So I heard on the Ticket - KTCK this morning via Gordon Keith of yuck monkey fame, that Quick (the Dallas Morning News and Belo fame) is going away next week. I need to state that a) I don't read the newspaper, b) I don't read Quick, c) I read the The Observer, d) I don't watch TV news, e) I listen to NPR, and f) Gordon Keith writes for Quick. Does that last part matter...not really but I figured I would give him some props.
When Quick was first published it was an attempt to capture the younger readers who have grown up with more interweb influence and are not as willing to get ripped off on a regular basis for a significant amount of paper that we normally wouldn't read anyways. I use "we" as I fall into this generation, this demographic, and am one of these people. Hence. I didn't think it was a good idea then and think that people who did pick it up had a very specific need or were bored and needed something to kill time. I don't recall ever seeing a single friend of mine carrying in their arm, reading at their desk, or telling me about something they saw in it.
I think the Morning News, who now has a significant pay-wall on their website, needs to attack change in a much more internet savvy fashion. The newer generations want to see quality writing, shorter stories, and usable content. I don't have the solution to this quandary. I just know that I scan news readers, Google News, engadget, wired, and USA Today when I am in a hotel.
Most local news is crap and doesn't impact me on a regular basis. The old model as I see it was to push that local news and make it seem interesting because there was little access to anything else besides the 6 'o clock world news. Times have changed. My phone gives me more access to anything a 20 page rag or 30 minute newscast could ever provide.
I am rambling a bit but it is unfortunate people will lose their job over this. I am sure Quick offered some value to someone out there who now has to find another source of whatever they used Quick for. I am not sorry that Belo still hasn't figured out how to push quality news (and get revenue) to/from me. Good luck with that.
I am pleased it gave Gordo another source of income and gave more Gordo a larger audience base. He is pure genius.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Optical Drive. What's an Optical Drive?
The new Mac Mini doesn't have a optical drive and neither do I. Well, not on my MacBook Air at least. It used to be a reasonably powerful computer for the everyday user, AND it had a DVD drive. Not any more.
Is this important? I think so. I always thought the Mini was a fantastic Mac for new converts. For purposes of converting Windows users I could always point to the Mini and sing its praises. People have big, beautiful TVs that they could hook to their Mini to run as a media center. I have converted two people specifically on this premise...and the Mini meets their needs completely. It actually meets and exceeds their expectations. Not many PCs do that at first blush.
In regards to the value of an optical drive, I say "meh." My Air hasn't seen a DVD in quite some time and usually only does when a client gives me some DVD I need to use in a pinch. I do regret Macs never got a Blu-Ray disk player. I would have liked to have one in the house. But then again I am not going to pay the price to buy the disks so maybe I am just blowing smoke up your skirt.
Well.. I cannot argue their vision. Good luck Apple and good buy Optical Drive. USB kicked your butt anyways in size and performance anyways.
Monday, June 27, 2011
ANDROID - Samurai II: Vengence THD - Wow
I saw over at engadget that the app Samurai II: Vengence THD was rolled out to the non-Tegra II phones. I downloaded it for my Droid Charge today and played for a bit. Holy Crap!
Here are a few screenshots from the website...I didn't download the APK and make the screenshots for myself.
This might be the most entertaining game I have found for the Android platform so far...outside of good 'ole Angry Birds and Robo Defense. I have only played for a little but I really enjoy the interface, the graphics, the interactivity is fluid and gameplay is cool. I cannot say a lot more yet but I give it 4.5 stars right now. This will be a serious time kill very soon. ...and one hell of a battery drainer.
Here are a few screenshots from the website...I didn't download the APK and make the screenshots for myself.
This might be the most entertaining game I have found for the Android platform so far...outside of good 'ole Angry Birds and Robo Defense. I have only played for a little but I really enjoy the interface, the graphics, the interactivity is fluid and gameplay is cool. I cannot say a lot more yet but I give it 4.5 stars right now. This will be a serious time kill very soon. ...and one hell of a battery drainer.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Bark Collar Battery Hack - PetSafe can SUCK IT!
If you don't agree with bark collars that shock, then it is best you don't continue reading on. I have a beagle and a neighbor that called the cops on her. I had to deal with it. Long story.
I own one PetSafe Deluxe Little Dog Bark Control Collar. I have had it for about 3 years now. It works generally well, most of the time. You just have to let it work up some charge and it'll get its point across. Something I found with the collar that rubbed me the wrong way is the replacment battery cost. It is $6 at good 'ole Radio Shack and $3 to $10 plus shipping depending on where you find it on the interwebs (the battery is a CR 1/3 N 3 Volt Lithium battery).
This is where I stumbled upon the little bitty LR 44. The LR 44 is a 1.5 Volt battery that happens to be 1/2 the size of the CR 1/3 N. You can use two LR 44's in place of the CR battery to get the same voltage! I found 50, yes 50, for $5, shipping included on Ebay. That rounds out to a solid $0.20 per PetSafe replacement kit. Not bad seeing as I probably purchased 3 to 5 replacement batteries before I figured out this hack.
Long story short, here is what you do. This is no Lifehacker.com or iFixit.com post, but it'll do.
1) Buy a pack of LR 44's.
2) Turn over your collar and pull the battery cartridge. You simply grab a quarter and turn the cartridge until the line matches up with the arrow.
If you notice, the little round plastic piece that sits on top of the battery needs to get popped off. Don't worry, it won't hurt anything and you really don't need it.
3. Pop the battery out with a paper clip. Just poke with the paper clip through the little hole in the middle of the cartridge, right where you would stick a coin to rotate
4. Here is where you have to get creative. You need to take one LR 44, and put a tiny little piece of electrical tape on one side of it. See the battery on the left? It has to cover the entire side which is the positive terminal of the battery. Then you need to find a very small piece of metal. I don't recall where I found this piece but it needs to be fairly tiny and about the length of 1.5 battery heights. If that confuses you simply read on.
5. You place the first battery without any tape on it into the cartridge. Then you carefully squeeze the metal strip down along the gap as shown on the left. The metal strip allows you to create a "series" between the two batteries and double the voltage. Its like when you add two AA batteries into a piece of electronics. Notice that on the cartridge, one gap goes the full height of the plastic and the other only goes half way. You want the metal to go on the gap that is full height of the plastic.
Metal shown in the long gap. Battery on the right is prepped with electrical tape.
6. Carefully place the second battery with the tape into the cartridge, making sure the tape is situated directly behind the metal strip. The metal strip cannot touch this battery or the "series" will be broken.
7. See the little metal contact on the top of the inside of the unit below? This is what needs to touch the metal strip. When you put the cartridge back into the unit, make sure you insert it so that when you twist it back into place - and in the "on" position - the metal strip will be lined up with the contact. It will make a slight, soft pop as well.
8. Turn to the "on" position and get a green light. You're done!
PS - another tip I have found handy with this bark collar is to tape pennies to the opposite side of the buckle. This helps the main part of the collar to hang properly below the dog's throat. My dog's throat is small enough that the buckle is at 3 or 4 o'clock on a dial which tends to cause the collar to rotate around without a counter weight. See the duct tape on the left? That is where I have about 15 pennies hiding.
I own one PetSafe Deluxe Little Dog Bark Control Collar. I have had it for about 3 years now. It works generally well, most of the time. You just have to let it work up some charge and it'll get its point across. Something I found with the collar that rubbed me the wrong way is the replacment battery cost. It is $6 at good 'ole Radio Shack and $3 to $10 plus shipping depending on where you find it on the interwebs (the battery is a CR 1/3 N 3 Volt Lithium battery).
This is where I stumbled upon the little bitty LR 44. The LR 44 is a 1.5 Volt battery that happens to be 1/2 the size of the CR 1/3 N. You can use two LR 44's in place of the CR battery to get the same voltage! I found 50, yes 50, for $5, shipping included on Ebay. That rounds out to a solid $0.20 per PetSafe replacement kit. Not bad seeing as I probably purchased 3 to 5 replacement batteries before I figured out this hack.
Long story short, here is what you do. This is no Lifehacker.com or iFixit.com post, but it'll do.
1) Buy a pack of LR 44's.
2) Turn over your collar and pull the battery cartridge. You simply grab a quarter and turn the cartridge until the line matches up with the arrow.
If you notice, the little round plastic piece that sits on top of the battery needs to get popped off. Don't worry, it won't hurt anything and you really don't need it.
3. Pop the battery out with a paper clip. Just poke with the paper clip through the little hole in the middle of the cartridge, right where you would stick a coin to rotate
4. Here is where you have to get creative. You need to take one LR 44, and put a tiny little piece of electrical tape on one side of it. See the battery on the left? It has to cover the entire side which is the positive terminal of the battery. Then you need to find a very small piece of metal. I don't recall where I found this piece but it needs to be fairly tiny and about the length of 1.5 battery heights. If that confuses you simply read on.
5. You place the first battery without any tape on it into the cartridge. Then you carefully squeeze the metal strip down along the gap as shown on the left. The metal strip allows you to create a "series" between the two batteries and double the voltage. Its like when you add two AA batteries into a piece of electronics. Notice that on the cartridge, one gap goes the full height of the plastic and the other only goes half way. You want the metal to go on the gap that is full height of the plastic.
Metal shown in the long gap. Battery on the right is prepped with electrical tape.
6. Carefully place the second battery with the tape into the cartridge, making sure the tape is situated directly behind the metal strip. The metal strip cannot touch this battery or the "series" will be broken.
7. See the little metal contact on the top of the inside of the unit below? This is what needs to touch the metal strip. When you put the cartridge back into the unit, make sure you insert it so that when you twist it back into place - and in the "on" position - the metal strip will be lined up with the contact. It will make a slight, soft pop as well.
8. Turn to the "on" position and get a green light. You're done!
PS - another tip I have found handy with this bark collar is to tape pennies to the opposite side of the buckle. This helps the main part of the collar to hang properly below the dog's throat. My dog's throat is small enough that the buckle is at 3 or 4 o'clock on a dial which tends to cause the collar to rotate around without a counter weight. See the duct tape on the left? That is where I have about 15 pennies hiding.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Hand Rolled Green Tea Hype?
I have bought a lot of tea from a lot of places and respect the fact that sometimes selection incurs higher prices. A good example is teavana.com. They offer a ton of selection with high-quality ingredients. Problem I have is that you could end up paying a significant amount more for a product that is slightly, if at all, better than what can be easily procured down the street.
Consider these tea pearls. They claim to be hand rolled young tea leaves. What do you get out of them that you don't get from normal tea leaves? They slowly unroll to release just the right amount of flavor crystals? Bah.
Do this and save yourself some money. Go to your local Indian or Asian supply store. Find the giant 1 lb bag of green tea for $12, go home, and compare the steeped leaf to any off the shelf version for...say....twice as much per ounce. The size of the leaf and the quality of the tea is probably damn close to the expensive stuff. Even compare it to a bag of Tazo green tea in a bag and you'll be blown away.
And you know what? Buying from your local Indian supply supports local small business which is good for everyone. The second pic is what I purchases at the local store. Look for the black Assam tea as well and steep some cinnamon stick in the tea while your at it. Just can't beat it.
Monday, May 16, 2011
KTCK 1310 on the Android OS
I once owned a Blackberry and used to get so frustrated when I couldn't listen to The Ticket (KTCK) AM 1310/FM 104.1 in Dallas. I found a simple app on my iPod Touch which is also ported to the Android OS.
TuneIn Radio. Enough said. Go here or TuneIn.com by RadioTime. Not only does this app let you get The Ticket, but you can pretty much listen to any local radio station anywhere. I travel some and this allows me to listen to PowerFM 89.7 when I am on the road as well as The Ticket. You can set presets by making an account and then load them anywhere you have a internet connection. ANYWHERE! I love it.
I would pay for this service...but it is free so even better. They even stream the metadata from the radio stream as well...not that it matters but still an added touch. ..oh, on the iPad app you can record the stream. Very cool.
Thank you RadioTime. I love you.
Image care of zatznotfunny.com
TuneIn Radio. Enough said. Go here or TuneIn.com by RadioTime. Not only does this app let you get The Ticket, but you can pretty much listen to any local radio station anywhere. I travel some and this allows me to listen to PowerFM 89.7 when I am on the road as well as The Ticket. You can set presets by making an account and then load them anywhere you have a internet connection. ANYWHERE! I love it.
I would pay for this service...but it is free so even better. They even stream the metadata from the radio stream as well...not that it matters but still an added touch. ..oh, on the iPad app you can record the stream. Very cool.
Thank you RadioTime. I love you.
App Review - ScreenShots Plus for the Mac
I don't always give props where I should so here is one app that is well worth the time. Steven Chaitoff over at tarcolesfilmarts.com has created a simple yet oh so useful OS X dashboard widget that is amazing.
At first you look at this and say - I can perform screen shots with simple keystrokes such as:
At first you look at this and say - I can perform screen shots with simple keystrokes such as:
- ⌘+Shift+3 – Takes full screen shot and saves it to the desktop
- ⌘+Shift+4 – Allows you to capture a selection of your screen and saves it to the desktop
- ⌘+Shift+4 and tap the space bar – Allows you to capture an application window and saves it to the desktop
Simply add the Control key and the screenshot is copied to the clipboard.
With this dashboard widget, just simply hit F4, click on a small icon, size up your screenshot on your screen, left click, and then review your screenshot. As the picture shows you above, you can then see a thumbnail of your screenshot with a magnifying glass. When you click on the Floppy Disk icon, it saves a .png to your desktop. If you don't like it you simply click the Redo icon and try again.
Voila.
Tutorial - How to change the Droid Charge's dock icons
So you have a fancy new Droid Charge from Verizon with 4G LTE and you say, "You know what? This is a great phone but I wish I could change the icons at the bottom of the screen."
I came across this when I got tired of getting an icon update from both the Messaging and Handcent icons. Well, here is how you do it.
Image care of phonearena.com
I came across this when I got tired of getting an icon update from both the Messaging and Handcent icons. Well, here is how you do it.
- Click on your Applications soft icon in the bottom right of the screen
- If you have your applications in List View, then click on the hard Menu button on the bottom right of the face of the phone
- Select Grid View
- Click the hard Menu button again
- Select Edit
- Now you can long press your icons up above and drag them into the dock (or menu bar or primary icon bar or whatever it is called)
- When done hit the Home soft button in the dock
Hope that works for you! Enjoy.
Droid Charge is MINE!
I purchased a Droid Charge over the weekend to replace my ailing Droid Incredible. My DInc's power plug was getting finicky and I was talked into a 4G LTE phone for a small fee.
The Super AMOLED Plus screen is beautiful and blows away my DInc's screen. It is much happier in full sunlight although it is no iPhone. The resolution is outstanding for the screen size and it handles smudges as best as possible. I am pleased it has a front camera although I am bummed that there are so few apps that work cross platform. I am super ticked that Fring cannot get the front camera to work. I feel even with the Android fragmentation that occurs that this is ridiculous. I have read many Samsung Galaxy users have this same woe. The app is free and ad supported but at least offer a paid version and develop fo' real.
So far I am unimpressed with the processor. The interface is snappy however jumping back and forth between the home screen and apps can be a bit laggy. I miss HTC's Sense interface just a little as the widgets and calendar interfaces were top notch. I do love TouchWiz 3.0's ability to change my dock icons. Tutorial to come.
The unit feels good in my hand and is easy to navigate. I like the actual mechanical buttons over the touch screen buttons my DInc had. The plastic is a bit wonky but for being a larger phone than my DInc I am pleased with the weight to size ratio. Thickness is reasonable and the location of the outer buttons are reasonable intuitive. I do like having the power/wake button on the right. I am right handed and it works perfect for both hands to easily wake/sleep the phone when talking or simply waking it back up when it falls asleep because I didn't touch it soon enough.
The battery life has been fairly spectacular so far. The 4G LTE speeds will blow your mind. Also, the fact that it comes with a 32 GB SD card is pretty cool too. I think my DInc came with a 2 GB one. Overall, I am pleased with the purchase. I may note that my DInc still works and I added Cyanogen(Mod) with no problems. I figure I have 14 days to return this thing and if it doesn't make me completely happy I will claim insurance for my DInc and roll with Android OS 2.3.3 on the down low.
The Super AMOLED Plus screen is beautiful and blows away my DInc's screen. It is much happier in full sunlight although it is no iPhone. The resolution is outstanding for the screen size and it handles smudges as best as possible. I am pleased it has a front camera although I am bummed that there are so few apps that work cross platform. I am super ticked that Fring cannot get the front camera to work. I feel even with the Android fragmentation that occurs that this is ridiculous. I have read many Samsung Galaxy users have this same woe. The app is free and ad supported but at least offer a paid version and develop fo' real.
So far I am unimpressed with the processor. The interface is snappy however jumping back and forth between the home screen and apps can be a bit laggy. I miss HTC's Sense interface just a little as the widgets and calendar interfaces were top notch. I do love TouchWiz 3.0's ability to change my dock icons. Tutorial to come.
The unit feels good in my hand and is easy to navigate. I like the actual mechanical buttons over the touch screen buttons my DInc had. The plastic is a bit wonky but for being a larger phone than my DInc I am pleased with the weight to size ratio. Thickness is reasonable and the location of the outer buttons are reasonable intuitive. I do like having the power/wake button on the right. I am right handed and it works perfect for both hands to easily wake/sleep the phone when talking or simply waking it back up when it falls asleep because I didn't touch it soon enough.
The battery life has been fairly spectacular so far. The 4G LTE speeds will blow your mind. Also, the fact that it comes with a 32 GB SD card is pretty cool too. I think my DInc came with a 2 GB one. Overall, I am pleased with the purchase. I may note that my DInc still works and I added Cyanogen(Mod) with no problems. I figure I have 14 days to return this thing and if it doesn't make me completely happy I will claim insurance for my DInc and roll with Android OS 2.3.3 on the down low.
I suck
Here is how much I suck. I haven't posted anything in years. Thanks Bunterman for keeping this thing on life support.
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