Testing

Hooking up g1 with blogger

Online TV and Movies

So You like TV and Movies? Well I do to, however I don't like most of the stuff on cable, and I don't want to waste money paying for cable TV if there is an alternative. Luckily there is. For the last 3-4 years I have not payed for TV however I watch all the shows that I am interested in when I want to. (in the little spare time I have) You may ask how do I do it? Well, thats what I will be sharing with you today.

There are many places on the web where you can legally watch TV and movies. There are also some more questionable ways to watch TV and movies however we aren't going to go into that today. The different ways that you can watch stuff online are as follows, Website (Flash), Website (plugin), or program (bittorrent or streaming client). A couple examples of Flash websites that have plenty of content are Hulu.com and Joost.com. I have use both of these extensively and they offer good quality TV and movies for free.

If you are a Netflix subscriber you also have access to view  many movies and TV shows instantly. This does however require a plugin. If you are a firefox person you will have to run this through ietab, however as we speack I am watching the original episodes of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy full screened on my second monitor. "Don't Panic"  Netflix has done a great job of ensuring qulity, and smoothness.

If you would like to watch TV and Movies else where you can Check out Hulu.com and Joost.com both of witch offer a wide selection of TV shows and Movies. If you make a account with them (which is free) you can save things to a queue and be notified when there are new shows etc. This is a nice option for TV on the web because there are ussually options for hi quality and low quality, and you can pause any of these videos and watch them at your leisure. For people sponsored tv you can also turn to Democracynow.org.

Last of all are the programs. There are a few programs that will let you watch video streams, Winamp , TVUplayer , Miro, and Vuze. The first two do exactly that they play streams of video, and the pause feature is extrememly limited and ill advised. However the last two Vuze and Miro, are quite different. Vuze is a bit torrent client that recently has started making it easy for poople to release their video and other creations. You can choose to download them or play them. Miro on the other hand is still a video client, however it downloads videos or podcasts that you subscribe to (for free) and allows you yet again to play them when ever you choose. Unlike the other options for watching TV and Movies these last two can use up alot of space, however with space being so affordable nowdays, that really shouldn't really be a big concern. If you have questions or would like me to look over a program that you use, let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me.

Vista's Winsxs Folder

Well many of you Vista owners out there probably have from time to time looked to increase your free space on your machine, and you have found that the Winsxs folder seems to be taking up a lot of space. You wonder what is Winsxs and why does it need so much space.

Well WinSxS stands for "Windows Side-by-Side" in really simple terms windows creates a Hardlink to files here, however because hardlinks look like regular files to windows explorer, It seems that this folder is taking up a ton of space when really they are just glorified shortcuts. Windows uses these shortcuts to keep track of important system files, so deleting them could be disasterous.

There is one tool that can up slim it down slightly removing the out of date non performing hardlinks. You have to run the tool in administrator mode, here is the file. C:\Windows\System32\vsp1cln.exe remember after you have run this you will be unable to ever uninstall SP1 should you need to. Not that you ever would however I have to include that disclaimer. Run this program at your own risk, it made by Microsoft and I have no connection to it, however that being said it slimmed my WinSxS folder down a few Gb. 

Post comments here letting others know how this tool worked for you. As a side know if you have a Vista where Sp1 was slipstreamed into it already when you installed it, this tool will probably not help you much.

EA connection issues fix

After getting a couple EA games that I couldn't play because of " network/DRM  issues " I was really upset. It seemed that because I have Vista x64 Sp1 I couldn't play the games. After alot of searching I found the answer. Its the new network settings in Vista, so I figured out the network settings, and was going to write a batch file to fix them, when I found one on the internet. It was written by Marluxia Kyoshu I modified it slightly so that it explained better what it did, and I am putting it here for you all on the internet seeking answers. 

Games I know it works for:

• Spore
  
• NFS:Undercover
  

I believe it will also fix the EA Downloader issues (though not tested)

Also if you like my blog tell your friends...

Remember you need to run the file in administrator mode.

Link to the file.

The code incase you want to look over it without downloading it

@ECHO off 

ECHO Welcome to Marluxia.Kyoshu's EA Server/General Network Connectivity for Vista!

ECHO This tool will fix the problems that cause error messages like the one below,

ECHO Or similar network error messages. Bat Optimized by D4RK_4NG3L

ECHO ---------------------------------------------------------

ECHO 'The game can not start'

ECHO.

ECHO 'The game needs access to the internet in order to verify 

ECHO 'ownership of this game. Please ensure that your computer 

ECHO 'is online and try again.'

ECHO ---------------------------------------------------------

ECHO.

netsh interface tcp show global

ECHO. You may want to write down these settings incase you want

ECHO  to revert to your original settings.

ECHO.

ECHO Please press the 'ANY' key to begin the tool.

PAUSE > NUL

netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled

netsh interface tcp set global chimney=disabled

netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

netsh interface tcp set global congestionprovider=none

netsh interface tcp set global ecncapability=disabled

netsh interface tcp set global timestamps=disabled

netsh interface tcp show global

ECHO.

ECHO The above and below tables should be exactly the same.

ECHO.

ECHO TCP Global Paramaters

ECHO ----------------------------------------------

ECHO Receive-Side Scaling State          : disabled

ECHO Chimney Offload State               : disabled

ECHO Receive Window Auto-Tuning Level    : normal

ECHO Add-On Congestion Control Provider  : none

ECHO ECN Capability                      : disabled

ECHO RFC 1323 Timestamps                 : disabled

ECHO.

ECHO.

CHOICE /N /M "Are they the same? Type Y for yes, N for no."

IF ERRORLEVEL ==2 GOTO NO

IF ERRORLEVEL ==1 GOTO YES

:YES

ECHO.

ECHO Just start up the EA Game now and it should work now.

ECHO Enjoy the game!

ECHO.

ECHO Press the 'ANY' key to exit.

PAUSE > NUL

GOTO END

:NO

ECHO.

ECHO Once the program is terminated, right-click NETFIX.BAT and click 

ECHO 'Run as Administrator...'

ECHO.

ECHO If you have already done this, try running twice more at both

ECHO Administrator and User level.

ECHO.

ECHO.

ECHO Press the 'ANY' key to exit.

PAUSE > NUL

GOTO END

:END

EXIT

A more in depth look at the file.

BSOD while pumping gas?

This is actually a gas pump running windows that shows TV while you pump gas. The only problem is that since it runs windows, it also BSODs lol I thought this was humorous so I took a short video, which I will update and place on here when I upload it to YouTube.

Find where your suppost to vote. (the easy way)

I am really suprised that it is kinda hard to find your place to vote (also called polling place). You would think that just like knowing where the library, or police station is, it would be easy to find your voting place. After I had gone through the old school way to track down your polling place, I found that yet again Google had a way to make my life easier. If you know the home address that you are registered with, just go here and input your address. It will then tell you where you are supposed to vote at, and even give you directions if you want. 

Have fun excersizing your right to vote.

Crash Last Night

Jolted out of a deep sleep by a satisfyingly huge crunch followed by a few bangs, some les satisfying crunches, a peel out and finally quiet. After making sure my apartment was secure and talking to my girlfriend, I hit the road to take pictures and try to get an idea of what happened!

Sleepily I stumbled towards where I thought the crunches came from, and I see debris in a lot of the street, some extremely long skid marks and a few cars that are definitely miserable with the recent events.

As I follow the skid marks back to their begginning, it seems a big vehicle decided to have a violent violation visit with a parked truck, violating it from the rear, violently.

From the debris and skid marks, I can see the big vihicle wasn't satisfied and decided to visit a few more cars and a curb before giving up the ghost for its sins around the nearest corner. Like the drunk that was driving it, with no regard for its surroundings, it just pissed oil and fluid on the ground as it went into its slumber of death.

Its drunken sleep was interrupted, however,by flashing lights. A stern policeman promptly brought a tow truck to take the disheveled van back to the station for interrogation. As it turns out the van's partner possibly the instigator in these crimes (rumored to be a drunk illegal woman) is at this very moment, to the best of my knowledge, at large.

As terrible as these atrocities are, I think you have a right to see the violated. So here are the pictures I took. If you have any information that might help this case please contact the Anaheim Police.

T-Mobile G1/Android Community Stepping up again

Many people are wondering if and why the G1 is better than the iPhone. There are my reasons some of them include hardware features, but I think the biggest reason is that the operating system of the phone is Open Source, with the only restrictions being ones that keep vandalism and other devious acts to a minimum.

You may be wondering why this is such a big deal. The iPhone has a shop for applications. Well unlike the iPhone pretty much anyone who has a drive to create an application can on Android with out big licencing fees. Then without becoming a criminal he can use it on his phone, and give or sell it to friends or the world. No need to jailbrake your phone etc. worry about the next firmware upgrade and your apps still working. 

The next intelligent question would be then will anyone really take the time to make these progams being that as of right now being that the G1 hasn't launched and there are no other phones that use android yet? (other than people hack projects) The answer is yes, there has already been a contest to support the community that builds these applications, many times using their own money and making them available for donations. The imaginative and creative applications that emerged were nothing short of amazing. I would like some of my favorites however there are just too many interesting ones out there look for your self would you like any of these programs ? 

http://code.google.com/android/

http://code.google.com/android/adc_gallery/index.html#3

Sound off what do you think about all the open handset hype? How much would you pay for some of these programs? What programs would you like to see?

Android Features I Crave

Of course we all want different things from our cell phones, here are some of the features I would like to see (no particular order). Let me know if there are other features you would like to see? 

• Video MMS / Video recording / streaming / Video Out via mini usb adaptor to hdmi or ?
  
• Screen orientation / Step counter / G force meter for use in car / inclimeter (using accelerometer)
  
• Turn by Turn Navigation with traffic avoidance.
  
• Call Recording (with and without beep)
  
• Ability to view flash websites like Skyfire does http://www.skyfire.com/
  
• Divx player
  
• Bluetooth keyboard / other bluetooth profiles
  
• Internet sharing ie: 3G->Wifi or 3G -> MiniUSB etc.
  
• gdesklets http://www.gdesklets.de/
  
• the ability to use the mini usb port as a usb port ie usb flash and hdd support or wireless usb (dreaming)
  
• touchscreen keyboard for when you don't have the time or will to open the phone, or when you have it in a dock.
  
• Call filter. http://www.anfymobile.com/callfilter/
  
• WIDSETS (all you Nokia fans know this one :) ) http://www.widsets.com/
  
• Multiplayer games (quake :) )
  
• 3d or 2d cad (ok I know it sounds odd but it is helpful for inventors like me drawing up blueprints while we are waiting for shit) 
  
• A lite version of open office :) (although I think google docs will suffice)
• Gas Mileage tracker using GPS (& for tax man)
• Remote Control for electronics devices (TV, DVD, DVR, Stereo, Laptop, etc.)
• Graphing calculator / ti89 emulator
• FTP hosting
• BitTorrenting
• Graphic editor (with reasonably cool features)

Cool Features I found with the Android Emulator 1.0 r1

• Looks Like Android already has some of these built in you can filter calls in the contact book by checking the box send calls directly to voice mail.
• The Web Browser allows you to use most webpages. Including Google. Documents, Reader, and most all the other Google services. It seems that all google features are specially formatted.  
  
• Robust alarm clock
• Many sweet graphical features for developers, many sample API's to take advantage of.
• Widgets

New Nvidia Drivers !! 178.13 WHQL for all

Well Nvidia has done it again they, released drivers that make all sorts of improvements under the hood. Here is their release highlights.

• WHQL-certified driver for GeForce 6-series, 7-series, 8-series, 9-series, and 200-series GPUs, including the newly released GeForce 9800 GTX+, 9800 GT, 9500 GT and 9400 GT GPUs.
• Adds support for NVIDIA PhysX acceleration on all GeForce 8-series, 9-series and 200-series GPUs with a minimum of 256MB dedicated graphics memory (this driver package installs NVIDIA PhysX System Software v8.09.04).
• Experience GPU PhysX acceleration in several full games and demos today by downloading the GeForce Power Pack.
• Adds support for 2-way and 3-way NVIDIA SLI technology with GeForce GTX 200-series GPUs on Intel® D5400XS motherboards.
• Supports single GPU and NVIDIA SLI™ technology on DirectX 9, DirectX 10, and OpenGL, including 3-way and Quad SLI technology.
• Supports CUDA™.
• Supports Folding@home distributing computing application. Download the high performance client for NVIDIA GPUs here and join the NVIDIA team: #131015.
• Supports GPU overclocking and temperature monitoring by installing NVIDIA System Tools software.
• Includes several 3D application performance improvements. The following are examples of improvements measured with v178.13 WHQL versus v175.19 WHQL driver:
  

o Single GPU increases up to 11% in 3DMark Vantage (performance preset)
o Single GPU increases up to 11% in Assassin's Creed DX10
o Single GPU increases up to 15% in Bioshock DX10
o Single GPU increases up to 15% in Call of Duty 4
o Single GPU increases up to 8% in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
o 2-way SLI increases up to 7% in Bioshock DX10
o 2-way SLI increases up to 10% in Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts DX10
o 2-way SLI increases up to 12% in Enemy Territory: Quake Wars
o 2-way SLI increases up to 10% in World in Conflict DX10

• Includes numerous 3D application compatibility fixes. Please read the release notes for more information on product support, features, driver fixes and known compatibility issues.
• Users without US English operating systems can select their language and download the International driver here.

So Are you running the latest? here you can check right here on my blog.

Re-visit of Nike Contacts

A while back I showed you guys my Nike contacts, well its been a while so I thought I would update you on the status of them.

While they are very good to use like sunglasses I found that them changing the colors of everything was annoying enough for me not to wear them all day long. While I still can recommend them for specific ativities like volleyball or running, I think you will find wearing them only for specific activies is th best way to go. Very comfortable, but you probably want to have clear backup contacts. If you guys have anything you want to know about them, let me know. 

Mylar balloon strikes close to home

Well With all the talk about Mylar balloons and people trying to get laws passed, this last 4th of July I heard a great big crackle .. snap.. and pop.. and the power to my apartment died. (No Rice Crispies didn't land in my neighborhood to start invading), I ran out side and found that the power was out at my neighbors also. After further investigation I found that the whole neighborhood was out, I called my power company, and they said they were currently aware of the situation and are working on it. So I decided to do some driving around my neighborhood. I found that the outage was quite wide. The next time I talked to the electric company they let me know that a hundred thousand homes had lost power with this outage, however power is being restored, systematically. When I last checked in at 3:00 am the amount of people that were with out power only a few hours after the event was down to 12 thousand. Pretty good work I would say, and the cause? Yes, you guessed it a Mylar balloon from the 4th of July festivities.

Should they be banned? You make the call. Personally I think that they could just be designed to not conduct electricity. What do you think?

UT3Gameplay Footage

Enjoy a lightly edited UT3 Gameplay. A Drama Free Gamers and Finger Works UnInc. Production.

Audiosurf Gameplay Footage

Just some gameplay footage from the new game Audiosurf

Making Tortilla Chips

A quickly put together video on how to make Tortilla chips from corn tortillas using a deep fryer. Enjoy.

"The Rage" Interview.

For those of you who missed the live broadcast of "The Rage" Exclusive interview, you can hear it again by clicking the play button on the Blogtalkradio player in the right hand of my Blog. There actually is special content that you wouldn't have heard listening live. So go enjoy.

Me and T-Mobile

The Last few years I have lived in many different states. Some of these states are New York (NYC to be precise), Alabama, Ohio, and Georgia to name a few. In my travels I have had only one Cellular company T-Mobile. They have worked with me and have always given me great service with out charging me an arm and a leg. I have unlimited Internet, and a 1000 minutes to share between phones, and I also had Nights and Weekends way before it was the standard. I could name more things that they give me and I know it sounds like I am selling T-Mobile, I am not. I just believe that when I find something that works well. I should, tell others so that they might enjoy or reap the benefits of it also. T-Mobile has worked well for me.

The reason I mention this at all is because soon I will hosting a blogtalkradio show where I explain some different options in phones, pluses and minuses, and also the technology behind them. I may even have some juicy news that you might not have already heard.

If you have any topics that you would like me to talk about feel free to email me at BitsnBytesShow@gmail.com

Longest Disclaimer ever

I am posting this to show the difference in quality between Youtube and Viddler.com they are the same video just different Sites.

Disclaimer from My First Blog Talk Radio Show.

Cell Phone Freeware

Today I will be talking about some sweet freeware you can get for your cell phone. Most of these programs were made for the s60 (Symbian operating system), but may also be made for other operating systems/phones. However, because I have an Nseries Nokia n93 running s60 v3, this operating system will be the version of these programs that I am referring to in my reviews below. Always check the website for your specific device. I know some of you reading this are probably lost, but come along for the ride and you will probably have fun. Who knows, you may want a new phone when you are finished reading this.

The programs that I will be looking at today are WidSets, Calcium, emTube, Call Filter, Google Maps, Mobile DivX Player, and DrJukka.com. Some of these programs will benefit from stronger phones like Nseries Nokia phones. Having high speed internet (that is not metered) on your cell phone is recommended, as many of these programs require or make use of the Internet. Here we go (in no particular order) with the list from above.

WidSets-https://www.widsets.com/
This program allows easy access to RSS feeds and similar applications on your cell phone. This application is a really good way to stay connected with the latest news and information. I do suggest, however, that if you like adding lots of WidSets, you may want to install it on your external card. I use it mostly to keep up with technology, with such feeds as Tech Crunch, UberGizmo, and others. WidSets is a must have program for any person in the know.

Calcium-http://www.mtvoid.com/calcium/index.html
This is a must have application that simplifies using your cell phone as a calculator. How many times have you tried to do some simple math on your phone only to find that the calculator that came with it really isn't your friend, just to end up pulling out a sheet of paper and doing it the old fashion way (a terrible thing for any techie)? This program makes calculating on your phone a breeze, with intuitive controls and nice functions. So thanks to mtvoid's Calcium you will never have to tax your brain again over simple math. Oh its also quite easy on the eyes.

emTube-http://www.emtube.yoyo.pl/
For some time cell phone users like myself have wanted to watch YouTube and other flv videos on our phones. Some of us had gone so far as to use developer tools and unreleased versions of programs to watch flv's on our phones. emTube has made it simpler than ever. All you do is install the program and its intuitive interface will lead you through the rest. Installing it to your phone memory is fine being that the latest version is still a meager 206 kB plus or minus a little. I still recommend keeping the videos on the memory card because you will have access to some reasonably big size videos. This program is amazing, allowing you to stream, download, save, and even includes a few other options. A phone with highspeed internet or wi-fi is recommended again due to the video sizes. In conclusion this program is much better than the mobile YouTube site and offers much better features.

Call Filter-http://anfymobile.com/callfilter/
Who would like to automatically discard phone calls that we don't want to answer? Whenever that telemarketer calls, or just someone you don't really want to talk to, Call Filter does that for you. No annoying ringing, no need to press the end key. The controls are very lean, and although they take a little time to understand, it works well once you have it setup. Reading the manual is a good idea, and their site features a forum to ask fellow users questions, should you not catch on to the program's control scheme right away. This program is a very capable and useful piece of freeware available for many phones, on the s60 and UIQ platforms. Check their site and see if it works for you.

Google Maps-http://www.google.com/mobile/gmm/index.html
The people at Google just keep on learning and working on making things better. With the latest version of Google Maps they definitely have continued that trend. Not taking up a lot of space and being reasonably responsive. This latest version has added a sweet function that can usually narrow down where you are by the use of cell towers. Not your exact area but it will tell you in what general area you are located by a cool circle notated with how big of a diameter it has. (i.e. you are located somewhere in this 800M circle) Some other notable features include a traffic overlay, and being able to see and zoom in on a satellite view. These features are included with the normal features i.e. directions etc. An added treat for those you that have a GPS built into your phone or that you can connect to via Blue Tooth, both of which are now also supported.

Mobile DivX Player-http://www.divx.com/mobile/
This is really a very straightforward application, it allows you to play DivX on your cell phone. So grab your 2Gb Mini or MicroSd, throw your favorite Divx videos on there and watch them wherever you may be. With detailed options and a great compression and quality it is useful for both the casual and enthusiast user. It is available for Windows Mobile 2003 (or later) and Symbian OS 7.0 or later including UIQ. Check the website for your specific device.

DrJukka.com-http://drjukka.com
While this isn't actually a program itself, his website is a treasure chest of programs that he codes. There are way too many for me to review here today, however here are my personal favorites: Y-Browser, Y-Tasks, and Y-Alarm. Many of his programs have special plugins that allow you to only install the features that you need, saving space and allowing features to be added easily. These programs run very smoothly and give you some great tools at your fingertips.