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Back again/Accidents/Photosynth
Thursday, August 28, 2008
After not posting for…OVER half a year, I’m back and hopefully with more content. A lot has happened over the time that I haven’t been posting so you should see a few posts that may have actually happened quite a while ago, for example:
I crashed my new car! Yes, mere months after replacing the Mazda I went and rear ended an SUV. Once again the insurance company decided to write it off. I didn’t agree so I bought it back and got it repaired with the money they gave me. Thankfully everything came up even. I now drive a 1998 Volvo S70, which in my eyes is a nice upgrade.
While on the topic of car accidents, I’m not the only one who rear ends things. One of my good friends, Evan, also rear ended an SUV. However his accident was much more…destructive.
Thats right, it all burnt. Since the Jetta is a lower car, it split the gas tank of the SUV which sparked the blaze. All of a sudden my crashes aren’t so bad, are they?
In a somewhat related note, Microsoft has released a web app entitled Photosynth which takes your photos and creates a simulated 3D enviroment. The app is still in beta and you must have a Microsoft Live account to register. Using the photos that I sent to the autobody shop, I gave it a shot and this is what I came out with.
I think that Photosynth has a lot of potential, but throughout my usage of the app I have already experienced 3 errors so there is definitely work to be done.
Well that’s it for today, hopefully there will be enough content in the future to consider the site active.
External Links:
http://www.photosynth.com
“iPod” Tax Shows It’s Head Once Again
Monday, December 24, 2007
Shot down once by the Canadian Supreme Court in 2005, the “iPod” tax has once again come into play. Similar to the levy that is currently charged on blank media such as CD’s and DVD’s, consumers would be taxed on purchases of electronic storage devices.
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Consumers could potentially be hit by a new tax on electronic storage devices such as iPods and blank memory cards in 2008.
The federal Copyright Board has given its approval for a special levy on iPods and other digital players because they can be used to copy movies and music. |
The proposed levy would range in a fashion similar to the following:
- 85 cents for rewritable CDs and MiniDisc
- $2 for 1 GB removable electronic memory cards
- $25 for a digital audio recorder between 1 and 10 GBs
- $75 for digital audio recorder of more than 30 GBs
The problem with a levy such as this is that you are assuming all consumers are performing illegal activities. Even though there may be some truth in their reasoning, it’s not a good enough reason to implement something as drastic as this. This also is essentially punishment before the crime, which may lead consumers to believe that it would no longer be illegal to download music since they have already paid for it.
The levy has a way to go yet before it will be put into effect, but even the thought of it scares me.
External Links:
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20071221/copyright_act_071221/20071221?hub=TopStories
http://www.news.com/No-iPod-tax-for-Canada/2100-1041_3-5809117.html
Photo By:
Oliver Lavery
I’d Rather Die Than Accept Your Fortune Cookie Request, Thanks Though.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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Third party Facebook apps are one of the many great features of the site. They are also the worst. There are plenty of great apps that can do useful things like show your latest photos from your Flickr feed, or stories from your Digg feed. There are apps to help you organize your life so that you can be more efficient. If you can think of it, there’s probably an app for it. The problem is there are thousands of useless apps that make your Facebook profile seem a little bit more like Myspace.
I am guilty of having one of these useless apps I must confess, but LOLCats have a special place in my heart. I have no problems with having one or two of these “bad” apps since they are somewhat comical. But when you have the Vampire, Zombie, and WereWolf all installed to your profile for example, it just looks like utter shit. Each of these apps are absolutely useless and only annoy your friends when you request that they join you in destroying their own profiles. When I have to scroll up and down the page 5 times just to find your wall, there’s a problem. In closing, use Facebook apps sparingly and responsibly. If you develop these crap apps, give it a rest. Please. |
OiNK.cd Shut Down by British and Dutch Police
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The popular private music torrent tracker OiNK.cd has been shut down by British and Dutch police yesterday. A 24-year-old IT worker from Middlesbrough was arrested on Tuesday morning.
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Within a few hours of a popular pre-release track being posted on the OiNK site, hundreds of copies can be found. |
Though it is sad to see this site go, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be more than one to take its place.
External Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tees/7057812.stm
Filed in Tech | Comments (0) | PermalinkFind Downloadable Music For Free
Friday, October 12, 2007
The site Audio Raider uses Google search features to find folders of music around the internet. Naturally, “it’s not to be used for copyrighted content”.
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Under no circumstances is this site to be used to download copyrighted content. All results are pulled directly from Google. None of the files in the results are hosted on this server. |
Out of the searches I did, my success rate was rather high. I was unable to find music of some of the local bands I am fan of, but thats somewhat expected. Overall its a great tool.
Filed in Tech | Comments (0) | PermalinkBuild Your Own GPS Navigation System For $40
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Using the OnStar system’s GPS module out of your pre-2004 vehicle, which come 2008 will no longer be in service, you can build a USB device for your laptop. Plug the data into Google Maps and see where you are and get directions to where you’re going.
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It’s not really OnStar’s fault that so many subscribers will soon be hitting the little blue button in vain. Starting in 2008, cellphone providers will stop supporting the old analog cellphone system, on which OnStar has long relied to provide near-ubiquitous coverage for its roadside-assistance service. |
Basically what happens is you remove the GPS module from the car connect it to your laptop, after a few additions, which can use the data from the device by putting it into a mapping program. I definitely think I’m going to try this sometime.
External Links:
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/ddb6bb1fd9ca4110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
Photo by: AFO
Filed in Tech | Comments (0) | PermalinkCan owning a WiFi Skype phone land you in jail?
Thursday, August 23, 2007
There have been arrests made around the world of people using someone else’s unsecured wifi. This itself is a gray area, but what about people using wifi cellphones?
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I was in an unfamiliar place and someone rang my review Skype phone and I answered the call as if I had a cell phone. But wait a minute, how did I manage to get a connection? After some further investigation I determined that the phone was automatically configured to connect any “open” Wi-Fi network it can find. |
It all falls back to the owner of the access point. If you’re not going to protect it, its your fault if, for example, illegal activities are performed on your connection. The insurance companies treat you the same way with car theft. If you leave your keys in it and your vehicle is stolen, generally they won’t cover you. Until there are specific rules or laws made on the subject of open wifi, just hope you aren’t in the wrong place at the wrong time.
External Link:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=699
Photo by: mr_quan_nguyen
Filed in Tech | Comments (0) | PermalinkPlug and Play PS2 Memory Card ModChip
Monday, August 20, 2007
Within the next two weeks a special memory card known as Vast will be release to the modchip market. Essentially, you plug it in and it gives you all the functions of a soldered chip, without the voided warranties and risk of destroying your machine.
| The product essentially exploits a flaw in the PS2 memory card system and uses MagicGate technology which means that the totally innovative design will be 100% secure. When inserted, the following operating system will boot giving any PS2/Two access to a wealth of features. |
For me, this means I can play custom Guitar Hero songs on any PS2, anywhere. Dragonforce anyone?
External Link:
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=19915
Photo by: Mickal
Filed in Tech | Comments (0) | PermalinkVista Suicide By Pressing Two Keys
Saturday, July 14, 2007
It has recently been found that you can overwhelm, freeze, then crash Windows Vista by just holding down two keys.
“Either way, you too can watch Windows Vista die in front of your eyes. To make matters worse, the key combination is one of the most utilized keyboard shortcuts in Windows. Pressing the Windows key together with “E” will start Computer in Windows Vista. Keeping the two keys pressed will open a large volume of Computer windows. Want to crush Windows Vista? Nothing could be simpler. Just keep the two keys pressed for more than 20 - 30 seconds.”
I did try it on my laptop just for the hell of it and sure enough, after a mere 5 seconds of holding, I had a little over 30 windows open. I expect that Microsoft will have this patched up in the near future. The person coding Vista that day must have had a hard morning after a late night.
External Link:
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Perform-a-Windows-Vista-Suicide-Pressing-Just-2-Keys-59886.shtml
Cellphone Default Unlock and Security Codes
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
I came across this PDF file used for testing mobile phone signal strength in the field.
To do this, it covers how to access the programming menu which is used by your carrier to connect your phone to their service. To get to this menu, it gives you the default security/unlock code to most phones where needed. It has been my experience that both Verizon and Rogers do not change their codes from the defaults. Thanks to this I am using a Verison branded Motorola E815 with my MTS carrier. There are usually two codes, one 6 digit and one 4 digit. The 4 digit number is often the last four digits of your own number. For example the code for 555-7104 would be 7104. So if your interested in a new phone and plan to buy one from a friend or on eBay, stick to those branded phones and you should have little trouble switching it to your new carrier.
The PDF can be found at this link:
http://www.tessco.com/yts/customerservice/techsupport/datasheets/pdf/FieldTestModes.pdf