BB

2008-07-28T21:30:00.001-07:00

So there's a new search engine which claims to have 120 billion pages indexed, compared to Google's 40 billion. It's called Cuil and from my quick try of it, basically, it sucks.

When you're going to try and take on Google, don't just say you have more pages. If your search results are crap, your search engine is crap. I did a search for myself. It told me there were 4500 results. But it only gave me 4 pages of results. Half of them went to a site that did nothing more than link to my site. A quarter of them went to a phony site which redirected you to phony search engine listings. One linked to my site. None of them linked here. None of them found me on Facebook, LinkedIn, or any of the other many sites I'm registered on.

Google has "about" 8,370 results for my name. The first pages of search results go to different sites, all relevant sites, all sites that make infinitely more sense than anywhere Cuil sent me. Sorry Cuil, you've got a long way to go.

Frodo Failed

2008-07-17T10:45:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I saw a Frodo Failed, Bush Has the Ring bumper sticker and while initially amusing, it wasn't the most clever bumper sticker I've seen of late. Taking that spot is...

2008-07-02T12:54:00.001-07:00

So apparently you can just e-mail posts into Blogger and they'll publish them. Very nice. The reason I liked Posterous is because it was just so easy to post. Let's see how Blogger handles an image.

Apparently you can't send HTML through e-mail publishing. Poor execution.

Beer Making this Weekend...

2008-07-02T12:52:00.001-07:00

Today over $800 of beer making equipment is being delivered. We will assemble it tonight, make sure we have all the necessary components, and get ready for brew day, July 5th.

2008-02-19T11:11:00.001-08:00

Submitted an offer on a house yesterday. Bank owned, so now we just have to wait to hear back from the bank.

2008-01-18T01:49:00.000-08:00

Since I'm always up before 6 on weekdays, I usually don't have the chance to see midnight showings of movies. But Scott, Brian, and others were going to the midnight showing of Cloverfield so I tagged along. Oddly enough, I was able to stay awake through the movie - I most definitely didn't make it through the last midnight showing I saw (though the "nap" from 8-11pm and the Monster at 11:20 certainly helped).

I'm still not too sure what I thought about Cloverfield. It was fresh and new at least - not retreading the same footsteps of other films and not taking the easy way out at any point. My first impression was that I really enjoyed the film. The film used a lot of unknown actors and they did a great job. It's a really herky-jerky type film, but it's linear and you really get to know the characters and almost feel the fright they are experiencing. With the point of view the whole film takes on, you feel immersed in the film and through immersion, you begin to put skepticism aside and actually believe in the reality the film creates.

In the end, experiencing what the characters experience, knowing what they know, feeling what they feel, you're left with the same questions the characters have, left with wanting to know more, but still satisfied with the explanations you've received throughout. There could have been a whole backstory that they filled in on the monster, but you just don't need it. There's no need to know where it came from - just that it's terrifying. There's no need to know why it's here - just see the havoc it's wreaking. All you need to know you learn from those 4 main characters as they make their way through collapsed buildings, subway tunnels, and the eery streets of Manhattan.

I said that my first impression was that I really enjoyed it. And I did. There's still bits and pieces that I'd like to go back and see again. I think I might need to sleep on it though to fully grasp what I saw at a late midnight showing...

Nota bene: If you have a tendency to get motion sick, take something before the movie! Scott's wife, Jessica, said a couple days ago that she was going to take Dramamine, but when we arrived, she said she forgot to bring it. Big mistake. I think she made it 15-20 minutes before having to leave to throw up. And judging by the steady stream of others leaving the theater and Jessica's reports of where they headed when leaving, there were quite a few other people who couldn't deal with the unsteady camera - it's all filmed with a handheld camera and it moves A LOT.

2008-01-14T08:04:00.000-08:00

There's a great show on the Discovery Channel (or HD Theater, whatever you call it) called 1,000 places to see before you die. I am pretty sure it's based off of the book of the same name. And while most of those places to see are amazing, that's a lot of different places to go.

Luckily, the Smithsonian has condensed the list quite a bit to a "Life List" of 28 places to see. A very good read with many places that I would love to go - including Machu Picchu - can't really describe why this is highest on my list at the current time, but I saw it on 1,000 places to see before you die and it looked absolutely amazing and breathtaking.

URL: Smithsonian Magazine | Travel | The Life List

2007-12-28T08:14:00.000-08:00

I'm not a Ron Paul supporter, nor do I agree with a lot of the posts at Little Green Footballs, but they do have some interesting articles posted from time to time. However, this one is insane (and the comments that follow it are ridiculous as well).

Link

Ron Paul blames the assassination of Benazir Bhutto on the “interventionist” policy of the United States, and says Al Qaeda is justified in being “annoyed” at us. (Click the picture for the video.)

Nowhere in the video does he say Al Qaeda is justified. And he didn't blame the assassination on the interventionist policy. He just stated that giving $10 billion over 7 years to a government supported by only 8% of the people will not work. And those that feel like they do not have a say are "annoyed." Either way, he is completely taken out of context and then the comments go on to bash the guy and take what was written in the "commentary" as the truth without even watching the video...

2007-10-27T21:40:00.000-07:00

Oddly enough today I was catching up on last week's Grey's Anatomy and the cardio surgeon who showed up had been in a few episodes, but I had forgotten about her. The second she came on screen, I recognized her as Valerie Scott from Weeds. It just seemed strange that she's currently in two shows at the same time, but I believe Weeds wraps up this coming Monday and her stint on Grey's is just starting up again.

After finishing Grey's, there weren't any other football games on that interested me, so I was flipping and one of my favorite movies of all time was on HDNet Movies, The Silence of the Lambs. So there we have Buffalo Bill about to choose his next victim, the daughter of the senator, and whom should it be? None other than Brooke Smith, the same person playing a cardio surgeon on Grey's and a widow on Weeds, just 26 years younger. Very interesting and just an odd coincidence.

URL: Brooke Smith (I)

2007-08-16T08:29:00.000-07:00

So it looks like my computer problems may finally be solved. This weekend I went out, traded in the SATA card I bought for $80 (because the ECS motherboard only had 2 ports), and dropped another $220 on a new ASUS motherboard. I picked up the P5K-Deluxe which has just about everything I could need on it. I really wanted the ASUS Blitz, but Frys didn't have it (I use the Crosshair in my other computer).

I now have everything loaded up and have had no problems thus far. Warcraft runs perfectly, Office is fine (actually, Outlook deciding to break on my other computer was the reason I accelerated my finishing the new computer), and all my other applications are running smoothly.

So on Monday, I sent my eVGA board back to eVGA - they were great with the RMA and such, and I'm just waiting to see what I get back. If it's just a board, I'll probably file it away somewhere in storage. But if it's a new board in a box with all accessories, I'll just throw it up on eBay and see what I can get for it.

But for now, finally, everything is working as it should have in the first place. So maybe I'm not anti-Intel chips, but anti-nVidia motherboards. nVidia video cards still kick ass, but as for their motherboards...perhaps it's just best to pair Intel chips with Intel motherboards (this one is P35 based).

URL: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.

2007-08-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

Another great Flight of the Conchords last night. The Foux da fa fa song was amazing. And you can watch it below. Also at HBO.com, you can watch all of episode 4. Check it out.

2007-08-02T08:52:00.000-07:00

If you're not watching Flight of the Conchords, you should be! Here's a clip from an episode a couple of weeks ago with David Bowie. Sunday nights, HBO, after Entourage.

2007-07-29T19:31:00.000-07:00

Rosario Dawson:

Kristin Chenoweth (and Chi McBride behind her):

Todd McFarlane:

Kristen et al. at the panel after Pushing Daisies premiere (sound isn't perfect, but I had to reduce it for YouTube):

2007-07-29T19:18:00.000-07:00

Finally got the new computer up and running...just with the crappy ECS motherboard, not the eVGA motherboard I spent $250 on. Kind of disconcerting to have the free ($40 retail) motherboard work better than the high-end, top of the line motherboard.

Oh well...it works.

2007-07-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Changed the memory settings last night as directed by eVGA and Warcraft functioned as it should while I was online. However, it has functioned properly in the past for hours before crashing. So it will take more time to see if my problems are fixed. I'm skeptical, but who knows?

Just haven't had the time of late to play for hours :)

2007-07-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I rebuilt the whole computer this morning. Took it completely apart and then put it together again. Switched from the P182 to the Coolermaster Stacker case for more air flow. I now have 5 120mm fans installed in addition to the motherboard, CPU and videocard fans. So I don't think cooling is the problem. I read on a forum that disabling NCQ could fix it, but it didn't. I'm not sure what to do now. Hopefully the eVGA forums will help.

2007-07-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

Twitter feed added on the sidebar. I've always loved Twitter's concept, but never signed up. Well, we'll see how often I update it. Need to figure a way to add Twitter to GTalk in GMail.

2007-07-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

I am vowing now to never build another computer with Intel chips again. Despite purchasing top-of-the-line components all around for the new computer, it gives me nothing but trouble. Last year, when I did the same with a Core 2 Duo chip, I again had problem after problem. I sold the motherboard and chip cheaply online and went with an AMD chip and since then I had no problems.

So about a month ago, I put together a brand new computer with the best components like I said above. eVGA 680i motherboard, Intel Core 2 Quad chip, eVGA 8800 GTX video card, 4 GB Corsair XMS RAM, Western Digital Raptor 150 GB, and Windows Vista Ultimate. Everything seemed to be running fine, but every once in a while World of Warcraft would crash. Something I can't have happening. And by crash, I mean freeze. No error, just frozen.

So I tried updating graphics drivers, I made sure Vista was up to date. Still random freezes. So I did what was recommended, went back to XP. Bought a new copy last night ($140 I didn't want to spend), but had even more problems. I downgraded to the latest WHQL certified video drivers and seemed to have stability, but now my keyboard wasn't working properly.

Hopeful that I found the problem, I went out and replaced the keyboard (it was an Ideazon Merc) with a Microsoft Reclusa. I thought I had it. But no...again a random freeze up. So now I'm running Memtest86+ for the fourth time, but I'm going to let it run overnight and make extra sure it's not a RAM problem.

I've monitored the temperatures and added fans, but I don't think heat's the problem, so I'm at a loss. Tomorrow I'm going to completely disassemble the whole thing, but it all back together again. Install XP cleanly again, install all the software I need again, and then see what happens. Chances are it'll freeze again and I'll be forced at that point to start swapping components even though I don't think it's any of those since they're all high-quality - I didn't cut any corners while building this.

Moral of the story on my end - NEVER again will I use Intel. I've had absolutely ZERO problems with AMD chips and motherboards. I know it shouldn't matter, but when my last two Intel builds give me problems like none other and EVERY AMD build I've done has worked perfectly.

The AMD computer I'm using as a server in the closet never fails. The AMD computer I occasionally use as a home theater PC always works when I turn it on. The AMD computer I'm typing this post on as my Intel computer runs Memtest always works. I just wanted to upgrade the video card and chip and that's probably what I should have done rather than building from the scratch. But now I've poured over $2,000 into this new computer - I'm past the point where I can just abandon it and go back to the old machine.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This is twice. Never again Intel. Never again for your CPUs, your chipsets, your motherboards, anything.

2007-06-09T11:23:00.000-07:00

Well, it probably didn't need to be done, but come next week, I'll have a spiffy new computer. Quad core, 8800 GTS video with 640 megs of RAM, 4 gigs of RAM, 680i motherboard, X-Fi audio, Killer NIC, raptors in mirrored RAID, P182 gunmetal case, lightscribe DVD writer, all the goodies. It'll be running a new copy of Windows Vista Ultimate, Office 2007, and Warcraft. That's about it. Oh yeah, I just bought a copy of Corel's Paint Shop Pro XI and I'll need Nero to burn DVDs. The interesting thing this time around is I'm not cannabalizing my old PC. I'm hoping to sell it to my brother's friends, and I'm hoping I can sell my laptop to my brother and that'll pay for about half of the new PC.

I'll put further details up later. I just couldn't pass up the deal at Fry's - they had a combo, Quad Core Intel with a crappy motherboard for $500. The chip alone is listed on Newegg at $532 plus shipping. So I'll sell the crappy motherboard on eBay and use the nice eVGA nForce 680i motherboard for the Quad core. And the 8800GTS video card will crush anything I throw at it. Should I need more crushing power, I can buy a second and put them in SLI or not and have 4 monitors. That's the next step...24" widescreen. They're about $550 and maybe I can finagle one for my birthday.

URL: Newegg.com - The place to buy.

2007-05-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Pictures:

Last 30 seconds:

Celebration:

2007-05-18T07:16:00.000-07:00

Just testing out PicasaWeb embed...

Also, watching SportsCenter last night, they didn't mention the ducks game until they were 23 minutes into the broadcast. So...it's the Western Conference finals - a round later than where the NBA is right now (which they led with) - and we can't get good coverage of the series? There's only one game to report on each night - give us five minutes at the top of the show. I don't need to know how the Phillies did in a meaningless baseball game. Show me the Western Conference Finals.

2007-05-17T21:20:00.000-07:00

What a game! 5-3 Ducks with an empty net goal in the last couple minutes (3-3 going into the 3rd period). No Pronger necessary. Pictures at URL below.

URL: Picasa Web Albums - Blake - Ducks vs. Detroit Red Wings

2007-05-03T22:36:00.000-07:00

Wow. What a game. Double overtime. Amazing hit. Awesome goal. Great win.

Ducks going to the western conference finals.

URL: Picasa Web Albums - Blake - Ducks vs. Vancouver Canucks

2007-04-12T07:16:00.000-07:00

Waaaaaah...

"I was looking for the puck, the ref was right there and he made a great call. Obviously the puck was free. You could see it on the replay. Perry and I just whacked away and it went in."

Backstrom thought the goal should have been disallowed.

"I watched the replay and I was sure it was under me and nobody saw the puck," he said. "Of course, you're going to get the puck out from a goalie if you slash at it with your sticks.

"That's a bad goal and we lose a game on that," added Backstrom, who stopped 32 shots.

Such a shame for a great rookie goalie to go out and cry about losing one game. He got demolished by his own player and was just lying on his back. If he wants to claim that he stopped it, well, it would have just been pure luck as he was out of the play. Penner came up, the puck was still free, and he put it into the back of the net.

A great hockey game, and one of what I hope will be many playoff wins this season. I've got tickets for Ducks home game 3 (next Thursday), but personally, I'm hoping it doesn't even get that far. Win tomorrow and then sweep the two in Minnesota. Go to the second round, and avoid playing any extra games with the crybaby Wild.

URL: ESPN.com - NHL - Penner's goal with 5:20 left gives Ducks 1-0 series lead

2007-04-11T07:03:00.000-07:00

So all the buzz in the past week has been about the new-fangled AppleTV. A nifty little device which you hook up to your TV and use to play any videos you have in your iTunes. For being simple and easy to use, the AppleTV gets the job done. It has a slick interface, is easy to setup - just plug and play, and it apparently streams videos very well over any sort of wireless connection.

However, I just don't get what all the buzz is about. Sure, all the Apple fan boys out there love anything Steve Jobs announces, but there's been products that do exactly what this device does on the market for years, and they have more features.

The two main complaints I've heard are that 1) it only plays videos and music loaded in your iTunes (a program I refuse to use) and 2) it doesn't play anything in true high-def (though there are rumors that it will be updated with a new firmware enabling this at a later date).

Currently, I have a D-Link MediaLounge (DSM520). You plug it into your TV via a myriad of cabling options (I use HDMI - I believe the AppleTV's best output option is composite cables - which it doesn't even give you - an added expense) and then you plug in your MediaLounge to your network or set it up to play wirelessly. Your MediaLounge will connect to any computer on your network that is setup as a media hub or you can run their software and pick and choose what directories you want to share. So, for example, I just pointed it to my video directory and my music directory (you can also browse pictures).

The menu system is easy to navigate on the MediaLounge and it uses HDMI to play video back in true HD. Using a standard for encoding videos, I have moved a lot of my TV shows on DVD over to my server and now, with the MediaLounge, I can instantly call up any episode at any time. Likewise, any movie I decide to put on my server can also be called up. Now, there are some downsides to the MediaLounge - you can't stop a video and resume later (you can pause it though). Browsing directories can be tedious, but using an intelligent naming structure, it's not the hardest thing in the world. But overall, I'm very impressed with the system and it does a great job of playing movies in HD over the network and onto my 60" TV.

The AppleTV on the other hand, not so much. From the reports that have been trickling out there, the playback of supposed "HD" movies and TV shows you can download from iTunes don't play back on HDTVs at the quality one would expect. Plus, again, you're limited to iTunes movies and music. With the MediaLounge, I can play almost any file format. WMV, AVI, DivX, XviD, MPEG, etc. And while Apple has recently embraced DRM free music, I've never been bound by any DRM and can easily play any MP3 I want over the MediaLounge.

But what really got me started on this rant is watching the TV commercial for the AppleTV last night. They show the movie "School of Rock" playing on an Apple computer and then on an iPod and then on the TV through the AppleTV. The commercial is pretty slick and it looks amazing on my HDTV. However, should you download School of Rock on iTunes, you're not going to get the same 1080i pristine video that I got through cable of the "School of Rock." Instead, you're going to get a compressed, blocky video via iTunes and your AppleTV. Truth in advertising sure would be nice.

Oh yeah, that 8 core Mac Pro looks sweet.

URL: Apple - Apple TV