Timely Thoughts on Various Subjects by Daniel Smith

P90x Day 8: Chest and Back

2010-09-08T14:45:00.000-07:00

Day 8 of P90x... We did the Chest and Back routine again. Did 222 push-ups total with all the variations.

So far Chest and Back is my favorite of all the P90x workouts.

P90x Day 2 and 3

2010-09-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday on the P90x schedule we did Plyometrics. It was pretty rough on my legs.

Today was Shoulders and Back plus Ab Ripper X and it was pretty fun.

Just gotta keep going!

P90x: First day Complete

2010-08-31T15:32:00.001-07:00

First day of P90x is finished. Starting out with the Classic or Doubles schedule, I will have to see whether I have time and want to do the doubles in round two four weeks from now.
Did Chest&Back plus AbRipperX today.
Avram is doing it with me, its great to have a buddy so you can push yourself harder.
BRING IT!

Protein Drinks(including Muscle Milk) with heavy metals

2010-08-30T15:46:00.000-07:00

Was looking into getting some protein drink mix to take since I'm starting P90x and found this article by Consumer Reports. I'm sure you'll be better off making your own shake/drink every day.

I was just about to order some Muscle Milk but this popped my bubble.

Looks like I need to figure out what I can make that will taste good and be good for me as an energy drink every day.

Here are two quotes from the article:

"We purchased 15 protein powders and drinks mainly in the New York metro area or online and tested multiple samples of each for arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury. The results showed a considerable range, but levels in three products were of particular concern because consuming three servings a day could result in daily exposure to arsenic, cadmium, or lead exceeding the limits proposed by USP."

"Cadmium raises special concern because it accumulates in and can damage the kidneys, the same organs that can be damaged by excessive protein consumption. And it can take 20 years for the body to eliminate even half the cadmium absorbed today."

Here is the article.

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/july/food/protein-drinks/overview/index.htm

Update

2010-08-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

The Canon Rebel T1i has held through the two week music academy and is still running strong. I still have a lot to learn but its already producing photos that look much better than any that I could take with the Powershot.

Took just over 1000 photos at Music Academy but haven't uploaded them yet. I also took HD videos of almost all of the performances from camp and have been busy uploading the videos this past week. The pictures should be up soon.

As for computer benchmarking, in this new house we cleaned out a shed in the back and are setting it up to be a worthy bench area. I will be setting up tomorrow and testing graphics cards once again. Looks like I'll do pretesting with my modded GPUs on water then switch over to dry ice in this garage. Possibly can do LN2 in this shed but I'm not sure yet.

An Antec 1200w Power Supply arrived today. This will be the unit to power all of the setups I will be testing from now on. Should be a good one.

Moving

2010-07-28T12:34:00.000-07:00

We are moving to another house so its going to be a busy week.... :)
Camp pictures and movies will be up later this week hopefully... The HD videos are taking a while to upload.

Canon T1i/D500

2010-07-07T11:55:00.000-07:00

Getting a new camera in by next week. Looking forward to taking some macros of scenery! It will definitely be an upgrade from the point-and-shoot camera I've been using.
Going to a Music Camp next week so if it comes in time I will have to take plenty of pictures!

Camera:
Canon Digital Rebel T1i SLR
Lenses:
Canon 55-250mm
Sigma 50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM

Will update with a little review when it comes in.

Memories

2010-06-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

Found a picture from when I was in a soccer team while going through our stuff today getting ready to move. Hard to believe it was nearly 10 years ago!

8MB/s DSL

2010-05-19T04:53:00.000-07:00

Got 8MB/s internet as advertised. Its been running at 6.8MB/s for about a year now daily, but it changed today.

Workshop and Cascade

2010-01-21T04:49:00.000-08:00

We cleaned out our gararge Monday and set up a computer workshop in the corner.
We also have the Cascade unit running and have it in the garage as well.
I have been testing out quite a few different CPUs and gpus and getting a motherboard and CPU to work together at -100*C... I have a lot to learn still about subzero computer testing for sure.
Pictures to come soon.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod

BSA Polar Bear Award trip

2010-01-10T14:57:00.000-08:00

Posted pictures from this weekend's cold BSA trip. http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux/BSAPolarBearAwardCampingTripOakMtn#
We camped overnight at Oak Mtn State Park in below-freezing weather and cooked three meals for the BSA polar bear award. We had a great time and learned more about camping in the cold and about our gear. :)

iPod App

2010-01-07T11:48:00.000-08:00

Favorite app so far: TuneIn Radio
I can get all of the local radio stations as well as many more all over the world!

2010-01-06T08:59:00.000-08:00

Some new toys arrived yesterday... currently testing out all of their features...
Ipod Touch 3G and a Gigabyte X58 UD7 Motherboard. :)

The motherboard supports USB 3.0 and SATA 3, I don't have any USB 3 devices to test unfotunately... :(
I got it up to 227bclk fairly easily, I will have to work on it some more to get 237bclk. (The "bclk wall" for this UD7 board for many other overclockers)

The Ipod supports microphone voice recording, haven't tried that out yet either. I'll have to see if the voice recognition software works as well as my headset with Windows...

2010-01-03T14:17:00.000-08:00

I've been pretty busy and neglecting to post lately.
I haven't taken many pictures in the last few months of people and scenery but instead have been getting many shots of my computer builds.
Around this Christmas season I have been up to building 3 or so computers a week. It has been fun to assemble and test them.
I have a Cascade CPU cooler to freeze any CPU to -100*C for extreme overclocking and have been learning a lot about insulating motherboards because of that. :)
I will try to post much more this month, pictures, results, and maybe a few hardware reviews.

I have missed my church family over the last two months and hope to see you all soon!
Daniel

Lian Li PC-P80 GTX 295 H2O build pictures are up!

2009-10-23T23:11:00.000-07:00

Uploaded some "showcase" pictures of a build made in a beautiful Lian Li PC-P80 Full Tower Case. The CPU and GPUs are watercooled.
Enjoy!
Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux/LianLiPCP80GTX295H2OBuild#

Hwbot medals from Q9650 overclocking

2009-08-20T14:49:00.001-07:00

I have been working really hard on overclocking my Q9650 CPU lately... and earned 3 medals with it on Hwbot!
I got 2nd place for wPrime 32m, 3rd place in wPrime 1024m, and forth place in CPU-Z running it at over 4.9ghz!
#2 Core 2 Q9650 (3Ghz) in wPrime 32m with 8sec 29ms - 9.7 points
#3 Core 2 Q9650 (3Ghz) in wPrime 1024m with 4min 21sec 380ms - 4.8 points
#4 Core 2 Q9650 (3Ghz) in CPU-Z with 4959.48 mhz - 6.3 points
My hwbot profile is Linuxfan2000
I'm going to be testing out a core i7 system with 3 GTX 280s in SLI next to get points for them on Hwbot next week...

Don't know what hwbot is?

Hwbot is a website dedicated to gathering specifications and benchmarks of computer hardware. You can use hwbot to compare processors or videocards with each other, or to compare your own computer to ten thousands of other people, to see whether it performs well. Hwbot is not limited to one benchmark application, but a whole suite of the most popular benchmark applications available.

Hwbot is unique in several ways. In contrary to other hardware sites, the performance of the hardware is not based on one user experience, but based on a community of thousands of users. This is especially usefull when inspecting the overclockability of a processor or videocard. One reviewer being able to overclock a certain processor 20% over stock speed means very little, but if hundreds of users manage to overclock it by 20% on average, you know a whole lot more.

Using hwbot encourages your forum vistors. You can configure our botservice to scan a specific forum topic to monitor for benchmark results. If a forum visitor posts a benchmark result in the topic, it will automatically be added to the team ranking once scanned by a bot.

Due to the excellent set of features and active crew, hwbot has grown to be the favorite place for overclockers (people who run there system faster than factory settings) to compete. Check out the team, member and result hall of fame.

www.hwbot.org

Judge Rules Microsoft Word Can No Longer Be Sold

2009-08-13T08:24:00.000-07:00

Thought this was an interesting piece of news...
From HotHardWare.com article here: http://hothardware.com/News/Judge-Rules-Microsoft-Word-Can-No-Longer-Be-Sold/

Judge Leonard Davis, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, ruled Tuesday that Microsoft can no longer sell Microsoft Word in the United States due to patent infringement.

One can imagine Bill Gates having to pick himself off the floor after reading that ruling. Indeed, the ubiquitous software that you probably use every day infringes a patent, according to Davis.

To be perfectly honest, Davis' ruling simply upheld a $200M verdict issued in May of this year, when jurors found that Microsoft willfully infringed an i4i patent, (No. 5,787,449) on a method for reading XML.

According to the press release announcing the judgment, the injunction prohibits Microsoft from selling or importing to the United States any Microsoft Word products that have the capability of opening .XML, .DOCX or DOCM files (XML files) containing custom XML. Microsoft has 60 days to comply.

The injunction reads:
Microsoft Corporation is hereby permanently enjoined from performing the following actions with Microsoft Word 2003, Microsoft Word 2007, and Microsoft Word products not more than colorably different from Microsoft Word 2003 or Microsoft Word 2007 (collectively “Infringing and Future Word Products”) during the term of U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449:

1. selling, offering to sell, and/or importing in or into the United States any Infringing and Future Word Products that have the capability of opening a .XML, .DOCX, or .DOCM file (“an XML file”) containing custom XML;

2. using any Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML;

3. instructing or encouraging anyone to use any Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML;

4. providing support or assistance to anyone that describes how to use any infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML;

and

5. testing, demonstrating, or marketing the ability of the Infringing and Future Word Products to open an XML file containing custom XML.

This injunction does not apply to any of the above actions wherein the Infringing and Future Word Products open an XML file as plain text.

This injunction also does not apply to any of the above actions wherein any of the Infringing and Future Word Products, upon opening an XML file, applies a custom tranform that removes all custom XML elements.

This injunction further does not apply to Microsoft providing support or assistance to anyone that describes how to use any of the infringing products to open an XML file containing custom XML if that product was licensed or sold before the date this injunction takes effect.
Naturally, since Microsoft has 60 days to comply, you can expect that during those 60 days, some sort of appeal will be filed to allow Microsoft to continue selling the product. Either that, or Microsoft and i4i will come to some sort of an agreement (or will in the future).

Pictures from BSA trip and PCC Computer Science Camp

2009-07-30T12:24:00.000-07:00

Pictures from our troop's recent orienteering trip are now on Picasa Web Albums here: http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux/BSAOrienteeringMBTripJune2009#
It was a short overnight trip to complete requirements for the Orienteering Merit Badge.

Also on Picasa I have uploaded the pictures from PCC's Computer Science camp, they are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux/PCCComputerScienceCamp2009#

Unloading the grand piano

2009-07-21T10:10:00.000-07:00

Grabbed a few shots when this grand piano was being delivered... :)

Its a 1988 Kawai GS-50 6'8" Grand Piano.

2009-07-05T22:53:00.000-07:00

Some more pictures of flowers, played with the lighting and colors, used a handheld tripod for some of the shots too... no flash, evening with medium-low sunlight.

2009-07-05T22:39:00.001-07:00

A healthy lunch!

Sparkling car

2009-07-05T22:38:00.001-07:00

Just cleaned and shined Toyota Prius!

2009-07-05T22:09:00.000-07:00

Wood on a bench... you can see the thin line of focus, I thought it was interesting...

2009-07-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Just a leaf... Everyday objects can make interesting pictures can't they? :)

SpeedTest.Net test

2009-06-03T08:36:00.000-07:00

Seems like my ping speed is pretty good today, last time I tested it it was 32ms... :)

Hit 5ghz on an E8400

2009-06-01T21:09:00.000-07:00

Finally got 5ghz on a CPU, an E8400 on my watercooling setup... the voltages were really dangerous, but the temperature was pretty safe staying under 30*C on both cores.
CPU-Z hasn't been validating my submissions lately for some reason, too bad...
Here is the validation page: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=578155

Z-5500 review

2009-05-30T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is a great speaker set as everyone else says, it can get fairly loud without any special settings, and looks great. The bass is huge, some people say its as big as an ottoman, you get the idea. :)
The smaller speakers are very heavy for their size, so they are harder to knock over and such, and the bass probably weighs 30-40lbs, which makes it something to move around...
The control pod it also nice and hefty, and is a little taller than the side and rear speakers. The buttons and adjuster is very nice on the control pod, it is pretty well laid out.
Has plenty of connection options, you can hook up your HDTV via the digital connection, thats a nice option.

I was a little disappointed at first at this system, as it didn't seem to be able to get "that much" louder than my previous G51 150w Logitech 5.1 system. I had them both connected to a great Asus Xonar sound card, and boosted everything and fine tuned it in the Xonar control panel in Windows. It just didn't get much louder at max volume than the G51, and I was especially disappointed at the subwoofer, it wasn't too much louder than the G51s, the G51s' sub can really be loud!
I finally figured out that it has some special boost settings built into the control pod!
There are two different boost settings, each go to 11, so put together you get a boost of 22db over the regular maximum volume. Each boost is a sound increase of 1db.
To get the first boost you keep turning the volume control knob, it takes about a half-turn then you see the screen display the boost numbers.
Once you have boosted that, you can further boost the system by holding the mute button and turning the volume knob about a half-turn, then you will see the other 11 boosts being added to the volume you had.
So you can use a little boost with the mute button all the time if you wanted, I find that useful if you are using a laptop or an CD player input where you don't have a control panel to boost the speakers, it keeps them as loud as if they were plugged into a professional PC setup...
There are some more interesting little features that the control pod has that you might not know about, just google it!
I'm really enjoying the speakers now, the little speakers are ear-splittingly impressive, they can get really really high pitched sounds very loud, and the bass is well matched to them.
The bass in my experienced cannot be boosted too far above the center, side, and surround speakers, so to get a lot of volume out of the bass everything has to be turned up a lot, and the little speakers are extremely loud.
Great system, it'll take a lot of beating, and has enough power with the boost for anybody that isn't totally deaf. It will shake your walls and play the tunes clearly while doing so.
The bass's cooling fins get really hot after being used for a while, be careful when turning it up a lot, I would probably put a fan on it to keep the heat off...
Great system, definitely recommend it to anybody that has room, wants clarity and power for about $200-$300.
I understand that the Z-2300s are basically the same system with the same bass(actually an 8" version of this bass, same wattage) so for about $150, that'd be a great system for a lot of power, and the bass would definitely be very powerful with the two little speakers.
The bass really can get nice and loud, you just have to tweak it a bit to get the bass going... :)

Thoughts on a Samsung T260

2009-05-30T18:52:00.000-07:00

This monitor is outstanding! The TOC series's red coloring and glassy looking frame is awesome, really looks nice. It looks just like a Samsung TV, and can be hooked up to any blu-ray player via HDMI, which is very useful. It supports 1080P HD and has an extra 120 pixels tall(so the resolution is 1920 by 1200) when you use it on a PC.
The color is great, can't say I miss anything from any of the professional monitors I have had previously!
It feels a lot bigger than a 24inch LCD, and looks a lot bigger, I was surprised. The resolution is the same on a 24" and a 26 or 28" computer monitor like this one, but I really like everything a little easier to see, it doesn't look stretched or grainy at all. It makes a great TV, to watch movies on your computer or as a standalone TV.
The contrast is great too, unlike some of the older cheaper Samsung LCDs I have had(like the samsung 216BW).
I really enjoy using this monitor, and will probably keep it for years.
It is a great price, and IMO just can't be beat!
A++ for Samsung!

Watercooled computer picture

2009-05-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

From My CM690 build modded

This is my current computer configuration with the custom watercooling all over the CM690 mid tower with the new Gigabyte EP45-UD3R motherboard and the Q9650 CPU...

2009-05-30T15:13:00.000-07:00

Very interesting news! Asus is making a REAL poweful GTX 295, modified version with two GTX 285s on a single card, the normal GTX 295 that is out now is actually two GTX 275s... can't wait to see the awful price and the benchmarks! Going to be a monster of a single card... probably will compare really well with the upcoming 4890 X2... :D
News here: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/asus-nvidia-geforce-gtx,7926.html

2009-05-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Messed with some lights and objects.... I thought these were interesting.

2009-05-29T19:38:00.001-07:00

Its been raining a whole lot this past month, we have plenty of water in our pond now! Its been about every other day, raining for a few hours, and usually getting pretty hard.

4.815mhz Q9650 CPU-Z validated!

2009-05-12T21:19:00.000-07:00

I was able to get my Q9650 CPU up to 4.815GHZ and validated it on CPU-Z! I hope to push the volts and get 4.9ghz sometime later...
Here's the validation page: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=565376

Thinking it would be cool to get 5ghz on an E8400...
Running at idle of 40*C on water cooling. :)

Computer parts

2009-05-01T18:04:00.001-07:00

Been changing my personal system a bit lately, ordered a nice little Gigabyte P45 motherboard and changed my QX6850 CPU with a Q9650, benchmarking it on the custom watercooling I built a few weeks back...

Catalyst 9.4 helps 3dm03 scores!

2009-04-23T21:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a quote from hwbot's news page:
"Just a very, very small newspost to inform all our members that the recent Ati Catalyst 9.4 drivers give a very nice boost in the GT4 - Nature subtest of 3DMark03. We are talking about increases of 120+ FPS, so don’t forget to update for you next benchmark session."
Exciting! :) Maybe the 4890 will kill the 295s by a good margin in '03! :D

Scenery pictures after rain

2009-04-23T21:31:00.000-07:00

Been taking some nice pictures around the house... I really like the way the leaves with rain on them turned out!

Picture resizing program for Windows Vista

2009-04-16T10:26:00.001-07:00

Found a great resizing program that works in Windows Vista 32 and 64bit(has two versions) for JPEG images. Once you install it you can just right-click on the image and the resizing option is there. Its a great program, and very handy, I don't see why its not built into windows yet... :)
Here's the download: http://prishcom.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6A6A204ABDF15411!128.entry

Z-5500 review coming

2009-04-03T21:19:00.001-07:00

Going to be reviewing the Z-5500 5.1 surround sound system and comparing it to the Logitech X-540 and G51 systems... stay tuned!
Also will be posting a review on the Samsung T260 screen, I have lots of pictures!

2009-04-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

I now have Windows XP on my hard drive too, so I have Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit, and Windows XP Media Center Ed. 32bit on the hard drive.

Main reason is for benching and compatibility... :)

GTX 275 and 4890 released

2009-04-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, the 4890 was finally released today, and the GTX 275 by Nvidia along with it!
review by guru3d here: http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-4890-review-test/
and the GTX 275 here: http://hothardware.com/articles/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-275-Unveiled/

Got the T260!

2009-04-01T20:47:00.000-07:00

First thought on the T260, I love it! It has the resolution(I'm very glad, don't want anything less!) and it is MUCH bigger than the 24inch dell. Makes the dell look dwarfed, no joke! I'll have to post a picture, this thing is just beautiful! The darker colors are RIGHT too, its awesome! Gotta look at all of my photos and play some games now...
Its a TV screen, great size and awesome!
Sorry for the rant. :) I'll post a review and pictures later.

How to check an eBay seller's recently sold items

2009-04-01T11:11:00.000-07:00

Just use this URL
http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&since=30&userid=electricengineer03&include=0&rows=50&sort=3&completed=1
and change the "electricengineer03" after userid= and before the &include to the eBay member's name.

2009-04-01T11:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice guide by an eBay member talking about windows 7:
http://reviews.ebay.com/Windows-7-Beta-A-Decent-OS-for-a-Change_W0QQugidZ10000000011153626

2009-04-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Sold the Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP... going to trade it out for a Samsung Touch of Color T260, it is coming today! :)
Another review and pictures to follow.
Been benching on HWBot a lot, hope to get 60+ ponts and some more trophies once I get the screen in!
Joined ClubNBOC(No Boarders OverClocking), great website for experienced overclockers! check it out@ www.clubnboc.com and look to the forums!

Catalyst 9.3

2009-03-19T14:15:00.001-07:00

About to install Catalyst 9.3 for windows 7 64bit... Its the first driver by AMD that officially supports windows 7 and is supposed to make good performance improvements...

A working model of a flying car

2009-03-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Pretty interesting news on an airplane that uses regular fuel and that can also drive on the road!
There's a movie of it taking off too, their first test.
http://hothardware.com/News/Dont-Call-It-a-Flying-Car-But-It-Does-Fly/

Windows 7 RC

2009-03-16T15:12:00.001-07:00

I like the new themes and user pictures in the RC of windows 7! The logon screen and new effect for the start menu are also better. :)

Windows 7 RC

2009-03-14T18:49:00.001-07:00

Downloading Windows 7 RC1 build 7057 now...
I'll post the results...

Interesting Gaming news

2009-03-12T09:01:00.000-07:00

Article from Tomshardware.com

CryENGINE 3 Announced
Earlier this evening, Crytek GmbH said that CryENGINE 3 will make an appearance at this year's GDC Expo held in San Francisco on March 25-27. Crytek said that the new engine features scalable computation and graphics for all major upcoming platforms as well as current platforms including the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, MMO, and DX9/DX10. Additionally, the complete engine package contains the CryENGINE 3 Sandbox level editor and a WYSIWYP (what you see is what you play) tool. “CryENGINE 3 is a revolutionary change from our previous PC-only engines – and we’re applying a similar revolution to the service we provide to developers using the software to create extraordinary games. CryENGINE 3 will set the benchmark for complete game engine solutions in performance, and services to game engine licensees and their players. We’ve been preparing a long time for CryENGINE on consoles and we’re confident that Crytek will again amaze developers at GDC.” said Carl Jones, Director of Business Development CryENGINE.

ZoomDisney Changes Track with Split/Second
This morning Disney Interactive Studios dished out a nice surprise for PC gamers: an intense action racing game entitled Split/Second. The premises may sound remotely familiar, throwing gamers into the world of a hyper-competitive reality television show. The ultimate goal is to become the season champion, however the game offers more than the thrills and spills of most racing titles. According to developer Black rock Studio, player actions can alter the dynamics of the race by triggering explosive events, thus providing a strategic element. “Split/Second elevates action racing to a new level by enabling players to strategically take out their opponents by dynamically altering the course in real time,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “Split/Second further showcases Black Rock Studio’s ability to innovate and deliver a compelling experience that has wide appeal beyond the traditional racing genre.” Split/Second is scheduled to hit the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC in early 2010.

Meridian4's Obulis Heads to Steam
Game publisher Meridian4 said that its physics-based hardcore casual game Obulis will soon appear on Steam March 19th for $9.99. Based on IonFX’s mobile game of the same name, Obulis fuses highly compelling gameplay with outstanding graphics, music and "state of the art" physics effects. The game's object is to drop all of the colored spheres into their like-colored pots.

Men of War Invade GamersGate
Looks as though 1C Company's Men of War in now an exclusive title over on GamersGate for $39.99, available today to purchase and download. Men of War takes place in Europe and North Africa during the height of World War II, offering three campaigns (Soviet, Allied and German) that feature individual scenarios and structured timelines. Gamerankings currently scores Men of War with a 83 percent rating.

ZoomEVE Online Expanded... Again
The tenth free expansion for Eve Online, entitled Apocrypha, has now gone live. According to the developers, unstable wormholes have mysteriously appeared, offering gamers pathways to "dangerous and rewarding, hereto unexplored regions of space." The expansion also implements a new level of technology for ship production and a re-imagined introduction for rookie starship pilots. Apocrypha also brings to the table a huge list of improvements including full Russian support, a Premium Graphics Client for Mac gamers, a newly designed skill queue and more.

New FUEL Video Showcases Weather Effects
As the heading states, the new "Extreme Weather" video is up over on the official FUEL website, showcasing the game's powerful weather effects including snowstorms, thunderstorms and tornados. "The new video demonstrates the game-changing effect of just some of the game’s extreme weather: lightning strikes illuminate the sky, torrential rain destroys surface grip and blizzards create treacherous racing conditions. The video culminates with the awesome destructive power of the tornado, as an immense twister obliterates homes and throws a truck into the path of racers as they battle against each other and the elements." FUEL hits Games for Windows LIVE, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this May.

F.E.A.R.2: Project Origin DLC Soon
WBIE and Monolith said that new downloadable content for F.E.A.R.2: Project Origin will be available beginning mid-April. Not only will the DLC offer gamers a premium theme and picture pack, the new content will also include a "Toy Soldiers" multiplayer map that "will allow players to experience multiplayer from a new perspective." Does this mean players will take on the size of action figures and play on giant maps? Oh SiN how we miss thee... As for specific platforms, WBIE did not offer details, however given that Project Origin is a Games for Windows title, it's highly likely that PC gamers will be included. Of course, that assumption may be incorrect.

The Path Launch Trailer
A new video is now live over on the official The Path website, a "launch" trailer as Tale of Tales puts it. "At first we were going to make a traditional launch trailer." Explain creators Auriea Harvey & Michael Samyn, "You know, a little movie that explains the narrative premise of the game, shows some gameplay and then serves some kind of challenge. And our first sketches were just fine. But then we started cutting things up and working with the recordings of [composer] Jarboe reading the original fairy tale. The end result much more clearly reflects the experience of the game: strange, disjointed and completely open for interpretation while simultaneously feeling very comfortable and intimate."

Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare Patched
Matrix Games released a patch for its naval warfare simulator, Harpoon 3: Advanced Naval Warfare, updating the retail version to v3.9.4. According to the company, the update includes over 50 fixes and several additions an tweaks to overall gameplay. In addition, both the publisher and the developer -Advanced Gaming Systems- the x3.9.x updates are aimed at "improving game stability and increasing responsiveness to customer feedback." Fans are encouraged to visit the official forums and become a part of the process.

Wanted: Weapons of Fate Pre-Order Comic
Thanks to Gamestop, fans of the Wanted franchise can pick up one of three versions of Wanted Comic Issue #1 -each featuring a different and unique cover- by preordering the upcoming game, Wanted: Weapons of Fate. These special edition comics, each packaged in a "Blind" black polybag, include original cover art from comic-artist JG Jones with a select number personally signed by JG Jones himself. The game is slated to hit the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on March 24.

Chinese hackers with itunes

2009-03-12T08:56:00.001-07:00

Some interesting news... why the cards are cheap on eBay! ;)
http://hothardware.com/News/Chinese-Hackers-Crack-iTunes-Gift-Card-Algorithm/

Sound test, high pitch

2009-03-11T13:30:00.001-07:00

Can you hear this?

Created by Train Horns

Some awesome hd wallpapers!

2009-03-07T13:11:00.001-08:00

Some awesome wallpapers here! Check em out! http://www.hdwallpapers.net
I'm using the ubuntu one in the computers section on the main desktop... :)

2009-03-02T09:14:00.001-08:00

WHOOT! Just sold a custom computer on eBay! I get to build a new computer this week! :)

Two racing games for '09 by codemasters!

2009-02-24T20:15:00.000-08:00

They both look pretty cool as far as I can tell, and ESPECIALLY Dirt 2! Check it out, it looks like codemasters has some treats in the offroad racing games this year! FUEL is sceduled for may, and Dirt 2 for September 09!
Here are the sites for Fuel and Dirt 2: http://www.codemasters.com/games/?gameid=2998
http://www.codemasters.com/games/?gameid=2847

The upcoming Logitech keyboards

2009-02-17T11:33:00.001-08:00

Two new keyboards coming out by Logitech soon. The G13 game pad(not a full keyboard) and the G19 keyboard. The G19 keyboard is quite amazing, its a lot like the G15, but they changed the backlighting so you can customize the color to whatever you wish, and put a bigger full color LCD that is programmable for any OS!
Its supposed to start at $200 which is outrageous... :)
It is of course the coolest keyboard I've seen though... :P
Here are specs, pictures, and a few reviews: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/4956&cl=us,en

416GB SSD

2009-02-17T05:46:00.001-08:00

A 416GB SSD drive is on its way! Check the news out here: http://hothardware.com/News/BiTMICRO-Ships-416GB-EDisk-Altima-ATA133-SSD/

Female Driver Compilation

2009-02-13T18:43:00.000-08:00

This is hilarious! Its a bunch of bad driving...

2009-02-12T08:33:00.001-08:00

I"m now a Senior Member on the Extreme Overclocking Forums and a Powerseller on eBay! Whohoo! :D

2009-02-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a post with some pictures on that deer that the driver for google ran over a few days ago...
http://i.gizmodo.com/photogallery/googledeermap/1006564840

A thorough monitor test

2009-02-11T10:06:00.000-08:00

Ive been calibrating my monitor in every possible way to get all of the colors realalistic, the gamma correct, and the contrast... I think its better at least!
Here's a very good thorough test that you can look over/read through! Also use your screen settings, video card, and windows settings...
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

Windows 7 send feedback and watermark removal

2009-02-10T09:32:00.001-08:00

Here's the trick to removing the send feedback button on the windows 7 beta and how to remove the watermark on the desktop! http://ihackintosh.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-remove-windows-7-beta-1-build.html
Microsoft doesn't have it avaliable for download anymore, but they are still giving keys!

Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box PC demo is OUT!

2009-02-05T13:12:00.000-08:00

YAY Its out on Nzone.com now! The time demo for Burnout Paradise for PC!
Here it is, 2.9gb: http://nzone.com/object/nzone_burnoutparadise_downloads.html

CAP flight 1

2009-01-30T20:04:00.001-08:00

I've posted pictures of the first CAP flight I went on in December.
I didn't take any pictures on today's flight.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux/1stCAPFlight#

Blender games and artwork

2009-01-28T10:39:00.000-08:00

Here's a noteworthy site to check out I just found! BlenderArtists.org
I'm going to try out some game demos made with their blender engine. Check out the artwork, its amazing! http://blenderartists.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=fc9a57368376c6d6f58bd39636eee01d&f=27

Early thoughts on a Ultrasharp 2408WFP LCD

2009-01-27T13:35:00.002-08:00

A comparison of a Dell Ultrasharp 2408WFP to a Samsung Syncmaster 216BW, and some thoughts on them both.
The 2408WFP:

I finally moved to a 1920 by 1200 resolution LCD. Currently I'm using dual screens with my 22" 1680 by 1050 Sasmung 216BW.

First off, the color, brightness, and contrast is MUCH better on the 2408WFP. The Samsung just doesn't display as many colors, and in between shades as the 2408, and the difference is quite noticible! The 216BW has a normal 72% color gamut, and the 2408WFP has a 110% color gamut.

The vertical contrast on the samsung was awful, they reported 1000 to 1, but it just is plain bad when you are not level vertically. You also cannot tilt or do anything for that matter other than spin around the samsung, which means you need the screen at exactly eye level...
The 2408WFP has a contrast ratio of 1300 to 1 and its not a problem at all. The difference between the 300 nit britness screens and 400 nit is huge, I have the 2408WFP in the 50% range while the other can be all out, thats the closest match to the Ultrasharp. The whites are very bright and clear, and it makes the Syncmaster's whites look yellow. The tilt, height and rotation is very useful. I really like to rotate it 90* to make it tall, its great for web pages and forums!

Of course the resolution is a good reason to upgrade compared to the 22" LCDs, but what I really like in this screen is the color it can display!
I'll have to talk about the connections options another day... :)

Record 5.611ghz on a Core i7

2009-01-23T06:48:00.001-08:00

Here's the new record CPU-Z validated for the Core i7 CPU, done by duck on an Asus P6T6 WS Revolution board! Check out his GPUs! ;) 4 GTX 295s, for a total of 8 GPUs!
Here's the record: http://valid.canardpc.com/show_oc.php?id=486646
FYI duck also holds the world record for the fastest clock on any CPU, ran it on a P4 631. Check out all the records on this page: http://valid.canardpc.com/records.php

A HUGE PC case!

2009-01-20T20:28:00.001-08:00

Here is the biggest case around! It is a cube tower! It costs about the same as the TT Armour+ I had....
LOOK AT THIS! crazy size! Holds tons of fans!
Thermaltake website description: http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Product.aspx?S=1134&ID=1414#Tab0
Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133025

Ice

2009-01-19T15:40:00.000-08:00

Its been pretty cold in Alabama...

Cinematograph HD computer mod!

2009-01-18T14:20:00.000-08:00

Cinematograph HD Video Work log from Will Urbina on Vimeo.
Amazing mod to make an all in one powerful desktop! Check it out! It was featured in this month's Maximum PC's catalogue...

Firefox protection...

2009-01-18T13:04:00.001-08:00

From Maximum PC's website

Windows Media Player in Windows 7

2009-01-17T17:38:00.001-08:00

Still getting used to MP12 that comes with Windows 7... all the buttons are all moved... It looks great though! :P

What REALLY happens when you take off a CPU heatsink!

2009-01-17T17:36:00.001-08:00

Here's tomshardware giving a demonstration of how different CPUs react without a HSF!

PortableApps

2009-01-17T17:16:00.001-08:00

I really like the free program from PortableApps.com! It is a little program like the U3 program that comes on a lot of USB sticks... and it works really well! I have FF3, OO3, GIMP, LBreakout2, Notepad++, a really nice Bible program, PDF viewer, and a media player.

A little review on what I like in Windows 7

2009-01-12T16:26:00.000-08:00

I've been using the beta for Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit for a while now... and I'll say I love it! Its fast, stable, and has more effects than Windows Vista. I definitely think that its a good upgrade for ANYBODY, whether you are STILL using "good ole XP" or Vista... I'm definitely going to be using Windows 7 on all my systems and selling computers preloaded with it when its released! It is rumored to be released in 2010. It seems to be really stable and well developed already, so I wouldn't be surprised if it was released this year!

It is much like Vista SP1 and has all the fixes that Vista SP1 presented over the original version of Vista, which is good. The original Vista had some bugs... for example: it took FOREVER to send little items like shortcuts to the recycle bin...

The Aero interface is improved, it looks about the same but there are more colors to choose from, and a few better effects for previewing windows and such.

The task panel is totally redone, its bigger, and the buttons are grouped differently... it makes it easier to use, there is less clogging when you have a lot of programs open, and it looks cleaner. Some of the programs that come with it have changed in their appearance, Media player, Paint, and Internet Explorer.

The only problems I have seen were with the Internet Explorer 8. It still has a few bugs in handling different sites... but it is less of a hassle to set up and is going to be a lot nicer than IE7 which is currently out with Vista...(I am not a fan of Internet Exporer anyhow... Firefox FTW!)

The "Windows Experience Index" scoring system has changed, the highest score hardware can get is moved from 5.9 to 7.9. It is quite an achievement to get 7.9 with hardware currently too!(My score for the QX6850 rig is in the attached picture) The test was run with the CPU at 3.95ghz.

Something you will notice as you boot up the first time after installing Windows 7; it JUST WORKS with your hardware, no driver CDs needed! The integrated sound and video card are working from the first minute its on! So you don't get a base rating of 1.0 with your graphics card not being recognised... and you don't have to get all your motherboard drivers and install everything as part of setting up your new computer! I love that! Its like Ubuntu Linux... :)

UAC: one of the worst hated things about Windows Vista--User Account Control. It will pop up asking if want to allow or deny on almost everything you open! In windows vista, UAC is a real pain. I always turned UAC off on windows vista. In Windows 7 however, it has improved! It is a little more complex, with settings this time! It has four different settings, raging from "always notify" to "never notify". It is automatically on the third setting up, which will notify you when programs try to make changes to your computer, but it does not notify you when you make changes to windows settings. I like it much better, it does not get in the way! Its nice to have settings to tune it to your own security preference too.

Antivirus programs: AVG Antivirus is already compatible with windows 7, along with a handful of other company's programs. Comodo is not yet, but I'm sure they will be on the ball and get it working soon! AVG works great.

Bootup screen: This is no longer a 256bit color screen which is just plain ugly as ALL of the previous Windows releases had, it is a nice looking screen in full color with a shining windows logo in the middle after it says starting up... Its a lot nicer!

Overall I love Windows 7 as it is at least as snappy as Vista, looks better, and works great! Its going to be a great OS!

When I find more things I like/dislike about it, and will keep on posting!

~Daniel

P.S. anything you want to know that I missed? Post a request in the comments!

Sunset

2009-01-11T20:02:00.000-08:00

Sunset pictures at the local park on a tripod with the Canon A620 from many different perspectives... Which one is your favorite! :)

Enjoy!

2009-01-11T19:46:00.001-08:00

1TB SSD card was shows at the CES 09 show! AMAZING!

1st impression on windows 7

2009-01-11T14:17:00.001-08:00

Windows 7 Ultiamte 64bit Beta... its awesome! Very much improved and similar to vista... changed a little and updated!
I'll post a nice review later once I get to test out EVERYTHING about it... I love it! :P I saw rumors its supposed to come out in early 2010... I really think it'll probably be faster than that... I really don't have a clue though! :)
~Daniel

Windows 7 Beta!

2009-01-10T15:58:00.001-08:00

Windows 7 beta is out... and I got a beta key from Microsoft and am downloading the 64bit version! Its good until august 2009... :P I'll buy it when it comes out anyhow...
I'll try it out today, it takes exactly an hour to download the 3.2gbs of it... :)

2009-01-06T16:26:00.001-08:00

Currently on the library's wifi...
Isn't wifi cool? :P

a new G.Skill ram set!

2009-01-03T19:39:00.001-08:00

Check this ram out, its very very fast DDR3! 2000mhz comes in tri channel packages of 3 or 6gbs and with latencies of 7-8-7-20, 2T! Amazing stuff!
It also comes with some REALLY COOL fans for cooling the stuff, two biggish blue LED fans... looks cooler than the corsair ram coolers! :)
Here's the pictures and article: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/G-Skill-DDR3-CL7-RAM,6746.html#xtor=RSS-181

2009-01-02T13:28:00.000-08:00

Crazy about HTML? :D

What kind of geek are you?

2009-01-02T13:24:00.001-08:00

This is hilarious. Here's a picture of a bunch of different kinds of geeks.
http://flickr.com/photos/scottjohnson/2086153791/sizes/o/
What kind are you?

2009-01-02T13:14:00.001-08:00

eBay update: 62 watchers, 1300 views, 24 bids.
Exciting! :)

free 3dmark vantage advanced keys!

2009-01-02T09:47:00.001-08:00

There is a 3dmark vantage key giveaway going on, they release 100 keys per day... and the chances of winning are great! Anybody that wants to use 3dmark vantage to test their computer and get a score... here's the full think for free thanks to PNY!
http://portal.xlr8gaming.net/?page=3dmark

First picture of the moon

2009-01-01T15:26:00.000-08:00

Taken on the Canon Powershot A620 on a tripod with 16x zoom, 4x is optical, 4x digital, and then cropped. The quality is lacking since the digital zoom and the cropping... :( A huge zoom lens would be great for this! The tripod worked well.
Enjoy!

2009-01-01T07:22:00.000-08:00

WHOOT! I broke 1000 views on my eBay listing this morning!
Happy 2009 everybody!

The video for the #1 iphone app now

2008-12-30T06:32:00.001-08:00

This guy must have made a ton of cash!
Here's the article: http://hothardware.com/News/It-Wasnt-Me-iFart-App-Hits-No-1/

First pictures of fire ants

2008-12-28T15:15:00.000-08:00

Well they turned out pretty decently... I can get much clearer pictures in the full daylight... it was getting dark! Enjoy! :)

2008-12-28T15:05:00.000-08:00

Went to Forbes piano store yesterday to look at grand pianos...

2008-12-24T20:11:00.001-08:00

Its insane how poeple are playing the WoW games! Look at this church sign picture! http://www.tomshardware.com/gallery/ChurchofWOW,0101-173930-0----jpg-.html

2008-12-24T20:08:00.001-08:00

20 watchers in 24hrs on my computer on eBay! 9 days left... I think I could have ended it sooner.. there's plenty of interest! :)

2008-12-22T19:39:00.001-08:00

Got in a chilly 30min MTB ride today... it was 32'F and breezy!

eBay

2008-12-22T18:28:00.001-08:00

I sold some ram to a guy on eBay in Sweden! International shipping isn't that bad for something small and light like ram... :)
Amazing!

Riding backwards

2008-12-22T10:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a video!

2008-12-22T09:39:00.000-08:00

I uploaded many albums and pictures on my picasa site! Some are from Facebook, I will post all my vids I had on Facebook on Youtube, and link them here. Check the pics out!
http://picasaweb.google.com/Danielee.linux

Some pics of wet grass

2008-12-22T09:36:00.000-08:00

Pictures I took a while ago...

Build and 4870 X2 photos

2008-12-21T19:37:00.000-08:00

IE Fans Beware: Hackers Are Exploiting a Serious Unpatched Flaw

2008-12-20T15:27:00.001-08:00

A very interesting article! Don't use Internet Explorer! :)
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/12/ie-fans-beware.html

2008-12-20T12:52:00.001-08:00

YES! I'm now the #1 in the 3dmark Vantage top 25 for single GPU solutions on www.eocf.com! :)

2008-12-20T11:22:00.001-08:00

Trying out some more gmail experimental features... Put the chat box and labels on the left side and turned on canned responses! I like 'em! :)