I got a hammock...

So, I still can't help but feel this is the wrong season to get a hammock.  I don't see myself setting it up for camping purposes in a little while, but I think it will be nice once the summer rolls around again.  I also have a hanging kit for it that can help get it up between two trees without tying any knots or anything.

So, now all I need is a nice summer-like day to put it up and spend some time relaxing between a couple of trees.

In other news, I've determined that getting a "Not-a-Snuggie" blanket with sleeves on it was a good idea.  The weather is getting colder, and it's really nice to have a warm blanket with sleeves to keep the cold away.  Jaani and I have been laying on the couch watching TV today, and the it just seems like as much as the heater runs, it just doesn't warm up very much in here.

Oh, on a note that isn't about me... apparently Eric is on a small island along the coast of Belize, where he had a front row seat to hurricane Richard (which is now a tropical depression.)  I am not sure what ended up happening because I haven't seen Eric online today, but he said the weather was pretty crazy the other day.  I'll get back to the updates about Eric as soon as I hear more, but I'm sure he will be fine.

anyway, that's all for now.

Later,

     SteveO

Getting my workstation back into place...

So, Eric went on his trip to Central America, which you can follow on his blog, and that means I get my office back.  So, I know what you're thinking... you're thinking "Hey Steve, isn't that a Windows computer on the left?"  Well, yea, it is... but I have an excuse!  You see, I took it out from the bowels of the black hole I call a closet so I could help a friend of mine test his software (which only runs in... or rather he only wants to provide support for Windows...) So, yea, I have a Windows PC hanging around... Actually, behind the laptop and netbook on the right, I have 4 more Windows PCs that I am currently working on for somebody...  So, Microsoft has managed to infiltrate my home... kinda.

That being said, I am happy to say that between my desktop, 2 laptops, netbook, cell phone, ipod, and Internet Tablet (all present in the picture) only one device runs an OS that is not deeply rooted in Unix.  (that being the Windows laptop...)

Soon, I'll actually make things a little more interesting when I put Android on my Ipod Touch, but that will come later.

Anyway, so, I've got a little more to get done as far as setting my workstation up.  I still have to wire the network for that room, because even though my computers all have wireless adapters in them, the computers I'm working on don't.  Which means I need to bridge my wireless network to make a local network for the repair portion of the work area.  I also need to work on my electronics area, and I think I will need to get another table for all that stuff.  Well... I'm sure I'll come up with something interesting.

So, to say the least, I have a few things on my mind while I'm working on this, but with a little luck, I'll be up and running some time tomorrow before noon;  However, for the rest of the night, I have some updates that need to be run on that Windows PC, and my netbook is still running Ubuntu 10.04... so I'll have to update that to 10.10 tonight (which could take a couple hours because the network is currently running a little slow in this end of the house.

Oh yea, in other news, I also ordered my last dual band WiFi N adapter, which means that this is the weekend I make the switch from 2.4Ghz 802.11G networking to 5Ghz 802.11N networking... that will get me less interference from my neighbors' networks, a stronger signal in my office, and 300Mbps WiFi (rather than a mere 54Mbps...)

So, that's my plan.  I hope yours is just as exciting.

Later,

     SteveO

One hell of a burger!

So, I stopped by the Lunch box Laboratory today in Ballard... oh boy, that was good food, but I don't think I'll need to eat again for a week.

The beautiful burger you are looking at there is the hothead. It's 1/2lb of super beef (prime rib, sirloin, and chuck beef), 1/2lb bacon, pepper jack cheese, and jalapeño ranch sauce. I got it with garlic fries and a chocolate covered strawberry shake.

I'll tell you, I've never had a burger quite like this. It cost me $21! I know, it sounds crazy, but they are only open for four hours a day, and they closed 2 hours early today because they sold out. When you get there, you have to wait in line, but once you order, they are quick to get your food out. Every day, 300 people have a chance to enjoy one of their sandwiches, and if you don't see one on the menu that has what you want, then you can make your own... just choose your meat (lamb, chicken, or beef), choose your toppings (and there are a ton), then if you want a side (which they have quite a few of those too) and a drink... if you want more than just water.

Normally, I wouldn't write about a stupid sandwich, but this one is really special. If you visit Seattle, it is something you need to try.

Anyway... I just had to share that.

Later,

SteveO

New Roku Player!

Roku XD|S (Left) and Original Roku Player (right)

So, in anticipation of Hulu Plus on Roku, I've gone ahead and purchased the latest and greatest Roku XD|S Player.  So, what is the difference?  Well, aside from the size and 3 extra buttons on the remote; it's capable of 1080p playback, supports 802.11N WiFi, and it has a USB port for music and video playback (with a firmware update coming in November 2010).  One other change they made was the removal of S-Video and Component plugs on the back, but apparently they have a component video adapter that is sold separately.

Besides, I found someone who is interested in purchasing my old one, so... why not?

If you didn't already know, I love my Roku Player, which is the best way to watch Netflix on your TV.  In addition to Netflix it has the ability to stream video from many independent video sources.  My favorites are YouTube, Revision 3, and Mediafly (which is an online podcast service... so you can basically create your own channels by combining podcasts you like.)  It also supports Amazon Video on Demand, but I really don't like paying per video.  I guess the content isn't really worth that much to me.  Besides, when I can watch unlimited Netflix for $21 (which also includes 3 DVD/Blu-Ray discs at a time)... and if Hulu Plus stacks up to be worth it's $10 monthly fee, then I'll be happy as can be.  And, I can get rid of my Cable bill... which I pay $10 a month for just to get HD...  Plus the Basic cable fee...

Anyway, I'm excited to really put this thing to the test.  I'll be running some side by side comparisons on my dual (1080p 24inch) PC monitors, which might be a waste of time, but I want to try it anyway!

The one thing that I am a little disappointed with though... no DLNA (Digital Living Network Alliance) support :(  For those of you don't know about DLNA, it's this standard which is pretty much being implemented by everything form your Network Attached Storage devices and home routers to gaming consoles and mobile phones... It lest you stream Video from one device to another.  The best part is that your computer already does it.  It doesn't matter if you use Windows or Linux or Mac.  I even have a router with a USB port for attaching a USB hard drive, and the router will stream video via DLNA to my Xbox or Cell Phone.  If Roku added DLNA support, I would have no complaints about the device.  My fingers are crossed that the November update will include DLNA support, but I haven't ready anything from Roku to confirmed that.

Until I really play with the devices a bit more, I'll leave you with this slideshow:


So, until I have more to say on this...

Later,

     SteveO

It Rose from the Grave!

 So, I guess the question you may be asking yourself is... who cares about this picture?  Well, it was exciting for me to take this particular picture because I took it with my Cannon... which was recently pronounced "dead" until further notice.  Well, so what happened?  I'll tell you, I decided to take a pair of pliers and rotated the lens (counter-clockwise.)

I guess the funniest part is that I went online, and I was reading all sorts of blog posts about the lens errors that cameras come up with, and I found out that manufacturers never cover lens errors.  They are almost always caused by either sand/dirt getting caught in the lens mechanism, or they are caused by the camera turning on while something is blocking the lens from extending.  In either case, costs a bit of money to deal with it.  So, after going to a number of blog posts, and reading the same instructions over and over... I decided to just see what would happen if I took out a large pair of pliers and rotated the lens a little.  At first, I kept trying to rotate clockwise, which pushes the lens in, but then I rotated a little bit counter-clockwise and heard a click... actually it was more like a snap, which I thought had broken the camera for sure!  Well, then I turned it on, and it worked!

Anyway, it was good news on an otherwise not-so-good day.

This might lead you to wonder what all that crap in the picture is.  Well, among the seven USB memory sticks there is a Muvo (2GB MP3 player), Bluetooth Adapter, WiFi A/B/G/N adapter, microSD to USB adapter, microSD to SD adapter, microSD to miniSD adapter, and my HTC Droid Incredible.  I guess there is also a SD card case and a clear case from my Ipod Touch that I store all of this stuff in (except the phone.)  I guess I just have way too many USB stick shaped devices.

Anyway... So on one final note.  What I had hoped would be the end of my annual job searching cycle didn't work out.  Which means that I am back on track for my annual contract cycle.  I had hoped to stay at one job for a few years, but it looks like that might not be happening yet.  So, worst case scenario, I can just go back to my usual client for the next year, but I'll keep you all posted on any more interesting developments.

So, that's all for now.

Later,
     SteveO

More about that phone I got... Apps edition.

This is the Web view of my history with Cardio Trainer

So, I've been playing with all sorts of apps today.  I must have downloaded a couple dozen games, and a few random apps that I didn't even think I would want.  So after scouring the Internet for blog posts and articles about the best ten apps, I have come up with a short list of apps that I am kinda impressed with.

The list is in no particular order... I just put them all in what ever order I wanted.

Cardio Trainer
by WorkSmart Labs

So, the idea of this app is to do a number of things: it tracks your path, gives you a running total of all your workouts, has leaderboards (to compare yourself with others - a meta-game if you will,) you can export your workouts to KML files (for use in Google Earth or Maps,)  and it tracks where you stop while working out.  So, in the picture above you can see the path I walk Jaani on the most often around the apartment complex.  I guess the reason I like this app more than something like My Tracks (which records your track and general statistics like speed and an elevation graph, then uploads it to Google Maps automatically), is because it tracks all your workouts and gives you a summary page to view everything, it tracks when/where you pause your workout,  and it displays an estimate for calories burned during your workout.  There are also two paid ($2.99 each) features that come with free 7 day trials: Race Yourself, and Weight Loss Trainer.  I haven't gotten a chance to play with those yet, but I'm pretty sure once the weather really starts to get nice, I'll want to take advantage of those too!  (I'll tell you about it when it happens... I'll also tell you if I think they are worth $3.)

Meebo
by Meebo, Inc.

Meebo is awesome.  Here is what you do: Go to Meebo.com and create a free account; then use that account to log into your AOL, MSN, Yahoo, Google, Facebook, MySpace, ... accounts; finally log into your Meebo account via the Meebo app for Android.  Why would you have your Meebo account log into all of them rather than add each individual account via your handset?  Well, because then your handset has to do all the heavy lifting of logging into the accounts, but when your Meebo account does it, I noticed a very clear performance increase.

Prey Phone Tracker
by Fork Ltd.

Prey Phone Tracker is a good solution for those people who don't use Google Latitude (because Latitude updates your phone's position every 5 minutes.)  Prey Phone Tracker only updates your position when it is turned on via text message, or the online web interface.  When your code word is sent to the phone, Prey immediately sounds an alarm for 30 seconds on your phone (in case you misplaced it somewhere nearby,) then it emails you a report every 5 minutes.  One problem though, on the Incredible, it only works once, then you have to manually stop the app and restart it (I use Free Advanced Task Manager for that... also a killer app I'll talk about some other time.)  The other issue is that when it sends you an email reporting the location of your phone, you phone displays a message with the subject "Sorry you lost your phone."  Which is a dead giveaway to a potential thief that you are tracking them.  I resolved this issue by creating a filter on my gmail account that takes all messages from Prey, applies a label to them, and then archives them in my gmail account (which prevents the phone from giving a notification that you got the message.)  The last thing you need to do is make sure that enable the unlock pattern (Settings -> Security -> Require patter should be checked.)

A quick side note about Google Latitude.  Latitude is designed to be a social app that gives you notifications when another person using Latitude is near by; it isn't intended to be a phone recovery tool, but it has gotten the job done in the past when people forget their phone somewhere.

GPS Status
by EclipSim

This is a neat little app that primarily functions as a compass and general utility to find out what GPS satellites you have reception from.  It also gives you your current Latitude, Longitude, Altitude, and Speed.  I guess it doesn't do a whole lot, but sometimes it's fun to know that kind of stuff.

FoxyRing: Smart Ringtone
by LevelUp Studio

So, this app allows you to set a "sleeping time" when only a small list of emergency contacts will trigger your phone to ring, disable your ringer by current location (so it doesn't ring at school or a movie theater, or you can set it to disable your ringer for a specified length of time.  It's kinda neat in that if you are like me, not allowed to take out a camera phone at work, so my phone just wouldn't ring when I'm at work.  It's also good for stoping those pesky people in the Eastern Time zone that call me at 4AM... because they forgot 7AM there is sleepy time here.

Google Goggles
by Google Inc.

This is a really good app too.  It doubles as a general purpose stuff finder and a bar code reader all in one.  If you take a picture of something like a restaurant sign or corporate logo, it will find a website or listing related to the sign.  It will also recognize business cards, and ask you if you want to add the contact information to your address book in your phone.  It works with a variety of things, but I've found that taking pictures of random stuff doesn't really work so well.  It will work for things like books, CD/DVD cases, and many famous landmarks, but your tickle me elmo will leave it stumped (Yea, I found an Elmo to take a picture of.  I also found that if you take a picture of your Bank's Logo, the picture is stored on your phone, so you can search for it later when you're walking around town, and it will tell you where the nearest branch is, but I think it's easier just to go to Google's main site on your phone, and click on "Near Me Now."




One last note on Google's web apps.  For those of you who don't know yet, most of Google's services like Gmail, Buzz, Calendar, Docs, Reader, Books, Tasks, and Fast Flip (News); actually work better in the browser than a native app.  With the one exception that you can't have your phone notify you without receiving an email or text message or something like that.


So that's about it.  There are so many cool apps that it's really hard to pick a few and stoop myself from going on and on about this stuff, plus I'm starting to think I might want to move App reviews to the Frizzlefry Tech blog anyway.  So, that's it for now.


Later,


     SteveO

Cannon Powershot broken... oops... And I got an HTC Incredible!

So, I was so excited about my new phone that I wanted to take a picture of it, but then I got a shock.  My totally awesome Cannon PowerShot is broken! Well, not permanently, but for the time being I'll just have to let it sit until I can pay to fix it. I guess what happened was I must have hit the power button while it was in the case... which is apparently a common problem with this camera.  You see, this particular model has a higher zoom than the standard powershot, and it turns out that because of the mechanics the motor has too much torque for the sensor that tells the camera to stop moving the lense.  So, it knocked the lens off the track;  The worst part is that this particular issue is very common, but not covered by the warranty.  So, I'll either have to actually pay money to get it fixed, or learn more about how these things are built so I can fix it myself.  I don't know which will become a viable option first.

Anyway... the phone!

I took this photo with one of my webcams... you may also notice I used a
solar powered light from Ikea to improve the light quality...

So I recently obtained a Droid Incredible (as a birthday gift!  Thanks Mom!), and now that I've had enough time to use everything that came with the phone and push all the buttons, I want to say a little bit about it.  I'm pretty much just going to talk about the turn by turn GPS, speech to text, and text to speech.

Before I had my Droid, I had a Nokia N770 and an Ipod Touch.  Both of my previous devices were great!  The Nokia was a quick Linux based device, however the capacitive touch screen severely limited it's awesomeness.  The Ipod touch is frustratingly closed and locked down to what Steve Jobs felt I should be able to do with my device.

The Droid offers a good combination of the two with it's capacitive touch screen (Ipod), faster speed (N770), and open infrastructure (N770);  In case you didn't catch that, I just made the claim that a device manufactured in 2002 is faster than the Ipod/Iphone.  In addition to that, the Droid is an actual Cell phone, has GPS, and has a complete and rapidly growing default software repository.  I don't really want to talk too much about the whole data plan thing, because neither of my other devices could allow Internet access from anywhere, although for a short time I could use my Nokia to connect to the Internet through my phone via Bluetooth, but that was only at dial-up speeds and before Verizon started offering Data plans.

The first thing I wanted to play with was this new turn by turn navigation feature (I am just fascinated with GPS stuff.)  So, I got in my car and went to type my destination... then I stopped, and remembered I could just say "Jet City Espresso" and the speech to text function built into the keyboard knew what I said... I then pushed the go button, and it listed the Google Search results... the top one happened to by the destination I was looking for.  So, I started driving, and I didn't really know what to expect.  Then, my phone started telling me where to go!  It was awesome!   Then I wanted to know what happened when I went the wrong way, and it was pretty quick to pick up and adjust the directions.  Speaking of how it tracks you, I noticed it seems to use prediction to guess where you will be, and updates your real position every 5 seconds or so.  I noticed that because when I stopped at an intersection the arrow showing my car's position kept going, then corrected it's position a couple seconds later.

Anyway... so, the Speech to text keyboard rocks for text messages... buzz... email... translating to a variety of languages that use the English character sets out of the box... while other languages that use Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Indian character sets are available with an additional package.  The Text to Speech functionality works pretty well for a few languages as well, which could come in useful next time I need to talk to a Mexican resident that doesn't speak English... or if I go to Europe.

I have a ton of other stuff to talk about soon, I already put a giant wall of text on here, so until next time.

Later,

     SteveO