Cool Gadgets and Things ...

Well, do it on your own risk :-)

Labels: How to pop a Wheelie

Thoughts about Ecology :-)

I consider myself to be a balanced person and try not to jump to quick conclusions about things. For about all my life I knew that human change nature and in most cases we do it in a very messy, bad way ( look in the toilet every time you take a damp : does it look or smell as good as apple you just eat?:-)): we destroy forest and pollute water and air. Well, nature have also ability to recover quick ( turn our shit back to apples again so we can eat), may be not to it original state, but it manage to wipe our human deeds even in places like Chernobyl. Well, for the starters, Earth is huge compare to our biomass and it may not care much. After all, why would one prefer dead planet over live planet if this one is not living thing itself? And live come with changes in it environment. So that is fact of life, give or take.

Now, live come with domesticated politics and one of my most Ecosexual friends is in fact most political. I observed that both come together.

Now, I try to be sensible person and do less harm and waste, but never go to extreme and try to enjoy life. I did not bought Hybrid car, as my friend did: because it does not make economic sense to me yet. Do math yourself. Not did I changed my grass cutter to electric one ( I favor my other friend idea of just slacking and not cutting the grass better, but I do some times work on my grass and bushes - I like it )


Anyway, I also lucky to have friends that will ride 2-cycle motor bike ( dirty!) or kill deer for fun: they are also very human to me: all of above is just different aspects of humanity and well... just that.

Now, my wife try to recycle and save water and staff. She came from Japan and I do my best to help.

Why I say all this ?

Well, some information come to me recently and it confirms my own understanding of things:

I do not know if numbers are right, but it makes sense to me:

Here is about global warming ( human do less then 3% of CO2 in the picture )

CO2

Last WIRED wrote about water issues.

Guess what ? Majority of water goes to farming and next big part to industry. Even most wast full consumers in countries like USA or for some reason Australia ( hot there ?) can not consume more than 10%.

So, to make 1 pair of blue jeans they spend 2,866 fucking gallons of water !!!

WOW!

So, I drive used car and use my old gas lawnmower, but ask yourself, how much resources a new Toyota Prius consumed ? What will be more sensible: me driving my Toyota Siena for 30 min a day ( I choose to live close to work) or driving Prius for 1-1.5 hours a day in traffic + getting a new car ?

How about going to Fryes ? We know how China looks: industry! We help in making China dirty by getting more cool gadgets we all like :-)

Ruing 4-8 computers all the time ( Server farms) to store what ? Video! we almost never watch: versus fetching DVD or connecting to ATV or Netflix 1-2 times a week?
Electricity only looks clean: it is actuality very dirty to make :-) do you spend 1 Kilowatt and hour for 24/7 only to spin HDs? Well.

My wife like to buy blue jeans, yeah ( and other things made of fabric and leather- just like I do like buy computers and iPhones - all high industry things that consume a lot of resources and polute air and water in China and alike): do you remember how much water ( and probably other staff needed?)

Now, go kick my ass if I missed my mistake a recycling bin and putting this plastic bottle in trash :-)


My point is : best we can do is to fight with dirty industries and consume less hi-tech ;-) ( but I love it !) and try to make our own surroundings better: keep grass green and water clean where we live... at least so we and our kids can enjoy it :-)

Labels: Thoughts about Ecology

We hit the first show in Redmond. It was amazingly cool. I was
reminded what some people are capable off. No CGI , no smoke and
mirrors: fun! Kids had a lot of fun! I saw a six pack and body I
wanted for this birthday: I am geting close, but it may take me one
more year;-) I hope:-)

If you know me and my music taste you will be SHOCKED!. While I can listen to almost any jazz or classical music ( from hard core bi-Booop to Rachmaninoff



, not just sweet Baroqe or George Benson :-)) I normally rotate

Merlin Manson

,

Linkin Park



and

Korn


or put Obzen Meshugah ON. You may catch me listening to

Metalica ( :-) )



or

Nirvana


: but that is old classic :-)

But my favorite song of all times is this:




You can see this remix too:



Hot :-) Right ?

Labels: Disco Dancer - Jimmy Adja

Vista!!!

Well, guess what: my CD/DVD drive disappeared :-) on new laptop. Yes, I installed a few applications: Halo 2 and staff, but not even started to install my tool set.

I googled Internet for "Vista cdrom.sys error 39" and found that many folks have same issue.

Common Solution ( bad solution for regular user - involves registry editing that may not be safe !)

You need find and edit this registry key :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\
Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11­CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

1. Click on the start menu.
2. If this is a Vista machine in the search box type in “regedit” without the quotation marks.
3. Maximize the HKLM and then go ahead and browse until you reach the key listed above.
4. In the right panel you’ll see something along the lines of “UpperFilter” and “LowerFilter” you want to click on each “filter” key and hit delete. Click yes when it asks to confirm if you wish to delete the key.
5. Restart Windows.

Well, how cool is that ?

Labels: Vista CDROM.SYS and Error 39: DVD drive gone

We all know that high technology is ... yeah, baby ... sexy. Watch this mock up of Apple iPod commercial that take it ... well ... literally :-)

It is funny and tasteful, no ?

Have fun and keep it UP!

Labels: iPod is ... sexy

View Larger Map

But ... you can not embed traffic. Hm...

Click here if you want to see it:
Redmond Traffic

Labels: Google Traffic ( now with accidents)

As you know I like green Ninja ZX6R a lot( but is not ready for 600c i4 yet )



Well, see: even Porsche is scared :-)



I ride "milder" and "low end torquer" 650cc V-twin based SV 650 S that is more like this tractor on the picture ( but mine not green )




Mind you so... my typical ride is not boring ... not at all. It is fun and look almost exactly like this ( my pipes sounds a bit better so ... to my ears anyway) :




... I have to learn a lot. Here is my ultimate goal anyway (on ZX6R of course):



and talking about these "track days" I would like to ride some cool Ducati like one in this video ( and I do not need a car to challenge me) :




:-)

Ride safe and have fun!

Labels: Good to make a new friends

You may see even more Magic on WWDC 08 that is coming soon in SF CA. June it is:
See you all there!

Pay attention on OS X: this guy show that it is actuality there and it is, as you know after you download SDK and check it yourself ( if iPhone shaking is not working for you for some reason)

Labels: iPhone Magic

They did it again and it is amazing. I did not tried to run this board yet, but I want to try it.


You can find more information here or jump to PDF instead.

Naturally, one of the obvious places to buy this h/w and rest of things you will need like cases is Logic Supply

You can also check New Egg for other mini ITX size h/w

But what is amazing about VIA Pico is that they pack MPEG2 and all other goodies you need including Ethernet and 7.1 audio in such a small size. You can put 1G of RAM and connect SATA or SSD if you like.

They say it will run even Vista. Now THAT is REALLY amazing ! :-)

Labels: VIA Pico-ITX

Well, I was majoring in Physics and mathematical models and this cool s/w is just fun for me and I hope for you as well... or for you kids!



There is no iPhone version yet, but check Mario's blog: there are some thing simple that is alike.

There are many more complex systems exist , of course



But what can compare with this?



If you a hardcore Halo fun like one of my friends ? :) Priceless ...


Thank you Ben for sending this link ( Phun )
!

I just must to play with it on my new tx2110 with touch screen ! Yez!!!

Labels: Phun

Hey ... It is very unusual for Mac Fun Boy like me to buy new Windowz h/w... but I had to get some computer for my boy and his old laptops he inherited just do not work anymore ( overheat and crash or freeze during game). So... it was very hard to find a proper notepad. Prices are low, but Vista sucks and I could not see a good configuration for a good price that also looks good enough... not until recently: I was getting Tax s/w in Office Deport and saw tx2110 for only 900$! in a very nice configuration. This Laptop won many prices of hardware geeks and has a 5 start reviews almost anywhere you look. You can get yours in CircuitCity , but you may end up paying more : like 1100$ or so:


CircuitCity .com

This Laptop is new: mine made in April and has Vista SP1. It come with 3G of RAM : max Vista 32 can use ( and hell, it use it freaking ALL !!!!) HD is 250G ( but you only have about 200G left for you :-))

It has nVidia ( low end) card, but that is better than Intel of course.


Double core AMD running on 2.1Ghz and Wacom table in screen with both pen and touch! You can rotate screen and make tablet.

Well... It is the size of Apple Air but have all the bells and whistles you can only think off: just name it: it has it: even remote control ! ( well, I can name one: it does not have slot for big Card Bus card, so I have to use my USB reader for Security card - only sucky thing about this one - but only or me, not for most "free folks")

Well, it has "in print" that HP put to make it look cool, like tatto.

So, while Vista sucks, laptop is usable and nice h/w. I would prefer to get Apple for that price, but it will probably cost me 2000$+ ( Mac Book Pro ) and it will be 15'' not 12'' one, so, I had to have Windowz Box anyway and this one is one of the best there are.

I passed on Mac Book Air, but got this a instead for half the price :-)

This is my birthday present or some thing :-)

Labels: HP Pavilion tx2110us 12.1" Touchscreen Entertainment Laptop

We all know how good Indians at making cool films. Back in Russia we were used to classify all flicks as good, bad and Indian ( they were in category by itself;-)) My favorite is "Disco Dancer" I think it is truly classical. But lo and behold : see this Bajaj bike commercial.




Mind you : this is a very small 250cc bike ( similar to Ninja 250, only Indian made)

I love this web site: they make a very nice gadgets out of common carp.

This is simply beautiful ray gun!


Blu-Ray Laser Phaser! - Funny blooper videos are here

Labels: Blue Ray Start Track Phaser.

When you start to think that Google is great... here is time to see what this dude made out of his hacked iPhone and iPod Touch. Pay attention how accelerometer is used to control movement. Just imagine what will happen in June when major gaming companies ( that already got SDK and Apple Developer certificate I am 100% sure) will unleash cool 3D and networking games on iTunes. This rocks!

Labels: Quake III on iPhone and iPod Touch

How to build a scalable Web Application for free ?

See this cool demo from this "Evil Google" :-)



Note: dude use Mac ( he rulz !)

Now, next step will be combining Apple iPhone SDK and Google Web App :-)

Btw, to get your ideas what people did with this cool shit go here and check it out:

demos

Labels: Evil Google :-)

Are you turned on by sea and marine creatures? I am! This one that look like Chiholi glass work from Seattle aquarium just next to it. What do you want to do with ... this... Oh ... young diver;-)? No.... Do not tell me!!!

The title of this flick is misleading. It should be "The Sucker"

OK. I have to admit. I was THE SUCKER. I bought this DVD, so I can watch it with my family tonight (yesterday). My Netflix DVDs were stale and I can not convince my wife to rent some thing via AppleTV even so it is SO MUCH CHEAPER ( she starts: but if we will like it and want to watch again and bla bla bla - fact is most movies suck SO MUCH you are taking ZERO risk) , but ... I deserve it :-)

Anyway... Here is review and I do not care if I spoil it for you : do not watch it!

Actually, if you want to check how bad kids flick can suck, check it out on Netflix or add it to your hall of sucking fame here

:

Note: it should be a book. Normally, watching movie before reading book is safe, but not in this case. I think book should just blow !

Ok... So, this young fella ... he likes his iPod and he probably smoke some dope.

Note: I have no idea about dope. All I know is from Hollywood. I think this one show the real dope users and is a very nice flick ( stupid and funny):




He is a very marketable type, much more so compare to Harry Potter: this dude is blond, sweet boy ( reminds Home Alone), but he got problems with his puberty or some thing. One would assume that such a cool dude will never have any problem to score, but he probably very heavy on his iPod and weed or some things. Despite his friends wing-man support he fails to nail a hot chick on the bus ( older one , mind you). So his bro nails her and make laugh out of him. He he he. That piss young dude a lot and he want to kill him or some thing.

Thinking about that again, it may be a heavier staff, LCD ?




But the movie is not about that ( it will not suck I guess that much if it would) ... it is about boys problems with his own head. He start seeing things and some drunk old dudes say that he is special. The village doctor is horse riding pervert and fart out a very fat black smoke or so boy see :-) Boy see a lot. He have to get medical attention or some thing. But he believes that he is special, the one, like Neo. At first he do not want to believe this shit,but voices in his head and old drunken dudes convince him eventually.


Mind you : this flick could make a fine parody on so much more good movies: you can see copy/paste from Beautiful Mind, Matrix - when two law enforcement dudes take him in custody and turns to monsters and birds - is it Steven King or last installation of Resident Evil ? Dunno ... So, this birds hunt him, he see rotating spirals and his own bro try to cut his trout. Nice family !!! I say ! But ... this is "Dove Foundation": you will not see any blood here. It is all shopped off. People not get killed: they sucked in some kind of dark vortex cloud or inside glass ball. Happy X-Mass!!! Hey !


Global warming retaliates and dark and cold come to this village. Some how they show Statue of Liberty: yezzz!!! How many movies like to mock it and destroy, This one too.


Well.. coolest moment is when they come to the past and he try to steal shield from Viking. Mind you : still no blood in fight there and Viking mainly trough each other, but very very high. So this dude try to trade his CASIO G-Shock watch! And ... it works!!! YEAAAAH!!!! To balance past and future I guess that bring some small pussy from the past. Viking probably swim to Japan in this bought to establish CASIO INC or some thing :-) Rulez!!!

Yeah and all this secret objects look like cheap shit. Not very creative. Also, one form Viking shield do fit like spider doll from Night Watch - get out the hole like a spider. :-) I guess same dudes do special effects.

To make it suck even more they add Science : Physic and black holes and light/dark balance. Such crap ... Well... I prefer space ships doing noise in vacuum any day! And even jumping bus in Speed is so much more fun, well

But the real puzzle is why 6? I think it is between "Fifth element" - boy himself is last key and "Seven sins" :-) Or it is just number of sides of cube ? Hm...

The only lesson from this: if you see "FAMILY APPROVED" "Heartland Award" "Kids First" logo: run away. It will SUCK BIG BIG BIG way :-)

This movie get FILE SUCKS STARTS. ( I will give 6, but it is max )

Here is the lost of movies that do it better:

1) Best police ( FBI?) integration's and correct behavior during such ( not that it will help you anyway, unless you are THE ONE :-) ):



2) About puberty and fire and anger control: This one simple the best :-)




3) About glass balls and more practical use of it:



4) About problems with your head: This one simply rocks!




Note: I do not know where the idea of rotating spirals is from. Help me here :-)

If you spot some other ideas that other implemented better : write in comments !

Labels: The Seeker. Review.

Here ... I write about things that sucks too :-) Today's morning was ruined by misbehaving h/w and s/w. I got nudged (pinged) again about very urgent one page print job, so I had to take actions: I run IT department in our house. First, my Samsung ML 2010 connected to Windows Home Server failed to produce quality print. It looked like it need a new cartridge. So I went to Staples and spend 80$ on it. When I put it back... it became worse : red light on printer. After voodoo manipulations and power sockets switch it did not became better. So i started to mediate, trying to get Zen ... It was between how I destroy almost new printer and should I get a new one, may be now in color. I like to put thing apart and have some experience with Laser printers ( Canon :-)) so I opened all doors and windows of device and started to look what wrong. Than I saw an alien object !!! I think one of my kids put it there. It was small transparent plastic ruler. Shit... I took it out and printer printed with old cartridge. Obviously I had old one open already. Well, may be old one is just shaken and will die soon, anyway. Not a biggie. Now we need to print from Windows over WiFi. It took some re-configurations, reboots and users rights to make it work. Like removing printer and adding it back. Well... Ok. So we got this one print and I was back t my beloved Mac Mini. Nope... Not printing !!! It was !

It show some stupid NT_ACCESS_DENIED even so I provided login and it can see SMB on my Windows Home Server for files. Shit ... Gooooogle.

Yeah !!! Apple screwed up it again. Last security fix ? I dunno. I eat tons of shit witH CUPS on OS X ( when it just hit the fan 10.1 ? 10.2 ?) But we are in 10.5 now... unexpected ... Apple tried realy hard to make it "just work for me". I tried everything and ... Goooooogled again. Here here !!!

"Does anyone know if a secure solution is going to be suggested?

This is my error log file:
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstoappleps (PID 594)
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstocupsraster (PID 595)
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/rastertogutenprint.5.1 (PID 596)
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Started backend /usr/libexec/cups/backend/smb (PID 597)
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Authenticated by "".
E 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Session setup failed: NT_STATUS_NO_SUCH_FILE
E 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Session setup failed: NT_STATUS_LOGON_FAILURE
E 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Job 6 Tree connect failed (NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED)
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Saving printers.conf...
E 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 PID 597 (/usr/libexec/cups/backend/smb) stopped with status 2!
I 25/Mar/2008:16:10:58 -0700 Hint: Try setting the LogLevel to "debug" to find out more.
I 25/Mar/2008:16:11:01 -0700 Job 6 Backend returned status 2 (authentication required)
"

YEZZZ!!!!!


Tree connect failed (NT_STATUS_ACCESS_DENIED

That will be me! Me ! me !!!

And answer is

"I had the same problem and deleted the printers in question. I re-added the printers using the cups utility: http://localhost:631 using the URI: smb://username:password@domain/server/Printershare.
It works.
When the URI is displayed in the cups utility or from Preferences->Print and FAX the password is not visible. "

I have to explain my dear reader what it means:

1) You had "workgroup" printer or just added it in OS X. You entered your password in key chain when OS X asked. Looks cool. You print - NO LOVE. Show stupid message. But you see and can use your windows server from Mac. Ya?

2) You have to run Web UI for CUPS : http://localhost:631

3) You have to find your printer there ( last tab ?) and RECONFIGURE IT !

4) You need URL to be in form"smb://username:password@domain/server/Printershare" in my case it was "smb://server1:133/Samsung" and it have to be smb://Peter:12345@workgroup/server1/Samsung"

5) It worked for me, but half day were lost.

And this is good : my HP Photosmart driver will not even install under Windows Home Server. Fuck you HP!!!

My Canon CP100 ( photo die sub) - will "fight" with HP and they will kill each other: you have to kill some "agents" each company runs to print on ether one. Also, Canon need to be pinged by Canon Utility. It will not start printing without it. It is under XP.

It is ... just crap.

I worked for print company - large format and it was not much better :-)

I did not bought any printer THIS YEAR, but I doubt it is much better compare to couple years ago.

Making printers work seems to be such an easy thing... but ... no. :-)

Crap...

P.S. Did not tried WiFi network printers yet.

P.P.S. My Phtosmart used as "photo print station": it has LCD and fastest way to print photo is to copy back to memory card and insert in device. Use LCD and buttons to format and print. This works. But ... hey ...

P.P.P.S

URL

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1334197&tstart=45

Labels: Printing from Mac ( OS X 10.5) to Windows Server Troubleshooting

Spelling and Grammar are not my strongest points... as you may already know. Naturally... I was looking for a good teacher. Lo and behold! I found one that not just sexy, but came from the same country! How cool is that ?!



This video has some surprise for admires of Mr. George Bush. This man in is not as simple as some try to picture him :-) He knows Latin!

Labels: HotForWords