Verizon FiOS to increase upload and download speeds (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Verizon is boosting its FiOS fiber optic Internet service upload and download speeds today, according to this Ars Technica article. My plan, which is already 5Mbps up, 20Mbps down, will supposedly go to 15/25 … which is pretty damn awesome. I immediately went to Speedtest.net to see if my line was upgraded, and so far it’s [...] Posted in: fios , technology

Hey, I can blog post blog posts! (Bandemax DOT net) by Dave

I’m going to fanboy it up a bit right now. Opera 10 beta came out and I’m using it. It’s great.

I like the tab thumbnails, although I probably won’t use it much. I love how you can customize the speed dial, although I was already hacking mine for extra slots anyway. At least now I can synch those extra speed dial slots.

Overall it seems snappier, and I even like the new skin.

I think overall though, I’m most excited about the HTTP header info you can get at with Dragonfly.

In other news, I’ve been doing work on a Wordpress site for a client at work. So… uh… maybe I’ll actually get started on redesigning this site.

Posted in: science , site news , technology

Preview Kind of Sucks (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

I’ve never really liked Preview. When I have to read a PDF, Preview makes it painful. I could’ve gone the Acrobat Reader route but I opted instead to go with Okular. That meant I had to install KDE 4 Mac. The installation process was actually pretty painless. While ugly as sin, Okular makes reading PDFs on my laptop pretty simple.

While we’re on the topic of PDFs, I want to mention that I’ve had a really good experience with Yep! I have over 600 PDFs on my laptop and the need was really high for something that could organize them with minimal pain. Yep does that. I should mention their support is extraordinarily helpful. I had some issues with my trial version and their support team worked with me until I got them resolved. They didn’t owe me anything, I hadn’t even bought their product but they did anyhow. Great team, great software.

Posted in: science , technology

I Don’t Understand (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

My buddy Jack and I were looking at subscribing to Google Groups via Google Reader today and he couldn’t subscribe to his. Of course, I could subscribe to mine. Jack notices that his requires a sign in and mine doesn’t and he does a search and finds this:

I guess I don’t understand the problem. Why do Google Groups and Google Reader not understand each other? To take the obvious and unfair pot shot, these guys are geniuses. They’ve solved harder problems than this over and over again. It’s either harder than it looks or they just are too busy to fix it or both. It’d be nice though.

Posted in: science , technology

After the Alpha (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

There was Wolfram’s Beta.

Posted in: science , technology

How to find items with free shipping on NewEgg (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I have spent a ton of money with personal and home office computer parts and electronics e-tailer newegg.com. Their prices are usually very competitive, but the reason I keep shopping with them is their fast order fulfillment, and easy return process. When they offer free shipping on items, it only sweetens the deal. NewEgg recently added [...] Posted in: gibberish , link and run , newegg , technology

FiiO headphone amplifier review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

The second model FiiO headset amplifier was my micro-sized solution to a big-time volume problem. Would the tiny amp from Hong Kong do the job, or was the slick packaging and form factor as good as I'd get? Posted in: earphones , ebay , er6i , intercom , motorcycling , q2 , review , technology

Messing Around with Ubiquity (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

Jack told me about Ubiquity a few months ago and it’s become part of my browsing habits as much as QuickSilver has become part of my launching habits (with a little more depending on the app). I played around with a little bit and found some code on the Ubiquity Google Groups that seemed like a good start to making Ubiquity work for me in ways that I need. I took some of the code in that post and used it to make a verb that allowed me to search our internal wikis. I also did the same for Wolfram’s MathWorld.  Here’s the code:

CmdUtils.CreateCommand({
name: “mathworld”,
description: “Search Wolfram’s MathWorld.”,
takes: {“input”: noun_arb_text},

execute: function(input)
{
Utils.openUrlInBrowser( ‘http://mathworld.wolfram.com/search/?query=’+ input.text );
}

})

It’s a total verbatim rip-off of Chris’ post. You can see I didn’t really change much at all. I took a lot out and left myself with a very simple verb. It’s not bad to be lazy. In fact, I think it would be neat instead of making a verb for each search I want to use, whether it be Google, our internal wikis at work, or MathWorld to make a verb that takes a noun and uses that to determine what search engine to use. Something like, “search mathworld for row space”. I might work on that as a little side project for my own amusement. If you’re interested in messing around with Ubiquity I’d check out their tutorial page. I really think this Firefox add-on has a lot of promise.

Posted in: science , technology

Etymotic Research ER6i Earphones Review (from a motorcyclist’s perspective) (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

With a supposed noise reduction of up to 36 decibels and the ability to listen to music and hear phone calls on the road, I give Etymotic Research ER6i earphones a quick spin on the motorcycle. Posted in: bluetooth , earphones , earplugs , er6i , helmet , intercom , motorcycling , q2 , review , technology

Kingwin BJK-35USBI Aluminum USB 2.0 external enclosure review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I bought a cheap Kingwin hard drive external enclosure to replace my failed Venus IDE enclosure. Questionable construction and potential heat issues offset an otherwise inexpensive and serviceable unit. Posted in: review , technology

Philips PowerSquid 5 outlet power strip review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Two PowerSquids square off for a battle to the death. Which is better, the white Philips power squid, or the original black PowerSquid from ThinkGeek? Posted in: review , technology

iTrek mini USB to 3.5mm adapter for HTC Touch / Verizon vx6900 review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

My search for a way to connect my HTC Touch / Verizon vx6900 to my car stereo leads me to the iTrek mini-USB to 3.5mm adapter. Installation is a snap and the price is right, but audio quality is sub-standard. Posted in: htc touch , internet radio , pandora , review , technology

Gmail Manager review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I have two Gmail accounts — one for personal use, and one associated with my online persona. Switching back and forth between the accounts to get all my hate mail became tedious almost immediately. I found GAlert, a desktop program that monitors multiple Gmail accounts and notifies you when you have new email. Google changed [...] Posted in: firefox , galert , gmail , gmail manager , review , technology

It was not a booty text (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I got this text message over the weekend from “Marietta”: (favecute.com) Gail said you would really want to see that site I was obviously suspicious, but the text was relevant enough as to be an actual text. I don’t know a Marietta, but I do know a Gail from the contract prior to my current position. Favecute.com [...] Posted in: gibberish , spam , technology , text messaging

AccessoryOne HTC Touch Verizon VX6900 USB Charging Cradle Dock Review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I love my HTC Touch (known as the VX6900 on the Verizon network). I use it for all sorts of stuff: check Gmail, send text messages, approve Gibberish comments, listen to Internet Radio awesomeness Pandora.com, use the built-in GPS and Google Maps, and sometimes I even call people on it. Even though the upgrade to [...] Posted in: ebay , htc touch , review , technology

Pandora.com now available on (very select) Windows Mobile phones (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I love, love, love Pandora Radio, which suggests music for you based on the types of music you like. One of the things I’ve always wanted is a way to listen to Pandora in my car. I was jealous when iPhone users got to listen to Pandora on the go, and I hoped for a [...] Posted in: htc touch , internet radio , music , pandora , technology , windows mobile

Multitouch Support in Firefox 3.1 beta 2 (a salmon of doubt (shade1978)) by David

I installed Firefox 3.1b2 on my MacBook this evening to a pleasant surprise—it now supports a variety of multi-touch trackpad gestures as seen here.  I remapped two of them slightly, however—three finger swipe to scroll to the top/bottom of the page wasn’t useful for me, and I find the twist gesture to be kind of awkward.  So, I remapped that to changing tabs.

It’s a very nice feature and I’m glad to see they’ve added it.

Posted in: firefox , macbook , technology

Best Buy Dynex 5-port Switch Review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

If you are a gamer looking to connect multiple devices to your network on the cheap, check out Best Buy's Dynex 5-port switch. Posted in: 360 , games , hardware , review , technology , xbox

My computer Crunk gets crunked (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I used to run my main computer 24/7 when I worked from home. I was either on it all the time, or would use it for a quick fact-finding mission on Wikipedia or IMDB. I expect computer components to fail; there are some wear items like the hard drive that will eventually conk out on [...] Posted in: fallout 3 , hardware , technology , windows , windows mobile

MyQuire (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

MyQuire has been acquired.  Mission accomplished.

Posted in: science , technology

Slightly Droll (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

Posted in: science , technology , wtflol

Ubiquity (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

A friend of mine had me look up Ubiquity today.  It looks extremely promising.  One of the apps that I’ve leaned on considerably is Quicksilver and this seems like something in the same vein.  Here’s a demo: 

The demo is painfully Web 2.0 in all its vernacular and tunnel vision on improving how we interact with web pages but let’s face it, the internet sucks and could use some (maybe lots) of help.  I hope this project gains steam and hits beta soon.

Another thing I thought I’d share is ies4osx.  I suspect it’s painfully old and everyone knows about it but me but in case you haven’t and you need it.  Well, there it is.  It’s so clever.  It makes me clap my hands!

Posted in: science , technology

Hey Folders! (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

This is kind of neat if you label your folders at all:  Hey Folders!

Posted in: science , technology

Epiphany! (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

I’ve realized that the Invertible Matrix Theorem is like the friend that you “forgot” to invite to the movies with the rest of your friends but shows up anyhow. You know one of your other friends invited him but they’ll never own up to it. You understand.

Posted in: science , technology

Yep! (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

Someone at work told me about Yep.  It’s like iTunes for your PDFs?  It’s actually really handy for anyone that has PDFs scattered everywhere.  Check it out if you use OS X.

Posted in: science , technology

Samsung ML-2851 laser printer review (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

I review the Samsung ML-2851 laser printer. With built-in network capabilities and duplex printing, will it dethrone my old Samsung ML-1430 as my favorite printer? Posted in: laser printer , review , technology

My DjangoCon coverage for Ars Technica [django, programming, technology] (Clint Ecker (clintology)) by Clint Ecker

I just wanted everyone to know about all my DjangoCon 2008 conference coverage that I did for Ars Technica while I was attending the event this past weekend.

I agree totally with Brian Veloso that the conference was probably the best I’d ever attended. The infrastructure and logistics provided by Google were second to none and the small, focused group of attendees was just right.

Here are the posts I made:

• DjangoCon 2008: GvR speaks on the future of App Engine
• Ars at DjangoCon: Build your own social network with Pinax
• Ars at DjangoCon: Day one round-up
• Ars at DjangoCon: What Django can learn from Zope
• Ars at DjangoCon: The Future of Django

There’s one more coming up that wraps up the final day of the conference, so keep an eye out for that one. I took a lot of photos while there which you can see in my Flickr photoset:

Posted in: django , programming , technology

My Simple View of Chrome (Bandemax DOT net) by phouse

No live bookmarks, no use.  There’s been a lot of competitors to Firefox coming out of the woodwork but until I see some delicious support out of the box or close to out of the box then I’m not interested.  There’s plenty of usability guys out there I’m sure breaking down Chrome and its interface, I’m not one of those.  I’m a simple user with simple expectations.

Posted in: science , technology

We finally got an HDTV [life, technology] (Clint Ecker (clintology)) by Clint Ecker

We got a 50-inch plasma by Panasonic. Loving it so far. We’ve rented a few things in HD from the iTunes Music Store over our AppleTV which has been great. I’ve also converted a lot of movies to iTunes format and pushed them up to the AppleTV which also works pretty well.

The signal we get over broadcast is good too. The only thing I wish we could get is CNN and something like the Food Network. I really don’t want to sign up for cable or a satellite.

Here’s the pics:

From the couch

Dramatic weird angle shot

All the junk hooked up to it

Posted in: life , technology

Permanent secure HTTPS connectivity option now available on Gmail (Gibberish is my native language (DrFaulken)) by drfaulken

Gmail has had HTTPS (secure) capabilities for a long time now, but the default protocol has always been plain HTTP. You could manually add the “s” in the URL (http://mail.google.com to https://mail.google.com), but you had to do it every time you logged in. GAlert by MassGrid Solutions (ready my review) had this functionality, but there [...] Posted in: gmail , software , technology , web applications