Entries from May 2007 ↓

Are innovators trend watchers or trend setters – perhaps we should ask Google Hot Trends?

• CamTwist – Allocinit
  (tags: Mac-video webcam webcam-software)
• ChatFX – Video Effects within iChat
  (tags: mac-video ichat video)

I purchased the Cingular BlackJack (aka Samsung i-607) from Cingular on the day it was released. Why? It was one of their very first 3G phones and it looked gorgeous! A Windows SMARTphone that is thin and light – it packs a ton of features into a small, good looking package. Watch my video below to learn about this SMARTphone’s pitfalls and why I still love it for all its warts. Would I buy it again? Yes, it’s still the best overall multifunction PDA on the market from my perspective.

[tags]vlog, vlogging, Cell phone review, Mobile Phone review, tethered, phone modem, modem, high speed, 3G, Cingular, Cingular 3G, HSDPA[/tags]

Well, there are a lot of reasons that I shouldn’t podcast, mainly that I talk too much, and mostly because I say too little. At least when I write I can edit out some of the drivel. In the end though I’m too interested in technology, social media, and the Internet to let everyone else make all this user generated video content and not play around a bit with it myself.

Equipment has always been a barrier for me – especially finding a decent web cam to use. I read recently about using your camcorder as a high-end web cam and the hack attracted me. I wanted to set up a good web cam for me and the kids so Shannon could see us on her business travels and Max and Charlie could see me from California. We’ve tried this before but it’s never really worked. Perhaps using the camcorder will help make it a more permanent solution. That and video podcasting.

I purchased a 6-pin to 4-pin Firewire cable (aka IEEE 1394 cable) from CompUSA today so I could hook my Mac Powerbook up to my 7 year old digital camcorder. Everything worked the first time I plugged it in. I then signed up with the free service called ustream.tv that lets you both record and stream live web cam podcasts. The most popular content creators are now attracting thousands of viewers for their live shows and it’s actually pretty fun to watch some of them.

So, here’s my test on ustream. The audio is horrid, as is the content, but it’s a start. First order of business is to figure out a decent and inexpensive microphone.

• Relational databases: Defining relationships between database tables
  (tags: database)
• Neopoleon : Oopsies…
  naked blogging done first rate
  (tags: naked-blogging transparency blogging drugs drug-abuse)
• About FireWire, iLink, IEEE1394 on Camcorders and Computers
  hooking up a minidv camcorder to your mac via the firewire port.
  (tags: webcam firewire)

We’ve all been there before. The Homer Simpson esque head slap. The one where you realize you’ve been doing or saying something galactically stupid and as the moment of realization sweeps over you in a head rushing, oh-god-no moment you realize you have been delivered. Me being me and all, I’ve had more than my fair share of these. I am after all, a Gude.

What’s my latest?

Frustrated to pieces by my 2 going on 3 year old Mac Powerbook G4 (1.67Ghz) I have been pining to upgrade my system. Easy to justify since it is my main business tool and my business is conducted almost completely over the computer. I’ve got the nice monitor (22 inch) keyboard and mouse for the job and the Mac was (and has been) the perfect CPU. But as with all computers it has been showing its age. It got so bad recently I bought a separate USB 2.0 hard disk drive to offload the piles of photos, videos and songs filling up my hard drive. A maxed out hard drive being one of the main culprits of slow-as-death computer performance. I needed the drive as a backup anyway and it only cost $80 at Costco so no big deal. Did that help? Hell no.

My memory is OK at 1GB, I could use 2GB but my problems don’t seem to be helped by running minimal apps, a typical performance hit from overtaxed memory.

I researched huge amounts of Mac optimization utilities. Decided on a couple of freebies that came well reviewed. Ran all of those. Nothing – same symptom.

and what is that symptom?

The Apple multi-color pinwheel whirring away like I was trying to edit a 1 terrabyte video. I got serious about diagnostics today because I almost lost it and was moments away from using my Mac as a frisbee. Instead, it being my main source of income and all, I bore down on Google and as I was doing that something simple occured to me. It didn’t have anything to do with my Google searches either.

My browser. What if my browser was the problem?

And it was. Good old, usually reliable Mozilla Firefox 2.0. Latest production build and all. I fired up Safari and Camino (which has the same Mozilla engine in it but a pretty Mac face). Both ran with none of the delays I’ve seen. Head slap. Never would have thought.

Of course, it probably has nothing to do with Firefox and everything to do with some external Firefox add-on that was hacked together by…well a hack. I need to start removing those one-by-one to see what is truly causing it. Of course, maybe there really is a problem with Firefox. I’ll update this post when I find out.

Technorati Tags: Firefox, Firefox performance issues, Mac Performance Issues

• Circus Ponies
  mac note taking and task management
  (tags: tasks life-hacks notes note-taking mac mac-apps)

What a great word and what a great song!

Just a couple of days ago Shannon’s Uncle Sam was asking me for the musician, author and album that this great song appears on. I was was wondering how he knew the song and it turns out Shannon heard him singing it while we were out on the golf course on Sam and Pat’s recent visit. Shannon played our favorite version for Sam later that day in our truck on our ride home. The song has bee covered to death – the Rufus Wainwright version being one of the newer attempts. And for good reason – it is such a sweet song. I pretty much get goosebumps every time I listen to this track. Sam, the short answer to your question is that Rufus Wainwright is the musician you heard Shannon play and his version of Hallelujah is on the 2001 Shrek Soundtrack. Buy a copy online from this link.

Here’s a sample of our favorite version to listen to by Rufus Wainwright, recorded for the Shrek soundtrack. Wainwright ring any bells? It should – Rufus is Louden Wainwright Jr’s son. Who the hell is Loudon Wainwright Jr.? Man, if you don’t know look him up!

According to the write up on Wikipedia the original song author was Leonard Cohen, who wrote the song for the 1984 release Various Positions. It also appeared on Cohen’s greatest hits album titled The Essential Leonard Cohen from 2002. Here’s a sample of the master’s version (clicking on this link opens a music player in your web browser – hit your browser back button to get back to this post).

Many people think the song was written by Jeff Buckley, where the song appeared on his 1994 release Grace. Many also attribute the song to John Cale where his version appeared on Fragments of a Rainy Season from 1992. Cale’s version is often the most well known due it appearing on the Shrek Soundtrack and the T.V. Shows Scrubs and MTV’s Orange County.

Here are samples of all the versions that I own (clicking on any of these links opens a music player in your web browser – hit your browser back button to get back to this post):

Here’s a live John Cale version and also the version that you may know from Shrek (update I’m still trying to find this one in my CD’s so I’ll put a sample up later).

Jeff Buckley.

You can get these songs from iTunes, Amazon’s music store, Rhapsody (subscription required) and I’m sure many other music retailers online. Of course, you can also walk, run, ride, skate, or drive down to your local music shop and grab a copy of these great versions pretty easily since most albums and musicians cited are popular enough to have wide distribution.

I was sitting and working away on my computer a few minutes ago when I notice Shan is listening to a rap song on her computer. Not unusual. It seemed a little weak by the sounds of things but I wasn’t paying much attention.

The rhymer’s kept talking about representin’ 802 (if you don’t know rap, area codes are often used to represent the hood you’re from). About the 20th time that they said 802, and the fact that Shannon was starting to crack up, I put two and two together (or 802 as it happens) and realized that 802 is the area code for Vermont. It doesn’t take a genious to know that rap and Vermont don’t go together. I used to live next door in New Hampshire. It’s funny – enjoy the laughs.

• Zattoo – TV to Go
  (tags: iptv umich alex-karpowitsch)
• How to edit WordPress themes using Dreamweaver | Leon Kilat ::: The Cybercafe Experiments
  (tags: design-resources wordpress-design)