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July 31, 2006
My HD DVR
the following story was HD Beat today, and I had to think how it applied to me. I absolutely love having a Comcast HD DVR. Tivo so missed the boat by not licensing to Comcast. I've been a Tivo owner since the very first version, but I have a hard time thinking why i'd want to buy a Tivo over the Comcast HD DVR.
Yes! I watch a lot more HD with the DVR than I would otherwise. I can't stand watching std TV anymore, so I pretty much only record stuff in HD, so that's really all I watch, aside from the GOL channel. but I got spoiled watching the world cup in HD as well, so I'm even having a hard time watching GOL in std def.
The Times asks: "Does a DVR boost viewing hours or not?" - HD Beat
Posted by Steve at 09:31 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 26, 2006
Giardiniera
awesome, there is a wikipedia entry for Giardiniera. i capitalize it because it is godlike.
we often discuss the merits of a fine "jardinaire" as it is pro-nounced. interesting that this was invented by Scala's. during our days at spyonit.com and dka we worked next to the Scala's meat packing plant, where you would often see the workers standing out on the sidewalk in their waders covered with blood. there were always buckets of Giardiniera sitting there, and i always wanted to grab one and take it home. i go through a jar a week of this stuff at home. i grew up eating it on pretty much everything - and it goes great on top of pasta as well. if you ever find yourself in Chicago, get a wet beef with giardinera, you otherwise don't know what you are missing.
Giardiniera - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Posted by Steve at 12:59 PM | Comments (606) | TrackBack
July 25, 2006
gamerscorechart.com
i love services like this that can take a data stream and make it graphical for you. this graphic, for instance, can show you how much i've been progressing on my XBox360 games. apparently, i played a lot on the 21st and 22nd.
www.gamerscorechart.com
Posted by Steve at 07:51 PM | Comments (169) | TrackBack
Xataka Móvil launches
WeblogsSL has released a new blog in Spanish covering the mobile area. They consistently have some of the best blogs coming out of Europe, and do a lot better than their translated American counterparts, so if you can read Spanish, or are just interested in mobile from another angle, check it out...
http://feeds.weblogssl.com/xatakamovil
Posted by Steve at 08:34 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 24, 2006
vlad the impaler
history of vlad the impaler, aka dracula, just in case you were curious.
http://www.vladtheimpaler.com/vlad_the_impaler_bio_001.htm
Posted by Steve at 04:27 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
how to enable your LG CU500 for dial-up networking (DUN) via Bluetooth
i've been waiting for Cingular to launch their HSPDA network to migrate my old AT&T wireless account over to CIngular (which is now the new AT&T wireless). i'd love to know how much they spent moving everything over to the Cingular brand, just to move it all back to AT&T, but i digress.
at any rate, they finally launched their high speed 3G network last week, so i picked up a LG CU500 over the weekend.
i'm not terribly impressed with this phone yet, but if you like the moto RAZR, i actually think this is a better way to go. I'll do a mini-review later; there's a few specific things i think they messed up big time with the firmware on this phone.
at any rate, i'm throwing this out there for others to find. out of the box, the phone is not configured with a DUN bluetooth profile. you have to turn it on.
go to Settings -> (7) Connection -> (3) Dial Up Networking -> (2) Bluetooth and make sure it is selected. THEN pair it with your laptop so that it recognizes this Bluetooth profile. If you've already paired it with your computer, you will probably have to delete the pairing, and then re-pair it.
the phone number you want to use for Cingular is *99# there is no username or password. (UPDATE: see the comments, some users claim to need a u/p, but it works for me without it)
i didn't have to install any dirvers to get Bluetooth DUN to work on XP SP2.
more later once i do some speed tests on this.
Posted by Steve at 11:33 AM | Comments (58) | TrackBack
July 20, 2006
great, IM connectivity, except
I love this quote from the Live Messenger FAQ:
Does this work with all my Yahoo! contacts?Yes. As long as your friends have the beta version of Yahoo! Messenger with Voice, you’re set. When you add them to your contact list, they’ll get all the information they need to gear up and connect with you.
That's like saying "Can I call all my friends with this Nokia 7280 cell phone? Yes, as long your friends have the Nokia 7290 cell phone."
Please - trillian and GAIM, which both kinda suck for their own reasons have been interoperating for some time just fine. Miscrosoft and Yahoo, just make your base IM stuff interoperate. This shouldn't require a client download.
Windows Live Ideas – Product Page
Posted by Steve at 04:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
urinals in the home
I knew a guy once who wanted to put a urinal in his basement. of course, he was divorced less than a year later, so we never got to see that come to fruition, but yep, you can get 'em
Kohler Home Urinals | Uncrate
Posted by Steve at 03:46 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
Welcome lunch for Mark M.
Welcome lunch for Mark M.
Originally uploaded by FeedBurner Fotos.
de cero is the best uniquely upscale mexican in chicago. give it a try if you ever have the means.
making sure you take your crew out to eat regularly is the cornerstone of a successful startup.
don't be cheap about it. ever.
Posted by Steve at 02:20 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 18, 2006
New Super Mario Bros is top US game
a great game for the DS - highly recommended. especially great for the two player mini-games that only require one cartridge.
"New Super Mario Bros" top US video game in June - Yahoo! News
Posted by Steve at 07:36 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
July 17, 2006
kids and tech
I often ponder how exposure to technology will change the next generation. As a card-carrying gadget freak, it won't surprise you that my kids have been hands-on with computers, multiple videogame consoles, cellphones, and search engines
for quite some time. my take on this is that it can only be good. humans differentiate themselves from the rest of the animal kingdom by evolving the tools we use from generation to generation very quickly. I shudder to think what my grandchildren will be using as tools.
Mac News: Technology: Children Getting Wired Early for High Tech
Posted by Steve at 03:19 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 14, 2006
how to make your Xbox gamercard your RSS image
1. First you need to get an image version of your gamercard. i recommend the Xbox Live Gamercard Generator. use it to generate the gamercard of your choice.
2. Run your feed through FeedBurner, of course, and select the FeedImageBurner service on the "Optimize" tab.
3. In the "Image Source" field, select "Specify custom image url". In the "Image URL" field, put the address of your gamercard. you can make the "Link" point to anywhere you want. I used the Xbox Live profile page. Activate the service
(click for larger images)
4. View your feed image in Browser Friendly to make sure it is correct!
Posted by Steve at 12:52 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
July 12, 2006
Firefox 2 beta feed subscriptions
in the new beta of Firefox 2 when you press the orange feed icon in the URL bar, you see the below. Just descriptions, no pictures (wonder why).
and if you push the "Choose a Feed Reader" button you get this:
Posted by Steve at 09:40 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
July 11, 2006
FeedBurner Publisher Module for Google Homepage updated
The FeedBurner Publisher Module for Google Homepage has been updated to
1) display any pending FeedBurner Ad Network payments. This is aggregate for both RSS ads and Site ads.
2) all clicks now launch the resulting window in a new window on Safari (bugfix)
FeedBurner Publisher Module for Google Homepage
Posted by Steve at 12:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
play the zidane headbutt game
this made it's way around the office today. it's a bit in bad taste, since la gazzetta doesn't seem to say much about the zidane/materazzi incident.
it didn't stop the spanish from trying to read lips, though.
on to the game:
http://www.gazzetta.it/openxlink.shtml?http://widelec.org/zidane.html
Posted by Steve at 02:34 AM | Comments (44) | TrackBack
josé +10 adidas commercials
now that the world cup is over, we no longer have the adidas +10 commercials to watch anymore. they are on with some regularity in Europe, but in the US, no way. i found them entertaining, and with that in mind, below are two youtube embeds 1) the full commercial from beginning to end with no cuts and 2) some behind the scenes footage. enjoy
Posted by Steve at 02:16 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
July 07, 2006
Yahoo! RSS reader for Yahoo! Messenger
Looks like Yahoo! is testing an RSS reader plug-in for Yahoo! Messenger - i saw this in my logs today:
http://messenger.yahoo.com/external/plugins/ct/rss.html
It will be really cool if they pull in the subscriptions from My Yahoo!
Posted by Steve at 12:32 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
July 05, 2006
photos marooned at flickr
this is a surprising policy with flickr that i didn't know about. if you are a PRO member, upload a lot of photos while paying, and then let your account lapse, you can only get to your last 200 pictures unless you upgrade to PRO again. they don't delete anything; it's all still there, you just can find them by tag or by browsing the photo stream.
i guess fair is fair, and of course there are plenty of other places i could take my photos if i didn't like this policy. i was just surprised this is how it worked...
http://www.flickr.com/help/limits/#66
Flickr: Help: Free Accounts, Upgrading and Gifts
Posted by Steve at 09:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 03, 2006
real time info in video games
while salivating over the soon to be released EA NCAA 07 for the Xbox360, i noticed something in the features i have never heard of in a video game before:
ESPN integration: Get EA SPORTS Dynasty™ results,
conference updates, and real-time sports scores and news updates with
the "always on" Sports Ticker powered by ESPN, or take a shot at the
greatest games of all time with ESPN Instant Classics.
wow, that's cool, and a first. this is the first time i've seen a game integrate real time news data into a game itself. this means you can flip back and forth between playing games, and watching games. you see a score get close, hit pause button, and switch the video source to TV and watch the end of a real game, then go back to gaming.
no matter which gaming system ends up being better - i'm pretty sure sony and nintendo won't touch the online platform that major nelson and co have created with Xbox live. i've been blown away by the difference in the gaming experience compared to the PS2 just because of Xbox live. the fact that every game is required to log off your progress to the network while you are playing and adds to your profile is genius - and totally worth the price of admission.
anyway, some screenshots of NCAA 07:
Xbox.com | NCAA® Football 07 - Game Detail Page
Technorati Tags: ea sports, xbox360
Posted by Steve at 07:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack