levinson, in the statement.
"Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as chairman of the board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration."
Jobs submitted his resignation earlier Wednesday and "strongly recommended that the board implement its succession plan" and name Cook as CEO, the statement said.
Apple released Jobs' resignation letter, which read as follows:
"To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
—Steve
Jobs' first stint at Apple began with the company's founding on April 1, 1976 as a vehicle for selling Jobs' and Wozniak's Apple I personal computer kit. Wayne left shortly thereafter, but Jobs and Wozniak went on to help usher in the personal computing revolution with innovative machines that were among the first to use graphical user interfaces, helping knock IBM from its perch as the dominant PC vendor.
Jobs resigned from Apple in 1984 following a power struggle with its board of directors, going on to found the computer platform developer NeXT and help build Pixar Animation Studios. He returned to Apple in 1996 as a result of the company's buyout of NeXT, was named interim CEO in 1997, and became permanent CEO in 2000.
His second stint at Apple was even more successful than his first. Jobs rescued Apple from irrelevance with a string of popular products using the letter "i" as calling card—the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad—and even referred to himself in 2000 as Apple's "iCEO."
In recent years, Jobs' health has led to extended leaves of absence from his regular duties as CEO. In the mid-2000s he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and in public appearances he appeared to have lost considerable weight.
He underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and in the ensuing years, Jobs had ceded many of his duties running Apple's day-to-day operations to Cook, though he still made public appearances at Apple product launches and its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, as well as hosting the company's quarterly earnings calls.
The board has named Tim Cook, previously the company's chief operating officer, as Jobs' replacement as Apple's CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately, the statement said.
"Steve's extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world's most innovative and valuable technology company," said Apple director and Genentech chairman Art Levinson, in the statement.
"Steve has made countless contributions to Apple's success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple's immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as chairman of the board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration."
Jobs submitted his resignation earlier Wednesday and "strongly recommended that the board implement its succession plan" and name Cook as CEO, the statement said.
Apple released Jobs' resignation letter, which read as follows:
"To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.
As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple's brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.
I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
—Steve
Jobs' first stint at Apple began with the company's founding on April 1, 1976 as a vehicle for selling Jobs' and Wozniak's Apple I personal computer kit. Wayne left shortly thereafter, but Jobs and Wozniak went on to help usher in the personal computing revolution with innovative machines that were among the first to use graphical user interfaces, helping knock IBM from its perch as the dominant PC vendor.
Jobs resigned from Apple in 1984 following a power struggle with its board of directors, going on to found the computer platform developer NeXT and help build Pixar Animation Studios. He returned to Apple in 1996 as a result of the company's buyout of NeXT, was named interim CEO in 1997, and became permanent CEO in 2000.
His second stint at Apple was even more successful than his first. Jobs rescued Apple from irrelevance with a string of popular products using the letter "i" as calling card—the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad—and even referred to himself in 2000 as Apple's "iCEO."
In recent years, Jobs' health has led to extended leaves of absence from his regular duties as CEO. In the mid-2000s he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and in public appearances he appeared to have lost considerable weight.
He underwent a liver transplant in 2009, and in the ensuing years, Jobs had ceded many of his duties running Apple's day-to-day operations to Cook, though he still made public appearances at Apple product launches and its annual Worldwide Developers Conference, as well as hosting the company's quarterly earnings calls.
Sunday, July 03, 2011
Hydrofracked?
I was never really interested in this topic, but it was the subject of much discussion at chucks_angels (well, it was a fair number of posts by a relatively few number of posters -- as is par for the course for these discussion groups).
The topic is how environmentally safe is fracking?
Apparently much of the recent discussion was ignited by a New York Times article.
[Hey, how safe is anything?]
*** [7/4/11]
Somewhat related: gurufocus commentary on New York Times vs. Aubrey McClendon
The topic is how environmentally safe is fracking?
Apparently much of the recent discussion was ignited by a New York Times article.
[Hey, how safe is anything?]
*** [7/4/11]
Somewhat related: gurufocus commentary on New York Times vs. Aubrey McClendon
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
chinese inventions
The four great inventions of ancient China were: papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, printing. I get the other three, but the compass?
They also invented lots of other stuff.
[via veryearly1@chucks_angels, 2/24/10]
They also invented lots of other stuff.
[via veryearly1@chucks_angels, 2/24/10]
Friday, June 24, 2011
typing special characters
[6/24/11] For a while (meaning years) I've been trying to figure out how to insert a bullet point in google docs. When I copy and paste from the Credit Suisse daily report the bullets turn into exclamation points. However once in a while, the copy and paste actually turns into a bullet. So I could copy and paste that, if I could remember in what document it was in.
Anyway, I finally figured out (googled successfully) how to do it. It's ALT-0149. Found from this list.
[4/16/15] Actually, it's easier to type in ALT-7.
[4/6/17] I haven't been able to figure out how to type a bullet point on my HP 2000 laptop (I think it's not possible). So I would google bullet point and copy and paste from that web page.
Here's another way via this 10 Amazing Websites video. Go to notengoenie.com and click on the bullet point (the last item on the fifth row). That copies it to your clipboard.
Anyway, I finally figured out (googled successfully) how to do it. It's ALT-0149. Found from this list.
[4/16/15] Actually, it's easier to type in ALT-7.
[4/6/17] I haven't been able to figure out how to type a bullet point on my HP 2000 laptop (I think it's not possible). So I would google bullet point and copy and paste from that web page.
Here's another way via this 10 Amazing Websites video. Go to notengoenie.com and click on the bullet point (the last item on the fifth row). That copies it to your clipboard.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Kasparov and computers
Garry Kasparov supposedly is reviewing the book Chess Metaphors, but it actually sounds like he's writing his history of the evolution computers in the chess world.
[link via brknews, 2/12/10]
[link via brknews, 2/12/10]
Monday, June 06, 2011
antimatter captured
Okay, so antimatter's nothing like lightning, really, but bottling it in a kind of containment field? Doesn't sound like the safest gig. More like something you'd catch Geordi La Forge trying during some wild hair zero-sum Star Trek plotline involving aliens, the Holodeck, rerouting power from life support, and a self-destruct sequence.
Thankfully nothing self-destructed when CERN researchers first created, then forced antihydrogen atoms to hang around for an unprecedented 16 minutes, 40 seconds. That's roughly 16 minutes and 40 seconds longer than the first attempt roughly a year ago, which only managed to snag antihydrogen for a trifling 172 milliseconds (about two-tenths of a second). The new results were published in Nature, impassively titled "Confinement of antihydrogen for 1,000 seconds."
Thankfully nothing self-destructed when CERN researchers first created, then forced antihydrogen atoms to hang around for an unprecedented 16 minutes, 40 seconds. That's roughly 16 minutes and 40 seconds longer than the first attempt roughly a year ago, which only managed to snag antihydrogen for a trifling 172 milliseconds (about two-tenths of a second). The new results were published in Nature, impassively titled "Confinement of antihydrogen for 1,000 seconds."
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
recording to VCR is officially obsolete
The Navigator is the new interface for Oceanic cable boxes. It looks snazzier and I suppose it has some new features that I'll find useful (e.g. like finding shows).
However to me it's not an upgrade if you can't do something that you could do with the old version.
In particular, they have removed the record to VCR feature (actually I was using it to record to my DVD-recorder). What this feature allows you to do is to record to your VCR while watching another show. So now in order to record, you have to watch the same show that you're recording.
I confirmed that this feature has been removed when I chatted online with one of the Oceanic reps (or whoever he was working with). He said (or read from his prepared responses) that it was not supported because the VCR is "obsolete" technology. [here's the quote: "I am sorry, Mr. Ching, but that option is not available anymore, the VCR is an obsolete technology and we do not work with it anymore."] In other words, it is now obsolete to want to save shows for posterity?
I think it's more like the media companies don't want to kill sales of Blu-Ray disks or streaming video. So they're not supporting anything that might hamper their sales in any fashion.
***
Now I see at the Navigator link above, that there is a link for saving recordings to VHS. And actually it wasn't written in response to the removal of the Save To VCR feature. It was because the Navigator also removed support for external hard drives. So they provided instructions to save the recordings to VCR before the switchover to the new Navigator. So if you have recordings on an external hard drive and didn't save them -- too bad. I guess they are deeming external hard drives as obsolete technology too.
However to me it's not an upgrade if you can't do something that you could do with the old version.
In particular, they have removed the record to VCR feature (actually I was using it to record to my DVD-recorder). What this feature allows you to do is to record to your VCR while watching another show. So now in order to record, you have to watch the same show that you're recording.
I confirmed that this feature has been removed when I chatted online with one of the Oceanic reps (or whoever he was working with). He said (or read from his prepared responses) that it was not supported because the VCR is "obsolete" technology. [here's the quote: "I am sorry, Mr. Ching, but that option is not available anymore, the VCR is an obsolete technology and we do not work with it anymore."] In other words, it is now obsolete to want to save shows for posterity?
I think it's more like the media companies don't want to kill sales of Blu-Ray disks or streaming video. So they're not supporting anything that might hamper their sales in any fashion.
***
Now I see at the Navigator link above, that there is a link for saving recordings to VHS. And actually it wasn't written in response to the removal of the Save To VCR feature. It was because the Navigator also removed support for external hard drives. So they provided instructions to save the recordings to VCR before the switchover to the new Navigator. So if you have recordings on an external hard drive and didn't save them -- too bad. I guess they are deeming external hard drives as obsolete technology too.
Saturday, May 07, 2011
teachparentstech
TeachParentsTech.org is filled with more than 50 basic how-to videos that you can send to your parents, or really anyone who might need a little tech help. These videos cover a wide range of topics from copying and pasting to how to video chat (one that I had to deal with recently). Each video is very brief (less than a minute), so they should be able to sit through them without their eyes glazing over.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Zuckerberg Time's Person of the Year
For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives, Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is TIME's 2010 Person of the Year.
At 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest "Person of the Year" since the first one chosen, Charles Lindbergh; he was 25 when he was named in 1927, Time said Wednesday. Zuckerberg beat out Britain's Queen Elizabeth II by just two weeks: She was 26 when she was named in 1952.
Zuckerberg has built Facebook into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. In this new world, users are able to construct a social network well beyond what would ever be possible face-to-face.
"I'm trying to make the world a more open place," Zuckerberg says in the "bio" line of his own Facebook page.
At 26, Zuckerberg is the youngest "Person of the Year" since the first one chosen, Charles Lindbergh; he was 25 when he was named in 1927, Time said Wednesday. Zuckerberg beat out Britain's Queen Elizabeth II by just two weeks: She was 26 when she was named in 1952.
Zuckerberg has built Facebook into an international phenomenon by stretching the lines of social convention and embracing a new and far more permeable definition of community. In this new world, users are able to construct a social network well beyond what would ever be possible face-to-face.
"I'm trying to make the world a more open place," Zuckerberg says in the "bio" line of his own Facebook page.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
WarCraft II on Vista
For some reason, I thought WarCraft II didn't run on Vista. Maybe it's because I noted previously on my old CyberClub page that Vista didn't support IPX. Actually I never tried to run it.
But Libert called me tonight. He's back in Hawaii.
Got me to google WarCraft II and Vista and found there's a version that works on Vista. Available at war2custom.com. Don't feel like I'm pirating it because I already have like six legitimate copies of War2:BNE.
Downloaded and tried it and it runs on Vista. I think it's best launched by running War2Launcher. Didn't try to play with anybody. Apparently the only server that works is the Russian server.
***
[10/14/14] Supposedly a few people at Blizzard were working to get War2 working on the newer operating systems (I assume Windows 7 and 8). Well, it's been almost a year since the article.
But Libert called me tonight. He's back in Hawaii.
Got me to google WarCraft II and Vista and found there's a version that works on Vista. Available at war2custom.com. Don't feel like I'm pirating it because I already have like six legitimate copies of War2:BNE.
Downloaded and tried it and it runs on Vista. I think it's best launched by running War2Launcher. Didn't try to play with anybody. Apparently the only server that works is the Russian server.
***
[10/14/14] Supposedly a few people at Blizzard were working to get War2 working on the newer operating systems (I assume Windows 7 and 8). Well, it's been almost a year since the article.
Monday, February 28, 2011
my Blu-Ray player
Hey, got my Blu-Ray player. Got it from Sue who got it from Howard who apparently bought a new one. Sue didn't really need it because she only has standard def TV. (I guess I can give it back when she gets her wide-screen TV.)
I ran XXX: State of the Union on it and compared it to the DVD running on my DVD recorder. The picture does look sharper, but it's not as great of a difference as watching a show on a HD channel on cable vs. the SD channel. Well, for one thing, the DVD does show up as wide-screen. The second thing is that my TV is 720p so that the difference between 480p and 720p isn't as big as 480p and 1080p. (Though I read that it's hard to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p anyway.)
Another difference is that the spoken audio seems softer on the Blu-Ray. I think it's made to be played on audio equipment while I'm just using the sound on the TV. When I play other tracks, the sound is louder. Adjusting the Audio DRC setting on the player (as suggested in the manual) didn't seem to make much difference. But the audio track on the special feature was louder. And when I tried Kung Fu Hustle, the Chinese audio was louder than the English. Now I'm trying the XXX DVD on the Blu-Ray player and the sound does seem a little louder (trying to compare the spoken audio volume with the background music).
Another difference was that the subtitles were smaller and smoother. The DVD subtitles were more blocky and yellow, while the Blu-Ray subtitles were white.
One more thing. I tried playing a full frame DVD (The Mummy) on the Blu-Ray player and the picture was stretched to the edges of the screen (making everything look fatter). [Trying out my full-frame Star Trek: TOS DVD -- yep same thing.] My DVD recorder actually does the same thing, but if I force the HDMI mode back to 480p, then the picture has the proper aspect ratio. (see my earlier post below) I think the TV interprets anything over 480p as a wide-screen signal and stretches the signal. (Either that or the DVD player is stretching it.) The Blu-Ray player seems to upscale everything to 1080p (looking at the info display from the TV). I don't see anyway around it. Well, maybe if I hooked up the Blu-Ray player with the A/V cables to the composite input.. (A project for later just to satisfy my curiosity. ... Yep, that works.)
Anyway, based on this initial viewing I wouldn't say a Blu-Ray player is a must-have. The Blu-Ray picture is sharper, but isn't really a quantum-leap over a DVD. I think it would be be more of a difference if you have a 50" screen or bigger (I have a 42" plasma). Or have better eyes than me.
***
Playing the XXX: SOTU special feature on the Blu-Ray. The picture is stretched. Popping in the DVD into my DVD-Recorder shows that the special feature was shot in full-frame. Changing the TV aspect ratio to 4:3 shrinks the picture horizontally solves the problem for the DVD. But changing it to 4:3 on the Blu-Ray just cuts the sides off.
Don't notice any complaints on the internet about this. So maybe it's not a common problem to Blu-Ray players but a problem with my Panansonic TV. Maybe not, because I see in my anamorphic/non-anamorphic post below that the Sony had the same problem.)
... Now trying out the XXX Blu-Ray special feature with A/V cables. OK, that works. The output is 480i and switching to 4:3 doesn't cut off the edges. Actually the picture isn't that bad. I bet a lot of people hook up their Blu-Ray player that way (especially if the player didn't come with an HDMI cable in the box) and think they're watching Hi-Def.
***
Now I'm trying my Criterion Collection Armageddon which is non-anamorphic wide-screen. I'm surprised to see it display at the proper aspect ratio with the Panasonic TV in full mode. But actually it's apparently automatically zooming the picture because when I turn on the sub-titles the bottom line is cut off. I guess that's a choice that Sony made, to automatically zoom non-anamorphic DVDs?
When I play the same DVD on my Toshiba DVD-Recorder in full mode, the picture is stretched horizontally. I have to set it to 480p mode on the DVD player and 4:3 or zoom on the TV to get the proper proportion. Zoom fills the screen horizontally. (Again, it's in the post below.)
***
[11/20/11] OK found the fix to the problem on page 41 of the manual. Changed the Screen Format in Video Settings from Original to Fixed Aspect Ratio. "Changes the picture size to fit the screen size with the original picture aspect ratio."
XXX: SOTU feature now plays fine with black bars on each side. Also tested The Mummy Returns, King of Queens, Three Stooges. All OK. Dog Whisperer Season 2 and 3. Both are wide-screen, but non-anamorphic, so the picture is small with black borders on top and bottom as well as the sides (you can still zoom it with the TV). Season 4 is wide-screen, anamorphic and filled the screen as it should.
[7/25/12] I don't know if this is the same problem, but when I play my DVR-R recordings of widescreen, the aspect ratio is fine when I play it on the TV via HDMI (though the whole picture is shrunk, so I zoom it). But when playing it via the composite connection, when I zoom it, it just zooms vertically to fill the top and bottom bars, but the side bars remain. So the picture looks squeezed from the sides.
Popping in my Armageddon, the picture now looks fine in full mode on the TV. [Actually the picture looks pretty good - the Blu-Ray must be automatically upscaling] Though the sub-titles are still cut off.
Setting the Blu-Ray player from fixed aspect ratio to original. And back to Dogs In The City. The picture via HDMI now looks stretched horizontally. But via composite, the 4:3 and zoom modes look in proportion.
Putting back in Armageddon. The picture still looks stretched vertically in zoom mode. OK, I dunno. I guess I'll have to work it on a case-by-case basis. Between full and zoom. And between original and fixed aspect ratio.
I ran XXX: State of the Union on it and compared it to the DVD running on my DVD recorder. The picture does look sharper, but it's not as great of a difference as watching a show on a HD channel on cable vs. the SD channel. Well, for one thing, the DVD does show up as wide-screen. The second thing is that my TV is 720p so that the difference between 480p and 720p isn't as big as 480p and 1080p. (Though I read that it's hard to tell the difference between 720p and 1080p anyway.)
Another difference is that the spoken audio seems softer on the Blu-Ray. I think it's made to be played on audio equipment while I'm just using the sound on the TV. When I play other tracks, the sound is louder. Adjusting the Audio DRC setting on the player (as suggested in the manual) didn't seem to make much difference. But the audio track on the special feature was louder. And when I tried Kung Fu Hustle, the Chinese audio was louder than the English. Now I'm trying the XXX DVD on the Blu-Ray player and the sound does seem a little louder (trying to compare the spoken audio volume with the background music).
Another difference was that the subtitles were smaller and smoother. The DVD subtitles were more blocky and yellow, while the Blu-Ray subtitles were white.
One more thing. I tried playing a full frame DVD (The Mummy) on the Blu-Ray player and the picture was stretched to the edges of the screen (making everything look fatter). [Trying out my full-frame Star Trek: TOS DVD -- yep same thing.] My DVD recorder actually does the same thing, but if I force the HDMI mode back to 480p, then the picture has the proper aspect ratio. (see my earlier post below) I think the TV interprets anything over 480p as a wide-screen signal and stretches the signal. (Either that or the DVD player is stretching it.) The Blu-Ray player seems to upscale everything to 1080p (looking at the info display from the TV). I don't see anyway around it. Well, maybe if I hooked up the Blu-Ray player with the A/V cables to the composite input.. (A project for later just to satisfy my curiosity. ... Yep, that works.)
Anyway, based on this initial viewing I wouldn't say a Blu-Ray player is a must-have. The Blu-Ray picture is sharper, but isn't really a quantum-leap over a DVD. I think it would be be more of a difference if you have a 50" screen or bigger (I have a 42" plasma). Or have better eyes than me.
***
Playing the XXX: SOTU special feature on the Blu-Ray. The picture is stretched. Popping in the DVD into my DVD-Recorder shows that the special feature was shot in full-frame. Changing the TV aspect ratio to 4:3 shrinks the picture horizontally solves the problem for the DVD. But changing it to 4:3 on the Blu-Ray just cuts the sides off.
Don't notice any complaints on the internet about this. So maybe it's not a common problem to Blu-Ray players but a problem with my Panansonic TV. Maybe not, because I see in my anamorphic/non-anamorphic post below that the Sony had the same problem.)
... Now trying out the XXX Blu-Ray special feature with A/V cables. OK, that works. The output is 480i and switching to 4:3 doesn't cut off the edges. Actually the picture isn't that bad. I bet a lot of people hook up their Blu-Ray player that way (especially if the player didn't come with an HDMI cable in the box) and think they're watching Hi-Def.
***
Now I'm trying my Criterion Collection Armageddon which is non-anamorphic wide-screen. I'm surprised to see it display at the proper aspect ratio with the Panasonic TV in full mode. But actually it's apparently automatically zooming the picture because when I turn on the sub-titles the bottom line is cut off. I guess that's a choice that Sony made, to automatically zoom non-anamorphic DVDs?
When I play the same DVD on my Toshiba DVD-Recorder in full mode, the picture is stretched horizontally. I have to set it to 480p mode on the DVD player and 4:3 or zoom on the TV to get the proper proportion. Zoom fills the screen horizontally. (Again, it's in the post below.)
***
[11/20/11] OK found the fix to the problem on page 41 of the manual. Changed the Screen Format in Video Settings from Original to Fixed Aspect Ratio. "Changes the picture size to fit the screen size with the original picture aspect ratio."
XXX: SOTU feature now plays fine with black bars on each side. Also tested The Mummy Returns, King of Queens, Three Stooges. All OK. Dog Whisperer Season 2 and 3. Both are wide-screen, but non-anamorphic, so the picture is small with black borders on top and bottom as well as the sides (you can still zoom it with the TV). Season 4 is wide-screen, anamorphic and filled the screen as it should.
[7/25/12] I don't know if this is the same problem, but when I play my DVR-R recordings of widescreen, the aspect ratio is fine when I play it on the TV via HDMI (though the whole picture is shrunk, so I zoom it). But when playing it via the composite connection, when I zoom it, it just zooms vertically to fill the top and bottom bars, but the side bars remain. So the picture looks squeezed from the sides.
Popping in my Armageddon, the picture now looks fine in full mode on the TV. [Actually the picture looks pretty good - the Blu-Ray must be automatically upscaling] Though the sub-titles are still cut off.
Setting the Blu-Ray player from fixed aspect ratio to original. And back to Dogs In The City. The picture via HDMI now looks stretched horizontally. But via composite, the 4:3 and zoom modes look in proportion.
Putting back in Armageddon. The picture still looks stretched vertically in zoom mode. OK, I dunno. I guess I'll have to work it on a case-by-case basis. Between full and zoom. And between original and fixed aspect ratio.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
WTH Oceanic DVR?
I just took a look at the shows recorded on my Oceanic DVR. Only three are left!
Somehow they all got set to erase after a certain amount of days and those older than a couple of weeks are gone!
And the option to change the save time of the recorded ones is gone (at least I don't see it now).
I'm pissed, err I mean somewhat upset... Well good thing I recorded most of the ones I wanted to keep already.
***
OK, now I see the option to change save time. Select the show and the option is two above Play. (The option is missing for the show currently being played.) It's like I turned on the option to auto-erase without realizing it. I'll blame it on myself this time, unless I see a bunch of other complaints around this time.
I still think the box reset and the settings changed. The power did get unplugged this morning.
Looking more. Turning on auto-erase shouldn't have erased the shows that were set to do not erase. So I'm back to blaming Oceanic.
***
Hey cool. I see it's possible to upgrade your DVR (this model anyway) by plugging in an external hard drive.
Somehow they all got set to erase after a certain amount of days and those older than a couple of weeks are gone!
And the option to change the save time of the recorded ones is gone (at least I don't see it now).
I'm pissed, err I mean somewhat upset... Well good thing I recorded most of the ones I wanted to keep already.
***
OK, now I see the option to change save time. Select the show and the option is two above Play. (The option is missing for the show currently being played.) It's like I turned on the option to auto-erase without realizing it. I'll blame it on myself this time, unless I see a bunch of other complaints around this time.
I still think the box reset and the settings changed. The power did get unplugged this morning.
Looking more. Turning on auto-erase shouldn't have erased the shows that were set to do not erase. So I'm back to blaming Oceanic.
***
Hey cool. I see it's possible to upgrade your DVR (this model anyway) by plugging in an external hard drive.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Watson wins on Jeopardy (baby)
Machines first out-calculated us in simple math. Then they replaced us on the assembly lines, explored places we couldn't get to, even beat our champions at chess. Now a computer called Watson has bested our best at "Jeopardy!"
A gigantic computer created by IBM specifically to excel at answers-and-questions left two champs of the TV game show in its silicon dust after a three-day tournament, a feat that experts call a technological breakthrough.
Watson earned $77,147, versus $24,000 for Ken Jennings and $21,600 for Brad Rutter. Jennings took it in stride writing "I for one welcome our new computer overlords" alongside his correct Final Jeopardy answer.
***
I was watched the end of it today. Actually it seemed that Jennings and Rutter knew the answers too (hey if I knew some of the answers, I know they did), but that the machine beat them to the buzzer. You could see the frustration especially with Jennings tapping the buzzer with his thumb.
So of course the computer is going to be faster than the human. It would have been a lot closer if all of them were allowed to answer the questions instead of making it a reflex contest.
Actually thinking about it from that perspective, it was kind of amazing that the humans did as well as they did.
A gigantic computer created by IBM specifically to excel at answers-and-questions left two champs of the TV game show in its silicon dust after a three-day tournament, a feat that experts call a technological breakthrough.
Watson earned $77,147, versus $24,000 for Ken Jennings and $21,600 for Brad Rutter. Jennings took it in stride writing "I for one welcome our new computer overlords" alongside his correct Final Jeopardy answer.
***
I was watched the end of it today. Actually it seemed that Jennings and Rutter knew the answers too (hey if I knew some of the answers, I know they did), but that the machine beat them to the buzzer. You could see the frustration especially with Jennings tapping the buzzer with his thumb.
So of course the computer is going to be faster than the human. It would have been a lot closer if all of them were allowed to answer the questions instead of making it a reflex contest.
Actually thinking about it from that perspective, it was kind of amazing that the humans did as well as they did.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
recycle your bottles
Reynolds Recycling, one of the state's largest recyclers of deposit beverage containers, has begun accepting and paying for glass containers not marked HI-5 now that the city is paying recyclers more for handling nondeposit glass.
Reynolds will pay 4 cents a pound for nondeposit, clean, empty, unbroken glass bottles and jars at any of its 33 Oahu redemption centers. That goes for everything from wine and hard-liquor bottles to jelly and cosmetic jars.
A champagne bottle weighs about 2 pounds, and an average wine bottle about 1.6 pounds.
Reynolds will pay 4 cents a pound for nondeposit, clean, empty, unbroken glass bottles and jars at any of its 33 Oahu redemption centers. That goes for everything from wine and hard-liquor bottles to jelly and cosmetic jars.
A champagne bottle weighs about 2 pounds, and an average wine bottle about 1.6 pounds.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
power, then no power, then power, etc.
Here's an odd one.
I took home Florida's computer which they said wouldn't boot. I plugged it in and as I soon as I plugged in the power cord the thing powered up! (Didn't press the power button.)
So all seemed well. I then saw the thing had only 256MB of memory. It turns out it took DDR memory and I found I had a 128MB module available and inserted it.
Plug everything back in and no power! OK, now I see their problem.
Remove the added memory. Still no power.
OK, unplug it. And put back the other computer.
A day or so later, I try plugging it in again and it worked!
OK, try shut down. Pull out the power cord. Wait a couple of minutes. Plug in the power cord again. Doesn't power up again!
Dunno. Maybe it's the power supply?
I guess I can try put in another. Or just wait until the next day and try again.
Stay tuned..
I took home Florida's computer which they said wouldn't boot. I plugged it in and as I soon as I plugged in the power cord the thing powered up! (Didn't press the power button.)
So all seemed well. I then saw the thing had only 256MB of memory. It turns out it took DDR memory and I found I had a 128MB module available and inserted it.
Plug everything back in and no power! OK, now I see their problem.
Remove the added memory. Still no power.
OK, unplug it. And put back the other computer.
A day or so later, I try plugging it in again and it worked!
OK, try shut down. Pull out the power cord. Wait a couple of minutes. Plug in the power cord again. Doesn't power up again!
Dunno. Maybe it's the power supply?
I guess I can try put in another. Or just wait until the next day and try again.
Stay tuned..
Friday, January 21, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
looking for memory for slow computer
I notice computers running slower and slower these days. Including my own.
They still run into performance problems even after I reinstall Windows (usually XP), though it seems better for a while.
I think the problem was that these computers used to be acceptably fast when they first came out, but that Microsoft kept putting more and more junk into XP so that it taxes the system and it starts to run out of memory (and so goes to the hard drive to use virtual memory). That's my guess anyway.
So now I'm looking to upgrade memory.
A "standard" site to buy memory from seems to be crucial.com. They have a neat system scanner that scans your system, tells you what you have in your system, and makes recommendations on what to buy.
For example, my current system is a Dell Dimension 2400 with two memory modules (one 256MB and one 128MB, both DDR 2700). According to the scanner, "Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot." That's good to know.
What's the difference between PC2700 and PC3200? (Shows you how out of touch I am these days.) The speed. PC3200 is the faster speed with peak transfer rate of 3200MB per second.
Let's see. Crucial is selling the 1GB module for $46.99.
[a couple days later -- actually the key to notice is DDR which stands for Double-Data Rate. I now see it's different than the old SIMMs. I assume the old SIMMs must be SDRAM (single data rate) See below.]
On ebay, I see two 512MB modules for $23.88. Only PC2100 DDR. Hey half price. 2GB for $54.48. Darn, free shipping only to 48 states.
OK, ramhut sells 1GB PC2700 for $38.95. $34.90 starting bid. I dunno. I might spring for the extra $8 and buy from Crucial.
deedan92: two 512MB modules for $24.88 (used).
fsgw: PC3200 1GB DDR SDRAM 1 GB PC 3200 DDR400 1G RAM 184 pin for $14.99 plus $6.99 shipping. So $21.98. Doesn't state compatibility though.
***
[1/20] Looking to pop in more memory into Florida's computer which has only 256MB. I notice it takes DDR memory too. I found a 128MB DDR module (I think from Tanaka) and I notice it's physically different from the myriad other SIMMs that I have lying around. OK, so much for upgrading all these computers. [Ugh, popped it in anyway and now Florida's computer doesn't power up. I guess that was the original problem.]
They still run into performance problems even after I reinstall Windows (usually XP), though it seems better for a while.
I think the problem was that these computers used to be acceptably fast when they first came out, but that Microsoft kept putting more and more junk into XP so that it taxes the system and it starts to run out of memory (and so goes to the hard drive to use virtual memory). That's my guess anyway.
So now I'm looking to upgrade memory.
A "standard" site to buy memory from seems to be crucial.com. They have a neat system scanner that scans your system, tells you what you have in your system, and makes recommendations on what to buy.
For example, my current system is a Dell Dimension 2400 with two memory modules (one 256MB and one 128MB, both DDR 2700). According to the scanner, "Each memory slot can hold DDR PC2700, DDR PC3200 with a maximum of 1GB per slot." That's good to know.
What's the difference between PC2700 and PC3200? (Shows you how out of touch I am these days.) The speed. PC3200 is the faster speed with peak transfer rate of 3200MB per second.
Let's see. Crucial is selling the 1GB module for $46.99.
[a couple days later -- actually the key to notice is DDR which stands for Double-Data Rate. I now see it's different than the old SIMMs. I assume the old SIMMs must be SDRAM (single data rate) See below.]
On ebay, I see two 512MB modules for $23.88. Only PC2100 DDR. Hey half price. 2GB for $54.48. Darn, free shipping only to 48 states.
OK, ramhut sells 1GB PC2700 for $38.95. $34.90 starting bid. I dunno. I might spring for the extra $8 and buy from Crucial.
deedan92: two 512MB modules for $24.88 (used).
fsgw: PC3200 1GB DDR SDRAM 1 GB PC 3200 DDR400 1G RAM 184 pin for $14.99 plus $6.99 shipping. So $21.98. Doesn't state compatibility though.
***
[1/20] Looking to pop in more memory into Florida's computer which has only 256MB. I notice it takes DDR memory too. I found a 128MB DDR module (I think from Tanaka) and I notice it's physically different from the myriad other SIMMs that I have lying around. OK, so much for upgrading all these computers. [Ugh, popped it in anyway and now Florida's computer doesn't power up. I guess that was the original problem.]
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Steve Jobs to take another medical leave
Steve Jobs, the iconic chief executive of Apple who has battled serious health problems for years, said Monday that he is taking another medical leave of absence, raising questions about whether the country's most highly valued technology company can prosper without its leader.
The announcement that the creator of the iPod, iPhone and iPad would step aside - without revealing the extent of his medical problems or how long he'll be on leave - prompted criticism from some analysts that Apple was betraying its obligations to tell its shareholders important information.
Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer and recipient of a liver transplant, two conditions known to cause a variety of complications, sent a message to Apple employees Monday saying that the company's board "granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health." He added that he would continue to be involved in major decisions but would give up day-to-day control.
Since founding Apple in 1976, Jobs has been known for a nearly fanatical attention to detail - caring as much about the appearance of his products as how they function - that makes him unique among many technology executives.
He has fostered a culture at Apple that has allowed the company, which was months from bankruptcy in 1997 when he returned to the helm after a long hiatus, to edge out bigger rivals and dominate the market for smartphones and music players.
The announcement that the creator of the iPod, iPhone and iPad would step aside - without revealing the extent of his medical problems or how long he'll be on leave - prompted criticism from some analysts that Apple was betraying its obligations to tell its shareholders important information.
Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer and recipient of a liver transplant, two conditions known to cause a variety of complications, sent a message to Apple employees Monday saying that the company's board "granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health." He added that he would continue to be involved in major decisions but would give up day-to-day control.
Since founding Apple in 1976, Jobs has been known for a nearly fanatical attention to detail - caring as much about the appearance of his products as how they function - that makes him unique among many technology executives.
He has fostered a culture at Apple that has allowed the company, which was months from bankruptcy in 1997 when he returned to the helm after a long hiatus, to edge out bigger rivals and dominate the market for smartphones and music players.
Saturday, January 01, 2011
hitman pro
adding another item to my toolbox
was getting redirects on google searches (among other problems) even after running malwarebytes. Microsoft Security Essentials was terminating before completion.
Found hitman pro from this thread
cleared up the redirect problem (and other problems as well including the MSE problem).
However there was still one particularly stubborn file that hitman identified as malware but couldn't delete even on reboot.
Tried deleting manually from safe mode with no success.
Finally tried moveonboot and moved it to another folder (probabably could have deleted it too, but I wanted to have a sample of it around - but come to think of it, that probably was not a good idea).
was getting redirects on google searches (among other problems) even after running malwarebytes. Microsoft Security Essentials was terminating before completion.
Found hitman pro from this thread
cleared up the redirect problem (and other problems as well including the MSE problem).
However there was still one particularly stubborn file that hitman identified as malware but couldn't delete even on reboot.
Tried deleting manually from safe mode with no success.
Finally tried moveonboot and moved it to another folder (probabably could have deleted it too, but I wanted to have a sample of it around - but come to think of it, that probably was not a good idea).
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