Ramblings of Squiggle

Official Website

2010-10-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed using this b log from time to time but I've decided to move my efforts to an official website.

I will continue blogging (hopefully more regularly) at drainedapple.com

I may use this blog to link to some of my first articles as they come up but the majority of my entries will take place at the site.

So go on and visit! heres links to a couple specific pages on the new site:

http://drainedapple.com/about/

http://drainedapple.com/category/photography/

http://drainedapple.com/category/tutorial/

and the RSS feed http://drainedapple.com/feed/

and heres on of the first posts: (which are mostly just empty at the moment)

http://drainedapple.com/desktop-10-25-2010/

http://drainedapple.com/life-hacking-rss-test/

http://drainedapple.com/from-zero-to-a-million-users/

L4D2 The Passing Glitch

2010-06-21T21:36:00.000-07:00

While playing L4D2 the game spawn'd two sets of the L4D2 survivors rather than one set. Thought it was fairly entertaining.

Desktop 5-23-2010

2010-05-23T21:09:00.001-07:00

Staying Safe Using uTorrent

2010-02-19T14:25:00.000-08:00

Though I dont condone pirating copyright material I am discussed by the way big business has been pursuing those who violate it. The recent imprisonment of the pirate bay founders is one of the more recent examples. Why we should fill the worlds jails with non-violent offenders is a mystery to me, seems like the world has alot of problems more pressing than peer to peer issues.

At any rate I feel the need to protect myself while online which is why I have previously used peerguardian as a firewall. Peerguardian uses ip blocklists hosted by bluetrack to prevent known anti-piracy groups from connection to you(see: Do p2p Blocklists keep You Safe?).There are also lists for spyware and ads which work the same way. Unfortunately peerguardian tends to be VERY buggy and common issues arent addressed as quickly as I would like. This isnt to ding the peerguardian developers - after all their giving the product away for free - but I'm not using 64 bit windows 7 and peerguardian barely works AT ALL. Thus I've had to look towards alternative programs to block malicious ip ranges.

If you use uTorrent (which is one of the most popular torrent clients right now. If you havent tried it I highly recommend it) has a built in ability to read .dat files and block ip addresses in them. Newer versions of uTorrent ship with the ipfilter.enable setting on so you most likely wont have to worry about that. Most guides to cover enabling the option though, so if you need to head over to this article and follow the steps. The thread on digiex describes a script that should update the .dat files so uTorrent always blocks the ip to date lists. I have never used that script so I cannot speak to its effectiveness.

Ultimately you'll want to download (or create, see next paragraph) a .dat file of a blocklist and place it in the C:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\uTorrent folder and reload uTorrent. The logger tab should show 'ipfilter.dat' loaded or something similar. You can compile your own custum blocklist using bluetracks blocklist manager.

This guide covers the process in detail. I would highly suggest using the blocklist manager method since it generated the most comprehensive list and allows you to quickly update the .dat file.
Note: Unfortunately it seems that ipfilter.dat is the ONLY file uTorrent will load (I tried other blocklists with different names but uTorrent would only load the list if it was names ipfilter).

After creating and enabling a block list in uTorrent I stumbled across a peerguardian spin off named peer block. Peer block is based off the peerguardian code but its in active development and is far less buggy. I plan to write a more detailed review later. To download and try peer block head over to http://www.peerblock.com/releases

New Year, New Password

2010-01-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

After reading about the rockyou database being compromised (all 32 million username/passswords were stored in plain text and were easily compromised by a single hacker)I've decided to re-consider my current password.

Until now I would choose a single word (or two words for my secure passwords) and slap a number at the end to create a password. Then I would use that password for ALL of my accounts. Obviously, thats a very bad security practice.

I have been meaning to create a more secure password for some time now. The inspiration originated after reading the How to Choose and Remember Great Passwords guide I read on lifehacker. The guide is a great starting point for creating a secure password. Basically, you choose a root password (qwerty, your birthday, first letters of lyrics to a song) and then a rule that you use to generate a unique password for every account you'll be using.

For example if you use a series of keyboard keys (like qwerty or 1qaz) your password would be qwertyFAC for facebook or QWERTYblog for blogger. That way by remembering the base password you can easily remember the specific one you chose for that site so if your login is compromised on one site, the others are still secure.

Also while changing my passwords I'll be keeping track of them using KeePass, which will store my login information in an encrypted database on my computer.

If you use a overly simple password or the same password for everything I would highly recommend you look into creating a strong password. Before you decide on a password to use you should check it against a password checker like this one from microsoft that'll tell you how strong the password is.

Upgrading my Alienware

2010-01-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

My mobo died on my Alienware aurora, so I'll be needing a replacement.

I've decided I should take this opportunity to upgrade to AM3 and DDR3.

I've researched these parts but would appreciate any insights, advice or opinions. I thought it'd be useful to put my selections out there before I actually spent the money, see what the feedback is.

Link to thread on Tech Support Form

UPDATE: These (for now) are the parts I want to order

GIGABYTE GA-790XTA-UD4

AMD Phenom II X4955 Black Edition
3.2GHz quad core

G.SKILL Trident 2GB

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Original Ideas

MSI 790FX-GD70 mobo
790FX chipset

AMD Phenom II X4955 Black Edition
3.2GHz quad core

Mushkin Silverline 4GB
(note: I'm least sure about this product, never used Mushkin)

Computer Doesnt Post

2009-12-07T21:59:00.000-08:00

I have an alienware aurora w/ a 9800GX2 vid card. The other day I turned it on and the comp wouldnt post. No display, no beep. The system would hang from time to time so I powered it off, on, off, on. Nothing.

The fans, case lights and HD's come on but the comp never posts.

I checked the monitor on another computer, it worked fine.

I cleaned out the inside w/ air and proceed to check all the connections, re-seat the RAM, HD's and cd drive. No change. Tried re-seating the vid card. No change.

I took the vid card and powered up, no error beep or anything.

I doubt its the power supply since everything comes on per usual. The mobo and vid card have always been odd. Often the system will hang on boot (before post) and I'll have to power it down, reset the bios to default after an error message and be on my way. The vid card has run hot (62C idle) and has never performed well.

I'm beginning to suspect the mobo, but I want to check the vid card in another computer before jumping to conclusions.

Tomorrow I plan to reset the CMOS and re-seat the CPU, just to rule it out. I would also like to rule out the video card by sticking it in someones computer. Trying a lesser video card in my computer would also help; since I'd know if ANYTHING works as a video card that would prove/rule out power supply issues).

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -
UPDATE:
I have posted this is Yahoo answers here. Though the final answer will show itself through trial/error and elimination it wont hurt to get some advice/ideas.

JAVA: Find Consecutive Int who's sum is a number

2009-12-04T19:32:00.000-08:00

UPDATE: The internet is awesome. I was able to find two threads (here and here) where people were working on the same problem. I will post the final code once I test it
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For my java class I'm writing a program. The assignment is this: have java get a number (int) from the user, then write a method that has java find ALL sets of consecutive integers who's sum is the users number.

At first I had no idea where to begin and though I've made progress, I'm still stuck.

I began by creating a few variables, initialized to 0, 0+1, 0+2, ETC and set up a loop that would execute if the variable sum was not equal to the users number. Each time the loop executed each variable would be incremented by one and thus java would run calculations over and over until it found an answer. This worked, but only for a set number of variables. Also java would only display that set and wouldnt go on to find any other fitting sets.

At this point, I'm not sure what direction to go with this. Perhaps an array of integers would be the best way to go, but how would you get java to loop that to find different sets? I know how to set it up to find a set of two, but how could you write a loop that would find the set of two (or not) then increment the set so java looked for consecutive sets of three?

Any suggestions (specific or conceptual) would be greatly appreciated.

I have a question posted about thid on yahoo answers here.

Below is my current code.

import java.util.Scanner;
import java.util.Random;

public class Extracredit1NiceNumbers
{
public static void main(String [] args)
{
double user; //Number to be entered by user
Scanner keyin = new Scanner(System.in);

//Get users number
System.out.println("Please enter a number");
user = keyin.nextInt();

//Call to method getSum which will calculate the 4 consecutive integers
getSum(user);

}

public static void getSum(double user) //Send this method the users #
{

float sum;
double count = 0.00; //Create variable to count how many times the loop initiates
double ranNum1; //These ranNums were for storing random numbers generated by java
double ranNum2;
double ranNum3; //Use doubles so java can calculate decimal numbers for answers
double ranNum4;
double ranSum; //For storing the sum of all the random numbers and compairing the random sum to the users number.

//Random random = new Random(); //Grab random number. I was trying to get java to pick 4 random numbers between 0 and 30 and compairing their sum to the user entereed number.
//Issue is it grabs any random numbers. Need to find a way for it to use consecutive random numbers.

//Gets random value for ranNum1 and then incriment that number by 1 to get consecutive integers. This will always execute at least once.
// This must be executed outside the while loop to intilize ranSum
ranNum1 = 0/*random.nextInt(user)*/;
ranNum2= ranNum1 + 1.00;
ranNum3= ranNum2+ 1.00;
ranNum4 = ranNum3+ 1.00;
ranSum = ranNum1 + ranNum2 + ranNum3 +ranNum1;

//This while loop will repeat so long as the random sum is not equal to the users number
while (ranSum != user)
{
ranNum1++;/*random.nextInt(user)*/;
ranNum2++;
ranNum3++;
ranNum4++;

ranSum = ranNum1 + ranNum2 + ranNum3 +ranNum4;

count++; //This is for programming purposes so I can tell if java is executing this while loop
System.out.println("The count is " + count);
System.out.println("The integers are: " + ranNum1 + " " + ranNum2 + " " + ranNum3 + " " + ranNum4 + " the sum is " + ranSum);
}

System.out.println("The consecutive integers whos sum is " + user + " are " + ranNum1 + " " + ranNum2 + " " + ranNum3 + " " + ranNum4);

}

}

_____________________

When you run the program and enter the number '10' t he output is as follows:

--------------------Configuration: --------------------
Please enter a number
10
The count is 1.0
The integers are: 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 the sum is 10.0
The consecutive integers whos sum is 10.0 are 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0

Process completed.

_______________________________________________

UPDATE:

I figured out how to do it (kinda). I just copied the while loop and added a variable to each one so java would calculate a set of two, three, ETC. The disadvantage is that the program is limited (it'll only search for sets you actually coded in) but for now its okay. I assume using an array would be the better way to go, but I'm so unfamiliar with them I'm not sure how you'd get java to increment the # of variables per set or how to get it to display only the first and last numbers of each set. I'm sure theres a way to do it, its just beyond my expertise to do on my own.

First Evening with Windows 7

2009-11-13T22:10:00.000-08:00

Even though I dont have a single external hard drive large enough to backup all my data I finally got fed up with Vista. I stuffed everything I could onto my external hard drive, iPod and even used a few DVD's.

I was really surprised at how fast the install went. It only took around 45 minutes from boot to the default Win 7 desktop.

Once at the desktop I began installing various programs while exploring the menus and settings. I used Ninite Bulk Installer to get many of my programs and I'm pleased to say it went flawlessly.

I was also able to restore my previous iTunes library by going to file > library > import playlist > iTunes Music Library.xml (which was a file I saved from Vista). Though it took awhile for iTunes to import everything, my whole library (including playlists, ratings and play count) came right up.

I dont have time to add much detail since I have work in the morning, but heres a quick screenshot of my desktop.

Heading Towards Windows 7

2009-11-08T17:25:00.001-08:00

I've been ready to ditch vista since I first booted up my aleinware to find 33% of my ram used by a clean and fresh OS. Since that horrifying reality check, Vista has proven itself bloated and buggy at every turn. Its unresponsive when few tasks are running. Tweaking with msconfig and the running services hasn't alleviated the issue. Even reformatting hasn't helped.

Since Windows 7 was announced I've had a chance to try the beta and I was very impressed with the level of detail that had gone into it. Now that Win 7 has been officially released its been enforced by many end users - from common users to techno geeks - and its quickly becoming the de facto operating system for PC's (41% of lifehacker readers report Win 7 is their primary operating system).

Thankfully I have been able to download a full (and legal) version of Windows 7 via Microsoft's MSDN Academic Alliance; which allows participating schools (and their students) to download free Microsoft software. I have to give kudos to Microsoft not only for MSDN, but also for offering copies of Win 7 to students for $30. If I didn't have MSDN I would have jumped on that deal - but being a college student free is better than $30, sorry Microsoft.

At any rate, I'm starting to get all my data backed up in anticipation of the reformat (I plan to format the HD while installing Win 7 so as to get a fresh start on everything).

Just like previous posts, I'll be using this blog as a 'note to self' so I'll be able to quickly get to links for all the programs I'll be installing on the new OS. I'll outline them below so anyone reading can understand what each program does.

_________________________________________________________

Many of these programs can be found on CNETs Windows Starter Kit

Some can also be found on Lifehackers Essential Free Windows Downloads

Most can also be bulk installed via Ninite Bulk Installer
_________________________________________________________

Firefox
Actually, I'm not sure if I need to say much about this. If your not using firefox go get it. Now. There is no choice involved.
Add ons for firefox: Download Status bar; xMarks; WOT; Tab Mix Plus; Colorful Tabs; 1-Click Youtube Downloader; Flashblock; Stumble Upon and Brief.
Firefox Maybes: FoxyMeter; OPML Support; Site Launcher; Splash; Tweak Network; Fasterfox and Universal Print.

Opera
Though I love firefox dearly, Opera also has a place on my computer. Its a browser just like firefox, but its a very stripped down no hassel browser. That isn't to say you couldnt use it as your primary browser - alot of people do - but it isnt feature packed enough to keep my interest day to day. Its a useful tool to have though.

VLC Player
Its like windows media player - okay its nothing like windows media player. It plays ANY video format (I am yet to find one it wont open) it has all the basic features you'd expect from a video player and it doesn't get in your way.

Open Office
Microsoft really skewed up with the latest version of office. Alot of people have gotten used to it and truth be told I have found it usable after I tweak some of the menus and where this and that is. My biggest issue is: I can get open office, which runs and works perfectly out of the box or I can pay an arm and a leg for office - which works after I fight with it for half a day.

Rainmeter
This nifty little app is something I've been using only recently. It has all the functionality you'd find in Vista Gadgets, Yahoo Widgets and Google Gadgets...and I can get it all running one single program. Rainmeters been around for awhile but it wasn't under active development until recently. In many ways its not a program for the weak hearted, since setting up exactly what you want still requires messing with config files and other such things. Its well on its way to becoming as user friendly as it needs to be (the lastest 1.1 release sports a host of useful features) but its quickly becoming as useful to me as object dock is.

Objectdock
I've reviewed this stardock application before and I cant imagine using a computer without it. It creates an OS X like dock for windows - and after setting it up with my most used shortcuts there's little use for the start menu.

Digsby
I've been a digsby fan for awhile now. I prefer it over pidgen, adium and trillian because Digsby allows me to sign onto my IM accounts, email accounts and social networks all in one application. I'm yet to see this amount of functionality in ANY app. Its a really practical and productive 'hub' for quick access to all my online social accounts.

Myspace im
Sadly, the only thing Digsby does not do that I desperately wish it would is myspace im. I still need to run a separate app to login to the myspace im network.

Play On
This program creates a media server on my computer which lets me stream Hulu, youtube, CBS and other sites to my xbox. This way I can catch TV episodes off Hulu on my TV. This is one of the few paid programs I'll have on my computer - but its been a real joy to have at my disposal.

JCreator LE
A program that makes programming in java easy since it helps color coat the code your typing. You can also have it check your code for errors and you can run your program via JC.

iTunes
Music music MUSIC!
My largest concern with iTunes is moving my library (ratings ,play count and playlists) from one OS to the next.

XFIRE
An im Program specifically for gamers.

Steam
The big brother of computer games. It has alot of uses and advantages - but it tends to become obtrusive. I'll be transferring the game data on a hard drive so I don't re-download the large files. My current game list is: Counter Strike Source; Day of Defeat Source; EVE Online Demo; Half Life 2: Death Match; Trackmania Nations Forever and Left 4 Dead.

Impulse
Stardocks version of Steam for stardock apps. Fences, Objectdock, Logon Studio

Google Chrome
Another browser. I'm not a big fan, but its nice to have around.

Thunderbird
From the same people who create firefox, its an email program (much like outlook). I have it sync with my gMail. Since the email files get stored locally I can search my emails via google desktop easily.

Evernote
Basically, its a digital version of sticky notes. I can text notes to myself and they go straight to this program.

Google Desktop
This will index ALL the files on my computer (text, .doc, PDF, music...ETC) so I can quickly search everything on my computer. The same functionality can be found in the windows search built into the start menu, but I prefer to keep start focused on the programs themselves and use Google desktop for my actual data.

Simplify Media
Lets me stream music to my friends who have simplify media running. All of those who are 'friends' can have access to all my music and visa versa. It doesn't let us transfer files, just listen. Using the iPhone app I can also have access to my entire music library via my iPod (or android phone if they have an app).

Picasa
Awesome photo utility. Its really become useful now that the latest version has facial recognition so I can search my photo library by someones name and get all the pictures of them.

DVD Flick
Useful for burning video on my computer onto a playable DVD.

media Monkey
I find the interface cluttered, so I cant use this media jukebox all the time. Its auto tag feature lets me import metadata from the internet directly into the ID3 tags of my music - which is something iTunes doesn't do.

AVG Free Antivirus
In the past I've had issues with AVG being hoggy, but recent releases have worked really well for me. I use it as my primary antivirus program and ave it running in the background.

Smart Defrag
Vistas defrag was a mess. Smart defrag is a good replacement for windows built in defrag program and it also offers some extra features. Also might try Bootspeed which has the defrag and other stuff from the same company.

CCleaner
Clears your browsing history, cookies and much more. It pretty much wipes all the data regarding your internet surfing (except bookmarks and such).

EVGA Precision
A utility for my video card, lets me pump up the fan speed so it doesn't overheat.

Speedfan
A utility that lets me monitor the temperature of various parts of my computer.

Spybot S&D
An anti-spyware program. The scan always turns up a tracking cookie or two so its useful to have around.

SuperAntiSpyware
Though this isnt a HUGE name in the antivirus industry, I once had a sticky virus on a friends computer and this program killed it off quick.

uTorrent
A simple, no hassle torrent program. I use it to download linux distributions since I can turn a torrent on and off whereas direct download eats up my bandwidth until it finishes.

CD Art Display
Displays track into (song name, artist, album artwork) on my desktop. Also allows me to control iTunes via keyboard shortcuts.

Gadwin Print Screen
This app starts with my computer and most of the time I never notice its existence even though I use it all the time. It take s a full resolution screen shot of whatever on my screen, auto names it and stores it whenever I hit the 'prt scrn' botton on my keyboard. Its really a useful app to have around. The only features its lacking it automatically tagging photos wit metadata (like the program open, or simply with my name). Even so, its an awesome app.

Keyscrambler
Encrypts what I type into my web browser so any nasty keyloggers get gibberish rather than my credit card number.

7-Zip
Program lets me open all sorts of archive formats (.zip, .rar, ETC)

Active ISO Burner
The only windows ISO burning program I trust.

Easy BCD
Allows me to easily edit the boot menu from within windows. Very handy for dual (or....quad) booting.

Verizon Droid

2009-11-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

For me the initial hype about Verizons new Droid phone has subsided. Even so, I still want one pretty badly. Having access to my google calendar and remember the milk in my pocket available to me at all times is just too darn good to pass by.
The more I read reviews (PC Mag, Boy Genious Report) and watch walkthroughs the more I think this phone would be a nifty and productive gadget for me to have. Below are two such video reviews from youtube.

gCal to iPhone

2009-10-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

Though I am anxiously awaiting the release of verizons new Droid phone (based off the google ANDROID 2.0 os) I still use my iPod Touch for quick access to my calendar, social networks (facebook, myspace, twitter) and weather.

Though I can check all this on my computer, its nice to have snappy access to it at my fingertips so I can quickly browse the newest updates without logging in, opening a browser, ETC.

I use google calendar to keep track of all my appointments, my school/work schedule and pretty much anything and everything. Sadly, both Microsoft's outlook and apples iTunes seem to pretty much ignore gCals existence. I know iTunes is a music player - but lets face it, the program transcended that a long time ago. If apple integrated a "wizard" into iTunes to help users set up their iPhone/iPod where they could enter their email info and get access to their contacts, calendars and mail automatically it could give a boost to the kinda-but-not-really-technical people and let them use the device to its full potential. But I digress....

Google has made it fairly easy to access their services on mobile platforms (a winning business strategy it would seem). Google has set up a website to walk users though sync'ing their iPhones directly to their google accounts. This allows users to sync their calendars, contacts and email directly from their handset to the google server - so there is no need for a computer in the equation. The google support page for this feature has step by step instructions that are helpful and straight forward.

My Desktop October 18, 2009

2009-10-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Testing Rainmeter

2009-10-17T23:59:00.000-07:00

Well, most of my afternoon was taken up by downloading the EVE Online trial and trying to figure out how rainmeter works. Rainmeter is a small program that lets users run widgets. There are alot of widget programs out there; from yahoo widgets to google gadgets - with conky, rainmeter, and OS X's dashboard in between. The major difference is that rainmeter is VERY small since it runs on .txt files. The most unfortunate part about it is that theres a major learning curve required before a basic user can start to understand and use rainmeters full potential.

I wont go into more detail right now, but heres a screenshot of my cluttered desktop.

UPDATE:

I've continued playing with Rainmeter this morning. Heres a new screenshot of all the different configs I've found and downloaded. I'm still trying to figure out whats staying and whats going.

9-11-01

2009-09-11T09:53:00.001-07:00

I don't blog about politics or world events much but I feel that 9-11-01 will be considered an important date in history.

I think its important to really look at what happened in the way that it did. We don't need to watch montages set to "Requiem of a Dream" or some heart wrenching sound track, we need to go back and understand how it affected us; how it felt while it was happening.

So Summer is Pretty Much Here

2009-06-10T15:43:00.001-07:00

So Summer is Pretty Much Here, which means its time to overhaul my desktop.

Not that I need an excuse.

Desktop June 10, 2009 by ~squigglethecow on deviant ART

File Sharing News

2009-05-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Recently alot has been going on in the realm of file sharing. Its always a hot topic but lately it seems to have stolen the spotlight.

On April 17, 2009 four leaders of thepiratebay.org (currently one of the largest torrent sites out there) were sentenced to one year in prison and a $3,620,000 fine each (original news article here)
This verdict has been met with a great deal of hostility by most Internet consumers (even those who do not pirate material) and has even been slammed by content providers. Torrent Freak reports that "Gary Lightbody from Snow Patrol...criticized the sentences received by the crew of The Pirate Bay, branding them as “way over the top”. The band’s frontman also says if you’re a file-sharer and you know how to get music for free, “f**king go for it.”

Since then, Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law Professor, has announced that he will be representing Joel Tenenbaum, an accused file sharer, in court and plans to prove that file sharing is "fair use". This defense is far more simplistic than what usually ends up in the courtroom, but in many ways it represents the opinions of people online. I remember a digg article once about a man being caught for selling software he had pirated, and nearly all of the comments expressed happiness that he was being brought to justice. Many commenter's said that even though they themselves used P2P networks to download material, they would never use it for profit. Rather than claim that Mr. Tenenbaum did not steal the material, Mr. Nesson is claiming that he did not necessarily steal it since he did not seek to profit from the material.

On top of that, PC Magazine writer John C. Dvorak brought my attention to another Ars Technica article regarding a study done by the Norwegian School of Management. The study claims to have proven that "illegal music connoisseurs are significantly more likely to purchase music than the average, non-P2P-loving user". So, if true file sharing does not rob the record industry of profits but stimulates profits. Of course, the RIAA are not convinced and it will be interesting to see if this study will inspire others like it.

So its been a very interesting time. On one hand, the legal side of things has gone very badly with the pirate bay (and through them, for file sharing in general) and on the other hand the defense for file sharing seems to have gotten much stronger than it has been in the past.

I'm not sure which side I would like to be victorious. I am not sure how "legalizing" file sharing would affect the entire media industry. Certainly such an extreme ruling would change the entire landscape of things. At the same time, the equally extreme extermination of file sharing does not seem to be the answer. Perhaps the balance is perfect right where it is, perhaps perfection is in the struggle.
Then again, I do not know for sure and I am exited to see how all of this turns out.

My Photography

2009-04-29T18:55:00.000-07:00

I have decided this blog should serve as more of a blog than a constant flow of badly written how to guides; so below a re a few samples of my photography.

I must admit, I am also curious as to weather posting the pictures on here will get them listed in google under my alias.

Please note, these pictures were taken by me and I have the right to post them. If you wish to link to this blog, or to the original submission on my deviantart, please credit me.

For some reason, blogger makes the pictures HUGE even though I set it to 'small image size' when importing. Odd.

Windows 7 Beta: First Impressions

2009-03-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

After the fiasco with my windows MBR earlier I have finally installed Wndows 7 on a clean partition.
I must say....I'm impressed.

Overall the system seems far more responsive, the font and other setup feels a bit blocky whereas OS X and Vista go for a more natural curve sort of look, you can see an example below. I have no preference between the two, both look good in their respective environments.

Microsoft seems to really be open to suggestions (weather or not they adapt them it yet to be seen). At the top of every explorer window there is a little like saying 'Send Feedback' which loads a small program installed with the system. A small window loads with a drop down menu for you to choose what your critiquing, basic ratings (from love to hate) and a comment box.

Right clicking the desktop reviels 3 new options for quickly playing with your resolution, gadgets and wallpaper/color scheme. Out of everything in Win7 the inverted options under the resolution menus have impressed me the most. They do literally what they say they will, they invert the screen. In reality, this is useless to most (probably all) users....but its potential use for April Fools day tricks and such makes up for its lack of usefulness.

The personalization menu comes equipt with ready to go themes with a basic array of backgrounds and a matching window color. Below these selections you can also adjust each setting individually according to your taste.

As you see in the third picture over, you can also choose multiple backgrounds (ctrl + click) and set a timer for them to change. This feature is overdue and a rip off of mac OS X (kinda like the search feature introduced in Vista) but its nice to have around.

Well as much as I could talk about Windows 7 I should stop writing this. Any critiques of my writing would be appreciated, it seems that since I dont write often my skill has diminished. Below are a few pictures of my Windows 7 desktop.

Vista Sucks.....more

2009-03-20T14:54:00.000-07:00

I hate to hate things. Anything. Really I do.

Yet microsofts abomination of an operating system can never let me be happy with it. The other week, upon installing a few updates my MBR went bad.
How? I haven't a clue. So I popped in my recovery CD (not on the actual Vista disk, it is on a separate disk just for alien wear computers) to try to recover the startup options. Once or twice I have had to do this since my ever changing combination of OS's can skrew up my boot record (ie: Grub takes over and doesn't want to leave).

To my unhappiness, Vista gave me an error reading: "Windows cannot repair this computer automatically. If you have recently attached a device to this computer, such as a camera or a portable music player, remove it and restart your computer. If you continue to see this message, contact your system administrator or computer manufacturer for assistance."

I must admit, I had left my iPod Touch plugged in during this process by accident. Upon detaching the iPod and restarting the computer I got the same error. I then unplugged the computer for a few minutes....
same error.

Then I turned to what used to be the recovery console only to find that in Vista, all the commands that worked in XP do not work for Vista. At that point I decided that Microsoft put the FU back in Fun.

I continued browsing google on my iPod Touch trying to learn the new Vista commands. Apparently they are the same (for example fixboot and fixmbr) but you need to type the directory of them, you cant just type them. Kinda a step backwards I'd say.

After trying multiple commands several times, I gave up and attempted to install a new version of Linux Mint onto some empty partition space in the hopes Grub (the linux bootloader) would somehow allow me onto Vista.

The plan would have worked but when I went down to the Vista entry I received an error about the MBR being corrupt. My best guess is my fiddling with the recovery console commands was the cause of that one.

At around 3 in the morning I finally went to bed an unplugged my computer. When I woke up in the morning I tried the Automatic Recovery again and it repaired the MBR just like it should, and everything worked again.

Today I got the same error and had the same problem (though this time I had not left ANYTHING plugged in, nor did I attempt the recovery commands). I installed Linux Mint on some empty space and the grub bootloader was able to detect Vista and let me boot into it just fine.
While in Vista I installed a program called Easy BCD that allowed me to edit my MBR from within windows.

Finally! Songbird works!

2009-03-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

After trying songbird and being disappointed time after time, they finally make a version that works on my Vista.
Previously, the install would go well and then I was unable to load the program. Ever.

I am yet to try out the add ons (for adding lyrics, recommendations and album art) but thus far I'm just happy the window is up.

I should mention that the program hung for a LONG time before coming up, but once it did it runs fine. Screenshots below.

Operating Systems: In Order of Awesome

2009-02-24T22:55:00.000-08:00

For a school project the other day, I had to type something in word pad.

To add a speck of interesting to the obvious monotony, I typed up a list of Operating Systems ,in the order of awesomeness.

1) OS X Leopard
2) Linux Mint
3) Windows XP
4) Ubuntu
5) OS X Tiger
6) DOS
7) Windows 7
8) Windows Vista

Linux Mint 6 - Windows Installer

2009-02-03T21:18:00.001-08:00

Now that I have got myself all set up with Vista - I seem to be staying put for the better part of the foreseeable future....even though I really hate this operating system.

Recently though gnome do has added a OS X like application tray (gnome do is kinda like launchy for windows) and its gotten alot of attention. Rightfully so I suppose, but I like to use things before I form an opinion.

When I installed Linux Mint on its own partition, I was forced to select windows upon each boot up. This wasnt an issue when linux was my main system, but it became very old when I started switching back to windows.

I know I can adjust the boot ETC ETC but I didnt learn how exactly to do it, and I would rather it be just a basic entry under windows.

Anyway, that coupled with the usuals of creating a partition have turned me off to re-installing linux after I reformated my PC (stupid reasons, I know).

Ubuntu has a installer that runs through windows (called Wubi) that installed it just like it was an application. Performance is supposed to be slightly less but the ease of use will hopefully create more Ubuntu users.

Luckily, the creators of linux mint have included the same thing in their ISO and called it mint4win. Exited to hear about this I mounted my Mint 6 ISO (using magic iso) and tried to burn it. Sadly, the install only got a short way before I encountered an error and had to close it.
My suspicion is that this is due to my using a virtual drive rather than a real one, I'm going to burn and test my theory now.

Until then, here are some screenshots of the install process so far:

Now that I burned the iso to a disk with Active ISO burner it worked fine.

Now off to reboot and mess with things.

iLyrics

2009-01-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

Now that my library's album artwork has been updated (tagged to id3 tags via media monkey) I figured it was time to add lyrics to the mix. Unfortunately, neither iTunes or MediaMonkey have the ability to add lyrics automatically (you have to find them online, copy and paste) which makes managing a large library of music difficult.

A google search for 'Import lyrics to id3 tags) is riddled with questionable apps, luckily I found one named 'iTunes Lyrics Importer' (with a .exe of iLyrics...making it a program with two names) that works exceptionally well.

The program is amazingly straightforward with only two options: Update Automatically and Overwrite. Each does about what you'd expect. Once you select the songs you want to lyricafy (made up word) in iTunes just hit get lyrics and let it go. If you leave overwrite unchecked it wont import lyrics if you have already put them in, and if you don't check the 'automatic' box the program will display the lyrics and have you approve them before it adds them to the files tag.

Importing went quickly with it only taking a few seconds per song (I assume that says more about my internet connection than the program) and on the automatic setting the program kept going even if it didn't find the lyrics to a particular song.

Now that its run I've been checking the lyrics imported, and so far they are all correct. It didn't find the lyrics to ALL of my songs, but the majority now have them.

Myst Masterpiece Edition

2009-01-27T00:05:00.001-08:00

As is apparent: I have this thing for older games. I love the original Sims, Sim City 3000 is the bomb, and EarthSeige is a 2d textured blast from the past. All have been installed and played on my new Vista machine :-D

My most recent nostalgic obsession is Myst. I had a teacher in middle school who would play it while us nerd watched during lunch time (yes, I hung out in the classroom during lunchtime) and though I bought the anniversary edition with the first 4 games, I haven't ever finished any of them.

The install went well, but once I went to play the game all I got was wind noise and a black screen. After browsing through some forums (which are surprisingly active given this game came out in the 90's) I discovered that quicktime was probably the cause (obviously I had tried computability mode and such, which by the way needs to be set to 95). I had to uninstall the quicktime on my computer and repalce it with quicktime 4 off the Myst disk.
After that, the game works well. Xfire wont take screenshots in game, but it registers that I'm playing it.

Reguarding the quicktime solution, my iTunes will not work now. I will keep looking for a more long term fix.