WebAdmin

So, I saw this commercial for the “KGB”. It’s basically a company that has setup three services… A wiki like service, where you can go to their site and look up information via the web, a mobile service which you load a program on your smart phone and ask ANY question and it’s answered within 10 minutes (or it’s free), and a SMS text version similar to the mobile version.

Interesting business model but no one really cares, everyone wants to see the commercial, which is freaky. Unfortunately, you can’t use Google to find it, since it’s been spammed with squatters and trojan sites to try to steal traffic. I find it interesting that such a huge marketing campaign can’t get the top search slot on Google. Then again, I guess it’s competition…

Anyways, here’s the commercial:

Knowledge Generation Bureau (KGB) Commercial

Long time since a post, apologies all around. Work has been hectic. Implementing a CMS at an entire university is no small feat. Mission accomplished though!

So, now I FINALLY have a 3G T-Mobile smartphone!!!

I’ve used the T-Mobile G1 for afew months now, and I’m loving it.

And now, I’m totally hooked on Geocaching! Thanks to a free app on the Android Market called Geodroid.

I’m not sure what the developer’s name is, but his apps are by “Clinkybot”.

Lots of love to Clinkybot for developing this app! It’s the best (and, as far as I can tell, only) Geocaching software out for Android.

Go! Try it! Join the hunt!

I may regret this, but I’ve created a comprehensive Beijing Olympics TV schedule for the United States, stuffed into a nifty PDF format! I couldn’t find one anywhere online, so I fired up excel, and went to town. For some stupid reason, NBC released a “list” formatted schedule, which is impossible to read, and has not released a grid-layout of show times. My interpretation is below.

2008 Summer Olympics - TV Schedule - Eastern Time

I just made an eastern time one, since most people can add and subtract.

If you find any errors, just hit up the comments, and I’ll make changes.

Keep in mind, all times are subject to change, and I do not guarantee the accuracy of this document. Check your local TV listings for the most accurate and up-to-date show times. I’ve licensed this file under Creative Commons. Information can be found at their website.

I just got a brand new DirecTV HR20-700 (well, they’ve been out for awhile, but it’s new to me!)

To frame this for those who aren’t aware; the DirecTV Plus HD DVR (HDDVR) originally allowed you to use a Intel ViiV computer to stream media to your TV via the HDDVR. Now, a few software updates later, it now plays nice with any windows media compatible sharing software. Now, the HDDVR brand includes -several- models of DVR’s, and I don’t feel like listing them, so…. if you have VOD and an ethernet port, you know who you are… Besides, if you got here, you’ve probably already found the feature, but found that stupid X next to all of your media.

So the question is, how do I get my favorite DIVX avi file to play on my wide screen!?

Using your favorite tool (I use ffmpegX) you’ll need to re-encode your video and audio. On a fast machine, this only takes 10 minutes or so.

The video must be encoded using MPEG-2 Transport (known as MPEG-TS in many applications) and the audio must be MP2 encoded (mpeg1-layer2).

Re-encode, and just drop the file into a shared folder, and wait…. and wait…. and wait… (seriously, I don’t know what makes the HDDVR refresh, because I’ve waited from 2 to 20 minutes for it to finally find my file). I’ve heard you can turn off and on your media sharing app, but that doesn’t always work for me, and sometimes has the side affect of causing it to lose my shared folders for several seconds.

Keep in mind, it filters on extension, so be sure to use .mpg or .avi (both seem to work for me).

I know someone will ask, so before I close, yes, you do need a “media share” application, like the eyeconnect software for OS X.

UPDATE: I -finally- found some documentation via DirecTV’s website, buried in a FAQ. The “officially” supported format is MPEG2 video +AC3/MPEG1-Layer2 audio only. I tried this out, and it does indeed work, although not well (some functionality is missing, specifically fast-forward) and sometimes it loses the stream and errors out (which sucks without fast-forward -_-). This does however produce a smaller file than the transport flavor. Another format that works? DIVX! But only some, and I can’t tell you which specifically work. I’ve tried matching the encoding, and have yet to produce a file that works. I’ll let ya’ll know if I get it working.

Yeah, I have it. My biggest problem with the iPhone is T-Mobile.

See, I’ve had T-Mo for years. I was with Voicestream. Heck, I was with Aerial.

So, my trouble with the iPhone is: I love my cell carrier. When I have a problem, T-Mo answers the phone. When stuff breaks, they fix it.

There’s precious few people that can say that about their cell company. No one loves Sprint, or Verizon, or AT&T for that matter.

If you ever read my blog, and no one does, but I’ll continue… You already know I like T-Mo, and if only they would roll out that coveted 3G service, it would complete me. I will have the ultimate in customer service, price, AND data service. Done deal!

Of course, after I get all of that, I’ll say: “this is the perfect service, if only it had an iPhone”.

Damn you iPhone! You make my perfect service imperfect. You create a void. You hurt.

A recent study on “cyberslacking” (CNN’s words, certainly not my creation) had some interesting findings. It turns out that web browsing at work can be constructive. Of the 1024 surveyed, almost all browsed at work, including everyone from “from senior managers to entry-level employees”. Duh. The study then claims that management’s use of filtering to clamp down on browsing at work is not only hypocritical, but likely will just lead to reducing job satisfaction and thus productivity. Having friends that work at companies that lock-down their internet access, I sure hope that managers take this to heart. Link to the full article below. Speaking of which, I better get back to work…

The biannual list of the fastest computers in the world was release today at the International Supercomputing Conference, and it’s no surprise that IBM’s Roadrunner at the NNSA-run (National Nuclear Security Administration) Los Alamos laboratories in New Mexico has seized the number one spot.

IBM currently hold’s the top three spots for fastest computers in the world, with the Blue Gene/L system and the Team Blue Gene/P taking second and third respectively.

The fastest computer in the world is using some pretty interesting processors, utilizing 12,240 IBM PowerXCell 8i chips (a high-performance cell processor, similar to (but much more expensive than) that used in the Playstation 3) and 6,562 dual-core AMD Opteron processors. So is it odd that our home entertainment centers are using supercomputer parts, or that our supercomputers use entertainment center parts? Jump over to InformationWeek for more info at the link below.

IBM Roadrunner Judged World’s Fastest Computer

Yeah, I got my hopes up reading the subject line too. Looks like the FCC has posted some fresh pics of the T-Mobile branded Sony Ericsson TM506. It’ll be sporting GSM/EDGE 850/1900 and WCDMA 1700/2100 which makes it compatible with T-Mobile’s 3G. Apparently T-Mobile isn’t aware that their customers want 3G smartphones. Nope, they think we’re waiting for some ultra-fast SMS, flip-phone action. Could you please join the decade T-Mobile? You know, before it’s over. More details for the four people that are interested after the break.

FCC Spills Details on 3G Clamshell for T-Mobile

I’m starting to believe that the above statement is an oxymoron. I’m probably not allowed to go into detail regarding my current security woes. However, I will generally ponder… For instance, why would a system only afew months out of date on OS patches be vulnerable to an attack? How can a vulnerability that has almost no resources online so thoroughly hose a machine? Why aren’t bells going off in some deep underground security bunker when a SINGLE binary file can gain ROOT access on any system of a particular OS release???

Moving on… why are security departments so reactive? When a server is attacked/hacked or cracked (shudup, rhyme ftw), they bust down doors and swoop in like an attentive FEMA. However, I’d much rather be hassled by them about my security holes before they are so thoroughly exploited. The word is proactive. Think, Secret Service, not FBI. Don’t break up the drug cartel operating down the street, let’s prevent the assassination from ever taking place, ya know? Dive into that bullet! Take one for the team!

Apologies to the four people that read this, I know it has devolved into some sort of pretentious foto-blog. I only post them because my pictures are awesome (oops, there’s that pretension)… that and work is boring and monotonous at this point. One has to have an outlet, no?

Yosemite_225.JPG

Originally uploaded by -seek-

Tiff and I took a short trip to Yosemite a few weeks ago and OMG was it gorgeous. Just look at that picture! We stayed in a rented cabin inside the park, where we were greeted by deer roaming outside our front door.

And it snowed!!

Two of the most memorable points in the trip were the beautiful waterfall (less than a mile from our cabin) and the Ahwahnee Hotel where we had an -awesome- lunch in a large dining hall where we could watch the blizzard outside.

I can’t wait to go back, it was an awe inspiring experience. However, there’s too many places we need to go, so we’ll probably make our next trip to Sequoia NP.

Oh, and we’re junior rangers… did you know?