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Review: What can you expect from a $60 digital projector? The RCA RPJ129

2019-05-22T01:38:00.000-07:00

REVIEW: RCA RPJ129 720p HD Digital Projector and Smart TV (3.5 out of 5 stars)

TL;DR
Negatives: Limited projector placement options and poor built-in Smart TV and internal speaker
Positives: Still a great value for a extreme budget priced 720p HD projector with decent source input options

I recently purchased this digital projector. It outputs a maximum resolution of 1280x800 (16:10) if you hook it up to a PC via HDMI. Though most video and apps display at 720p (1280x720 at a 16:9 ratio). The RCA RPJ129 also includes a built in "Smart TV" running Android TV 7.1 (Nougat) and a small IR remote control.

All these features for grand total purchase price of $60 including shipping (albeit an open box model via ebay). Sounds too good to be true right? Well, after putting it through its paces the projector doesn't quite live up to its promises but it does in the end does have enough positive features to exceed what one would reasonable expect at this price.

First and foremost the most important aspect of any projector is its picture quality. This is the first area where the LED LCD based RPJ129 falls short when compared to an albeit much more expensive DLP projector. Its color reproduction is not very accurate. Bright colors like whites and yellows are fairly blown out (too bright) and very dark colors are somewhat crushed thus appearing too dark. These are color reproduction issues that arise in many movies. Though for watching standard television like sitcoms, where colors are more restrained, it isn't as big as of an issue. The overall image is a bit fuzzy but this will vary depending on how large the project image is displayed.

The resolution is a true HD 720p and it'll handle a 1080p signal and simply scale it down to its native 720p. As with nearly all projectors, it simply is not for use in a brightly lit or sunlit room. As the image will appear very washed out under these conditions. You'll definitely want to use it with the curtains drawn shut during the day as it requires at least of somewhat dim room for best viewing. Though it's important to note that it does not require a near dark room, only a dimly lit one.

Another limitation is its focal length and focus adjustments. As with all projectors, the projector's distance to the screen or wall determines the size of the projected image. The farther away the projector to the screen, the larger the image. Some more expensive projectors offer better optics that allow this distance to size ratio be more significantly adjusted. The RPJ129 has only a basic focus adjustment. So you are more limited to how far away the projector sits from the screen to adjust the video image's size. In my set up, the project sits about 11-12 feet (3.5m) away from the wall resulting in an image of about 100 inches (2.5m) diagonal. Still another limitation is its very poor keystone adjustment. You'll need to place the projector's height as close as possible to the center of the screen. Otherwise, you'll see a trapezoidal projected image. The built-in keystone adjustment can correct for this shape but using the keystone adjustment will make it impossible to completely focus the top, middle and bottom of the image at the same time.

At this point, it's a good time focus on its built-in "Smart TV". It's powered by Android 7.1 running an Amlogic s905 quad core ARM based SoC with a max speed of 1.2 Ghz, 1 GB of system memory, approximately 4 GB of usable flash based storage and wireless wifi N support. (I should note that I have read other owners have had issues with the wifi signal quality but I did not.) The current state of the app support is area with the most severe drawbacks. First, I had to "side load" the Google Play Store, as it does not have this app installed by default. This was easily done by downloading the latest Play Store APK file and installing it via a thumb drive. Once the Play Store was installed, I had many issues getting popular applications to run properly if at all. I had to also side load the standard Netflix app which works but the video quality appears to be standard definition despite an HD account. The HBO Go app failed to work at all. The Vudu (for Android TV) movie streaming app refused play any movies in HD (returning an error), though SD video would play. These playback issues might be due to the RPJ129 lacking support for Google's Widevine Level 1 DRM which limits video playback to 480p or less resolutions. One positive was that all the native Google apps I tried did work without any major issues, including the Chrome browser. Though the navigating around the YouTube app was quite slow. I had the best success streaming movies though the Google Play Movies & TV app as it's connected to my Movies Anywhere digital library. The movies and TV shows streamed in HD and there were no noticeable issues with their quality or play back. The Amazon Prime Video app also worked, though the streaming quality appeared to be somewhat inferior to the Google app in my comparisons. I also tested out playing a ripped DVD H.264 encoded movie via a USB thumb drive with the Kodi and VLC apps and both played the video without any issues and the quality looked great. The bottom line is that if you are regular streamer, you'll still to want to connect a Roku, Amazon Fire TV or Chromecast streaming device as each work much better and have far better app support.

The RPJ129 has a good selection of source inputs. Two HDMI inputs, one set of RCA standard definition composite inputs and a VGA (d-sub) input. In addition to two USB ports. The unit does has an internal speaker but the audio quality is quite poor. You'll definitely want to utilize the stereo RCA audio outputs by hooking them up to a stereo receiver or a set of powered speakers. The input lag is low and it's fine to use as a display for a video game console.

Bottom line, is it worth my purchase price of $60? I would definitely say yes, if your budget doesn't allow for more of a full featured DLP or LCD projector.

Compiling and running the Microsoft DirectX3D 12 sample code in C++

2015-07-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick check list of files and applications you'll need.

Windows 10 -- DirectX 12 requires Windows 10. Windows 7 & 8 users can download and install Windows 10 for free here.
Visual Studio 2015 -- The Visual Studio Community 2015 C++ IDE/compiler is free to download and install. Download it from here. Ensure that you install Visual C++ 2015 under the install features options. It is not selected by default.
Windows 10 SDK -- The Windows 10 SDK includes the DirectX 12 headers and library files needed to compile DirectX 12 code. It can be downloaded here. Install it.
Microsoft DirectX 12 Sample Code -- Microsoft has uploaded their sample code package to github. You can directly download the code samples via the Download ZIP button on this page here. You'll need to unzip the files to a folder of your choosing. Alternatively, you can download and install GitHub for Windows here. Create a github account, log in and select fork (button on the upper right) on the Microsoft code sample page here. Then run the GitHub for Windows client, log in, select the "+" icon and select clone for the DirectX-Graphics-Samples. This will pull the files to your computer.
Once the source code is installed, you can browse to the D3D12HelloWorld application source. Double clicking on the D3D12HelloWorld.sln file will open Visual Studio Community. The exact path to this file will vary depending on where you unzipped/installed the sample code package.
Once Visual Studio is open, you'll see four projects. Pressing the F5 key will compile the project's C++ source code. And then pressing the F7 key will run D3D12HelloTriangle.
You can compile and run each of the four projects by right clicking its name in the Solution Explorer window in Visual Studio and selecting Set as Startup Project from the menu. Compiling and running each.

The Microsoft Direct3D 12 Graphics documentation can be found here.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

How to disable Flash in Google TV's Chrome browser

2013-03-28T17:11:00.004-07:00

I'm posting this because I couldn't find a "how-to" page describing how to do this anywhere on the web.

One can disable the Adobe Flash plug-in in Google TV's built in Chrome web browser.

First, open Chrome in Google TV.

In Chrome, move your mouse cursor to the top of the screen to pull down the Chrome search bar and click on the icon with 4 horizontal lines.

Then select from the menu that comes up select the following options: Settings->Advanced Settings->Under the Hood

Then click on the Content Settings... button which will bring up a new screen and towards the bottom there will be a Disable Individual Plug-ins link. On this new screen is a list of all the plug-ins installed in Chrome. It is where one can disable individual plug-ins in Chrome including Flash. Select Disable and viola, Flash should now be disabled on web pages.

A word of warning, sites like hbogo.com require flash to play videos, so be aware these site will not work while Flash is disabled.

Though, I did find that youtube.com still played videos despite complaining about not finding a Flash plug-in if I clicked on the video. I believe this because it defaults to Chrome's own video playing software which YouTube falls back to if Flash is missing.

8 Things I Wish I Had Known Before I Started Playing Guild Wars 2

2012-11-28T16:55:00.000-08:00


Standing next to a Guild Wars 2 Vista

For the past couple of months, I've been playing the MMORPG Guild Wars 2. Guild Wars 2 is a pretty complex and modern online game and there are important aspects and efficiencies that I've learning after the fact or the hard way. This article's goal is to pass along these tips for those just starting Guild Wars 2. Much of the following advice is to increase the rate of gold and experience you can acquire while you play and enjoy the game as a whole.

A Gateway to Lion's Arch

Lion's Arch Gateway System -- In each starting city, there's a purple swirly icon, which represents a gateway that connects to central hub city called Lion's Arch. From Lion's Arch, one can connect to the five other major cities and each of those cities are connected to starting zones of the world. One can quickly acquire up to two dozen character Skill Points in these starting five zones which are important in increasing the power, ability and flexibility of one's character(s).
Create a guild (it's free), especially if a character isn't already a member of one. Once created, make sure that each character is representing your guild under the guild menu. Representing a guild allows one accrue guild reputation points for every game event you complete. These reputation points can be spent on the creation of a personal guild bank, which gives your characters an additional 50 bank slots. This is a better use of your gold than the alternative standard bank slots which are purchased through expensive Blue Gems. One can also purchase additional guild reputation points through the Guild Promoter merchants, which are usually found near the main banks in the cities.
Purchase and equip tools

Ore, Plant & Log location icons on the local map

Harvest Sickles
Mining Picks
Logging Axes that can be purchased from many of the standard merchants found through the game. These tools are doubly valuable because resource gathering earns experience and items which can be used or sold in the Trading Posts for a profit. Plant, Log and Ore resources icons will appear outside of the cities in your local map (but not the world map). The local map is displayed on your screen at all times.

Always first try to sell one's acquired items at the Trading Post. Trading Posts can be found in each of the main cities and other locations in game. Players will often pay, through the Trading Post system, much more for items than the in-game NPC merchants. A Trading Post is represented as a "weight scales" icon found on the world map and is usually found near a city's banking area.
Purchase 8 or 10 slot inventory bags from the Trading Posts that are found in each main city as soon as one can afford them. These extra slots will allow one's character to hold more items that can be brought and sold a NPC merchant or the Trading Post. Each character can hold five bags by default. The current maximum slot size for a bag is 20.
Many items you acquire can be salvaged. Salvage Kits can be found on the same merchants that sell the harvesting tools. These kits allow one to salvage materials from items, which then can be can be sold to other players via the Trading Post or be simply be used in the development of one's own crafting skills. Salvaging while out in the world can reduce full inventory to a few raw materials which can free up inventory space and reducing the unnecessary and time wasting trips back into the cities.
Experience is most efficiently earned through completing impromptu Zone Events or fixed missions found throughout the game. Though NPCs that have not been killed for a long period (10 minutes or more), give a bonus amount of experience when killed. This bonus amount is displayed below the normal experience value shown after any NPC is killed by the player.
Daily Tasks are a set of tasks which can be completed across your characters on the same account in a given day and can only be completed once per day. 24-hour period which starts and ends at 4 PM (PST/Server Time). Completing all these daily tasks gives one's character extra experience and increased Karma points. Karma points can be spent at merchants for more powerful armor and weapons. The Daily Tasks include:


Daily Tasks Menu

Kill 15 different enemies types
Kill 60 enemies in total
Gather 20 resources through Mining, Logging or Plant Harvesting
Complete 5 Zone Events

One final tip is two information resources on the web. The first the official Guild Wars 2 Wiki website, which is an excellent resource for learning about almost every detail in the game. The second valuable resource is the unofficial Guild Wars Trade website which give the current and price histories of virtually all items sold in the Trading Post.

Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear some of your Guild Wars 2 tips as well.

How-to tips: Improving your SSD low/slow performance

2012-08-27T15:29:00.000-07:00

Crucial M4 256 GB SSD

A few months back I upgraded my PC storage to a Solid State Drive (SSD), a Crucial M4 2.5" 256 GB. Originally, I simply used Windows 7's own backup software to install a disk image of my previous traditional magnetic based hard drive and resized my SSD's partition to its proper size. Expectedly, my computer booted and loaded applications much faster than with my old hard drive. I was happy with my SSD purchase.

HOWEVER, a few months later I read a review of my drive and to my surprise, I noted that my own performance benchmark numbers (using CrystalDiskMark 3.0) were a full 33% lower than the ones stated in my SSD's review.

So this lead me on a journey to figure out why there was such a difference. After much searching and reading it turns out I had multiple issues that were impacting my SSD's performance in my PC.

Tip #1: Nonoptimal SSD Alignment

Since I used a backup hard drive image to copy my operating system and data to the new SSD, my drive's sector alignment (see link for a utility which tells you) was not optimal for SSD performance. (Proper SSD alignment for my new drive is 4096, and not 512 as with my old magnetic hard drive.) When a drive is formatted anew during a normal Windows installation, the drive is automatically formatted by Windows with proper alignment. There are ways to re-align an a misaligned SSD alright running Windows but in my case it was more complex (again see the link) than simply reinstalling my Windows 7 OS anew.

NOTE: That during the initial Windows install process, I had to delete my SSD's old partition via the advanced Windows install settings, so that the Window's installer would reformat the SSD correctly. This isn't required if the SSD is unformatted. A SSD is unformatted when one first takes it out of it's packaging, FYI.

Tip #2: Enabling AHCI

Much to my chagrin, upon finishing my Windows 7 install and rerunning the CrystalDiskMark utility, my benchmark numbers were only marginally improved! Which brings me to the second issue I discovered: Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) was not enabled. Normally, enabling this feature and installing the drivers is done in the first phase of one's Windows installation. However, one can enable AHCI manually in Windows by using regedit, which can be found if by typing: regedit in one's Windows Start menu. It's the standard registry editing utility provided by Microsoft. More details can be found here.

WARNING: Doing this incorrectly might render your computer unable to boot into Windows and will result you having to go into Windows Safe Mode to change the value back so your computer can boot properly again. So write down the previous value listed below before changing it to zero.

Run regedit
In regedit, open the following in the registry list on the left hand side registry list: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> SYSTEM >> CurrentControlset >> Services
Click on: msahci
In the right window in regedit, click on the Start field in regedit
Once Start is selected go to Edit menu again in regedit, and from that menu select Modify
In the Value Data field that comes up, enter: 0
Note: This is a zero value and NOT the letter "O".
Exit regedit, which saves your changes automatically.
Reboot your computer and enter your computer's BIOS (usually accomplished by holding "Delete" key while one's computer is first booting up)
In your computer's BIOS menu, usually under what is probably labeled Integrated Peripherals look for SATA device or SATA mode and set it to: AHCI (usually from IDE).
Write down the previous SATA value before you make the change to AHCI in case you have issues and have to change the BIOS setting back.
Save your BIOS settings (usually by pressing F10) and wait for your computer to reboot into Windows. Windows should detect and install the AHCI driver automatically if everything was done correctly and should require another reboot.

Tip #3: Out of date AHCI Windows drivers

Again, I ran the CrystalDiskMark utility and now my numbers were finally were significantly improved, though still 5-10% slower than was were reported in the review. At this point, I figured that was close enough and might simply be differences between my hardware and the reviewer's hardware. However, later that day during a routine Driver Checker utility scan, the utility reported that the Windows supplied AHCI drivers were out of date. So this prompted me to check my motherboard's model website and sure enough there were newer chipset drivers to download and install. (My motherboard manufacturer is Gigabtye, but see your computer maker's website if any new drivers exit for your model computer or motherboard). So I downloaded and installed those drivers and rebooted.

Sure enough, my SSD benchmarks were inline with the same results in the review.

Two final SSD tips:

SSD FIRMWARE: Check your SSD manufacturer's website for any firmware updates for your SSD model. Installing firmware updates can dramatically improve your SSD's performance and even fix bugs within the drive itself.
SATA 3.0: SSD performance can be negatively effected by connecting one's SSD to a SATA or SATA 2.0 interface port on your motherboard. Older computers might only support these older STAT standards and not the newer and faster SATA 3.0 standard. SATA 3.0 drives are backward compatible with the older SATA standards. One's computer/motherboard documentation should specify which SATA standard your computer supports. And one can purchase a separate SATA 3.0 card for a desktop PC to utilize the the full performance of a SSD.

Video Card Review: GTX 460 v2 1GB DDR5 -- MSI N460GTX-M2D1GD5/OC2 -- But will it play Crysis?

2012-03-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

MSI N460GTX-M2D1GD5/OC2

Why I upgraded:

I recently purchased Crysis, Crysis Warhead and Crysis Wars PC game combo pack on Steam for $10. Crysis for many years has been the PC graphics standard barer. It's very demanding on PC hardware despite it being a game that is now five years old.

What I upgraded from:

Much to my chagrin, my budget gamer card NVIDIA Geforce GT 240 512 MB DDR5 was not able to play Crysis on "High" detail settings at anything higher than a resolution 1280x800 and even then frame rate was around 25-35 frames per second (fps). Which isn't the worst performance for a $45 graphics card, purchased almost a year go! But it did give me an excuse to keep an eye out for an upgrade since my Viewsonic VX2268WM display has a native resolution of 1650x1050.

What I upgraded to:

This past week I ran across an online deal on a NVIDIA Geforce GTX 460 v2 card for under $100, specifically a MSI N460GTX-M2D1GD5/OC2. What does the v2 stand for? Well to my mild surprise, it signifies that, despite its Geforce 400 series label, it's actually a 500 series second generation "Fermi" GPU (GF114). More specifically this specific card is identical to a GTX 560 but with a smaller 192-bit memory bus (compared to 256-bit). But running at the same a core GPU frequency of 810 MHz, shader 1620 MHz, and DDR5 memory clocked at 2004 MHz.

How well does the GTX 460 v2 overclock:

Using MSI's Afterburner overclocking/monitoring utility, was able to modestly increase the card's core/shader/memory clocks to 865/1730/2225 MHz and keep things stable at a stock voltage of 0.95V. Anything beyond these values, I was experience crashes or visual glitches in complex 3D rendering. However, when I increased my voltage to a maximum of 1.087V (from a stock 0.95V), I was able to stably raise my core/shader/memory to 975/1950/2225 MHz

My system:
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition @ 3.825 GHz
System memory: 8 GB DDR3 - 1600 MHz
Graphics card: GTX 460 v2 1 GB DDR5
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3

Heaven 3.0 benchmark scores running in DirectX 10 mode @ 1680x1050:
GT 240: 495
GTX 460 v2: 1376
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed: 1509
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed w/ 1.087V: 1602

3DMark Vantage scores -- DirectX 10 benchmark utility
GT 240: P5748
GTX 460 v2: P14303
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed: P14807
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed w/ 1.087V: P15701

3DMark 11 scores -- DirectX 11 benchmark utility
GTX 460 v2: P3798
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed: P4007
GTX 460 v2 OC'ed w/ 1.087V: P4434
Note: the GT 240 does not support DirectX 11, thus it cannot be compared.

But will it run Crysis?

Well, it depends on which settings. I can happily report that I can now comfortably play Crysis on High detail at 1680x1050 at a frame rate of 30-60+ fps, depending on the scene. With frame rates usually hovering around 50 fps most of the time. Note: This is running the 64-bit DirectX 10 version of the Crysis executable. Not bad for a sub $100 graphics card. If one is willing to significantly increase voltage, the overclocking potential really makes this card even more of a value for those of us on budget.

YouTube Keyword Tool and Youtube Creator Handbook

2012-03-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

I attended (via a live web stream) a YouTube Partner webinare today. The tips the people at YouTube gave were obvious and virtually all of it is included in my own videos created years ago. All the info and more can be found in the YouTube Video Creator Playbook.

One tidbit that was new is a keyword suggestion tool created by YouTube/Google. This tool suggest optimized or alternate keywords you can include in your video or even blog posts.

Here's the link: https://ads.youtube.com/keyword_tool

Tutorial: Installing Windows 8 Customer Preview via USB Thumb Driver or DVD Including Install Key in 4 Easy Steps

2012-02-29T14:29:00.002-08:00

Today I downloaded and installed the Windows 8 Customer Preview!

Here are the steps to install the new Windows 8 Customer Preview OS via a thumb drive. I recommend the 64-bit version if you have 4 GB of system RAM and the 32-bit version if you are have less than that.

Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview .ISO file here: 64-bit download | 32-bit download
Download and install the free Windows USB/DVD download tool.
Using the freshly installed USB/DVD tool, write the image to your DVD blank or thumb drive. (Note: your thumb drive must be have at least 4.5 GB of free space)
That's it! Now all you need to do is boot off the DVD or thumb drive. Check your BIOS settings to ensure your computer boots from either the DVD or USB Drive first, before your Hard Drive.
Write this install key down: DNJXJ-7XBW8-2378T-X22TX-BKG7J (Note: this is a valid key and is used by everyone for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview)

WARNING: Installing Windows 8 will permanently update your Windows OS to version 8. I advise installing to a separate hard drive or USB drive instead of updating or installing over your older version of Windows.

A personal side note issue with my installing: I had to manually install the Windows 7 64-bit version my Intel 465 Chipset graphics driver to enable full screen native resolution. It appears to work fine. Though I read today that if you check under optional Windows Updates, there are additional graphic drivers to download and install.

Good Luck!

Making HD Youtube videos on the cheap.

2011-11-14T23:21:00.001-08:00

New video by me about making HD videos for YouTube, on the cheap.

Tutorial: Recording 720p or 1080p video @ 30 fps with your webcam

2011-10-02T01:59:00.000-07:00

I was recently able to purchase a Logitech C510 webcam for around $25. This model can record video at a resolution of 1280x720 (720p) at a maximum frame rate of 30 fps. (The Logitech C910 or C925 will record in 720p or 1080p.) Perfect for HD video on YouTube. (Check your webcam model's documentation to determine the maximum supported video resolution and frame rate.)

However, the supplied Logitech software doesn't allow recording at 720p and my computer's CPU is too slow to record and encode video real time at such video high resolutions using Microsoft's newest Expression Encoder 4 in Windows 7.

I did find a solution using the trusty and free Windows Media Encoder (WME) in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 using the following settings under the Properties option:

(click on image for larger view)

For more detailed information on how to setup your WME recording, see my detailed blog post on WME HERE. The following WME settings enable 720p @ 30 fps recording, but my computer is too slow to compress in real time, video of this quality and resolution. However, there is another setting in the advanced tab in WME, where can you can defer video encoding until after the video recording is finished.

(click on image for larger view)

You want to check the 'Store content to hard disk temporarily' check box. And then check the 'Capture to hard disk first, then encode' check box. Note: 'path' for the temporary video data, ensure you can the write data to that directory. (Vista and Windows 7 can restrict write access to C:/, so use a path to your desktop or another folder you have created as an alternative.) You can change this to any folder path in which you have hard drive write access.

These setting options should allow people with much less powerful CPUs to still record 720p (or even 1080p) video, such as myself. I'm confident that this setup will work for the wide variety of the HD webcams, such as the Logitech C310, C615, C525, C910, C920 models, Microsoft's LifeCam Cinema HD models and Creative Live! HD webcams.

If your computer still struggles with recording 720p video. There are less CPU demanding widescreen (16:9) 480x360, 850x400, 864x480 or 1024x576 resolutions that can be tried that while not true HD, still offer a good resolution for video making on YouTube or Vimeo, etc.

Good luck!

The Secret Side of YouTube

2011-07-18T13:05:00.000-07:00

YouTube is obviously a great way to share your videos with a large amount of people. However, there are times where sharing something to the masses isn't desirable. So I wanted to mention a 3 ways to limit your videos to a more custom audience.

Private YouTube Videos

This is the most secure way to share one of your videos. Marking a video as private requires you manually list the YouTube users who can view your video. Private videos do not show up when searched by others.
Positives:

Absolute control over which user sees what videos
Video does not show up on your channel page

Drawbacks:

Requires each viewer to have a YouTube account
Maximum number of shared users is only 50 per video

Unlisted YouTube Videos

A second and more accessible way to share a video amongst a more limited audience is to mark the video as "Unlisted". This allows anyone with the video's URL to view the video. And like private videos, does not show up when searched for.
Positives:

An unlimited amount of people can view the video, provided they have the video's URL link which you give out
Viewing the video does not require a YouTube account
Video does not show up on your channel page

Drawbacks:

The video can be viewed by anyone that has the link
Video link can be shared by anyone

Invisible Channel Option

A third option is to set your channel to 'invisible'. This can be set in your channel page's settings tab. An invisible channel is one where the channel page can only be accessed by channel's owner. Invisible channel owners can still mark individual videos as private or as unlisted as described above. However, any videos marked as public on an invisible channel will show up in YouTube's search. This option is largely for people who want to greatly limit their presence from YouTube by marking all their videos as private or unlisted but still maintaining the benefits of owning a YouTube account.
Positives:

Removes public access to one's YouTube channel page
Allows user to upload videos, and comment on and rate others videos

Drawbacks:

Only removes public access to one's channel page
Public videos still can be found in YouTube/Google search
Not desirable for building subscriber base

Google/YouTube's new beta interface changes

2011-07-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

Google is rolling out a redesign for all its major websites. This includes Google+, YouTube, and Gmail. Google is also folding its Blogger and Picasa services into Google+. You can even get a sneak peak:

YouTube beta interface code named: Cosmic Panda!

Gmail users can simply switch to the new Preview theme!

I've been using the new beta YouTube interface for a little while. I'm not sure I like it. The channels are radically different. Not to say I like the current channel design. Actually I hate the current channel design. I still think the original channel design was best.

Checking out the newest Linux Distros

2011-05-06T16:24:00.000-07:00

It had been over a year since I had taken used any flavor of Linux. So this week, with the release of Ubuntu 11.04, I decided to take a fresh look.

I started with Ubuntu 11.04. Ubuntu is the most popular of all the Linux distributions. Like virtually all of flavors of Linux, it is 100% free to download and install. Ya, open source/GPL! So I downloaded burned the ISO disc image to a CD-R blank (700MB size required). Sadly, installation was not without issue this time around. I had issues with the installer saying it was unable to install the GRUB boot loader. This was frustrating because the drive was completely empty and had no MBR. After the 3rd try, it finally installed without issue. Though I'm still not sure why it failed or finally worked with my 3rd attempt. I haven't much issue with Ubuntu installs in the past. Upon boot up, I was surprised to see that Canonical (Ubuntu's maintainer) had to decided to forgo the standard Gnome desktop user interface for their new Unity desktop. While I didn't use it for very long, I was very much frustrated by the changes. It has more a Mac OS X feel, which is totally alien to me. So taken back by these changes, I decide to take a look at Debian Linux.

I had heard good things about Debian from a user that was running it at the cafe where I haunt. So I decided to install it and take a look. Again I burned the Debian 6.0.1 installer disc image to a CD-R blank. It's installer was much smaller in size but required a lengthy download process to fully install the standard set of Linux applications. Though I did not have issue with the installation. The desktop interface is very much like the previous versions of Ubuntu since it uses a more standard Gnome desktop. But there is where my enjoyment ended. It had a non-standard version of Firefox, called IceWeasel. It turns out that Firefox uses some non-free software which is antithetical to the Debian free software philosophy. So IceWeasel is a modified version of Firefox using 100% open source code, I assume. I could still manually install Firefox but I did having an issue which required me to manually edit the package dependency list to allow for its successful install on Debian, since the Firefox package is for its close cousin Ubuntu. I also had problems installing the proprietary nvidia graphics drivers. I couldn't even use the sudo command, without having to manually edit the sudo user list file. And even then I still wasn't sure it was using the nvidia drivers once I had installed them. Frankly at this point, I had enough. So I was on to my third option kubuntu.

kubuntu is a Linux distribution based on Ubuntu but uses the KDE desktop interface and applications by default. Again I burned the installer's disc image to a CD-R blank and installed kubuntu 11.04. The installer did crash on the first attempt but the second attempt installed successfully. While the KDE interface is more like the Microsoft Windows interface, I still found myself struggling with the differences and found myself wanting standard Gnome UI. Though, I was able to easily install Firefox 4 and the nvidia graphic drivers. For the time being kubuntu is going to be my Linux distro of choice. Though as a test, I was unable to successfully capture video from my webcam using the recommended Cheese video recording application. I was unable to adjust my webcam's settings to produce a proper color video image and I could not get my audio to record at all even after fiddling with the system settings.

One area that Linux falls short is in the video capturing and editing department. It's not at all a friendly video maker's platform. So I definately would not recommend it for YouTube video makers. Though the YouTube website itself run fine on Linux.

What Constitutes fair use for YouTube videos?

2011-05-04T08:37:00.000-07:00

I get a lot of questions from YouTube video makers about what constitutes "fair use" in regards to their YouTube content. I'm not a lawyer but this new Stanford University video helps outline the guidelines of "fair use" and copyright. Check it out!

source: YouTube blog

New YouTube Annotation System

2010-12-10T14:31:00.000-08:00

A brand new annotation editor - based on user feedback, we overhauled the annotation editor and moved most of the functionality to a new side panel to streamline annotation creation, editing and deletion while leaving the player less cluttered.
New annotation type - “Title” - Title annotations enable overlaying headlines, videos titles, credits and other “big text” on top of your video, just like you would with professional video editing tools.
New Font size options - you can now select from a combined set of six font sizes.
New color options - annotations are now available in 16 background colors and 14 font colors.

This is good news for YouTube video makers. Annotations are an excellent way to convey more information and draw attention to things. Especially for corrections, links or clarification in video already uploaded.

via YouTube Blog

YouTube ups video length limit for users of "Good Standing"

2010-12-09T12:05:00.000-08:00

YouTube announced that accounts with good standing can upload video longer than 15 minutes. Where good stand means you have a history of not upload content that has been flagged as owned by someone use via their content ID system. This is great news for users than are not YouTube Partners. Curiously, they don't specify what the max length is, but I would assume it's only limited by the current maximum upload file size of 2 GB.

via the YouTube Blog

Directly download Adobe Flash Player

2010-08-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't noticed, Adobe installs their annoying and largely unwanted download manager when one try to update to a new version of their Flash Player. This is the application that plays YouTube video and is generally a good piece of software to keep up to date to get the most out of YouTube's features.

Well there is a solution and that is the hidden direct download links for Windows:

Enjoy.

YouTube ups video length limit to 15 minutes

2010-07-29T11:12:00.000-07:00

YouTube, today announced that it is raising maximum length a video can be uploaded. The new limit is 15 minutes, just under 11 minutes was the old limit. The maximum uploaded file size remains 2 GB, which should not be an issue for videos of 15 minutes or less in length. And this increase doesn't effect YouTube Partners since they can already upload videos of unlimited length.

Youtube Hash Tag List - New Feature

2010-06-02T10:58:00.001-07:00

YouTube recently added hash tag abilities to video comments. Hashtags are links to recently comments using the same hashtag.

As far as I can determine this list of special hashtags are:

#FTW
#CUTE
#FAIL
#OMG
#LOL

Example comment using these (hehe, classic):

Post any new hashtags you've found below in the comments below.

Fearless Technology prediction for the coming decade

2010-02-08T12:26:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit late for post like this. It's been a whole month already of 2010, only 119 months to go until 2020! But I thought I'd offer my opinions about what the technology landscape will (might) look like in coming decade.

Technology of course, especially on the web, moves very fast and is hard if not impossible to predict more than a few years out. We are still only about 15 years into the mainstream use of the Internet. I've read that historically it takes 30 years for a brand new technology to fully integrate into a culture. If I look back to 2000, there is only one website I still use regularly in 2010 my.yahoo, or maybe two if I count craigslist which I use a litte). And of course, I've bought many new computers and mobile devices in that time. I now spend the majority of my computing time on a laptop instead of a desktop. My desktop has a large HDTV monitor connected to it instead of a small CRT display from ten years ago.

Web based social networking didn't really exist yet in 2000. Neither did video sharing, nor blogging even.

And it also needs to observed that many important killer apps in the 1980's and 90's didn't change that much last decade. Word processors and spreadsheet applications are quite similar to their 2000 versions. The web browser itself has only marginally improved in the last decade. My Windows desktop interface shows only minor changes beyond the window style and 64-bit functionality.

So here are my 9 fearless and maybe somewhat obvious predictions for 2020.

1.) WhiteFi -- This is new freed up bandwidth spectrum that allows much wider coverage for broadband wireless Internet connectivity. I believe most all computer devices will be connected wirelessly to the web at all times and your other owned devices, like smart phones, cameras, HDTVs.  Wired connections will be largely only for electricity and charging.

2.) Beyond HDTV -- Much bigger is much better. 1080p video is nice but 4K format (4096×2304) is better for very large displays. I foresee a proliferation of inexpensive, large 80+ inch (2+ meter) displays by the end of this decade. This size of display will demand an much higher resolution to maintain a HD look.

3.) Television/Internet Integration -- Your video will all come through your broadband connection and your TV will have most PC functionality of course tailored to a living room environment. You are already seeing this become a standard for most Blu-ray players being able to play Hulu and YouTube videos. The Xbox 360 has Netflix streaming. I see this integration becoming virtually seamless and subscription based. With your smart phone being your TV remote control for complex interface interaction commands to your TV. Maybe even using voice commands for basic things.

4.) Video Proliferation -- Everything will have an high quality camera on it. This is almost already true for phones and laptops now. This goes hand in hand with all three previous prediction. Though I don't see video conferencing replacing most telephone conversations for two reasons. Proper eye contact is fundamentally difficult and off putting and people don't have to be presentable while on a traditional voice call.

5.) Cyber-Terrorism -- As the world's infrastructure is more ubiquitously tied to the Internet, the more ripe of a target it is to terrorists and organized crime. The current infrastructure is largely unprepared to guard against a coordinated attack to do damage to key pieces of infrastructure or a mass attack causing damage to user PCs.

6.) Internet Regulation/Censorship -- Since the web largely has and will become the dominate medium of communication, I think there will be a strong push to regulate and ultimately censor web usage. You already see this with China's great firewall. I think a cyber attack would make this much easier for governments to justify and corporate interests are keen on limiting user freedoms. This would include freedoms to subvert copyright protections or hurt government or corporate public opinion. This might create a system to reduce the opportunity for user anonymity on the web.

7.) Effects of Multi-core Computing -- With the proliferation many dozen or more multi-CPU cores in a single device has the potential to have a transformative effect on all aspects of user computer interaction. Possibly making robust speech recognition a primary method for human-computer interaction. Photo-real real-time render graphics and games become possible that combine with motion capture data taken real-time from the user's video cameras that steam directly into online MMO avatars as a possible example in 10 years.

8.) DNA/genetic Software -- With the acceleration of gene sequencing technologies, it will be common for all people have their entire genome sequenced in the coming decade. This will open the door for an explosion of genetic related applications from health, to heredity, to genetic genealogy maps. We are intensely interested in finding out things about ourselves and people we are close to, few things are as personal and hidden as our genomic information.

9.) Dynamic Social Networking -- Human beings of course love to socialize and the Internet enables the scope of our social nature to be wider than ever though possible. Maybe the biggest story in technology in the last decade was the proliferation of social networking based websites. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blogTV just to name a few. These networks are largely text and still image based. With the proliferation of video recording devices and constant Internet connectivity, I believe you could see a much richer and real-time feed of information generated by people in your social network. A website enriched by real-time video or recorded video updates is maybe only the tip. The only limitation is desire for personal privacy. But I think you are going to continue to see the desire yield some of that privacy because openness and intimacy is rewarded by attention from others. As our social networks expand, I think data mining will be desirable to connect to new people and collect the ever growing pieces of content generated by our social networks/friends. Sadly, it's maybe impossible to envision the shape of the next big thing in social networking but all forms of media (video, audio, text, portability, connectivity) are now in play on the web and ready to mix and evolve.

What are your fearless predictions for the next decade? I want to hear them. =)

Tutorial for Windows Media Encoder: Recording High Quality Video using your Webcam for YouTube

2010-01-18T17:26:00.000-08:00

Windows Media Encoder is a powerful free tool for Windows users. Here are the basic steps for configuring your Windows Media Encoder to maximize the recording quality of most any webcam connected to your PC. Make sure you have your webcam's most up to date drivers installed.

Note: You can click on any image in this tutorial for a larger and easier to read image.

STEP #1:
Download and Install Windows Media Encoder

STEP #2:
Once installed, start Windows Media Encoder: Start Menu->Programs->Windows Media->Windows Media Encoder

STEP #3:

Once open you'll see this screen. Select Capture Audio or Video and then click OK.
(You might have to click on New Session first to bring up this menu but probably not.)

STEP #4:

Now select your webcam in the Video and Audio drop down lists. My webcam, for example is the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000. You can also select a separate audio source if you want to due a different microphone than the one included with your webcam.

Once your video and audio sources are selected, click NEXT.

STEP #5:

This next menu requires you to give a file name to your new video file you are about to record via your webcam. Enter in the desired path and the file name you wish to save it as. (For example, I'm saving the video named vlog.wmv to my desktop)

Click on NEXT when you are finished entering the path and file name.

STEP #6:

Now select Web server (progressive download) and Click NEXT.

STEP #7:

Select DVD quality video (CBR) from the Video drop down list.
(Note: We will customize our video settings in the follow steps, this is just a good starting configuration to begin from.)

Click on FINISH when done.

STEP #8:
Your webcam should now be recording a sample video at this point. Click on the Stop button in the menu bar to end the recording.

STEP #9:

Now click on the Properties button in the menu bar. This will bring up the Session Properties menu. Your webcam name should already be selected in the Video drop down list. Click on the Configure button next your webcam's name. This will bring up the properties menu of your webcam. It'll look something like mine but it can and will vary because each webcam has it's own features and functionality. Adjust these setting to achieve the best image quality. You will notice that as you change these settings, the Input video window (behind this menu possibly, so move it if needed) will show any changes you make in real time. Also make sure are well lit by the lights in your room in this set up because webcam perform best in well lit environments. Here is a basic tutorial of how light your room for best results. The above image is an example of the configuration settings of my own webcam. You can reset your webcam's setting by clicking on the Default button if things get too screwed up.

STEP #10:

Click on Advanced tab (if there is one, if not skip this step) in the same menu as above. The last part in setting up your webcam is to turn off any Automatic Gain Control. Manually set your webcam's exposure to 1/30 [s] (30 frames per second). Also, manually adjust your Gain by checking the Video Input window as a real time guide to achieve optimal brightness and video image quality. I also recommend turning off "ReadyLight" or anything other auto adjusting webcam features for best results. Gain is how sensitive to light your webcam's sensors are when recording. It'll help with balancing the brightness of your video.

Click on OK when finished.

Note: STEPS #9 and #10 are the most important to tweak and to spend time customizing to achieve the best image quality for your recorded videos.

STEP #11:

You can also adjust your microphone's recording volume if you wish by clicking on the Configure button next the name of your Audio source just as we did with the Webcam's video source. Note: Sometimes audio configuration will won't be option, because it's hardware specific.

STEP #12:

We are almost done. Just a few more steps. Now click on the Compression tab in the Session Properties menu. Then click on the EDIT button next to the destination drop down menu. This will bring up Custom Encoding Settings menu. This menu allows you to customize the codec formats you want the video and audio to record with. Add a custom name in the Name field. I recommend using Windows Media Audio 9.2 for your audio and Windows Media Video V8 for your video encoding. The latter because V8 requires a less powerful CPU to encode at our desired 30 frames per second. If you have a powerful CPU, you can try using Window Media Video 9 though the quality difference is negligible in my experience.
Side note: In this menu, you can also export a custom video settings file for Windows Movie Maker. How to this is described here in a previous blog post.

STEP #13:

This is the final custom configuration step and one of the most important. In the Custom Encoding Settings menu, select tab next to the General tab, this tab should display a bit rate value, something like "2073 Kbps". This menu allows you set your videos video bit rate and resolution as well as your video's audio quality. For example I use 128 Kbps, 44 KHz CBR for my audio quality. For my webcam recorded video, I use a resolution of 640 by 360 pixel (a 16:9 wide screen aspect ratio) and 3000 Kbps for my recorded video's bit rate at 30 frames per second. Notice, I also set my sharpness to a maximum value of 100 for the least blurry image results. But my specific settings may not work with the specific capabilities of your webcam. Some webcams can't record at 30 frames per second or capture wide screen video. You'll have to do some testing or read your specific webcam's documentation. Some common video resolutions to try. Try the ones in bold first.

960x720, 800x600, 640x480, 480x360 or 320x240 (4:3 standard)
854x480, 800x450, 640x360, 480x270, 320x180 (16:9 wide screen)
1280x720 (16:9 wide screen HD)

Once you have entered in your desired recording configuration settings, click OK. Then click APPLY at the bottom of your Session Properties menu. You can now close the Session Properties menu if you wish but it's not required.

STEP #14:
Now you are ready to start recording your video! You do this by simply clicking on the Start Encoding button and then clicking on the Stop Encoding button when you are finished recording. Remember: your recorded video file will be found where you specified in Step #5. Also you will need to rename the outputted file if you are recording more than one video since it will overwrite the previous video file if not.

Note: When you close Windows Media Encoder, it'll ask you if you want to save your configuration as a file which can be then manually loaded the next time you want to record with Windows Media Encoder. So save your configuration to a place where you can load it again and thus you won't have keep repeating the above steps every time you want to record.

Good luck and happy YouTubing! :-)

Trials HD Review

2010-01-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

I posted another short review of the PC and Xbox Live game Trials HD on my friend Rebecka's blog Nerdphilia.

Link to my review

Defense Grid Review

2010-01-01T12:15:00.000-08:00

I posted another short review of the PC and Xbox Live game Grid Defense on my friend Rebecka's blog Nerdphilia.

Link to my review

Torchlight Review

2009-12-27T17:31:00.000-08:00

I posted a short review of the PC game Torchlight on my friend Rebecka's blog Nerdphilia.

Link to my review

Extinction of Species

2009-07-27T14:39:00.001-07:00

As a naturalist, I appreciate the profoundness of our natural world. The amazing display of biological evolution is a wonder to me. So it saddens me to think that the coming centuries are almost certainly going to yield a mass extinction due to man made causes including but not limited to global warming. There have been five big mass extinctions in the earth's history. And this will likely be the first one cause by a single species, homo sapiens, us.

Extinction is a part of our common biological diversity as anything. It's as natural as speciation. Environments change in ways in ways that certain species cannot survive and it will always be this way over the long span of the story of live. But I hold possibly an irrational guilt when it happens in our age. A sense that most of it is our fault. That I am guilty. That others are guilty of this natural sin of sorts.

Reading the New York Times weekend article: New Creatures in an Age of Extinction reminded me of the sadness I feel. It is estimated that only 15% of our Earth's species have been recorded. Much of which will be extinct and lost forever. Never to be known by humans.