T-Jay's World!

iPad & The Power Of Velcro

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 14:01:00 +0000

Ok, ridiculous title, but the video should make up for it.

Vimeo user Jesse Rosten, posted this video about a month ago which I found rather amusing. So, here it is for you to check out. Enjoy.

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: regmedia.co.uk

Facebook Facts: Did You Know......?

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Fri, 14 May 2010 03:16:00 +0000

Did you know that the amount of hours spent on Facebook every month is 8.3 billion, or that Homer Simpson is the 2nd most popular Facebook page only topped by Michael Jackson?

How about this, 200 million users log onto Facebook every day. It's also the 2nd most visited website, behind Google and ahead of YouTube.

This Facebook Infographic has a lot of interesting facts you probably didn't know, but thanks to the team at Mashable, now you do.

'til next time, T-Jay photo credits: spabc.com,

Insane PC Case Mods

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:23:00 +0000

This originally came from PC World. Some really cool PC Case mods. Enjoy

http://www.pcworld.com/article/192089/10_insane_pc_case_mods.html

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: images.pcworld.com

They Found A Brain...

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Well, it's finally been confirmed. I have a brain. In fact it appears perfect. Nothing in there that shouldn't be.

Getting that news was a huge relief, as it took months of waiting to get an MRI to rule out any possibility of a tumor or worse. Having to wait for any length of time after being told you need an MRI on your brain sends all kinds of thoughts and fears racing through your mind. I found it even began to affect my dreams. Then with an increased occurrence of not only falling asleep during the day, I started blacking out at times, losing upwards of 4 hours at a time.

It seems that the main culprit appears to be Fibromyalgia, which I was diagnosed with sometime beforehand. While I was aware of some of the things that would happen due to it, it turned out there was quite a lot I didn't know.

I came across a book about Fibromyalgia which not only explained a lot about what to expect but also answered a lot of questions and began to make sense of some other things that had been happening.

Strangely enough, that book was called "Fibromyalgia for Dummies". The fact that the "Dummies" series actually had a book on Fibromyalgia actually made me laugh. Certainly wasn't expected. But it is a very good book that anyone who has it, or maybe even anyone who knows someone who has it, should get hold of it.

Roland Staud, who wrote the book, gave me the impression that he was often defending those suffering with Fibromyalgia. That in itself was a surprise, as I haven't come across many books regarding pain conditions or depression or any other medical issues, that will openly defend those that are struggling to cope. That's a shame. There should be more like that.

Now, I do want to make completely clear that I have no idea who Roland Staud is. I've never emailed him or even read anything else he may have written. All I do know is he has written a good book that has helped me to understand more about Fibromyalgia than I was aware of. Not everything in the book applies to me, and it's quite likely there will be something that won't apply to many other readers, but the information and helpful advice alone has been eye-opening.

To be completely blunt, this post wasn't supposed to be about Fibromyalgia or the for Dummies book. It was supposed to be a somewhat light hearted post regarding my MRI outcome. I guess sometimes writing takes it's own path. Hopefully something in here was of some use to someone. If not, maybe the picture will give you a chuckle...

til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: talentedapps.files.wordpress.com

You Rock Guitar: Now Gamers Can Be Musicians Too...

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:51:00 +0000

The latest addition to the Guitar Hero or Rock Band gear, comes the You Rock Guitar.

Created by Inspired Instruments, this new guitar appears to be just another fancy addition to the Guitar Hero/Rock Band games. What sets the You Rock Guitar apart is that it can do a lot more than the standard guitar controller.

This new piece of electronic wizardry, combines everything that gamers need as well as something any actual guitar player can use to play or record with.

Featuring a built in effects unit with 100 different sounds, it also holds 25 preset songs to play to, as well as having Open Tunings & a Drop-D mode. A great feature is the Solo mode. You pick the key of whatever songs your playing and the guitar will mute the notes that don't belong in that key. You can still play them, they just won't make any sound. It's a great tool for anyone wanting to learn how to play guitar solos or different scale modes.

The guitar can be used on the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360 & Sony PS3. A separate wireless connector for whichever console your using is plugged into the guitar. That one guitar can visit everyone's home and work on any of those 3 consoles.

On the bottom of the guitar, it has a guitar cable jack, a USB port, iPod input and headphones output so you can play along to your iPod. It also includes a MIDI output jack which can be used for recording. It can be run from a AC power adapter or 4-AA batteries. It can also be run using the power from your computer via the USB port.

According to info from the NAMM '10 show, it will retail for $199 USD.

The neck can be separated from the body for easy storage as the strings go into a connection point that plugs into the body connector where the other half of the strings are. Certainly something to surprise your friends with.

I don't know what the quality of the onboard sounds are like, but with the USB and MIDI options, it can be used to play sounds from outboard equipment or guitar effects software on your computer.

And perhaps the best feature of all for guitarists.... you don't have to tune it... ever!!

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: geeky-gadgets.com,

Control Your iPhone With A Lego Steering Wheel

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 16:20:00 +0000

This is pretty amusing and goes to show just what you can create when boredom sets in... Check out the video below.

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits:

iPhone To Be Released In April... Or Early May

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:30:00 +0000

Reports are starting to trickle in involving the release of Apple's latest iPhone.

Several French Phone Operators have made comments stating that the iPhone 4G will be available in May.

Meanwhile, one of the senior executives at Korean Telecoms stated that it was very likely we would see the iPhone 4G in April.

The reason for the earlier than usual release from Apple, is due to Google's huge wave of Android phones which are expected to wow consumers in June/July. Had Apple waited until the June/July original release date (like the last 3 releases), they may have been completely forgotten among the influx of new android phones and Google's advertisement & marketing push.

The new iPhone will feature an OLED screen, dual-core processors, live video chat, a 5 megapixel camera with flash as well as a camera on the front for video calls, bigger graphics chip, higher resolution & for the first time a removable battery.

I'm not completely confident about the removable battery as Apple had commented in the past about it having to be much bulkier to accomodate an external battery, but perhaps they listened to what the fans wanted...

Personally this is great news though. Our contract with our current provider ends in April, so if the iPhone 4G is released then it would be perfect timing. I'm hoping Australia gets in on the early release...

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: www.iphonehellas.gr

Google Nexus One: The Mobile Phone That Finds Itself.....

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:46:00 +0000

Ok... bad joke.... anyway... onto the phone.

The Google Nexus One Mobile Phone has apparently made its debut at Google's Californian Headquarters.

The new touchscreen mobile which was touted as "the phone that would change life as we know it" is generating quite a lot of buzz at the moment.

The following is a breakdown of the specs this new phone will carry:

1GHz Processor. (the Motorola Droid carries a 550MHz & the iPhone 3GS has a 600MHz chip)
512mb RAM (twice as much as both the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS)
3.7inch - 480x800px OLED display (the Droid's display is also 3.7inch but with a 480x854px TFT-LCD display, while the iPhone 3GS only has a 3.5inch 480x320 OLED display)
Google Android OS 2.1

OLED screens are typically more brighter and color-rich than the TFT-LCD screens.

It will be interesting to see the response to it once it's officially released for sale soon.

'til next time,
T-Jay

Spec info obtained from pcworld.com

photo credits: techspot.com, tmcnet.com

iPhone App: My Medical - Access Your Health Info Anytime

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:32:00 +0000

I just came across this and I gotta say it looks pretty impressive. Having all your important medical info at your fingertips could quite possibly save your life one day. This from AppStoreWeek:

Access your personal medical information in a matter of seconds on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Information like your doctors’ contact information, emergency contacts, medications, immunizations, test results, appointment history, medical history, health insurance and more can be immediately available when you need them.

Read the full story including a hands on review - AppStoreWeek: MyMedical

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: appstoreweek.com

iPod Touch Bed Set..... Seriously

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:15:00 +0000

Yup, same reaction I had... WTF???

iPod merchandising has entered the bedroom. Now you too can go to sleep all wrapped up in the comfort of your iPod Touch.

The Swedish company Ellos are responsible for this new accessory, but have apparently run out of stock. Whether or not they intend to restock it is unknown. It originally sold for $49

Maybe they'll design an iPod Nano tablecloth or iPod Shuffle baby bib next....

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: technabob.com

iPhone 4G Being Tested & Rumored Specifications

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 12:45:00 +0000

The new iPhone 4G was reportedly being tested in the wild (just testing in real world really...) a few weeks ago, and by all accounts it seems to be going very well. As usual Apple is trying to be very hush-hush about the new iPhone, but for most iPhone 3GS users, the hope that a new iPhone would finally include all those typical features that have been found in other devices for over 3 years is something they want right now.

Fortunately for Apple, the iPhone garnered a reputation very early on as the best new smart phone available. Even after 3 versions and 3 years, the iPhone is still the best and most useful smart phone available. While Google is talking up it's new Android smart phone, iPhone is still on top of the mountain for the time being.

Some iPhone bloggers are hoping that with the eventual release of the new iPhone 4G, Apple would include some significant additions to improve it's position among the smart phone landscape. The iPhone has all but stagnated as there wasn't a lot that improved upon what it brought when it first launched. Granted it improved hardware and some software needs which had iphone bloggers hollering all over the internet, but having copy & paste or MMS ability had been a mobile phone standard for several years.

Back then Nokia led the way and the others followed. When Apple jumped in with it's smart phone the iPhone, it changed the entire landscape for mobile phones. Unfortunately Apple hasn't done too much to expand the smart phone landscape and could quite quickly be surpassed by the hungry Google Android system which aims to push the boundaries of what a smart phone is capable of.

At the moment the only specifications regarding the iPhone 4G are:

Aesthetically, iPhone 4G will look similar to iPhone 3GS. However it will be 10% thinner than iPhone 3GS.
Improved Battery life
Revamped iPhone OS
Improved and OptimizedPush support
Flash,provided Adobe can complete in time
Tougher anti-jailbreaking measures
SIM card tray
iPhone 4G will be launched in U.S only
iPhone 4G will be officially released in the midpart of 2010.
5 MP Camera

Note that these are rumored specs only and may change at any time before it's release. Spec list came from Imran via SizzledGear.com

2 pictures show what the new iPhone may look like (these aren't official images):

As for me, I'm still planning to upgrade my phone (finally!!) to an iPhone in March 2010. Hopefully Apple release the new phone early.... like late February or early March would be perfect.......

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: sizzledgear.com, ithinkdiff.com, dailymobile.se

Simpsons Taking Over iPhones & iPodTouch With New Game

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 12:56:00 +0000

WooHoo

The Simpsons are making an official appearance on the iPhone and iPod Touch with a new game. Video of the game is below and it looks like a lot of fun.

The game is part adventure to find the Ultimate Donut, and part old school beat'em up complete with a nod to the 80's/90's arcade wrestling games body splashes.

I'm not sure on the release date, but it might already be available. If not it should be any day now...

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: groundkontrol.com

Video Killed The Aero Star... Or Something To That Effect

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 10:00:00 +0000

It started out as a normal day, summer heat was stifling, all the animals were trying to keep cool the best they can. I was sitting with my laptop on, fan trying to blast cool air to keep me from sweating to death.

I had a great idea, I'll hook up my laptop to the TV so I can watch a movie while searching the net for blog material. So I got out all the cables and things that came with my Dell Inspiron 1720 Laptop and got it set up and eventually working. NVidia cards are supposed to be very good, but apparently there is a problem with older versions of the GeForce 8600M GT cards. By using S-Video connection it either causes a hardware issue to surface or shorts out part of the card.

Now, all that information I didn't know about at the time, so I made sure to follow the Dell Manual's instructions of connecting to a TV, and got it to work.

So 2 days ago when I did this, I was happily watching a movie on the TV while doing my blog search stuff just as I had wanted to do. Great!

The problem began when I turned my laptop on yesterday. When I opened my laptop and brought the computer out of hibernation (which is what it's set on when I close the lid), it loaded everything as normal, but a purple and white checkered image or something filled the screen. It covered every part of the screen. It didn't matter if you loaded a program or put on something that worked full screen, the checkered display remained.

Removing the drivers and uninstalling the card set the computer to use the video drivers on the motherboard (I assume), but as soon as you reboot, Vista decides to reinstall the video card again and the problem resurfaces.

Fortunately I was still able to do somethings with it, so I disabled the card again and started trying to find answers. Now considering this laptop was bought from Dell you would assume they would have support for it. Turns out my laptop has been discontinued and there doesn't appear to be any sort of help available for it at all. They just send you to a page that suggests you upgrade to their new and improved fancy notebook or netbook.

Now I spent about $3,600 on this laptop because I needed it to be as powerful as a desktop computer and have everything I had previously, so when I bought it I upgraded most of the components to get the best for what I could afford at the time. The plan was doing that, it would last me for a long time. The laptop is not even 2 years old yet and from all the searching and reading in forums it seems my video card's memory has died.

NVidia also don't appear to have any support for it either. Their forums have mentioned that a user says to send it to NVidia for a replacement, but there doesn't seem to be a way to contact anyone to find out whether that's an option or not.

So now I have to start a hunt to replace the GeForce 8600M GT card. Oh great!!

I found one on ebay that has double the memory. The one I had was 256mb whereas this ebay one is 512mb on a MXM II card. (Not entirely sure what that is). The problem is trying to find out whether that will fit in my laptop. Common Sense would say yes, but not all computer things use common sense.

I just hope the video memory on the motherboard can last long enough to find some money to eventually buy a replacement card. $200 is a lot cheaper than find $3600 to buy a new laptop which defeats the purpose of only replacing the problem card.

Well, I apologise for such a long rant, but this has certainly got me really worried. This is very different from replacing a card in a desktop computer. I guess we'll see what happens.....

** Update ** - Changing the windows theme to Vista Basic has helped slightly. The checkered screen problem has disappeared, but some black images and letters change to a weird green checker pattern from time to time.... At least it's partially useable at the moment.....

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: stockwatch.in

Search Wars: The Bing Strikes Back

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:07:00 +0000

The new war between Microsoft's Bing Search and Google's Search is really heating up, as Bing's new search app for the iPhone and iPod Touch gets approval from Apple's AppStore only days after Google's Search App was approved.

Recently Mozilla Official Asa Dotzler, urged Firefox users to switch to Bing Search Addon instead of using Google Search, due to the issue of user privacy. Google CEO Eric Schmidt made a comment regarding Google's Privacy Policy:

"If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines -- including Google -- do retain this information for some time and it's important, for example, that we are all subject in the United States to the Patriot Act and it is possible that all that information could be made available to the authorities."

A video of his interview with CNBC can be seen here.

Yahoo!'s deal with Microsoft to use Bing as it's main search feature is apparently starting soon as Yahoo! have finally realised that their search feature wasn't particularly great. There are a lot of users who have tried Bing and say it has a fair way to go before it's at the level that Google is, but with the controversy surrounding users rights to privacy becoming a much bigger issue in all walks of life it will be interesting to see whether Google can maintain their search monopoly.

For those of you interested in the search results between Google and Bing, have a look at this website which lists both side by side. Rather interesting...

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: onlytechtalks.com

Yahoo! Selling User's Private Email Contents To US Agencies

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 04:16:00 +0000

This from mathaba.net:

"Yahoo isn’t happy that a detailed menu of the spying services it provides to "law enforcement" and spy agencies has leaked onto the web.

After earlier reports this week that Yahoo had blocked an FOIA Freedom of Information release of its "law enforcement and intelligence price list", someone helpfully provided a copy of the Yahoo company’s spying guide to the whistleblower web site Cryptome.org.

The 17-page guide, which Yahoo has tried to suppress via legal letters to the Cryptome.org site run by freedom of information champion John Young, describes Yahoo’s policies on keeping the data of Yahoo Email and Yahoo Groups users, as well as the surveillance and spying capabilities it can give to the U.S. government and its agencies.

The Yahoo document is a price list for these spying services and has already resulted in many people closing down their accounts in protest. However, closing a Yahoo account is not as easy as one might expect: users have reported great difficulty in finding the link to delete their account, and, Yahoo will still keep data for another 90 days... "

For more on this story check out the full article at mathaba.net

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits:

MSN Toolbar: Bing Goes The Bully

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:14:00 +0000

Starting up my laptop this morning, I noticed the net connection was pretty sluggish so I loaded up Internet Explorer to access the modem to reboot it. A small window appeared stating that the MSN Toolbar had an update and I should obviously update the software. OK, fine. Before rebooting the modem, I allow the update to get done so it stops annoying me. So far so good.

This is when things went bad. During the install, it tells you to close IE so it can update. It also asks whether or not you want to allow software updates, set the default search engine, and participate in the Experience program.

Now, you're probably reading this thinking, what's the problem? So far it's doing what it should be.

Upon finishing the install, Internet Explorer loads up with the shiny MSN Bing Toolbar all set ready to go. But, upon loading Firefox (which is my main and preferred browser), I'm shocked and instantly p*ssed off to find that the MSN Toolbar has forced itself into Firefox without any permission from me whatsoever.

Now just to be clear, I manually installed the new MSN Toolbar into Internet Explorer about 2 weeks ago, to see what it's like as I didn't have the Google Toolbar in IE.

Other users have also expressed their anger at occurences such as the Bing search taking over as default in Firefox after updating the Toolbar in IE. This seemed to have only happened if you had combined the search box with the address bar (not a bad idea).

What makes the whole thing even more infuriating is that it doesn't give you any way to remove the toolbar at all. In Firefox you go to Tools -> Addons where you can add/remove addons (kinda obvious really). Going down the list you would expect to be able to remove the MSN Toolbar just like any other addon, but the only option available is to disable it.

You wouldn't have to be a genius to work out I'm not happy right at this moment, and I am trying to find a way to remove it permanently from Firefox without resorting to removing it from my entire computer.

For anyone that has the MSN Toolbar on IE, but use Firefox (or possibly any other browser for that matter) as their main browser, don't update the toolbar unless you're prepared to have it force itself upon every browser you have. For internet developers who may have multiple browser products, this is a real problem.

I hope Firefox releases a fix for this problem, or takes action to ensure this doesn't continue to happen.

Not happy........

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: siliconrepublic.com

Philosophically Speaking: Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 08:56:00 +0000

This has been emailed back and forth to probably everyone over the years but it's still somewhat amusing.....

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE  ROAD???

Plato:  For the greater good.

Aristotle:  To fulfill its nature on the other side.

Karl Marx:  It was a historical inevitability.

Machiavelli:  So that its subjects will view it with admiration, as a
chicken which has the daring and courage to boldly cross the road,
but also with fear, for whom among them has the strength to contend
with such a paragon of avian virtue?  In such a manner is the princely 
chicken's dominion maintained.

Hippocrates:  Because of an excess of light pink gooey stuff in its
pancreas.

Jacques Derrida: Any number of contending discourses may be discovered
within the act of the chicken crossing the road, and each
interpretation is equally valid as the authorial intent can never be 
discerned, because structuralism is DEAD, DAMMIT, DEAD!

Thomas de Torquemada:  Give me ten minutes with the chicken and I'll 
find out.

Timothy Leary:  Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment
would let it take.

Douglas Adams:  Forty-two.

Nietzsche:  Because if you gaze too long across the Road, the Road 
gazes also across you.

Oliver North:  National Security was at stake.

B.F. Skinner:  Because the external influences which had pervaded its
sensorium from birth had caused it to develop in such a fashion that 
it would tend to cross roads, even while believing these actions to be 
of its own free will.

Carl Jung:  The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt 
necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical 
juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences 
into being.

Jean-Paul Sartre:  In order to act in good faith and be true to 
itself, the chicken found it necessary to cross the road.

Ludwig Wittgenstein:  The possibility of "crossing" was encoded into 
the objects "chicken" and "road", and circumstances came into being 
which
caused the actualization of this potential occurrence.

Albert Einstein:  Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road
crossed the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Aristotle:  To actualize its potential.

Buddha:  If you ask this question, you deny your own chicken-nature.

Howard Cosell:  It may very well have been one of the most astonishing
events to grace the annals of history.  An historic, unprecedented
avian biped with the temerity to attempt such an herculean achievement 
formerly relegated to homo sapien pedestrians is truly a remarkable 
occurence.

Salvador Dali:  The Fish.

Darwin:  It was the logical next step after coming down from the 
trees.

Emily Dickinson:  Because it could not stop for death.

Epicurus:  For fun.

Ralph Waldo Emerson: It didn't cross the road; it transcended it.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:  The eternal hen-principle made it do it.

Ernest Hemingway:  To die.  In the rain.

Werner Heisenberg:  We are not sure which side of the road the chicken
was on, but it was moving very fast.

David Hume:  Out of custom and habit.

Saddam Hussein:  This was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were
quite justified in dropping 50 tons of nerve gas on it.

Jack Nicholson:  'Cause it (censored) wanted to.  That's the 
(censored) reason.

Pyrrho the Skeptic: What road?

Ronald Reagan:  Well,...................

John Sununu:  The Air Force was only too happy to provide the
transportation, so quite understandably the chicken availed himself
of the opportunity.

The Sphinx:  You tell me.

Henry David Thoreau:  To live deliberately ... and suck all the marrow
out of life.

Mark Twain:  The news of its crossing has been greatly exaggerated.

Mishima:   For the beauty of it. The chicken's extension of its 
sinuous legs sent shivers of a dark despair into the souls not only of 
the silently watching hens but also the roosters, who felt a sudden
sexual desire for their exquisite comrade.  The dark courage of the
chicken was as beautiful as drops of dew upon jade at midnight, struck 
by a partial moon, its light filtered through clouds. One of the 
deeply aroused roosters could stand the intensity of the moment no 
more and bit off the head of the beautiful, courageous chicken-hero, 
whose wine blood was deliciously drunken by the road, and he died.

Johnny Cochran:  The chicken didn't cross the road. Some 
chicken-hating, genocidal, lying public official moved the road right 
under the chicken's feet while he was practicing his golf swing and 
thinking about his family.

Camus:  The chicken's mother had just died.  But this did not really
upset him, as any number of witnesses can attest.  In fact, he
crossed just because the sun got in his eyes.

John Sununu (again):  I would argue that the chicken never crossed the
road at all.  That it is a story concocted by the Clinton 
Administration to distract attention from their failed agriculture
policy. Where is the evidence that the chicken crossed the road? 
Where, Michael?

Michael Kinsley:  Oh, John, come on!  Everybody knows the chicken 
crossed the road.  What evidence do you need?  It's obvious that the 
chicken crossed the road.  Your whole argument is just a smoke and 
mirror tactic to distract us from the fact that most chickens polled 
now back the Democratic Party.  You ought to be ashamed of yourself,
John.

Siskel:  I don't know why it crossed the road, but I loved it.  Thumbs
up!

Ebert:  I disagree.  The whole thing left the audience wondering; the
chicken's crossing the road was never clearly explained and the 
chicken didn't emote very well.  It couldn't even speak English!
Thumbs down.

Michael Kinsley:  But you both agree it did cross the road, right? 
See, John.  I'm right as usual.

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: anordinarymom.wordpress.com

Bohemian Rhapsody: Muppet Edition

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:28:00 +0000

This is great. Hopefully it will brighten your day.

Click the Full Story link to watch the video....

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits:
5WEZRRHUMDBQ

Windows 7 Overtakes Apple OSX Complete MarketShare

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:35:00 +0000

This from PCWorld.com:

"Windows 7 passed the 5% market share milestone last weekend, which put it, if only temporarily, above the total market share of all versions of Apple's Mac OS X, a Web measurement firm said today.

Last week, (Windows CEO) Steve Ballmer told shareholders that Windows 7 had sold twice the number of copies as any other Microsoft operating system in the same time span. Like others who have talked about Windows 7 sales, however, Ballmer declined to spell out sales or revenue figures."

For the full story visit PCWorld.com

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: sci-technews.com

Smart Phone Swype or Type: The Choice Is Yours

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 07:03:00 +0000

I feel I should point out that the video is aimed at how good Swype appears to be. The "contest" between the faster texter is pretty lopsided, as the iPhone user appears to be fairly inexperienced with it's use. Many people have commented to that effect. Also the Swype user seems very experienced and has obviously spent a lot of time with this technology.

With that being said, the new Swype does seem very cool, and is apparently going to be integrated into the new Android phones. Whether Apple are prepared to pay the licensing fee and include it in the next iPhone version rumored to be released mid-next year remains to be seen. Giving users the option of either would be a great idea though.

The following comes from gadgetell.com:

Swype is a TechCrunch 50 company that has created a new way to enter text on touch screen keyboard devices. Instead of having to individually hit each letter, the typist must simply put his finger on the first letter, drag it to the second, third, and so on until the word is formed. The algorithm then figures out which word the person meant based on where they switched directions. As you can see in the comparison video below, this form of typing is pretty fast. That said, I don’t believe it’s all that “fair,” as I feel I could type much faster than the guy on the iPhone in the video did. Either way, this technology looks awesome. - Josh Holat

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: surfingsquirrel.com

Online Virus Scanning For Extra Protection

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:05:00 +0000

While technology keeps us online more and more, having a secure computer becomes even more important. It's common sense to have your antivirus program do an auto weekly scan, but sometimes that may not be enough.

Most computer users assume if the antivirus program says there are no viruses then everything's fine, but if you've been hit by some of the newer viruses or malware programs, you're computer may be infected while telling your antivirus program that it doesn't exist. Worse still, it may be sending your private information to whoever created it, all while remaining undetected.

This is where Online Virus Scanning becomes a godsend. Having the ability to have your computer scanned for potential viruses from a program outside of your system, removes the possibility of sneaky computer viruses & worms from damaging your files.

Fortunately, many of the more well known Antivirus Companies offer free online virus scanning. I would probably only do this once a month, unless you spend a considerable amount of time on the darker side of the net.

Choosing the one that is the best is often subject to personal preference, so I won't recommend one over any others, but I will say there's no reason why you can't try all of them and see which one suits you best. Also do a google search on each companies online scan to see what other users think.

Here's a list of Free Online Virus Scanning Programs:

Trend Micro Housecall - From the creators of Trend Micro Internet Security
Symantec Security Check - From the creators of Norton Internet Security
BitDefender Online Scan - From the creators of BitDefender Total Security
Kaspersky Free Online Scan (currently unavailable. new version should be online soon) - From the creators of Kaspersky Internet Security
McAfee Free Scan - From the creators of McAfee Total Protection
ESET Online Scan - From the creators of ESET Smart Security

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: tutorial-net.tk

Ebay Finalises Sale Of Skype

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 11:04:00 +0000

This just in from technorati.com:

"Ebay has just announced it has completed the sale of Skype, valuing the company at $2.75 billion.

The company received approximately $1.9 billion in cash and a note from the buyer in the principal amount of $125 million. The company also retained approximately 30 percent equity investment in Skype.

Skype, which allows users to make telephone calls over the internet, was purchased by the online auction pioneers in 2005 for $2.6 billion. The peer-to-peer Internet telephony network turned successful communication company boast 521 million and $185 million in quarterly revenue. Critics of the deal have charged Skype was hugely overpaid in the buyout, perhaps in part due to an unsuccessful integration of Skype's core technology to eBay's platform.

On September 1, 2009, a group of investors led by Silver Lake bought 70 percent of Skype for $1.9 billion with Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis owning 14% of the 70.

This comes on the heels of very public disputes between Skype and eBay regarding some technology licensing and just two weeks ago they reached a settlement which included the 14% stake, board seats and allowed Skype to retain ownership of its technology.

Now the only question that remains, where will Skype go on its own?"
- Aniruddh Dodiya for technorati.com

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: gomonews.com

Battle Of The Bands

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:49:00 +0000

Just got sent this link a few minutes ago... whoever created this is very creative. Nicely done... enough said... check out the video.

Battle of the Bands

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: xsmovies.net

Change Your Jailbroken iPhone's Root Password

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:00:00 +0000

With the release of the iPhone's first known worm about 2 weeks ago, jailbroken iphones became fair game to unscrupulous hackers. While the original worm was more of a warning about it's potential and not a threat to users directly, a newer more invasive worm, was discovered a few days after the first one which has been proven to be more aggressive.

It has become a necessity to change your iPhone's Root Password in order to stop potential data theft among other problems. The link below takes you through the steps required to increase your iPhone's security.

How to Change Your Jailbroken iPhone's Root Password - iPhone Hacks

'til next time
T-Jay

photo credit: thewwwblog.com

Free Stock & Public Domain Images For Any Project

noreply@blogger.com (T-Jay) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:13:00 +0000

After the last 2 weeks of posting pretty useless stuff, I thought I should offer something of use to those reading my blog. So, with that in mind, let's take a look at the world of Free Stock & Public Domain Images.

Firstly, there are several websites that contain these copyright free images, unfortunately there are also some that are mostly piggyback sites to other sites. Sifting through the junk to find the best stuff is very time consuming and frustrating, although usually worthwhile in the end.

The best place to start your search is definitely at Creative Commons. A disclaimer found at the top of the website states that it is not a search engine, but rather offers "convenient access to search services provided by other independent organizations".
They also go on to advise that "You should always verify that the work is actually under a CC license by following the link. Since there is no registration to use a CC license, CC has no way to determine what has and hasn't been placed under the terms of a CC license. If you are in doubt you should contact the copyright holder directly, or try to contact the site where you found the content".

While the Creative Commons service is very valuable and a great resource, it certainly pays to double check and be completely certain they are copyright free images. Even more important if you use any part of an image in something you create and want to sell.

Creative Commons supports Google Web, Google Images, Yahoo! Commons, Flickr, Blip.TV (Video), Jamendo (Music), spinXpress (Media), & WikiMedia Commons. In relation to the Google Web link, enter your search terms, then click the 'Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more' link and change the Usage Rights to what you need.

Finally, I'll leave you with another 7 useful websites you can wander through.
Stock.XCHNG
MorgueFile
Everystockphoto
PDphoto
OpenPhoto.net
FreeDigitalPhotos.net
PicFindr

'til next time,
T-Jay

photo credits: htmltimes.com