If you're curious as to how this whole Internet thingy got its start, this short (well, 8 minutes) video will explain its origin using simple graphics. Even an Internet addict like me learned a couple things.
History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Computers/Internet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Computers/Internet. Show all posts
Friday, January 09, 2009
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Geek Tech Spending Spree !
Being the patriotic American that I am, I did my part to stimulate the sluggish economy by going out and spending some hard-earned cash to buy a mini-notebook computer and wireless keyboard/mouse, and a small wireless mouse to go with the mini-notebook. No need to thank me...I was just fulfilling my duty as a citizen, playing my part in the economy.
Plus, I get some cool, new geek tech toys to play with--yay!
On Friday I bought an Acer Aspire One mini-notebook (or netbook, as they're calling it) computer. Ever since my laptop computer died last summer, I've been wanting another laptop/notebook. When I saw this one was on sale at Staples, I checked it out and read some reviews and decided it was the one to get. It is a cool little mini-notebook that runs Windows XP (I plan to add Ubuntu Linux to it as well). The specs are as follows:
1-Intel Atom processor running @ 1.6 Ghz
2-1 Gb SDRAM
3-120 Gb hard drive
4-Built-in webcam
5-SD card memory expansion slot
6-Multi-card reader slot
7-Built-in Wi-Fi (wireless internet)
8-Three USB ports
9-VGA monitor port
10-8.9-inch CrystalBrite screen
It comes in other configurations as well, with slight variations, but this is the one I bought.
It boots up quickly, and the screen, while smaller than full-size laptops, is very bright and clear.
The keyboard is not that much smaller than other laptops or even a regular desktop keyboard, and I have no trouble typing on it. Even with my poor typing skills! The weight is just over 2 pounds, which makes it much easier to carry around. My old laptop weighed 8.5 pounds, making it a bit of an effort to lug around. Not that I carried my old laptop outside very much, but used it more as a desktop replacement, but I can see myself taking this little computer with me much more often. Which means I can always have access to my addiction, the internet!
It doesn't have a built-in CD/DVD (left out to save on size & weight), but as I have an external DVD drive, this isn't a problem. Of course, you can do anything on this machine as on any computer...surf the 'net, watch videos/movies, play games, etc. This will come in handy on a long bus/train trip (that I occasionally take) as I can load up a few movies, some music & games and be entertained along the way. This Acer Aspire One is not much bigger than a portable DVD player, and can do so much more than just play movies.
Now for the price...actually it was pretty reasonable at $349.99 at Staples. I saw it through an email from Acer, checked out Staples ad online, and hurried out there Friday to snatch one up.
Luckily I had saved up a little money, and decided to make this my birthday present. OK, my birthday isn't for 3 weeks yet, but why wait?
After I purchased it I went across the street to a mall, where I sat down and unboxed it, as I was anxious to play with it. Couldn't wait 'til I got home...hehe! While trying it out and waiting for the computer to load some drivers and do an initial setup, several people stopped to look and ask me about it and where I'd gotten it. They were impressed to see such a small computer.
I didn't take this photo, found it on a review site.
Oh, and it comes in several colors. I have the Sapphire Blue one, as pictured above.
And one final thing--it's just such a cute little 'puter, you have to love it !
Related links:
Acer Aspire One
Staples
Next on my spending spree, on Saturday I headed to a mall just because I was bored hanging around at home. My plan was to maybe see a movie, but there wasn't anything playing that caught my interest. So I wandered into the Best Buy store to kill some time and check out the tech goodies there. I decided to pick up a small wireless mouse to go with my new mini-notebook (see above) which I found rather quickly. On the same aisle were wireless keyboards as well, and I have kind of wanted a wireless keyboard, but never wanted to spend the money to get one, as standard ones are available so cheaply. And I have several at home, from various computers. But then I spotted this one that just looked so cool and techie that I started to drool (well, not literally). After looking at it and a few other ones, I convinced myself that I had to have it and grabbed one before I changed my mind.
It's the Logitech MX5500 Revolution (cool name, huh?).
OK it was a bit pricey, at $140, but it has a wireless mouse, too!
It also has an LCD display that shows time, temperature, media info (such as song title,artist, etc.), favorite key assignments, even a key counter that tells how many keys you've typed (although I really don't know why you'd need that info.).
The function keys are programmable so you can set them to open your web browser, word-processing program, or whatever you would like. The keys along the left side control your media player's (windows media/iTunes) volume, play/pause. They are keys that also work with Windows Vista different screen display features.
Three small keys on the lower right side under the numeric keypad will open Windows Media Center, a photo gallery, or Windows Gadgets (under Vista). One handy feature is that it has keyboard shortcuts, such as copy/paste, printed on the front of the keys, so you don't have to remember them. I rarely have used those keyboard shortcuts, since I usually can't think of where they are located, so this is really nice. A "zoom" key (left edge of the keyboard) allows you to zoom in or out on webpages, which is good on sites that have small print, or you just need a closer look at that hot porn site!
It uses Bluetooth wireless which gives you about a thirty foot range. The wireless laser mouse has some cool features, too. It scrolls very fast, allowing you to scroll through a long document or webpage quickly. Two small side buttons let you move forward/back when browsing web pages, even a tiny button on top that opens up your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo!, etc.) , and a side scroll wheel that allows you to activate Vista's Flip3D feature to flip through documents.
The mouse is rechargable and has its own recharging base, while the keyboard uses 4 AA batteries which, according to the manual, should last 180 days.
Related Links:
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution
My other purchase was a small HP wireless laser mouse to use with the Acer mini-notebook. Nice and works very well, but not as cool as the Logitech mouse shown above.
So that is the story of my geek tech spending spree. Now I'm broke again, but at least I have some fun new toys to play with, during the coming long cold winter days and nights.
Plus, I get some cool, new geek tech toys to play with--yay!
On Friday I bought an Acer Aspire One mini-notebook (or netbook, as they're calling it) computer. Ever since my laptop computer died last summer, I've been wanting another laptop/notebook. When I saw this one was on sale at Staples, I checked it out and read some reviews and decided it was the one to get. It is a cool little mini-notebook that runs Windows XP (I plan to add Ubuntu Linux to it as well). The specs are as follows:
1-Intel Atom processor running @ 1.6 Ghz
2-1 Gb SDRAM
3-120 Gb hard drive
4-Built-in webcam
5-SD card memory expansion slot
6-Multi-card reader slot
7-Built-in Wi-Fi (wireless internet)
8-Three USB ports
9-VGA monitor port
10-8.9-inch CrystalBrite screen
It comes in other configurations as well, with slight variations, but this is the one I bought.
It boots up quickly, and the screen, while smaller than full-size laptops, is very bright and clear.
The keyboard is not that much smaller than other laptops or even a regular desktop keyboard, and I have no trouble typing on it. Even with my poor typing skills! The weight is just over 2 pounds, which makes it much easier to carry around. My old laptop weighed 8.5 pounds, making it a bit of an effort to lug around. Not that I carried my old laptop outside very much, but used it more as a desktop replacement, but I can see myself taking this little computer with me much more often. Which means I can always have access to my addiction, the internet!
It doesn't have a built-in CD/DVD (left out to save on size & weight), but as I have an external DVD drive, this isn't a problem. Of course, you can do anything on this machine as on any computer...surf the 'net, watch videos/movies, play games, etc. This will come in handy on a long bus/train trip (that I occasionally take) as I can load up a few movies, some music & games and be entertained along the way. This Acer Aspire One is not much bigger than a portable DVD player, and can do so much more than just play movies.
Now for the price...actually it was pretty reasonable at $349.99 at Staples. I saw it through an email from Acer, checked out Staples ad online, and hurried out there Friday to snatch one up.
Luckily I had saved up a little money, and decided to make this my birthday present. OK, my birthday isn't for 3 weeks yet, but why wait?
After I purchased it I went across the street to a mall, where I sat down and unboxed it, as I was anxious to play with it. Couldn't wait 'til I got home...hehe! While trying it out and waiting for the computer to load some drivers and do an initial setup, several people stopped to look and ask me about it and where I'd gotten it. They were impressed to see such a small computer.
I didn't take this photo, found it on a review site.
Oh, and it comes in several colors. I have the Sapphire Blue one, as pictured above.
And one final thing--it's just such a cute little 'puter, you have to love it !
Related links:
Acer Aspire One
Staples
Next on my spending spree, on Saturday I headed to a mall just because I was bored hanging around at home. My plan was to maybe see a movie, but there wasn't anything playing that caught my interest. So I wandered into the Best Buy store to kill some time and check out the tech goodies there. I decided to pick up a small wireless mouse to go with my new mini-notebook (see above) which I found rather quickly. On the same aisle were wireless keyboards as well, and I have kind of wanted a wireless keyboard, but never wanted to spend the money to get one, as standard ones are available so cheaply. And I have several at home, from various computers. But then I spotted this one that just looked so cool and techie that I started to drool (well, not literally). After looking at it and a few other ones, I convinced myself that I had to have it and grabbed one before I changed my mind.
It's the Logitech MX5500 Revolution (cool name, huh?).
OK it was a bit pricey, at $140, but it has a wireless mouse, too!
It also has an LCD display that shows time, temperature, media info (such as song title,artist, etc.), favorite key assignments, even a key counter that tells how many keys you've typed (although I really don't know why you'd need that info.).
The function keys are programmable so you can set them to open your web browser, word-processing program, or whatever you would like. The keys along the left side control your media player's (windows media/iTunes) volume, play/pause. They are keys that also work with Windows Vista different screen display features.
Three small keys on the lower right side under the numeric keypad will open Windows Media Center, a photo gallery, or Windows Gadgets (under Vista). One handy feature is that it has keyboard shortcuts, such as copy/paste, printed on the front of the keys, so you don't have to remember them. I rarely have used those keyboard shortcuts, since I usually can't think of where they are located, so this is really nice. A "zoom" key (left edge of the keyboard) allows you to zoom in or out on webpages, which is good on sites that have small print, or you just need a closer look at that hot porn site!
It uses Bluetooth wireless which gives you about a thirty foot range. The wireless laser mouse has some cool features, too. It scrolls very fast, allowing you to scroll through a long document or webpage quickly. Two small side buttons let you move forward/back when browsing web pages, even a tiny button on top that opens up your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo!, etc.) , and a side scroll wheel that allows you to activate Vista's Flip3D feature to flip through documents.
The mouse is rechargable and has its own recharging base, while the keyboard uses 4 AA batteries which, according to the manual, should last 180 days.
Related Links:
Logitech Cordless Desktop MX5500 Revolution
My other purchase was a small HP wireless laser mouse to use with the Acer mini-notebook. Nice and works very well, but not as cool as the Logitech mouse shown above.
So that is the story of my geek tech spending spree. Now I'm broke again, but at least I have some fun new toys to play with, during the coming long cold winter days and nights.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Christmas In June !
It's coming, it's coming! Yay! Checked a few minutes ago, and saw that it's on the truck to be delivered today.
What am I so excited about? My new computer I ordered last week! Finally I can give this old machine a little vacation and give myself a little less frustration. This old computer I rescued from the curb a couple years ago (where it was waiting to be picked up by the trash collectors) has served me well, but it just is showing its age. Pretty slow, prone to odd little glitches, and with a small hard drive. Sorta like me, in a way.
I had a nice laptop that died an early death when the internal fan quit and the motherboard got fried. So since last August I have been struggling along with "old faithful" here. Haven't been able to do many things I enjoyed doing on the internet--even watching videos is annoying as the video lags behind the audio, 'cause this computer has a slow (by today's standards) CPU.
I've been running Ubuntu Linux; Windows XP ran way too slow and froze up. The new machine has Windows Vista, but being the geek that I am, I plan to put Ubuntu on it, too, and have a dual-boot system. I've come to really like Linux since I've been using it, and the Ubuntu distribution is much easier to use than some older versions of Linux. And it looks much like Windows, so it's not hard to get accustomed to.
Features of my new computer:
# Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium pre-installed w/COA
# AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 2.3 GHz processor
# 2 GB system memory
# 320 GB SATA hard drive
# DVD±RW Drive
The AMD Athlon 64 X2 is a dual-core processor.
I also added an NVIDIA GeForce 8400GS 256MB DDR2 video card.
My old computer:
# Ubuntu Linux 6.10 LTS (Dapper Drake)
# Pentium 900Mhz CPU
# 512 MB system memory (I added 256MB to the original 256MB)
# 40 GB IDE hard drive
# DVD-ROM/CD-RW Drive
Plus I have a 250GB external hard drive, an external LG DVD±RW Super-Multi Drive, a 17-inch widescreen LCD monitor, a scanner, & a cheap LexMark printer. Haven't even used the scanner since I bought it because I couldn't figure out how to get it running under Linux (trouble finding the right driver).
I'm not trying to brag here--just the geek in me, excited to have a new toy to play with. I'll keep the old machine, just as backup, at least for awhile. I'm working on another old computer to give to a friend who has never owned one so he can become more "computer literate".
So all-in-all, once everything is installed and set up, I should have a great system and can spend even more time surfing the web and "geeking out", instead of having to go out into the icky {ewww} "real world".
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Tech Troubles
I've been posting mainly political stuff lately, so I thought I'd give it a rest today and discuss my other main interest-computers and technology. And much like politics, it can be both an exhilarating and frustrating experience. Lately, mostly frustrating.
About 3 weeks ago, I took my beloved laptop computer in to be repaired, as it had lapsed into a coma back at the end of August. I waited until now to take it in because I just didn't have the money to pay for any repairs that might be required. This week I got the bad news that my poor laptop was truly dead. It seems that the internal fan had quit working and the insides got "fried", as the repairman called it. The entire motherboard would have to be replaced, which would cost more than a new computer. (A moment of silence, please, for the dear departed)
The hard drive was OK and I had it put into an external USB enclosure so I can use it on another computer, at least. No data on it, as I knew there wouldn't be, as I had tried to re-format the drive to re-install Windows back when it first crashed. Since August I have been using an old desktop on which I am now running Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows. Windows ran way too slow, and kept giving me error messages that I could not figure out the cause of. So I ditched Windows in favor of Linux. Yes, I'm a bit of a computer geek, in case you're wondering--what the hell is Ubuntu Linux?
Anyway, the day I picked up my now- deceased laptop, I stopped at a mall nearby the computer repair shop. While there I wandered into Best Buy, just to take a look around. Ended up buying a new 17" widescreen LCD monitor to replace the old 14" CRT monitor I'd been straining my eyes looking at for the past few months. Kind of an impulse buy, but I needed to cheer myself up after the loss of my laptop. It is such a huge improvement over the old monitor! So much brighter and crisper picture--definitely worth the money.
My tech troubles didn't end there, though. Earlier today, after installing a wireless ethernet card and making a few tweaks to the system, I had problems getting back online. Finally got things going again after a frustrating hour or two. The wireless card still isn't working, so I need to do some research to see exactly how to get it working under Linux. I'm not that much of a Linux geek yet, I guess.
Finally after getting the computer working again, I went to unplug my cell phone from the charger, only to find it had gotten a small amount of water on it. Apparently I'd spilled some water while filling my coffee maker and hadn't noticed it due to the problems I was having with the computer. So now the phone is not working! And it wasn't a lot of water--just seemed to be a few drops, which I dried off soon as I saw it. But enough must have leaked inside to cause a problem. Maybe in a day or two it will dry out and start working--who knows? It's not an expensive phone-I can replace it for about $20, but it's still annoying.
So there you have it....my tale of "Trouble in Tech Land". I just hope this story doesn't have a sequel !
Today is SuperBowl Sunday--Tuesday is Super Tuesday, so if you live in a state holding a primary, get out and VOTE ! (Sorry, couldn't resist a little politics)
Ron Paul 2008 !!!
About 3 weeks ago, I took my beloved laptop computer in to be repaired, as it had lapsed into a coma back at the end of August. I waited until now to take it in because I just didn't have the money to pay for any repairs that might be required. This week I got the bad news that my poor laptop was truly dead. It seems that the internal fan had quit working and the insides got "fried", as the repairman called it. The entire motherboard would have to be replaced, which would cost more than a new computer. (A moment of silence, please, for the dear departed)
The hard drive was OK and I had it put into an external USB enclosure so I can use it on another computer, at least. No data on it, as I knew there wouldn't be, as I had tried to re-format the drive to re-install Windows back when it first crashed. Since August I have been using an old desktop on which I am now running Ubuntu Linux instead of Windows. Windows ran way too slow, and kept giving me error messages that I could not figure out the cause of. So I ditched Windows in favor of Linux. Yes, I'm a bit of a computer geek, in case you're wondering--what the hell is Ubuntu Linux?
Anyway, the day I picked up my now- deceased laptop, I stopped at a mall nearby the computer repair shop. While there I wandered into Best Buy, just to take a look around. Ended up buying a new 17" widescreen LCD monitor to replace the old 14" CRT monitor I'd been straining my eyes looking at for the past few months. Kind of an impulse buy, but I needed to cheer myself up after the loss of my laptop. It is such a huge improvement over the old monitor! So much brighter and crisper picture--definitely worth the money.
My tech troubles didn't end there, though. Earlier today, after installing a wireless ethernet card and making a few tweaks to the system, I had problems getting back online. Finally got things going again after a frustrating hour or two. The wireless card still isn't working, so I need to do some research to see exactly how to get it working under Linux. I'm not that much of a Linux geek yet, I guess.
Finally after getting the computer working again, I went to unplug my cell phone from the charger, only to find it had gotten a small amount of water on it. Apparently I'd spilled some water while filling my coffee maker and hadn't noticed it due to the problems I was having with the computer. So now the phone is not working! And it wasn't a lot of water--just seemed to be a few drops, which I dried off soon as I saw it. But enough must have leaked inside to cause a problem. Maybe in a day or two it will dry out and start working--who knows? It's not an expensive phone-I can replace it for about $20, but it's still annoying.
So there you have it....my tale of "Trouble in Tech Land". I just hope this story doesn't have a sequel !
Today is SuperBowl Sunday--Tuesday is Super Tuesday, so if you live in a state holding a primary, get out and VOTE ! (Sorry, couldn't resist a little politics)
Ron Paul 2008 !!!
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
OMG! All Online Data Lost After Internet Crash!!!
Oh no! How will people read about my incredibly boring life?!?
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Click Here For A Live Web Cam (not porn)
Just an interesting item I came upon while web-surfing. Be patient-it may take a few seconds to load.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Just An April Fool Am I !
Happy 2nd Blogiversary To Me !
That's right--it's been two years since I started this blog. Well, technically, I started it on March 31st 2005 and the second post was April 2nd, but I like the idea that it began on April Fool's Day. So, unofficially that's my start date. I've never had a consistent theme to the blog and tend to go off in whatever crazy direction strikes me at the time I sit down to write a post. Or whatever topic I happen to be interested in at that moment.
Lately I've kind of been neglecting my poor little blog and haven't been posting very consistently. Not sure myself exactly why that is--it's not because I don't enjoy doing it--I do. But if I had to list some reasons why I've been slacking off--well, here's a few:
1- Too tired....by the time I get home from work I just don't have the energy.
1- Bored....by my job, the sameness of every day, and sometimes just by life in general.
3- Maybe a little depressed....see above reasons.
4- Procrastination....keep putting off posting even when I think of something I want to put up.
5- And finally....I've been busy moving this past week.
Not a faraway move --just up two floors in the same building I currently live in. The owners want more money for the 1 bedroom apartment I rent now and I really can't afford the increase. So they offered to let me move upstairs for the same rent I'm paying into the studio apartment on the top floor. Now to be fair, they did give me a discount on the rent for the 1-bedroom, so I can't complain as I've been here for the past 2 1/2 years at that lower rate. But it's been a bit of a hassle lugging everything upstairs. A friend and his nephew came by today to move my TV and it's stand, which I could never do by myself. It's a 32-inch set and very heavy. But other than that, I've been moving the rest of my crap little by little. Most of it is up there now, but I still have quite a bit of stuff to sort through and decide what I want to keep and throw out some of the junk I don't want. Hopefully I can finish most of that tomorrow.
As for the blog, I had hoped to redesign it in time for my 2nd anniversary, but that didn't get done. Right now it's too cluttered looking and I want a cleaner look. Also would like to organize my archives into categories, but that means going back and labeling each one which will take some time. Hopefully I'll work up the energy to do all that soon. But who knows?
As for having a more consistent theme on the blog that probably won't happen because my mind leaps from one thing to another and that is reflected on the blog. I know I don't have a lot of readers and that is most likely due to the fact that I don't visit many other blogs and when I do don't comment very often. So not many people are aware this blog even exists. Which is OK, I guess. I've never been a very sociable person or much of a talker, so therefore have never made many friends. And I guess that applies to the internet as well. But I am very loyal to those friends I do have.
See--I don't post at all for a long while, then I ramble on and on.
OK--one more thing and then I'll shut up. In one of my first few posts, I talked about upgrading my old computer. Last week I went to a computer show and got a 1-Gigabyte upgrade for my laptop, giving me 1.5 GB total. And it has made a great difference. It runs much faster now, even with several programs running together. Also got a nice little webcam that clips to the laptop. Along with my other recent purchase of a 250 GB external hard drive, my computer should be set for some time. Which is good since it will be a long time before I can afford a new one.
Now it's time I went to sleep so I can get up early and finish my moving. At least I don't have to go to work tomorrow or the rest of the week because it's Spring Break !! Yay !!
Happy April Fool's Day, everyone, from this April Fool !
That's right--it's been two years since I started this blog. Well, technically, I started it on March 31st 2005 and the second post was April 2nd, but I like the idea that it began on April Fool's Day. So, unofficially that's my start date. I've never had a consistent theme to the blog and tend to go off in whatever crazy direction strikes me at the time I sit down to write a post. Or whatever topic I happen to be interested in at that moment.
Lately I've kind of been neglecting my poor little blog and haven't been posting very consistently. Not sure myself exactly why that is--it's not because I don't enjoy doing it--I do. But if I had to list some reasons why I've been slacking off--well, here's a few:
1- Too tired....by the time I get home from work I just don't have the energy.
1- Bored....by my job, the sameness of every day, and sometimes just by life in general.
3- Maybe a little depressed....see above reasons.
4- Procrastination....keep putting off posting even when I think of something I want to put up.
5- And finally....I've been busy moving this past week.
Not a faraway move --just up two floors in the same building I currently live in. The owners want more money for the 1 bedroom apartment I rent now and I really can't afford the increase. So they offered to let me move upstairs for the same rent I'm paying into the studio apartment on the top floor. Now to be fair, they did give me a discount on the rent for the 1-bedroom, so I can't complain as I've been here for the past 2 1/2 years at that lower rate. But it's been a bit of a hassle lugging everything upstairs. A friend and his nephew came by today to move my TV and it's stand, which I could never do by myself. It's a 32-inch set and very heavy. But other than that, I've been moving the rest of my crap little by little. Most of it is up there now, but I still have quite a bit of stuff to sort through and decide what I want to keep and throw out some of the junk I don't want. Hopefully I can finish most of that tomorrow.
As for the blog, I had hoped to redesign it in time for my 2nd anniversary, but that didn't get done. Right now it's too cluttered looking and I want a cleaner look. Also would like to organize my archives into categories, but that means going back and labeling each one which will take some time. Hopefully I'll work up the energy to do all that soon. But who knows?
As for having a more consistent theme on the blog that probably won't happen because my mind leaps from one thing to another and that is reflected on the blog. I know I don't have a lot of readers and that is most likely due to the fact that I don't visit many other blogs and when I do don't comment very often. So not many people are aware this blog even exists. Which is OK, I guess. I've never been a very sociable person or much of a talker, so therefore have never made many friends. And I guess that applies to the internet as well. But I am very loyal to those friends I do have.
See--I don't post at all for a long while, then I ramble on and on.
OK--one more thing and then I'll shut up. In one of my first few posts, I talked about upgrading my old computer. Last week I went to a computer show and got a 1-Gigabyte upgrade for my laptop, giving me 1.5 GB total. And it has made a great difference. It runs much faster now, even with several programs running together. Also got a nice little webcam that clips to the laptop. Along with my other recent purchase of a 250 GB external hard drive, my computer should be set for some time. Which is good since it will be a long time before I can afford a new one.
Now it's time I went to sleep so I can get up early and finish my moving. At least I don't have to go to work tomorrow or the rest of the week because it's Spring Break !! Yay !!
Happy April Fool's Day, everyone, from this April Fool !
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
The Cavalry Is Coming !
Well, actually the cavalry has already arrived. My new Cavalry USB hard drive, that is. It's 250GB of storage should alleviate some of the crowding on my laptop's drive. It's hard to believe I've managed to fill up my 100GB drive in only seven months since I bought the computer, but I was getting 'low memory' messages because the drive had less than 1 gigabyte of space left on it. And no--it's not all porn, either! I listen to a number of podcasts (some of them video podcasts) and tend to get behind in listening to/viewing them all, so they have piled up on me. As well as a bunch of videos downloaded from Veoh I haven't watched yet. I also run across a lot of programs I like to try out (freeware/shareware) some of which I keep which eats up space. I've already managed to free up about 8GB on the laptop's drive after moving some videos over to the new drive. I still want to add some more memory to the computer as well, as it only has 512MB of RAM and I'd like to double that to 1 GB. When several programs are running, the system tends to slow down and more RAM should help out. And a scanner would be nice to have, too.
I know--I'm such a geek ! But my computer is my best friend, after all....hehehe!
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Need More Space?
Is your hard drive getting full? (mine is getting a bit crowded)
Or want to share large files with a friend?
Just need a place to backup some files?
I discovered this great site earlier today that gives you 25 Gigabytes of FREE storage! That's a quarter of the size of my hard drive. It's called MediaMax (it used to be known as Streamload).
I decided to check it out and it works really well. You can upload files there for storage (as backup) or use it to share files with others. If you want to send a file to someone, most email attachments are very limited in size, but you can store larger files at MediaMax for others to download. Videos, photos, music, any kind of file can be stored there. I uploaded some picture files as a test. Files can be organized into various categories/folders for easier access.
All you need to do is an email address and password to register. The email is used to confirm your account. You can upload files to share without setting up an account, but it only takes a minute to set up so I went ahead and got one. I think it would come in handy as a way to backup important files because you can access your account from any computer. This service has been mentioned in PC World, PC Magazine, C|net and others so it seems like a reputable site to me.
Now it may sound like I'm promoting this site (well I guess kinda am) but it's not because I stand to gain anything financially from doing so. I just am always a little surprised (and pleased !) when I come across someone giving away a free service or computer program. It amazes me especially when a person creates a program, whether it be a game or other program and then offers it up as freeware for others to use. I'm not a programmer but I know enough about computer programming to realize it is not that easy to write a program that works well.
Anyway you should check out MediaMax for yourself to see if it may be something you could use. They do have paid accounts as well if you require more storage space, but I think 25 gigs for free is a pretty good deal!
And my mother always told me never to turn down anything that was free.
Or want to share large files with a friend?
Just need a place to backup some files?
I discovered this great site earlier today that gives you 25 Gigabytes of FREE storage! That's a quarter of the size of my hard drive. It's called MediaMax (it used to be known as Streamload).
I decided to check it out and it works really well. You can upload files there for storage (as backup) or use it to share files with others. If you want to send a file to someone, most email attachments are very limited in size, but you can store larger files at MediaMax for others to download. Videos, photos, music, any kind of file can be stored there. I uploaded some picture files as a test. Files can be organized into various categories/folders for easier access.
All you need to do is an email address and password to register. The email is used to confirm your account. You can upload files to share without setting up an account, but it only takes a minute to set up so I went ahead and got one. I think it would come in handy as a way to backup important files because you can access your account from any computer. This service has been mentioned in PC World, PC Magazine, C|net and others so it seems like a reputable site to me.
Now it may sound like I'm promoting this site (well I guess kinda am) but it's not because I stand to gain anything financially from doing so. I just am always a little surprised (and pleased !) when I come across someone giving away a free service or computer program. It amazes me especially when a person creates a program, whether it be a game or other program and then offers it up as freeware for others to use. I'm not a programmer but I know enough about computer programming to realize it is not that easy to write a program that works well.
Anyway you should check out MediaMax for yourself to see if it may be something you could use. They do have paid accounts as well if you require more storage space, but I think 25 gigs for free is a pretty good deal!
And my mother always told me never to turn down anything that was free.
Friday, January 05, 2007
New Way To Search ?
Google, Yahoo, AltaVista, DogPile, all search engines you may have heard of or used. But recently I came upon a different type of search engine, which I thought was rather unique.
At one time you could "Ask Jeeves", but they fired poor Jeeves and now that search engine is just known as "Ask". But now you can ask "Ms. Dewey" and she will try to find the information you request. But be warned, Ms. Dewey can have a bit of an attitude at times and can get impatient if you don't "speak up" and type something so she can show off her searching skills.
Whether or not Ms. Dewey catches on or not is anyone's guess but I think she's pretty cool. The only thing that takes a little getting used to is that the search results appear in a scrolling list to the right of Ms. Dewey, which means you only see a few items at a time.
Pay Ms. Dewey a visit, ask her a few questions, and see what you think of her search abilities.
At one time you could "Ask Jeeves", but they fired poor Jeeves and now that search engine is just known as "Ask". But now you can ask "Ms. Dewey" and she will try to find the information you request. But be warned, Ms. Dewey can have a bit of an attitude at times and can get impatient if you don't "speak up" and type something so she can show off her searching skills.
Whether or not Ms. Dewey catches on or not is anyone's guess but I think she's pretty cool. The only thing that takes a little getting used to is that the search results appear in a scrolling list to the right of Ms. Dewey, which means you only see a few items at a time.
Pay Ms. Dewey a visit, ask her a few questions, and see what you think of her search abilities.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The Lazy Blogger
Wow, it's been 10 days since I posted anything here. Guess I'm getting really lazy lately. And I shouldn't be because I've been off work since before Christmas, so I should have plenty of energy. But for some reason I just haven't been able to motivate myself to do much of anything but watch TV and surf the web. I always seem to have less energy in the winter anyway--I think it's the cold weather that tires me out. I'm like a cold-blooded lizard...when the temperature goes down, so does my energy level.
Today I had to attend a safe food-handling class at my job, and we have another one tomorrow, then we have a week and a half before we re-open for the Spring semester. Hopefully my energy level will pick up before then.
I want to switch this blog to the new Blogger format and hope to do that this weekend or early next week. Also would like to redesign it a bit. I tried putting up a new top banner, but I can't seem to get rid of the old title (the red lettering). I'll have to figure out how to accomplish that as well. (If anyone knows, let me know what I'm doing wrong.)
I'd probably write more here if my life were more interesting, but there's nothing to report on as far as my personal life goes--just work and sitting at home on the computer. I do want to try to update the blog more often, at least once a day if possible. Most likely I will talk about subjects that interest me and mention web sites that I think are cool. Since really all I do is surf the web during my spare time that's about all I have to write about anyway. But I do come across a LOT of great stuff that I hope others might also be interested in.
Here's one example: I came across this incredible sci-fi/fantasy artwork while using Stumbleupon.com. The artist/creator is
Mathias Verhasselt
Visual Development/Concept Design
or at least that's the only credit I saw on the site.
Check it out...you won't be disappointed.
Today I had to attend a safe food-handling class at my job, and we have another one tomorrow, then we have a week and a half before we re-open for the Spring semester. Hopefully my energy level will pick up before then.
I want to switch this blog to the new Blogger format and hope to do that this weekend or early next week. Also would like to redesign it a bit. I tried putting up a new top banner, but I can't seem to get rid of the old title (the red lettering). I'll have to figure out how to accomplish that as well. (If anyone knows, let me know what I'm doing wrong.)
I'd probably write more here if my life were more interesting, but there's nothing to report on as far as my personal life goes--just work and sitting at home on the computer. I do want to try to update the blog more often, at least once a day if possible. Most likely I will talk about subjects that interest me and mention web sites that I think are cool. Since really all I do is surf the web during my spare time that's about all I have to write about anyway. But I do come across a LOT of great stuff that I hope others might also be interested in.
Here's one example: I came across this incredible sci-fi/fantasy artwork while using Stumbleupon.com. The artist/creator is
Mathias Verhasselt
Visual Development/Concept Design
or at least that's the only credit I saw on the site.
Check it out...you won't be disappointed.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Tuesday TimeWasters
I've been feeling restless lately and wanted to travel somewhere far, far away, so I headed up to the Moon and if you go here you can see some of the sights I saw there.
After returning to Earth I landed in Australia and saw some of the beautiful sights there. Go here if you want to see those sights too.
Before returning home, I visited a few other places as well but only had time to see a few spots. I will no doubt soon head off again to explore some more of the amazing locations I only just glimpsed in my travels.
Links to the places I visited:
1-The Moon
2-Australia {Peter Murphy's Panoramic VR Weblog} (click on the word 'panorama' in each blog entry to view)
3-Various other places {This was my favorite site because the images are full-screen and really amazing!)
These panoramic images use Quicktime VR and will work if you have Quicktime installed on your computer. Some may take a few seconds to load, so be patient. It will be worth the wait.
You can zoom in the images using the 'shift' key and zoom out using the 'control' key.
Hold your left mouse button down to move the image around.
But be aware--if you're easily prone to "motion sickness" you might want to move the images slowly because they are so realistic you may become a bit dizzy. I was born 'dizzy' so it doesn't really bother me.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Come Fly With Me !
I can't believe it's almost the middle of August already--where did the summer go? And why does it go by so fast, but the winter goes on and on and on....? It's already feeling a bit chilly in the evenings when I'm out in the park or taking a walk. I dread the coming cold weather. So why do I stay in this part of the country when I could be living somewhere warm year-round?
The answer is: I Don't Know !!!
Guess I'm too stupid or too lazy to pack my bags and get out of here. Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll finally work up the nerve to just take off somewhere. I didn't even get out of town for a day or two this summer. 'Course, that's mainly because I spent most of my "vacation money" to buy this new laptop computer I'm using right now. But it was worth it to me because I love the internet and spend much of my time there.
So for the time being I'll have to do my traveling virtually on the web. All of this long-winded blabber is my way of mentioning this cool website I came across recently.
It's called "Goggles" and uses Google Maps in a unique way by allowing you to fly around in a little plane while viewing the satellite images of the area below. Basically it is like a simple flight sim game with some basic controls. The arrow keys control your altitude and direction, while the 'a' & 'z' keys are for accelerating or slowing your plane. Space bar fires your gun which shoots little 'bullets' at ground targets. Just be careful not too fly too low or you'll crash!
But to me the coolest thing about it is that you can custumize the game to allow you to fly over your own hometown! The procedure to do this takes a little bit of work, but it's not too difficult if you follow the directions carefully.
So if you want to see Albany, NY (where I live), and who wouldn't, click here (and then press 'start' when you get to the site) and you can fly right over my head! Just don't go shooting at me if you see me walking down one of the streets!
The site has been getting hit with a lot of traffic lately, so it may take a minute for the maps to load, so don't be too impatient if it doesn't work right away. Or just try again later.
There are a number of major world cities to choose from so your hometown may already be there. If not, you can add yours by customizing it as I mentioned . If you do add your hometown, be sure to "bookmark" or save as a "favorite" that particular link because it won't be saved on the main "Goggles" page.
And since I'm feeling generous today, I'll make this offer to any of the loyal readers of my blog. If you want to custumize it to your hometown and can't figure it out or get it to work, leave a comment here or e-mail me (martron3000@yahoo.com) and I'll set it up for you and send you the link. Just tell what city or town you want and I'll do my best to customize it for you. There may be some areas that Google maps doesn't cover, but I'm sure most cities should be available.
The answer is: I Don't Know !!!
Guess I'm too stupid or too lazy to pack my bags and get out of here. Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll finally work up the nerve to just take off somewhere. I didn't even get out of town for a day or two this summer. 'Course, that's mainly because I spent most of my "vacation money" to buy this new laptop computer I'm using right now. But it was worth it to me because I love the internet and spend much of my time there.
So for the time being I'll have to do my traveling virtually on the web. All of this long-winded blabber is my way of mentioning this cool website I came across recently.
It's called "Goggles" and uses Google Maps in a unique way by allowing you to fly around in a little plane while viewing the satellite images of the area below. Basically it is like a simple flight sim game with some basic controls. The arrow keys control your altitude and direction, while the 'a' & 'z' keys are for accelerating or slowing your plane. Space bar fires your gun which shoots little 'bullets' at ground targets. Just be careful not too fly too low or you'll crash!
But to me the coolest thing about it is that you can custumize the game to allow you to fly over your own hometown! The procedure to do this takes a little bit of work, but it's not too difficult if you follow the directions carefully.
So if you want to see Albany, NY (where I live), and who wouldn't, click here (and then press 'start' when you get to the site) and you can fly right over my head! Just don't go shooting at me if you see me walking down one of the streets!
The site has been getting hit with a lot of traffic lately, so it may take a minute for the maps to load, so don't be too impatient if it doesn't work right away. Or just try again later.
There are a number of major world cities to choose from so your hometown may already be there. If not, you can add yours by customizing it as I mentioned . If you do add your hometown, be sure to "bookmark" or save as a "favorite" that particular link because it won't be saved on the main "Goggles" page.
And since I'm feeling generous today, I'll make this offer to any of the loyal readers of my blog. If you want to custumize it to your hometown and can't figure it out or get it to work, leave a comment here or e-mail me (martron3000@yahoo.com) and I'll set it up for you and send you the link. Just tell what city or town you want and I'll do my best to customize it for you. There may be some areas that Google maps doesn't cover, but I'm sure most cities should be available.
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