Volleynerd Knowledge Base

My buddy at Russ had a couple old cell phones laying around (actually got them on their way out to the trash from our company) and graciously gave them to me. I'm currently evaluating the need/desire to have an internet connected phone.

Just so I remember, here are the specs (when looking for software to use on it, it's useful to remember what hardware I have):

Verizon Audiovox XV6600. Engadget's original post here. (Nov 2004)
Runs Windows Mobile 2003 (Second Edition, build 14132)
Intel PXA263 processor
128 MB RAM (whimpy / old school I know)
Bluetooth

Another article about it's release here.

Posted 7:37 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

After I've built out a computer, I always find myself 6 months down the line trying to remember what exactly I put in it. Sure, device manager can help out to some extent, but many times you can't get the exact model # from there. Here is an attempt to keep a list of what my various computers are composed of:

Home - main desktop

Motherboard - ?? ask Paul
Video - ATI All-in-wonder RADEON 9700 128 MB
1 GB RAM
Sony CD +/- RW CRX185E1
Pioneer DVD +/- RW DVR-710 (11/25/06)
Adaptec Fireconnect PCI Firewire Card

Home - laptop (Dell Inspiron 6000) - purchased 03/07/2005

Intel Pentium M 750 (1.86 GHz / 2MB Cache / 533 MHz FSB)
15.1 " WSXGA LCD panel
1 GB DDR 400 MHz RAM (1 DIMM)
128 MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300 Video Card
60 GB Ultra ATA 7200 RPM HD
Integrated 10/100 Network Card
8x +/- RW DVD
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 (802.11 b/g internal wireless)
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
(4 year total warranty)

Work - laptop

Alienware

Product: D9T
Model: D900T

Posted 7:26 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Pretty cool stats collected by Flickr showing who is using what kinds of cameras. Lookup a camera by it's make / model and see how many others are using that camera.

Flickr camera stats

Posted 11:01 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I don't do a lot of snail mail these days, but when I have to get something out, I'm always wondering where the nearest box is, and where I can find one that picks up at the end of the day.

Here is the answer - mailbox locator.

keywords: mailbox locator

Posted 7:12 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Rather than have text files scattered around the desktop, if there are some where you want to quickly see the contents - why not *show* the contents of the file ON the desktop?

From Lifehacker

Posted 8:17 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Pretty funny post about a single line of JavaScript that crashes IE but not Firefox.

Original article here.

<script>for (x in document.write) { document.write(x);}</script>

Posted 12:10 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Now that Firefox 2 is out, here is a list of some about:config tweaks that you can do to enhance your FF browser experience!

Here is a list from Firefox of tips & tricks.

Browser appearance (tabs, icons, etc)
Behavior (external links, saving URLs, tweak Find)
Other (copy table cells, speed up rendering, etc)

And here is my own tip:

Tab "flipping" is the concept that you can activate the most recent active tab by clicking on the currently active tab. I can't stand that new feature in 2.0 (I commonly quickly select the tab and gesture down to close it -- with 2.0 sometimes that click on a tab that I thought was in the background turns out to be on the active tab, which selects *another* tab, and I end up closing that one), so I finally found out a way to turn it off.

about:config - filter on "flip". Change extensions.lasttab.enableTabFlipping to false.

Posted 11:38 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

This short video tutorial shows how to hide a file inside a JPG. Uses command line WinRAR and the windows COPY command.

How to hide files in JPG's

Posted 6:46 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

What's the catch? This conference calling tool is free for up to 250 callers on a call?

You still have to pay long distance charges, or use their toll-free number for $0.04 / min. A dude added a comment that you can Skype to the long distance number to eliminate that charge.

Cool feature: can record the conference call - it will give you an MP3 to download at the end of the call.

LiveOffice free conference calling

Posted 8:37 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

My wallet is not yet close to the ones shown at the top of this article, but it's on the way. Maybe it's time to go with one of these shown, or downsize completely to a money clip.

After all, what else do I need besides ID, credit/debit card?

Top Ten Geek Wallets

Posted 12:59 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

In some future dream world, I won't be programming until I retire. I didn't even read these tips yet, but the title caught my eye.

10 Tips for Moving From Programmer to Entrepreneur

Posted 5:51 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Might come in handy once I start playing with Vista ...

Windows Vista RC 1 Software Compatibility List - IeXwiki

Posted 3:59 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

HoboCopy is a file/directory/volume copy utility by Craig Andera at Pluralsight wrote. He talks about how robocopy is pretty cool, but can't copy files that are in use.

HoboCopy uses the Volume Shadow Service APIs to work it's magic. He's using it for a nightly backup alternative. Check it out.

Announcing HoboCopy

Posted 7:54 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Microsoft's entry into the mp3 player market with the Zune is coming soon. I haven't really been following it ... but here is some info, along with links to blogs by the MS team members.

The Zune production team just loves to blog - PVR Wire

Posted 10:19 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

My buddy Intern Joe sent me this link. Of course he found it because PHP (the be-all, end-all language in his mind) was at the top.

C# and AJAX are 2 & 3

10 Programming Languages You Should Learn Right Now

Posted 5:24 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

At a recent client, they started a mandatory overtime policy to get through "crunch time". Some of the employees are looking into the overtime laws - which made me curious as well.

Here's a decent site to get started to understand the California OT laws.

California Overtime Facts

Posted 1:00 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

My buddy Intern Joe pointed me to this. Pricey at $1000 for the starter system, but something I can dream about.

Sonos is a system to wirelessly stream music from your PC loaded with music on the drive, to any number of "players" throughout the house. RF based remote to control which music is playing in which rooms, etc. 2 different players, one that hooks into existing receiver/speakers or a PC, then another which has it's own amp.

Someday ...

Sonos Digital Music System to stream digital music wirelessly from PC to any speakers in your home

Posted 2:32 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Interesting arrangement between Flickr (Yahoo) and Blogger (Google). From Flickr, apparently you will be able to post a picture to your blogger based blog.

This is achieved due to Blogger (Google) exposing a way for external sites to authenticate through them, then what -- call APIs to post blogs?

Blogger Buzz: Flickr Support for Blogger in beta

Posted 1:30 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

assoc and ftype -- view/set file associations from command line.

Junfeng Zhang's .Net Framework Notes : Find out which application handles a certain file extension

Posted 8:40 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Some dude called into Buzz Out Loud podcast with this info. Decent small snippets of NBC News, various sports, etc. listed on this site.

Watch online news, entertainment, music and sports TV-channels for free.

Posted 3:13 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Just want to remember to check back on this to see what the app is going to be...

PhillRyu.com - My Dream App: Coming Monday, Final Details

Posted 9:18 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Here is some more info about the development tools that will soon be available - enabling you to write games for the Xbox 360. It sounds like you'll have to first pay $99 to allow you to use the tools and share the games amongst other "subscribers". Ultimately, down the road, you will hopefully be able to sell your game in the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Spaceshot - sweet!...when do we start writing the RDN game? :)

Write your own Xbox game | CNET News.com

Posted 10:18 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Heard this on Buzz Out Loud podcast. They were talking about a no-click mouse. Here is a site called "Dont Click It" where once you enter, you don't click the mouse. Navigation is done via mouse gestures.

Posted 10:04 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Found via Channel9 ARCcast and ISerializable.com

Sanjay's Coding Tips :: Cool Tools

Posted 9:59 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Great mashup of Google Maps and ski resorts. In the winter, it seems they'll have lift status, snow conditions, etc.

Ski Bonk - Ski Resorts, Live Weather Conditions, and more on a Google Map

thanks to Intern Joe for this...

Posted 8:10 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I'm still contemplating moving from Yahoo Mail to Gmail (Google's new calendar is a big reason, along with the "threaded" mail message view in gmail). However, one of the things that I'll miss the most about Yahoo Mail is the disposable addresses I have (via a paid account).

I remember the hacks about adding "+whatever" to the end of your gmail account and it will still get to your account. Not the greatest solution, since your "real" address is still in plain sight, but could be good for automated lists, signups, etc.

Anyway - a quick google search tonight shows this article, which lists some sites whos sole purpose is dishing out one-time (many times read-only) addresses.

Disposable Email Address Services March 2006 » gHacks tech news

Posted 8:40 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

For us nerds who really know a great DVR (I've had two of the ReplayTVs for a couple years) -- there is now a new version of DVArchive. It's the software that acts like another Replay on your home network, transfer shows to it to "archive" shows on the PC.

DVArchive - Networked ReplayTV for your PC
version 3.2

Posted 10:53 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Part of the top 10 google apps writeup from CNet, this 3D tool is free from Google. Sounds like you can model a house, then even drop it into Google Earth.

SketchUp - Google SketchUp (free)

Posted 9:44 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

OK Marchello, I'll "blog this so you dont forget about it", but I'm not going to keep your links handy on my blog. Dont you have a blog? :)

Apparently this is about "Interfacing Your Media with an External LCD Panel using Visual Studio 2005 Express".

I'm assuming this is some pie-in-the-sky idea related to your car PC...

Coding4Fun: What's Playing?

Posted 9:41 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Last night, my buddy Gomez sent me a (long) message from the Xbox Live messaging system, apparently while using a USB keyboard. Apparently you can use the keyboard only for messaging and filling out forms - not in any games....at least not at launch.

There is a bit more info about this below.

Ten things I hate about the Xbox 360 - Fully Equipped - CNET reviews

Posted 9:33 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

WikiMapia - describing the whole planet earth.

Kind of a cool idea - using google maps to describe hundreds of "interesting" places around the world. You can add your own locations - they request that you only add sites that are interesting to everyone.

WikiMapia

Posted 8:41 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Thanks to Buzz Out Loud for this info.

KeepVid and PeekVid - two services that allow you to capture video played at Google Video, YouTube, etc. and save to your PC.

How long will these last...?

(updated 7/10/06)
...and now a post on Digg that shows a step-by-step using only free tools.

Posted 4:24 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Thanks to my buddy Gomez for this info. I'm interested in transfering game data from my original Xbox to the Xbox 360.

For example, the Halo 2 single player game that I finished is stored in the profile on the original Xbox. When I fire up the 360, it obviously doesn't know I've finished the single player campaign, so I'm back at the beginning.

The Xplorer360 software lets you transfer game data off the old memory card, onto your PC, then onto the new memory card. After a brief read tonight, it looks like you have to crack open the new memory card and solder something onto it. We'll see about that...

360GameSaves.com (Xplorer360)

Here is another option. The transfer kit that's commercially available. Looks like $14.95 - am I reading this right? This one looks like it comes with an adapter for each of the memory card form factors (old and new), each of which connect to your PC via USB. Comes with Xchange 360 software - confused on whether it's best to use that included software or the Xplorer360 software shown above.

Posted 9:36 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

Funny flash animation where the animated character(s) take over the design surface.

Revenge of Flash

Posted 10:03 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I "borrowed" this link from my old buddy from RDN - Spaceshot

Kind of a lot to read through, but there are some gems in here...

XSLT Questions and Answers.

Posted 9:45 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

My buddy Paul pointed me to this utility to try to quiet down my PC. Seems that the CPU fan is really loud, and according to PC Probe, the CPU is running very cool.

I run SpeedFan and wha-la, turn down the CPU fan just to 90% and it's SOOO much quieter. WAHOO.

(Now just have to watch the CPU temp for a bit and see what effect the slower fan speed has...)

SpeedFan - Access temperature sensor in your computer

Posted 11:18 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Looking around online for what to do about the loud CPU fan I have. I came across this site which might come in handy for this current issue, or down the road if I ever build a Media Center PC destined for the quiet family room.

silentpcreview.com | Everything about Silent / Quiet Computers

Posted 6:53 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

My father-in-law found an old Rubik's cube and a solution book when going through old boxes. When we were there last week, I sat down and, with the help of the solution book, solved the cube in about 20 minutes.

I don't think we even have a cube around our house, but here are a couple sites to keep around if/when I feel like "solving" it again...

Beginner Solution to the Rubik's Cube

Graphic solution - a bit different than the one in the book and the above link.

...and google will show you a whole lot more...

Posted 9:49 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

I went to high school in Huntington Beach (Edison High School) with a guy named Raymond Chen. I'm pretty sure he's living back east somewhere, but will have to find out.

Here is (presumably a different) Raymend Chen from Microsoft - worked on bug fixes in Windows OS for many many years. I sumbled on his MSDN blog tonight, and he offers some interesting angles on Windows programming.

The Old New Thing

Posted 9:25 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

Well, this caught my eye because it shows the Creative Zen Vision:M as the must have for portable audio/video -- instead of the iPod!

It's been my feeling all along that there are probably better players than the iPod, but nothing can beat it's popularity, and native iTunes compatibility.

Top 10 must-haves - CNET.com

Included in the list:

Slingbox
iRiver Clix
Sony PSP
Xbox 360
Palm Treo 700w

Posted 7:51 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Hack Attack: Automatically download your favorite TV shows - Lifehacker

Posted 9:45 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Very cool - this site uses Yahoo Local maps, grabs the pics from all the turns along a Yahoo maps directions route, and zips them up, for transfer to your iPod video.

http://www.ipod-directions.com

iPod Directions : Use your iPod Video, Nano or Photo as a Yahoo! Maps directions viewer!

Posted 9:43 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

E3 is going on this week, and obviously the 360 is center stage. here's a blow-by-blow of what the MS keynote was about.

Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Microsoft's Xbox 360 E3 event - Engadget

Posted 9:41 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Rip DVDs to small AVI or MPG files. Uses XviD codec and the SourceForge DVDx software.

How to Rip DVDs to Small AVI or MPG Formatted Files - WikiHow

install xvid codec (search google)
download DVDx software
"open DVD root"
output settings

AVI format
LAME MP3 audio codec
XviD video codec (Enable Video, Enable 2nd unchecked)
choose screen size
max frame number = Whole

Posted 9:23 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

There is not an easy (documented) way to add a pushpin at a specific location in Google Maps. (sometimes this is useful to send a map to someone that says "look right HERE", and you don't necessarily know an address to map at that location). Here are a couple steps to achieve this (admitedly the brute force way).

Fire up maps.google.com and navigate to the location of your choice.
Double click the desired pushpin location, so that it gets centered in the map.
Click the "link to this page" at the top right of the page. This will regenerate the map with the latitude / longitude coordinates in the URL.
Copy the lat/long coordinates out of the URL (ex: "33.114477,-117.308235") - these should be part of the ll=... parameter in the URL (we're assuming that is the lat/long param)
Paste those lat/long numbers into the address search box and hit SEARCH.

There is your map with the pushpin - you can get the link to that page, email it, get directions to/from that pushpin, etc.

Posted 10:36 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Hilarious song called Code Monkey. Jason at work pointed us all to this one. Very soon after, we were cranking it in the cube farm.

...code monkey like tab and mountain dew ...

Jonathan Coulton » Blog Archive » Thing a Week 29 - Code Monkey

Posted 10:07 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I heard about Slingbox a couple weeks ago when they mentioned it on the TWIT podcast. Now here is another alternative...

Move over Slingbox, here comes SageTV Placeshifter - Alpha Blog - alpha.cnet.com

Posted 10:01 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Yahoo apparently joined the "DVR for your PC" race today, with Yahoo Go. From what I can tell, it's FREE software, downloadable now from yahoo.

TechCrunch » Yahoo Launches DVR Service: Yahoo Go

download here

Posted 10:00 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Apparently today Google Maps got an update of imagery with finer resolution than before. Various areas are highlighted in the linked article, including:

Maldive Island Group
Las Vegas (3 inch/pixel data)
Stonehenge

Google Earth Blog: Google Maps Gets Huge Satellite Update from Google Earth

Posted 9:54 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

A couple of quick links from an old TWIT podcast I heard today:

emusic - Patrick's choice for downloadable mp3 music, at apparently good prices and quality.

real alternative - an alternative to real audio player. allows you to play REAL content without their player, since we all know that player installs all kinds of hellish tools, utilities, startup apps, etc. that we don't want.

Posted 10:34 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

On our recent Youth Princesses trip, Avery was asking me all kinds of questions about the earth rotation around the sun. I have been wondering lately how to best explain why the sun sets at increasingly northern positions over the Pacific ocean as we go from spring towards summer.

Here is a decent writeup of all those answers...

6(h). Earth-Sun Geometry

Posted 10:17 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

This is inline with something I've been wanting to do. Make a generic mapping page that will allow you to add any number of pushpins on a map.

I think this would be cool for a number of purposes: places I've golfed / traveled, geocache finds, etc.

I know Google Maps API will let me do this - you just have to provide lat/long coordinates - a geocoding service will tranlsate from street addresses.

Here's a tutorial [unfortunately using Ruby on Rails :) ] that walks through the steps.

Web 2.0 Technologies: Rails, Geocoding, and Google Maps

Scott Guthrie points to this control written in ASP.NET 2.0. Nice long detailed article about it's usage.

After one night of poking around with the sample, I grabbed a Google Maps API Key, and see how easy it is to start mapping. The geocoding service at http://rpc.geocoder.us/service/ is very easy to use, and FREE. (WSDL for this service is here at http://geocoder.us/dist/eg/clients/GeoCoder.wsdl)

(Google Maps API is right here)

So I almost immediately started thinking about the best (or the most fun) way to use the maps API from ASP.NET. First thought - write an ASP.NET 2.0 Server Control.

Well, some dudes beat me to it. Here are some links:
http://www.codeproject.com/aspnet/LatLaysFlat-Part1.asp
and the 4-part series listed here

Posted 8:39 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Apparently the Video iPod (and nano?) have calendar view. This guy wrote a converter from Google Calendar (iCal format) to iPod format.

the johnnyGizmo Blog: getCals 0.1 Available

Sweet - now a Firefox extension that will notify you when your Google Calendar appointments come due.

Firefox - Google Calendar Notifier

Posted 8:32 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Some MS dudes mentioned this site during a Channel9 video - apparently one of the main sites for development related to Windows Media Center

The Green Button™ | The Premier Windows Media Center Community Forum

Posted 8:35 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Google recently released their new calendar feature. It looks very cool - using AJAX and DHTML to quickly add events, multi-day "bars" across days, etc.

Apparently, there is even integration with email messages that contain dates -- allowing you to quickly add an event based on the text date in the email body.

You can have multiple calendars and overlay them on each other. Here's a good idea (thanks to Digg.com) - setup calendar of certain sports schedules, US holidays, etc. and quickly overlay those onto your own calendar.

Interesting Google Calendars

Posted 10:29 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Some info here about what's going on between Windows Media Center Edition and Xbox 360 Media Center Extender.

It talks about the audio and video formats that the MCE/360 can play. Also suggests Videora, software to convert other formats to these allowed by the 360.

Media Center Extender: FAQ: Media Center and Xbox 360

Posted 1:27 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

This will be my collecting place for the next couple months as I get my feet wet with streaming audio and video to my tv using Xbox 360 and Windows Media Center.

Videora has this software that converts from many video formats into the format that the Xbox 360 understands.

Best of all - FREE!

Videora Xbox360 Converter - Xbox360 Video Converter

Also, check out this post from Engadget about Videora being used to convert from Windows Media Center Edition format to something the iPod can understand.

DivX converter for 360. Convert DivX videos (on the fly?) and stream them down to the 360 via MCE.

Jake Ludington MediaBlab

...and Transcode 360 is another choice for converting DivX and XViD

SWEET! FireFox extension that will send a video link you find on the net to the Xbox Media Center Extender (the 360). Discussions and link here.

Apparently this uses commands exposed by the Xbox 360 (reminds me of the ReplayTV HTTP interface)
/xbmcCmds/xbmcHttp?command=playfile&parameter=http://media.com/file.mpg

Posted 1:22 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I am still getting my feet wet with Media Center, especially as it relates to my new Xbox 360.

Here is a list of MCE "applications", seem to be plug-ins to Media Center that extend the functionality. They do things like manage NetFlix queue, CinemaNow downloads, etc.

Someday I'll have to write one :)

Windows Marketplace: Compare prices for My Movies

Posted 4:46 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Just got my Xbox 360 (WAHOO!) and will be trying to setup streaming media to it from my PC.

There are a couple schools of thought, which I'll be trying to proove/disproove. One is that the 360 can only stream from a Windows Media Center enabled PC. The other is that a Windows XP machine can stream to a 360, using the Windows Media Connect software.

update 04/15/06
Well after some initial testing, it turns out that with Windows Media Center, the 360 can play all photos, music, and video from the MCE machine (as long as the media formats are supported). Using Windows XP, you can run Windows Media Connect, but Microsoft chose NOT to support playing VIDEO through this software to the 360, so you're stuck with only photos and music.

Posted 11:28 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

This probably requires a much more studly GPS than the one that I have (~$100 handheld), but very cool nonetheless.

WhereIsMyGPS.net

Posted 9:00 AM | 1 comments | Permalink

A small windows app that will keep track of Xbox 360 friends that are online.

Nimblesoft.com 360 Friends

Posted 10:24 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Ten video sharing services compared - DV Guru

included: google video, grouper, videoegg, youTube, etc.

Posted 10:22 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Thanks to Scott at work for pointing this out. The Logitech Harmony remote operates your entire entertainment system, including your xbox 360.

Like all remotes in the Harmony line, it's programable via a website, where you enter all the information about your components and it will come up with the correct macros, etc. This one (I think unlike others in the Harmony line) can also learn IR codes it doesn't already know.

Logitech ...Xbox® Gaming Products > Controllers > Logitech® Harmony® Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360

Posted 6:13 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Great summary collection of Oracle (version 10) statements, example calls, etc.

PSOUG Morgan's Library Morgan Daniel Oracle SQL PL/SQL

A site called Ask Tom at Oracle.com with a ton of questions/answers.

... and some random articles that have helped along the way...

MS KB article: how to return an Oracle REF CURSOR to a .NET DataReader object.

Result set retrieval using ODP.NET and Ref Cursors

WIKI Oracle page

Posted 12:15 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

AJAX powered color tool

Color Tool 2.0.1 Alpha

Posted 5:56 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I've always been fascinated by flying...ok, well at least I *love* MS flight sim. Combine flight sim with a couple friends of mine that are pilots and I can pretend like the best of them. :)

Thanks to Digg for this link to a bunch of videos of extreme crosswind landings. Amazing stuff.

Crosswind Landings - Google Video

Posted 9:46 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Interesting data on how fast certain classes of passwords can be cracked. Obviously, it has to do with the size of the set of chars you use.

Password Recovery Speeds

Posted 9:36 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

The new guy, Ed, at our client was showing us this today. Firefox running via "Portable Apps", where you run FF from a USB thumbdrive or other portable media.

The entire app runs off the removable media, including favorites, history, cache, etc. So you always have it with you and never leave a trace behind.

Applications | PortableApps.com

Posted 12:23 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Very cool job search integrated with Google Maps.

Not sure about the completeness of their data, since it only shows 1 job available in 92009 zip code.

Google Job Search

Posted 9:40 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

According to this article, we are finally getting rid of Adelphia cable company here in Carlsbad, CA.

Hopefully as early as this summer, Time Warner is going to take over as the cable provider for the city. Apparently the offer the
Explorer 8000HD device which seems to be a dual tuner, HD DVR, much like the Moxi that Adelphia provides.

Some other cool features:
output in any of 480p, 720p, 1080i
PIP for any 2 sources (either recorded or live tv)

Posted 10:11 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

I recently repaved my machine, and so had a fresh install of Firefox (1.5). Windows Media files would not play "inline" in the browser - I would just get the "missing plugin" icon.

The page below has a detailed description of the issues, what to check etc.
Step-By-Step Guide: Embedded Windows Media in Firefox - MozillaZine Forums

Quick answer:
"about:plugins" shows the current FF plugins. You should have "Windows Media Player Plug-in" listed.

If you don't, start here to get the plugin from MS.
Windows Media Player Plug-in for Netscape Navigator

Posted 8:11 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

A dude at work was talking about this open source alternative (sourceforge) to windows media center.

MediaPortal - the Open Source Mediacenter!

Posted 9:07 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

BetaNews | Interview: A Look Inside Paint.NET

Posted 9:16 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

There is TONS of talk about Origami (supposedly a handheld device running tablet PC Windows) these days. Here's an article that says things will be revealed at some trade show in Germany March 9-15.

The Origami Project

BBC NEWS | Technology | Origami gadget to debut at Cebit

The semi-famous Kevin Woodotoh blog about the latest info.

(3/7/06 update) A pic of the mobile device.

Posted 8:39 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

MS Word docs that have track changes obviously have previously removed text still embedded in the doc. Apparently there are other situations that cause obsolete data to remain in the doc (fast save, personal user info, etc)

Remove hidden data in Microsoft Word documents

And here's a tool from MS to remove hidden data.

Posted 7:51 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Today I helped bring my college buddy's Dell laptop back from a BSOD (corrupt registry). I had to reinstall Windows to another directory, just to be able to boot the machine, and get the data off the HD.

Anyway, then I had to hassle with Dell to find what drivers I needed for her machine. Turns out, given a service tag number, you can get the list of original hardware that you bought.

So...here is mine, for future reference:
Service Tag: 8SMM071
Purchased: 3/25/2005
Inspiron 6000
Pentium M 1.86 GHz, 533 FSB
1 GB RAM
60 GB HD
Video Card: 6000 (?) 128 MB (ATI Mobility Radeon x300)
Broadcom 440x 10/100 integrated ethernet controller
Intel Pro/Wireless 2200BG Wireless Network

Original System Configuration

Posted 5:21 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Buy the SanDisk 128MB TransFlash Memory (SDQCJP-128-A10) and other SD-MMC Memory Cards at circuitcity.com

... $5 after rebate and in-store pickup

Posted 10:33 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Since the manual for my TV is lame (hardly any tech detail), I was poking around the web looking for more info. Here's a decent page with short, to-the-point info about the native resolution, treatment of HD content, etc.

Agoraquest.com - Great Sony review site, sony forum

Sony 50" LCD Projection TV
KF-50XBR800 (Grand Wega, first generation)
Pixel Resolution: 1366 x 768 for each LCD panel (one for each RGB)
Automatically converts all HD content (via component video) to high-resolution progressive output.

Another review from way back in the days when this was a new tv. home theater mag

decent thread (as long as google caching is working) from avs forum talking about up/down conversion of various tv models. says the same thing as article above that the Sony XBR800 converts everything (720p or 1080i) to it's native 768 resolution.

Posted 9:18 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Title says it all. Ran across this tonight - list of some of the best accessories for iPod.

Some examples: Home audio solution, audio/video dock station, remote control, wireless headphones, portable audio solution (boom box), car solution, case.

Home Theater: The Best of Everything for Your iPod

(this is probably already a well-known fact for serious iPod-ers, but definitely check out Griffin Technology - maker of very cool iPod accessories)

Posted 8:39 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

(this is obsolete - there's a more current list here)

I rebuilt my desktop last week, and am now getting around to reinstalling Firefox. Along with this comes the task of reinstalling the extensions that I can't live without. Here's my current list of favorites. Except where noted, all are available at the normal mozilla addons page.

All-in-one Gestures
BlogThis
Copy Plain Text
Download Manager Tweak
LastTab
Live HTTP Headers (have to get this from here)
Super DragAndGo (not avail on addons. I saved a version here compatible with FF 1.5 and beyond)
Tabbrowser Preferences
Unwrap Text (of course, since I wrote it!)

Posted 3:19 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Now that I'm even closer to getting a video iPod, I'm finding these tips all over the place. 3 steps to get your DVD content to the iPod - thanks to Wired mag.

1. Decrypt the disc (the illegal part)
Use DVDDecrypter

2. Combine the video files into one large file.
Use VOBMerge 2.5 to combine the VOBs. Usually look for incrementing filenames to find the main video (or view them with any number of video players to make sure you have the right files)

3. Convert Movie for iPod
Use 3GP_Converter to create mpeg-4 file.
Select "Model: MP4, for iPod" for conversion mode.
Resulting file is ready for iTunes.

Posted 11:20 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

My buddy Paul gave me his ATI All-in-Wonder card for my upgraded machine. I've installed the ATI driver software, and they felt the need to put the ATI Catalyst menu choice in the file explorer File menu, as the first choice. UGH.

Here's how to remove it (and other tweaks).

TweakGuides.com - ATI Catalyst Tweak Guide

Basically, the shell extension is here. Just remove or rename it.

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers

Posted 11:19 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Finally thinking seriously about getting an iPod now. Ran across this site from our local ComputorEdge [yes, that's spelled correctly :) ]

Playlist: iPod and iTunes Product Guide, News, Reviews, How-Tos and More

Posted 7:18 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Pretty cool collection of cover art for CDs and DVDs.

Albumart.org - CD and DVD cover searchengine

Posted 9:59 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

I'm working on my Excel based golf handicap a little more tonight, and always have trouble finding any good documentation on the Excel object model. The intellisense seems to get lost after a couple object references in a given statement.

Found the MS KB article below that shows where the help file is on the local installation.

For Office 2000: vbaxl9.chm
For Office 2002 or later: vbaxl10.chm

How to find and use Office object model documentation

Posted 8:13 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Clemens Vasters is another dude that is finally taking the plunge to go work at Microsoft. Here's a project he's been working on before leaving for the mothership.

Newtellivision. Watch TV remotely on a Windows PC via any PC on the internet with Windows Media Player.

Clemens Vasters: Enterprise Development and Alien Abductions - Going out and in with a bang: newtellivision

Posted 9:55 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Thanks to Digg.com for this one. Enter street and zip, and get map with estimated current prices for all the homes. Also shows recent sale data, current property taxes, etc.

SWEET

Zillow.com - Your Edge in Real Estate

Posted 9:30 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Thanks to David for this one. He's apparently sharing his pics straight from one of his home machines, using Net2Go.

Also check out PhotoCast.

Network Magic - Home Networking

Hmm - not free, so already a knock against it... :)

Posted 1:28 PM | 1 comments | Permalink

There are a lot of solutions out there for keeping bookmarks handy from any machine. This one, called Foxmarks, got a mention in a "top 10 extensions" list on Digg.

Sounds like they have a dedicated server where your bookmarks are stored, and can sync from any other machine where you enter your user/pwd.

Foxmarks - Foxcloud Wiki

Posted 8:17 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Huge thanks to "Intern Joe" for this link.

Meebo brings "IM to Web 2.0". Great stuff. A web site that allows you to login to multiple IMs at once (currently I'm online with Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk).

No software installation necessary.

meebo.com

Started by 3 peeps from Stanford ... of course! :)

Posted 7:45 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Someday when I get around to getting an iPod (most likely), Don Box points out that XPlay is the tool of choice for iTunes haters.

I've had trouble with "unknown error" during burn in iTunes, so I am thus far in the haters camp.

Mediafour | XPlay - The Ultimate iPod add-on

Posted 9:36 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Some cool keyboard shortcuts for Firefox.

examples:
find LINK as you type: '
open link in new tab: ctrl+ENTER

Hack Attack: Mouse-less Firefox - Lifehacker

Posted 7:57 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Sweet. I tried Dr. DivX a while ago and liked it, but didn't buy it. Good thing, cuz I never got around to encoding much video.

However, now that Dr DivX has been moved to the open source community, it's probably worth another look.

DivX Labs | Dr. DivX

Posted 7:25 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Courtesy of Windows User Group, the shareware pick of the week is yet another iPod video converter. This one looks pretty decent.

From all of DVD, Tivo, DivX, MPEG, WMV, AVI --- to iPod format.

WUGNET - PQ DVD to iPod Video Converter - Windows XP/2000/NT Shareware

Posted 7:24 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Decent intro to regular expressions. I generally know how to use them, but always forget some of the syntax. This site has a good quick tutorial that can be used as a reference.

Learning to Use Regular Expressions

Posted 7:50 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Here's a decent "one-stop-list" of many of the tools & utilities that I already have on my system. This will come in handy after a system rebuild -- includes links to quickly download all of them.

100-downloads.com | Top-100 essential downloads of free software & freeware for Windows XP

examples:
Audacity, Picasa, Paint.NET, ZoneAlarm, Daemon Tools, DirectX, DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, DixX, XVid, WinAmp, BitTorrent, PDF995, Skype, Gizmo, 7-zip, blah blah

Posted 10:31 AM | 0 comments | Permalink

Don Box and Chris Anderson do an MSDN TV episode from Don's house. Check it out. Play some XBOX 360, along with some WinFX talk.

MSDN TV Holiday Episode III, WinFX, and XBOX 360

Posted 10:15 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Ahh, back in the days...my buddy and I wrote a video game (on the [Black & White] Mac) for our senior project. Compare that to now - they are having a contest at Stanford for the best video game.

Check these out.

Posted 2:35 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Today was the second time my Outlook 2003 offline message store got corrupted. This time it was due to me killing the machine (instead of shutdown) since it was frozen.

use SCANPST.EXE (usually in [program files]\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033) for both PST and OST files.

How to use the Inbox Repair Tools to recover e-mail messages in Outlook 2002 and Outlook 2003

(this time, I had to run the SCANOST.EXE first. Wouldn't run when in "offline" mode. Figured out that I had to start Outlook, even though it was hosed, and wouldn't show messages...get out of "offline" mode, then close Outlook. ScanOST found a problem, and prompted me to run SCANPST.EXE on the .OST file)

Posted 6:51 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

Best of CES 2006
The Creative Zen Vision:M caught my eye. Competitor to iPod video, $330 30GB supports many video formats, voice recorder and FM tuner. I'll have to check it out before jumping into the iPod.

Best of CES Awards - CES 2006 - Consumer Electronics Show Las Vegas - CNET.com

Posted 9:45 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

FolderShare sounds like it finally might answer the disk space in the sky problem. Free version currently provides 10 folders (10,000 files per folder), to sync'd to unlimited number of machines.

ComputerZen.com - Scott Hanselman - Overwhelmed and enamored with FolderShare

FolderShare.com

update: apparently Microsoft recently acquired FolderShare, which is I guess how it's now free.

Posted 5:04 PM | 0 comments | Permalink

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