Random thoughts, organized and categorized for your consumption.
Review
Stuff that I have an opinion about, and care to share.
How Facebook is killing privacy
Apr 28th
I have recently been called crazy (alright, not just recently) for my opinions of things found online. However, recent changes in the way Facebook wants to use my private data (or what I thought was private) have me thinking that perhaps their site just isn’t for me anymore. And for these thoughts I was labeled nuts, ridiculous and even a heretic, as I am also helping to create such grand systems of online data sharing.
During their f8 conference in April 2010, Facebook introduced a platform called the Open Graph. On its face, it seems to do what users want: go anywhere on More >
Parting Company with Bluehost.com
Feb 28th
After a few years of “like it / hate it” service with my web host, named Bluehost.com, I have decided to move on. It wasn’t just one incident or issue that pushed me to leave, but a steady and seamingly growing lack of interest from the company to find and fix the issues that arose.
I had a few sites and about 5 gigabytes of data sitting on this host, so moving isn’t trivial. That’s what makes the decision to leave even more instructive to others: if I have to put up with the serious pane of moving my site, email More >
Video Disc Tools for Happy Streaming
Nov 14th
I was asked recently to document the things that a person would need to use in order to take an optical disc with video content on it and turn it into something that streams reliably to the PS3. Rather than write a long email on the topic I’ve decided to chronicle the information here so that I can make it available to anyone who asks, now and in the future.
First off, this guide is for Windows users, so folks using OS X or any of the Linux flavors need to find some way to live temporarily in the Microsoft world. More >
It's All About the Guns in "Wanted"
Jul 14th
This weekend on the recommendation of a friend I went to see “Wanted” with another friend. I was promised that this would be an exciting summer movie and that did turn out to be the case. This is this director’s first time creating an English language film and it worked well. His visual style is similar to what you’ve seen if you recall the “Matrix” or BMW “Driver” but with some still unique flair.
In typical movie fashion, the gun-play is completely unrealistic and defies the laws of physics, but that doesn’t make the film any less enjoyable to watch. It certainly More >
What did you do on Super Bowl Sunday?
Feb 4th
I’m not a sports kind of guy so while everyone else in the USA was busy guzzling beer and cheering for some football team or another I was tackling my own challenge: the tear down and installation of a new MGW short throw shifter in the C6. It certainly wasn’t a cakewalk to do but now that I’ve done it I have a better understanding of how the various plastic bits on my dash came to be together.
The whole goal was to reduce the shifting throw (the back and forth motion) during gear changes and on that part it was a More >
PT Cruiser; Verdict: it sucks
Sep 4th
I really should just end a review on the title, as that says it all. I was rented one of the little PT Cruiser’s today and I honestly don’t know who would want to own one. Window controls on the center console? Terrible ergonomics where you have to lean into the passenger seat to change the stereo? A completely unusable adjustment for the seat height and steering wheel positions? And don’t even get me started on the sadness that is the engine (I call it the little engine that can’t, but wishes it could).
Granted, all of this is just from More >
The Bourne Shakey Cam Express
Aug 19th
I just finished going to the theater (what!?!) to see The Bourne Ultimatum with Steve, April, and Steve’s dad, and man does my head hurt afterwards. Evidently the new “in thing” for movies is to shoot them hand held guerrilla style and make the moviegoer dizzy or sick. Another great example of this technique shown this summer was Transformers, a Michael Bay epic that was full of robot vs robot fighting (yay!) that would have looked great, if only the camera would have been still for more than 3 seconds.
While this is the 3rd and last in the series of movies, it More >
The "Fun" That is Windows Media Center and Xbox 360
Nov 4th
Recently I went through a setup related exercise for work where I needed to get a Windows Media Center PC to talk to a Media Center Extender. An extender in Microsoft’s view is a device that attaches to a TV and enables interacting with a Media Center UI without the PC actually having to be in the same room as the TV. There have been a few of these devices shipping for a couple of years so I thought this would be a cakewalk. Boy was I wrong, really wrong.
I spend nearly two hours hooking up the Media Center PCs More >
Google Picasa Web Album
Jun 20th
I had a chance today to fiddle around with yet another Google beta product: Picasa Web Albums. It is the best demo yet of a blend of local (PC based) applications and web site integration with AJAX.
What this all means is that you can add photos from a web page, from an application, or from an email to your photo album any time you want. It’s pretty nifty. Take a look at the progress so far.
The Tale of the Harmony 880 Remote
Mar 26th
I recently became the owner of a new smart remote control, the Logitech Harmony 880 via a friend of mine who will remain nameless (he knows who he is). After months of pain with the previous remote, the Philips Pronto NG (I think the NG stood for “not good”) I was ready to switch to something better. The Harmony 880 looked to be the ticket.
To be fair, I was warned that the setup process for the 880 would be a little, um, rough. The warning was correct. It was an unholy terror to setup the remote due to a few factors, which More >