#1- Do you have any special needs? If yes, ignore this post. Let your needs do the shopping for you.
#2- What's wrong with a $1300 MacBook?
#3- Could you get away with only having Office, AIM, iTunes, and Firefox on your computer? If so consider a netbook. Asus Eee PC 1000HE Install a 2GB ram chip if you can.
#4- Desire really good battery life? HP Pavilion dv5-1235dx +6 hours max, C-net tested it to be well over 4 hrs in straight video playback. Normally people should cut in half whatever the manufactorer/retailer says (even Apple's claims), but this guy does 2/3rds what's claimed under stress, which is good.
#5- Toshiba Satellite A305-S6916. Power of a MacBook at 2/3 the price. Also available well under MSRP.
April 28, 2009
April 27, 2009
Windows 7 RC Initial Thoughts
Don't really have much to say on Windows 7 RC1 right now. A few quick notes.
#1 Nifty new Themes
#2 Like new 7MC Splash windows and sounds (sounds are rather TiVOish)
#3 mytv Plugin has a few random startup errors, but works. Check out my WebCollection. Wish it was easier to update. the XML export file does not auto replace it seems.
#4 Codec support
This is the big thing. I used to get around the issue I had with xvid and external subs by renaming some of the default audio codec files. For some reason after reading this tip I used that MCDU app to pick FFDshow audio, but it does seem to give an error with some files when trying to play them. Still Win7 is supost to be able to read natively stopped playing, so I undid it. I might try renamignthe file again and see if that allows softsubs for all xvid videos with external subs.
Also, with my Carnivale S2 x264 encoded files, playback with the default MS h.264 coded have some distortions in the bottom 3rd of the video. I ended up using MPC + FFDShow to watch these files over the weekend. I want to generate screen shots somehow becuase that's a big issue...
More later
#1 Nifty new Themes
#2 Like new 7MC Splash windows and sounds (sounds are rather TiVOish)
#3 mytv Plugin has a few random startup errors, but works. Check out my WebCollection. Wish it was easier to update. the XML export file does not auto replace it seems.
#4 Codec support
This is the big thing. I used to get around the issue I had with xvid and external subs by renaming some of the default audio codec files. For some reason after reading this tip I used that MCDU app to pick FFDshow audio, but it does seem to give an error with some files when trying to play them. Still Win7 is supost to be able to read natively stopped playing, so I undid it. I might try renamignthe file again and see if that allows softsubs for all xvid videos with external subs.
Also, with my Carnivale S2 x264 encoded files, playback with the default MS h.264 coded have some distortions in the bottom 3rd of the video. I ended up using MPC + FFDShow to watch these files over the weekend. I want to generate screen shots somehow becuase that's a big issue...
More later
April 16, 2009
Incoherant Poltical Rant
Just parsing through the text, can anyone take this guy seriously? As much as I don't like Ron Paul and his paleo-conservative distortion of libertarianism, he's genuine, and has built a political career out of fighting Right and Left. Ron Paul demanded government spending cuts equally to tax cuts during Bush I, Clinton, Bush II, and now Obama. I only hear of Glenn Beck talking about government spending cuts when Democrats are in power.
Trillions to foreign wars is ok, but trillions to the domestic economy isn't according to Glenn Beck. And Glenn Beck proposes no way to pay for his foreign adventurism financed by debt.
Where was Glenn Beck when it came to the Patriot Act, or Patriot Act II that eroded the liberties of American Citizens?
Where was Glenn Beck when Bush added layers of Federal Bureaucracy by establishing DHS?
Cap and Trade establishes a PRIVATE MARKET for Carbon emission rights. As the cost to mitigate carbon emissions goes down, those cost savings will be instantly realized by private corporations. It's a more capitalist solution compared to a straight up carbon tax, or set untradeable carbon emission regulations. Why do they deride MARKET based solutions?
Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from criticism. In fact, it's the opposite. Freedom of speech gives me the right to call him a dumbass free from criminal prosecution. If I'm wrong, he has the right to claim otherwise, and exercises that right daily on Fox News. No one credible is trying to take that away.
Voting to establish a union is not the same as voting in a government election. Why is a regulation saying you have to have a secret ballot good, but regulation that allows for a card check OR a secret ballot bad?
I will however give him credit for citing Medicare Part D. But Bush's Medicare expansion will cost the Government more money and put future generations in more debt than all of bailout money passed by BOTH Bush and Obama. Yet teabagees complain about Obama wanting to spend money to fix the potholes on I-95. Well if government doesn't pay for the Wilson Bridge, who the fuck should? Or should people from Miami drive around the Potomac to get to NYC?
Still though, his relative small grievance against the largest unfunded government mandate passed in the 21st century is a joke. Add to that no mention of the boondoggle that is DHS, and I'll chastise him for only offering scant criticism to Bush's huge contribution to the federal debt.
My working definition of an Astroturf teabagger is someone who complains about bailouts adding debt but overlooks the larger debt Medicare Part D will add to current and future generations... while failing to offer senior citizens complete prescription drug coverage. Thanks to GWB, I get $17 trillion in unfunded liabilities and my parents and grandmother still have exorbitant prescription bills if they fall into the coverage hole.
Only in American Capitalism do we have expensive government run programs that are intentionally designed to not fully accomplish their stated goal out of respect to "market forces", "private enterprise", etc.
Instead of having private markets that work, or government that works, we have shortcoming for private markets and an expensive government unwilling to resolve those shortcoming.
Largest military on the fucking planet that has to pay six figure salaries to mercenaries while US troops make $25K. What The Fuck.
The fundamental failing of Republican governance in the 21st Century was its ineffectiveness to provide for the public good. Katrina. Iraq. Economy. Federal Deficits. That's what Republicans don't get. And Tea Parties aren't the solution when Republicans use the occasion to cover 8 years of incompetence.
Trillions to foreign wars is ok, but trillions to the domestic economy isn't according to Glenn Beck. And Glenn Beck proposes no way to pay for his foreign adventurism financed by debt.
Where was Glenn Beck when it came to the Patriot Act, or Patriot Act II that eroded the liberties of American Citizens?
Where was Glenn Beck when Bush added layers of Federal Bureaucracy by establishing DHS?
Cap and Trade establishes a PRIVATE MARKET for Carbon emission rights. As the cost to mitigate carbon emissions goes down, those cost savings will be instantly realized by private corporations. It's a more capitalist solution compared to a straight up carbon tax, or set untradeable carbon emission regulations. Why do they deride MARKET based solutions?
Freedom of Speech does not mean freedom from criticism. In fact, it's the opposite. Freedom of speech gives me the right to call him a dumbass free from criminal prosecution. If I'm wrong, he has the right to claim otherwise, and exercises that right daily on Fox News. No one credible is trying to take that away.
Voting to establish a union is not the same as voting in a government election. Why is a regulation saying you have to have a secret ballot good, but regulation that allows for a card check OR a secret ballot bad?
I will however give him credit for citing Medicare Part D. But Bush's Medicare expansion will cost the Government more money and put future generations in more debt than all of bailout money passed by BOTH Bush and Obama. Yet teabagees complain about Obama wanting to spend money to fix the potholes on I-95. Well if government doesn't pay for the Wilson Bridge, who the fuck should? Or should people from Miami drive around the Potomac to get to NYC?
Still though, his relative small grievance against the largest unfunded government mandate passed in the 21st century is a joke. Add to that no mention of the boondoggle that is DHS, and I'll chastise him for only offering scant criticism to Bush's huge contribution to the federal debt.
My working definition of an Astroturf teabagger is someone who complains about bailouts adding debt but overlooks the larger debt Medicare Part D will add to current and future generations... while failing to offer senior citizens complete prescription drug coverage. Thanks to GWB, I get $17 trillion in unfunded liabilities and my parents and grandmother still have exorbitant prescription bills if they fall into the coverage hole.
Only in American Capitalism do we have expensive government run programs that are intentionally designed to not fully accomplish their stated goal out of respect to "market forces", "private enterprise", etc.
Instead of having private markets that work, or government that works, we have shortcoming for private markets and an expensive government unwilling to resolve those shortcoming.
Largest military on the fucking planet that has to pay six figure salaries to mercenaries while US troops make $25K. What The Fuck.
The fundamental failing of Republican governance in the 21st Century was its ineffectiveness to provide for the public good. Katrina. Iraq. Economy. Federal Deficits. That's what Republicans don't get. And Tea Parties aren't the solution when Republicans use the occasion to cover 8 years of incompetence.
April 13, 2009
Caprica
It should be telling, that I stopped watching Caprica 20 minutes in to post this. Captures enough attention to be worth mentioning. Not enough attention to keep watching.
April 11, 2009
HTPC Data Check
Using 3TB in encoded video files.
1,791GB used to store 287 HD Movies
366GB used to store 241 SD Movies
870GB used to store 58 TV Series
129GB used to store 29 Anime TV Series
Needless to say, I'm running out of space.
1,791GB used to store 287 HD Movies
366GB used to store 241 SD Movies
870GB used to store 58 TV Series
129GB used to store 29 Anime TV Series
Needless to say, I'm running out of space.
April 9, 2009
So why is it so hard?
SO why is it so hard to have 2 rss feeds to show up in FB?
And seriously... these allergies, are no joke.
And seriously... these allergies, are no joke.
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