Chocked Wheels

Chocked Wheels

Hooray for decent weather! I finally got to get out and do some shooting! I wandered around the Springfield downtown area for awhile. I didn’t get as many good shots as I had hoped for, but it was sure relaxing. Plus I finally got to use my new Manfrotto 3021 tripod and 3265 Grip action head and man I love it! It’s so…steady and well controlled. I also tried out my new infrared lens filter, but I must have been doing something wrong because I got a bunch shots that look like something from an acid trip or something. They all came out a weird pinkish red tint. I’ll have to do some research on that later!

Vista Tip – Com surrogate has stopped error

comI kept getting this annoying “Com surrogate has stopped…” error that’s been driving me crazy. After a Google search I found a couple of possible culprits.

The first suggestion was to install the latest version of DivX because the problem stems from browsing folders with divx encoded videos. I did this and it didn’t fix it. As a matter of fact the latest version of Divx (Codec 6.5.1) states during the installation that it’s not 100% compatible with Vista. Am I the only one who finds this incompatibility a bit wierd? Vista’s been in beta for several years and it’s been released since November (for OEM’s at least).

Anyways, updating Divx didn’t help.

I also found a suggestion to update Nero to the latest version and this did the trick for me. I had some issues during the update with some things not registering correctly, but finally got through that and the COM error is gone.

Fix found here.

Update 6/3/08:  I ran into this again for some reason and this time I don’t even have Nero installed.  A little more searching turned up a suggestion to update the ffdshow codec set.  I installed it from here and it fixed the problem again.

Spring Cometh

Spring Cometh...

…and I couldn’t be happier! I saw these little guys poking up through my neighbor’s yard and I thought…I need to take a picture of that. I haven’t been shooting much lately. Been doing a bunch of reading about photography, but no shooting.

Microsoft Entertainment 7000 – The best keyboard ever built.

keyI’m a keyboard junkie. I don’t like using the same keyboard for very long. Up to this time my favorite was the Microsoft Ergonomic 4000. I’ve jumped back and forth from Microsoft Keyboards to Logitech Keyboards.

So, I’ve picked up Microsoft’s latest keyboard and I absolutely love it. I’ve always liked typing on laptops better than standard keyboards. I just like the feel of the keys on most laptops. If only the laptop’s keyboard was shaped more like the ergonomic type. The Microsoft Entertainment Desktop 7000 is, in my opinion, a combination of laptop keyboard with the ergonomic shape. However it does not share the shape of most ergonomic keyboards in that this one is flat and not raised. As a matter of fact it’s the flattest free standing keyboard I’ve ever used.

Add to this shape the fact that it’s wireless, has a built in touchpad (not your normal touchpad though), built in media player keys and comes with a wireless mouse. Now, I’ve never been to high on bluetooth keyboards and mice. My experience with them has never been overly positive, right up to recently when I tried Logitech’s Cordless Desktop MX. I quickly got rid of that because of general weirdness and connectivity issues. But so far the Microsoft 7000 has been painless. I’ve been using one at home as a replacement to the Microsoft Media Center keyboard and am lovin it there too!

At home I’ve been using it in conjunction with Vista Media Center and have had no troubles there either. The Media Center keyboard was IR based and I constantly had issues with the built in mouse not functioning smoothly. The shape of the Microsoft 7000 also lends itself to operating from a lap better than the Media Center keyboard as well.

One downfall, which I haven’t missed much, is the fact that the Microsoft 7000 doesn’t have a number pad. It does have a function key and like a laptop several of the right side keys double as number pad, but I haven’t figured out how to make the number pad part work without having to hold down the function key manually. It’s probably something I’m just not doing right, but I haven’t needed it enough to try and figure it out.

The mouse uses a standard AA rechargeable battery and has a small base to dock it with to recharge the battery. All of the wireless mice I’ve used are always too heavy compared to wired mice. This one is not as light as a wired mouse, but very close. It’s the first wireless mouse that I can use for an extended period of time and not notice the difference. The keyboard uses 4 standard AA batteries.

Overall I deem this keyboard the best one ever built! At least until the Microsoft Entertainment 8000 comes out, although it’s shape and design is just like the 7000 with some enhancements like backlit keys and rechargeable keyboard and a higher price of course!

Visual Studio 2005 prompting for product key

vbThis probably won’t be beneficial to many people, but I ran into an issue with getting Visual Studio 2005 Professional version installed. Now, this is the Open License version and doesn’t apply to retail versions of the product. So, the problem was that the installation was prompting me for a product key. No problem, I thought, we purchase all of our Microsoft products under their open license program. We are a non profit organization so we fall under their charity pricing which saves us a ton of money.

Normally when a Microsoft product prompts me for a product key and I don’t have it I simply goto eopen.microsoft.com which has all of our licensed products listed with their product keys. Well, the Visual Studio 2005 didn’t have a product key listed. After searching and poking around I broke down and called Microsoft. I got transferred to 6 different people and finally got a guy who said “it shouldn’t be prompting you for a product key.”

Ummm…ok. He said I probably already had a trial version installed so it thought I was upgrading and that’s why it was prompting for a product key. Well as it turns out he was partially right. Somewhere along the line I had installed “Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable.” I don’t even know what that was for, I certainly don’t have a clue about C++ but once that was removed the Visual Studio 2005 installed without a problem.

Update 3/8/07:  I’ve also since found that trying to install Visual Studio 2005 from a local copy of the install CD will also make it prompt for a product key.  In the past I’ve copied the full CDs for Visual studio (which I legally own) to my hard drive and installed from there as I hate trying to round up all the cd’s for software when I reload my computer.  I found some directions for copying and running the install from a network storage, but didn’t want to take the time to go through them all.

Take a Holiday

Take a Holiday

What was your first thought when you saw this picture? Don’t be shy, you aren’t going to hurt my feelings. Did the caption sway what you feel or think? Do you like it when a photoblog has more than just a picture each day? To me it’s not that great a shot, technically, but I’ve been thinking more and more that getting and posting the perfect shot isn’t the end goal. The hotel holds no particular significance. But, it takes me back to a day and a feeling. A day and a feeling that you didn’t experience, but that’s the blog part of photoblog I guess.

More ice

More ice

While the ice had still coated everything I finally got out and took some pictures. I grabbed my kenko extension tubes and found some interesting things before getting too cold to shoot anymore!

Zune Wallpapers

zune

I’ve had my Zune now for several months, well, since it came out in November to be exact. I still love the Zune as much as when I first cracked open the box. I use it nearly everyday either for music, videos and I’ve actually started using the FM radio everynow and then when I just can’t find music that I really want to listen to. I love it so much that I ventured into modding and replaced the 30gb hard drive for a 80gb.

I’ve found one feature about the Zune that I really like is the ability to change the wallpaper on it. I’m a wallpaper freak, I change the wallpaper on my laptop and 3 other PC’s at least as much as I change my underwear! I started making my own wallpapers, but just wasn’t digging those as much. Then I found ThemeZune.com and was able to get my wallpaper fix and show my Zune some wallpaper love. They have tons of Zune sized wallpapers arranged by type. There are enough wallpapers on there to suite just about everyone.

Trying to thaw out

ice

I think the recent cold weather here has frozen my blog as well as my photoblog. We had a nasty ice storm spell during which we went without power for 12 days. Going that long without being able to flip on a light switch, plug my laptop into a wall outlet and turn on the stove to cook whenever we please was a strange experience. You just don’t realize just how dependent we spoiled gadget freaks are on electricity. I found myself thinking, “I’ll just jump on the internet and…oh wait, I can’t get on the internet.” I don’t know how many times I walked into a room and flipped the light switch and thought “man, I need to change that light bulb…oh wait, not I don’t.”

wii-packaging.jpg

On another note I picked up a Wii and have to say that I’m impressed. The Wii Sports is a great game that my whole family really enjoys. The idea of actually getting up off the couch to play video games is just awesome. The news channel on the Wii is cool too. You can sit and have news headlines on the screen along with a globe that spins to where the current news headline is from. This spinning globe is used in the weather channel on the Wii as well and is equally as impressive. Surfing the internet on the Opera browser that you can download for the Wii works really well.  I think it’s worth mentioning that when I read that Nintendo had changed the name of it’s next console from Revolution to Wii I was convinced that they had shot themselves in the foot and I remember predicting that the thing would not make it.  Boy was I wrong and boy do I like this machine. Sorry Sony, I’ll pass on the PS3.  Although I still want a XBox360 just for the cool menu system alone!  :)

Iced

Iced

This is the tip of a branch from one of the trees in my front yard. The ice is finally all gone leaving a couple of my trees pretty well demolished. We’ve finally got electricity back. 12 days without electricity is a wierd experience. :)

_

_

I’m still stuck with no electricity at home and more ice and snow falling today. A week and a day without power now.
It’s wierd how disrupted life gets without the everyday things! :) I’m warm and have food though so I’m doing good.
This is another shot from my trip to Vegas. I braved the cold yesterday and snapped some shots of the ice left from the recent ice storm.
But, alas, I haven’t the energy to work on them. Besides looking at pictures of this mess doesn’t sound like fun just yet.

Ice storm and Google text messaging

So, here in Springfield, MO we are buried under several inches of ice. Driving around my neighborhood looks like a war zone. Most of the trees above 20 feet tall have lost most of their branches under the weight of the ice. Our power has been out for a day and a half and it’s not expected to be back on in the next couple of days. Luckily I live really close to my work and we’ve got massive generators here keeping parts of the building fed with electricity. It’s funny just how dependent we are on electricity and we don’t really realize it until we go without it for a day or more. We have a gas fireplace so we’ve been able to keep reasonably warm. I had to come up to work and charge all my gadgets though!

googleSo while sitting around without electricity I was reading a book on my Sony Reader (which I love by the way). The book is called The Google Story (a good book by the way) and I finished it. In the back of the book are some Google tricks and one of them said you can send a text message to GOOGL (46645) and get search results back. So I grabbed my cell phone and sent some text messages to Google. Here are some of the things you can do:

“Weather 65804” – Gets weather for a particular zip code. You can also substitute the zip for a City name.

“Movie theaters 65804” – Gets a listing of movie theaters for a particular zip code with phone numbers and addresses
“Eragon 65804” – Gets showtimes for the movie Eragon for a particular zip code. Needs to be a current movie.

“define lacrimation” – returns the definition of a term.

“Joplin mo to Springfield mo” – Returns driving directions from Joplin, MO to Springfield MO.

“Best Buy Springfield MO” – Returns the address and phone number of my favorite hand out place! :)

When the search results returns a phone number you can click on the phone number and dial it directly from the text message as well. So I can do my search for Best Buy and call them to see if they have any Nintendo Wii’s in stock (which they don’t and I wish they would.)

There are more things you can do with the Google mobile check out this page for more or send a text message with the word “help.”

Pretty cool huh?

Canyon road

Canyon road

Update: 01.17.07 Sorry I haven’t been posting for the past week or so. We are covered in a blanket of ice right now. I still don’t have power at my house and it probably won’t be back on for several days. Thanks for stopping by!

Vista Tip – The requested operation requires elevation

vista“The requested operation requires elevation.”

Have you seen this message yet? I encountered it after going to the start menu and running cmd from the search box and then typing ipconfig /flushdns.

I’m both excited and at the same time slowed down by Microsoft’s new security features.
But, this is a good thing.

So after simply trying to clear the dns cache I get the error “The requested operation requires elevation.” How on earth do I elevate myself? Do I need some sort of spiritual awakening to do this? Nope, though going to Church is a good idea.

What needs to happen is you need to run cmd as an administrator. Goto the start menu and find the Command Prompt icon, right click and select “Run as administrator.”

Now your ipconfig /flushdns command works just fine.

Top tech of 2006

subwayLike a speeding subway 2006 has sailed right past us. Along the way there were a couple of technologies that I embraced and have begun using extensively. There were a lot of pieces of hardware and software that I experimented with and came into contact with this year.  To make the list, the technologies have to be something that I really ended up integrating into my life somehow. They didn’t have to necessarily originate in 2006 either. There were many things that came to mind but most of those were simply interesting in passing, but didn’t really change my life at all. So here are the things that I consider the top tech of 2006:

1. Sony Reader – I have to say that Sony is beginning to fade from being the top technology company that they used to be. They certainly have some nice hardware like the PSP and I like some of the Vaio laptops. I’ve long wanted a better way to read electronic books and the Sony Reader is the perfect device for doing just that. I can say that I’ve read at least 4 books on the reader and it’s as good as reading a paperback book, plus it gives me the high tech high I so love! Read my full review here.

2. Microsoft Zune – Microsoft has certainly managed to drum up it’s share of haters and lovers. I for the most part really like Microsoft and their products. The iPod is an impressive device and is clearly the dominating mp3 player. I’ve owned 3 or 4 iPods and liked each one (not the Nano as much though). I can honestly say I like the Zune more than the iPod though. There are still some features that I wish the Zune had, but they aren’t that big a deal to me. I’ve really began using the Zune a lot to watch video podcasts and even a movie or two. I almost always have the Zune with me and I haven’t listened to the radio in my truck hardly at all since I got it. It’s certainly a device that I have integrated into my lifestyle.

3. Windows Media Center – Yes, I know another Microsoft product. Early in the year I really began using Media Center a lot. I’ve had a PC in my living room with Media Center since the end of 2005 but it was in January or so that it really took over my TV. I even got my wife, who protested at first to having another computer in the living room, to really liking it. Yes, you can do the same and a bit more with a Tivo, but to my understanding, you have to pay a monthly fee for it. We use the Media Center to record TV, watch DVD’s, look at weather, listen to music, surf the internet and play games on as well. My kids have got to the point where they know how to record shows and look for up coming things they want to see. It’s certainly something that’s heavily integrated into my family’s life. I’m looking forward to moving up to the Vista version of Windows Media Center, it looks even better than the current version.

4. Treo 650 – I’m a late adopter of the whole smart phone craze. The Treo650 came out sometime in 2004 I believe and before that there was the Treo600 and some others. Sometime in the last year my work purchased a Treo650 and a data plan for it. Now I look back and wonder how I got along without it! Instant access to email and the web (not that I do a lot of surfing on that tiny screen) is just plain cool. There are several apps that I use regularly as well, like Google Maps. Brandon and I found this while lost somewhere in San Diego and it really works well. The documents to go is useful as well (of course this has been around for awhile). I’ve never been much of a text messaging person, but I’ve done a lot more of it since getting the Treo650. Now I just wish Alltel would come out with the Treo700p!

Honorable mention goes to podcasting. It kinda goes hand in hand with the Zune, but even before the Zune I had began in 2006 to listen to a lot more podcasts than I had previously.

So those are my highlights of 2006 and technologies that have really taken leaps forward in my life.

Some things I played with but didn’t fully embrace:

  • UMPC’s – I had one of the Samsung Q1 ultra mobile pc’s but it just wasn’t something that I really embraced. I don’t thing their time has yet come.
  • XBox360 – I want one, but gaming is just not one of those things I really do and have a lot of time for.
  • Linux – It’s sharp and fast and free, but just not ready for prime time yet.
  • SATA drives – I’ve used a couple of them, but I think this year will be their time to take off.
  • Digg.com – I actually go there a lot, but there’s just too many hot heads and too many silly posts. Slashdot is too far the other way for me.  Can we get somewhere in the middle please?

What’s something that I would like to check out? Nintendo Wii for sure. I’ve played the Bowling on the Wii and it’s a whole big bag of fun. Who would have guessed it?

What about you? What kind of technologies did you get into this year? What are you looking forward to in 2007?

Upgrading my Zune

I’ve been loving my Zune. There are still some things I am hoping Microsoft corrects, like gapless playback and the ability to use the Zune as a hard drive, but overall I’m extremely pleased with the Zune. I’ve used it to watch movies, listen to music and yes even listening to the radio as well. Despite Leo Leporte’s crazed ranting against the Zune, I like it alot better than the iPods I’ve owed. (It’s ok Leo, I’ll forgive you for being wrong this time!) One thing I wanted was more space though. After reading a post about upgrading the Zune to a 80gb I decided to try it. I ordered the 80gb Toshiba 1.8 inch drive from ComputerHQ.com. Then using the step by step instructions on ZuneScene.com and iPodmods.com I took my 30gb Zune and made it an 80gb Zune. I haven’t seen any adverse effects so far, but I just did it today. So, I’ll be watching it closely as the new year roles in and will let you know if anything goes awry. Overall it’s pretty easy to do.

One thing to point out is that the 80gb hard drive is a bit thicker than the 30gb so to install it you have to leave out a metal bracket that is in there either to take up space or to give some added protection to the drive, though I’m not sure just how much protection it would really serve and my zune tends to stay in it’s leather case anyways.

If you are shy about popping open your brand new Zune then you can send it to iPodMod’s and they’ll do the upgrade for you.
If anyone has any questions, I’m no expert, but I’ve done it once and can do my best to answer questions.
For those of you interested below are some pics of the process.
Thanks to Brandon for being the photographer during the process! :)

Oh, and don’t leave me any comments about how I could have got an 80gb iPod and not had to take it part and blah, blah, blah and actually spent less and blah, blah, blah, because I don’t want a iPod I want a 80gb Zune, thanks. :)

Click the pictures for a larger version.
zune
Before starting the upgrade.

zune
After taking the small black piece protecting the dock and removing the back.
This was the most nerve racking part because I was worried about denting or scratching the Zune.

zune
After removing the battery and folding out the hard drive.

zune
Removing the ribbon from the 30gb hard drive.
There is a very small black lever on the hard drive connector you pop up to get the ribbon to slide out.

zune
There are black rubber bummpers surrounding the 30gb hard drive that have to be trimmed down.
See the pictures on iPodMod’s instructions for more details.

zune
Putting the back cover back on. This part took a couple of tries to get it back on correctly.

zune
Once it’s all back together you simply turn it on and follow the directions.

zune
The Zune software re-installing the firmware on the Zune.

zune
After the firmware installs it’s all done. Now it’s time to sync all that music and videos back on there.

Firefox keyboard shortcuts

firefox

First off I saw the above icon on Google images and thought it was cool.

Secondly I was listening to cnet’s Buzz Out Loud podcast and they mentioned a couple of cool Firefox keyboard shortcuts that I’m digging. Here are some of them:

Close a tab = Ctrl + W

New tab = Ctrl + T

Move to address bar = Ctrl + L

Move to Google Search box = Ctrl + K

Open downloads tool = Ctrl + J

Those are the major shortcuts that I use. Here are a bunch more.

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