Random Stuff: Band of the week

Lets see... I think I have about... no readers, but I still continue to publish posts at random times when I get bored. So let's start a Music Section. I'll start listing a band of the week, just to give me something to do in my spare time. This weeks winner is: Nirvana. Now I'm sure you've all heard of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, various random people over the years) Unfortunately they disbanded (no pun intended... well maybe a bit) because... eh, look it up yourself on Wikipedia, the greatest online resource known to man. Anyway, here's to Nirvana, my band of the week.

Broadcom Wireless Cards: Revisited

I mentioned before that my broadcom wireless card was malfunctioning with Vista: well it looks like I finally fixed it for good. It had been coming on and disappearing, yes, disappearing completely, from my computer. But I finally found something that seemed to work. First, I used the Device Manager to disable the Afterburner thingy, then I set the AP something-or-other mode to 'broader compatibility' instead of 'higher performance.' Then I uninstalled the card and reinstalled it using the setup files I found here (which must be unpacked first, and then installed from the SwSetup folder where they automatically get extracted to.) I'm not sure whether the disabling or the re-install did the trick, or both, but it works every single time I come out of sleep mode. I have yet to test it on a restart :/
So if you have the same vista/broadcom problem as I did, or think you do, just comment or ask. If this works for you, let me know as well!

Update: I have the Broadcom Wireless 802.11 b/g even though this installer is for 802.11 i, but try it anyway, it worked for me!

Another Update: Nope, after a restart, this didn't work after all. But it might just work for you, if not, bicker about it to HP and hopefully they'll help. I may just have to do that.

Alpha/Omega

This is why the internet is a great thing... and the end of a lot of people's careers.

"Dayamati commented about 1 hour ago:

'It looks as though McCain gets most of his information from the American media. No wonder he's so bloody misinformed. Mind you, the current occupant of the White House seems to get most of his information from comic books read to him by Dick Cheney.'"

-on these videos: The Real McCain

Hulu

There's a new internet video service out: Hulu.
Hulu is great because you can watch full episodes of shows, legally. Granted, there aren't that many now, but I think this particular service will thrive. So check it out at Hulu.com

Family Guy > Episode 100 > Stewie Kills Lois

One of my favorites: Family Guy, Episode 100: Steiwe Kills Lois, courtesy of Hulu.com

Back now... damned HP.

It's been a while since my last post, but how many of you read this or know that, I don't know. Anyway, just wanted to say, my wireless card has been failing repeatedly. It's a broadcom in a Compaq Presario. My advice: since this problem is apparently very widespread in HP and Compaq laptops, get something worthwhile or get a card for the express slot.

Favorite Quotes > Random

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
- Albert Einstein

I understand the inventor of the bagpipes was inspired when he saw a man carrying an indignant, asthmatic pig under his arm. Unfortunately, the manmade sound never equalled the purity of the sound achieved by the pig.
- Alfred Hitchcock

This paperback is very interesting, but I find it will never replace a hardcover book -- it makes a very poor doorstop.
- Alfred Hitchcock

Happiness is not an ideal of reason, but of imagination.
- Immanuel Kant

All authority is quite degrading.
- Oscar Wilde

When good Americans die they go to Paris. When bad Americans die they go to America.
- Oscar Wilde

It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
- George Washington

The point is that you can't be too greedy.
-Donald Trump

I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance.
- Socrates

Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.
- Socrates

Facts are stupid things.
- Ronald Reagan

Favorite Quotes > Churchill

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.
- Sir Winston Churchill

I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.
- Sir Winston Churchill

Favorite Quotes > Aristotle

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
- Aristotle

To perceive is to suffer.
- Aristotle

Liars when they speak the truth are not believed.
- Aristotle

We make war that we may live in peace.
- Aristotle

Evil draws men together.
- Aristotle

Favorite Quotes > Hitler

The greater the lie, the greater the chance that it will be believed.
- Adolf Hitler

How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.
- Adolf Hitler

The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.
- Adolf Hitler

Reviews > Apps > VistaGlazz

VistaGlazz is a very neat little program that patches the windows vista theme files to allow unsigned themes to be applied. These can e found all over, such as at WinCustomize, and are neat if you're bored with aero glass. VistaGlazz is available from C|Net's Download.com for free.

Yesterday was my birthday, and I decided to try out Digsby, an all-In-One IM client. What's great about it is that it incorporates everything- Email, Social Networks, IM, even sending SMS messages to phones. It's amazingly customizable, and even lets you make widgets to put in a blog post...like this!

Reviews > Gadgets > Sansa

I recently got a new Sansa, from Sandisk, and I have to say, it's a very viable competitor to the iPod. It has a physical click wheel, like the g1 iPods, but less imposing. That glows blue, and the screen is made of a fairly scratch resistant surface, with a liquid-metal back that is almost impossible to scratch, but shows fingerprints surprisingly strongly. Very good quality, with fm radio/voice recording, as well as support for playlists and expansion (microSD.) The v1's are hackable, but the v2's have yet to be opened for rockbox or h3mod. Available in 2, 4, 6, or 8 gig.

My Birthday/ Canon S5

So, my birthday is on Saturday, and my dad gave me my present a week early: a brand-new Canon S5. If you haven't seen these guys yet yet, they're pretty sweet. 8 megapixels, a rotaing viewscreen, a multitude of on-camera features, movie recording, and SD Cards for memory. Oh yeah. So I'm trying it out and loving it. It's a pretty top-of-the-line consumer camera, for half the price of 'proffesional' cameras that are only a couple mp more, which at this size almost doesnt matter, unless you're doing a movie poster. It's a great camera, guys- check it out.

Reviews > Movies > Into the Wild

Into the Wild is a movie about Christopher McCandless, a young guy whose family is upper class, well off; but he wants something else. He donates his 24k dollars of Harvard money from his savings, all of it, to Oxfam, and then leaves his life to travel cross country towards his dream of living for a while alone in Alaska. On his way, he meets some strange characters, and has some wild times. Once he reaches alaska, he finds an abandoned bus which he nicknames "the magic bus" and lives in it, using it as a home base. He hunts and fishes, sometimes unsuccessfully, but once he decides to return to civilization, he can't cross the river to get back, so he stays...but after 100 days, his food is dwindling, and he eats some poisonous plants by accident and slowly starts to die. His body is found, months afterwards, along with is diaries and the incredible story of his journey, and everything he endured.

Reviews > Music > Even Flow

'Even Flow', written in 1992, is a song by Pearl Jam, and was a single featured on their debut album, 'Ten.' It was also put on their Greatest Hits album, but as a different version, and the second one doesn't sound quite right...anyway, it's a great song, and is featured on the Guitar Hero 3 tracklist as well. It is available from the iTunes store, as well as some other places.

Faceoff: GIMP vs. Photoshop CS3

And now a post I actuallly wrote in the past week...

Well, both GIMP and PS have basically the same features, but what's the difference? Well, for one, GIMP is free, open-source, and (for me at least) much easier to navigate and use. Photoshop is sill a more professional tool, with more technical terms and menus than GIMP, not to mention that price tag. I recommend GIMP, simply because the layout is more basic, but with some comfortable familiarity for Photoshop users, such as layout. The menus are different to navigate, and are actually less relient on sub-menus and more on visual and obvious tools. What do you think? Go ahead and tell us!

A little tidying up...

In case anyone ever wonders why I have so many posts on April 9th and not other days, it's because I'm trying to port my favorite posts over from my Windows Live Space ( they're a nice idea, but don't work as well as they need to.) I have had trouble with the blogging, because it triples my posts and now it won't stop doing that. 3 comments saying 'nice work' on 3 posts each a page long...not working. So from now on...Google all the way.

Reviews > Apps > PortableApps

This review is none other than: PortableApps. PortabbleApps is essentially a free, open-source version of U3- 'smart usb drives.' It's very handy because it allows you to put a small program on your flash drive (usb stick) so that you can download the portable versions of apps and run them form any windows computer. it's nice because it leaves no files on the host system, just on your flash drive. You can also use it to try programs you don't necessarily want to have on your home pc, but be aware, you have to have the prtable version of the program, available at PortableApps via sourceforge.

Reviews > Apps > Firefox

So, for today's app review, I choose Firefox... even though I pretty much said everything in Firefox vs. IE, I want to revisit it. I know I've ranted and raved about it before, but I really want everyone to get it, so, here it is. It has extensions, add-ons, plug-ins, themes (skins), and so many more features. With nearly infinite possibilities, it's the best browser all-around. Firefox 2.0.0.13 is the current version, or you can get the Firefox 3 betas, the most recent of which (beta 5) is almost totally stable, but does not have support for all add-ons that Firefox 2 does (make sure you get the correct language version though- it comes in over 40 languages!) And did I mention the download manager? It's a built-in accelerator and with my crappy slow internet, I was getting 60 kbps on average. The look has been revised for Firefox 3, too, which is scheduled to launch sometime in June or July, I think. If you don't believe me, try it out for yourself, and you'll love it from the first.

Reviews > Apps > GIMP

Ok, so I've mentioned the GIMP before, but I wanted to do little review/download thing here, so...
Why? you may ask...well...it's almost exactly like Photoshop CS3, but totally free and open-source, so new versions are released for free. It can do everything Photoshop can, including prespectives, dodge/burn, etc. Here's the download link: Download GIMP (courtesy of CNet)

Reviews > Movies > Duplex

Duplex. Boy, oh boy. Ben Stiller as an unpopular writer who gets his "dream home" only to find out that it's a duplex and that a crazy old lady lives upstairs. She (the old lady) is incredibly annoying, and always has loud movies on, and music, and generally wears out Ben Stiller's character and his wife. Eventually, they start trying to actually kill the old woman (it's a comedy, though, so don't worry.) They even hire an assassin to knock her off. Eventually, they get their happy ending, but not the way you might think. Goo ahead and watch it (if you haven't yet) if you want to see what happens. My rating: 4 stars. Alright Duplex!

Reviews > Apps > Comodo Firewall Pro

Whew. Over a week since the last blog...and I finally got Windows Live to allow my space to be public. For people who already tried to visit...sorry 'bout that. For everyone else...enjoy the riches. So, I wanna do a new section: The Download of the Week. I like to check on CNet, but...it can kind of drag when you get bogged down, and new discoveries or old favorites are sometimes hard to dig up (not to discredit Download central.) But I thought I'd choose my personal top pick of the week, which (thanks to the lack of file hosting on Spaces ,) I'm going to be redirecting you to CNet's Download.com for. So: for this week, the winner is: Comodo Firewall Pro, which, although "Pro" is totally free, and, thought the little warning boxes that pop up are a bit trying, they lessen after a while, and can be turned off. CFP also includes a "Defense +," which is a low-end virus/malware scanner and protector, but still does a good job. All in all a very good product...4 stars, Comodo!

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Now playing: Matchbook Romance - Monsters
via FoxyTunes

Faceoff: Firefox vs. Internet Explorer

I have people tell me all the time that Internet Explorer is better than Firefox, but here's the truth: IE, compared to Firefox, sucks. Period. There's no doubt about it, Firefox is the all time champ. It's free, open-source, and oh-so-customizable that IE decided to rip it off! Tabbed browsing? Firefox first (ok so Netscape had it first, but Netscape was also Mozilla-essentially Firefox before it became Firefox.) Extensions? (They're called add-ons in IE, but still...) Firefox first! Themes? Well...this one is hardly fair since IE doesn't even have themes and skins yet. But most likely, they will, after the style of Firefox once again. Firefox even supports opening a tab with an IE emulator for content that is IE only. And it can view content that has to be specially formatted for IE (Microsoft's fault again.) aAnd if all this isn't enough...you just gotta try it out fo yourself. Download the most recent version of Firefox here, or get the the new beta (not as stable, but almost perfect) right here (just make sure you download the right language version- there are over 40 supported!)

Reviews > Movies > I Am Legend

I Am Legend...where to start? This has to be one of the most amazing movies I've seen in a while. With fantastic effects, a brilliant storyline, and fast-paced action combined with smooth character development, all I can say is...wow. The film is mainly about Dr. Robert Neville, a lone man who is one of the only survivors of a horrible cure-gone-wrong which killed or zombiefied nearly all the world's population. He is somehow immune to the virus and tries to test different cures based off his own blood. None of them seem to work, and he is at his breaking point when suddenly hope for the future shines forth. What happens next? Don't ask me, watch it for yourself. My rating:

Social Networking Sites

I don't know about you guys out there, but I'm getting kind of tired of social networking sites. Myspace is starting to just plain suck, and Facebook is getting pretty boring (the apps are lame, you gotta spam your friends with invites, and nothing really happens-even less goes on there than on myspace.) I don't like social networking sites much anymore, but I have to talk a bit about the ones I do like. These aren't really networking sites, but you can add people you know and you can have some fun with it too. First, Stumbleupon. Stumbleupon lets you mark categories of websites you like (e.g. computers, sports, games, or more specific categories) and shows you pages people who have similar taste have liked. Then, you can give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down, and it fine tunes what you stumble upon based on that. Twitter is another one. Its almost a standalone version of the status update feature on Facebook (or myspace, for that matter.) You can also chat with friends, etc. Digg is similar to Stumbleupon...kind of. You browse through categories of pages, instead of randomly selected stuff, and you can "Digg" it (essentially like the thumbs up on Stumbleupon.)
So my advice is: If you haven't tried any of these, or have tried some, or have 'em all, try, comment, or do something about them. You never know what you'll like (or hate) once you've tried it...

Reviews > Movies > Jumper

I like watching movies so I figured I'd start reviewing movies I saw (whether in theaters or again on dvd.) I plan to do one per week, and this weekend I saw Jumper.
Jumper is a movie about a guy who has the mysterious ability to telepo rt, or "Jump." He can jump any distance, from crossing the room to popping to Egypt for a tan. He finds out he can jump as a high schooler, and runs away from home after that (he stops at the bank along the way if you know what I mean.) Samuel L. Jackson is the bad guy, one of many religious fanatics (called paladins) who hunt the Jumpers because they believe the Jumpers are ungodly abominations. Along the way our main jumper meets up with a guy who hunts the paladins, and they get chased all over the world.
Watch it if you want to now what happens in detail . The movie was a lot better than I expected it to be, and the acting is pretty good. The storyline could be a little better, but on the whole they did a good job. I think it's perfect for sequels (if they maintain the quality of the first one) and it should have been a bit longer (it's only about an hour and a half long.) All in all...not bad.

The Sketch Effect in GIMP

The GIMP is a very good, free, and advanced photo editor. It's essentially a free version of Adobe Photoshop, just a little harder to navigate sometimes. In this tutorial, though, I'll show you how to create the nice "sketch effect" that makes a photo look (maybe only a little bit) like a drawn black and white sketch.

First, start off with opening the image you want (first image). Then, duplicate the image (layers>right click>duplicate layer) and desaturate it (click on the image>colors>desaturate...>choose average and click ok) then you should get an image like the second one (black and white). Next, you want to duplicate the black and white image (the same way), and invert it (the invert command is right below the desaturate option). This gives you something like the third image. Now, with the inverted layer (image 3) selected, click on the layers dock and select "Dodge" instead of "Normal." If all you get is a white picture with black dots, like in image 4, then you're doing it right. Finally, on the image, click filters>blur>gaussian blur, and set it to about 5 (anywhere from 3 to 10 may work, depending on how you want it, and what photo you use.) Once you do that you're done! Enjoy using this, and have some fun with it!

Thanks to user HarleyJane at jeff-flowers.com for coming up with this idea, albeit in Photoshop. I just wanted to explain how to do this in GIMP, as I can't afford PS and doing it in GIMP is slightly different (took me a while to figure out where the commands had been moved). Of course, an experienced GIMP user probably knows where all those commands are anyway, but for you gimp n00bs out there (myself included) hope this helps.

Top 4 Media Players

I love listening to my music, and I need a good program to use, so here are some of my ratings and favorites.

RealPlayer
RealPlayer is an ok player; some people like it, some don't. Not one of my preferences, it can download YouTube videos to your hard drive for later watching (this is the main reason I use it), but it saves them in .flv format, so you need to play them in either RealPlayer or a separate flv player.

iTunes
iTunes is an all-around great media player, with its own format (AAC) for high quality audio, but it doesn't support wma, wmv, or any other Windows Media formats. It has the iTunes Store, with one dollar songs and 10 dollar albums, which are DRM protected but not uncrackable . Another catch is that all files must be imported manually (no auto-detection) and that it only syncs with iPods (no Zunes, Sansas, or Zens).
EDIT: apparently iTunes can support unprotected wma's (and maybe folder watching.) My bad. Thanks mintz66 for pointing that out.

Windows Media Player 11
Personally, the main thing I like about WMP is that it auto-updates folders you watch for media, so you rarely have to search for files after the initial run. The GUI isn't bad, but not great. The upshot is that it syncs with nearly all portable music players available, including my Sansa e250.

WinAmp 5.53
WinAmp is one of the best options available, with playback support for both Windows and iTunes DRM formats, and scanning/auto importing music and videos, with iTunes-style Genre/Artist/Album sidebars for quick and easy searching. It, too, like WMP, will sync files to my Sansa and other portable media (flash drives, SD cards, etc.). It has a highly customizable GUI as well, making for an all around good choice.

(J. River) Media Jukebox
The Media Jukebox is a very good choice, with a very similar interface to WinAmp, and similar functionality. It will also sync to my Portable Media Drives, and has Last.fm and Amazon MP3's support built-in. Less squarish than WinAmp, though, it has soft lines and a nice look.

FoxyTunes
FoxyTunes isn't actually a media player, more of a remote for whatever player you use. It is an extension available for Internet Explorer and Firefox, and can control around 25 different Media Players, Including the ones mentioned above and more, like foobar2000, Rhapsody, Pandora, Last.fm, and XBMC. It. sits on the side of your browser and lets you control your music without having to minimize the browser.

These are my top Media Players, if you have any suggestions or other Favorites, let me know!