Tagged in: Technology

Blog, Pictures, Technology Comments Disabled

My Dell Studio Hybrid – Unboxed… Finally!

 

Dell Studio Hybrid

My search for a Home Theatre PC (HTPC) began almost as soon we purchased our 32 inch LCD TV for the family room.  I loved having the ability to plug my laptop into our TV and have, what was basically, a huge computer monitor.  That was a few years ago.  Since then, we have done away with our monthly TV service bills and gone the route of free “over-the-air” HD service.  This is complimented by hulu.com, netflix.com, and the like.  We do subscribe to Netflix and thus have the instant play feature, but you can read more about all that in my Life Without A TV Bill posts. 

After a couple of years of hooking up and unhooking our laptops, I finally found a deal for a PC that I liked.  I’ve looked at a Mac Mini ($599), an ASUS Eee Top ($375.00), and a Dell Studio Hybrid ($499).  

Mac Mini

The Mac is the choice of a lot of people I know, but having all PCs at home, it just didn’t make sense.  The ASUS was the front runner, but didn’t have an optical drive, which I needed since my DVD player had recently died.  Plus, the ASUS is slightly under-powered since it is basically a netbook without a screen.  The Dell was the best choice, but I just didn’t want to lay down $500.  Then…  EARTH DAY!!!  

ASUS eee Box
ASUS eee Box

Dell covertly offered $200 instant savings during the week following Earth Day on its “Earth Friendly-Power Sipping” Studio Hybrid.  It was hard to find, but I stumbled across the link while reading a tech forum.  That’s was the deal I was looking for.  A dual-core CPU, 2GB of Ram, and optical drive, and best of all ROOM TO UPGRADE!  Since the Studio Hybrid is basically a laptop crammed into a tiny space, parts would be easy to get.  So that’s what I ordered.  

IOGEAR Keyboard

 

I was none to happy when I received my first, second, or third delay notice from Dell.  I still don’t know what the issue was, but it took over a month to get my HTPC.  I’ve never this sort of problem ordering from Dell’s Small Business Division, with whom I do business weekly at FBC.  I suppose it is just the curse of dealing with Dell’s Home Division. It was well worth the wait, however.  I’m loving this little computer.  It sits perfectly on our entertainment center, and paired with a wireless keyboard with builtin trackball from IOGEAR, and a Logitech Webcam with builtin Microphone, I’m loving this setup. 

Logitech C250

 

We’ve used it mostly for Hulu and Netflix, but with the addition of the webcam, and the family being home for the summer, I’ve been skype calling home just about every day from work.  We also skype my parents every now and then.  It’s a lot more fun to do it on the big TV than on our desktop computer.  This little camera works really well for us, even in low light, and its microphone pics up very well, even sitting on the sofa 5-7 feet away.  

If you’re looking for a HTPC to help you cut the chains of Cable or Satellite TV, I would highly recommend the Dell Studio Hybrid.  Just wait for Earth Day to roll around again…  

 Unboxing Picture Below: 

Blog Comments Disabled

Password Tips… Is your’s strong enough?

Just a quick note about passwords. Over the few years I’ve been administering the network here at First Baptist, I’ve come across some really great and really not so great passwords. I thought it was about time I addressed this. There are a few ways to create a really secure password, that is also very memorable, if you are willing to take just a few moments to think about it. Here are a few tips and examples:

1) Passwords shouldn’t be words in the dictionary.
The easiest thing for hackers to do is what’s called a brute force attack, wherein they have software that literally tries every word in the dictionary.

2) You should have different passwords for every application.
Your banking password should be different from your email password, etc… If someone gained access to your personal email and saw you bank at BankX, they now have two very critical pieces of information that could’ve been prevented by having two separate passwords.

3) Don’t use Dates, Names, etc…
At least not on their own. A combination of those can make a good password.

4) Change your passwords periodically.
The longer you use a password the more likely it will be hacked. Change them at least twice a year.

Good Password Examples:
Acronyms make great passwords that are very difficult to break. For example: “I Love To Drink Coffee At The Airport” could be Il2dc@ta. That’s Capital ” I “, lowercase ” L “. That’s an easy to remember sentence and a password that no one will guess. It’s 8 characters, has a capital letter, a special character, and a number; which will satisfy the most demanding password requirements.

—-
Marc Boroditsky, a computer security expert and chief executive officer of Passlogix, says, an eBay password might be ebnpr2007 — eb for eBay, npr for a familiar acronym and 2007 for the year. “So, ebnpr2007 isn’t a word in the dictionary and isn’t easy to guess if you were attempting to gain access,” he says.

Blog, Technology, Videos Comments Disabled

ExoPC on Video…

If you read my previous post about the ExoPC (The iPad Killer, well kind of…) you know that even though I’m an ocean away from the nearest prototype of this device, I’m already in love with it.  It has all the makings of a great mobile computer…  At least for me.  It appears to do everything I need it to do very well.  I love all the I/O ports that are available on it most of all.  Very handy indeed.  So, I get most of my daily tech news via the folks over at Engadget.com.  They have a great pulse on technology, but don’t take it too seriously, which I appreciate.  They also have a great snarky sense of humor when writing about things that might not otherwise be so interesting.  Ok, enough for the engadget commercial…  Here’s a video they posted recently of the ExoPC (Looks like they have a English version of the site now) in action.

Blog, Technology 4 Comments

The iPad Killer! Well, kind of…

With all this talk about the iPad, I thought I might as well chime in with my two cents worth.  I, along with most folks, were eagerly awaiting the reveal of the iPad.  And for those of us who aren’t Apple Fanboys, the iPad is alittle bit of a let down.  I was expecting a very useful and user friendly tablet.  That not exactly what we got.  The iPad has several pros, don’t get me wrong.  Let me run through my list very quickly:

PROS:
1) Size-It’s extremely compact and light.
2) Display-Very bright, good resolution, responsive.
3) Interface-The iPhone OS is a great platform for mobile computing.

CONS:
1) No Front Facing Camera-Having the ability to do video calls seems like an obvious use.
2) Alternate Input Methods-As a tablet, Apple really needs to have some sort of Pen accessory that can write on the capacitive touch screen for quick note taking, etc…
3) I/O Ports-Pushing the 30Pin iPod connector only is not a good idea.  I really need a USB port for jump drives, an SD card slot, an HDMI port for video output and possibly a 4pin Firewire port.  These would open up worlds of usefulness.

Those are my three major gripes.  Without those, this device is not much different than my iPhone (oh, wait, my phone has a CAMERA!!!).  So if Apple just wants us to use this for entertainment and reading (I don’t read, by the way, and if I do read long manuals, white papers, etc… I print them), then they have cut their market way down, and I’ll stick with my iPhone only. 

Now, several of you are saying, “Oh, he’s a PC guys… Blah, Blah, Blah…”.  Yes, I work in a PC environment, but I’m open to whatever hardware/software gets the job done best.  And quite frankly, the iPad doesn’t fulfill any need for me. 

My Needs:
1) Tablet for note taking, basic word processing, spreadsheets, remote desktop, FULL web (including flash)
2) Must be able to store files, and be transferred via USB drive
3) RJ-45 ethernet jack would be great for troubleshooting networks
4) Good battery life (5 Hours Minimum)

So, is there a PC alternative, and iPad killer, so to speak?
Not yet, but a company called ExoPC has a good start.  The ExoPC has your standard netbook specs (Even though Steve Jobs hates netbooks, he seems to have made a pretty lame one…), runs Windows 7, and has all the I/O ports you could want, plus a very similar display to the iPad.  It will cost around $799 when it is released.  Their website is in french, but here is a link to the google translated version.  If you speak French… I apologize.

The ExoPC – Google Translated Version

Will I get an iPad?
Probably not.  My cardinal rule of technology is, “NEVER BUY FIRST GENERATION!”.  There will be a ton of bugs worked out in this version.  Perhaps they might even listen to some of us who want the Front Facing Camera added, along with the HDMI, etc…  Whatever they do.  The next version will be a better product.  I doubt it will get any cheaper.  The price points for the iPad are very good, even if it isn’t the product I was hoping for. 

In closing.  iPad=Big (Not as great) iPhone.  ExoPC=More what I’m looking for in a tablet.

Oh, and I’m not even going to touch the whole Adobe Flash thing.  We all know the iPhone and iPad should support it, one day Apple will wake up and listen… Then again, they never listened to us before, so why start now. 

There is a side by side comparison on ExoPc’s website as well.  You can get the translated version here.

The ExoPC compared to iPad and Archos 6
(translated)

And to be fair…  Here is the link to all thing Apple iPad.  I guess you could say this is the iPad’s pad…  Maybe not.

The Apple iPad, everything you need to know.

Blog, Technology Comments Disabled

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.

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!

Blog, Technology Comments Disabled

Freaky…

Immersive Media's Camera Head

Wanna really freak out your friends and family?  Show them this! 

 Google Maps has finally gotten around to updating most of the country with its street view feature.  So now you can type in just about any address on a public road and you will be able to look around that area just like you were there!  The technology is based on a camera head with 11 digital camera lenses built into it.  In this post on the Wired blog you can see the car and camera that take these amazing pictures.  Google has actually had to cut the resolution of these images due to lawsuits by people who were caught by the Google Car.  There are entire websites dedicated to searching through all the street views and finding the wierd and crazy things that these cars managed to capture.  Some include theives in the act, as well as equipment/software malfunctions that led to what looks like giant holes in space. 

Altogether it is a very impressive technological achievement.  I suggest everyone take some time and check out their neighborhoods, and see you can find.  Oh, I should say that these images are not real time, I would hope most people would realize that, but you never know.  Also, it is funny to see in Clarksville’s images that some of the city was captured during the spring, and some during winter.  Downtown there is snow on the ground, but at my house trees are blooming.

Visit http://maps.google.com and type in your address to what you can see!
streetview

Technology Comments Disabled

Adam’s Technology Rules #3 & #4

I hope you liked my Rules #1 & #2, now onto #3 & #4. 

Rule #3: Don’t be afraid of it

There is no harm in experimenting.  I’ve learned 90% of what I know from trial and error.  There are only a few things that you can do to completely mess up a computer, or most electronics for that matter.  Just use some common sense.  If you are short on common sense, do what I do…  Google!

Rule #4: If it’s too good to be true

It probably is!  This should fall into that “common sense” category, but I’ve known too many people that loose all their good sense when they turn on a computer.  Advertisers, hackers, spammers, and viruses thrive on the fact that people love to get something for nothing.  As a loose rule, I delete all e-mail that begin with FW:, I never EVER click on banner ads, and I don’t open email attachments that I didn’t request.  Those three things alone will save you alot of headaches.  If you would be suspicious of someone trying to give you a “free” car in a mall, why wouldn’t you be online?  Don’t leave your brain behind when you bootup.

Technology 1 Comment

Adam’s Technology Rules #1 & #2

I’m opened up an interesting topic at the end of my last post.  Technology Rules.  I’m sure most of you are wondering what are my personal rules when it comes to techonology.  Maybe not…  Probably not…  But I’m going to tell you anyway.  I was actually wrong about Rule #1, see what it is below.

Rule #1: Always Restart! 

I have found that 99.99% of all problems can be fixed, even if just temporarily, by restarting or rebooting.  My favorite example of this is actually with a TV that had no audio.  It would change channels, and some channels even had what sounded like radio stations playing underneath them, but no TV audio.  I actually forgot this rule, and proceeded to go through all the menus trying to find the setting that was wrong.  I never found it, and eventually decided to unplug the TV and plug it back it.  That did it.  Came back on and worked beautifully.  So as you can see this rule can apply to anything from a Microwave to an iPhone… Restart!  Then call me.

Dilbert.com
 

Rule #2: Never Buy First Generation

This rule can be hard to follow…  Case and point the iPhone, Microsoft Windows (any version…), or the Motorolla DVR box that CDE uses for TV service (Clarksville Thing).  When dealing with operating systems its best to wait for the first service pack.  That usually patches the large majority of holes, and fixes the major problems.  I realize it isn’t always possible to do this, but if it is, you will save yourself alot of headaches.  In the case of the iPhone, and most other consumer electronics, if you can wait a generation you can save MONEY!  Pay $500 for a 1st generation iPhone, or pay $200 for the iPhone 3G, which is smaller, faster, and overall better.  You’ll patience will be rewarded.

Stay Tuned for Rules #3 & #4!

1 2