Archive for August, 2008

Audi R8 GT3

Yes please! Below are some pictures of the new Audi R8 GT3 they just finished making. Doesn’t look like there are too many specs out of the car yet other than the conversion to rear wheel drive because that is a requirement of GT3 cars. Love the spoiler and body kit on this car it looks amazing

Wednesday, August 27th, 2008 Add a Comment


PlayOn Adds Hulu to PS3

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Looks like its time has finally come.  I have been waiting for an application like this for a while.  This application which is a plugin for your PS3 which adds Hulu to your PS3 and there is talk that there might be a place for Netflix watch it now in the future.  If I can get my PS3 streaming media that would be awesome and save me plugging in my laptop to our LCD screen and watching it that way.  The program is free to download and use for 30 days then it comes at a price.  A price that I would be willing to pay if it works the way it is supposed to ($30).  Initial reviews are rolling in around the web and it looks like the only complaint is that the video quality isn’t the best and that you hope to have a high speed connection to stream the shows.  My first question is who owns a PS3 without high speed Internet? :)

With all these new applications, and downloadable games, and videos that I am downloading looks like I might be buying that 120 GB hard drive to replace the 40 GB hard drive it came with pretty soon.  Luckily Sony is smart and designed the PS3 for easy upgrades in hardware!  Love it!

Friday, August 22nd, 2008 Add a Comment


HDR Pictures - Amazing!

image These pictures are just amazing.  HDR is the technique used here, it stands for High Dynamic Range photography.  I allows for higher definition and more texture to the pictures.  Wikipedia has a little more explanation on the technique but it basically creates these very vivid and amazing pictures.

Follow this link to see a few galleries of this technique in practice!  I love it!

Below are a few more links

  • New York City in HDR
  • 20 Beautiful HDR Pictures
  • HDRCreme.com
  • Flickr: The Biggest Building in HDR
  • HDR Japan
  • Thursday, August 21st, 2008 Add a Comment


    Executor - Launchy Wannabe

    imageExecutor is a new player to the game of Windows quick launch applications.  With Executor you get a light footprint application that searches not only your start menu for applications but your documents and searches via keywords.  It is full of custom settings and also doubles as a hot-key application manager allowing you to setup any application to start with a certain hot-key combo.

    Being partial to Launchy I found this program to be a little bloated and a little over configurable.  Not bloated in the sense it is too large just bloated in the sense of options they attempted to put into place.  The program is still in beta so I will keep an eye on it as it moves into GA and maybe they will clear up some of the bugs that I was seeing.  Also I really like the hotkey combo with Launchy of Alt-Spacebar to launch it where as with Executor I cannot choose that key combo.  The keywords are a nice touch but it is something else to setup independently and takes too much time.  Perhaps I am getting old and set in my ways but I think so far I will stick with Launchy’s quick easy interface and reliability.   Plus I am a big fan of my new skin for Launchy!

    If you still want to check out Executor you can get it here.

    Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 Add a Comment


    Night Vision - Urban Exploration Pictures

    image These pictures are very interesting. The guy basically over exposes the pictures and uses very soft natural light to accent the images.  He picks some very interesting and textured objects to take pictures of.  Follow the link below to see his pictures.  Which apparently are now available in a book from Amazon.

    Flickr Gallery

    Thursday, August 14th, 2008 Add a Comment


    Globex Now Hosting their own Styles

    image Globex has moved to their own servers and taken their styles off of stylish’s web site.  This is probably because of the great failure rates of the stylish’s web site.  To install the style follow the link below click either Gmail Redesigned or GCal redesign and then right click the stylish icon and go to ‘add file to stylish’  This way it will pick up all the changes as things happen on their site

    Globex Redesigned Web site

    Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 Add a Comment


    Database Tools

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    Below are some (7) Database web sites that you can use to easily create forms and collect data online.  I am a huge fan of Zoho Creator and currently use that to manage my work log at work as it is quick and dirty and anything is better than Access!

     

    Blist

    Blist’s goal is to fool you into forgetting that underneath the glossy interface, there’s a relational database that the average user doesn’t know much about. I’ve always though that a great interface with average features is better than an app with great features and an average interface. I’m not talking aesthetics, either—but if something is designed well enough that it saves me both time and stress, I’m happy.

    In terms of interface, Blist works somewhat like everyone’s favorite basic database, the spreadsheet. Displays are filtered using what’s called a lens—that and the form designer make it clear that Blist’s goal is to create “the database for the rest of us.”

    Wufoo

    Wufoo isn’t so much about a database that you populate: it’s a service that allows you to create quite attractive HTML forms so you can collect information from visitors to your site, without needing to learn a programming language to do it.

    The advantages of an easy-to-use form designer is obvious in business when you wish to collect as much information from customers and clients as possible. In your personal life, a variety of applications exist but my favorite was when a friend used a web form to allow his Gmail contacts to fill in their address book entry for him after he lost their phone numbers.

    Zoho Creator

    Zoho Creator basically allows you to create simple database applications using a flashy AJAX interface and a lot of wizard goodness. It comes with plenty of templates, so you don’t need to start from scratch. There are free options, though they’re pretty limited—on the free Personal account, you can only create up to five applications, but that may suit your needs for a long time to come.

    Some of the best features of Zoho Creator include the ability to embed your application in your Web site, and if you’re an advanced user, you can go beyond the wizard-style database designer using Zoho’s Deluge scripting language.

    Coghead

    Coghead is another offering that allows you to visually build web applications and goes far beyond simple forms. Of course, without becoming a programmer you can’t create any new web app that pops in your head, but Coghead makes it possible to realize quite a broad range of applications—especially databases for a variety of purposes—using the simple power of drag and drop.

    Coghead also has start applications, like Zoho’s templates, including issue trackers and a CRM that you can expand on. Don’t reinvent the wheel.

    Coghead features a great visual workflow editor that allows you to add functionality beyond data capture without using a scripting language. This is an excellent choice for those who want powerful business-oriented applications with a certain level of complexity but aren’t interested in programming at all.

    Dabble DB

    Dabble DB is another easy database application builder, with a reputation for being quick and easy to use—you can have a finished application ready in minutes flat. I didn’t have any trouble getting an app ready in minutes with the other web sites I tried, but Dabble DB’s process did seem to flow a little faster even if it didn’t quite have the same aesthetic pizzaz.

    If you’re looking for a free service, give Dabble DB a skip. The only free option makes your content Creative Commons and visible to everyone and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but if you’re looking to build a database application chances are it’s to store private information like your friends’ or clients’ contact details.

    TrackVia

    TrackVia has a strong focus on taking your spreadsheets from Excel or what have you, and allowing you to turn them into powerful databases with its web service. It then allows you to create web forms and run email marketing campaigns from within its web app, so it’s got a very strong emphasis on business.

    Furthering the suspicion that TrackVia is not for the personal user is the fact that there are no free accounts on offer. The cheapest plan with a monthly fee of $30 does offer quite a bit of room for your money—150,000 database records and 1 GB of file storage.

    WyaWorks

    WyaWorks is certainly not the prettiest web app on the block, but it has a slightly different focus on essentially the same thing that many of these start-ups are tackling: WyaWorks is about creating database applications for collaboration.

    That focus on collaborative work is a definite plus and could be a selling point for many businesses, but for anyone to take it seriously, the programmers behind this app need to put more thought into the way it looks. The design is bad, but the interface is worse—if there’s one thing that this thing needs, it’s a coat of paint and a more usable and intuitive layout. Nobody would buy products from a handwritten catalogue, after all, and the web is no different (especially when you’re after business customers).

    FormAssembly

    FormAssembly is a form designer with a bunch of great features that are useful for the personal user, the business user and everyone in between. It provides email and RSS notifications, statistics including graphical charts and Excel export, as well as e-commerce features such as PayPal and Salesforce integration. You can use FormAssembly for just about anything that involves forms, including order forms.

    While the focus on form designer apps is to get information from others, there’s nothing stopping you from using a FormAssembly or Wufoo form as a pseudo-database where you use the form to create records yourself.

    There is a free version, though your forms will be ad-supported and there’s no auto-responder, secure forms nor file upload. In short, the features that business-oriented users will want to shell out for—I think the free plan works fine for the average user.

    Tuesday, August 12th, 2008 Add a Comment


    Free Partitioning Software

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    Well typically I have done my partitioning using a borrowed version of partition magic.  It looks like this software will do the same exact thing only it doesn’t cost anything.  This is really helpful for creating Linux partitions and cleaning off other partitions.  Sometimes I will change the file system on external drives which this makes it really easy to do.

    EASEUS Partition Manager

    Monday, August 11th, 2008 Add a Comment


    Fallout 3 Trailer

    I absolutely love this video! It goes to show you how far video game trailers/plots have come with the new generation of consoles!

    Sunday, August 10th, 2008 Add a Comment


    The Club - Game Review

    image So the basis of this game is a first person shooter.  You have multiple versions of the game that you can play.  You can play a game where you have a time trail and must make it through in a certain amount of time.  You can play a points game where you must hit a certain level of points to pass.  You have a scavenger hunt game where you have to shoot specific hidden targets.  And you have a death-match sort of game where you just try to stay alive for a certain time while confined to a small area.  This is a great game for polishing you aiming skills and quick reaction timing.

    Bullets are plenty in this game and accuracy doesn’t count for anything so you can run around just shooting everything that moves.  The game is fun for a few hours but becomes very redundant after passing the first level as the other levels just repeat the skills with a slightly different backdrop.  Great shooter game for practicing for Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid!

    Saturday, August 9th, 2008 Add a Comment