Jun 1, 2008
May 25, 2008
Tracking possible storm development by Thursday
See that big green, blue, purple, and red area on the left? That's a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico. It hasn't formed yet but models like the one above (GFS) are showing that it might show itself starting Thursday. I'm just soo glad Hurricane season is about to start! I do miss tracking these storms!
The Phoenix has landed!
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft landed in the northern polar region of Mars today to begin three months of examining a site chosen for its likelihood of having frozen water within reach of the lander's robotic arm.
Radio signals received at 4:53:44 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53:44 p.m. Eastern Time) confirmed the Phoenix Mars Lander had survived its difficult final descent and touchdown 15 minutes earlier. The signals took that long to travel from Mars to Earth at the speed of light.
Mission team members at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson, cheered confirmation of the landing and eagerly awaited further information from Phoenix later tonight.
"For the first time in 32 years, and only the third time in history, a JPL team has carried out a soft landing on Mars," Griffin said. "I couldn't be happier to be here to witness this incredible achievement."
During its 422-million-mile flight from Earth to Mars after launching on Aug. 4, 2007, Phoenix relied on electricity from solar panels during the spacecraft's cruise stage. The cruise stage was jettisoned seven minutes before the lander, encased in a protective shell, entered the Martian atmosphere. Batteries provide electricity until the lander's own pair of solar arrays spread open.
May 16, 2008
Life changing dream
So, some of you know that my job is crap and I'm now soo poor that I hardly afford gas to get to work.
The stress of it finally came down on me last night. I couldn't sleep and at about 3:30AM I started crying. I was soo scared I wouldn't be able to support my family and that I would have to declare bankruptcy. I cried myself to sleep for the 1st time since I was a young boy.
My baby woke me up at about 6 to eat. I fed him and put him back to sleep at about 6:30.
I fell back asleep on the living room recliner. I only slept for about an hour but I had a dream.
I dreamed that I was being interviewed at a business. I knew WHERE it was but I didn't know what business it was.
When I woke up at 8 I told my wife about my dream and she said, "that would be wonderful"
Well, she went off to work at the day-care and I couldn't go back to sleep. I decided that I would get dressed and visit the actual place I dreamed about. It was a strip mall near a Super Wal-Mart that has just opened last month. Now in my dream I didn't know what business it was so I decided to go to each store asking if they were hiring.
I first walked into the sports store knowing that I couldn't have been dreaming of the nail salon or the Cato. The sports store wasn't hiring.
Next, I walked into the Cash Store (Payday advances/Title loans) and asked. He said they were hiring a manager and an assistant manager. I asked for an application and applied for the manager position.
As SOON as I was done filling out the application the area supervisor walked in (coming from Houston) and said he would interview me right then and there!
15 minutes later, I was the sole manager of the store!!!!!!!
This is my 1st full-time job and I had no previous management experience. I just dressed sharp and spoke clearly. They are starting me at $30,000/yr with full benefits!
My life has completely flipped around and it was all because of that dream!!!
May 15, 2008
May 14, 2008
How to "Jailbreak" your iPhone
So, you just bought your iPhone either because AT&T Wireless is selling refurbished ones for as low as $249 or you have been living under a rock and didn't know that the 3G iPhone is right around the corner. You want to get "all that cool stuff" you have seen on your friend's iPhone but don't know where to start. Well, I'm here to rescue you from your very default life.
Take these steps to jailbreak your new iPhone:
1. Download iLiberty+ (PC or Mac) and install it.
2. It might ask you to update it. Just follow the onscreen instructions. After it's done start iLiberty+ again.
3. At the top click on the 'Advanced' tab then click on the 'Payloads available on repo' tab at the bottom. You'll see this:
4. Now click the 'Refresh' button at the bottom right. It will download a file and then you'll see a list of Payloads. Scroll down and put a check next to 'Installer'. Then click the 'Download' button at the bottom right.
5. Now click the 'Local' tab at the bottom. Select 'Installer' again.
6. Click the 'Standard' tab at the top. Plug in your iPhone and then click the 'Go for it!' button at the bottom right. It will ask you to unplug your iPhone and then plug it back in. Once you do it will start the jailbreaking process on your iPhone. On your iPhone, you'll see a bunch of white text scroll very fast on a black background.
7. When your iPhone get's back to the lock screen your done! Enjoy your new l33t iPhone!
DeviantArt launches iPhone optimized site
My all time favorite art site has finally launched it's own iPhone optimized site! DeviantArt announced Monday that when you visit it's site on an iPhone, it will redirect you to it's iPhone site.
I took the time to browse the features of the site and it looks like I have a new hobby for when I'm at work. The site is simple to use on the iPhone and looks fantastic! I immediately added the page to my iPhone's homescreen and it popped up as a very nice DeviantArt icon.
For instance, tapping the Menu icon at the top right will cause the Categories menu to cascade down as if you were browsing the desktop site. It's also fast heck! Tapping links that sort the art by time and popularity does not cause the iPhone to reload the page. It just instantly loads the images. Tapping a ppicture reveals a beautifully rendered image that has been automatically adjusted for the iPhone's display. You have full access to your DeviantArt account and can do everything on the iPhone site that you can do on the normal site.
This is a great site and has now become even better for iPhone owners!
Review of the Microsoft Zune Portable Media Player
The first thing that caught my attention when I first heard about the Zune was the rumor that it would feature Wifi built into the player. This excited me greatly because I knew then and there that the Zune was the next big thing. Bill Gates called the Zune “future proof”. He is absolutely right! I’ll get into this a little later.
I bought my two Zunes the day they were released knowing that little fact. I purchased a white Zune and a black/blue Zune. The price was great! $249.99 for the next gen media player was right on target to take on the iPod. This pricing ended up working very well, as the Zune in November rated at #2 best selling player right behind the iPod.
With each purchase of a Zune you get a 14-day trial to Zune Pass, a marketplace for unlimited music downloads. This is Microsoft’s new way of paying for music. With a monthly payment of $14, you can download as much music as you want and automatically sync it to your Zune.
The Zune Hardware:
The Zune comes in a beautiful brown/pink box which feels quite heavy at first. Opening the box reminded me of opening a 5th Gen iPod. It’s very stylish and features an extra amount of compartments to make opening the box a fun experience. When I first held the Zune itself, the first thing I though was “Sexy!”. This thing feels absolutely wonderful in hand and the casing is made of a hard industrial grade plastic which has proven to be immune to any scratches since I bought it weeks ago.
If you buy a black or brown Zune the cases for those feature an “after-shot “effect. The black Zune actually has a blue hue to it and the brown Zune has a green hue. It’s very stylish and adds to the sexiness of Zune. The Zune is put together like something the military would use. When you hold it makes you feel like it is invincible. The front of the Zune has the 5-way navigation controls. The controls feel great but if you are a previous iPod user, you may find it disappointing. The other two buttons are flush with the Zune but are still easy to press. The left one is the “back” button and the right one is for play/pause. On the top of the Zune is the hold switch and the headphone port.
The 3 inch screen is protected with a hard plastic lens that also seems extremely resistant to scratches. Seriously, whatever Toshiba (the manufacturer of the Zune) used to cover this screen should be used on every screen in the world. The screen is very bright and the colors are vibrant. Watching movies and viewing pictures on the Zune is a very pleasant experience. No more squinting for me! The large screen is also perfect for the album art that is displayed during music playback. The interface is intuitive and easy to use. You will become a Zune master with only a few minutes of use. It consists of the “forward/back” system similar to the iPod’s.
Music:
When you enter the music menu, the menu items appear at the top of the screen. You can scroll left or right to each section. The sections are; playlists, songs, genres, albums and artists. Your music is automatically categorized and the Zune PC software downloads album art for all your songs. You can rate your music on the go or add songs or albums to the quick list. The quick list is an on-the-go playlist. Customization of the quick list is limited and the feature is not meant to create professional playlists. The order of the list is based on the order you add songs to it. The albums menu features all your albums including the names, artists and the album art besides each listing.
Of course, you can shuffle all your music. The shuffle feature is great and I never hear the same playlist twice. The sound is good using the pheadphones that come with the Zune. But you would probably want to upgrade your headphones. I have been using Sony DJ style headphones and the music from the Zune sounds absolutely wonderful.
Videos:
The Zune supports native playback of Windows Media Video (.wmv) and the Zune software converts most .avi’s and .mp4’s. The .mp4 format is used by the iPod and all videos converted for the iPod will playback perfectly on the Zune since the Zune’s resolution is the same as the iPods (240 by 320). I can’t say I have ever watched a full movie on a small device before but with the Zune’s large and bright screen, watching through an entire movie on a bus or plane is a treat! I especially enjoy watching episodes of 24 or Invader Zim on the go. I haven’t found myself bored since I purchased my Zune because now I mostly watch videos on the go. The items on the top menu in videos are; all videos, music videos and movies. You have to let the Zune PC software know which menu you want a certain video in. Other wise every video will go into the “all videos” menu.
Pictures:
The Zune software will automatically sync all the pictures in the “My Pictures” folder on your PC to your Zune. When viewed on the Zune, all pictures are displayed in landscape orientation. For some pictures this isn’t optimum though, as they would look better being displayed “longways”. This system is in place because of the TV out function of the Zune. You can use an A/V cable to plug the Zune into your TV and view your movies and pictures on the TV. I haven’t tried this yet but I will and write up a review of the feature including a nice video of it in action.
You can view your pictures on the Zune by the folder or by date. You can also set any picture as your background on your Zune. As you move from the main menu to any submenu, the background zoos in slightly and gets darker. It’s pretty cool. You can also start a slideshow by folder which comes in handy when plugged into the TV.
Radio:
The Zune has an FM radio built into the device. It uses the wire of your headphones as an antenna and reception is actually pretty good. I can even pick up some stations better on my Zune than I can in my Mazda 3. The Zune uses an autoseek to find channels. You cannot enter a channel in. When it finds a clear channel, it will bookmark it.
When you tune into an FM station that supports Metadata, the Zune will display the station name including the song name and artist. Sometimes it takes a few seconds to load the data but it is a cool feature none the less. Pressing the Pause button during FM playback will only mute the audio. You cannot record FM radio. And I don't see that feature in the future.
Community:
The one feature the Zune has that no other player has is it’s built in Wifi. This allows you to send songs and pictures to other Zune’s within 30 feet from you. When you send a song to another person though, they have to go by the 3×3 rule (3 days or 3 plays).
After you have played the song 3 times or had the song for 3 days, the song becomes disabled and you can only view the songs metadata. Recently there has been a hack to bypass that which can be found in the “Hacks and Mods” section of this site.
The Community top menu consists of; Inbox, Me and Nearby. The Inbox is where songs that are sent to you are stored. Nearby let’s you see what other people are listening to. You have the option of blocking another Zune from sending you things. Not sure why you would need it unless some pervert is trying to send their nude pics to you constantly.
Right now the Wifi is used only for that purpose. But, as Bill said, the Zune is future proof. The hardware is there and all it takes is a firmware release to unlock more potential. We can expect great things later on from the Zune team.
Settings:
The settings menu allows you to turn on/off the Wifi, adjust the equalizer, set the transition time for slideshows, set the backlight timer, adjust the brightness, turn the TV out on/off and change your online status to either detailed or basic.
Battery Life:
I can watch through about 3 or 4 full length movies before the battery dies. The Zunes battery is pretty much on par with the 5.5G iPod. I can listen to music all day with the Wifi turned off, without having to recharge the Zune. So I would say the battery life is exceptional.
Conclusion:
All in all I believe the Zune is a very capable device and I would defiantly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t already own an iPod. Even if you do have an iPod, I suggest looking into the Zune. Microsoft has put out Zune kiosks in many retail stores including Gamestop and Target for you to try them yourself. A+ Microsoft!
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