LCD versus Plasma

An interesting comparison chart I found details the pros and cons of plasma TV's vs. LCD TVs. The winner? LCD with a landslide 11 to 3. Most of it is pretty obvious, but the one that I never realized was that plasma TV's don't work as well in high altittudes. There is a gas inside each pixel and it has to work harder when at a higher altittude. So if you live a mile above sea level you might want to consider an LCD.

Opera Mini - Browse the Real Web from you Wap enabled mobile phone

Ok, so anyone out there who has ever used the WAP browsers availible on most phones know that the WAP Protocol is complete and utter crap. For those of you that don't know what WAP is, it is supposed to be a way for simple mobile phones to browse the "wireless web" except that the content on the "wireless web" is completely useless. In comes Opera Mini! It's a java application made for WAP enabled mobile phones that lets you browse the real www! Some of you more technically enlightened folks might be asking, "But GHackett, my WAP phone only lets me download very small files. How could this program view real web pages without downloading all those big picture files?" Well that's the brilliance of this app/service. All pages viewed in this app are actually processed by a backend server owned by opera. The images are re-sized and compressed, and the pages are stripped down and optimized before they ever reach your phone!!! This means that pages load faster because the phone doesn't have to process them and it doesnt have to load any of the big ticket items!!! I've installed this app onto my brand new SonyEricsson k750i (which is freakin awsome btw) and it worked like a charm. I visited google, superpages, yellowbook, and wikipedia and even though they sometimes display a little funny (pages are optimized to fit on your screen) you get all the functionality of the pages. It's the best thing to happen to mobile phones since Dope Wars! Ok, so there are some hiccups, but only because cell phone carriers are complete idiots. I have T-mobile, so I cannot garuntee that this will work on other carriers (I would assume it should on Cingular, but Verizon and Sprint are questionable). Secondly, the phone I have is not actually offered by T-Mobile. Rather it is an unlocked import phone. If I was using a phone that I bought from t-mobile, this application wouldn't work becuase T-Mobile does not let java apps access the internet on their phones. This is something I learned with my old motorola. As far as I know, the only way to bypass this retarted feature is to have you phone unlocked by t-mobile. I have never done this but from what I understand it should be possible as long as you have been with them for at least 30 days. The third little hiccup is that this app has not been officially released in the USA. So you will not be able to download it from opera is you are on a US carrier. However there are a ton of mirrors for this app so if you do a goggle search for the model number of your phone and 'Opera Mini' you should be able to find it. If you donwload the jar or jad to you PC but don't know how to transfer it to your phone, there is a great website called mobstorage.com. From there you can upload a file from your PC, and then download it to your mobile phone using the item number its spits out (they explain it on the site).

Well that's my news today. It may not be new but it's fabulous and every java enabled phone should have it!

Later Bloggerinoes

Blogging from my phone

Hi bloggerinoes! This is a new thing i just got set up. I an now post a new blog entry from my new camera phone! So now no one is safe from my stupid internet posts. Ha ha ha ha!

Transit Strike - Day 2

It's Day 2 of the transit strike here in NYC and I'm starting to get pissed off. At first I was on the side of the union, because the jobs are difficult and usually unsafe. I think that the transit workers deserve a pension at 55 and I think that the MTA is being more than a little greedy. And in a way, I am still on the union's side. But ya know what? IT'S THE MIDDLE OF FREAKIN WINTER (ok, i know it's technically the beginning but it's still about 15 degrees outside) AND I JUST WALKED TO WORK!!! Now I am one of the lucky ones. I only have to walk about 20 blocks, while some people that live in the outer burroughs have several miles to walk. Everyone has seen the pics of the crowded Brooklyn Bridge which is no short walk. But basically, I am no longer on anyone's side. I just want to damn trains to start running again. I don't care what it takes. Why the hell couldn't they strike in June? IT'S COLD OUTSIDE. Alright, I think my fingers have sufficiently thawed, so I'm gonna get to work. See ya later Bloggerinoes.

NYC Transit Strike - City Officials Are Complete Morons

Well I'm sure you've heard about it, no matter where you live, but us simple city folk have heard about nothing but it. The TWU is on strike. That means no subways or city buses. Now for me, that's not a big deal. I work less than 20 blocks from where I live. But the real problem here is how incredibly stupid the people that run the city are. They have decided that no cars will be allowed into the city without at least 4 people in them. As a result of this, not only are the train commuters screwed up, but so are the drivers. On my freezing cold walk to work this morning, I noticed that there were almost no cars on the road. So the city is loosing toll money as well as the $400 Million per-day. Now I understand that traffic would probably be insane if they let every car into the city, but maybe a two person limit. I mean c'mon. They're are no cars out there! And some random streets are closed off for no reason! I just don't understand the logic of it. Millions of commuters can't get to work, so why not throw off a million more. Anyway, that's my two cents.
Later

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J-Lo Ho Hopefully

Ok, Ok, Ok. This is an interesting new story. It seems that Mark Antony (Latin pop sensation and computer cop in Hackers) has had his laptop stolen from his New York City home. This is made even more interesting because the thief is demanding $1 Million for the safe return of the laptop. So the question it, what's on the laptop? Important finacial documents, or a home made J. Lo porno. I guess we'll just have to wait and see and pray.

KissThisGuy.com

No, it's not a gay porn site. It's the archive of misheard lyrics. What is the point of it? Well, I'm not really sure, but it's kind of cool and fun, so I thought I'd post about it. It's very interesting when you have a girlfriend who will constantly sing the wrong lyrics to a song, even when she knows the right ones. Oh Well.. Just another Boredom Post, but check it out.

RIAA Propaganda - The Single Stupidest Site On The Internet

I've done it, I've found the dumbest site on the entire internet! No, it's nut a video of monkeys doing it, it's the RIAA's new propaganda site called MusicUnited.org. Here is a direct quote from the "Who Cares" section.

whether you’re talking about using peer-to-peer services like Kazaa or Morpheus to "share" digital music files with millions of people on the Internet or about compiling a collection of your favorite songs and then using a CD burner to make copies for all your friends, copying and distributing copyrighted music without permission is illegal and it’s a drag.

So, I guess this means it's no longer ok to backup your own music either? I am now seriously considering suing the RIAA for spreading complete stupidity around the globe. These idiots are so attached to their business model that it's scary. IT'S CALLED TECHNO EVOLUTION. When are these guys (sony in particular) going to realize that people want to download music. People want to use it on any device they choose. People are going to share music no matter what. It's never going to stop, it's only going to go more digital. Now, I'm not saying that people shouldn't pay for music, of course not (hell I've got good friends in a band). But they need to get together and colaborate a newer better way to distribute it. AND THEY NEED TO STOP BEING SO DAMN GREEDY!!! There needs to be a place to downlaod any song by any band by any record label, that will play on any mp3 player. It's called Fair Use. If I buy an album or a song, I want to be able to use it however i want. The current online music stores are the first step but they're not there yet. I buy a song and I want it to work on my stereo, my computer, my Creative Zen Vision:M (when i get one) and whatever else I want to play music on. DRM (digital rights management) is not the way to go, Suing file sharing companies is not the way to go, and stupid scare tactics like musicunited.org is not the way to go. Hell, the only reason I still buy CDs is because there is no online music store that will let me do whatever I want with my music. When will these companies lear that by limiting our options of what to do with the music, they are only encouraging free filesharing. Because if you download an mp3 off of Kazaa or Limewire, you're gonna be able to play it anywhere with anything. So here's my words for the RIAA - DON'T FIGHT DIGITAL EVOLUTION! FIND A NEW BUSINESS MODEL THAT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO USE THE MUSIC AS THEY SEE FIT! Becuase if they don't, they're just encourageing file-sharing. And that's the drag!

Pre-Order The Creative Zen Vision:M From Amazon

Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders for the sleek, stylish and totaly awsome Creative Zen Vision:M just in time for the holidays!! Once again, for those of you who don't know, the zen vision M plays tons of different video codecs, has a 30 gig hard drive and is totally awsome. In my mind, it's a complete iPod killer. Granted, I've never owned an iPod, but this beats the pants off of it. It seriosly is the coolest device out there. It plays divx and XviD video, which means my entire library, which means I will be so happy when I can wrap my grubby little fingers around one of these. On a sweetness scale from 1 to 10, I give it a 39.9 :)

The Pentagon's Covert PR?

Some of you may have heard about this already but the Pentagon is finally trying to win the hearts and minds of iraqis. How? By lying to them. Hey, that's pretty much what they do to us! Anyway, Military special ops are slipping in their own American propoganda (it's what we're best at) in iraqi newspapers, radio, tv, websites, and even on t-shirts and bumber stickers. The thing that makes it wrong in my mind is that they don't tell the people that the messages are put there by the American government. People think they're seeing and hearing stuff by other iraqis. Now, I am not anti-american, I am not a terrorist, but I have always been agaist the "war" because we didn't have any reason to go. But now we're in it and we have to get out. And unlike our esteemed President, George W. Moron, I don't think we can fix this with more freakin lies. Anyway, I'm sure I'll get some posts from you repubs out there, so let me know what you think.

GHackett - Out!

Goodbye Anonymity, Hello Corporations

Well I just found this little ditty from digg.com. It looks like over 100 companies including Microsoft, IBM, HP, and a slew of others, have been developing a new chip called a Trusted Platform Module. It will soon be installed in almost every new computer and act as a digital fingerprint that can be read by anyone, anytime over the internet. They say they're going to use this to make online shopping more secure, and make the internet a safe public space. But my fellow techs know that it will put an end to anonymity on the internet. Plus, it really seems like a stupid idea. If these id chips can be read by anyone over the internet, and someone figures out how to hack the chips (which they will, it only takes time), then it will infact make computer fraud and identity theft much, much easier. And this is completely putting aside the anonymity thing. I think that this has goto be one of the stupidest moves by corporations I have seen since the Sony rootkit fiasco (I refuse to buy Sony merchendise since that). Anyway, that's my rant for now, let me know what you think!

Post away!

Big Brother is watching

Are you an over obsesed parent with an automotively challenged child? Then have I got the product for you! A company called Securacom is selling a device called Big Brother GPS. And no, I'm not kidding, that actually what they call this thing. Once installed in a vehichle, you can track it anywhere in the world via GPS. You can monitor where it is, where it has been, and how fast it's been going. And that's not all. You can both start and stop it remotely from your laptop or pda. You can set a maximum speed limit, activate the horn and headlights, lock or unlock the doors, monitor the tire pressure, defrost the windshield, and a bunch of other stuff too. There's even a crash sensor that can alert you immediately via a pager or cell phone in the event of a crash. It looks like the only thing you can't do remotely, is drive it. All you need after this is a satelite web-cam and you'll be crushing your child's spirit in no time.

Parking ticket: $65
Speeding ticket: $85
New Windshield: $250
Honking the horn right before the good-night kiss: Priceless

That's all for now bloggerinoes.
Enjoy.

Calling all Family Guy Fans

Dear faithfult blog readers. Are you a fan of Family Guy? Well I know I am. Today I found a cool site called the Family Guy Multimedia Archive. They've got all the good family guy clips and a bunch of other stuff too. Take this video, The Life Of Steve, for example. It's about a guy named Steve (Peter minus 150 pounds) , his wife Lois, his overweight son Milt, and his sarcastic dog Larry. It's pretty funny to see the Griffins before they were the Griffins. Check out the site for lots of other cool and hilarious family guy clips!

UPDATE!!!
Check Out This Link Too!

Bonehead of the Week - Worst Driver Ever

I've heard of people taking wrong turns before. I've even hear of people accidentally entering on a highway exit ramp. But this guy beats em all. A Frenchman (how did I guess) in Strasbourg, France drove in the wrong direction on a moterway (I think that means Highway in English) for, get this, 11 miles! The man was 66 years old and NOT DRUNK!!! He got into 3 different accidents during the incedent! He kept driving after the first two, and finally stopped after he killed one person and injured 2 children. The man said he kept driving after the 1st two collisions because he was hoping that he would find an exit.

This guy definately deserves the coveted Bonehead of the Week award!

There's a new Blogger in Town

Hi guys. Just wanted to let you know that there is a fabulous new blogger who's name shall not be mentioned, but I think you all know who she is. She goes by Chiki, and her new blog is called Chiki in New York. Check it out. There are some very cute little bunnies in her first post!

What's Wrong With this Picture?

Hi My blogger buddies. Yesterday I recieved a new chain e-mail entitled "What's Wrong With This Picture". Below is the main body of the message.

"If you look closely at the picture above, you will note that all the Marines pictured are bowing their heads. That's because they're praying.

This incident took place at a recent ceremony honoring the Birthday of the Corps, and it has the ACLU up in arms. "These are federal employees," says Lucius Traveler, a spokesman for the ACLU, "on federal property and on federal time. For them to pray is clearly an establishment of religion, and we must nip this in the bud immediately."

When asked about the ACLU's charges, Colonel Jack Fessender, speaking for the Commandant of the Marine Corps said (cleaned up a bit), "Screw the ACLU." GOD Bless Our Warriors, Send the ACLU to France.

Please send this to people you know so everyone will know how stupid the ACLU is Getting in trying to remove GOD from everything and every place in America. May God Bless America, One Nation Under GOD!

What's wrong with the picture? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

GOD BLESS YOU FOR
PASSING IT ON!"

Now, I don' want to upset too many people here (I know most of you are conservative) but I think this warrants some discussion. I think that a lot of the people who know me well, would expect me to be upset with this e-mail. I am not a religious man, although I am a spiritual one. By that, I mean that I do believe in something bigger than myself, but not in any one particular religion. I believe that the bible was most likely a work of fiction, and that most religions are kind of hokey. I think Tom Wolfe said it best, "A cult is just a religion with no political power." So, the question is whose side am I on? I am a firm believer in the seperation of church and state, but I also have no problem with people displaying their religion. When that whole mess with the 10 commandments happened in Alabama (I think it as Alabama) I really didn't care. As long as people are not forcing their beliefs onto others, I don't think that a sculpture of 2 stone tables is a problem. This brings me back to the question at had. Were these marines forced to pray? If so, then I am in 100% agreement with the ACLU. No one should ever be forced to participate in a religious ritual in which they do not believe. But if this was a tradition that was observed voluntarily by the troops, and anyone uncomfortable with it was not forced or intimidated to take part, then I say go ahead.

This country was founded by Pilgrims who were seeking religious freedom. And the Constitution of the United States, the document that made this country what it is today, states that every man has the freedom to choose his/her own religion. So if someone is forced, by a government institution, to take part in a religion that they don't believe it, it's just flat-out unconstitutional and unamerican! But at the same time, every man has the right to observe their own religion no matter who he works for. So as long as no one is doing something they don't want to, it's fine with me.

There's my two cents bloggerinoes.
Post away!

The Lion, The Witch, The Wardrobe, and some terrible acting

Here we are, my girlfriend has forced me to go see one of her old favorite movies, re-made by Andrew Adamson. Adamson's directing credits include only 3 other movies: Shrek, Shrek 2, and Shrek in the Swamp Karaoke Dance Party. And Narnia is supposed to be an epic?? The entire movie was just about 2 hours long, but it seemed like it was all just building up to the one big battle scene at the end (which, in the original, was done by cartoons). Anyway, the best part of this movie was, without a doubt, the special effects. The problem was, that's all it really had going for it. The acting performed by humans, was completely miserable. Peter was a punk, the older daughter was so *blah* that I don't remember her character's name, and I wanted to slap little edmund evertime I saw him. The only characters that did a mildly decent job were the little girl (who had plenty of cuteness going for her) and the beavers (same cuteness level) .

I guess maybe that I should preface this. I do not, generally get into movies of this type. I wasn't a fan of LOTR, and I despise Harry Potter with a passion. But I could still sit and enjoy those movies, as movies. Because I do enjoy watching movies (even bad ones) sometimes. But I could not sit through this. If I had not been anchored to the chair by my gf, I may have walked out (and for those of you who know me, that is not something I take lightly).

In my humble opinion, this, the first in an upcomming series of Narnia movies, was utter crap. And I do not think I wil bother seeing the rest of them unless they have a completely different cast.

Well, I'm done ranting for now. No, you don't have to listen to me. In fact you can post a comment, and tell me I'm an idiot with zero taste. But it's the internet and I have a right to say what I think :)

So long for now bloggerinoes,
Ghackett

Plea Rejected - High School Boys Forced to Resort to Masturbation, Again!

This one goes out to Florida. The state with the best school system in the country, as far as I'm concerned. Debra Lafave, the FL teacher accused of having sex with her 14 year old student in the back of an SUV while the boy's 15 year old cousin was driving, has had her plea bargain rejected. The plea would have kept this woman out of jail and resulted in 3 years of house arrest and 7 years of probation.

Now some people are calling what she did a crime. Well most people. Well pretty much everybody over the age of 18. But this woman is every little boy's wet dream. I think that most people will agree with me saying that there is no way this woman had to force herself onto that kid. Can I ask a question here? Where the hell were all these teachers when I was in High School? She wouldn've been way better than the bald guy I had for Sex Ed. Plus everybody always wants a more hands-on learning experience.

Ok, Ok, I know I'm gonna get pure hell for this post, probably from everybody. But I just couldn't help myself, it's entirely too funny a situation. So for the sake of my readers (1 in particular) I would like to point out that I am not, could not, and never have been attracted to this woman. She is completely hideous in comparison to my wonderful and beautiful girlfriend.

Enjoy, my faithful bloggerinoes, and don't forget to post! But please keep the hate-mail to a minimum.

The Arch Card - If you buy it, you're a hick

Maybe you've heard about it, maybe you haven't, but as far as I'm concerned, it's the dumbest thing ever concieved by man! That's right, it's the Arch-Card. A rechargeable gift card for use at McDonalds. I don't know about you but I had a MAJOR WTF factor when I heard about this. Am I the only sane person left on the planet? Am I the only person who would slap the person who gave it to me for xmas (unless it was a joke)? Maybe it is supposed to be a joke. Maybe McDonalds is banking on the fact that a lot of people will give it as a joke or to kids. Who knows? Voice your opinions here!

Read it, Hear it, Love it, Blog It!

Crazy Christmas Light Show

OK, I've heard of decorating your house in christmas lights, but this is rediculous. Apperently this guy spent $10k to trick out his house in christmas lights + 1 peace sign, that were all connected up to his computer and synced to music that was broadcasted out over an FM radio station. Click the link and check out the show. Or watch it directly from here (wmv). It's way out of control. This guy is an electrical engineer, so don't try this at home. The show got shut down due to a minor car crash near by which is too bad. I wouldn't mind seeing this in person myself, that is, of course, if I could get over my horrible fear of suburbs. :)

SeamlessWeb - Order Food Online

Ok, so one of the things I do when I'm bored is eat. This has become a problem. Anyway, a couple of months ago, I discovered SeamlessWeb. It's a strange name, but it's awsome. If you live in NYC (I don't know if they serve other cities as well), you order food from hundreds of different resteraunts online and pay with your credit card (including tip). The delivery depends on the resteraunt you order from, but it's usually pretty timely. If you live in the east 30's or 20's I recommend Iron Sushi - Specifically the Spicy Eel and Avacado Roll :)

Enjoy Bloggerinoes!

Creative Zen Vision:M - Way too cool for school!

Hello my bored friends, GHackett here to tell you that don't know about it already, about the Creative Zen Vision:M, something I would consider the best portable media player on the market (if I could get my hands on one). It looks like an iPod, it smells like an iPod, it even tastes like an iPod, but brother, this ain't no iPod! This thing plays a ton of different video formats (including XviD and DivX for all you BitTorrenters out there) and a bunch of different audio formats as well (but no AAC, which makes me happy because i think it's a poor choice that only marketing-minded itunes users, suckling at the apple music tite, use - LAME mp3 is way better). And even though you might think that Apple is gonna sue the pants off of these guys, its actually going the other way around! That's right Creative holds a patent on the mp3-player menu system, and they just might sue apple over it! Anyway, I think this bad boy just came out in Japan (Why Oh Why do i live in a country with such and annoying FCC!?!) but hopefully it will be out in the US by Christmas Time, so that Santa can bring me one!!!

IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!!!
The Creative Zen Vision:M should be availible in the USA on December 16th. This is an important update for people who can't figure out what to get me for x-mas *wink wink*

So Long For Now Bloggerinoes!
Stay Tuned for More Stuff!

GHackett

GHackett's Crapplications!!

For my first real post, I want to talk about two things. What is the most common thing people do when they are bored? Watch TV of course! Thats why, a couple of months ago, I built myself a little computer with a dual tv-tuner in it, and tricked it out with the open-source MediaPortal software! It's the best HTPC (Home Theatre PC) software I have used, and believe me I tried a whole lot of em. Anyway this is not news. Anyone who knows anything about the HTPC community has heard of MediaPortal, and M$ MCE can eat it's bloated little heart out. Anyway the new I wanted to put up here is that I have written my first MediaPortal Plugin. (And yes it is relevant because I did it when I was bored!) Anyway it's called My Random Videos and it lets you set up playlist templates and the randomly generate playlists on the fly. But that's not even the news. The BIG BIG NEWS is that I have two whole people using my plugin. That may not mean much to most people, but to me it's pretty cool!

Anyway, enough of this shamelss advertising.

Stay tuned for new stuff.

My First Blog

Welcome potential readers, to my Boredom Beyond Boredom Blog. Here I will be posting fun an interesting things that I discover while I am very very bored. Becuase that happens so often, this will probably grow very quickly. So Stay tuned bloggerinoes! I will be back soon with my first official post!