http://www.renegadeotv.com/index.phpupdates and news from renegadeotvenme@renegadeotv.comCopyright 2007 renegadeotv2008-04-02T22:57:09-07:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:38:20 -0700me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2008-04-02T22:57:09-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d849138052030ec843ad2ebb7adadc4b-39.php#unique-entry-id-39http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d849138052030ec843ad2ebb7adadc4b-39.php#unique-entry-id-39
Can't live without:
Twitter
Del.icio.us
Google Reader
iwantSandy
Jott
Flickr

Trying to like:
Grand Central
Remember the milk
Last.fm
Plaxo
Evernote
mag.nolia
Stumbleupon

Doing the best to forget:
Stikkit

I'll go into details later on my feelings about these applications. I'm still using Twitter as a micro post blog. I keep track of RSS feeds with Google Reader instead of NNW. I use delicious to keep track of second tier bookmarks. Sandy is a organizer based off of Stikkit. I liked stikkit better, but the company that develops both seems to be focusing on Sandy. Jott is really neat since my E50 doesn't have easy text input, and allows me to add data to the web services I use quickly.

Grand Central is a phone redirection service that gives you a phone number, and gives you some great features to let you control where those calls go. It looks really awesome and I have it set up but I don't talk on the phone enough to make use of it. I haven't decided if I want to use RTM or just keep my todo list with Sandy. I'm considering using mag.nolia than del.iciou.us since it has openid support. The problem is the firefox plugin for delicious is really nice, but there isn't an equivlent for mag.nolia. I'm researching Plaxo, I haven't actually used it because I have some concerns about it's privacy. If they fixed some of the issues with pulse connections, it'd have some neat features that I could use. Evernote is a note taking system that I just started using, so I don't have much to say about it yet.

I'll go into detail about these services later, just thought I'd give a quick update. I waste so much time on these services that I need to talk about it, so maybe other people don't have too waste their time too.
]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-09-02T19:58:07-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/38eded4f692fb19a81e408b830b9ce06-38.php#unique-entry-id-38http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/38eded4f692fb19a81e408b830b9ce06-38.php#unique-entry-id-38firefox browser, then install the adblock plus, filterset g, no script, and greasemonkey extensions. Just those extensions are great to use everywhere on the web, but you can tweak myspace itself using greasemonkey scripts. I've tried the following ones so far, and they really help.
Automatic MySpace Media Remover
Myspace - Remove Anything *Customizable*
Myspace - Custom Layout Dis/Enable
MySpace - Add Image Links 2
MySpace - Remove Anything Everywhere
NOTE: Use this advice at your own risk!
Using scripts can break things, they can get out of date when myspace changes around, so just remember it can break things. I don't value myspace much so I'm not afraid to break it. Adblock Plus with filterset g blocks ads, and also can break websites. No script disables javascript except on sites that you allow. It's pretty easy to use, it pops up a box at the bottom of the screen and asks you if you want to allow javascript on the site your visiting. It can be annoying, but it's more secure than allowing everything to run on it's own. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-09-01T21:53:17-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/89992a04b6e139d6fd3eafc4e8a010cc-37.php#unique-entry-id-37http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/89992a04b6e139d6fd3eafc4e8a010cc-37.php#unique-entry-id-37podcasting when some of the the old cast from the screensavers started their own network of shows.

• Xbox Lives Major Nelson - The director of programming for Xbox Live has his own pod-cast. It's really well produced, and he always has something interested to talk about that's going on with Xbox Live.
• Bungie.net - The developers for the Halo games have started their own weekly show. I'm a big Halo fan, and it's great to have an official podcast straight from Bungie.
• This Week in Tech - This show is from the old TechTV regulars. They recap the latest goings on in the technology scene. It's great to see what Leo Laporte and Patrick norton are up to. I use to have to use the old crappy satellite tv (the kind you had to wait for the dish to rotate to pick up different channels) that came with our house to check out their show.
• Macbreak Weekly - another TWIT production, but for Apple related news. Merlin Mann is a frequent host on it, who runs the 43folders website that I like so much.

There's other podcasts that I follow releases of but I don't actually listen to. I use netnewswire to download shows then import them to itunes from there. That way I can pick and choose exactly what I want to listen to, and I don't have to download all of them so I save some space.


]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-08-24T21:17:23-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/895e07e753f77c96e6a8fd5c4b0f53a6-36.php#unique-entry-id-36http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/895e07e753f77c96e6a8fd5c4b0f53a6-36.php#unique-entry-id-36Mondays

• Anythony Bourdain: No Reservations - I think I saw a commercial for this on Discovery channel and got hooked on it. I eventually got his Kitchen Confidential book and really enjoyed it. He has such a funny and interesting take on things that it's a really fun show to watch.
• Eureka: I've been following this show since the start of the first season. I usually don't like cheesy sci-fi shows, but this show usually gets even funnier every episode.
• Dirty Jobs: He's still finding dirty jobs, and finding ways to manage to get in the way, and be funny doing it. They must have a bigger budget or something, because the last few episodes have had helicopter support.
• Mythbusters: I don't think they follow typical tv seasons, but there have been new episodes for the past few weeks.
• Top Chef: I don't like most reality shows, but I really enjoy this one. My favorites season was probably the first one since it was new and the surprises were unexpected. Now that you expect it the surprises are not as fun. One thing I really like about this season is Anthony Bourdain has been showing up, and maintains a weekly blog about every show. He even manages to insult some of the guest judges from time to time.
• Doctor Who: Another cheesy sci-fi show that I started watching halfheartedly and got really interested in. I know it's been around forever, but I really like the latest series with David Tennant. This last episode (Human Nature pt. 1) was great, and I can't wait until the next one. It's great they can still make it really tense and exciting even though your pretty sure they aren't going to kill off The Doctor (right?). Season 3 hasn't finished yet in the US, but it's supposed to go to DVD on November 9th.
• Survivorman: Discovery has been airing new episodes of Survivorman. He's branched out to even more far out locations. I really like his approach of doing all his own filming which is pretty amazing. He also doesn't do cheesy or stupid stunts to get people to watch. The new locations are nice, though I really liked his locations last season, which has places in the US. I'd rather learn survival techniques in places I could wind up, and I don't think I'll ever end up in the amazon.
• Feasting on Asphalt: I've been an Alton Brown fan since last year when I caught the first season of this show which got me hooked on the network. I hope they keep up with it and do another season. The great scenery and AB's wackiness is as cool to watch as the interesting places they visit and the food they eat. It also will make you want to get a motorcycle, which may or may not be a good thing
• I've been catching up on the show Numb3rs on Netflix. Before that was the first season of Bones.

]]>me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-08-21T23:57:26-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/a476782c51a4c84a3a2ead4cd3d88e8d-35.php#unique-entry-id-35http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/a476782c51a4c84a3a2ead4cd3d88e8d-35.php#unique-entry-id-35Rapidweaver, I'm limited in how I can post and upload content which can be a good thing. What I put here can be planned and thought out beforehand. Another advantage to not having services integrated into my blog is it is a branching point. You might be interested in me, my blog, and photo's from a vacation, but not my microposts on twitter, or random stuff I snap with my phones camera. You can move on from the blog and find those things and follow my activity, but if your not interested you don't have to seem them.

On the other hand, being able to make posts on the go from anywhere, and having web services integrated can have their advantages too. So what I have done is created a second "mobile" blog, replacing my tumblr page. I can upload it from anywhere, and it's more customizable. It pulls my flickr photos, twitter feeds, del.icio.us links, and other services. I'll also post interesting news items I find from netnewswire and digg.com to this page. It's like a portal to all my workings on the web. Josh Bancroft at tinyscreenfuls uses tumblr pages in the same manner and calls it his life stream, which I think is a good way to describe it.

I think having two blogs, and having everything compartmentalized should be a good way to keep things organized. I'll keep you updated on how it works out.

My mobile blog is here and has a separate RSS feed. I wish I had seen JoshB's incarnation beforehand, or I would have called it my mobile stream.

]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-08-20T20:14:35-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/91a4b033845970898324daab9fc3b586-34.php#unique-entry-id-34http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/91a4b033845970898324daab9fc3b586-34.php#unique-entry-id-34
I'm still using twitter and I'm happy with it. I'm not using it how I intended when I joined. I think the major draw of twitter is using it as a SMS enhancement. Instead of lots of SMS banter between your friends, they know if your out somewhere ready to hang out, busy, etc so it cuts out "what's up" and "where are you" messages. It's a great way to keep in contact because the messages are really short and it's simple to use. Currently I use it as a kind of micro blog. It's also a great way to keep track of other bloggers that I follow and see what they are up to. Twitter has a pretty big following and some competitors have popped up since I last talked about it. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-07-02T16:56:13-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/8e219eb9703e3028319c31994b7302cc-32.php#unique-entry-id-32http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/8e219eb9703e3028319c31994b7302cc-32.php#unique-entry-id-32
Looking through the DVR I've found that there's some cool stuff coming up, which is good news considering there's not much on TV around now.

• Starting on Friday the 6th, Sci-fi channel is going to start airing new episodes of Dr. Who in the US.
• On Tuesday the 10th, Sci-fi is going to start airing new episodes of Eureka.
• During the premiere of Eureka, a trailer for a new episode of Battlestar Galactica will be shown.
• Fox is supposed to air another few episodes of Drive.

]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-06-27T20:44:51-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5a75e69f7740a1f282c62bd3161c24b2-31.php#unique-entry-id-31http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5a75e69f7740a1f282c62bd3161c24b2-31.php#unique-entry-id-31 this article on my twitter profile and it's pretty neat. It's a good way to be more productive with your desktop and how you organize your files. It's demonstrated on a mac but you could translate the same ideas on a PC. I'm giving it a shot, and so far I like it. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-06-22T21:37:31-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/ead573daad820e8d6f61ce8ea19b6e1b-28.php#unique-entry-id-28http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/ead573daad820e8d6f61ce8ea19b6e1b-28.php#unique-entry-id-28
EDIT: Ok, it seems feedburner pulls the entire post, and not just the summary. I don't want to annoy people with giant lists (unless they click through to them) so I am going to clear out my old lists, and in the future I'm only going to list what I think are my five most interesting topics of the week. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-06-14T22:57:55-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/855b664dc9b9aa79ebfedbb914034b19-26.php#unique-entry-id-26http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/855b664dc9b9aa79ebfedbb914034b19-26.php#unique-entry-id-26me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-06-06T20:49:31-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/46bcb33a81e41d8e0bc6ad6f41fd0c5f-23.php#unique-entry-id-23http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/46bcb33a81e41d8e0bc6ad6f41fd0c5f-23.php#unique-entry-id-23me@renegadeotv.comreviews2007-04-25T22:51:21-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/f2a67ebca3850f9615e3eb0a18c96df4-22.php#unique-entry-id-22http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/f2a67ebca3850f9615e3eb0a18c96df4-22.php#unique-entry-id-22me@renegadeotv.comreviews2007-04-18T18:22:50-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/cc778c65973dcde89ecccb43e4849948-21.php#unique-entry-id-21http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/cc778c65973dcde89ecccb43e4849948-21.php#unique-entry-id-21Marware wrist guards, so I purchased one.

It was a little weird out of the box, it was folded up and wrinkly but once it was applied it smoothed out. I'm really happy with it, I've had it on for a few months, and I don't worry about the wrist area getting dirty or worn. The sticker is now a little worn out, but it's better than the case itself being worn. It also came with a screen wipe/keyboard cover.

I also purchased a iskin keyboard cover. It's like a plastic film that fits over the keys, and keeps stuff from falling through the keys and into the laptop. I've had to clean out keyboards before, and I don't want stuff like that getting into my laptop, which I can't take apart easily. It does a good job of keeping out dust, pet hair, and dirt from getting inside. My only issue with it is that I wish it had a adhesive along the edge to keep it down and stuck on the laptop. Even after using it for a while it sticks up along the edges. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-04-17T21:41:29-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/2a8a562c76e5fa7b5321c78fc412b258-20.php#unique-entry-id-20http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/2a8a562c76e5fa7b5321c78fc412b258-20.php#unique-entry-id-20Tickler file. A tickler is a hanging file folder for each day of the month, and one for each month. It's a way to file stuff in a way that makes it convenient to plan how your going to complete the stuff you have to do combined with your calendar. I'm going to give it a shot, hopefully it's better than my usual method, which is stuff piled all over my room. The tickler file is for short term stuff I'm working on, after it's completed it goes to the A-Z long term files. Another big step I have to take is to shred all the stuff I don't need, which is my next major task.

www.flickr.com

]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-04-15T20:14:16-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/6894f60e96861f366e13c579c901585b-19.php#unique-entry-id-19http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/6894f60e96861f366e13c579c901585b-19.php#unique-entry-id-19Stikkit on 43 folders, and gave it a shot. It's a post-it note system, that is mostly text based. It recognizes what you post, and interprets what the event is and does most of the work for you. It can be used to store contact information, calendar events, bookmarks, and to do lists. Merlin Mann has a really informative tutorial that is worth reading.

What I like is that Stikkit isn't complicated. It doesn't take very much time to create a note, since it is just a single block of text. It's also not much different than a note you would write by hand real fast in a hurry, making it easy to go back and enter the note. Even more important, since it's just a block of text, can be integrated with Quicksilver. With QS support, you can create, edit, and access your entries fast. It also has really nice collaboration features, to make it easy to share your notes. You can have your notes shared with an email address, which will email them a link to the note, as well as a copy of the note that the person can edit or comment by replying to the email, it also includes an .ics calendar file that the person can add to the calendar program they use. They don't need an account. It's also great because people only will get info on events that pertain to them. I don't make the assumption that everyone I know needs to know (and follows) my calendar. If you set it to email it to yourself, you can edit it the same way, so you could edit entries on the go on your phone. You can also import and export Stikkit calendars to other services and programs.

The problem with web based calendar and note services is how you work without them when your not at your computer. As mentioned, Stikkit isn't that much different than a note you would scribble on a post it. You can also add events by email or your mobile phone. My quick solution (which I will detail in my calendar shootout post to come) is to have Apple's iCal follow my Stikkit calendar. My calendar is printed, I keep a copy on my desk, and in my wallet. It also gets synced to my mobile phone. I don't use Stikkit as my main calendar, but I keep one around for events that I might collaborate with others on, or an event that might change constantly, or that need more than just a plain ical event. Overall I like the service, and I assume they are only going to make it better. For another take on it, John Gruber has given it a try too, and I think he makes some valid points that I hope will be corrected in the future. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comreviews2007-04-10T17:14:33-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d0733da821d12868c21acf11be6db88f-18.php#unique-entry-id-18http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d0733da821d12868c21acf11be6db88f-18.php#unique-entry-id-18Tom Bihn bags from a forum post about laptop bags. Besides being highly recommended, what made me interested in their products was that they were very high quality, they weren't over the top looking, and they didn't just specialize in laptop bags. They also are good at making sure their laptop bags and sleeves fit popular models right, and offer good protection. I ended up purchasing a medium cafe bag.

I've had my cafe bag for about a year. I didn't need a laptop bag, but I needed something to get to school with as well as around town. After getting a cell phone and an iPod, I realized how much I hate having stuff in my pockets. At any given time when I'm out I'll have my wallet, phone, work id badge, and car key. Just having those things in my pockets bothers me, and I'm not in high school, so super multi-pocket pants aren't acceptable for me anymore. I rarely bring my iPod or Nintendo DS anywhere, because it's just to much of a pain to carry on top of the other stuff. For school I needed to carry a textbook, some pens, whatever handouts I would have been given, a notepad, etc. I'm in community college, and I only have one or two classes a day, so didn't need to have every book with me. What I did was take the book I needed, then leave the other in the car that I didn't need.

The cafe bag's are shoulder bags meant to carry a few things, and not be complicated. They are pretty simple, but still very high quality. My bag still looks brand new after a year. It has a big open main compartment, that is covered by a flap that buckles in. Inside the main compartment are pockets for a phone, pda, and pens. There's loops to attach keys or organizer pouches. There's a zippered pocket on the side that the flap clips on, and a open stash pocket on the other side. They have many cool color combinations, and they have three sizes. Unfortunately I was fearful of ending up with a purse at the time, so I got a plain black/steel combo. To meet my carry requirements I got the medium version. It fits quite a bit, and carried what I needed it to do for school.

For more than one class, and for a big textbook or a bunch of papers your going to need a bigger bag, but for taking the minimum needed for class it worked great. I recommend it to anyone who needs a shoulder bag. Pictures and words don't really describe how well put together the bag is made. The only thing about the bag that I don't like is the back open pocket, because I'm paranoid of open pockets, and I don't really use it, so it's just open there. I wish it at least had a button to keep it shut and out of the way. It also collects animal hair, but just about everything does and it's no fault of the bag. People tend to bring up the price of the bag in reviews. They are high quality bags, made in the US, and they have an awesome support staff. The bags are worth every penny to me. Especially considering how long their products will probably last, and the amount of use they get.

I ended up having to go to the doctor frequently last year, and something I found was since I wasn't in school, I didn't need the textbooks, and my minimum amount of stuff to carry had a tendency to flop around since the bag was mostly empty. I plan to eventually get a new cafe bag in the small size, in a nice color for the situations where I just need to carry my minimum load of stuff. I'm not worried about looking like I have a purse that much, I'm too tired of my pockets being on the verge of exploding. I also have a Imago bag from them, but that's another post. I'll be purchasing more of their products in the future to be sure, so expect more coverage in the future. I've had a photo set of my cafe bag for some time, be sure to check it out. You can also read on for a sample of some of the images.

www.flickr.com

]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-04-10T13:08:35-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/48bbbd3ae603f358c1abe6e85698274d-17.php#unique-entry-id-17http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/48bbbd3ae603f358c1abe6e85698274d-17.php#unique-entry-id-17me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-04-10T12:48:04-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/7f5b6e60ec2a87ea60ec1c9caa4b4fc2-16.php#unique-entry-id-16http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/7f5b6e60ec2a87ea60ec1c9caa4b4fc2-16.php#unique-entry-id-16Quicksilver is one of my favorite thing about using OS X. It can be as simple as a program launcher, and as much as a workflow in everything you use. I'm not going to go into detail on introducing it, since people more articulate than I have done better jobs. What I will say, is that I think it's a really great system, and anyone using OS X should try it out at least once. I've been using it since I got my Macbook last year. I started using it as an application launcher, then moved on to using it for advanced stuff. I use it for manipulating text files, moving files around, uploading the web, email, etc. It goes on and on. It's a customizable system that you can add plugins to suit your needs, and leave out what you don't. There are loads of plugins for some of the biggest apps on OS X. I learn new stuff about it all the time, and features that I have missed. I'll be sure to mention here some cool things I find concerning it here as I find them.
]]>me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-04-09T23:44:38-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/09d8cbca7d029e7cd1c72d069bf94267-15.php#unique-entry-id-15http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/09d8cbca7d029e7cd1c72d069bf94267-15.php#unique-entry-id-15
One goal for this site is to be a starting point for friends to go for my thoughts on the latest tech stuff, and what is worth checking out and what isn't. I'm gearing my posts for people who may not of heard of some of the things I'm talking about, once I get some of the basic stuff out in the open I can move on to bigger things, that won't be old news to people who waste as much time as I do on the web. Sorry for beating the dead horse, I'll move on soon once I get up to speed. I'll try to do some non tech related stuff if I have something really interesting to post, I'll save random stuff for the tumblr blog.]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-04-08T22:31:03-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/47c596b824e6c7c1848bab4b5e2d80e5-14.php#unique-entry-id-14http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/47c596b824e6c7c1848bab4b5e2d80e5-14.php#unique-entry-id-14web application by Adobe that lets people create and share color schemes that you can use on websites. It helps you pick some related colors that you can use, and when you find one that matches you can save it to the site, and people can vote on the best one. It's also pretty easy to copy in to where you need it.

This is a really awesome service. One thing that I've always hated about working with web sites is I'm horrible with color scheme's and picking them out. this makes it really easy to color coordinate my sites. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comreviews2007-04-08T22:06:36-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/db26996b5990fff27cef81cb60328049-13.php#unique-entry-id-13http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/db26996b5990fff27cef81cb60328049-13.php#unique-entry-id-13placed threw it, it sailed right between the clothes and into the wall, breaking the clip that holds the battery cover on.

Immediately I started searching for a new phone. I decided against getting another Motorola and looking for a Nokia phone since I had heard they were better phones. I wanted a Quad band, Nokia smartphone, that wasn't too expensive, and that wasn't too big, and didn't have on of those clunky keyboards. I ended up buying an unlocked Nokia E50 smartphone from ImportGSM. I was really happy with the service from ImportGSM, they were recommended to me from a friend. I purchased their lifetime warranty, which will repair or replace the phone for anything except theft or loss for the life of the phone. They will also send a loaner phone out to use while mine is being fixed (This policy has changed, as of January 2007, the extended warranty only lasts for three years instead of for life if you purchased a phone after January).

Now that I've been using my E50 for a while I'm really impressed with it. It blows my old RAZR away completely. It's a candybar phone, which I thought I wouldn't like, but I prefer it to my old flip phone. It's about the same thickness, and a little bit longer than the razr. It gets better reception and the call quality is better. It's a business smartphone, the only things it doesn't have that other expensive phones have is the full keyboard, wifi support, and a high quality camera. It's a 1MP Cameraphone, which is better than my old one, but not as good as a real camera. Since it doesn't have all those features that I didn't need it was cheaper. I really like the control system on it, it's really easy to do what I need it to.

There are only a few things that I don't like. The on screen alerts that pop up when you get a new message or voicemail will pop up over the screen, regardless of what your doing, and if your navigating the controls on the phone they will overlap what your doing. Even though people can make software for the phone, there isn't a wide selection of them that are good, and they are hard to find. The other issue isn't so much with the phone but with Cingular, the phone gets better coverage than the RAZR that I had, but it's still not super good quality, which I believe is the network's fault. I don't think Cingular gets good coverage in my area.

Those problems aside, I really like the phone, and would recommend it to others. People are pretty uptight about spending money on phones, but considering how much you use a phone, and how long it has to last, they aren't something to cheap out on. When I start to use some of the more advanced features on it, I'll be sure to talk about it on the site. I haven't got around to buying a headphone kit or memory chip to use it as a music player. I also need to get a good quality car kit and headset. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-04-04T21:07:40-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/8139ce976fccab00d87215246331b189-12.php#unique-entry-id-12http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/8139ce976fccab00d87215246331b189-12.php#unique-entry-id-12
What really bugged me was the bad info that the experts provided about bears, as well as the message the show gives the general public. My main issue was that one of the experts that was interviewed was trying to dispute common ideas on how black bears interact with people, but he got the idea wrong in the first place, so his dispute doesn't even make sense. The common idea with black bears is, that when they find and consume human food, they will get used to it, they will continue to seek it out, and this behavior will cause the bears to closer interactions with humans, and increase the odds of a violent interaction with a human.

Bears need to store up calories for winter, human food has more calories than the bears normal diet, and so the bear will go after the human food because it's easier. Now the expert, is apparently doing research on if feeding bears directly will reduce violent interactions with bears. Yes, feeding them. The expert goes into detail how the common idea that I just laid out was false, then the show cuts to close up shots of the experts house where he is feeding the bears like a bunch of outdoor cats, and bears eating food out of the hosts hand and cuddling his feet.

What big fact did the expert and host leave out? That feeding bears is not natural. They are not supposed to be hand fed, they are wild animals. No matter if they are conditioned to eat food out of a trough somewhere, they are not predictable and very dangerous. All it will do is strengthen the bears association of food to humans, which will lead to violent encounters. To lower the amount of encounters, humans need to keep their distance from bears, and do whatever they can to keep bears out of their food. Once bears realize there isn't an opportunity for food, they will stop trying to get it and go back to what they do naturally. This is why just about every wildlife area and campground have strict bear management policies to prevent the association from happening. It's safer for people, and it's more natural for bears. Organizations like the Discovery channel should be helping people understand this idea, not giving sketchy ideas publicity.

The show moved into talking of Grizzly bears, and the main point was the host learning about how to handle them, and go to Alaska to get "up close" to wild grizzlies. Haven't we heard this story before? There's even a great clip of the host meeting a stage bear, a grizzly trained to be around people for movies and TV shows, and the host says something along the lines of "Spending time with this bear, will help me learn how to deal with wild grizzlies". Sure buddy.

What irritates me about these kind of shows is they don't stress enough the danger of getting close to these animals, sometimes is unavoidable, especially with humans moving into bear habitats, but the media should be teaching people how to conduct themselves, not giving publicity to every cameraman or host trying to get as close as they can to the big bad animal for the great shot. People aren't going to take the management policies seriously when their head is filled with bad info from the media. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comblog2007-03-30T21:41:30-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/29b806c80f15fd7c2e60685c296f6292-11.php#unique-entry-id-11http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/29b806c80f15fd7c2e60685c296f6292-11.php#unique-entry-id-11
BSG is a remake of a old TV show by the same name. The basic concept and some of the character names are the same, but that's about it. The show is about the last survivors of the human race made up of 12 colonies somewhere in space. The new version of the show started as a miniseries, then it was later picked up as a series, and as of this article has been going for three seasons. The basis of the show is the humans created machines called Cylons, that rebelled against them. Sounds familiar to us now, but the shows been around long before recent stories with the same idea, although it was a bit different in the original series (which I have not seen). There was a Human - Cylon war, a truce was made, and the Cylons left for many years. The miniseries followed the Galactica through the start of a second war, when the Cylons reappear and destroy the colonies, sending the Galactica and a small fleet of 50,000 humans across the galaxy looking for a new home.

It's science fiction, but mostly focused on character drama, so even if you don't really like science fiction you will find something to like about BSG. The developers of the show make a point of focusing on the characters and the drama, and less on special effects and technobabble (star trek crap). They don't go into all sorts of detail or science fiction gimmicks that don't really matter. There's no transporters or magic engine rooms to magically pull them out of bad situations, or aliens for that matter. Having said that, the special effects and music are pretty good, they just aren't relied upon like in normal scifi shows. It also doesn't leave you hanging. Questions are brought up and there are cliffhangers, but the show does a good job of answering them, while still coming up with new ones to keep you interested.

The show just finished it's third season. When it picks up next year I'll post my thoughts and review each episode as they come. There's also going to be a miniseries that will air sometime before the fourth season starts.]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-03-29T22:05:42-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5da6d7e07f0a9030791af5e47365f1c2-10.php#unique-entry-id-10http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5da6d7e07f0a9030791af5e47365f1c2-10.php#unique-entry-id-10service. Then it started picking up in popularity and "add site to del.icio.us" links started popping up on almost every article and post on the internet, then even RSS readers built functionality in for it.

It took a while, then I realized I didn't really use bookmarks at all. Most of the sites I frequent I go to directly, and I only bookmark obscure stuff that I might want to revisit later. I have bookmarks for sites where I pay bills, a list of stuff I want to buy eventually, and references or howto guides that I might need later. I've never been really organized with them, and I usually end up deleting them all when I switch computers or reformat and don't bother to backing them up.

So I eventually set up an account, and put a shortcut in my browser toolbar to add a links. I also imported some of my old bookmarks into it. I've been using it for a while now and I'm really impressed. With browser plugins it's really easy to add bookmarks, you make one with just a few keystrokes, and adding a tag to categorize it.

The major advantage to tagging a link in delicious compared to a regular browser bookmark is you don't have to create folders and organize them by hand. You just type tags to describe the link and the site does all the organizng for you. Another advantage is that all your links are stored on the web, and you can access them from any computer. Even though I mostly just use it for my personal bookmarks, delicious is called a social bookmarking site. Your bookmarks are public (you can make them private too) and people can view your bookmarks, and also see how many other people have bookmarked the same page. You can add other people to your network and see what they are bookmarking. I'm don't really care for that aspect of it, but other people seem to like it. Most of my bookmarks are pretty random, so I don't think people would be interested in them.

I use the bookmarlet or a program called Pukka to add links, and a program called delibar to access them. There's also a really neat plugin that intregrates the service into Firefox . The major issue I have encountered with delicious is there is no way to edit links in batches. You can only change tags, make a tag private one at a time. Otherwise I'm really glad I started using it, and would recommend it to anyone who has a hard time dealing with bookmarks.]]>me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-03-28T20:17:43-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/13629e230e58890a6bd34ae5685c2e70-9.php#unique-entry-id-9http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/13629e230e58890a6bd34ae5685c2e70-9.php#unique-entry-id-943 Folders for quite a while. It's a site that focuses on organization and "life hacks", how to do things easier with less frustration. He's a big supporter of GTD (Getting Things Done), a book by David Allen. GTD is a system on how to be more productive. It's a way to organize stuff so you can put stuff out of your mind and do what you have to do, instead of keeping it in the back of your mind and worrying about it. What Merlin does is give neat ideas on how to implement the system. He also has some good tips on how to manage your email in a work environment and not be chained to it. He's pretty active in the tech community, and is a big fan of quicksilver. He also has some good information on something called a Hipster PDA, which is basically a stack of index cards that you use for organizing and taking notes. He does commentary on tech news, and posts his thoughts on productivity products and devices. His work has really helped me, and will probably help even more when I get back into school. Look for me to start covering my journey into GTD and using stuff like the Hipster PDA here in the future. He also logs his research on a del.icio.us profile. ]]>me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-03-27T21:14:44-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/e1f57c074dbeb6078bd21eb306d6402a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/e1f57c074dbeb6078bd21eb306d6402a-8.php#unique-entry-id-8me@renegadeotv.comreviews2007-03-27T21:06:13-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/dfee6a91f006bda86635ada5b5862be4-7.php#unique-entry-id-7http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/dfee6a91f006bda86635ada5b5862be4-7.php#unique-entry-id-7me@renegadeotv.comweb spotlight2007-03-27T20:52:30-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/6227c8f3f2a73e2d356f8024fc2f8fb2-6.php#unique-entry-id-6http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/6227c8f3f2a73e2d356f8024fc2f8fb2-6.php#unique-entry-id-6twitter. It's kind of like status messages that you use on IM client, but you use it for your phone or online. It's like a blog, but it's only a snippet that you post. You can post what your doing, if your going somewhere and want others to know, when your working, etc. Basically what happens is you post a message, and it goes on your profile, and your friends will receive it on their profile (or phone if they set it up that way). I've been using it on my phone and it's pretty neat. It has some good features. One such feature is it's simpler than a normal blog. The other thing is you can run it mostly from your phone, which is good for people that don't revolve around the computer all the time. It's a good way to keep in touch with people. I hope more people I know start using it so I can use it more often. It also has a good following of people writing scripts and programs for it. The Twitter fan wiki has a good list of apps you can use to "tweet". I'm going to start using my phone more, but I use quicksilver to do it on my Macbook. I'm trying to figure out the best way to incorporate it into this site, without being annoying. Besides being simple, it's short, and lets you have a way to post stuff without cluttering your blog with "informal" stuff.

Here is a good introduction to twitter.]]>me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-03-27T20:19:03-07:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/243fd32c726a4bfb1cb54c45922df553-5.php#unique-entry-id-5http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/243fd32c726a4bfb1cb54c45922df553-5.php#unique-entry-id-5me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-02-07T19:04:03-08:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5b5ef66393021a27a96867abf3ef7152-1.php#unique-entry-id-1http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/5b5ef66393021a27a96867abf3ef7152-1.php#unique-entry-id-1me@renegadeotv.comsite info2007-02-07T18:43:52-08:00http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d740db212907f39aaf728dc8489a8ea5-0.php#unique-entry-id-0http://www.renegadeotv.com/files/d740db212907f39aaf728dc8489a8ea5-0.php#unique-entry-id-0