Sunday, January 04, 2009
post://6159892700569416999/Peapod has taken forever to come to the area... it sucks because I would love to order my groceries online and then have them delivered. The next best thing to that is ordering online and picking them up. Well the time has come for online grocery shopping as Big Y has BigY2Go in Greenfield and Springfield (Walpole too but that's all Boston-y).
I was able to go through our entire grocery list and order. You can search, or go through by category and choose what you want in your order. The best part was that it not only shows you the sales, but you can sort by unit price so you can see which is the cheapest method of buying each thing. I saw poptarts, an 8 count and a 12 count and I could see the 12 count was quite a beat cheaper per unit.
That may seem obvious, but there are other foods where it's not so obvious, and even when I'm curious I don't want to look all over multiple shelves comparing the tomatoes... and what happens when you see that thing you want in an odd part of the grocery store, do you go look for the best deal where it's home is, or do you just pick it up? That's what they're counting on!
Shopping this way allows me to see all the raisins available, and judge whether it's really worth the 6 cents a unit or 30 cents a package for the better tasting ones. The issue can't really be made for saving money, however - because if you were really looking to save all this money you wouldn't be paying them $10 to go grab your list of items off the shelves for you.
$10 for an entire order of groceries (translates to $3 an hour the way I food shop) is well worth it, and I feel quite a reasonable price. So if you live in Springfield or Greenfield MA - give it a shot, it sounds like this could be the feature and I'm loving the potential.
Labels: consumerism, cool, technology, web
posted @ 21:42
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Saturday, January 03, 2009
post://6990541718987691637/I beat Fallout 3 today - tried it ever which way to survive. Unfortunately the ending comes out almost the same, with a few changes here and there. I did it right the first time and then reloaded and went back to it. I reached level 20 and Max XP well before I got involved in the last battles of the game. All told it was great, story got even better and though it was slightly more linear towards the end I still really enjoyed it.
I just heard the latest on the DLC which is coming out for both the 360 and PC. 3 installments, they'll be coming out one a month for January - March 2009. The first installment "Battle of Anchorage" lets you play the first battle of the war via simulation, much like "Tranquility Lane". The second installment "The Pitt" is a morality quest into a slave town in Pittsburg. The third and final DLC is the big one, it lets you use all you've gained in the main plot and resumes from where you left off (and lets you advance past level 20).
The first 2 DLCs don't seem like they'd do much good to me from a character expansion point until the third one is out. I may just wait for the multipack to come out in March as I'm sure they'll package them in a disc version once they're all released.
Labels: consumerism, download, games, games for windows
posted @ 14:40
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Thursday, January 01, 2009
post://8849305309033283493/Here are a few mixes I've done as of late:
Anavan - The Perfect Sound (WijiX SoundOff Mix) [listen]
The Veronicas - Untouched (WijiX Touché Mix) [listen]
Lady Gaga - Just Dance (WijiX MiX) [listen]
I also have a pretty awful session [listen] where I started playing with my new XSessionPro. It's the first time I've been able to mix between two MP3s... now if I only had a second audio card on the laptop so I could listen to the cue.
Labels: dj, download, mp3, music
posted @ 10:26
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post://6164516219882452047/
We spent almost new years at Jen and Matt's, ate some ribs, played some wii and then got home in time to see the big sparkly thing... forget what it was but it was sponsored by Nivea.
Labels: consumerism, holidays, new years, status
posted @ 10:20
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Sunday, December 21, 2008
post://8937212902501074694/This blizzard will be the death of me, I'm currently attempting to ward off back spasms with muscle relaxers and aleve. I was just getting over it too, and now I've done WAY too much shoveling. I am writing to try and keep my mind off the spasms, pain, and absence of breath I'm feeling, so I won't be hurt if you stop reading here :)
It started a week ago Thursday. I hurt my back doing nothing special - I was sitting in my office chair and turned right to grab my laptop out of the case on the ground. I didn't feel anything right away, but by the end of the day I was feeling it.
I worked Friday from home and then had Monday and Tuesday off to recuperate so I didn't think much of going to Nicole's family's Christmas Party on Sunday. I still hurt, but it wasn't bad enough to keep me home. By Monday I was feeling good. So good, in fact, that I decided I'd surprise Nicole by putting up the Christmas lights outside. Otherwise the whole day was me resting by watching TV and video games.
Alas, Tuesday was going to be another wash - holed up in bed all day so I finally got an appointment with the Chiropractor. He adjusted, it didn't feel quite as wonderful as it normally does but I figured it was due to it being out for so many days thus far.
I went to work Wednesday and Thursday with little to no issue and then this damn storm came up on Friday. I shoveled Friday night and though I hurt in the morning I needed to shovel Saturday because our damn snow blower is delayed until Tuesday. We couldn't find the one we wanted in the stores around here so we went online. Amazon got our hopes up by saying it would be delivered the next day... FedEx tracking brought us back into the reality that we'd be waiting another few days.
No sunflower means shoveling and when it's coming down about 2 to 4 inches an hour, that means shoveling several times. I did a lot the first time, though still not the whole driveway. I tried to at least keep the area around the cars and the plow deposits at the end of the driveway clear but it... just... kept... coming.
This morning I finished up the picture for our Christmas cards so we'll be sending those out tomorrow. I beat several stages of both Fallout3 and GTAIV then I watched the whole football game today, an absolute slaughter by NE in the snow. It almost feels like it's getting worse with me applying heat and not moving much. I'm wondering if I should stretch, I need to move, I'm getting a bit stir crazy.
Our driveway really needs a complete shovel, as does our front steps and sidewalk. I know the neighbors must not think much of me, but I just can't do any more shoveling. I can't move, or walk well, and shoveling will just make it worse. I wish the neighbor kids would come over and ask. I kinda thought they would after seeing me shovel. I'm weird with kids & neighbors though, never know what to say, or even what to say when they start the conversation, put the two together and I have no idea how to interact.
I had moved around enough snow previously to be able to get out with the car both earlier today and a little while ago. Nicole and I just went to go pick up the invitations after submitting them online and for food earlier today. It was really bad out there, the Subaru cut right through it, but I did emulate a plow somewhat on my exit and re-entrance.
*Whew* The spasms have finally subsided after a double dose, but along with them goes my thoughting ability. I'm too young for back problems, if this is just the start of it, I hate to see what's in store for my future. I'm working from home again tomorrow, and not sure about the rest of the week but this is crazy.
Labels: blizzard, holidays, lament, snow, status
posted @ 18:12
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Tuesday, December 16, 2008
post://5007839232060440479/I love Hulu, and now they've got my favorite show: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - watch the full episodes. If you can get the beginning of the season the final episode will be a lot funnier :)
posted @ 14:03
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Wednesday, December 10, 2008
post://1480953871889639729/So this shows a few issues with Rockstar's "video editor" in GTA IV for PC.
You'll notice you don't see any fire after the first clip or two yet some vehicles tend to blow up for no reason. I'm a little disssapointed considering it took me over 40 minutes to encode this "web quality" video. Other options are 720p and 1080p. Last time I tried 1080p I crashed. Go fig.
Anyhow, take a look at my GTA 'fire storm' video here.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, video
posted @ 23:23
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Sunday, December 07, 2008
post://6314627219298098290/Here's the same progression in GTA benchmarks. I didn't have to do much work for this because GTA writes each benchmark to a separate txt file automatically. I pasted into Google Docs and made a graph of it all.
The details are here but this is the graph:
Labels: 3dmark, consumerism, games for windows, hardware, materialism, SLi, technology
posted @ 11:37
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Saturday, December 06, 2008
post://8239767402186441602/Ok, so after the dust has settled I've completed the Hard Drive externalization (technical prototype) and here are the past couple benchmarks:
2 x New Graphics Card + CPU
New Graphics Card + CPU
New Graphics Card
New Motherboard
Original
Read em and weep.
Labels: 3dmark, consumerism, games for windows, hardware, materialism, SLi, technology
posted @ 22:51
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post://7178261761764014228/
I think I've thought of all that though being short on material and the means to create something like this, I'm a bit unsure how I'm going to work it all through.
For now maybe I'll use some metal "gutter mesh" I have left over from my bumper screen I made for my Legacy. I had taken a rock directly through the intake area of the bumper the first few months I had the car - took out the whole A/C grate so I made a guard for those rogue CT highway rocks.
In any case it's about 2 feet long and 6 to 8 inches high, originally meant to keep the leaves out of gutters. It's got small enough holes where screws ought to hold and it's bendable while still being (somewhat) strong enough to hold the hard drives.
The "prototype" if you will, is actually just 2 3.5" bays of 3 slots each from 2 old computer cases. My plan is to put them side by side but there's actually no room for that with my current setup. In order for the SATA cords to reach outside the tower, the whole arrangement needs to be pretty close.
So here is what I've got so far and in concept it works. I jumped a 250W power supply according to this ATX Power schematic. So it's switched off the power supply itself and otherwise "always on".
After speaking with my electrician friend at lunch he said that I had to be careful because without a load on the other end, running a "jumped" power supply would overheat if it couldn't offload it's power. The other thing to note is that a jumped power supply will also always run at full load, so that's a constant 250W. Still better then a variable (with new energy star 80-rated) 1.3 Kilowatt power supply.
So here's some pics, I'll post more as it evolves/burns up.
Labels: pics, project, technology
posted @ 16:45
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Friday, December 05, 2008
post://2095755929140285485/| Latest Benchmark | 3DMark06 - 11059 |
| 2.0 PCI Ex Motherboard | 3DMark06 - 10879 |
| 1.0 PCI Ex Motherboard w/ 2 8800 GTX | 3DMark06 - 10674 |
Labels: 3dmark, graphics, hardware, SLi
posted @ 04:21
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Thursday, December 04, 2008
post://1960250936291300007/Ya know... sometimes I hate PC gaming and then other times.
I looooove it:
[ 1st Try, beloved MMA10 ERROR ]
[ GTAIV 01 ]
[ GTAIV 02 ]
[ GTAIV 03 ] *
[ GTAIV 04 ]
[ GTAIV 05 ]
* = driver upgrade mmmm hmmm
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, screenshot
posted @ 21:44
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Wednesday, December 03, 2008
post://8605665130117686757/Rockstar apparently wanted their little foot in the online pool. GTA IV for PC may be exclusive to XBOX Live (Windows) but since they have it all centralized via their Rockstar Social Club - it all depends on their servers having the stones to support everyone logging in at once.
I guess they didn't expect such a rush. I called support:
Wait, you called before?
No... I don't think so.
Yeah, for PS3 - not showing 1080p.
Oh yeah, yeah I did.
So why'd you buy it for the PC too? I had it for PS3, I wasn't going to go buy it for PC too.
Well... I guess the graphics, and really liked the achievements in Fallout 3
Oh, Fallout 3 - brilliant game
Yeah, I love it
Chatter aside, it turned out their server wasn't prepared.
Rookie mistake, Rockstar.
So if you're playing GTA IV for PC and you're getting an error after the copyright screen in GTA (fatal error MMA10), just pull the network cable, start in "offline" mode and boom - you'll be up and happy in single player.
I guess no one was online making recordings in Multiplayer last night, maybe they'll have it fixed later today. When I called it was 3am their time in the UK, with expected rollout to their masses in about 5 hours so it doesn't look good unless they can get some serious stones, real fast.
Labels: commentary, games, games for windows
posted @ 09:47
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Tuesday, December 02, 2008
post://441443711170341468/Yeah... I got it.
I couldn't help myself. I looked at the screenshots, I pondered, and after finding there was no demo to quench my thirst, I ventured to go get it before the stores closed.
It's installing now, and I'm enjoying the extra items in the box. I've got plenty of time to read it all - the game is 18g over 2 DVDs. I wonder if they're dual layer. I guess they'd have to be, even compressed it would be at least 12 to 16g and that's more then 2 4g DVDs could handle.
The new social club feature is kind of odd. Apparently someone had already taken my handle?? I don't quite understand but now my PS3 Social Club, PC Social Club, and XBOX Live (Windows) is now all linked up. I've enjoyed the achievements in Fallout 3, and I guess that was another reason I was eager to get this version. I know I've seen most of the missions already, but I can play it really down and dirty and probably get pretty far.
I was all about the DLC, wondering if it will be out for PC too - and I guess I'll get my answer, but if Fallout can do it (coming in January for both XBOX & PC users) I at least know it's possible, and since it's all LIVE - it ought to come to fruition soon enough.
[update 21:44] Apparently there is a newer version of Games for Windows LIVE. I was just playing Fallout 3 yesterday on LIVE so I expected I'd have the latest release. I didn't play it today though, so there must be a new version just for GTA's release. So on the upside to it still not being installed completely - coolness. Also, because I has x64 VISTA I needed to install x64 specific video encoding engine for the game to start, I guess the video editor and encoding is integral.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows
posted @ 21:10
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Monday, December 01, 2008
post://5761582253016075666/Listen to the new Lilly Allen track "Fear", or if you're so inclined, download it.
posted @ 20:10
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Saturday, November 15, 2008
post://4115377957762220307/Have you heard?
The Bird is the Word
S6E2 of Family Guy -
posted @ 18:06
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- one of the best moments in TV history...
- Hey Jim!
Do you have a new blog spot?
Your previous domain is now where I'll "find the best stuff on the internet", and other "helpful" links.
- I just started a new blog... http://huskyhiker.com how have ya been? you can email me at jimbradley/at/gmail.com
Saturday, November 08, 2008
post://2455176128710699342/I saw a link when I published for "add gadgets to your blog"
I'm still using a template and I like i that way. I have my own ways of adding things to the page but I don't have the time to do it. That's why the scrolling links page has been a white box slapped on top of everything else for so long. I know what I want to do with it, but haven't gotten around to it.
In any case I thought Google's new gadget APi looked like a pretty cool idea.
Labels: cool, graphics, programming, web
posted @ 12:34
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post://2861192363114926362/
I'm a bit concerned how it does the BPM matching. I'd really like to have a dial to adjust it for either so I can do it manually - but just as I feared this I ran into the following (Free) software:
Zulu DJ Mixer by NCH Software
Please donate while you're at it since it's currently free and really great.
There are many options, drag and drop files to load them, then drag them to either A track or B track - you get a visual representation of the track so you can see the dips and stops. You also get volume, pitch, synch (sets BPM), and Cue if you have another audio card or USB headphones. It detects the BPM for each track as you load them, and you can adjust them each independently. You also get filters like distortion, high pass, reverb, phaser, flanger, and delay - all available and adjustable in realtime. It's surprisingly powerful for a free program and most likely better then the software included with the m-audio usb mixer.
Rapid Evolution 2
Runs on Java and Java runs like crap.
It can figure out BPM and key and all that, so it looks like it would be really cool but didn't work right for me on VISTA.
If you have XP - you may want to give it a try. It should work on Linux too - there's different distributions since it runs on Java. After fiddling with it in VISTA I finally got it to access the audio hardware by running a command prompt as administrator and then executing it from a command line (.jar files can't be executed as admin by right clicking). Even when the audio did work, it would play for a few seconds and then stop. The file still appeared to be playing but I couldn't hear anything other then the first 5 seconds.
Labels: application, dj, download, music
posted @ 12:05
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- Well I got the mixer, unfortunately the Zulu DJ does not work with it. M-Audio provides Torq LE from their site to be able to use it. You really need a second audio card to effectively preview otherwise you just collide the other track in but it's got some cool built-in effects, visualization of the track and it's still much better to control an MP3 with then an ipod.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
post://601768146272237493/I was surprised to hear that Michael Crichton died today.
He's probably my favorite author, followed closely by Douglas Adams who died just a few years ago. I think I need some new authors, but I'm afraid they might die on me. At the very least there are a still of Michael Crichton's books that I have not read and remain on my bookshelf. There's just so much I loved about how he created a picture with his words that my mind just ran off with. I was able to picture them much more vivid then any movie could convey, and in the case of Timeline actors could portray.
I was actually inspired to write my first computer program based on Jurassic Park. With my TI80, a black and white TV, and book in hand - I set out to recreate the computer system in the book. From the main menu and submenus you could do an array of things from jump-starting the generators (to get the fences back online) to recycling the door locks. I also made it into a game by creating different scenarios and error messages based on what you had already done, and with certain dependencies that had to be met before you were allowed to proceed.
I'm really sad to see him go, one of the only people that could get me reading like you hear about - nonstop until it's done. He touched on cancer quite a bit in his novels and even in ER - which ironically enough even with his money and knowledge, he was still unable to overcome.
Labels: books, death, games, nostalgia, programming, technology
posted @ 20:46
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Monday, November 03, 2008
post://3136412013318335276/Hummina humina - Fallout 3 is fabulous. It's everything I wanted it to be. It plays similarly to Oblivion with all the awesomeness of Oblivion & Fallout combined.
The combat system is your run of the mill point and shoot... until you activate VATS which stops the action and allows you to choose which body part of which target you want to shoot, with a very RPG % likeliness of hitting each body part.
You can shoot the gun out of their hand - or blow the arm off completely - and to accompany these shots is an awesome (VERY bloody) camera shot in bullet time. Slice their head with a knife, break their leg with the bat, or shoot off their gun hand - it's great.
Here are some screenshots:
Here is a video montage (sans music?) I made of a few attempts at VATS:
Fallout3 Screenshot 01
Fallout3 Screenshot 02
I was limited to 30 sec with trial version of FRAPs but only took me like 10 takes, so here are the 3 best sequences :)
Fallout3 VATS System Preview Video
**UPDATE** I gave in and got the full version of FRAPs and it was TOTALLY worth it, check it out: Video: VATS Killshot
Coming soon - "killing in the name of" soundtrack
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, screenshot, video
posted @ 12:29
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Tuesday, October 28, 2008
post://1286577185651811615/GOG.com has gone live, you can purchase Good Old Games for 5.99 or 9.99 depending.
Descent 1 & 2 (or 3 & Expansion), Fallout 1, 2, and Tactics, Kingpin, Messiah, and Redneck Rampage - remember that one? I also found this little gem: Castles 2
No more trying to get Win95/Win98 working with your new hardware, or break out the old Pentium II in order to play these old gems - they're all certified to play on XP and Vista (including x64!).
Awesome.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows, nostalgia
posted @ 20:49
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Friday, October 24, 2008
post://1291205592341735320/We're headed to NY for Nicole's brother's wedding - some tandem garbage truck flipped over so traffic has slowed to a crawl. I really just wanted an excuse to use the G1. Typing is odd with the thumbs, I'm used to doing it all with one thumb so getting thumbkin-2 in on the m.ix is a tad faster ;)
We got a late start due to some issues with Merek's vaccinations. We missed one by 2 days so they were all like no no!! And we were all like "we were just there!" But we got it straightened out, got an emergency shot squeezed in from the vet next door and got on our way, albeit an hour late.
Now add to that this traffic and we may just barely get to the rehersal on time, sorry Chris!
posted @ 14:06
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Wednesday, October 22, 2008
post://8616507402771462167/Nicole got her G1 yesterday - the first and foremost "Google phone"
It runs android - the open source phone OS developed by Google.
At first glance it's about the side of an iPhone (and that's the exact demographic this phone is going for) though no where near as sleek. The screen swings out from the base and pops into place when going into landscape mode.
The home screen has a clock widget with 4 basic icons at the bottom. It appears you can fill up the whole screen with up to 16 icons, if you didn't have the clock there. You're not limited however, because if you slide your finger to the left or the right you have an additional screen on either side for other program icons or widgets. If your application icons aren't on the desktop, they're in the application window. Touch and slide the application tab at the bottom upwards and you'll see all your program icons but I didn't see a way to organize them such as folders or sorting. I'm awaiting more widgets, such as weather or RSS, but with Android being open source - it's only a matter of time (and it'll probably be free).
Making a call is pretty quick and the contact list imports your Gmail address book as soon as you add your info. It's a very detailed set of information and it's easy to add to it when you have a new number - just hold your finger on the number and you can choose new or add to existing.
The camera supports embedded GPS information, for those who like to add to Google earth.
There's no brightness/contrast that I could find, nor a zoom feature but it's pretty high quality with good autofocus. I'd also like to see video capture, but that's probably on the way.
Trackball is great - I'd compare it to an IBM laptop intellistick, similar texture but I still can't say for sure whether it's actually rolling or inferring based on the direction I'm moving my finger over the textured surface. In either case it's really sensitive and great for more accurate movements.
The google maps is pretty good, and uses mylocation over gps by default, so you have a large circle that is your general proximity rather then a precise dot. You can see streetview, which brings attention to one of the coolest features: Compass mode. If you're in streetview and turn on Compass mode whichever direction you turn (even up and down), the phone will indicate the corresponding street view. It's fancy and impressive, but I couldn't see a need for this at first until I realized this was "compass mode" - ie: which way is NESW. The image is good just for verification but not much else other then cool factor and I can't see it working without streetview at your location.
Setting up email was pretty quick, and we were able to get to both web based email as well as import an IMAP (also supports pop3) account without issue. It inferred the servers from the email address, just provided the password and boom - all set.
The data transfer was acceptible, but nowhere near "high speed" as it took over 45 minutes for a 20mb video file. Speaking of which: there's no standard video player. You can view YouTube but individual movies don't play.
When checking voicemail, it was neceesary to pull up the phone keys, press the button to delete, and then put the phone keys away, otherwise I'd accidently hit the keys when I put the phone back up to my ear. So it can be cumbersome to go through several voicemails at a time.
The touch on the screen isn't overly accurate, and dragging can get tricky. You also can't drag an icon from one section of the screen to another. For example: move an icon from the middle screen to the right or left when your main screen gets full. To do so you have to drag the icon to the apps tab to remove it, and re-add it to the screen where you want it. It's not that big of a deal, easy enough to do, but a seemingly needless limitation.
Depending on the application it's difficult to tell when you should hold your finger down, slide it, or tap. I had to try it several different ways for most applications to figure out which was necessary for the particular application. I think this is mostly standardization at this point, and will probably get better as developers get to use the device more.
The battery life doesn't appear to be stellar. I charged it to full in about 3 - 3.5 hours, then used it to download and perform nonstop data transmission for about 3 hours before it was down to 50% battery. I charged it overnight so we'll see how it does after a normal day in standby.
I'm a bit worried about the application store. Granted - each application tells you what permissions it requires from your phone before you download - but that alone can scare you. I'm worried about the rogue program that does what it promises but is actually phoning home and sending your info while you're using it. A lot of the applications require "full internet access", "gps positioning", and some even "access to contact information" such as the Weather Channel's application. That's pretty scary and I'm concerned what they might do with it - some people never read the fine print for free programs.
All in all it's a pretty powerful phone with a lot of potential. It's fairly slim, fairly light and the keyboard is handy and with the trackball you can do everything but type when the keyboard is away. It didn't do much without a data plan, but it does work. It can use wifi, and even with no data* or wifi I was still able to pull down GMail but no web or Pop3/IMAP. There's also no proxy settings like in Windows Mobile so looks like you'll need that $30 data plan.
*-I have Voicestream 2.99 unlimited wap internet on my account
Labels: consumerism, cool, linux, materialism, review, technology
posted @ 11:36
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- ...I'll proofread later :)
Monday, October 13, 2008
post://7660891626207946375/I've been loving 2560 x 1600 for all games lately with the latest version of nVidia drivers and now I took some video. First one is 25fps, other 2 are 60 fps but I belive Windows Movie Maker does 15fps for WMV 720p. They were originally recorded at 2560 x 1600 but the compression doesn't really do it justice.
In any case, have fun viewing:
Labels: fun, games, games for windows, graphics, racing, video
posted @ 21:58
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Thursday, October 02, 2008
post://7950685253127620400/
Here's what I got with the MKZ Benchmark:
Labels: games for windows, technology
posted @ 21:05
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post://2317820311472832986/
This means towers that can be taken down, realistic wall destroying, and many other items only possible with a physics engine. Just like GPUs advanced the graphics, Physics processing will advance the gameplay and realworld feeling of video games.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, technology, video
posted @ 19:44
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Friday, September 26, 2008
post://4798730601599438359/Got a Tripod? Made a 3D picture for free
Labels: photography, photoshop, pics
posted @ 21:27
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
post://5315793244692476131/I kept hearing it in the trailer and couldn't get it out of my head so I made aringtone of the song from Pineapple Express.
Labels: movie, mp3, music, ringtone
posted @ 18:45
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Monday, August 18, 2008
post://7409505827871419022/The results from my autocross event. I came in 4th - not too shabby for my first time!
posted @ 17:41
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Thursday, June 26, 2008
post://8714019405679459031/I submitted a photoshop to'day. It's only using paint... so I guess it's a paint-shop. In any case check out the submission. I've also got the original.
Only 3 more days to watch "Back to You" on Hulu!
I found I really liked it once I checked it out - turns out it's because it comes from the creators of Frasier and Just Shoot Me, working together. Don't get too attached to Gracie... I still say they're mad for changing (ie: "...going in a different direction.")
Oh yeah... catch up on your ALF!
Labels: fun, graphics, photoshop, tv, video
posted @ 19:11
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Tuesday, June 17, 2008
post://4296121579900533304/I went back today and found some previous 3DMark06 Scores since I was finally able to get my 3DMark06 up and running. I still had my old VISTA x64 install on my extra HD (haven't needed to reformat it for space yet) so I installed everything (didn't work) and then copied over all the OpenAL32.dll to both system32 and syswow64 directories. I removed 3DMark06 and reinstalled from my Crosshair driver CD (w/ professsional SN) but when I went to submit it said a newer version was available. The patch wouldn't install (said 3DMark06 wasn't installed???) so I just copied the 3DMark folder over as well.
All in all I got it to work, but I'm thinking I need to turn the Cancel or Allow back on, this shit didn't happen when I had it ask me to do everything. I still haven't reinstalled SP1. I'll certainly make sure everything's working proper before I do it, but it's ineveitable.... inevietiiable... invevieitiaitiablale!
So it's running and I got a 10,333 base v1.0 - so here are some past 3Dmark scores nVidia 7800 - December 16th, 2006
Asylum GeForce FX 5900 w/ 128mb RAM
I found these doing a picosearch, still works... just re-indexed - give it a try
Labels: 3dmark, games, hardware, nostalgia, SLi
posted @ 19:38
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Sunday, June 15, 2008
post://7579065082664969228/I picked up another card to do SLi this weekend. I wanted more, I wanted 2560x1600. I priced out what it would cost me to get a 9800GX2 including the trade-in from EVGA and it was going to be like $350+, so I instead spent $170 for another 8800 GTS - which were getting scarce so I moved on it.
I tested using 3D Mark Vantage (for VISTA) as my existing 3D Mark 2006 is not working in VISTAx64 because it says OpenAL32.dll is not present (which it is).
I'd rather use 3DMark 06 as it's a more accurate guage given my past configurations were also based in 2006 but with Creative software not installing for some weird error they can't solve I'm just working with what's working for me.
In any case, you'll see the difference with the score of 1 8800GTS vs 2 in SLi
1 x 8800GTS 640mb
Score: 4383
- CPU: 4228
- GPU: 4437
2 x 8800GTS 640mb in SLi
Score: 6642
- CPU: 4275
- GPU: 8145
I might post another score if I try some overclocking. It's nowhere near the 20,000 score reached by an individual with a QuadCore, 9850GX2, and PhysX card but I figured it out and I'm 118260 out of 155217 total, so that's a decent standing with a 76%.
Labels: consumerism, games, games for windows, hardware, SLi, technology
posted @ 21:43
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Sunday, June 08, 2008
post://9045782568072414742/I found a virtual lab for Visual Studio 9. This particular one is for building web applications, but if you're interested in teaching yourself you can get your start with the virtual labs and then even download Microsoft Visual Studio Express for free!
Labels: download, programming
posted @ 08:48
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Thursday, June 05, 2008
post://6948603993605328803/I just paid $4.19 for Super using CASH. I could have paid $4.39 if I used credit. Separate cash and credit prices?? Way to go back to <1984. I was amazed, I guess they just started this tdoay and it's just weird. I understand saving $2 for 10 gallons (in my particular case) but that could ammount to 5 to 10 dollars for SUV owners, and even more for truckers.
I listen to Bubba the Love Sponge (Sirius: Howard 101) now, a lot more for the past year or so and he's just as good as Howard in many a case. They're always advocating for the truckers so I'm a bit more understanding. I just can't conceive how someone who is an owner operator could possibly be making a living - let it be known, you've at least got a break if you're paying cash for gas in Holyoke, MA... go to the Shell station by the mall.
Out of principal I paid cash. I took it out of the business. I know a lot of people are running on credit card leins right now and it's kind of scary. I am doing ok, we're cutting down on groceries, and bought our big ticket items prior to this whole crunch, so all in all we're doing ok.
I got gas at this hour because I'm headed in to work early tomorrow for a big release party - hardly what it sounds like, we're switching our phone operations so I'm going to be there bright and early in case anyone has any issues. I've been working all this week to make sure we're ok a this point and it looks like we will be but I'll be there at 5, which means waking up at 4... and I'm not really down with that, and certainly not expecting any gas stations within my 30 miles to empty radius to be open. Considering I'm still up at 10:14PM EST --- I'm probalby going to be feeling it. My plan is redbull. Claratin D and redbull.
Labels: lament, materialism, politics, work
posted @ 22:01
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Sunday, June 01, 2008
post://2279815248762638880/If you thought Crysis was cool:
Video: First look at FarCry2
They did it even better with FarCry 2, without aliens.
Top 100 Best Tech Products - top 10 are right on... minus a few (like Facebook, XP?!!). I had never heard of the SD card that turns your camera into a wifi device.
Labels: games, games for windows, graphics, video
posted @ 09:24
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Sunday, May 18, 2008
post://6319280356957756505/My Niece has a Melon
posted @ 08:31
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Thursday, May 08, 2008
post://7270195168885293291/So I'm working from home today, collected a few tidbits durring my hours upon hours of meetings:
There is still no concrete info on the Wii pole dance game
EA PR is spinning, Tech is confirming they suck
Ever wonder if your local sewage treatment is up to snuff? Holyoke's isn't.
Kind of a dramatic image of an old Iraqi woman not quite the caliber of the Afghanistan girl from Time, but still powerful.
*update* gotta hand it to MSN, they find some cool stuff, particularly Jott - a free service where you can dictate text messages.
Labels: commentary, environment, games, games for windows, Iraq culture, link
posted @ 17:45
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post://5836667355410671026/
posted @ 07:18
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Sunday, May 04, 2008
post://1153126327478132177/After a long time of being unable to find a chance to hang with anyone the past 2 weeks have been great. I think I can finally hunker down and maybe do some work. After seeing what Justin has been able to do with his free time, I'm inspired.
It started two weeks ago when I was able to finally get together with Josh & Katie, of course Nicole had a previous engagement she realized after we made the plans but that was fine, still time to go grab something to eat first.
Note to self:: the Eastside Grill in NoHo is a full-night affair. An hour of waiting with drinks chit chatting it up for a table, an hour for appetizers, an hour without appetizers, and hour for food, and what seemed like an hour waiting for the check, all in all I think we were in it for at least 3 and a half hours so divide that up accordingly.
I at least got a free dinner and a beer out of it because they had brought me the wrong type of beer on accident. I asked for informational purposes (I have a red-ish beer I need to stop drinking and switch to water in order to be responsible) and they wiped it off the bill for me - mmmm free Gorgonzola Ribeye...
Eventually we got back to the house pretty late but there's always time to show off the TV and play some games.
Saturday I spent the day brewing beer with Bryan, the girls went to a knitting fest, and we spent the evening Wii-ing all over the place.
This weekend Friday was a party at Jay's for his birthday. We went out after work and had a buncha fun. Once everyone started showing up, I was already onto my 4th beer. It compounded for there and I continued to drink water for the rest of the night to stay standing. There was a young girl with breasts out and father in tow (it's just as weird as it sounds). Creep factor +12 for the camera... but I'm going to see if I can find the Myspace photos so you can see for yourself. (FOUND THEM!)
Finally last night was a wine tasting at Justin's. We hung out all day after sleeping until 11 or so - we finally got back to his place and got to sleep at like 3 or so. We'll be having one at our place in September. I wasn't a huge fan of the wine itself and I really can't see paying $27 for a bottle including the shipping but hey - they might just get some people who want to have one at their place.
We just have to have to buy the food to go along with it, but all in all it was pretty fun. It was great to see Justin and Tracy, and I'm very impressed with his self-motivation. It's more then I can do working full time and still getting to the work that's waiting for me at home.
Labels: booze, friends, fun, games, party, pics
posted @ 08:37
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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
post://7782757885757208656/I picked up GTA IV this morning, and by some odd cooincidence also had today off. I popped it in, it did a file copy to the HD (about 5 to 10 minutes) which is like 3+ Gig.
I got in it and it looked blurry... I checked the box, 720p, 1080i, 1080p... and then I checked the TV - 720p. There were no settings in the game (guess I'm too used to PC games) so I went out to the main PS3 menu. There are normally settings when hitting /_\ but not in this case - nothing relevant other then it's a parental control level 9 game :)
In any case I finally weeded through all the tiny text in the back of the game manual to find the technical support line. I got through after not too long (they'll probably get a bunch later on) and spoke with the guy. I was skeptical at first because he told me it was the display settings of the PS3. He told me (in a cockney accent) that I'd need to set it to 1080p. I said I was in 1080p and the main menu was displaying in 1080p, so I knew it was working. He put me on hold to check.
Apparently in the display settings you can check all the boxes for the resolution(s) your TV can handle. I had 720p, 1080i, and 1080p checked. Per his instructions I unchecked 720p and left 1080i/p.
Saved, went back into the game... and voila 1080p.
So if you're experiencing issues with GTA4 getting HD res, you need to take 720p out of your settings. I assume they'll fix this with an update down the road, but if you're checking it out day 1, you may want this handy little tidbit.
*sidenote*
After some additional confusion regarding the multiplayer aspect, simply press Up on the D-pad and then X when the phone is up to get the sub-menu.
Check out the Getting Started in Multiplayer for GTAIV PDF. It's got both PS3 and XBox360 but I bet XBox Live users didn't have such a difficult time with it ;)
Labels: games, ps3, technology
posted @ 09:32
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