there's a geek in us all... family edition

this holiday weekend i decided to head up to my parent's farm to spend some time with them and relaxing in the middle of nowhere. 

to my surprise, the first thing i notice in my parent's living room is a nice ole 40" Samsung LCD HDTV.  Bravo mom and dad!!  Most of my pals don't even own hdtvs but yet my retired, ex-farming parents do.

upgrade time! retooling of my setup, system, way of computing

a few posts back i had mentioned that i was contemplating a full system upgrade either by building a totally new desktop or by going the laptop route.  well, this week i finally made my decision.  choosing between mobility/convenience vs raw power and upgradability is a hard choice for me since i'd like to have all four things at once (which you really can't get in a desktop since well its a desktop and stuff). 

yup, a laptop would fit me the best right now.

however, after making my decision i realized that not only was i going to be getting a fast new laptop vs a desktop but i also was in turn going to be changing the way i computed, worked.

WES 2008 wrapup thoughts

well, WES 2008 came and now gone. or my first conference/convention it went very well. i wish i would have planned a bit more for it but nonetheless i got a ton of good blackberry info and met some very interesting vendors.

the introduction the blackberry bold was probably one of the highlights since i got to get my hands on before it hits the stores and retail sector. it is a VERY nice blackberry and again shows RIM's continued vision of its products and meeting the customer needs/desires. up until the pearl was released; blackberry's were pretty fugly.   they really did not need to be pretty since they did what they did very well and that was all that mattered initially.

ray kurzweil was very fun to listen to speak and gave me back my optimistic view on technology and humanity. perhaps technology will the unifying component that can bring the human species together. 2029 seems to be an amazing time era to be in since a ton of breakthrough events should be happening around then.

my BES certification went, well.. yea, i'll be retaking it lets just say. however, i half expected that since i have never installed a BES or was even involve in the implementation of the bes servers or got any training.

and finally, i realized how amazingly convenient and awesome having EVDO Rev A built into my Dell XT Tablet. i tried to use my Wifi but just got sick of the problems of trying to find a good hotspot or a strong signal whereas my sprint evdo modem got signal everywhere.

this weekend, i will be continuing on in my laptop vs desktop upgrade series. i think i have finally made a decision and will explain which route i plan to go (lets just say i won't be committing to either side quite yet).

its my first.... WES 2008

'i swear, your my first...'  ... computer/geek convention that i've attended mind you! :)  well, after a slightly delayed flight, uber long ride from the airport to my hotel, i finally made it to Orlando, FL; the site for WES 2008.

i hope to be blogging from WES this week from my (who would have thought) blackberry.

so far my early speculations were on the money (but then again, these were the 'given' speculations/rumors that we all knew were going to happen), RIM is releasing a new handheld over WES called the Bold.

Supposedly I'll get me a little hands-on on time hopefully tomorrow in the Solutions area; however i do not believe i will be able to snap any pics or videos in that area though.

i will also be tagging these next WES related posts in my WES2008 category to make referencing them a bit easier.

my blackberry app of the moment: viigo

as many of you may or may not be aware but next week WES2008 will kick off down in Orlando.  what is WES?  WES = Wireless Enterprise Symposium, basically its THE blackberry event of the year.  i will be attending the conference/convention this year and hopefully will be posting updates from the event. 

so, what is this viigo appliation?  basically its an RSS reader for your blackberry.  however, viigo offers several deeper features such as partnering with CTIA and WES to let you view your conference/convetion schedule; allows one to import ones own Bloglines, Google Reader, or My Yahoo! links. 

rethinking of my computing setup...

i am a desktop user.  period.  ... or am i?

i started my computing history of course with desktops since well they were more accessible than the early portables (ie uber crazy prices for the times for the early laptops).  the apple IIe to the powerpc to a packard-bell 75mhz to my first computer/laptop toshiba 133mhz.  i then built my first desktop system, an AMD Slot A, 900mhz Athlon and about 20+ more systems.

anywho, davak's recent blogs about helping his dad find a new computer has me really rethinking my setup.  currently i run a rather older (well imo older, Athlon 64 x2 cpu, socket 939; 2gb ddr1, 1.5+TBs of space) desktop which really needs to be updated if not replaced all together.  i also have an even older Athlon 64 htpc setup that just sits and collects dust but yet would not be worth even trying to sell. 

so what do i do? 

davak posted a nice follow up on this, desktop vs laptop, which really got me thinking.

i know that if i go with a more powerful laptop i won't just toss my current desktop setup in the trash or sell it for pennies on ebay.  as a computer user, i've definetely come of age recently ie am 'starting to get old', hehe or so it seems.  work has become a bit more demanding and having a more portable solutions seems more viable.  however when i am at home though i do want to still be able to do the more powerful things i do normally with my desktop such as rendering 720p video i've created or just sd video rendering or basic web server/file server features. 

also as a side note, i saw the best buy deal this last weekend for a toshiba a205-s5825 laptop for a mere $450 and got one and am so far pretty impressed with it for the price.  so the price of a decent new laptop (non mac one that is) is within the 1000us dollars range, imo.  a decent desktop would prob cost me around the same price if i built new from scratch and did not reuse parts (which i prob would not).  yes, the desktop would by default be more powerful but i really do not plan to game on my pc. my main uses these days are hd content, video, music, productivity (office), photoshop, web work.

so.. what do i do?  hmmm... to be continued....

GTA IV quick take.. (ps3)

well, i'll admit it.  i really never got into GTA III prior to GTA IV's release. it may have been due to the fact that i passed that generation of console gaming for pc gaming (ah..  imo, kind of the glory days of pc gaming thus far; tons of good games and the fact that your hardware outpaced game requirements was nice on the pocket book too!). 

i really wasn't sure what to expect with GTA IV on my Playstation3 ; i had played GTA III a few times at my pals and on my psp but i never for more than 20 minutes.  GTA IV's hype was pretty huge especially with the release of the first batch of reviews giving it mainly 10/10, perfects.  so my impressions are not of a GTA vetern but of a newb after 3 hours of gameplay (not watching others play, hehe).

First things first, the intro is very well done.  gives you a movie feel and warms you up to getting down and dirty. ;)

GTA IV... did you preorder?

i did and hope to get my copy after i get off today!  like most know, i will be getting it for my Playstation3 today.  almost every pal i have that has a PS3 is getting it too so i hope to partake in some multi-player goodness (given its up and not having problems like earlier today).

also, rumor has it that GTAIV could possibly blow Halo3's sales numbers out of the water.  network tv and the movie industry; are you scared yet?   corp america; are you ready for the volume of 'sick' IT/geeks on wednesday? :)

BD-Live, a real-life demo on my PS3

as most PS3 owners are well aware, the second to last firmware update, v2.20, brought BD-Live to the Playstation3.

what is BD-Live you ask? BD-Live, also known as Blu-ray Disc Profile 2.0, allows compliant players to go online and retreive info/trailers about the movie.  During the heat of the nextgen format wars, HD-DVD used this feature as a selling point of HD-DVD however the Blu-ray camp later added the functionality w/the release of the 2.0 Bluray Disc Profile.

lets take a look at my Sixth Day Blu-ray disc and BD-Live in action on my Playstation3.

Fixing my Rock Band whammy bar (PS3)

well, its been a bit too long since i've last posted and i apologize for the lack of updates/posts/ranting/fanboyism. :)

a few weeks back, i was hosting a mini Rock Band jamfest/party and had the whammy bar on one of my Rock Band guitars break.  it was still useable but would not reset back to the original spot.

so, being the DIYer i am, i decided this last weekend that i would fix it myself and thus avoid having to wait who-knows-how-long to get back my guitar from Harmonix.  here is a basic guide on what you need to do (its not very scary or hard, only requires a screw driver and some macgyver skills). Keep reading to see the details.

geek gore: my PS3 and its guts

what can i say. i was 'that kid' growing up that loved to get new toys (but who didn't, right?) but the next day would then take them apart and most likely never got it back together and working.

well, my warranty on my Playstation3 finally expired on 3/26/08 and in turn i decided to celebrate my one year anniversary by taking my PS3 apart. :)

as previously blogged/youtubed/bit#$ed about; my playstation3 seemed to have an overheating problem (even though i can't say it was overheating).  i've moved where i've been placing my PS3 several times now and its current spot is a wide open area by my wii and tv (not enclosed, free flowing air abounds). however i still had problems after leaving it on for more than 20 hours.  i've read a ton of posts by other PS3 owners who have been able to run their PS3 for weeks on end w/o any freezing/overheating issues.  so, i thought i'd see if perhaps i could figure out what was causing mine to act all weird after 20+ hours of being on.

keep reading to hear about the dis-assemble and see the geek-gore pics...

Spot a fake: how to tell if your SDHC card is genuine

we've all seen the auctions/'deals' on SDHC cards.  16GB class 6 no-name, generic for $30, etc.  however more and more often we are seeing name brand memory being knocked off on ebay.

most memory formats have a standard and in turn a standard way of identifying the card is what it says it is (with either logos or specs). 

today, i'll just explain how to spot a fake SDHC card, perhaps not a fake but a non-certified SDHC card (and most likely one that will prob not work as claimed either; speed / capapcity-wise).

 the SD Card Assocation (yes, there is an association for sd cards.. hehe) states that in order for  a card to be certified by them as a true SDHC card, it must have both an SDHC card logo and also the class speed logo ( http://www.sdcard.org/home ).

so there ya go, hope that helps ya spot that knockoff sdhc card or even fake namebrand one.

PS3 firmware v2.20 update out in the wild!

downloading as i type.. hehe..

supposed changes/additions to the 2.20 update (from sony's site):

Copying "Playlist" in (Music) and (Photo) to the PSP® portable entertainment system is available
 

Provides support for BD Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) for Blu-ray Disc^TM
 

Resume play* can now be used on a Blu-ray Disc or DVD even if the PLAYSTATION 3 has been turned off or the disc has been ejected.  However, there are some discs on which resume play cannot be used.

* A feature for starting playback from the scene where the video was stopped previously.
 

DivX content that exceeds 2GB can now be played.  Also, subtitles can now be displayed for DivX content.

My eeExperience (video)

as promised in my previous post, here is a somewhat longer video of me and my eee...  my eeExperience....

i have  an Asus 4G Eee PC with 2GB DDR2, 16GB SDHC class 6 running my customized XP Prof lite version (fat32 fs, temp hacks to sdhc card, apps running off of sdhc).

hit the jump to see the embedded youtube vid.

portable geek goodness: me and my Eee

well, i am just gonna come out and say it: i love my eee! 

why you ask? well, let see....

i can be up and going in less than 30secs; no, not at my login screen but up and ie open and reading my rss feeds.. :)

i can watch my tv/dvds anywhere using either available wifi or my phones edge data connection and bt dongle (laggy but still works) and my sony locationfree setup (eee can handle video streaming pretty well)...

i can fire up IE and head over to netflix.com and stream a movie...

i can run most programs off a 16GB SDHC card w/little lag..

i can run windows xp lite w/o a page file and boot faster than most $2k desktop systems from off to desktop... or blow their doors off running the custom Linux OS.

i can podcast from anywhere w/the builtin webcam and windows movie maker...

i can do anything the other computers can do but faster and cheaper...

can you?  :)