Great acting job...
Chuck vs….
Bismo has us watching the TV spy farce ‘Chuck’ on DVD. It’s a lot of fun. Here’s a sample.
Add comment March 12th, 2010
Posts filed under 'Tech'
Turning Japanese
Some years back, Panasonic had an ISP business in Japan called hi-ho. They had a series of bizarre, addictive, animated commercials that Eric and I enjoyed watching. I remember Eric wasn’t even a teenager yet, so it had to have been a while ago. This one has a winter theme.
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
Eric liked this one…
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
…and this was my favorite.
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
Tech note: these are the first videos I have made using CamStudio.
Add comment March 6th, 2010
Plugging a leak product
A week ago I talked about the leak around the water feed pipe coming into the basement, and my clever way of getting the water to go into a bucket.
The seal around the pipe failed during an exceptionally heavy rain that fell on top of snow, so my next challenge was to plug the gap around the pipe. I used Loctite epoxy putty.
All you have to do is cut the amount of putty you need, then kneed it to activate the epoxy. Once mixed you have 10-15 minutes to mold it before it sets. I don’t know yet whether or not the leak is fixed, but if it is all it took was half of a $4 tube of putty.
Add comment March 6th, 2010
Streaming Video on Sony BDP-N460
My Blu-ray player is a Sony BDP-N460. On Amazon.com there is some controversy about its streaming video performance with Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand. I also regularly use a Roku HD for both of these services, and occasionally I watch Netflix with my son’s Xbox 360. Each unit has its advantages.
I have captured 15+ minutes of streaming video from the BDP-N460, so those who may be interested in buying one can see for themselves how it works. There is an old 1 GB flash drive in the back for BD Live, that has no effect on streaming video playback. The Internet service is 25 Mbps Verizon FiOS.
Get the Flash Player to see the wordTube Media Player.
Follow-up: It has been suggested that a better demonstration would be to compare the BDP-N460 to the Roku HD when playing a HD video from Netflix Watch Instantly. Here is the comparison, taken with a Canon digital camera sitting on top of a Panasonic 720p front projector.
Add comment February 14th, 2010
XP BSOD
Microsoft may now have a worse public relations problem than Toyota has:
I don’t automatically take Windows updates. I set XP to notify me and then I click “Advanced” to review them. That way I can ignore Office-related changes that don’t apply to my home computers. But yesterday all of the updates looked like necessary security fixes, so I took them on my desktop and netbook computers. If I have to deal with this BSOD problem I will be very, very unhappy.
Follow-up: It seems that if the first restart of Windows is OK after the update for KB977165, you won’t go BSOD. I updated my Dell Inspiron 530 desktop and Acer Aspire One netbook, and both were OK after restarting. I have not yet updated Carol’s laptop and Eric’s tower PC, and for now I think I’ll leave them that way.
I don’t know how widespread these crashes are. The update was released two days ago, and news of the XP failures doesn’t seem to be in the non-technical media.
Follow-up: Microsoft has pulled the patch.
Follow-up: Appears as though the affected machines might have already been infected.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1764&tag=nl.e589
1 comment February 11th, 2010
Colbert’s Max-iPad
Last week, Stephen Colbert was shamelessly (when isn’t he shameless?) begging/pleading/demanding to be given an Apple iPad — or, as he called it, the Tampad. Last night he whipped one out at the Grammys.
Add comment February 1st, 2010