First test flight for WhiteKnightTwo a success!

WhiteKnightTwo, the mothership / carrier for SpaceShipTwo flew successfully this past Sunday for an hour. SpaceShipTwo is the commercial plane er spaceship that will allow normal everyday joe's like you and me go to space for only $200,000! I know what a steal.

This is another big step for the commercial space industry.

Link

I think i'm ready to invest

So the market is bad, real bad. People are losing jobs, our country has a long line of companies that want to be bailed out and probably shouldn't. ...and I think i'm ready to invest.

I know i'm not going to get any wins in the short term, but in 3 years everyone's value is going to seriously change. Warren Buffet, super stock investor extrodinare, claims that he made his billions by investing in good companies when they were going thru hard times.

Well i've been doing my research with websites like fool.com and finance.google.com. It doesn't take much and I think i'll only throw $50 a month at it. $600 a year sounds good. Play around with it and then see what I can do with that money. I know how I learn, it's not by reading or listening. It's by doing, so I just need to jump in and give it a try.

If anyone has any helpful advice on sites to go to for first time investors, or perhaps which online discount broker I should go with let me know.

Blu-ray disk to hit 400GB capacity by 2010

Not really useful as so much as just interesting. I get the feeling that film studios aren't even filling up the 50GB's that is provided to them with current generation disks what are they going to do with 4x the space? ...and if that wasn't enough supposedly a 1TB (1000GB's) is ontrack for 2013.

What this really does is provide "options". Movie piracy is so prevelant because what is provided currently by the film studios is easily copied and distributed. If 400GB's of high def interactive goodness was provided with every purchase of a blu-ray movie it would be difficult to distribute all of that.

Also what does this mean for Sony's Playstation 3. Metal Gear Solid 4 was said to use every bit of space on the blu-ray disks. Can we expect more epic games that would approach the current or even future 400GB barrier? Or is that just too much work for the game studios for too little return?

Link

HDMI going wireless?

I'm a big fan of "clutter removal" inovation. When the HDMI cable came out it it consolidated a fist full of video and audio cables into one. Well Tzero Technologies has figured out a way to take HDMI into the wireless realm. Looks like it works alot like bluetooth does today but higher bandwidth.

Here are the quick specs:

Range - 20+ meters

Bandwidth - 480Mbps

Latency - 16ms

Audio - 7.1

Video - 1080p @ 24/56/30/60fps

All at a projected cost of $50 per device you wish to connect up wirelessly. Seems pretty cool especially for people who need to run cables thru walls, under carpets, etc. ...and at a reasonable price too!

Link

The Watchmen movie is going to suck...trust me

Have you read the graphic novel? The graphic novel appeared on Time's list of the top 100 English-language novels! That is a huge acheivement. Additionally is the only graphic novel to achieve a Hugo Award. Saddly when I read this novel of novels I was seriously disapointed.

What makes The Watchmen book so special? Well this is the first comic book where character development was put before the special powers and super tights! ...and that might be the problem with it for me. I'm a huge fan of character development. I beleive great characters are defined by their faults not their strengths. However, with The Watchmen all of these characters have too many faults and too few strengths.

*Spoilers*
Throughout the story you mainly follow Rorschach which is easily the best character with out twistedly fucked up he is, and nite-owl who is clearly a batman rip off to the extreme. Every characters seems to dwell in the grey area, dont get me wrong I realize all of us do in real life. ...but these guys are hanging out in that grey area that is getting a little black. Nite-Owl is banging booty with another super-hero's wife. Rorschach has no problem killing people in cold blood however most of the time he simply assaults them to an inch of their life.

Actually of all these super-hero's there is only one, "Dr. Manhattan" who can seemingly do anything and everything, yet does really nothing.

The super-villian turns out to be a super-hero who decided that he needed to become a villian to give the others purpose. I know i'm paraphraseing here, but honestly that is the short and skinny of it all.

This is why I think the movie is going to be terrible. The previews make one assume they are watching the standard super-hero movie. ...but this is far from it. There will be no superpowers going on. There will be no clearly defined evil until you find out at the very end that one of the good guys when bad. ...and none of the characters are really "likeable" since they are all so seriously screwed up.

I'll be passing on this movie.

Batman and 007 rumors

The new Batman movie is set to debut and it looks like we may be in for a treat when it comes to the previews. It is rumored that were going to see a preview for Christian Bale's new film Terminator: Salvation. Yes if you didn't already know he'll be playing John Connor in a new trilogy continuing where T3 left off.

As for 007 it would appear that the producers haven't nailed down an opening song yet for the movie. They've apparently been talking to everyone and no one seems to fit the movie. One name that pops up is Annie Lennox, who would do an excellent bond intro. She has the kind of classiness that the bond films deserve. Perhaps this has been their problem as most pop stars try and create a sex/party image, and that is most definitely not what 007 is all about.

HTPC on the cheap

HTPC (stands for Home Theatre PC), basically you can create a mp3, movie, tivo, bittorrent server that you can then run to any tv/computer in the house for cheap. I'm looking into doing this for myself.

First and foremost is the case for the little guy. I wanted something that I could fit in my entertainment cabinet that didn't look like a computer. A quick look at Newegg and I discovered tons of cases for cheap, some not so much. It looks like you get what you pay for, like this little gem.

Next step will be to gut out your old PC that is taking up space in your closet and install it in your newly bought case. Then you need to install an O/S and all the software you'll be using. Bit-tech.net has an excellent article on installing Xubuntu (Linux) and the software needed. After reading it i'm convinced its so easy my mother could do it, and best of all its free!

Since I have a PS3 I'll be installing a "Media Server", just google it and you'll find it online, so my PS3 can read the mp3's and movies I have on my server.

Honestly i'm a bit jazzed up about this, just need to figure a cool way to turn on the unit remotely (i'm sure the higher end cases can have that handled) and then I think i'll have a nice addition to my entertainment center.

Long time no write

The great thing about having a blog that noone really reads is that I dont have to stay topical or even post on a regular basis. To that end I took a break (a really big break), but I'm now back into the blogging mood so I'll continue my ramblings.

So what have I been up to? Well alot actually. Since my last post, i've been using Ableton Live to self teach myself everything from music production to mixing to even live DJ sets. To that end I have created my first DJ set which is all Vocal Trance. So far those that have heard it (about 10 so far) have really liked it.

This is quickly turning into my new hobby. Knowing me i'm sure i'll be onto something else in a few months (it's just my way). ...but in the meantime i'm looking to purchase a small 61 key midi keyboard that will allow me to interface with the Ableton Live software. This will allow me to do more by playing around with drum racks, synthasizers, etc. I think as my next goal I'll be taking a NiN song and remove all of Trent's vocals and replace it with mine. He does some voice modulation stuff too so it'll be an interesting exercise as I teach my self everything that is envolved with that.

Unreal Engine 4.0 exclusive to consoles

As a gamer I recently bit the bullet and bought a PS3. It was only 4 years ago you could hear me say that gaming on the PC will always be superior to any console. Well I was wrong, or perhaps my tastes have changed. Consoles now a days are so superior to PC gaming in so many ways. Comfort (couch), Graphics (HD TV's), Sound (7.1 surround sound), and cost ($500 for the most expensive console on the market) all seriously out weigh anything you can do with a PC. When you look at it the console is the cheapest way to get a very descent gaming system in your home. So it was after opening my eyes and seeing this I decided instead of continueing to upgrade my computer so I could play the latest and greatest games i'd rather get a PS3 and benefit from having a blueray player.

Well one of the most successful software backends for games (Unreal Engine) recently stated that they were going to focus their efforts exculsively on consoles before considering PC's. This is big news in the gaming community because Epic (the makers of Unreal and its Unreal Engine) has had a huge presence in the PC market thanks to its lisceseing of the engine out to quite literally hundreds of game developers that then use it to make games for the PC market (as well as consoles). However from now on their engine will be optimized for console use.

This move is most likely due to the development cycle for a console system is shorter. The PS3's hardware is set in stone it doesnt change, same with an Xbox 360 or a Wii. A PC however, has lots of different hardware in it. Not 2 PC's are a like, this means that developers have to program for these slight changes in expected harware, as they make the software more suitable for a larget audience it is less efficient and thus graphics are not as refined, physics are lacking, etc.

One could argue there is a lot wrong in gaming in general and PC gaming specifically. People have been saying PC gaming is dead for years, however this might just be the first nail in the coffin.

It's Hammer Time!

Think you got made dance skillz yo? Want to prove it to the whole world? Then Dancejam is the social network site for you. It's ran by MC Hammer so you know its good!

Pandora + PS3 = Failure

Recently I purchased a PS3, and it was a great purchase. There really isn't any steller PS3 only titles out for it, but thats not why I really bought it. I honestly bought the PS3 because of everything else. I wanted something that would be the center of my entertainment system in my living room, and the PS3 does it nicely. The benfits of a blueray player, and a player of other media (downloaded movies and music) I couldn't pass it up.

Yesterday I got an idea to use the ps3 web browser to go to Pandora and stream music. Unfortunately it didn't work out as well as planned. Pandora's website requires I run Flash 9.0, and the PS3 web browser only has Flash 7.0. There is no way for me to update this. However it looks like the PS3 will accept an installtion of linux. So to get Pandora to pump thru my stereo I would need to boot into Linux with my PS3 and then browse out to the internet and view Pandora's webpage. Seems a little bit absurd. Research i've done online about this, has brought up similar stories but no real solutions, or a time frame when Sony is going to update to Flash 9.0.

High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Sea

What do you do when your ship full of 4,703 Mazda's is tilted to one side, taking on water and is about to capsize? You call these guys. Wired has written an excellent article about this anything but normal salvage crew. It's a must read.

150 miles per gallon car for $22,000

Man I love my '05 Ford Mustang, but everytime I head to the pump I cringe. My car slurps down gas, like its going out of style and this bothers me. I love the performace of my car, I enjoy having all that power beneath my right foot, but I feel guilty for not having a more fuel efficient car.

The new Loremo has plenty of fuel economy, 150 miles to the gallon kind. Thats rediculous! You can travel from New York to Los Angeles and only stop for gas 3 times. ...and its affordable at $22,000. However there is no performance, with stats like 0-60 in 15 seconds i'm unimpressed (they will be releaseing a GT model that has more performance 0-60 in 10 seconds for $30k). I really want to jump on the fuel economy band wagon, really I do. ...but I gotta wait for something that has the same feel as driving my Mustang.

It does make me wonder though how will hybrids and hydrogen fuel cars affect the muscle car. Mustangs, Corvette's, etc are known for the purr of their engines, the way the car vibrates. The muscle (or simply sports) car manufacturers spend lots of money to make sure that when a Mustang owner opens up the throttle they are rewarded with the roar that everyone is familiar with. Will the performace of current sports cars be able to transfer over the fuel efficent technologies of tomorrow?

How to make $400

1) Buy World of Warcraft play with friends and have lots of fun.

2) Get tired of playing World of Warcraft and sell account.

3) Profit!

I sold my character finally for $400. While originally I was hopeing to get a lot more, I realized that getting anything for something intangible like a MMO character should be celebrated. I think i'm going to put this $400 towards a PS3, it doubles as a HD blueray player and well I guess I could use one. :) ...or I could put it towards getting some new furniture. ...or I could put it towards upgrading my tv which still not sure if its the problem or my cable box.

Regardless its nice to have options, and to be rid of the money sink ($15/month) that is World of Warcraft.

New devilrays stadium

New stadium for the Rays. Man it looks sweet. Its going to cost $450 million and hopefully completed by 2012 thats a long time to wait, but it looks like the Rays aren't looking to leave Tampa anytime soon.

The Rays have been playing out of probably the sorriest excuse for a ballpark in the entire league, Tropicana Field. If I was Tropicana I wouldn't have put my name on it, its that bad. Everything about it is lame. First its enclosed, not that that is a bad idea in Florida, especially with our humidity and rain, but the building from the inside is actually uglier then the outside. Second, the turf is so sad. Yeah its astroturf but the stuff I see at other stadiums looks way better then the green carpet they have there.

To be honest you could make a long list of reasons why Tropicana Field is not up to snuff, but they all have to do basically with one thing. That stadium, is not a real baseball field. The new proposed one above is.

More HD woes

I'm not sure now if its the TV or my cablebox that is causing all these problems. This weekend i'm going to borrow my dad's ps3 and watch a blueray movie like spiderman or something and see how it looks. ...because last night I was watching all night on it and had no real eye strain. I was watching a Terminator 3 which clearly has a lot of action sequences and didn't have any of the stuttering I thought I saw on Monday, though it was a low def signal. Also on the hi-def side I didn't see any real problems watching mythbusters, other then that it seems that after a while watching a saved show on my DVR the video will freeze up but the audio will continue. Also sometimes when i'm in guide view, the preview window in the top right doesn't expand to full screen when I leave the guide (that definitely sounds like a bad box to me). Could these problems be a sub par HDMI cable? Hmm I dunno. Hopefully some of these questions get answered this weekend?

Smoking is bad mmmkay

Being in IT I get an interesting look at how bad smoking really is. Last night I worked on a co-workers computer and his live in daughter smokes cigarettes in the house. Check out the picture, see how the tobacco just cakes on stuff? Your looking at the fan which is directly above the processor. The fan's job is to blow cool air across the processor to keep it cool. Look at all the tobacco dust on that fan. Computers can actually die from the ammount of tobacco dust that cakes on everything.

Just imagine what peoples lungs must look like? They have to look alot worse. Your lungs are getting a direct hit (yes filtered but whatever) of smoke dust and then exhaleing it. This PC fan is getting second hand smoke. I highly doubt the chick exhales the cigarette into the PC's intake fan.

I had to blow this thing out before bringing it into the house, and it created a huge smoke cloud everywhere. After I turned it on still remenants of smoke dust was in there and it made my computer room smell like a bar.

I know smoking is a tough habit to break, believe me there are a few people that I love very much that want to quit but they cant. After seeing pictures like this why do people still start this awful habit?

My new HD TV

So this past weekend I bought a 42" HD 1080p (with lots more acronyms) from Costco. It was on sale for $950. Last night I setup the HD box from my cable provider, so I started getting in a true HD signal and I’m unimpressed.

I kind of feel it’s the TV’s fault. I can feel my eyes are straining, sometimes my eyes feel like this before I get a migraine so I dunno perhaps that’s going to happen and it’s not the TV. ...however Brighthouse (my cable provider) has lots of HD content on demand, so I started watching the live performance of the Gorillaz in 1080p and well thinks just didn't look as crisp as I was expecting. ...and then of course there was that eye strain. ...and as I was fiddling with the menu for the TV it froze. The menu froze on the screen and I couldn't get rid of it. I couldn't even turn the TV off I had to pull the power plug out the back.

I'm getting together with my mom who did a ton of research before buying her TV, and I think I’m going to need to borrow a blueray with movie to see what the TV really can do. Normally I’m a pretty frugal guy. It wouldn't bother me that I’m not getting the best picture in the world. ...but if I can’t watch my TV cause it gives me headaches, well its useless to me and I may have to upgrade to a better TV. Luckily for me, Costco offers a 90 day return policy.

Toshiba calls it quits, HD-DVD loses Blueray wins...Felix rejoices!

As reported here. Looks like Toshiba is finally calling it quits. They've had way too many "partners" jump ship over to Blueray. Off the top of my head I can think of Warner Brothers, Walmart & Bestbuy. This will most likely boost PS3's importance in the home of tomorrow. As its the best bang for your buck, being both a blueray player (that is updateable, and a next-gen console).

In related news...i'm buying a PS3 soon. Costco is bundleing the 20GB version for $500, comes with an extra controller, the movie remote, Spiderman 3 Blueray (who cares), and the new Ratchet and Clank (which I just love that series).

Edit:
BBC's take on it.

Flash Drives getting so big its going to change the way we share information

...well at least I think. I just read an article that is talking about how flash drives are about to have a serious jump in capacity. Just so were on the same page i'm talking about all sorts of flash drives, from solid state drives (flash memory for your pc, replacing your hard drives), to SSD cards (memory for your cellphone, camera, etc) all the way down to usb flash thumb drives.

This is a huge deal. Right now you can go to bestbuy and buy a 16GB thumbdrive for $186. Just think about this, 16GB's is a lot of space. Hell at work I still have computers that have only a 20GB hard drive in them. Now this article doesn't go into detail about how this will affect the usb flash drive market but there is definitely going to be a trinkleing effect. ...and with everything now a days having USB ports we wont be reliable on things like ipod's, dvd/hd players, or even current computer storage mediums.

Lets take the maximum I could find (16gb's) and double it, what could I do with that? Well for one I could carry a complete operating system install on it. Get to somebody's house want to check my e-mail, just boot off of my USB drive and then check my e-mail. Or maybe i'd have a couple high def 1080p movies that I want to show one of my friends. Take it over to his house, plug it into his PS3 and start playing the movie. Or I could have an entire ipod's worth of mp3 music and just plug my USB drive into my car stereo and bam i'm listening to Shiny Toy Guns.

USB flash drives are going to become the new way for people to share information. Easily portable, cost effective, speedy. There are just a ton of reasons why this medium is going to do for information, what mp3 did for music.