Category Archives: Technology

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FOUND: AT&T Towers in Clarksville

Well, I didn’t much sleep last night…  Being the huge geek that I am, I stayed up late messing with my new 3G signal.  I’m loving it.  I wanted to find just where AT&T put those shiny new antennae, but could quite find them.  I stumbled across an AT&T website called ATTTowers.com.  You have to register, but it is free to use and search.  They even have pictures of the towers.  Below are two screenshots of the google map that was generated from my search on that website, and an excel doc listing towers in the Clarksville City limits.  I’m curious how far the 3G signal goes…  Let me know where you are and if you have 3G in Clarksville, TN or Montgomery County, TN.  Thanks!

Spreadsheet of Towers: ATTTowers

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Using YouTube, but Not Really

So, the new iPhone 3G-S is really great (once you dry it out, see post).  It does video really well, and I like the “idea” of being able to upload from my phone to youtube.  I just wish apple would make it alittle more robust and let us determine where we upload our video.  I don’t really like the idea of putting my personal/family videos up on youtube.  The only people I want to look at them already have access to this site.  Plus, I have noticed some not so related “related” videos showing up on the side.  I know there are ways to configure youtube to make “family friendly”, but why bother when my site is already such.  So, I just discovered (I’m sure most have figured this out already) that if I upload to youtube, let it do all the encoding, and then log into my youtube account and download the resulting mp4.  I can then upload that to my wordpress and use wordtube to view it on my site.  You might notice how I like the word “my” there.  I really like for most of my content, especially family related, to stay on my site.  Call lme paranoid.  Go ahead.  Do it!  I know its a few more steps, but it beats, hooking my phone up to my laptop, transferring the video, using qt-pro to export the video as an avi, use Riva to encode the flv, and then upload it to my site.  I just let youtube do all the hard work, then I download it and delete it.  Nice.  Thanks youtube. Oh, see the resulting videos below.

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iTune Movies to DVD

So, as I’m sure alot of people do, I buy and download movies and tv shows from iTune pretty regularlly.  Kayce and I both have iPhones and it is nice when we are out with the boys to just be able to hand them our phones with all their favorite shows on it.  Especially, when we go out to eat.  The downside is, to be able to view any of these on our tv at home, I have to hook up my laptop to our LCD tv.  Not a huge problem, except when I’m at work.  So, how are we to get these movies to DVD so we can watch them at home without my laptop?  Well, you can’t.  That’s right, even though you buy and pay for the videos, you can’t burn them.  I’m not entirely sure why that is, I’m sure it has something to do with crazy hollywood copyright deals.  So, there are several paid programs you can buy to “strip” the DRM out of the video file so you can re-encode it and burn to DVD.  The problem with this is, well, you have to pay $30 for the software. 

Well, in trying a demo of one of these programs, I saw what it was doing looked to be something like a screen capture.  That made me start thinking…  I use Windows Media Encoder (A free download from Microsoft) to make training videos at work by doing a video screen capture and recording my voice with an external microphone.  Why couldn’t I somehow use that free software to do this same thing.  Well, you can.  You just need alittle patiences, and a sincere desire to beat the system.  My next post will be the how I did it post.  I’m taking screen shots right now.  Stay tuned.

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The iPhone 3GS (“S” for Submersible)

Well, I’m sure most of you have heard by now.  One of the most loyal fans and addicted users of the iPhone, jumped into the lake with his brand new 3GS in his pocket.  Yes, that was me.  But, firstly, let me say, it IS just a phone.  I had a great day on the lake with the family.  Ok, now back to the phone deal… 

So, most of you know I’m never, NEVER, without my phone.  I use it constantly at work (remoting to servers, computers, checking e-mail, playing Stick Wars…  you know what I mean).  So, I’m very used to it being in my pocket.  And that is how it ended up in the lake.  Habits, they kill people and phones.  After about one minute in the water, panic quickly swept through me, followed immediately by shame.  Kayce dried it off the best she could and turned it off.  We swam, fished, and drove all over the lake.  Great day.  Oh, I got sun-burned, caught one blue gill, and did I mention the phone thing?  So, after getting home and getting everyone settled back in, I broke out my tools (and my camera, enjoy the below pictures). 

I found several guides to tearing down the iPhone, but it really wasn’t as hard as I had imagined.  I guess if you’re going to build hundreds of thousands of these things, it better be easy to put together.  So, I managed to get the water all cleaned that I could see, and per the suggestion of several folks, I’ve put all the components in a bag of rice, Calrose Rice.  Yes, the good stuff, but its all we had on hand.  We like our sticky rice!  I actually debated for a moment on whether I should use the good rice or not, but then common sense won out.  $200 phone versus $20 bag of rice, hmm… 

So, now my phone… I almost hate to call it that, it’s so much more.  My PDA, no.  My…  Ok, let’s just call it what it is…  Karen.  Her name is Karen.  True fans of Spongebob will know what I’m talking about.  Kayce actually gave my phone that name.  Anyway.  So, now my phone sits in pieces in a bag of rice.  I’m probably going to leave it there until Sunday afternoon.  I’m only worried about the battery.  I’m postive the other components will dry out.  But batteries are very sensative.  And this is an $89.00 battery.  If it doesn’t work, I’m tempted to mod my phone to run on AAA’s.  I’ll let you know how that turns out, if I have to go down that road. 

So, enjoy the pictures of the breakdown of my phone.  I actually enjoyed doing it.  Any excuse to take something apart.  I’m off to search the cars and sofas for change to replace my phone for when the rice trick doesn’t work, and my corrupted battery explodes and destroys the rest of my phone.  Have a great night everyone.  I’m so glad I took the day off.  Ah.

Oh, in the meantime.  I’m not without a phone.  I always have my trusty HTC 3125, better know at the Cingular 3125.  It is the best (Probably the only) flip phone/Smart Phone ever!

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WWDC, Apple Keynote Tomorrow!

I will be posting more tomorrow.  Kayce commented to me today that it had been awhile since I posted anything.  I’ve got some family pictures to go up tomorrow, and just so you know Tomorrow there is supposed to be big announcement from Apple at the WWDC meeting at 12pm Central!  Check out the liveblog on engadget.com.  They should be talking alot about the new iPhone Hardware and Software.  I’m excited!  Why? I’m not sure, since I can’t upgrade for another year!  Check it out regardless, it should be exciting!

Blog, Technology 1 Comment

Microsoft Windows 7 RC1

windows7_100_100I’m so excited about tomorrow!  Microsoft Window 7 Release Candidate 1 will be made available to public download and testing.  AWESOME!  I tried the beta version.  It ran great, and even on a very old laptop with only 512MB of ram.  I’m shocked at how well it ran, considering how much a hated Vista.  If anyone is hesitant about Windows 7, you can go to the download page and check it out.   Below you can read the e-mail announcement from Microsoft.  And be sure to follow the links tomorrow to download and test Windows 7.  Or just check back here and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Windows 7 Release Candidate Announcement

Thank you very much for your help in testing the Windows 7 Beta. Your feedback is invaluable in helping make Windows 7 a high quality operating system. With your help, we have reached the next major milestone on the journey to Windows 7: the Release Candidate (RC).

– On April 30th, the RC became available to MSDN subscribers and TechNet Plus subscribers.
– On Tuesday, May 5 (PST), the RC will be available to everyone via our Customer Preview Program. As with the Beta, the Windows 7 RC Customer Preview Program is a broad public program that offers the RC free to anyone who wants to download it. It will be available at least through June 30, 2009, with no limits on the number of downloads or product keys available.

So you don’t need rush to make sure you get your copy. When you’re ready to download the RC, it’ll be waiting for you.

To get the RC please use one of the following links:

– Developers
– IT Pros/Microsoft Partners
– Tech Enthusiasts/Consumers

IMPORTANT: If you are running Windows 7 Beta you’ll need to back up your data (preferably on an external device) and then do a clean install of the Windows 7 Release Candidate. After installing Windows 7, you will need to reinstall applications and restore your files. If you need help with the installation process, please see the Installation Instructions.

If you’re running Windows Vista, you can install Window 7 RC without having to back up and reinstall your programs and data. But to be on the safe side, please do backup your data before you start.

Please note: All users of the Windows 7 Release Candidate (including Windows Vista users who have upgraded to the Release Candidate) must do a clean installation of Windows 7 RTM. Please keep this is mind as you consider downloading the Release Candidate as opposed to waiting for the general availability release.

Thanks again for your help in reaching this important milestone. We hope that you will join us in testing the RC and finishing Windows 7!

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Hard Disk Recovery

I was almost passed out when I sat down at our computer and saw only one word document on our storage drive.  I put the 500GB drive in earlier this year to store our family pictures and videos as a backup, and to allow me to format our system drive.  Well, that worked out fine, until Friday when I couldn’t find any of the last 8 years worth of files, pictures, and videos.  Needless to say, I was alittle distressed.

I finally was able to get everything back.  Luckly it wasn’t a horrible drive failure.  I thought someone else might be interested in some of the tricks you can use to try to recover lost data yourself.  In windows there is a utility built in called Check Disk.  You can use it to identify bad sectors on your hard drive and often times to repair those bad sectors.  Microsoft has an article on how to use Check Disk here.  There are also a few free or fairly inexpensive (inexpensive compared to the thousands of dollars it can cost to send your drive to a recovery specialist) utilities available from a company called Runtime Software.  They have a recovery utility for $79, and you can try it for free to see if it will work before you buy it.  Very handy.

Runtime also has a free utility for cloning your hard drive, called Shadow Copy.  It is what I am now using to backup my computer.  I have a hard drive in a lockable “hotswap” tray that serves as my backup.  In the event of a fire or such event, I can quickly grab that drive which will be an exact copy of my computer (windows, programs, files, and all).  Or in the event of my hard drive crashing, I can boot my backup and be up and running in under 5 minutes exactly where I left off.  Pretty nice setup.  There are other product available to do this, but I’m cheap.  This works for me. 

I’m just happy I got my files back!  Yeah for Check Disk!!!

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Work & Life…

mac600Crazy week for me at work.  The annual Choir and Orchestra Easter presentation, First Easter, is coming up on the 5th of April.  I didn’t realize that, so I took off this coming week for Spring Break since Kayce will be out.  I don’t know how I missed that, but I’m going to be working some of this week just to get ready for the program.  I’ve spent several hours already with my good friend “The Soldering Iron” making a 3 to 5 pin DMX cable.  Pat and I came up with, what should be, a really awesome lighting/stage setup.  I’ve been working on making it work.  I had to do some electrical work to get power to the lights on stage, then create the cable so I can control the lights and a hazer from the booth.  We are using Martin Mac 500’s and 600’s, they are moving head intellegant lights, for effect lighting.  All our principal lights are traditional theatrical lights.  It’s alot of fun, and I get to teach myself alot of neat stuff.  I really enjoy my job.  So, I’m not too bummed about spring break, I like this particular part of my job. 

mva_skin-01We also had a great night last night…  Kayce and I got a chance to have a date night.  I really wanted to (Don’t know why…) go see Monsters Vs. Aliens in IMAX 3D.  I had never seen a movie in IMAX, before… So we went.  It was pretty good.  I don’t think I would take Parker to see it yet.  Some of the humor was alittle crude for young children, plus it might be alittle scary for young kids.  Especially at the beginning when Susan transforms into the giant and is promptly and forcably imprisoned by a top secret government agency.  But on the whole, the movie was good, and the 3D was better than most I’ve seen.  We got there alittle late (hung up at the Popcorn counter…), so our seats weren’t the best.  Our seats were great at T.G.I. Fridays, right next to our food.  Very convient.

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